Cheeky's Blog ;)

Tiggy enjoying the sunshine
















Kereru, otherwise known as our native wood pigeon, in the kowhai tree in the front garden. They are an endangered species, but there is no shortage of them at the farm. At times they almost border on pest status at the farm, as they eat all the leaves of the trees that mom grows for winter fodder for the sheep.







This is August, a lamb that is being bottlefed after he was abandoned by his mother. He is my favourite out of the two pets from this year. He likes to slobber on my chin when I give him hugs, which is cute, but feels gross at the same time. lol.















This one is May, the other pet for this year. Her mother died soon after giving birth to her.

















Skeets, my Dad's cat that went to live with Mom on the farm when he moved back to the US. Dad didn't think she'd be that keen on country life, but she seems to be adapting very well. She likes to climb the apple tree by the patio and climb onto the roof, she likes to sleep in the hayshed and she eyeballs those pigeons like they'd make the best dinner ever! However, I think they are a bit large for her hunting capacities.




Midnight. She was one the triplets we bottle fed in 2000, after their mom died. That makes her an old girl now. But all three of the triplets are still alive and doing well. Here she is, thinking I'm going to give her something good to eat. Lol, she still recognises the bottle too, but will try to eat it rather than suck.



One very cute Milo. I found her in the paddock one day, very weak. She had a twin that was already dead. We took her home to give her some TLC for a few days. She eventually got the hang of sucking. And after discovering she had arthritis, with a little help she learnt to walk. She still only walks on three legs (at the time I came back to chch). Once she started to recover we put her back in the paddock with her mother. This is her the day she went back to her mother. After a couple of days of being back with mom though, she isn't friendly anymore. And she can run fast enough on three legs to avoid being caught by me!







Bob, Midnight's triplet brother.

















No one in particular, but I thought it was a cute photo.







A possum trying to steal our chainsaw?! I was walking past the back door one evening and noticed the garage light had been left on. So I looked out window, and there was this possum poised on the chainsaw! They are a nocturnal Aussie import, that are major pests in NZ despite being endangered in Australia. They pose a big threat to some native trees such as rata, and predate upon bird eggs as well. They also like to raid people's fruit trees. In some places they will pay you for every possum pelt you bring in. One hotel on the West Coast even sells possum pie, which has many aussies up in arms.








May and August














The last one, Lake Rotoiti, about 45min drive from the farm. This is the main gateway into the Nelson Lakes National Park, which provides some good tramping, outdoor pursuits on the water and is home to the Rotoiti Nature Recovery Project and Mainland Island. The focus of this conservation effort is on restoring the honeydew cycle. They also have a kaka programme and recently reintroduced kiwi to the area. The last day I was up there, the weather was perfect and we decided to go for a day tramp up to Parachute Rocks, which is on the ridge that runs up the left hand side of lake (out of view in this picture).

I'll upload more photos into an album