Struan Farm

Little Lost Dog

Frequent readers of this blog will know that things happen on State Highway 3 in Piopio, we often have people arrive at the gate at Struan Farm needing help of some sort.

This time it was on Christmas Day. A man drove up, asking if we'd lost our dog, saying that he'd picked up a dog running down the road who hopped straight into his car. I immediately thought: Clifford!!! But no, it wasn't Clifford, rather a little lost fox terrier.

The man was heading on to Auckland, and it seemed the dog belonged in the area, so we promised to try to find her owner after the holiday. There had been an accident the day before nearby, we wondered if perhaps she belonged to one of the vehicle owners involved. She had a collar and her own little polar fleece jacket, after all.

So "Pixie" settled into Struan Farm, briefly:

We needed to keep her tied up most of the time because she kept running for the road, running FAST toward the road. A trip to the vet on Monday established that she wasn't micro-chipped, and about a year old in good health. I purchased some "little dog" food, although she seemed to prefer freshly cooked meat. She also really wanted to go into the house rather than sleep outside on a blanket. So she had been well looked after, if untrained and somewhat spoiled. She liked to hop up on John's lap.

Calls to Animal Control, the SPCA and the police determined ultimately that this highly strung little dog most likely was dumped on the side of the road to fend for herself. But we couldn't keep her at Struan Farm being so close to the main road. So Karen was delegated to find her a good home, also to put the word out to make sure someone hadn't lost her. I was advised by the vet that Animal Control would euthanise her after a week if the owners didn't appear, not something I was going to let happen either way.

Yes, this story has a happy ending. Pixie, now re-named Trixie, has a loving home in Piopio, not far up the road. She's been adopted and is running around on a farm off the main road. And life is back to normal at Struan Farm.

Boxing Day at Struan Farm: 2013

Finishing work, moving house, 34 for Boxing Day lunch and our annual family celebration at Struan Farm. What was I thinking, right? Seems I'm actually getting pretty good at feeding large groups of people, thankfully. 

The menu included: crudites with hummus, eye fillet (beef tenderloin) with wasabi lime dressing, roast salmon with cucumber citrus salsa, and kale & quinoa, potato, and bean salads. Desserts (okay, this was a separate table) included Piopio Orchard berries with whipped cream (of course), chocolate chip cookies (of course), white and dark chocolate rocky road, Christmas cupcakes, and a beautiful Christmas cake made by Donna, wife of former colleague Ross. Oh, and I almost forgot the spiced apple and pear trifle! 

The real fun is seeing the generations of family together catching up at the farm. And there is just a wee bit of competition with the croquet and archery. This year sister-in-law Julie, visiting from Canada, and Anna's friend Henry won the croquet, while John and nephew-in-law Dave won the archery. Winners need to return to defend their titles next year, so Julie please book those tickets now and bring the rest of the family while you're at it.

Here's a sampling of pics from the day:

 

 

 

Phases

I almost don't know where to start! So much has happened since I finished working in Auckland and we packed up house and moved to Struan Farm right before Christmas. Major life changes. We managed to get internet functioning this past weekend, so here I am after a break of over a month.

It was quite emotional ending my career in financial services, not something I did lightly. I know, it sounds funny, and might be perceived as somewhat ironic given all the angst certain segments of the banking industry have caused the world. But after 36 years I still loved learning about businesses, analysing financials and industries, and building new relationships.  It was the perfect left brain/right brain job for me. 

However, it is time for me to take that energy and enthusiasm to Struan Farm, living the rural life full time. John tells people that I haven't stopped smiling, and that would be true. It's good to make a major life change for a positive reason, knowing it is the right thing to do at the right time. We've got lots to do getting the new house up and running and starting a full time farmstay. And I can now tackle those big projects in the gardens, at the pond, plot my new veggie gardens, etc.

We're not living in the new house as yet since the laundry and garage are still under construction with builders on site, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

To start blogging again, thought I would share with you some of our flower arrangements from the gardens over the past month. I've clearly gone through a few phases (and will continue to do so....), but the flowers have been amazing this summer. Enjoy!