Larry the Lamb

You are probably thinking. 'Larry ... that's a good name for a lamb!', but this 9 month old Corriedale ram is called Burt. Larry the Lamb is the name given to a scouting activity that Bishopdale & Harewood scout troop run for the senior scouts every three years or so.

Before the event can really get under way the boys have to dig a reasonably large hole and apply some of the knots and lashings they have learnt to create a tripod.

Burt is humanely dispatched and dragged by the scouts towards the freshly dug offal pit and the tripod.

The lamb is then suspended from the tripod to allow it to be skinned.


The scouts take particular interest in the internal organs of the lamb.

Once the gutting is complete, the lamb carcass is covered with a tarpaulin while the oven is prepared.

How to use a Nokia E61 as a broadband modem on 3 in Australia

I have been struggling to use my Nokia E61 as a broadband modem in Perth on the 3 network. After a frustrating day I have finally got it to work. There is nothing on the internet explaining how to get it to work and 3 care are totally unhelpful so I thought I would throw something together.

I am running Windows XP. Below is a point by point guide:

1. Throw away Nokia PC Suite because it does not seem to work - I couldn't make it work anyway!
2. You need to use good old dial up - just like you did pre-broadband days.
3. Goto Start > Connect to > Nokia E61 USB Modem # 2 (OTA) or similar.
4. Set-up the modem to dial *99# as the phone number (it works, believe me!)
5. On the Networking tab, untick 'Enable LCP extension' & 'Enable software compression'.
6. Goto Start > Control panel > Systems > Hardware > Device Manager > Modems : select your modem : Nokia E61 USB Modem # 2 (or similar) > Advanced > 'Set Extra initialisation command' to AT+CGDCONT=1,"IP","3services"

Put a dial-up icon upon your desktop. Plug in your phone - I am using USB. Select PC Suite on your phone. Double click on your dial-up icon and ..... you should be connected.

Fire wood prices fall

Last year I was very pleased with myself when I bought a trailer load of firewood for $10. This year I have done one better and bought a trailer load or firewood for ....

$7 (about $2.50). However, I am going to use some of the wood to build some more raised vegetable boxes so it is even more of a bargain!

And the winner is .......

One of the evening events run at the Staveley Scout Camp was Lip Sync which was hosted by the local Kiwi tv stars, the Topp Twins. It is a 'Stars in their Eyes' event but (thankfully!) we were spared the singing!

My 8 year old daughter, Kirsty, decided to take part. Her High School Musical number was changed last minute to Abba's Mama Mia. She has only seen the movie 4 times since Christmas. She performed in front of 250 scouts and she won the solo artist event!

She was well pleased with herself and won a MP3 player!

Canyon Adventure

One of the activities at the Staveley scout camp was a drive in a 4 by 4 followed by a 12 km walk through some spectacular country. The scouts can be seen here negotiating a suspension bridge.

I feel sure Lord Baden Powell would have definitely approved!

Wool Shed Creek Hut

A network of huts is maintained by the Department of Conservation to encourage Kiwi's and tourists to tramp (walk) in the countryside. This is Wool Shed Creek hut which is a few km's away from Staveley near Ashburton.


In this hut you can get warm by the fire, enjoy a hot meal, top up your water, get a good wash, and have a good nights sleep .......


for a whole $15 (about £6). I passed through here when I took a party of scouts through on a day walk at the Staveley Camp 2009. The more I see of NZ the more I love the place!

ps. The flag flying on the hut belongs to Lyttelton Sea scouts! :0)

The Vegetable Garden

This year we have spent a lot of time developing the vegetable garden. We have relatively shallow soil so we have been using raised beds in wooden boxes.

We have been successfully growing radish, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, rhubarb, peas, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cabbage, sweet corn, peppers, courgettes, sprouts, leeks, basil, lemons, grapefruit, marrows, beetroot and a few other things besides. So far this month we have not had to buy any vegetables or salad.

Sausage & Beef Burger

We have been warned that you should never name your cattle because it makes it more difficult when the day of reckoning comes. However, we have already names our two Hereford Friesian crosses Sausage and Beef Burger. They cost $300 (approx £120) each and will be 350Kg of beef each in 18 months time. After slaughter costs of $1 per kg, the meat will be about $2 (80p) per kg.

Chickens move into their New Accommodation

'Keith the Fencer' came before Christmas and started paddocking up the section. We installed two chicken enclosures 20 metres by 20 metres each. Our existing chickens have moved into one of the enclosures.

We have noticed an improvement in the quality of the eggs since their move. The eggs yolks are now a brilliant orangey yellow colour largely because the chickens are eating grass and insects to supplement their diet.

The second enclosure will shortly be filled with some other birds which we will keep for meat but I cannot decide between chickens, ducks, turkeys or geese. Now what will it be?

intentse newspaper

While at scout camp I was involved with the creation of a un-official camp newspaper called intentse. intentse took a fun look at camp life and the first three editions were printed underground and delivered late at night. Cutting a long story very short, by day four we became part of the camp team and published under the Staveley News banner. PDF's of intense can be found by clicking through to:

http://staveleynewsintentse.googlepages.com/

Six Scout Leaders & a Trampoline

The last week has been spent at the Staveley Scout Camp. About 250 scouts from the South Island converged on the Staveley camp near Methven and had a total blast. Pictured above are some of my colleages from Brussle Scouts (combination of Harewood and Bishopdale troop and Russeley troop) celebrating Jon's 21st birthday. From left to right is Roger, Ian, Peter, Jon, Reinhold and Andrew.

Lettuce Galore

The lettuces have been another success in the garden. The cold frame is stuffed full of lettuces of all different kinds and varieties. They are real easy to grow and they have saved us a fortune.

The cold frame was built out of some timber left by the builders so it cost me nothing. I bought the plastic sheet and some rope to keep it secured from Bunning's (a DIY warehouse).

There is another side to the cold frame which is just as big and this is being used to germinate some native seeds for a shelter belt which we will plant out next year.

Christmas Dinner New Potatoes

A couple of months ago we planted some sprouting potatoes into the garden. This morning we went outside to dig up some new potatoes for our Christmas dinner.

We were really pleased to see loads of potatoes when we started pulling up the roots. Some four roots later we had more than enough.

Dad in Da House

Mum and dad have been staying with us and yesterday we took them to Hanmer Springs to enjoy the hot water. Dad let his hair down (the best he could!) and got dressed up in a rugby shirt, three quarter sports pants and not forgetting his lid (a base ball cap).

I have to say the clothes rather suited him!

Perth Royal Mint

The Perth Royal Mint is literally just up the road from where we are staying. We have no idea what used to happen inside because we have been too busy working to go and visit!

You can see the gates are firmly closed!

More information can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perth_Mint

Mike enjoys a nice Green Salad

After being told by our client that he was 'piling on the pounds' Mike has gone on a diet. You can see him enjoying a nice green salad for his tea.

"Fishing Trip"

My line manager asked what we where going to achieve on this business trip and I replied that we were planning to go 'big game fishing'. During the last couple of days that is exactly what we have been doing! You can see myself and Mike after a hard days graft 'out at sea' out at Fremantle Harbour.

The Perth Skyline

The Perth skyline is seriously impressive with many sky scrappers in the central business district.