Old School photo, farm-style.

It was it of a dim and drizzly evening out here on the Peninsula, so blip-gathering was always going to be a soggy affair. The hills that were clear last night were draped by cloud, the many small troughs between the peaks filled by mist.

As I was heading out, I figured that it made sense to take the doggies for a bit of exercise. However, with one keen to take the wetter, grass verge route, and another more set on walking on the blacktop, it turned out more ot be a slalom than a walk.

Passing the old Kaituna schoolhouse, a group of young steers came barreling down the hill to check us out. The Kaituna School was built in 1914, teaching a roll of up to eight pupils until it closed in 1936. Nowadays the school house is used as a haybarn by my farmer neighbours and I've always found it a great subject to photograph in all weathers. Although it lost its chimney in the Sept 4th 2010 earthquake, one of the many brick chimneys in the valley to succumb to the violent 7.1 magnitude shaking that night, it still retains a great deal of charm and evokes a bygone era.

As the cattle stood checking the three of us out, I was reminded of those old photos of pupils stood out in front of their schools, some looking staunch, some unkempt. I'm sure, had they arms, that these steers would have folded them as they held their quizzical gaze on us.