Posted by: rivettingkatetaylor | January 17, 2011

good samaritans get raw deal

If a car had crashed down a bank, I would stop to help the occupants. Wouldn’t you?

When it happens though, put your keys in your pocket.

A Havelock North couple pulled over to help someone on SH2 south of Wairoa yesterday, only to have the lowlife steal their car.

They were left on the side of the road with a stolen car crashed down the bank beside them.

(Their car and the thief were later found a long, long way away).

Next time the thief crashes, I hope his vehicle can’t be seen from the road and he’s trapped for a good long while.

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Posted by: rivettingkatetaylor | January 12, 2011

holidays end….

This is not a long blog. I am checking my emails in a motel in Blenheim after spending the past two weeks at Kinloch, on Lake Wakatipu, which is lovely enough not to have Vodafone coverage.

I did not have the expected technology melt down with no phone or internet. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of actually taking photos on my camera or walking down to a nearby campsite to see if they wanted to share a wine instead of texting 🙂

So, with a ferry trip on the InterIslander (what a way to end a holiday…. hasn’t that tune been annoying since we first muttered… what a way to start a holiday” three weeks ago) …. where was I? With a ferry trip looming tomorrow that will return me to the North Island, which the kids tell me they are going to kiss when they land, I am going to retire from my computer and enjoy the last night of my journalism and housework-free status.

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Posted by: rivettingkatetaylor | December 25, 2010

Christmas memories

As my kids rush around their aunty’s living room full of what Santa brought them this year, many memories come flooding back of what makes Christmas memories stick.

It’s not the latest gizmos that you remember 30 years later (although the movie star barbie (still in my possession) and the white and blue wooden tennis racquet do stand out), but the complete excitement; cherries. Macintosh’s toffees and balloons in the Santa sack (pillow case!), the eating of chocolate at 7am and stirring Mum’s Christmas pudding.

We had a tradition of the Christmas pudding not being the brandy soaked, made-10-days-in-advance Christmas pudding, but one stirred on Christmas morning by everyone who was going to be partaking in it at dinner time. Sixpences saved religiously through the year were individually dropped into the bowl by each stirrer – making a fervent wish for whatever was on their wanted list that year. It has to be sixpences, not five cent pieces, because they’re silver and don’t tarnish in the mixture. It also can’t be threepence, which are too small and likely to choke small children and grandparents!

I remember one year after a particularly good Christmas Eve party somewhere, Sister #2 and I had to lift our whisky-trodden heads from our pillows to have our turn – Mum had waited as long as she could to come into the room (obviously this is a few years down the track from the barbie and the tennis racquet!)

Nowdays, it’s Mum’s kahlua that makes us all sparkle on Christmas Eve. And this year, we had the addition of Brother-in-law Richard’s baileys (Dick’s Cream it’s called at duckshooting lol).

One memory from this year will be of the police variety, but fortunately not of the negative type.  We were sitting around the table telling tall stories when the phone rang. “Get the boys to the neighbours quick – he’s got poachers bailed up in the corner of the back paddock.”

I’ve never seen men move so fast! They were out the door and into the ute and up to the road before you could blink. We were left sitting wondering if they’d come back (well, that was me – having covered so many news stories over the years, I knew what could go wrong and so often does).

After being held at gun point, two police cars rushed in from Gore and took the two men away. What a story! Well, that’s what we told the kids  this morning anyway 🙂

So this year, here we are in Tapanui. My family from Hawke’s Bay complete with mother-in-law from Gisborne, Sister #3 and her family from Mosgiel, my mum and her husband and the hosts, Sister #2 and her family. Sister #1 is coming down for a family wedding (Sister #3) on Monday so we’ll all be together then. It takes too many chairs to have us together on Christmas Day now!

In case you hadn’t realised, I am Sister #4. The youngest of four girls. The Rivett girls. Legend.

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Posted by: rivettingkatetaylor | December 20, 2010

Slow dance… good advice for this time of year

With Christmas right on the horizon (crikey, not even on the horizon….. try five sleeps!) I thought I would share this poem someone sent me via email today. I have seen and heard it before but given the hectic and stressful pressure most of us thrust upon ourselves at this time of year, I decided to share.

We have had three Christmas parties in the last three nights with completely different feelings.  The first was a semi-catered work do Thomas had been invited to with claybird shooting and a spot of whacking golf balls on the front lawn (I was the only chick to have a go and I didn’t embarrass myself… or Thomas!) .  It was a lovely evening apart from the rain, which no-one dared complain about (or even wanted to… sooooo needed).

The second was on someone’s deck with all the golf ladies and a potluck mishmash of chicken kebabs, ham and 20 different salads washed down with a slice of pavlova, a chocolate eclair and too many sauvignon blancs; followed by a wonderfully relaxed community gathering in the local hall (mostly only used twice a year – mid winter Christmas party and the real Christmas party) complete with Santa Claus and macintosh’s toffees. (mmm egg and cream flavour – the wrapping was orange though, could have sworn it used to be yellow? And silly Santa, fancy putting the wrong names on the Taylors parcels. Lachlan’s face was priceless when he thought Santa had given him a headband and a pink fairy wand 🙂 ) 

Sarah and I also popped down to the local church Christmas carols.

Amongst it all, we are trying to finish work and pack up ready to head to the South Island tomorrow.  I love it when people ask where I’m going for Christmas and I say “Gorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre”. We’re actually going to Tapanui but it doesn’t have quite the same effect!

Here’s the poem. My advice? Don’t just read it. Take the advice.

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down. Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short. The music won’t last.

Do you run through each day on the fly?
When you ask “How are you?”
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You’d better slow down. Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short. The music won’t last.

Ever told your child, we’ll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste, Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch, Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say, ‘Hi’
You better slow down. Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short. The music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift….thrown away.
Life is not a race.

Do take it slower.

Hear the music…

Before the song is over.

 

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Posted by: rivettingkatetaylor | December 14, 2010

remember this at Christmas

  Remember, the greatest gift is not found in a store or under a tree, but in the hearts of true friends.
~Cindy Lew

 

Please feel free to view more masterpieces by clicking the “My thought for the day” tab above 🙂

 

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Posted by: rivettingkatetaylor | December 6, 2010

Spot the difference (via Homepaddock)

There's this version: Six people have died on the roads this weekend – two of the deaths after police pursuits. There is another version: Six people have died on the roads this weekend – two of the deaths after drivers fled police. Then there's this version: Police Minister Judith Collins says she's confident the police are doing all they can to ensure public safety, despite the deaths of 19 people this year following police chases. Which could h … Read More

via Homepaddock

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Posted by: rivettingkatetaylor | December 6, 2010

Paying it forward

Rivettingkatetaylor is a firm believer in paying it forward or that what goes around comes around.

Those who do something not-so-nice will get their comeuppance one day. Today it’s about the ones who do the right thing – do something for someone just because they can. Help someone else’s kid because you hope one day someone will help yours.  Helping someone pick up stuff they’ve dropped because you would hope someone would help you. When you say “oh, it’s no trouble”, usually, it really isn’t! Paying it forward even has its own wikipedia entry! (and there was a move about it a couple of years ago.)

Seven years ago, I had a deadline the week my Dad died and a fellow journalist did the last few stories for me, refusing payment because of the circumstances of me having to ask her for help (I think it was only one story and she probably doesn’t even remember).

This morning, another friend phoned to ask if I could help as her Dad had suffered a stroke and she wanted to fly down to him. The answer, of course, yes, if I can, and explained, when she offered payment, why it wasn’t necessary.

Timing is everything – we only caught up last week after not seeing each other for about 18 months!

Her call also brought a few other things back into perspective. She thought briefly of not going because of the deadline. But I think (would hope) that

I felt shitty quite a bit of the weekend about a project that was supposed to come to fruition at the end of last week for school (freebie) but when the product arrived, it so totally did not meet expectations. I was gutted, grumpy and quite embarrassed for I really thought it would be a success.

But when it comes down to friendships and people’s Dads, what the hell do a few not-so-flash fundraising tea towels mean in the bigger scheme of things.

My faith has just been restored. I have deleted my last line about needing a new screenprinter….. the man has just phoned. The school ones that arrived in black have just been redone and are on their way to school in red. The others will be redone this week, with a bit more time spent on them, and I am sending them digital copies of the drawings so he can lighten or darken them up there. He will have them on the courier by Friday. Please cross all available fingers and toes.

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Posted by: rivettingkatetaylor | December 3, 2010

Young Farmer Contest underway

Some district competitions are about to get underway for The National Bank Young Farmer Contest for 2011.

That’s a mouthful isn’t it. It’s easier when I’m writing stories in Word – I have the autocorrect set just the way I like it. I type TNBYFC and it suddenly springs out with the name in full.  Same with the like of PNN for Palmerston North, NZZ for New Zealand, HBB for Hawke’s Bay, BFEAA for the Ballance Farm Environment Awards, HBRCC for the hbb Regional Council…. whoops see that – autocorrect doesn’t work on here! I didn’t do that on purpose by the way 🙂

I had meant to put a post on last week after I attended the Contest launch in Masterton. Here’s the release…

Masterton hosts Launch for the 2011 National Bank Young Farmer Contest

 

The National Bank Young Farmer Contest has been officially launched for 2011.

Masterton District Council hosted the gathering of Young Farmers members, Contest Sponsors and members of the Wairarapa farming community at the Masterton Town Hall.

The launch was attended by three former winners –  Leo Vollebregt (1987) and Callum Thomsen (2007) from the East Coast as well as current Contest Champion Grant McNaughton from the Tasman Region in the South Island.  Former South Wairarapa Young Farmers Chairman, two-time Grand Finalist and Nuffield Scholar Paul McGill is heading the organising team for the 2011 Grand Final.

The Copthorne Hotel and Resort’s Solway Park, the Beetham family’s historic Brancepeth Station homestead, Masterton A&P Showgrounds and the new 1200-seat Wairarapa College auditorium will be the main venues during the event from the 29th June – 2nd July.  

Mayor Garry Daniell said Masterton was thrilled to be hosting the prestigious event.

“A Grand Final brings more intensity, more pressure, more drama and more reward as the contestants undergo three days of physical and intellectual challenges as they seek to blaze their way into the history books.”

New Zealand Young Farmers President Richard Fowler thanked the Masterton District Council for getting behind the event so enthusiastically. He also outlined the organisation’s new Pipeline Programme “expanding what we do in Young Farmers down into primary school students and carrying on personal development after Young Farmers as well. It is critical for the future of the industry”.

Contest Chairman Tim Cookson said the Contest was just one part of Young Farmers but it embodies everything about the organisation and what it does for its members.

“The Contest encourages excellence in agriculture, provides personal development, leadership growth and development of practical skills, as well as the friendships and fun that all those involved get out of the Contest.

“This applies to the Contestants, organisers and hundreds of volunteers right through from the Districts and Regions through to Grand Final level.”

He outlined three initiatives introduced in 2010 that would be repeated in 2011 – the successful screening of each Regional Final on TVNZ 6, the awarding of four sectional prize winners – the Ravensdown Agri-skills Challenge, Isuzu Agri-sport Challenge, AGMARDT Agri-business Challenge and the Lincoln University Agri-growth Challenge – and the consideration of a contestant’s “community footprint” or the way in which their lifestyle adds value to their community.

The Contest is proudly supported by principal sponsor – The National Bank; gold tier sponsors – Ravensdown, Isuzu, AGMARDT and Lincoln University; and prize sponsors – Swanndri, Honda and Echo for the 2011 season.

The National Bank Managing Director of Rural Banking Charlie Graham said the Contest represents the best of rural New Zealand. “It is enduring, challenging, varied and exciting. We are all really proud to be associated with this event. It will be great to have the Grand Final in Masterton – a District that is also representative of rural New Zealand.”

2010 Contest Champion Grant McNaughton said the Contest offered the opportunity for our future leaders to step up, grow, develop and enhance their skills.

“There is no course you could ever take which will match the personal development achieved through participating in The National Bank Young Farmer Contest.  It offers those who enter an opportunity to test their integrity, will, skill, attitude, character and confidence. It offers an opportunity to put yourself and your reputation on the line alongside your peers.”

His advice for those hoping to be competing in the 2011 Grand Final in Masterton? “Don’t just be good, be the best. Prepare and compete beyond your ability – the reward to being The National Bank Young Farmer Contest Champion far exceeds the work and effort required to compete.”

 

Note from rivettingKateTaylor: Here’s an article in the Farmer’s Weekly that has just been brought to my attention – great feedback for Young Farmers.

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Posted by: rivettingkatetaylor | December 3, 2010

little piece by someone else on the Pike River tragedy

This from Jamie Mackay:

http://farmingshow.blogspot.com/

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Posted by: rivettingkatetaylor | December 1, 2010

on the radio again

My blog always spikes when I’m on The Farming Show with Jamie Mackay – I’ve yet to beat the days when the Norsewood gunman was on the loose, Michael Laws was naughty or Paul Henry shot his mouth off, but it’s nice to know some new people get to read the witty tribulations of rivettingkatetaylor (aside from my mum and sisters of course).

Seriously, I do have a little following of my own in web blog land. I float around in my own little rural paradise bubble and anyone is welcome to come and join me anytime they wish 🙂

While waiting for Jamie to phone today, I was looking at my facebook page reminding myself what feedback there was on there after my offal blog.

There were photos from my 2nd cousins who recently spent yet another weekend up at my most favourite place in the whole world (apart from my bed on a cold night with the leccy blankie on). (whoops, silly me, I’ve told the South Islanders it’s neeeever cold in Hawke’s Bay…)

Anyway, (after I get all jealous about the freedom of these young cousins to tootle off to Kinloch jetboating every other weekend…lol) my fave place is Kinloch. Lake Wakatipu’s Kinloch not the North Island Taupo version. The two are nothing alike. Taupo Kinloch is far too organised and well supplied. Wakatipu Kinloch has a dozen houses/cribs (no! not baches! they’re in the South Island so I’m allowed to call them cribs…) and the lake and the bush and the mountains and the birds and the occasional roar of the Dart River jet boats and their screaming (with delight) passengers.

Photo taken by cousin Alana from one of the top cribs at Kinloch. For those not in the know, Queenstown is away as far down the lake as you can go, then left. The the lake goes right again down to Kingston.

If I could close my eyes right now and be anywhere in the world, it would be Kinloch. (well, maybe if flights and accommodation were thrown in, and the odd native, I might consider the Greek Islands….)

Sitting on the wharf (built by my great grandfather – mum, one great or two there?) with a cold chardonnay in one hand and a fishing rod in the other (preferably with a pile of trout beside me as well).

Kinloch was first settled by Richard Cogar Bryant (he’s the great great… and he was also Queenstown’s first Harbour Master!) But my family history is a story for another day.

It’s Wednesday afternoon and I need to get ready to help with Takapau junior tennis.

I just did a search to see if I had talked about Kinloch before (I have!) including in this blog but it’s all about me – more sick-making than talking about offal 🙂

We also talked about the Raurimu Spiral from a blog I did the other day about “taking the scenic route“.

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