Fashion Forward Farm Wear

Things have been super hectic here for the past few weeks. On the 10^th, Yael gave me my first grandson, Jesse. I was called down to Auckland at 2 am to take over with the girls and just sort of hung around for the next few weeks while baby and parents wrestled with feedings and sleepless nights.

I am back on the farm now and while I enjoyed the quiet, I missed the family. So after one whole day of aloneless up came all 5 Lords. And back into the chaos I jumped. I love every minute – well most of the minutes anyway.

Yael had brought me a present. It was a ‘thank you for all your hard work’ present and deeply appreciated. Throughout this blog I have complained about my wellies. The first pair – the purple ones – didn’t stand up to the rugged terrain. Into the trash went shredded purple rubber. The next pair, sturdy, heavy black boots didn’t fit right. Dan and I had scoured New Zealand but I couldn’t find a comfortable pair of wellies.

I had sounded off about this to Yael after I broke my toe. Wearing boots that are too big is an annoyance unless you’ve broken a toe, in which case it is painful. You see, my foot kept slipping around in the boot with the result that I was in constant agony.

So here I am with the only fashion forward farm footwear around. You can see the picture below. I look pretty darn snazzy in them. As long as you don’t lift your eyes beyond my knees. Above the knees, the view  reverts to grass stained khakis, crumpled T-shirts and floppy hats.

In case you were wondering, ‘yes’, we still have a drought and a scary thing it is too. But there are other liquids besides water that my wellies protect me from. Most of them abound in the paddocks and my dainty, well fitting wellies  are holding up well.

The Prime Minister has made it official. New Zealand is having a drought. Thanks to Dan’s obsessive water saving measures, we are doing well. The same cannot be said of our neighbors. One family will be buying water starting this coming week. We are now having forest fires (ring a bell, Prescott?). There is a ban on all outdoor fires. One massive fire was started by people target shooting. I’m not kidding, it is getting serious.

 In a country this small, the impact is huge. Food prices will first drop as farmers rush their stock to market since there isn’t enough water for them. Then, there won’t be the stock to sell later in the year. Prices on fresh produce are already zooming and I can see why. My tomatoes are small. Often I get only cherry sized ones from the vines that are supposed to be producing full sized tomatoes. The birds have left and ever more possums are coming down from the forests in search of food and water. Living on a farm has made nature’s impact very real and very immediate.