Betty Homemaker & The Naked Possum

Fresh cinnamon raisin and rosemary Italian bread in the bread maker are so tasty! I didn't realize how bomb a bread maker is. That is the first appliance I am going to buy when I get home next year.

Our hosts have been gone the last couple of days to take care of a minor emergency that came up with their renters at their place in Christchurch. Apparently the tenants left the place a royal mess so we chose to clean the house from floor to ceiling as our WWOOFing work today, along with baking bread, making dinner and a fresh apple crisp for dessert. Yesterday, Andy and I harvested seven large bins of apples and pears from the property. There is nothing like fresh apples and fruit off the tree! We are leaving tomorrow and will miss the great food. Luckily there is a fresh produce stand about every 3 km so we can keep up.

Tomorrow we plan to leave early and go for a hike in the adjacent forest then make our way south. I made reservations for a half day white water rafting trip on Friday, so our last couple of days tubin' down the river has been a great warm up!

Did we tell you about the "Naked Possum" Market & Tannery? They sell possum skin products like pillows and lampshades and fur products such as hats, gloves, socks, scarves and yes, even nipple warmers "for the woman who has everything." The motto is "undressing the possum to redress our forest." Now, normally speaking, I am NOT an advocate of killing animals for commercial use in any way. In fact, I thought I was against it in every circumstance until now. You see, possums are not native to New Zealand; they were brought here hundreds of years ago from Australia in cages to be used for their hides. Trouble was, over time they proliferated in the wild and have been multiplying by the millions ever since. They treat the native forest as an all-you-can-eat buffet of bark, flowers and leaves from the oldest and tallest trees in native forests. Systematically, these trees die each taking only a couple of years. And that's not the only major problem from these creatures. Possums carry Bovine TB which infects cows, diseases cow products such as milk, cheese, beef, etc. that humans consume and ultimately can kill the livestock. There may be up to 70 million possums in New Zealand, a country which is host to only 4 million people. They kill and consume native birds, eggs and snails to boot.

Therefore, setting possum traps and reducing them by the millions is a necessity. Might as well reuse them for their fur and skin commercially in the spirit of reusing waste. What do you think?