The Discussion About the Future of the Farm

This is part two of The Dazzle Family have Arrived

The owner of the farm was an old widower and he died four weeks ago in a fire in his home. His daughter Andrea has inherited the farm. Andrea has employed Derek Dazzle to look after the animals while she decides what she will do with the property and livestock. Andrea lives and works in the city. Andrea  organized a relocatable house to be put on the farm for Derek and his family to live in.

The next morning Derek went to the barn to meet Bill who has finished milking the cows. Bill shares information about the cows and introduces Derek to the cows. This evening Derek will be milking the cows and Bill will be with him, from then on it will be Derek's job to do.

In the nearby paddock is the bull which is not used for the farms cows but some of the near by farms borrow him as a stud bull and have been very pleased with the results. 

Next they go over to the horse paddock where Bill explains only one of the horses belongs to the farm the others belong to locals who lease the paddock.  If the owners wanted Bill to take care of them on occasions, the owners signed a contract will Bill. Bill explains the owners with contacts will be passed on to Derek and Derek will have the opportunity to continue the contract or refuse.

As they approach the paddock where the donkeys are they see Andrea there. Andrea introduces herself to Derek and asks him to let her know if there are any problems or things the family need to let her know. Andrea explains that her father loved the donkeys and wanted to make them available in the school holidays and Sunday afternoons for children to ride. Her father didn't have the health to do this and Andrea lives in the city.

They walk back to the barn to see the chooks.

Andrea throws some wheat on the ground and the hens and two roosters come over to get the food. There is a female turkey on the farm but it appears occasionally and it  has not been able to be caught. The male turkey disappeared a few years ago.

The last paddock is the sheep. Andrea leaves the men and reminds them to come to Kowhai Corner Hall at two o'clock where a discussion will take place as to what ideas other people have to develop the farm. The farm has not been able to get enough income to pay the outgoing expenses of the farm.

                                      

 At 2 o'clock the meeting at Kowhai Corner Hall begins with Grandfather Jonathan introducing  Andrea as the owner of the farm. 

Andrea introduces Derek as the manager of the farm and invites his family to come to the front where the community welcomes them. Then Connie offers to take the children outside for some ball games.

The boys want to play soccer so that is what they start playing... boys against girls.

 

Andrea tells the residents of Kowhai Corner that the farm is in debt and she would like to sell it but she has been advised to look at other options and that is why she has wanted to have this meeting. She asks for ideas that people may have. The ideas come quickly and they are: a dog rescue center, a rabbit rescue center, start having the donkey rides for people, increase the hens and sell the eggs, buy some alpacas, plus more ideas. Derek speaks at the meeting and says he likes gardening so he hope to be able to grow and sell vegetables. Andrea thanks the people for attending the meeting and will think about the suggestions. She does mention that any rescue center's that people would like means that they would have to make sure that they would be able to pay the rent for the use of the land.

                                        

                                         

 

  

 

 

The Dazzle Family Arrive

The Dazzle family have arrived in New Zealand from Ireland.

 

 Jonathan and Esther are at the airport waiting to meet them and drive them to the Wallace Road farm which is near Kowhai Corner.

 Jonathan and Esther go over to welcome them to New Zealand.  Esther offers to carry the baby to the truck. 

Jonathan carries the bag to the truck and he wonders if they have brought the kitchen sink with them!

They have all climbed into the truck and Jonathan starts driving them to the farm. 

Two weeks ago when Derek Dazzle accepted the position of managing the farm Andrea, who has 

inherited farm, organized a relocatable house to be put on the farm for him and his family to live in.

( Bill Sport has been working on the farm but handed his notice in to leave when the owner an elderly  man  died four weeks ago. The farm is run down and Bill Sport and family have been living on his farm in a caravan.)

The truck arrives at the house on the farm where the Dazzle family will live and Jonathan and Esther say good bye.

They unpack some of their things and eat the soup that Jonathan and Esther has given them.

An hour later they are all in bed asleep .... or is one still awake? 

Tomorrow Bill Sport is going to show them around the farm.

Photo Album 2025

 

Spring is here. Maree is feeding the lamb and David is suppose to hold the dog back.

This year the men at Kowhai Corner have met together for afternoon tea. They have decided to donate a 20L jerry can of fuel to MAF NZ (Mission Aviation Fellowship) for Father's Day.

The children have stacked up their Minecraft cubeez blocks. They were a promotion at Woolworths supermarket earlier this year. A customer received one block for every $30.00 they spent.

 
The grandparents and the Sport family have arrived at the church to attend this mornings service.

Kowhai Corner Pre School go to the Lake for a Picnic

 Kowhai Corner Pre School go on a Picnic to the Lake

Mr and Mrs Breeze and Connie are taking the older children on a picnic to the Lake today.

Mrs Breeze is explaining to the children what is on the poster with the ducks. She tells the children that you are not to feed the birds bread. So they are going to take some lettuce and bird seed to feed the ducks with.

Mr Breeze has arrived with the mini bus to take them to the Lake.

At the lake the teachers and girls scatter the bird seed on the ground and tear up the lettuce leaves for the ducks to eat. They are surprised to see a pair of swans on the lake.

They all walk over to where there are two dis used big pipes and the girls climb in and out of them.

Then they walk over to the dead branches where the girls climb on them. After a while Mrs Light tells the girls to come down and they will go and have their picnic lunch.

Connie has put the rug on the ground and brought out the picnic items from the mini bus and they have a picnic lunch.

After lunch they go to the slide where all the girls have a slide before they go back to the Centre. They have all enjoyed the picnic at the lake. For some girls it was the first time they have seen a duck.

A Day at Kowhai Corner Pre School

 

Mrs Light is at Kowhai Corner Pre School with Adam. She is going leave Adam at the Pre School for the day so she can do some business in town and do some shopping. They are welcomed by Mrs Breeze who has started the Pre School. Connie, her assistant will arrive soon to help with the children.

The children play on and with the toys provided. Mrs Breeze and Connie are discussing the routine for the children for today.

Connie reads the children a story after they have morning tea.

It is toilet time for the children they are encouraged to go before they have their lunch.

The children sit around the table or are put into highchairs to have their lunch. The mothers of the children bring lunch and bottles for their child to have. This has worked out well because different children cannot have certain foods.

After lunch all children have a rest.  Hopefully they will all go to sleep.

When the rest time is over the children go outside to play. Some children are playing in the sandpit which is on the right in this photo..

It is winter time and today is an overcast day, so there is no water play provided. Parents or caregivers must collect their children before 3.15pm.

Mrs Light had a good day in town and did what she needed to do. She picked up Adam from the pre school on time. It is now 6.45 pm and Adam is in bed at home sleeping.

The Breeze Family Buy a House

 

The James and Sue Breeze  have been looking at houses to buy.

 Today they are taking the children to look at a house that they looked through yesterday and both parents like it.

While looking through the house again the Breeze family decide to buy it. The house is minus the stairs and a door, plus they don’t like all the wallpaper on the back wall in the children's bedroom and lounge. These things can be fixed. It is going to be relocated to Kowhai Corner.

The Breeze family were successful in buying the house and it has been transported to Kowhai Corner. onto their section. Today they have moved in. The children have no problem climbing the blue ladder to get to the second floor.

The family’s first meal in the house is the evening meal of corn on the cob with bread and a drink of milk.

The family still must buy some necessary items for their house but they are so pleased to have their own home. They will enjoy buying the necessary items in time to live comfortably.    James has got the television connected and working that he and Sue spend the first evening watching television while the children are upstairs in their bedroom playing.

Update 2025: The men have worked together to strip the wallpaper off the back wall in the children's bedroom and the downstairs lounge. As a result they have found the power connections which were  underneath the wallpaper! They are just finishing removing the last part of the cork flooring in the children's room because it had started lifting.

                                                   

The Queen Celebrates her Platinum Jubilee

 The family are staying in London. They have come to watch the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

They are watching the soldiers match past when grandfather calls out to Thomas, “Grandmother is missing?”

Grandmother saw one of the Queen’s corgis run into the group of marching guards so she went and caught it. A Royal Guard thanked her and told her to go in Buckingham Palace. He gave her a note to show the guard when she arrives. Grandmother was invited to have a cup of tea.

The Queen has just left the room after having afternoon tea with Paddington Bear. Grandmother sits at the table and the servant brings out a fresh tea pot of tea for them both.

When she finishes having a cup of tea she stops and looks at the tapestry with the list of British Kings and Queens on the left and The Line of Descent of Queen Elizabeth 11 on the right side.

The Grandmother also looks at the picture of The New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, December 24^th, 1953.

The Grandmother bends down and says good bye to the corgi she rescued and two other corgis come up to her. 

The Royal Guards escort her to catch the taxi. One guard tells her to expect a parcel from Buckingham Palace when she gets home in New Zealand. (The tag on the tea towel says: The income from your purchase contributes directly to the Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity). 

She has had a lovely afternoon at Buckingham Palace.