A couple of weekends ago we had an amazing time at the Wellington Zoo. Groups are allowed to sleepover for the night and trundle around the zoo checking out what the animals do at night-time. Lasagne was able to feed a sleepy old giraffe, make ice blocks for the monkey’s breakfast, and see the rather macabre contents of the freezers used to store all the food for the animals.
We left on the Friday afternoon with Lasagne and one of her best friends. I was resigned to a very long twenty-four hours, but I got more sleep than expected. Preparing well seemed to be the key - with earplugs and an mp3 player! Ok, I also had a wine with my dinner before hand…
The zoo keeper was fantastic. He was nicely laid back with the mass of hyped-up kids, and told us loads about the animals that we didn’t know. Everyone came away buzzing with the feeling we had been lucky to have such a cool experience.
The girls and I treated ourselves to a girls night out watching the local belly dancing hafla too. It was a lot of fun. The girls had a much better appreciation of how much strength and skill it takes to be good at it. They were very impressed by the tribal fusion dancers and Lavalamp was wanting to borrow my dvds as soon as we got home!
We were surprised (and a little caught off guard) by the arrival of our first lamb. She is very sweet and energetic, providing much entertainment. The mother sheep has now been named Mary (as in “had a little lamb” groan). The little one is not going to be named except in ways that correlate to our menu.
The chickens are looking much happier now as well, since the three big bolshy white girls moved on to the big coop in the sky. They were destroying the chicken run with their digging and had some very unfortunate bowel habits…lovely.
After a year of being out of operation the treadmill is back in the shed whirring patiently away. N is using it primarily for barefoot running, whereas I am using it to improve my speed. I seem to have got slower and slower over the last couple of years so it is great fun to be sprinting out really fast.
With spring coming we are gearing up to setup the tunnel house and get the gardens in order. There are a huge number of pretty things I want to try and grow this year. My herbal “healing garden” has been much more successful than I expected so I want to expand that too. I have my first almond tree planted and a fig waiting to find the perfect place. The girls and I are weaning ourselves off all the nasty chemicals in our toiletries and have been playing with some curious tinctures and various witches brews.
Lasagne has been experimenting with cooking in an attempt to conquer a certain amount of depression over the limitations of a gluten-free life. We have come up with some amazing recipes. Her pikelets and truffles have been very yummy, and I have been mastering some real treats like melting moments. She already has plans for a gluten-free cafe…
Life is super busy at the moment and we have been hit with cold after cold so I am very pleased to feel the winter slipping away. The days need to be a little longer and a bit brighter.