Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Up There From Down Here - Christmas 2011

The festive season approaches with us sweltering in the sizzling summer and you snug in your winter woollies.  The traditional dinner here includes roast lamb, kumara and potatoes plus ham and salads finished off with pavlova, fruit and cream and lots of other fattening goodies!   A good family-get-together time.  

  











            Pavlova, fruit and cream - yum!                


                                                                                                                Pohutukawa in blossom

 Some of us decorate what we call the New Zealand Christmas tree rather than the usual fir.   A native tree, the pohutukawa is a mass of bright red blossoms at this time of the year.   Beaches and barbecues beckon and school is out for about six weeks.   Silage and baleage are almost finished with haymaking just around the corner.

Photo of a secluded Northland eastern beach.                    Painting of a Northland beach.

The Miniature Herefords are glossy and fat in their summer coats with Spring born calves growing well.   The bulls went into their respective mating herds in October and will be taken out in January with hopefully everything in calf.


                                        Miniature Hereford cows with the Herd Sire
                        
We can now let you know the Virtual Cattle Show for Miniature Herefords will be taking place again with entries closing on 31 May, 2012 so get busy with your cameras if you haven’t already.   There are some slight changes to the programme which you will be able to see on the Australian Miniature Hereford Breeders Network website www.amhbn.com .    Entry form and Frame Score recording will also be included.   This time, at the request of one of the Judges, we are asking for three photos of each animal – one from the front, one side on and one from the rear.   Read the Photo tips for taking front-on photos.   We are also changing the Viewers’ Choice to be a choice from classes 1 to 9 only, not an extra photo.   This gives us a better idea of how people see the different entries.   Again it will be a ballot box judging.   It is hoped all previous competitors along with new ones will join in and we are endeavouring to find out where else in the world there are mini breeders.   If anyone knows of some please contact me at riverlands27@ubernet.co.nz .


         

             Head View                                    Rear View                                          Side View
In case you are wondering, the AMHBN  is a Trans-Tasman group comprising mainly Aussies but with some Kiwis on board too.   We hold our meetings via G-mail which, with numerous people taking part, can be quite hilarious at times even though we do deal with serious matters as well.
We wish you all a safe and happy Christmas and New Year.

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