Two Shakes of a Lamb's Tail
Hawkins, DanielleThis year-long diary of a country vet could more accurately be described as the diary of a country vet, farmer's wife, mother, environmentalist, gardener, cook and writer. There is something for everyone in this humorous record of an action-packed rural life, whether it is details of large farm animal anatomy, smoko menus for shearers, parenting challenges or many other snippets of daily life.
A rollicking good yarn, warts and all of New Zealand country life where there are just not enough hours in the day.
Pages
304
304
Year
2021
2021
Reviews
13-09-2023
A relaxing read that we are sure all older New Zealanders will enjoy. A pragmatic description of a year in the life of a mother/farmer/rural vet, with a few fictional incidents included. Beautiful descriptions of N.Z. countryside.
07-08-2023
Book well liked by our group. Interesting insight into a rural vet's life and its trials, and the need to multitask with a family and a farm.
31-07-2023
The group thoroughly enjoyed the book. They found it uplifting and refreshingly truthful, and a realistic view of a N.Z. farmer. Would recommend it to others.
20-07-2023
This story was very real to those of us who are farmers and farmers' wives. We were all in awe of how much she managed to do in a day, and all very capably, except for the cat spay. Relieved to hear that some characters, especially her sister-in-law, are not real people.
27-06-2023
Most of the group found this easy to read - the language is familiar and it is not full of heavy, oblique words. Some found it very repetitive and didn't enjoy it at all, in fact a couple didn't finish it for that reason. All acknowledged how hard-working rural 'folk' are.
08-05-2023
We thoroughly enjoyed this book - the sense of humour, character detail, descriptions of family, farming and vet life.
02-05-2023
The group enjoyed this light hearted story. With a couple of sheep farmers and dairy farmers in our group, we related to the author's life.
27-04-2023
Everyone finished this book but not all loved it. Half the group loved how easy it was to pick up and read, appreciated the humour and the busyness of rural kiwi life. Half the group found it repetitive and weren't wowed by the writing style. All agreed that adding an ongoing drama would have given the book some more direction and an incentive to keep reading to the end.
28-03-2023
Humorous but long.
14-03-2023
Some loved it. Some found it boring!
03-03-2023
Half our group loved this book as a good slice of life and an easy read. The other half didn't find it 'held' them enough, even though they found themselves laughing out loud.
02-03-2023
We all found this a delightfully easy book to read. Quirky and funny.
15-12-2022
A nice easy read - a bit too much of a happy ending for some of our group.
15-12-2022
Loved it! Full of boundless energy!
01-12-2022
A light book to read which described well the life on a farm and in a vet's practice. Certainly time is used up every day, leaving very little downtime available. She writes well.
08-11-2022
Read and enjoyed by all members (and husband of one). Great to read a book by a N.Z. author; full of humour and very informative for anyone unfamiliar with life on farms. We're all of a generation who at least had relations who farmed even if we didn't live on them, but we know younger people and immigrants who have never experienced rural life.
10-10-2022
Hilarious! Many great anecdotes and life experience wisdom.
23-09-2022
We loved this book - well written, great insights into daily life of a vet, farmer, conservationist, mother, woman. Amusing and touching.
23-09-2022
Most of the group enjoyed this book. A couple didn't finish it as it became too repetitive.
12-08-2022
Most were underwhelmed with this book, they didn't like the writing style (being diarised) and thought the subject matter weak. On the other hand, two or three loved it, saying it was a very light pleasant read with a good insight into rural family life.
29-06-2022
Most enjoyed this greatly - one dissenting view changed some of our minds though.
16-05-2022
Opinions divided. Some really enjoyed it - easy read and funny. For others it lacked detail, not "meaty" enough and too frivolous.
11-05-2022
We all loved this!