Christmas 2025

 

The Dazzle Family are looking at the Nativity set which is outside Kowhai Corner Hall.

Settling in on the Farm

 Settling in on the Farm -  part three

The Dazzle family arrived four weeks ago to live on the farm and they have all settled in well.

After the first week Derek approached Bill and asked for his help in catching the turkey. Bill and family live in a caravan on the farm and have a pet goat.

Bill was happy to go with Derek and try and catch the turkey so they walk to the area of the farm where they have had glimpses of her. As they get closer to the apple tree they see the turkey pecking at the fallen apples. The men make their move and catch her!

Derek carries the turkey to the area he has set up for the turkey. Derek is hoping the turkey will learn to come when it is called. If it does become tame the turkey will have it's freedom during the day and will be fed in the evenings and put in it's enclosure at night. He thanks Bill for his help. 

Two weeks ago two fire fighters arrived on the farm to speak to Andrea. They told Andrea the cause of the fire in the house was caused by old wiring and that the rats had been chewing the wires. It was rumored that her father had fallen asleep while holding a cigarette. Andrea will now let the community know the truth of the fire.

Andrea has brought a donkey whose name will be Annie. Andrea and Derek have been spending time with the donkeys walking them around in an area they will use to give donkey rides. This weekend they will open on Sunday afternoon to the public for donkey rides.

There is a special guest coming on Sunday to the donkey rides and Jonathan and Esther are going to have tea and coffee available to purchase at Kowhai Corner Hall.

To be continued.....

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.

Andrea is presenting the cup to the Gymkhana winner of 2025. It is Jasmine who lives at Kowhai Corner and she has her horse at the farm.

Esther bought a new dinning chair yesterday.

The Dazzle family are ready to taste the Limited Edition block of chocolate made by Whittaker's called Brandy Snap.

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.