Yesterday I said my last gulping goodbye when Senior Son dropped me off at the airport, with my lightened luggage, to collect my little zip zip rental car. 
Wellington is very easy to drive out of especially from the airport and even in the misty rain and low cloud. My little zip zip car and I paused in Palmerston North for lunch with an old friend before we raced through the hills.. 
up the island and across the Takapau Plains,
then dropped into my home territory; Hawkes Bay. The Bay. There is a singular very specific surge of old joy when you see the land of your birth. 
Then to find my own sister Gabrielle’s gorgeous farm nestled into the hills of home was just bliss to my battered traveller’s good bye heart. Here are Maggie May and Angus. 
Her place is high in the hills of Hawke’s Bay. We will see the actual Bay later today. 
She has stunning views that need no words. 
She is raising her own herd of Devons and Fresians. Dairy cow breeds. From the left is Texas, Holly, Betty Boop, Lady and Brie. As well as two very obedient dogs, she has very obedient calves. Everyone lined up quite nicely for a shot. 
The wee heifer on the right, Mabel, is in training to be the milk cow. A naughty Daisy in the making. 
Along with you, Gabrielle reads The Farmy weblog every day, which made our walk really interesting. To everything she would laugh and say I know, I read about that. I know, she would say. So we spent a lot of time catching up on her life. 
We have not seen each other for many years due to my travel and I said to her over home grown corned beef, salad from the garden and crisp roast potatoes out on her verandah overlooking the valley. I said to her but what if I had turned into a horrible person after all these years. She laughed again, looking so like my Mother my breath caught. 
But I do know you, she said. I read your words every morning. Every morning, first thing.
One thing she did say on our walk around her property was that she was very impressed with the amazing collection of people who make up the Fellowship of the Kitchens Garden Farmy commenters. Your readers are like your friends, she said. Have you met them, she wondered. No, I said. And we both paused to look out over our beloved hills. Amazing isn’t it.
This morning as I write in the sleeping house of my sister, the rising sun is picking out the gentle colours of her roses, pointing out the dryness in the hills, (and it is only December), and warming the air – preparing us for a magnificent Hawkes Bay day.
Good morning. Today you and I are going to visit Ocean beach, then drift netting a little group of friends we are going to drive out to a beach house in Mahia for the night. This is up the East Coast of the North Island, New Zealand and is stunning. We will make the most of this amazing day.
Have a lovely day.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
81 responses to “My Sister has a Farmy”
Your sister has such a beautiful farmy, too! What breathtaking scenery you’ve shown us so far and the Hawkes Bay highlands are no exception. Love seeing the animals and I happen to love the mannequin scarecrow. I thought it was a person first, then a sculpture….well it actually IS a sculpture, isn’t it? So clever and seems entirely appropriate for those beautiful hills. Have fun with your sister!
In spite of the goodbyes of yesterday can see you smiling widely now and all of us are doing the same! Thank you for taking us to the beautiful Bay: now back up to learn the new lot of canine and bovine names 🙂 !
Tell her my girls are in love with her calves, especially Brie. Beautiful babies. And beautiful country.
Stunning scenery! And how wonderful to have a visit with your sis.
Hi Celi. So glad that the other readers figured out that it was a mannequin. I was quite perplexed for a moment there!
Being with your sister and visiting her on her beautiful farmy (love love LOVE the shot of the cows all lined up!) after having to leave your family sounds like it provided some much needed comfort as well. I think the powerful bond you two share despite your distance is beautiful and so comforting to know. A sisterly bond is like an anchor that waits for your return and knows from where you began. I feel the same with my two sisters and know that my three girls will grow up to have this connection to one another despite the twists and turns life takes them on.
This is so lovely.
Ahhhh, Sisters………. magical
Have a lovely time!
Farmies run in the family!
Stunning photos. It reminds me so much of California!
How wonderful to be Home. That connection always amazes – no matter where we go or what we do, and for how long. Hilarious of you to include the pic of the mannequin in the garden. It was very early a.m. when I first looked at the post and I peered at the pic, thought oooookkkkaaaayy… it’s too early… but the thought Celi’s sister doesn’t look like her [you’ll be happy to know] crossed my mind. The other thing I thought was that you both have elegant, romantic names as well as great farmies 🙂
Yes, Celi – my friends read my blog and Face Book, feel caught up and forget that I’ve had no catch-up on their lives. I, too, receive a lot of “I know” responses!
Would I have gone through Hawkes Bay on my travels to Cape Rienga? Oh…I just checked the map and I’m sure we went through that area. Further north, the Bay of Islands was so like my home island area. In fact, before I went to NZ, a kiwi said, “Why go to NZ for a holiday? It’s exactly like B.C.!” He was right…except I’ve never climbed a sand dune in B.C.
Also, I had not seen the force of two oceans meeting.
It’s a grand wee country, Celi.
you are right there is a force here.. it reinvigorates me.. the sea does.. and i really need to catch up with you soon.. i am getting behind.. c
Celi – May I make a suggestion? Let “catching up” go. Enjoy every moment there. We’re all like a soap opera. It doesn’t take much to pick us up where you left off. Big hug to you, as you sit on your beach and feel it beneath every inch of your body so you can take that memory to the other home.
How wonderful that you’ve got a chance to see your Sister, Celi, after so many years! I’m very happy for you both. And what a beautiful part of the World to call home. You’ve mentioned in the past that you sometimes feel homesick. How could you not? It is a special place populated with people near and dear to your heart.
Continued good times during your visit!
Sisters and friends–farms and cows…the best.
Bless! morning Alice.. c
The joy and relief of one’s own spot – finding a version of one’s self again.
That mannequin gave me a bit of a scare. For a split second I thought it was your sister and wondered what ailed her haha.
how lovely that you both have farms 🙂