New supervisors

When I garden at G's - like this morning - Bean snoozes in the car to save her being ganged up against by the farm dogs.

Today all three of the farm dogs were present and keeping a close eye on my progress.

Ziggy, smiling on the left, had been told to stay in the truck, but was eyeing up his chances of getting away with a quick dash to get some cuddles from me. He didn't dare.

Penny, in the middle, was watching me carefully to make sure I got no closer to HER truck. When I did edge nearer, her hackles went up and she barked ferociously with teeth barred. I kept a respectful distance.

Tee, on the right, is the retiree but she keeps the other workers in order, barking merrily whenever somebody needs reminding she the elder - and wiser - dog of the pack.

They were fully engaged with all the comings, goings and stayings taking place around them. The extra captured the moment a car appeared on the other side of the drive...

So that was my morning. And the afternoon highlight was the unexpected arrival of Douglas, a former B&B guest, whose wife died a few months ago. He was on his way to Naseby with Alan, and they decided to stop off Chez M&B for refreshments and a chat. It turned out that Alan - who I had never met - and I have good mutual friends living on Banks Peninsula. We put two and two together and realised that we had heard of each other through those friends.

It really is such a small community in NZ.