My current sit finds me on a lifestyle block located about twenty minutes north of Taumarunui. This is a new property for me. It’s really nice here. The house is very private. It’s nestled amongst a perimeter of trees, so it’s hidden from the road, but the house still gets plenty of sun.
It’s a nice comfy home with all the mod cons, and a beautiful large freestanding wood burner which pumps out a lot of heat. It’s one of the biggest wood burners I’ve come across, so you can feed nice big cords of wood into it. Most (if not all) of the fuel is from hardwood trees so it gives out long-lasting and efficient heat.
Critter-wise, there’re 29 sheep, one of which is a ram. They get shifted to a new paddock every 1-2 days, and they also get a daily helping of bread – six loaves per day. I tear up the bread into smaller chunks, put them in a couple buckets, and then spread them all out in a large circle in the paddock so each sheepy is sure to get some.
There’re 9 chookies, two of which are neat little bantams. The reds tend to pick on the bantams a bit so I like to feed them separately to make sure the banties get full bellies without the others interfering. They all get to free range for most of the day.
The house pets come in the form of one dog and two kitty cats. Cassie is a staffy/bulldog/something else 🙂 and she’s been terrific company. She got a bit over-excited when I first arrived (somebody new, I guess) but since then she’s been really good. Cass looks a bit ferocious but she has a genuinely lovely nature. She’s good around the chooks and best friends with the cats.
Speaking which, they consist of Oscar and Marla who’re brother and sister. They came from a stray litter that was found by the railway tracks in town. They’re gorgeous cats. Marla was a bit shy for the first day or two but we’re good mates now. Oscar was my buddy from day one.
All in all, it’s been a brilliant stay so far.
Cassie
Oscar
Marla
Chookies
Sheepies
