bounce

We bounce

through life

Not always knowing

where we land

Does it matter?

Turning off the headspace

and opening the heart space

Shows us a new world of wonder

Usually the hardest combat

is not with a someone 'out there'

but dealing with the turmoil inside

that phases out when we focus again on love

The most uplifting times can be had

after we have fallen smack bang on our face

and in our despair realize

That there is always more then that.

Make peace with it.

Bounce.

photo copyrighted. pictured: chookBFF Greta and myself on the farm

animal communication

You know how you get out of bed and at times you think: what activity makes me the happiest to go and do? We all have that. I have been trying several things aside of working in the interior design industry since 2003. What I have always been crazy about, without exception, are animals. Furry preferably but even chooks can be a true delight (and I don't mean to eat). As my father was allergic to animals we could only have fish at home. Fortunately at the end of the street the council had built a mini petting zoo with goats on this grass field. I've had a soft spot for goats ever since I was able to visit them before and after school and see the baby goats grow up.

(photo of some of our fuzz friends in the front field)
Over the years I have been reading books and trying out things in regards to understanding animals. This has been increasingly interesting! Last weekend I had a goat whispering session with an ex feral goat called Paddy. His human mum had had him in a small field because Paddy seemed to always want to be the boss and chase other smaller animals around (and even had bowled people over on occasion). His mum didn't like that very much. But Paddy got lonely and let me know that he would very much like to be close to the other animals and talk to them. He had gotten sad and demure, unlike his usual fun spirit. I told his mum of what I received and suggested Paddy'd be put with 3 donkeys in another field. She agreed and Paddy moved in and started to dance around the donkeys and proceeded to hug one with enthusiasm by scratching her neck. She let him.

(It's baby goat boom time! Cute fuzz balls everywhere!)

I feel people forget that our pets have emotions and wishes of their own. They are not "dumb". In many ways they are like children: they want things, they can even demand things, but it would be good if we chose to respect what they wish to say and listen to it. We can say no and explain why. I have two goat boys hanging out with a horse and a jersey cow at the moment. One is the buck and he can't be with the girls as they are giving birth to baby goats right now plus we don't want them impregnated until May. I have found it helpful to explain to the goat boys that they have to live somewhere else because the girls are busy and that they will be allowed back in a few months. At first they were a bit scared of the horse but it only took a day or so for them to walk close to her and now the tall mare doesn't worry them one little bit. Animals are very capable to socialize with other species, unlike humans. They always amaze me with this.

(miss Rosie she is a zesty friend)
I'm currently reading books by Amelia Kinkade, a lady who can speak with animals. I enjoy her stories and her wisdom. Her excercises are very helfpul to aid in further developing skills. Have you tried to figure out what your pet is saying? Behaviour is always telling as we are generally so inept to understand their language which mainly consists of feelings and images. If they are ignored they start barking, being naughty, soiling or chewing. If they are in pain they find a quiet spot, moan or look listless and stop eating. It's by caring that we can spot what the story is.

In general we can pick up many things as long as we pay attention. I have found that the trick is to not fill in the blanks which can be hard. So in order to shut up the chatter box that is our minds we can find it helpful to take a walk, go to the beach, meditate, sit somewhere quietly. It's astounding what we start to notice once we take our foot of the pre programmed accelarator. Have you tried this lately? Have you stopped talking in order to listen better? What was said?

home steading

I am currently reading this book, which details about the lifestyle and healthy home made living a la farmette. A friend of mine posted this on my Facebook page which had me laughing: a chicken sitting service for the urbanites. I also know about a business that hires out goats to munch your lawn. So what's the story with the home ca-noodling?


Green, the Sloffood movement and all things yummy and nice are back on the cards for those who have had enough of the concrete jungle, the plastic micro waved dinners and being stuck in traffic. This is not new of course, but it seems back en vogue. In the Netherlands it's quite custom still to have a herbal and even veggie garden on one's tiny balcony on a high rise. Many dream of living in Italy (this I hear on a regular basis at work), sipping some wine, eating some wonderful breads & cheeses and staring at the olive trees sprawled out over generous hills and sloping meadows. Ah yes. The Good Life. So how do we get there?

My husband and I enjoy living on our 64 acre block, the "farm-let" and we are farmettes which is a bit different from the lifestyle block of a few acres and a big farm over say 500 acres. We work in the city mostly while also running our farm-let. While reading Jenna Woginrich's book mentioned above, I had to smile at her hilarious anecdotes! I recognized so much in the early boo-boos that she tells about.

Having a small farm or even a bit of a green blob of land in your backyard is really enough to get you started with a veggie garden, a beehive, or a chicken coop. And what you learn while starting on this fun enterprise is basically that making mistakes or being a doofus is all part of the experience. We now walk easily amongst our highland cattle and move them about without a fuss, whereas in the beginning with the meat cattle we had to jump the fence and the dog too as one bovine we aptly called "Loopy" starting chasing us around the paddock. Very in-dignifying. We seriously wondered whether we had the balls to go through all the motions that were required. We have now graduated from the initial newbie crispiness. We have the experience, know how to do the practical things and keep adding to the farm knowledge. I can clip the goatie hooves by myself without the use of proper yards which apparently is a great achievement.

So how can you get your slice of paradise, even in the smallest ways?
Decide what you would like to start with and read up! Nothing beats the look and taste of fresh veggies, the view of animals snoozing in the sun, and the privacy and tranquility that your own place gives you. What you need is knowing what you want to do and most of all: sheer determination! It is very rewarding.

To learn how to start your career at Homesteading: http://www.homestead.org/
Modern homesteading: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading.aspx
Homesteading forum: http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/
Great website to read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/blogs/blog.aspx?blogid=1510

the farm life

Today it's sunny picture time! We enjoy living on our farm-let, it's a wonderful private world and harbors lovely animals and tasty veggies. We love it. As I was finishing paintwork on the window sills this weekend I thought I'd sneak in some visuals at the same time...

pumpkin harvest....

our fuzzy friends...

Moooooooo. Bella loves hanging out in goatie ville. She is even sounding more like them (that's a worry).

so while I try to get some work done... #painting

we do get some visitors from time to time, like Sootie our adopted stray kitten and mr Hedgehog

so who says farm live isn't entertaining? Always plenty happening around here.

because there are goats...

Want to travel and eat good food? Have you heard of WWoofing? It has been suggested to us to become Wwoofing hosts once the farm is fully "goatified". Why WWooff? Well "because there are goats" that's what... of course! Waha. Great vids.







We have heard mixed messages about the WWoofing experience when we came to New Zealand, and Nico and I decided not to go there but pick apples instead, where we learned many things, mostly which was unexpected. And yes the memories are quite extraordinary, and give inspiration too for the future. But hey, it's also hard work being on a farm and mostly it's doing simple things, including manure scooping. Good thing goat poop is so clean really, bless them.

Zen and work

With working every day there's always that thing about finding the precarious balance of ZEN and letsgo letsgo letsgo! Nico and I agreed we have to watch our input-output levels. The fuses get short at times when we do too much stuff in a day. This is of course entirely our own fault. Mad dutchy disease. We collapse in the evening to get up early again. Times when we had fluffy duck weekends are something out of books and we have some very vague memories of them. Naturally we don't understand people who get bored in their time off or who can lay about on their sofas falling asleep. What IS with that? Really.


Now the best fluffy time is crammed in the times we visit 2 week old calf Bella to bottle feed her and then watch her zoom around the paddock at top speed chasing the goats. It's a good thing Glen the dog has retired as Bella can easily do his work... she's a natural. To the dismay of the goat girls who are still wondering whether Bella is a dog, a funny smelling goat or an alien that's landed in their domain.

(this is when mum Kate was still watching too, now Bella's moved to the goatie pasture.)

our little girl is growing up. Kapow!

Still life is great on the prairie and we wouldn't want to miss it. Even with all the things we have to do to increase its appeal and workability.

And it's also good to share, with some friends who come help feeding and literally pitch their tents for the night. 

good stuff

Good stuff is happening. I'm trying to get my act together again for designing more fabric. The phone rings: a local design store is interested to do work with me, to display and sell my cushions. They also hinted that they would like to host a wine evening and have me present there along with a furniture designer from Auckland who will be flying down. Where will my Mooo cushions sit on top of? On his lovely chaise. Exactly. Awesome.


Because the farm work has been coming out of our ears, and the calfs are sprouting left right and center, we've been a bit busy. Just a tad. One calf need bottle feeding twice a day for another 8 weeks.

Hemptech is seriously due for a new series of ass kicking design. I better get my tush in gear. Really really. The inspi juices are flowing. They need to be directed or they will go to waste.

Well I will give you a glimpse of what I have done so far. And I will do more. You can count on it. Wine evenings or no wine evenings.

Over and out.

let the good times roll

My husband and I have been very very busy lately. We had my parents visiting from overseas since before Christmas. There was work, there was farm work, the animals to look after, other design work, things to organize, trips to do, trees to be chopped, sheds to be build, glasshouses to take down and driveways to be planned. Basically property and work things we all do, we just do it in a farm-let format. Two calfs were born, one of them is still trying to find the right teats to use. This sucking business and starting life is actually not always that easy. So we bottle feed as well to keep Bella up to speck. Life is supposed to be fun so we help her out.


And just when I thought the whole jewelery thing was winding down -as I've been way too occupied with all sorts of stuff- there's demand for more of it, a particular design is very popular. Also there's a store here in Dunedin wanting to see my fabric designs. I've sold work both in Christchurch, Queenstown and Dunedin. So there are always surprises. I haven't made time to design more fabric or jewelery but now I'm keen to. The whole point of focusing and prioritizing is really to figure out what the heck we love to do most and then to go do it. 


I decided to start my study in June/July and am currently reading the biggest books ever that a client gave me to peruse on the topic. I have also done field work in my holidays which has been tremendously beneficial. Then there's farm training: the benefit of building a new roof on the implement shed for 7 days and getting the hay in -knocking off after midnight- has been good for toning my muscles and losing weight which made me a lot fitter then I was. I'm game for some new action. Watch the space.


Now I'm content to go home again to ca-noodle Nico and see what carnage has occurred today as lumberjacks visited and gave trees some serious haircuts. Nico told me it looks quite drastic and some trees were so huge they decided against further cutting afraid they would be felled themselves. I tell you there is never a dull moment around here. I go to work to get some peace and quiet. So on we trot! It's a good summer now and the weather has been wonderful which makes both humans and animals extremely happy. Time for a barbecue and wine I reckon.

Keep on dreaming?

I was told when I was a kid to ‘consider my future’. I had to be sensible and plan ahead. Uhuh. Now look what became off me! Much good that running off with life and doing something so silly as moving to the other side of the world has done for us! Living down under based on a feeling. Pah! What sort of career move is that?

We didn’t move to New Zealand to be sensible. We didn’t move here because we had a neatly outlaid plan. We certainly did not move to ‘up our careers’ but it has done nothing but improve them. We did not move here because of family even though we do enjoy seeing them when we do. We did not move here to escape our lives in the Netherlands or because we had little money.

What I like about us having moved overseas is that even when the sense of adventure has worn off a bit, as work is pretty much the same everywhere, the sense of belonging doesn’t. The further you move away from that which you know, the more you get to know yourself. Most of us look outside ourselves to fill up gaps and fears. If your desire is to simply be, grow and experience, it’s brilliant. I can recommend it. Be warned; it’s not the easy route. You’ll encounter that which you don’t expect, dramas will unfold where you don’t see them but all in all: life improves enormously when you emigrate.

When someone tells you to be sensible and choose a domestic predictable existence: just run for the hills. Literally! Then sit down and enjoy a picnic watch the view and enjoy the company of those that are happy to share the experience with you.