It definitely rained every day in July, I saw it, and I’m sure it has rained 90% of August as well. We, and many others throughout New Zealand, are totally over the rain and mud. We can’t complain when we look at what has happened to houses and properties in Marlborough and West Coast though.
However, we can get excited about Spring. As I write this, the sun has finally arrived, the daffodils are up and the tulips are not far away. Plum trees have blossomed and the other fruit trees are well on their way to bursting into loveliness.
We had a tough July with sickness at home, busy with lambing (which is not ideal when you’re unwell), all the rain and mud. We struggled to find the positives for July, although when the wee lambies were born, they surely brightened up the days and bought a smile to my face.
We’re feeding three lambs currently due to mothers being unable to feed them for a range of reasons. It’s such a time consuming job and my life feels like all it is, is mixing lamb powder, warming milk, trips out to the paddocks to feed the lambs three times a day, exhausting if you’re not 100%, so I’m looking forward to when they are eating grass only.
We will have later lambs this year as the ram broke the gate and visited five other sheep that we were not going to lamb. Well the good thing is, it will be nice to have little lambs in November and December when we have people visiting the lavender field.
August started with a little bang and a big crash – the beginning was quiet and wet!! Then a couple of weeks ago Lily, our dog, got very sick. She spent two days in intensive care under the good hands of the local vet and nurses. She had to go under anaesthetic for an x-ray but during the procedure her heart stopped, the vet was luckily able to bring her back into the world. She had fluid in her chest cavity and it had to be drained. She has now been on antibiotics for a couple of weeks and is slowly coming right. We don’t really know her full health status, whether there is a cancer there, so we are monitoring her health and visiting the vet for check-ups. So far she is on the improve. The local vet and nurses were amazing and we’re so grateful to them for saving her once again. She also had a life threatening episode is April 2021, which they also did an amazing job for her. So July and August is over, thankfully. Onto nicer times and positive things to look forward to.
The NZ Lavender Growers Assn Supreme Oil Awards 2022 was held in early August and the results will be out at the beginning of September. Cross fingies for good news there!! Hopefully I have some good news to tell you all then.
The shop is coming along well and we have an opening date – 8 October 10am–3pm. Hours for the shop from then on will be Thu – Sun 10am-3pm. It’s looking great and a lot of work has been done to get it just right. It is everything I imagined and we hope you love it too. To be able to make my dream come true is very special and I am so grateful to have such a supportive husband that believes in my dreams, no matter how wacky they can be sometimes. We both look forward to you visiting us, either on opening day or thereafter.
More to follow in late September, early October.
Stu and I wish you a lovely Spring September. Until then, enjoy the sun and give a big cuddle to the ones you love, especially your bundles of fur as they are never with us long enough.
Jan & Stu x