Day 4 at Barnes Farm

 Below are photos of the tour of the back forty onThursday night w Ros.


Ros with her beloved horse, 




Just after this photo their pup, Flossy,  was very excited and barking deep into the forest.  Ros thought he had a possum so we went into the deep dark forest to investigate.  He actually was barking at a wild cat - they are a thing here and as Todd explained to me they have dark tabby lines and after seeing this one way up in the tree- I understood what he meant.  Ros said she actually tamed her house cat which was a kitten of a wildcat that she rescued.  Both Todd and Ros love animals and it’s so nice to learn about the native birds and wildlife from them as well. 


Their neighbors field of kale which Ros believes they will put into round bale silage.  Or they may graze it off- I will get back to you on that.


Looking out on their neighbors dairy farm.


Todd’s woodlot from various age classes.  This photo just above has fewer trees and more pasture as a large number of them were blown down in a storm a few years ago.

In another pasture, they have about 15 ewes grazing, which shed their wool.  Todd harvests the lambs himself as they are ready, as he is a qualified butcher as well.

After saying goodbyes to Ros and Todd on Friday midday (they were heading to Swizel for girls rowing comp), I closed my laptop top and headed to Christchurch to have a look around.

Hafeeza told me about this market and Wowza it is so fun!


It didn’t take me long to find my new place in The Riverside Market.  Janice and Sandee  I’m missing you right here right now.  The recipe #23 is for sure my fav and hiking on Sat I got to thinking about it and decided to return once I was off the trail.  Both nights it’s taken me two g&ts to finish my blog so I think we can say w confidence- these are a two gin blog.  Solid.


I’m concerned now about being over the limit for driving so  I found a great little Irish bar and ordered a hearty meal of Canterbury lamb shoulder, roast potatoes in duck fat (Carol where are you?) and seasonal veggies. (Parsnip, squash and broccoli). Om gosh it tasted even better than it looked.  Only sad part is I couldn’t have a Guinness.

I need to explain if you are in Christchurch you should have a meal here - totally reasonable too.  $22 Canadian.





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