Bad things come in threes...

Poor Peter!

It has hardly rained at all since I left NZ, and the Waikato is on the brink of officially declaring a drought (quite unexpected). This of course places a lot of pressure on those managing a farm, and newly planted gardens. 

To make matters worse, last week our gardener and farm manager had to resign due to immigration issues. 

As if that wasn't enough to contend with, yesterday Peter then ended up lacerating the extensor tendons of his dominant hand due to the combination of a brand new pair of hoof trimmers and an ill-timed kick from a goat! Luckily our friend Jackie was out at Willowbrook at the time and could drive him back into town. 

He ended up in the Emergency Department, where thankfully he was surrounded by plenty of familiar and friendly faces in my absence, and very soon thereafter had the tendons repaired by a plastic surgeon friend who I went through med school with. Who says the public health system doesn't work! (I must say up front that he did not receive any special treatment, but the standard stirling work of the team at Waikato Hospital).

So, now he is faced with the problem of managing a farm and gardens with one (non-dominant) hand. He is in an elbow to finger-tip cast for 6 weeks; can not drive; in fact, was having difficulty opening the tin to feed the cat (lucky Willoughby has a large open bag of dog biscuits!).

So, my brave Peter will have to manage with the help of friends and family (I did offer to come home, but he said things weren't quite that bleak). 

Thinking of you from the other side of the ditch,

David.x