Life in Eureka

Waking up Thursday 5th March in the morning,

looking out through our kitchen window – what is the fuck out there in the first field?

Am I dreaming or imagine that there are a couple of piglets out in the first field or not?

I blinked my eyes several times, even turn around to check the dogs in the dining room in the same broad area where there is a kitchen where I am standing.

Definitely, there are a couple of piglets running around the field.

How on earth did the piglets get into our large field in the early hour of the morning?

Surely not, the piglets help themselves to get in because of the wire fences  – the width of the size between each wire is less than the piglet stomachs.

Perhaps someone who left for work early between 530am and 7am, noticed runaway piglets and dropped off into our fields.

Shall I let our dogs out for a run or not? Surely not!

Put my dressing gown on, tuck in my gumboots along with mobile, which has a camera, to have closer inspect on these piglets. Record the activity for the report to my neighbours who owns the farm next door and for us to remember by.

Head over to our first neighbour, who is a farmhand chap with a young family of two children under 5 years old (note: the youngest is under or nearly 2 years old). That goodness, he is home from milking cows.

Asking him, did you have any missing little animals or not? He was perplexed over my question. My response was piglets, and he answered “Yep” and “Why.” I said loose runaway piglets are in the field. I said that I saw your Farm Manager drive back to their house.

Horror, annoying, and relief to know where their son’s piglets are. He said their piglets are always keeping escaping around their property.

I told him where the piglets are, and I will be letting our dogs out for a run before I go to work even the council rubbish collect truck will be soon.

Right on, let the matter done.

I walked back, finishing my coffee and checking on the runaway piglets for they are having fun running around the field.

The farmhand chap walked over by tricking them a bucket of a meal and grabbing each piglet a time.

Finally, I let our dogs out for their runs before I go off to work late. Our dogs picked up scents of piglets near the wire mesh along with three bamboo stakes, for I put up to keep our young pup out from leading into the large field.

What a moment of the morning drama!!

It bought my memory of a loose cow eating the grass in front of my window from my first home in Silverdale. I never forget that one.

 

 

Shortage of water over a long summer drought?

We, Waikato and Waipa people heard and read the article in the newspaper this morning, and the article was about Aucklanders is waiting for submissions to use our Waikato River.  Because Jaffas’ (Aucklanders) is running out of the water despite their carelessness on using too much water and can not bother to save on water-wise regularly.

Mm, in Auckland, the population of people is growing faster than the councillors and the mayor’s thoughts and the poor planning on to combat the fast-growing infrastructure around Auckland city. Surrounding the largest Auckland city on both sides is the ocean via the beach.  There is MUST BE someway to install more water pipelines from the sea into their WaterCare Service area. BUT they are not doing good jobs over planning such as motorways, housing problems, lack of pipelines, due to the fast-growing population each year. Yes, we gave them a limit of water.  The Auckland Council is crying aloud for more water from our Waikato River. The article can be found here – Calls for Crown Intervention

As you see that Waikato and Waipa are facing drought, and we use the Waikato River by paying the cost. Now it is facing difficulty to get water from the Waikato River because the river is low, and we conserve the limit of our using water each day until the rain comes along. We pay water rates under $160.00 a year – under 90 cubic metres consumed (and Jaffas -Aucklanders pay water rates too). The water rates are for the services such as installing pipelines, cleaning dirty water, how much we use water daily, collecting water from the Waikato River, and so on.

Where the Waikato River runs from Lake Taupo to Port Waikato as outflows into the Tasman Sea? Port Waikato is under the Waikato Regional area, while Waiuku and Pukekohe are under Auckland city where the boundaries line run.

 A bit of the history of Waikato Rivers under Tanui – Waikato.

For many years Tainui tribe have sought to re-establish their links to the river after the New Zealand Wars (see Invasion of the Waikato) and the subsequent confiscations of the 1860s, and are continuing negotiations with the New Zealand government. The Tainui iwi was advised not to bring a case for the river before the Waitangi Tribunal as they would not win. An out of court settlement was arranged and the deed of settlement signed by the Crown and Waikato-Tainui in August 2008 settled the raupatu claim to the Waikato River, although other claims for land blocks and harbours are still outstanding. Waikato-Tainui now have joint management of the river with the Waikato Regional Council. Waikato River

We were, fortunately, to learn from our grandparents even great-grandparents on collecting rainwater in their lives during the drought in 1945-1946, 1972, 2007-2008, 2010 and 2012-2013. Here is the drought data from NIWA – our Waikato.

What can farmers prepare to do before the drought-hit in the future?

■ Build more dams.

■ Plant trees as feed.

■ Changthe e stock mix.

■ Improve irrigation

■ Leave grass longer.

According to the Stuff.co.nz online newspaper 2013 – I don’t think everyone read the papers or do not believe that there will be climate problem here in the future. Note the article posted in 2013, and we are in 2020.

Other warnings include:

Heat: Higher temperatures will mean an increase in demand for air-conditioning systems and, therefore, for electricity in summer. But there will be a reduction in demand for winter heating.

Flooding: More frequent intense winter rainfalls to increase the flooding by rivers, as well as flash flooding when urban drainage systems become overwhelmed.

Water: Water demand during hot, dry summers. Lower river flows in summer will aggravate water quality problems.

For us – we live in the lifestyle property with one solid PVC tank and another old concrete tank that can be used, but maybe for the future need as long we find some money to repair the tap.  Recently I bought two blue drums and two portable water tanks four years ago. I noticed there had been changing in the seasons when I was doing gardening and watering the gardens and vegetable gardens. I prepared early than too late without costing us a lot of money to install pipe fittings. In the first photo – a 1000 water storage tank next to the downpipe from the gutter, and we have old downpipes and pieces of corner pipes from the old house. We will be doing this job before Autumn. In the second photo from a person who made it- next to the greenhouse which we have got one greenhouse (six walls sided) in our property. Two blue drums (200/250Litre) will be placed on each side of the greenhouse and use Flexi pipe tubes and other pieces hook up. The cost of buying Flexi pipe tubes would be around $8 for 6 metres. Budget Wise is more essential for us to.

My simple advice is to get thinking cap on and do the planning on saving water, prepare any water storage tanks before the next long drought in the future which you may never know instead complaining about the shortage of water everywhere and paying the high cost of the water rates.

 

1. Self-Awareness
2. Communication
3. Influence
4. Learning Agility

Self-Awareness – Require to understand what is your strength and weakness. There are four crucial tools anyone requires to learn and develop from time to time.

1. Leadership wisdom – taking your own time to reflect your own experience regularly
2. Leadership Identity – what is your position, job role, disability, and personal context
3. Leadership Reputation – is what others think of  your reputation as current and previous behaviour
4. Leadership Brand – you aspire to and the actions you take to support any projects, group, EGL

Communication – Communicating information and ideas. Anyone encouraging discussion, building trust, conveying the vision and strategic intent, and pulling people along with you. There are several ways of getting engage in communicating methods such as authenticity counts, visibility, and listening/watching (Deaf people) – powerful skill. There are five main tips for communicating effectively, which are communicating relentlessly, simplify and be direct, listen and encourage input, illustrate through stories, and affirm with actions.

Influence – you need to develop influencing and leadership skills to help you to communicate goals, algin the efforts of others and build commitment from people in any area. Again there are 3 areas to learn about this one – logical appeals, emotional appeals, and cooperative appeals.

Learning Agility – the need for the ability to learn from the mistake and to constantly be in a learning mode, to value, to seek out the lessons of experiences. Again there are four essential keys which are to be a seeker, hone your-sense making, internalise experience and lesson learned,  and adapt and apply.

 

How can any people with disabilities, including Deaf/Hard of Hearing, achieve this by becoming leaders in their or within their community?

From the article which is worth reading, and the person wrote this article Danny West (edited by Shannon Kelly). Social Model of Leadership: Why disabled people are the leaders of tomorrow

It is time for New Zealand – people with disAbilities, including Deaf people to take up and learn about leadership training. Yes, there were several workshops in the past, but not enough. We need to take time and increase more awareness in the social model of leadership within society. It does not matter whether a person born with a disability or became disabled later in their life. Jean prefers anyone with their experience right from birth because they have long term experience living with disability than anyone who became disabled in later life, such as involved with an accident. Jean is living experience in deaf since 18 months old.

 

Can anyone think of anyone is/was the famous or hated leadership person in the world? Name a few people anyone can imagine.

Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Vladimir Putin – Russia, Mao Zedong – China, Donald Trump, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Benjamin Franklin, Martin Luther King J. – USA, Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill – UK

Norman Kirk, Richard Seddon, Michael Joseph Savage, David Lange, and Helen Clark – NZ. Maori people – Apirana Ngata, Whina Cooper, Te Puea Herangi, Tahupotiki Wiremu Rātana, Te Rauparaha

Nelson Mandela – South Africa, Dalai Lama – Tibet, Mahatma Gandhi – India, Adolf Hitler – Germany, Eva Peron – Argentina, Fidel Castro – Cuba, Che Guevara – Argentina, Napoleon Bonaparte – France, Ashoka – India, Muhammad -Arabia, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs – USA, Angela Merkel – Germany, Aung San Suu Kyi – Myanmar

Yes, many disabled people became leadership –

Ferdinand Berthier (Paris, France) and Dr. Jordon I King (New York, USA), David Buxton, Rt Hon Lord Jack Ashley, Dr. Terry Riley (England), Armand Pelletier and Bernard Truffaut – France  Deaf men. Marie Jean Philip, Marlee Matlin, Marylin J. Smith, Ruth Benedict, Annie Jump Cannon, Claudia Gordon – USA, Judith Gordon Low, Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna- England Deaf Women.

We added more people with disabilities such as Minnie Baragwanath (Blind person), Helen Adams Keller (Blind Lady), Harriet Tubman,  Robert Martin, Galileo Galilei, Thomas Gore, Judy Heumann.

The deaf blogger met several Deaf people in the past during the holiday and attended several conferences in the USA and Europe. The most popular people were Armand Pelletier, Lord Jack Ashley, Dr. Jordon I King. Armand and Bernard encouraged the deaf blogger to continue studied and become a deaf historian-blogger. Lord Jack Ashley helped the deaf blogger to maintain the leadership role and to update the skills within the Deaf community and Disabled community.

In New Zealand, Norman Kirk, Richard Seddon, and Michael Savage were the Prime Ministers, and only two important men were the most rememberable for their leadership roles at the time of changing the society and during the Depression Years in New Zealand.

It is looking at Abraham Lincoln and his connection with the Deaf Community in the USA. The most signification was on April 8th, 1864, he signed the college’s charter and President Grant signed the diplomas for each student from the beginning to present.

Dr. Jordon I. King was the first Deaf President of the Gallaudet University after leading the massive protest by the Deaf community in 1988. This protest made a huge impact on many Deaf people around the world because the previous president was a hearing female, for she had no experience in sign language and Deaf culture. Many Deaf people protested for the right to remove the chairwoman of the Board of the trustees because she told the audiences that “the deaf are not yet ready to function in the hearing world.” The chairwoman’s statement reflects audism—discrimination based on audiological status.  Many Deaf students, staff, families of the Deaf children, push harder to have their right to have the first Deaf President, and Dr. Jordon’s quote was, “Deaf people can do anything hearing people can do except hear.”

How can they do well in the past and the present anywhere in the Government agencies, workplaces, schools, disability organisation and other organisation such as Enabling Good Lives, District Council?

These people have had excellent skills to achieve and work together as a team player. The core leadership skills in every role anyone must need is called fundamental 4. Inside the fundamental 4, are four tools, which are self-awareness, communication, influence, and learning agility. The blogger will explain more on these four tips later on.

In the Leadership theories, we have the most prevalent influences on everyone in many countries, and they are: -Great Man Theory 1840s

– Traits Theory 1930s-1940s

–  Behaviours Theories 1940s-1950s

– Contingency Theories 1960s

– Transactional leadership theories 1970s

-Transformational Leadership theories 1970s

– Situational Theories

– Participative Theories

For example, there is one theory called ‘The Crab Theory’ (formerly known as crabs in the bucket). Basically, in the Deaf community, the Deaf people struggling to achieve leadership roles, or try to get out of the bucket for a better life. Here is an article from Gallaudet University Crab Theory

Not all leadership people were no good because of the power became corrupt, living in strong communist countries. Many people can not escape from poverty, lack of economy, wars, and famine.

 

 

 

Want to know how to conserve water-wise from an experienced couple?

Pretty much simple solution ways of saving water for a household of two people plus three dogs in the rural area and less paying the water meter rate bills. We paid under $350.00 a year.

Summer here and it always scorcher times but lovely to have a bbq with a group of friends, go for a swim in the swimming pool in your backyard, watering large gardens including vegetable garden even to wash more than two cars on the concrete ground.

Auckland declared the drought for the first time in seven years a few days ago on the media news. Waikato including Waipa have not declared yet BUT in the Waipa area, people have been warned to not use all the water from the Waikato river because it is running low while their council Reservior tanks are almost low for all the local people. The ‘Jaffa’ people of Auckland have been using our Waikato river while they pay water rates to their Auckland City Council, not to us – unfair.

Have you been using water-wise or not? Are you paying too much on water rates in your area?

There are really simple solutions to save water daily.

• have two people (partners) in a shower together and probably three times a week if you are working five days a week. If not, then shower twice a week when you are not working more than five days a week and not going out somewhere. First run the shower by having a bucket to allow cold water first into medium temperature water for two of you, then move the bucket aside and have a shower together.
• brushing your teeth – just turn on the tap and rinse the toothbrush and turn off the tap while brushing your teeth.
• Washing the dishes, no need to wash the dishes daily even three times a day. NO dishwasher because of the dishwasher use heap of waters just like flushing the toilet. For us, it is only two of us plus three dog’s bowl and we wash three times a week or less than three times a week. You can wash the dishes in the large bowl or bucket over the sink then tip the water into the garden.p
• When toilet. mm, it is a hard one. Best to flush the half-tank button (urine only depending on how time two of us use the toilet – twice a day with the lid closed during the day). If there are any faeces there, then flush it out for safety hygiene.
• Washing the car/s in the grassy area in the shade or early evening by hand bucket and hand hose watering if your devices have a switch off/on so the water runs off into the grass areas. Not in the sun.
• Hand hose in the vegetable and flower garden every two or three days. NO sprinkler if there is a ban warning around your area. If it is okay, then use the sprinkler  on a timer in each plot of the vegetable garden. I did not use a sprinkler, only hand hose every two or three days depending on vegetables. Any other days, I use a hand watering can for the seedlings and in the greenhouse during the evening. It is a best time to do watering the garden in the evening so plants take water overnight slowly.
• Washing clothes in the washing machine by a half tub or in a full tub twice a week. if you have a large family. We wash our clothes once a week as it is only two of us.
• Prepare to make collecting rainwater in a large drum or in the large rubbish bin by the PVC pipe from the sprouting/downpipe via gutter pipe before the winter hits. We have two huge rainwater tanks plus two blue food-grade drums last year. But we did not receive lots of rainwater last Winter.
• 
• Note our white large water tank was messy when I took this photo and I tidy it up several weeks ago.
• The most important of all is to have a regular check with your largest water storage tank once a week. Otherwise, you will end up paying a huge bill for getting a water delivery from the supplier.
• Turn your garden into mulches and it save watering less a week, but still need to check the moisture of the mulches and the soil by testing your finger into the soil. See how much wet moisture in the ground or too dry. Beware to not put mulches up to the trunks of the plants and trees as it will dry up the trees and plants like suffocating the air and foods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is a lead mean to everyone? Is it difficult to understand, or does anyone familiar the role of leadership during the meeting, teamwork, workplace or in the community?

One person wrote a blog and this person mentions if anyone wants to improve the skill into a great leader. The top 15 essential guides are:-

What is a lead mean to everyone? Is it difficult to understand, or does anyone familiar the role of leadership during the meeting, teamwork, workplace or in the community?

One person wrote a blog and this person mentions if anyone wants to improve the skill into a great leader. The top 15 essential guides are:-

• Honesty and Integrity
• Confidence
• Inspire Others
• Commitment and Passion
• Good Communicator
• Decision-Making Capabilities
• Accountability
• Delegation and Empowerment
• Creativity and Innovation
• Empathy
• Resilience
• Emotional Intelligence
• Humility
• Transparency
• Vision and Purpose

Another article by a different person wrote along with a useful example of skills anyone must-have.

• Patience
• Empathy
• Active listening
• Reliability
• Dependability
• Creativity
• Positivity
• Effective feedback
• Timely communication
• Team building
• Flexibility
• Risk-taking
• Ability to teach and mentor

It is essential to have any of these skills anyone requires to get involved with the meeting, workplace, government agencies and other types of business.

What about People with disAbilities, including Deaf people involving other people in the Health Sector group, EGL Leadership (Enabling Good Lives), Organisation such as Blind Foundation, City Council?

What are ‘crab in a bucket theory’, ‘tiger economy’, piranha theory?

Not a drop of rain in sight since the last year.. when did we including our neighbours last receive heavy rain?

Each day I travelled to work in the city of Hamilton or other towns – Cambridge, Te Awamutu and noticed many farmlands are going brown quickly.

Take another look at the photos –

A couple photos of cows in our neighbour’s share farm land. There are no sight of green grass for cows except for weeds that cows loves to eat plants. Not the poisonous weeds. In our vegetable garden, there is some sight of green weeds among the brown grass.

Here is couple photos of our section under the trees.

There is a mixture of brownish and green around our large property. Most of the green grass is shelter by the shade which prevent from drying out in the harsh sun.

When you walk and you could hear the crushing sound coming from your shoes where I cannot hear, BUT to feel the crushing movement under my feet for I know it is scorched as tinder leaves.

From mid-2019 to the present year, it is becoming more dry and less rain as we noticed the difference from 2014 when we moved here. Over the winter season, there was less rainfall – less than 40mm in a month while the next month was 10mm a month.

The farmers here are planning to install a large water storage pond which stored water for emergency. There is a catch – the high cost of making a large water storage pond, the materials such as irrigations, black liners and the paying of the delivery water from one supplier.

For me, I am careful when I do watering the vegetables gardens and flowers/herb garden sections. It is essential to think about what kind of vegetable plants, flowers, herbs, even young fruit trees can withstand less water or more water feed. Every two or three evenings, I watered the gardens for one hour and any other days I do hand water from the bucket in the greenhouse. We do have a couple large water tanks plus bore water with the hand pump via the pump hut here. We have two options to switch on and use water from the storage tank via Council Reservoir or switch off and to use the hand pump from our ground bore water. So far, we have not to use the hand pump to take bore water yet.

Are we people facing global climate warming, or is it “mankind” destroy the climate and environment?

 

When you are happy or sad

When you are hurt or feeling great

When you are busy or feeling bored

When you can not decide on what you want, or you decide what you want to do

When you are weak or strong

When you love someone or hate someone

the lists go on..

Don’t despair for your life has been made on what you are doing in daily routine by above – God or things do happen automatically if you are atheist.

My favourite pastime is to sit down, relax and look out the window or out in the pasture even in the garden.

Start looking at yourself if you are doing the wrong thing, pushing yourself too hard, feeling envious over your friends/family, stop blaming or hating someone even being jealously over another person. Don’t start worrying too much; otherwise, it will go down pitful.

I am grateful for what I achieve something I need, gain something little into big, rebuild my health one at a time and often constantly double-check over few things to make sure it is alright or not.

Being deaf along with health issues that I live with these symptoms all my life, do not bother me for I am is what I am the person around. My deafness does not stop me from doing anything in my daily life.

Stop and ponder what you are doing for!

Do you complain where the money has gone out the window?

Do you complain or grumbling the food prices among other technology including electricity and fuels has gone up?

The world is changing so fast than the good old days where foods and fuels were cheaper. Of course, there are so many wars, fighting, killing other people even animals, climate-changing – bushfires, drought, flooding and the list go on.

I came across the famous quote by Albert Einstein as above. It reminds me daily – like riding a bike every day and keep balancing my life where ever I go.

 

 

Unable to hear the sound for I can not hear anyone walking down the lane in Milan, Italy.

Walking down the corridor at the Milano Centrale Railway Station, seeing people rushing, chatting, yelling, dropping bags,  children even babies crying – unable to hear them.

Persons waving their arms and hands in the air caught my sight BUT did not give me any clue for it is body gestures on what they were asking.

Coming out of the Train Station, taxi drivers bombed at my face as they were talking, for I can not pick up any Italian conversation. One thing for I noticed their fingers rubbing against thumbs – sign for money, pointing themselves to take you and in the car, pointing out there where to go.

Try hard to lip read the Italian language such as i tassì, lo albergo, la tariffa, and try to think of the word ‘deaf’ in Italian – sorda (feminine). End up signing/pointing and facial expression as no via shaking head sideways in front of the taxi drivers. Only one good Samaritan driver forward as he understands for sono sorda (I am deaf). 

Seeing the traffic – drivers waving their hands in the air, beeping their car horns and facial expressions such as angry, mutter, frown even annoy on the way to the lo albergo (hotel). So alien to me – their Italian culture. So strange to me!

Arriving right up to the front of the ingresso dell’hotel (hotel entrance), tassista (taxi driver) pointing himself and pointing to my luggage for he carries my baggage to the reception dell’hotel (hotel reception). Try to lip read tassita to the persona di accoglienza (hotel reception) – nothing works for me, but I see him using his hand flat and patting to his ear if it means to block or nothing to hear. The tassita turned and gave me a number sign for the la tariffa in return I gave him the money.

Travelling around Italy by tour bus – oh what fun to meet new people and to learn a new language. The tour manager/guide was great, for she knew that I am deaf among the hearing visitors.

Torre pendente di Pisa – Tower of Pisa

The impressive sight of Torre pendente di Pisa, surrounding many people who were chatting, clicking their cameras, talking and seeing their facial expressions of awes, walking even shouting each other. Nothing helps me to hear except to look at the wonder of Torre pendente di Pisa and walked up to the top. Wow, seeing a beautiful view on a sunny and warm day. Oh, what a peaceful calm for me!

Mind you! Watch out for the beggers, crafty people walking around with a double folded newspaper, children hanging around you even behind your back. Beware if you were carrying the bag over the shoulder, backpack for they are intelligent enough to pitch your expensive camera, purse, passport, and many other presents/items. Watching the crafty men who carrying a double folded newspaper – oh boy how quick they were, and they were sneaking as a snake. Oh boy! How Amazing their thief artwork in pitching money, purse by bumping you, or tippytoe passing you. Do not hear the sob story from the fake beggars and dirty clothes children wear in the street. Saw a couple children running down the alley street after pitching the visitor’s money out of their bag while the visitor taking photos. How so quiet the children pitched the money out of the purse. I looked up at the visitor’s face in terror and shouting for help when everyone looked at the visitor by hearing the cried of support. I was quick to read the body language, the surrounding of the places, in the street and stay alert, even to stand behind the person from your tour group.

Sitting down in ristorante pizzeria (pizza Resturant) and enjoying the delicious sizeable thin crust pizza – twice as the dinner plate for I eat the whole lot. My new-found friends from California were learning my sign language and gestures over pizza, the il cameriere (waiter) watching me signing in the air for he was interested in my sign language and walk around by collecting dirty plates, washing the tables surrounding us.  A time to pay la fattura (the bill), noticed il cameriere talking to il gestore della pizza (the pizza manager) about me. Hard to lip-read what they were saying, for I saw they put the hands up to their ears. Il gestore della pizza granted us free for the meal we ate, OH what a delightful surprise for il gestore della pizza signed back to me in Italian sign language. I understand a few Italian sign language in my early days. 

In Firenze (Florence), a person handed me the phone as thinking I will talk over the phone. I signed in no – each hand moved oppositely and pointed to my ear – nothing to hear. How stupid or lack of understanding che cosa è sordo per te? (What is deaf mean to you?)  Oh, bother! Do I need to explain or walk away? Lovely chap for he is hard of hearing muttering to his daughter. Impossible to lipread this chap for I understand he was telling her by his stern facial expression- what a stupid girl! I can not hear the phone even can not speak over the phone. The daughter was so embarrassing for I saw her face went shocked and showing a few rosy cheeks.

There is no such language to learn to speak in Italian except to signs and sights of beauty surrounding lands and places in Italy. BUT to learn to read their Italian nouns and basic sentence tan to lip-read their mouth.

Many trips to Europe – Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Austria, Monaco was one of my highlight experiences. I wish to go back to Europe again….

 

 

What hotter day in Eureka so far!

Today the temperature is climbing to a big 30oC.

Not long ago, I need to go to the toilet room and only just to found Joseph, our older dog sleeping in the laundry next to the smallest toilet room.

Blast! Joseph for he won’t shift to make way for me to get in. Rat! I climbed over him.

Our other two dogs – Jazz the young one while the newest pup waiting for me near the dining table.

I put many ice cubes in their water bowl so our newest pup can play with it. Oh, what a fun way to play with fresh ice cubes by suckling it or patting the water into splashing all over the floor.

Dogs are struggling to find the right place to keep their bodies cold while I am working in the office with a couple of windows where the lovely fresh breezes coming in. Haaa, what a refreshing cool breeze is in my office at home, for I am resuming to work today!

I would not allow dogs to go outside for the grasses are far too hot for their little paws this afternoon, and the lawns are dying for the rain to come.

We, in the rural community, are brisking for a long drought for the second year in the Waikato area. We all are careful about using the water when milking the cows, washing the clothes, watering the gardens, even vegetable gardens, and the list so on.

We live here for 6 years and we were lucky to have our skills in conserve of the environment.