Clear and crisp and freezing

A freezing blast has hit Kaitoke. It was -1 degrees on the car temperature this morning.

The irony is that whilst we're freezing here the ski fields of New Zealand are closed because the weather is not cold enough. Apparently that's set to change this weekend with snow in the high mountains so that the ski season can get underway.

For us living in the hills we need sunshine and nice soft ground. We've got more trees arriving tomorrow and the last thing we need is more freezing temperatures.

Doing my chores this morning was a little more fun than normal with all the frost to admire and see how the chickens and bassets behave in these less hospitable conditions.

As I write this blog the sun is out and the frost is melting from the roof. So good job I've got some photoblogging to remind me of this morning's adventures.

Frost on the lawn

Frost on my majority planting - thistles!

Frost on my Cordyline Australis

Frost on my kiwi hedge and soon to be salad and herb bed

Layered landscapes from frosty grass to native bush

"Morning George!" says Fortnum

Hot breakfast on a cold morning (last night's shepherds pie!)

George - tall and proud

George leading his ladies to the outside world of free ranging

Mason drinking the frost from the fence!

Chickens take fright

A terrible thing happened this evening. The Wellington wind blew the chicken house door shut prematurely stopping our chooks from returning home to roost at dusk.

By the time I got home (a little after dusk) they were huddled in the corner of the pen seeking refuge from the wind. Or I thought. As I cajoled them back into the chicken house I was alarmed to only be able to count three instead of four feathered friends.

Not wishing to panic I headed off to the free range area to see if the missing chook was sheltering in the bush. Put no.

Still not wishing to panic I thought it was time for a bigger search party and headed of to get the assistance of MT. Just in the nick of time the missing chook clucked at me from where she was hiding - on top of the chicken house roof, or more precisely on top of the chook pen fence is next to the roof where she was comfortably roosting (well apart from a gusty wind).

In definite need of assistance for a rescue I had to fetch the step ladder and torch. Fortuantly the chook was either scared witless or simply a placid hen since she hardly flinched when I dragged her off her roof top roost and put her back with the George and the other ladies in their home.

Since it was getting pretty dark I can't tell you which of our fine hens had decided to roost high. I'm just glad that we found her and she was returned to her rightful place. You can be sure that the door hook will be sorted tomorrow to cope with the winter winds.

I'm afraid it was not a moment for photoblogging so you'll have to make do with a picture to capture the sense of the moment!

Doing chickens is all the rave

It seems that chickens are all the rave with poms here in NZ. Here's some pics of my friend's chooks and their feline admirers. These belong to Nicole who arrived in NZ shortly after us and after cruising NZ for a while stayed in Whangarai where she found love (for a while at least). Now she's just loving her chooks and cats. Seems that it's been raining as much up north with the associated mud baths we're experiencing, although perhaps not on the same scale!

Judging by the length of the grass Nicole you need to get a couple of sheep as well!

New hill billy house

Yesterday was a special day for our chickens - George, Charlotte, Anne and Bess (named after king and queens) - their exchanged their hill billy shack for a hill billy house.

It arrived on the back of Al's truck designed and prefabricated for swift installation in wind and rain. It was truly unpleasant weather to work in but before too long our chook house was built off the pen complete with easy access to the nesting boxes for egg collection.

Throughout the entired process the chickens were totally unconcerned and made themselves at home in their new pad pretty quickly. The only down side of the whole adventure was that we turned what was a mud patch into a real mud bath. We also had to do some emergency drain building as the rain water natural course was bringing streams of water into the chicken pen and house.

This morning George was yelling good and loud to be let out and the girls followed him quickly flying off their roosting perch into the pen for a good peck at the grass and waddle in the mud.

Al's been a true wonder providing us with the chickens and designing us a magnificent house for them to live in. I'm slightly worried though he has ambitions for pheasants and quails to be kept in the bush. The way the water is flowing at the moment I think we have a better chance of building a pond in which to keep some ducks!

The hill billies are settling in nicely!

Our hill billy chickens are settling in well. It's only been a few days but each day they seem to get braver and make themselves more at home.

Yesterday I caught them preening themselves in the corner making a nice hollow in which to wallow. George our rooster continues to make light work of the feeder and has started to make his traditional morning calls!

Fortunately the bassets have also made friends. After the initial barking and then woofing (more like a rasperry than a bark) it's now just hard stares and the occasional squeak. They love to sit and watch and get overly excited when the chooks come to the fence. I'm sure that before long they'll be bedding down together as best of friends. Or maybe not, given that Fortnum and Mason's breakfast comprises three lovely chicken necks!

The hill billies have arrived!

Our new residents have arrived. Four Barred Plymouth Rock chickens - one rooster and three hens. They arrived when I was out at work in town so it was quite a shock to see them huddling in their hill billy shack.

I was quick to get them fed and watered (Fortnum and Mason are loaning one of their bowls) and they seemed relieved to have some refreshment to overcome the shock of moving from the suburbs to the country.

Although I was keeping my distance they seemed OK in their new home. The bassets are less pleased though barking at the furry things on their land.

For the next week or so we'll keep them in their pen so that they can get aclimatised and understand that it's their home. The permanent house will be coming in the next week and Al assures me in the meantime that they'll be fine camping out.

As it went dark this evening they'd found their roosting spot and were huddling together to keep warm. MT will not be able to see them for a while as it's pretty dark when he leaves and pitch black when he's back. We'll save the naming until the weekend.

Well, most of the naming anyway. We've decided on names of royalty and since we've only got one boy it has to be George (named after my favourite King, George III). Watch this space for the naming ceremony for the hens.

Our hill billies - A little shy but not frightened

Food, let me at it......

Blimey, there's more!

Bottoms up Hill Billies

George is taking no prisoners on his way around the feeder