(2) \u00a0When you see an\u00a0NRM\u00a0sign on the local store you know immediately what is being pushed, and\u00a0do a mental stocktake on\u00a0your supplies of chicken and horse feed.<\/p>\n
![\"NRM](\"http:\/\/www.charmedlife.co.nz\/cowboybootsandbrokenfingers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/NRM.jpg\")
<\/a>NRM Advertising<\/p><\/div>\n
(3) \u00a0You own\u00a0two categories\u00a0of clothing — Farm Clothes and Town Clothes. Farm Clothes are full of\u00a0holes, animal hair and random bits of straw. They are washed irregularly. Town Clothes are mostly outfits that can\u00a0be worn with\u00a0cowboy boots. That’s because when you get\u00a0out of\u00a0the car to open and close our farm\u00a0gate the gravel plays havoc with\u00a0shoes designed for pavements. Open toe sandals\u00a0are particularly hellish, thus summer dresses are hardly ever\u00a0part of Town Clothing.<\/p>\n
(4) \u00a0In respect of the above, Auckland friends start generously\u00a0labeling\u00a0your new look as ‘urban cowboy’.\u00a0You hope\u00a0for more of this<\/a>\u00a0to validate\u00a0your choices (although really, those\u00a0shoes are never going to\u00a0work on the\u00a0driveway gravel). Perhaps sometime soon Vogue\u00a0might care to do a Montana horse country shoot, at which point\u00a0I will\u00a0be the very definition of\u00a0fashion forward<\/a>.<\/p>\n My friend Esme is\u00a0Vogue-worthy in\u00a0her ball-gown, as\u00a0Ruby notes her\u00a0lack of gravel-capable footwear. (5) \u00a0The Byrds song ‘Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season)’ takes on very\u00a0literal meaning. On the farm there is a indeed a season for everything, and most times\u00a0I’ve just missed it. We should have limed in late spring you see — whoops, missed that. Now, repeat after me:\u00a0The shelter belts need to be trimmed in autumn.<\/p>\n (6) \u00a0While driving in the country you used to\u00a0see\u00a0grass as\u00a0just pretty green scenery. Instead\u00a0you now assess each field you pass for\u00a0weed content, and compare the level of dock \/ buttercup \/ dandelion (seasonally dependent obviously) with the crop\u00a0in\u00a0your own paddocks. You notice that some areas\u00a0of farmland elicit\u00a0severe grass envy. Your covetous inclinations also extend to tractors, quad bikes and post rammers.<\/p>\n (7) \u00a0After years of steadfastly rejecting weedkillers on the basis of their biological hazard,\u00a0you look at your paddock\u00a0of dock \/ buttercup \/ dandelion (seasonally dependent) and start to see the appeal\u00a0of a backpack full of glyphosate<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dandelion. ‘Tis that<\/em> season.<\/p><\/div>\n (8) \u00a0You own a fencing tool and a\u00a0fault finder<\/a>,\u00a0and a\u00a0faint\u00a0‘tick, tick, tick’ heard\u00a0out in a paddock prompts\u00a0a zealous search for the\u00a0electric fence short. Memories of\u00a0hoofbeats racing past the bedroom window at 2am<\/a> are all too recent.<\/p>\n (9) Your gumboot tan line has become\u00a0a year round phenomenon, and you refer fondly to this place<\/a> as PGG. After all with the dosh\u00a0you’ve spent there you jolly well should be on first name terms by now.<\/p>\n What are the things that mark\u00a0you as\u00a0a country dude, an\u00a0urban\u00a0adventurer, or both?<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How to tell that you’re acculturating\u00a0to country life: (1) \u00a0Although for decades you\u00a0drank town water\u00a0with no qualms, you now notice that it\u00a0smells of chlorine. You\u00a0find yourself getting precious about having only Northland\u00a0rainwater in your drink bottle. You worry that this… Continue Reading ![\"Horse](\"http:\/\/www.charmedlife.co.nz\/cowboybootsandbrokenfingers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Esme-and-Ruby-1.jpg\")
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Shot at Te Atatu Pony Club (not Montana).<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Dandelion\"](\"http:\/\/www.charmedlife.co.nz\/cowboybootsandbrokenfingers\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Dandelion.jpg\")
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