Monthly Archives: July 2006

A good start to the day – chooks and geese and cat fed before the post came soon after 9:00am. Broody bantam hen now sitting, even though there’s no eggs. Gave 2 eggs to Bicka.

I called our stock agent, Craig Given (Wrightsons) and he says we can sell the lambs and culls either this Wednesday or next Wednesday – prices are apparently on the rise and he suggests shearing the lambs before the sale. I left a message for Bruce Richardson (Mobile Shearing). He returned the call in the evening and expects to come mid-day Thursday.

I spent a couple of hours raking up where we’d been feeding out hay to the sheep; usually I feed out in the Island paddock which doesn’t have much grass but while we were away a neighbour fed out in the Middle paddock, as requested. Unfortunately the hay isn’t terribly good and the sheep leave quite a lot – and it’s this leftover hay that smothers the grass – hence my raking. I put the rakings in the area of the Island paddock used as sheep yards.

Before lunch we put Nelson and his score of ewes into the yards and Karola and I vaccinated the 9 two-tooths. This is 5-in-1 multi vaccine (see below) and 1st-time mothers need a sensitising dose a couple of months before they lamb; all the ewes then need a dose 2-3 weeks before lambing. I should also be well protected against these same diseases having plunged the syringe deep into a finger (as usual) when the 1st two-tooth wriggled at the wrong moment – if this log fizzles out you’ll know it wasn’t a terribly good idea to jab myself that way.

After lunch we planted 15 Fivefinger trees in the roadside planting area. The 4 metre wide strip beginning close to the Orchard drive entrance comprises (from the road inwards) a row each of Toi-Toi, Manuka, Flax, Kanuka, and now Fivefinger. I attached the auger to the Fergie and we then drilled 28 of the next 55 holes, this time for Griselinea in a double row L-shape at the Scott’s boundary (south-eastern corner). Then we went to Greenleaves nursery in Clive, looking for Holly, Yew, Australian Bottlebrush and Australian Wattle. We ended up buying a 2 metre tall Weeping Willow and ordering some Holly and Yew. The nursery will ask around the other nursery wholesalers and see what’s available.

A Mallard duck seems to be nesting somewhere in the iris in the Island paddock, near the temporary sheep yards – I fear she’ll get trampled by the sheep as we bring them in, but she’ss still there today. There are also a dozen or so pheasants hunkered down in amongst the oaks and in the Ram paddock, in the brambles and iris and long grass.

Put lots of flea/mite powder on the chooks when they’d gone onto their roost for the night.

Hawkes Bay Weather:7°C—18°C; no rain. [81.4]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MULTINE 5 in 1 contains toxoids of Clostridium perfringens (type D), Cl.septicum,
Cl. tetani, and anacultures of Cl. novyi (type B) and Cl. chauvoei.
MULTINE 5 in 1 also contains potash alum adjuvant and 0.015% w/v thiomersal.
MULTINE 5 in 1 provides protection to sheep, goats and cattle for the following
clostridial diseases: Pulpy Kidney, Malignant Oedema, Tetanus, Black Disease and
Blackleg

While we were away the geese had flown out of their enclosure, the Ram paddock, into the Middle paddock. Bicka and I got them back; 2 flew back (after a few mis-starts) and I cornered the other 2 and popped them over the fence – they all seemed glad to be back.

Karola and I walked round the property; all seemed to be OK except for one dead sheep which, later in the day, I buried. Lamb #529, a large wether, probably of pulpy kidney disease.

Later I marked out the placement of 55 Griselinea trees on the south-eastern corner.

Another bantam egg which I removed. Gave 2 eggs to Bicka.

Gill called to say they (Gill and Ben) had been in a bit of a prang – not injured but shocked and Ben had very bruised ribs. Some joy-riding thugs hit them broadside when running a red light late at night in Wellington city centre, being pursued by police. Their almost brand new Volvo was crunched up at the front and on the passenger side – luckily the stolen car hit the bonnet, ahead of the passenger compartment.

I spent several hours on the phone with Marina Wilson in Wellington – I think we finally cracked the problem with a virus in her PC.

Hawkes Bay Weather:2°C—14°C; no rain. [81.4]

Return To Hastings. We got up quite early and were on the road by 7:20am, arriving home at about 11:20am. On the way, no stops, we listened to 4 more tapes, covering Machiavelli, Thomas More, and Meister Erazmus. This time we went via the Rimutukas and Masterton. Very little traffic.

Six bantam eggs in a makeshift nest in the garage – I removed them.

Hawkes Bay Weather:-1°C—12°C; no rain. [?]

7th Day In Wellington. We expected to return to Hastings today but delayed for a further day so that we could attend a dinner at Frank and Marina Wilson’s place in Kelburn – Cecilia Johnson and her daughter Miranda, and Artie and Adrian Kebbell joined us for dinner. Marina got me to try and rid her PC of a virus – no luck tonight but we’ll try again once I’m back in Hastings, by phone.

Hawkes Bay Weather:2°C—12°C; no rain. [?]

6th Day In Wellington. Karola and I spent much of the day in the garden at our Pitoitoi town house in Days Bay. We hired a trailer and took a full load of “green waste” to the transfer station in Seaview. I’d brought the chainsaw down and spent a couple of hours cutting up firewood.

Hawkes Bay Weather:3°C—11°C; no rain. [?]

5th Day In Wellington. Took Bridget’s new baby, Alexandra, to see her great grandmother, Mary Brackenbury – Karola and I met up with Bridget and her two daughters at “Jimbaroo” (socialisation class for infants) and we all went to see Mary in Karori from there.

Dinner with the Rashbrookes in York Bay.

Hawkes Bay Weather:3°C—12°C; no rain. [?]

4th Day In Wellington. We went with Ben Bell and Gill Brackenbury to “Struggle No More” – a documentary at the Wellington Film Festival on the career of the blues band known as “The Windy City Strugglers”. Went out to a Malaysian restaurant, joined by Peter and Charlotte Offenberger.

Hawkes Bay Weather:0°C—14°C; no rain. [?]

3rd Day In Wellington

Hawkes Bay Weather:1°C—14°C; no rain. [?]

2nd Day In Wellington. I had a much anticipated trout dinner with Gill and Ben; Karola did babysitting for Bridget.

Hawkes Bay Weather:0°C—14°C; no rain. [?]

1st Day In Wellington

Hawkes Bay Weather:2°C—11°C; no rain. [?]

Bad weather threatened; we set off late morning and had lunch at Abbotts Tea Rooms on the outskirts of Dannevirk. Lots of bad weather around and by the time we got to Wellington it was a real storm. Got through 3 taped lectures on major figures in Western Philosophy – on Mysticism, Luther, and Calvin.

Hawkes Bay Weather:4°C—10°C; 5mm rain. [?]

Large surface puddles around the place again. Only the geese really seem to enjoy the rain though Bicka doesn’t mind much but gets very muddy and a bit smelly.

Karola’s speech day today – she has been rehearsing and refining it for several days and did an excellent job. This was a submission to the Hastings District Council about reducing the speed limit along Oak Avenue (aka Ormond Road – where we live). Several counsellors said afterwards that she’d done well – and when I phoned Kevin Watkins this evening – he’s the counsellor we’ve known for some years who picks Camelias here for his Hastings Blossom Festival float each year – Kevin said that the council were unanimous in their acceptance of the proposal and all said Karola’s submission was excellent and really helped make the decision. I was very tense thoughout Karola’s speech, or so my neighbour said – but Karola did it just fine and did not stray off the message as I’d feared – she was right on target and stayed there.

Hawkes Bay Weather:9°C—12°C; southerly wind; 32mm rain. [80.1]

We were up till about 3:00am Tuesday night as Karola prepared her speech to the Hastings District Council on Thursday – she’s supporting a proposal to lower the speed limit in Oak Avenue.

No hay for Nelson et al today; they have plenty of grass where they are.

It was a cold, wet day. I chainsawed up the fallen branch we pulled off the Wellingtonia yesterday and then retired, damp and cold.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wellingtonia trees (from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/design/nonflash_victorian4.shtml)

The Victorians loved the giant Wellingtonia trees because of their impressive size. They were planted in many gardens as specimen trees, and in rows creating Wellingtonia avenues.

Introduced by the plant hunter William Lobb in about 1854, the naming of the tree caused an international row between Britain and America. In Britain the tree was named Wellingtonia gigantea after the Duke of Wellington, who died in 1852. Yet the Americans wanted to call it Washingtonia, after the first US president George Washington.

After years of dispute, it was finally named Sequoiadendron giganteum because of its similarity to the Californian redwood (Sequoia sempervirens).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hawkes Bay Weather:4°C—11°C; 20mm rain. [80.4]

The day began cloudy but turned into a sunny cool day by late morning. Nelson et al had their bale of hay in the Island paddock and were then let into the new grass area which has grown a little despite the winter weather.

Shelly Vernon came over mid morning – she’s agreed to feed Nelson et al while we’re away for a week in Wellington – I parked the trailer near the gate into the Middle paddock loaded with 9 bales of hay covered by a tarpaulin so it will be easy to just chuck the hay over the fence – the sheep will be in the Middle and Island paddocks while we’re away.

Adam Ladbrooke finished ploughing the area of the Top paddock to be put down in peaches and began ripping the area formerly occupied by the old Royal Galas. Adam, his dad Alan, and I spent a couple of hours trying to locate the irrigation water main underground – the one that takes water towards the back of the orchard. We dug several trenches and finally convinced ourselves that it went along the middle of the track, despite initially starting off towards McNabb Rd at the back – it does a 180 degree turn for reasons lost in the mists of time – maybe they laid the main before they planted the trees – not sure. We needed to know where the main went – it’s a 4″ (100mm) white plastic high-pressure pipe – so that Adam wouldn’t “discover” it with the ripping tine he’s using to loosen up the old Royal Gala area – the tine goes down about 2 ft (600mm) deep and cuts through the hard pan created by decades of tractors running up and down between the rows.

Karola planted 15 kanuka and 22 flax, ithese were pieces we got by splitting up an old flax bush. On the Fergie I flailed/mulched/mowed an area down by the Scott’s boundary near the road – the south-eastern end of the property – ready for planting Grisilinea. Most of the 18 Rangiora (Brachyglottis Repanda) Karola planted along each side of the gateway there 2 years ago are flourishing.

Quite a large branch fell from the Wellingtonia last night some time – we used the Fergie to pull it off the Tetoke at its foot – Karola raised up the bucket with me standing in it so I could tie a rope to a suitable point.

Hawkes Bay Weather:7°C—12°C; no rain. [79.9]

Bale of hay for Nelson et al – this time under the big oak tree so that some of the seeds will improved the grass under the drip line.

Karola and I planted 15 toi toi and 12 flax along the roadside planting area in the north east corner.

Hawkes Bay Weather:8°C—13°C; 1mm rain. [79.8]

Bale of hay for Nelson et al – and I then changed the electric fence so that they have 1/3 of the Triangle plus under the big oak tree and round behind the bamboo – fulfilling their role as lawn mowers. Inside work today; ground still sodden outside; ha-ha has refilled with water. Allison (nee Gregory) and Hugh Greenwood dropped in in the afternoon; later Karola went out with Ann Velvin, (the Velvins sold Karola the orchard), have sold their house and the remaining 10 acres across the road and they’re moving to Taupo next week.

Hawkes Bay Weather:9°C—15°C; no rain. [79.5]

Nelson et al had a bale of hay. Went for walk with Bicka round the orchard but otherwise too wet for outside work.

Hawkes Bay Weather:11°C—14°C; northerly; 11mm rain. [80.4]

Bale of hay for Nelson et al. Rained off and on all day.

Hawkes Bay Weather:5°C—10°C; southerly; 13mm rain. [?]

Superb sunny day, cool and calm. No hay for Nelson today. Karola and I spent some time discussing where the cottage might be resited.

Hawkes Bay Weather:6°C—14°C; no rain. [80.1]

Cloudy mild day. Nelson et al had bale of hay and were put in the Island for the morning, then released into the Triangle again.

We quickly finished the last 3 piles of apple trunks and after lunch I spent a few hours on the Fergie pushing together roots and branches.

Jenny Hendery and visitor Adrian came for afternoon tea and to return a couple of apple boxes – we gave her another two boxes of Braeburn apples.

Hawkes Bay Weather:12°C—17°C; <1mm rain. [79.5]

Cloudy day, but no wind and no rain. Nelson et al had their bale of hay and were shut in the Island paddock for the day so that we could transport apple logs from the Braeburn area to the Casurina windbreak without opening and shutting gates. There are 8 more piles of logs to saw to length and cart to the windbreak. Today we did 5 loads; hope to do the final 3 tomorrow. That still leaves the large pile of Royal Gala trunks under the Eucalypts – perhaps we’ll do them next summer.

Hawkes Bay Weather:3°C—16°C; no rain. [80.0]

Nelson et al had their bale of hay. Karola and I did two loads of apple logs, adding them to the stack behind the Casurina windbreak. I let Nelson and his 20 ewes into the Triangle paddock – the Middle paddock needs to recuperate a bit before we go to Wellington for a week on 21st. Yvonne Wier and daughter Amy made a bio stop here on way back to Sanson from Gisborne.

Hawkes Bay Weather:2°C—14°C; no rain. [80.5]

Cloudy day after a sunny start. Bale of hay for Nelson et al. Karola and I did two huge trailer loads of apple tree trunks, adding them to the pile under the Casurina windbreak.

We took Chris Thompson and parter Caroline Peak (teaches English and classics at Wanganui High School) to ClearView for lunch; Bicka stayed in the car. Good food.

Hawkes Bay Weather:9°C—16°C; southerly wind turning to northerly in the afternoon; no rain. [80.5]

Another beautiful sunny winter’s day. Bale of hay for Nelson et al. Another heaped trailer-load of apple logs sawn and carted off to the Casurina windbreak. Karola went off at 8:00am to join a ‘pilgrimage’ – bus tour of some churches and maraes with Jenny Hendery. It ended with a marae dinner this evening – roast pork etc.

Bicka was acting strangely and shivering from about 6:30pm tonight and I wondered if she could sense something – sure enough a sharp earthquake around 11:00pm shook the house.

I cut Bicka’s toenails tonight but that didn’t seem to upset her at all, she was very quiet and calm about it (as she should be).

Hawkes Bay Weather:5°C—15°C; southerly winds; no rain. [79.0]

Nelson et al had their bale of hay. Beautiful sunny day and quite warm, for mid winter. Stiff breeze from the south helps the drying process.

Despite being still very wet underfoot Karola and I unloaded the first trailerload of metre-length logs behind the Casurina windbreak on the southern boundary. We chainsawed up a 2nd load and put that behind the windbreak, and I sawed up a 3rd load but by then it was dark.

Ha-ha is still 1/2 full of water; the roadside drain is too solidly blocked for me to release the backed-up water; the stoppage is a mass of leaves and rubbish in the culvert under the entrance to the orchard drive.

Hawkes Bay Weather:6°C—14°C; southerly winds; no rain. [79.4]

Surface flooding as rain continues. Took photos of the paddocks, driveways, and the ha-ha which was 2/3 full of water, mostly coming in from the road drain. The deep road drain is partially blocked at our orchard entrance and has 3-4 feet of water backed up – it’s this which has come back through the culvert into the ha-ha. Not a problem, but interesting; I took the opportunity to mark the level on posts at each end of the ha-ha, showing me points at the same height. My previously measured heights are about 200mm adrift and the ha-ha slopes slightly downhill from the road – not ideal, but not enough to matter.

Karola and I went out late afternoon when the rain had stopped and cut a pile of apple tree trunks into metre lengths – that is about 3 pieces of firewood per log. We plan to cut them all up this way and store them behind the Casurina trees on the south boundary; they are just about as heavy as Karola can lift. I chainsawed and karola put the metre logs into the trailer. I then got the Landrover stuck and was succintly reprimanded – hower I managed to dig it out and the Landrover is safely back by the house, but it’s too wet to take the logs over the paddock to the Casurina windbreak, and it’s raining again this evening.

Hawkes Bay Weather:7°C—13°C; variable winds; 39mm rain. [79.7]

Yesterday two of the geese flew over the fence – this morning I chased them back – one flew back, the other I pinned against the fence and then popped over to its mates. They were very pleased to be reunited.

Karola and I spent the morning discussing our conservation plan; in the afternoon we began moving some of the Braeburn trunks off the area for the bonfire. Later I chainsawed some of the old posts we’ve gathered over the years – cutting them to useful sizes, removing broken or rotten ends.

Hawkes Bay Weather:3°C—12°C; variable winds; 20mm rain. [80.7]

Contractors came with a large chainsaw and a much larger digger on tracks and very precisely felled the 60 poplar trees along the boundary on the other side of the orchard drive.

These large, partially rotten 80+ year old trees were dropped along the fenceline – no fence posts were broken, nor was anything left blocking the orchard drive. They fell within a 3-metre wide path along the Vernon’s side of the fence; not a single apple tree was harmed either.

Later in the afternoon I spent a while removing staples and nails from old fence posts – I’m selecting some posts for possible reuse in the future, consigning broken or rotting or suspect posts to the apple-root bonfire site.

Nelson et al had another bale of hay.

Hawkes Bay Weather:4°C—14°C; southerly wind in the afternoon; 3mm rain. [80.4]

Nelson et al got their bale of hay. Karola and I went to town in the morning – she to see her doctor while I did the shopping.

Native trees all now under cover of Camelias to avoid frost – this morning there was a sharp frost and, although they were under groundsheets, the Ngaio saplings were the worse for wear today – hope they’ll recover in next week or so.

Alan and team completed moving the Royal Gala trunks and stumps off the patch they’ll be cultivating and replanting with peaches. I reestablished an electric fence round the youngest apple trees now that the lambs and culls have eaten the weeds down and begun to nibble some of the apple tree branches.

Mike Croucher came and mowed the lawn – well, mowed a lot of leaves and a little grass.

Hawkes Bay Weather:-1°C—11°C; no rain. [80.4]

Wedding feast last night has taken its toll.

Bale of hay to Nelson et al

Then we set off in Landrover with trailer for Taupo, the Taupo Native Tree Nursery to be precise. Lots of snow on Ruahine, Kaweka ranges and superb views of snow laden mountains: Ruapehu, Ngarohoe, and Tongariro. Round trip of 300km approx. – which is same as a trip to or from Wellington. Stunningly beautiful trip over, crisp clear blue sky. Listened to 4 lectures in my Western Philosophy series while Karola kindly drove. There were so many trees that we filled the back of the landrover and most of the trailer; Bicka and I had to share the front passenger seat on the way back.

We picked up 247 native trees, all 300mm – 600mm tall (PB2 – PB3 sizes) in little black plastic pots:

• 120 ngaio (myoporum lateum)
• 60 broadleaf (griselinea littoralis)
• 15 toi toi (cortaderia toetoe)
• 15 kanuka (kunzea ericoides)
• 15 flax (phormium tenax)
• 15 five finger (pseudopanex arboreus)
• 7 coprosma (coprosma ralphii)

… and 500 slow-release fertilizer tablets.

Hawkes Bay Weather:3°C—10°C; southerly wind in the morning; no rain. [80.4]

Sorted old fence posts – consigning the untrustworthy ones to be burned on the apple stump bonfire – which will be later this year.

Bale of hay for Nelson et al.

Marcus and Chrissie Ormond got married at Te Awa winery this evening.

Hawkes Bay Weather:6°C—11°C; southerly wind; 1mm rain. [79.8]