Fresh Words Daily

For many New Zealanders the land is important.  Away from home and the call of the land in this small country is as strong as a mother’s hold.  I was brought up on a farm.  I had animals as pets from when I was very young. Hetty my pet hen would hop in my bedroom window and lay an egg on my bed.  I had a calf in the calf club show at school.  I rode a horse as a young girl.  I knew how to cross the farm without standing in cow dung and I could open and sometimes shut a ‘taranaki gate’.  A fearful contraption of wire and wooden battens.  In my adult life I have lived always in the city so when I can go into the country it is almost as if my heart begins to beat a special rhythm.  Penrose Farm belongs to our friends Jo and Malcolm.  It is north of Auckland at Mangawhai and Jo and Malcolm have a special magic which they have imbued in their small holding.  All the animals are friendly.  The donkeys are tame and will come up close to be patted.  The sheep will walk over and nose your pockets to see if there are any sheep nuts for them.  The rooster will eat out of  your hand and the chooks don’t mind if you put your hand under their feathers to feel for an egg.  Our adult offspring love their visits there and they love Jo and Malcolm two of the world’s nicest people.  Their humour kindness and absolute goodness makes a visit seem like a retreat.  Recently we took our grandchildren to the farm.  Kane who is 7 and Ewan who is 10 months they live in the centre of Sydney and for Kane this was  heaven.  He rode a donkey. “Hold your head up straight Kane.”  Jo instructed. And he did looking very regal.  Then he fed the rooster with grain from his hand, but the best part was going up onto the hill amongst the sheep.  Although nervous of the sheep who were boisterous when they thought there might be some tidbits he was entranced with the place.  My enduring memory is a photo of Kane sitting in the grass on the side of the hill with the sheep now going about their own business.  Kane is in his childhood dreamworld.  The day is soft and the air is pure.  The view out across the estuary to the big dune shimmers.  His face is shining with enjoyment.  These are special days.