Hens

Of course the new chicken is called "Michelle". Her arrival coincided with the results of the American election and if she was a rooster her name would be Barack.

Fowls

We lost the hen known as "Wing" a couple of weeks ago leaving one lonely hen. Our neighbour on hearing this turn of events was kind enough to drop down a replacement Hen, a beautiful black bird with glossy green highlights in her feathers.

 She lays large pale brown eggs that are smooth like pearls.

Calf Drama

On Friday I collected three feeder calves from a Greytown dairy farm. They are Hereford Fresian cross bulls, black with white faces. The next morning one was slow to feed and as the day went on he became weaker and weaker. We managed to get him drinking a little bit but he was going down hill fast. 

The next morning it looked like he would die so we packed him into the horse float and off to the vet. The vet didn't sound to promising but gave him three injections of various stuff and gave us a tube to feed him electrolytes directly into his stomach. By Sunday evening he had completely turned around and could stand on his own accord and drank a litre of milk. 

The photos show him rejoining his mates after his near death experience. I can see why people avoid calf rearing as a stressful activity.

Sourdough Bread

They canceled this mornings flight to Christchurch and the weather is shocking. An ideal day to make bread. 

The sourdough bug is called "Mother". She was born in February 2008 and lives in the fridge. Mother is very low maintenance requiring feeding only when diminished by her contribution to the birth of a new loaf.

Around 250 grams of Mother, 50 grams gluten flour, 100 grams rye flour, 10 grams salt, 7 grams caraway seeds, 1 Handful kibbled grain, 400 grams strong flour, a pinch of dried yeast, sufficient water to make a soft and giving dough.

The crust is a very important feature of a Sourdough and these little babies were painted with a wash of egg white whisked together with olive oil. Sprinkle a little more caraway seed on top and make a slash with a sharp knife.

New Friends

On Monday we got three new heifer calves in a range of designer colours. They came pre-named and are between 9 and 11 months old.

Hong Kong

From 11 to 16 August I went to Hong Kong to meet Barbara on her way back from Germany and see some of the Dressage at the Olympic games.

Hong Kong would have to be one of my favourite places.

Among the highlights of our visit was meeting a couple of ex-pats who shouted us a great Indian meal at the Kyber Pass Mess in the famous Chung King Mansions. We then we went slightly up market to the Knutsford steps area for a post dinner libation and hooka pipe.

Cup cake crumble

What say we take the recipe for rhubarb crumble cake and split it into 18 little cup cakes? Well I think it works really well.