Reblogged from Homepaddock:

A couple of years ago I asked where had the tussock gone? There is even less tussock on the hills at the summit of the Lindis Pass now. This land has been returned to the crown under tenure review and is managed by DOC. The aim of the Lindis Pass Conservation Trust is to rid Lindis Pass Reserve of weeds, so that the snow tussock (Chionochloa rigida) can be enjoyed in its full glory.  When it was farmed it was covered in tussock, now as these photos show it is not. Is it an accident or deliberate? Could …

Reblogged from Homepaddock:

The Sunday Star Times put the sale of the Crafar Farms into perspective with a story on how much land has been sold to people from which countries in the last five years. Figures released by the Overseas Investment Office show that of the 872,313 hectares of gross land sold to foreign interests over the past five years only 223 hectares were sold to Chinese. People from the landlocked principality of Liechtenstein had purchased 10 times more land than the Chinese - 2,144ha in the same period. The top …

Agreed. We seem to be scared of the Chinese.

Now he gets quite worked up sometimes and you could see the steam coming out his ears. I was tempted to tell him to go cool off in the corner, tempted to put my arms around him and give him a cuddle, tempted to tell him to harden up and tempted to give the girls a piece of my mind – all at the same time.

He probably annoyed them first but you could tell by the looks on the girls faces as I approached that there was an element of guilt. But I just called to my daughter and said it was time to go home.

It was my two kids that bore the brunt of it in the car on the way home, even though I said I wasn’t witness to what went on and couldn’t and wouldn’t comment on that particular situation.

But…. I said there is a fine line between teasing someone in the nature of piggy in the middle and bullying someone. Do they look like they want to be piggy in the middle (aside from someone who is a sore loser and can’t handle having their turn at piggy in the middle, however lengthy).

If they are crying or steam is coming our their ears and they look ready to box you, it’s probably bullying.

If you’re bigger/older/stronger than them and they stand no chance of competing with you, it’s probably bullying.

I told my two they need to be prepared to stand up for each other – in any situation, especially a serious one, but even at school. Think about how they would feel if they were that person. If they wouldn’t like to be in their shoes, it will probably be considered bullying by the teachers so don’t take part and if you have the guts, do something to stop it (telling the teacher is absolutely fine, especially if it is an ongoing situation).

This parenting lark can get serious can’t it?

I had a separate word to my oldest about practising to stand up against peer pressure now, so that when “the situation” involves smokes or driving in cars, it won’t be so hard to say no and walk away.

She didn’t slam the door and tell me I didn’t know what I was talking about, so I guess she’s not a teenager yet!!

Having seen a local family reeling from the loss of a teenager in the past few weeks and having arguments this morning about the laziness of my kids (those two things really aren’t comparable), I am going to print this out and put it in a very obvious place.

It’s called “Spend It or Lose It”.

Imagine that you had won the following prize in a contest: Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400.00 in your private account for your use. However, this prize has rules, just as any game has certain rules. The first set of rules would be: Everything that you didn’t spend during each day would be taken away from you. You may not simply transfer money into some other account. You may only spend it.  Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $86,400.00 for that day.

The second set of rules: The bank can end the game! It can close the account and you will not receive a new one and the game is over, without warning; at any time it can say, It’s over. What would you personally do? You would buy anything and everything you wanted right? Not only for yourself, but for all people you love, right? Even for people you don’t know, because you couldn’t possibly spend it all on yourself, right? You would try to spend every cent, and use it all, right?

Actually this game is reality. Each of us is in possession of such a magical bank. We just can’t seem to see it. The magical bank is TIME!

Each morning we awaken to receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life, and when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is NOT credited to us. What we haven’t lived up that day is forever lost.

Yesterday is forever gone. Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time…. without warning.

So, what will YOU do with your 86,400 seconds?

From Takapau, I drive to Dannevirke and then take the back roads along the foothills (Top Grass Road for any of you keen enough to google map) to the start of the now-famous Saddle Road (okay, not so famous on a global scheme of things, but the go-to route now the Manawatu Gorge has a rather large slip all over a rather large section of the road).

I had a lovely few hours sojourn in Feilding after an unscheduled two-hour break between two interviews.  Job #2 was a visit to a new dairy conversion at Cheltenham.

After that, was the start of my problems for a quick drive home.

Added to the fact that three hours in the car on my own is a perfect recipe for a music mindmap back to the 80s (think Bon Jovi, Eurythmics, Jenny Morris and spot of Def Leppard - very cool)… it was a perfect day for summer photos too. Check these three out.

borage crop near Cheltenham

"giant marshmellows" as my kids used to call them

This colour just caught my eye (I stop on the side of the road often)

I need one of those signs that the rubbish trucks have: beware, this vehicle stops often!

So, I decided it was going to be dark before I got home if I didn’t stop stopping, so I stopped.

So my memory will have to suffice of the shot of the kids playing in a creek as I drove over the bridge; the sheep grazing peacefully on a grassy knob apparently blissfully unaware of the giant wind turbine whisking away overhead; the windswept trees under the foothills of the Ruahines.

A few years ago I was walking along a local road and came over the brow to the most awesome sight of a layer of cloud stretching out before me. But I could see the landscape both under the cloud and away over the top of the cloud. Hard to describe, but the memory has been etched, well, in my memory!

It’s late. After driving to Manawatu yesterday and the destination of choice today was Gisborne (Elton John and Jimmy Barnes most of the way today. And a new fave. True Colours by Phil Collins. Love it.)

I made the call two hours ago that Federer would beat Nadal in five sets in the semis of the Aussie Open. One set each so far but I’m afraid me and my mental little camera are going to bed.

How did that happen? The weather hasn’t been too willing to bribe me with cool wine on a sunny beach but I have had a few awesome games of tennis despite day #2 of our annual tournament being rained off, caught a few waves and indeed, opened a few New Zealand pinot gris bottles.  The newest *like* for me is Hihi Wine‘s Gizzy Fizzy. Very drinkable (and cheaper than Lindauer Summer).

I have just booked in a couple of newspaper features for April and May and received confirmation I will again be general photographer for the 2012 Young Farmer of the Year grand final. That job is so much fun because the contestants have to do such a range of tasks in the three days.

My mum will get to see her youngest daughter several times this year – the grand final is in Dunedin, we’re going on a winter sojourn to Fiji and I’m hightailing it south again for the 150th goldfields celebrations in Queenstown. The Bryants (my mum’s family) were a force in the original settling of the area – Richard Cogar Bryant, my great great grandfather, was the town’s first police office and harbour master. Since then, my family has had an ongoing association with Kinloch at the head of the lake, where he then settled with his family.

If you are a regular to rivettingkatetaylor, you will know procrastination is one of my strong points (weaknesses?!)

So I had better return to the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council possum control programme stories I am supposed to be finishing

The 2012 Beef and Lamb Excellence Awards attracted an unprecedented 208 entries from restaurants nationwide, with 189 achieving the Award – a record 91% pass rate, up from 89% the previous year.

“The Christchurch earthquake saw the closure of many of the city centre’s top restaurants and put extra pressure on the remaining restaurants in suburban Christchurch, stretching them to capacity,” says Rod Slater, CEO of Beef + Lamb New Zealand Inc., organisers of the Awards.

“Add to that the challenge faced during October when restaurants in the main urban centres were inundated with overseas diners, which placed huge demands on the hospitality sector.  Additionally, there’s been a shortage of lamb available on the domestic market.  All in all, it’s been a taxing year for the restaurant industry, and they’ve risen to the challenge very well.”

The 2012 Beef and Lamb Excellence Awards recognise consistency and quality in the preparation and presentation of beef and lamb cuisine, following anonymous assessments by culinary experts late last year.

Five chefs who displayed exceptional culinary skills during the assessment process have also been named as 2012 Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ambassadors.  They are:  Brenton Low, à Deco, Whangarei; Justin Scheihing, Casito Miro, Waiheke Island; Stephen Barry, Mount Bistro, Mt Maunganui; Shaun Clauston, Logan Brown, Wellington; and Ben Batterbury, True South Dining Room, Queenstown.  In addition, Brenton Low and Stephen Barry have also been named as lifetime Platinum Ambassadors.

Couldn’t have asked for better – a small grass fire that was already out on arrival thanks to a nearby farmer working on his tractor (started on the highway probably by a cigarette). Then to add to the excitement, we got sent to another grass fire down the road that turned out to be misguided directions to the first one.

So all in all, a good start for me. Got the nerves out of the road and will be all sorted for the next one. Good thing I was at my friend’s house about to have a wine when her hubby’s pager went off (cos I don’t have mine yet!)

You should have seen my hands shaking though!