Rough Fell Sheep

We found these sheep on the towpath of the Leeds to Liverpool Canal at Barnoldswick. They quickly hopped back over the dry stone wall as we approached them. Which explained the mystery of how so many stones had fallen off and out of the wall.

I'm not entirely sure what breed they are but suspect that they're rough fell sheep.



I don't think you can find them in New Zealand and they'd probably get too warm in Auckland anyway. I probably wouldn't be able to find a Lancashire lonk either. We'll have to go with some kind of colonial breed instead when we finally get around to stocking the paddock with our own beasts.

Destitute Digger

A destitute digger, just begging for J to restore it. What a shame we couldn't ship it all the way home from Lancashire. MAF would have fifty fits!

Strange seeds

Another set of strange seeds which I found on top of the hen-house after a tropical storm had blown through. I couldn't even work out which tree it had come from.

Bromeliad

This is my baby bromeliad which Jacqui at Aloe Aloe Gardens kindly gave to me when we stayed with her in Kaitaia. It's a neoregelia hybrid apparently.

I planted the neoregelia in mulch and topped it up with sheep pellets (much to J's dismay) and then surrounded it with big stones recycled from J's father's garden to protect it from scratching hens.

Jacqui also gave me a smaller alcantrea imperialis rubria which I'll photograph when it's looking a bit more impressive.

Mont Bretia

I know that these count as weeds in NZ but they do brighten up the borders beautifully. I'll just have to make sure that they don't spread to the bush.

Not pea pods

So what are they? These seed pods are on a smallish tree which has cherry-like blossom in spring. Any ideas?

Green grapefruit

Looking forward to July when these beauties are ripe and orange and I can catch fresh fruit for breakfast every morning.