Monthly Archives: June 2009

Beam Me Up

Apart from a quick dash to Hastings for food and to drop off our main printer which needs a clean (or worse), today was another of the infrequent “inside” days. Having measured the signal strength of my WiFi base station in most rooms of the house we’ve settled on a place under the stairs for its permanent home. No more upside-down on the ceiling at the top of the stairs – even though most advice is to put the base station up high, in this case the Apple technical guy in Desktop Technology Services, (DSTL 511 Queen St West, Hastings 06-876-0441) who said put it downstairs was right. Today I tried to thread an ethernet cable from the junction box in the attic to the space under the stairs – too many other wires to make it easy to fit in the holes drilled through the joists etc and so I’ve asked our electrician John Burnard to come and do it and fit a few more double electric power plugs in the kitchen, under the stairs, and in the junk room opposite the kitchen.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 8°C—10°C; 23.4 mm rain [83.0]

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Winter Wet

Lovely rainy day so after wandering round the sheep – all seem to be present and correct – Karola and I went into Hastings for lunch and shopping and the rest of the day was spent indoors with heaters on.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 9°C—10°C; 12.7 mm rain [82.8]

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Return From Bulls

Bicka was expected to sleep in the back of the car but she decided otherwise and barked for quite a while until I fetched her (and her basket) and smuggled her into our bedroom – Bick then behaved beautifully, except for the snoring, until morning.

After a night at “Lethenty”, ancestral home of Sir James Wilson and currently home of Hilary Haylock, we attended the family gathering at the Bulls cemetery to commemorate the death of several family members including Rab Wilson (Karola’s cousin) and Karola’s aunt Di Wilson who died in May this year. Frank Wilson presided over the plaque viewing – the G H (Hamish) Wilson’s have a wall with room for plaques for each deceased family member from Karola’s mother’s generation on.

This was followed by a guided tour of “Lethenty” and viewing of family photos, many of these supplied by Karola, and then a lunch at “Mungatapu”, the Quentin Wilson family home where Rab grew up and farmed until his early death in 1999 aged 52 from a heart attack. Rab’s widow, Mary Wilson, was hostess and about 50 relations attended – babies to great-grandparents.

We drove home in welcome rain, twice Karola had to negotiate foot-deep (300 mm) flooding on the road which caused some excitement but no accident. (No excitement, just a lot of splashing says Karola – she speaks for herself, not me or Bicka)

Hawkes Bay Weather: 7°C—11°C; 52.4 mm rain [?]

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Off To Bulls

Finished erecting the netting along the flax planting area; there’s more to do to tie the netting to the guide wires and finish off the fastening at the western end but it’s sheep proof and can stay as it is for a while as long as no sheep actually attack it.

Karola and I moved sheep hither and yon until we had all the ewes and ewe lambs in the middle section of the orchard and “Piglet” the ram and his two companions, #630 and #631 (aka Piccolo) in the One-Acre paddock. To our horror, ewe #409 suddenly decided to eat the bark of a young apple tree, and encouraged a ewe lamb to copy her. My hope is that this as mainly out of hunger, not spite, though Karola says #409 did it deliberately because she felt short changed by being penned up and pushed around and then put back where there was very little grass.

I then spent the afternoon rearranging electric fences so that the hungry ewes and ewe lambs had more orchard pasture – by allowing them in 3/4 of the orchard except for the rows of peaches inside that area. This effectively combines the two grazeable areas we had before but instead of fencing the apple trees in we fenced the peaches in – the wire is close up against the peaches, not the apples, giving the sheep fresh grass in the lanes and headlands around the peaches.

We set off late for our dinner appointment in Marton, just outside Bulls. We were 10 minutes later than the time we thought we were expected due to heavy mist for the last 50 km; it turned out that we were 40 minutes later than the restaurant booking and two hours and forty minutes later than we were expected by Karola’s cousin Hilary – who was giving us a bed for the night. The dinner party included Harry’s family and as it turned out service was very slow and we didn’t actually hold anything up. The meal was so-so but we enjoyed the company.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 5°C—14°C; 0.1 mm rain [82.4]

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A Little Light Fencing

In the morning I completed the wiring up of the 80 metre fence along the drive; just stapling the posts, joining the wires and tidying the various wire knots takes a long time. In the afternoon we all went on a brief visit to Stortford Lodge – wire crimps for joining netting, a 25Kg bag of sheep nuts, and replacement washers for our drench gun – then Post Office and BP garage store for paper and bread.

Karola moved the ewe lambs and #600 wethers and #409 into the one-acre paddock and then let the rest of the ewes and Piglet into the piece of the orchard vacated by the lambs. The back half of the orchard is looking definitely threadbare now.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 7°C—17°C; no rain [82.7]

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YAFAV – Yet Another Financial Advisor Visit

Cold but sunny; Karola improving; In the morning I caught up on some reading and in the afternoon we entertained Brien Mahoney from the Guardian Trust. Went out for a Thai meal in Napier for dinner.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 0°C—13°C; no rain [82.9]

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Swine Cold

The two geese I saw last night in the orchard the other side of the Scott’s have come back and all five are united.

Karola has finally succumbed to a swine-cold; many of the flu symptoms and she’s pretty miserable but cheers up by moving from sunny spot to sunny spot around the house. It is cold outside but sunny.

Graham Scott (standing in for Mike Croucher – Garden Groom) came round and finished off mowing the lawn today.

Hawkes Bay Weather: -1°C—11°C; no rain [82.5]

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Vodafone Mobile Broadband

Slow start and not much done today; sheep all inspected and counted – #409 isn’t looking too good but the rest are bouncing around; it’s hard to see if they’re fat or thin under their woolly coats.

I am investigating the possibility of using cell phone technology to access the Internet; in principle I should then be able to use the same Internet Serrvice Provider to link up to the Internet from Karamu, Pitoitoi or Bridget’s living room. The costs have come down a lot but I’m not sure I can get a fast enough cell connection here at Karamu.

Hawkes Bay Weather: -2°C—11°C; no rain [82.2]

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Return From Wellington in June

Karola took Bicka for a walk; I took Bicka for a walk; then we set off. First for lunch in Marsden Cafe with Bridget (the granddaughters were in “little school” until 2:30 pm) and Mary. Then set off at 2:00 pm, 310 km; up Highway 1 then via Shannon to the Manawatu Gorge and on Highway 2 to Highway 50 over the 3 one-way bridges and home by 5:40 pm. This was the route recommended by my iPhone and, due to very light traffic all the way, was the fastest time I’ve done from Wellington to Karamu in Hastings.

Dark when we arrived but all seems well though cold.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 5°C—11°C; no rain [?]

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Wellington in June – Day 3

Extremely late rising – the sound of rain on the roof most enjoyable. I took Bicka for a long walk over the hill and from sea-wall to sea-wall on the beach before my brunch; Karola and I then took her for another long walk along the Eastbourne promenade; and I took her for her evening stroll along the beach a few minutes ago. Apart from a short visit to the Westlake Mall in Petone it’s otherwise been an indoors, restful day in front of a log fire.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 6°C—12°C; no rain [?]

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Wellington in June – Day 2

Very late rising, heavy showers off and on all night and morning. Bridget’s mid afternoon for babysitting while she and Chris go out to dinner and a film and we watch the All Blacks vs France on their 40-inch TV.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 8°C—10°C; 1.9 mm rain [?]

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Wellington in June – Day 1

Snug, warm night but cold outside – sunny day in Wellington. Logistics for getting Bridget’s car in to be serviced and picked up again afterwards occupied much of the day – Karola got the garage to give her a “loaner car” for the day which made things easier. Karola and I had a night out – Chinese meal and a film and all home by the fire by 8:30 pm.

Bicka had a walk over the hill in the morning and a run on the beach in the evening; not a bad day for a little dog.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 2°C—12°C; 0.1 mm rain [?]

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To Wellington With Mary

Finished up a bit of fencing and put away tools and bought more chook food etc and packed for Wellington. We aimed to leave around 11:00 am and finally departed around 12;30 pm.

Lunch at Norsewood – the usual toasted sandwiches – and arrived at Bridget’s place around 5:30 pm. Mary, Karola, Bicka and I all stayed at Bridget’s for dinner. Cold but only the occasional shower. Snow on the mountains.

Hawkes Bay Weather: -3°C—10°C; no rain [83.2]

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Even More fencing

The view from the bedroom was magnificent – snow on the mountains and, very unusually, on the foothills to the west and north.

Cold and a bitter breeze but mostly sunny. More fencing; Mark’s last day for a while and he finished the 12 posts along the drive while I put up the short railings across the end of the Grisolinia planting area in the south-east corner.

Mary did prodigious more heaps of leaves, it helps the grass breath and avoids it rotting over the winter. Karola went to a lecture and came back with food for lunch.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 0°C—10°C; no rain [82.1]

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More Fencing

Mark came at 9:30 am and began putting in the posts along the new driveway, 12 posts to do and he did 6 this morning. I completed the railings stabilisation. There was a short shower of hail and showers of rain every now and then and by lunchtime the temperature was dropping quickly.

Mary did even more little mounds of raked-up leaves – we all agree it’s as if there’s a mole heaving up leaves instead of soil.

Karola’s been helping clear away leaves and ringing up about her new clothes washing machine which has developed a fault already; error message saying to call the service rep.

In the afternoon I went to see our Financial Advisor, Tobias Taylor, and continued to pressure him to provide financial advice without needing us to hand over the keys to the kingdom; of course we know and he admits that Financial Advisors in NZ almost all thrive on the managing of other peoples’ money for a percentage – a percentage of what you give them, not of what they turn it into.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 1°C—14°C; 2.5 mm rain [82.9]

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Stabilising Railings

Mark arrived soon after 9:00 am. More fencing stuff including 5 ordinary post holes (not strainer posts or stays) and Karola, Mark and I cleared the Iris from along the old netting fence line along the 121 driveway in preparation for erecting the replacement 7-wire and totara batten fence along almost the same fence line. Warm in the sun and not much wind; a nice winter’s day.

In the afternoon I put the gate catches on the two gates we’ve installed with the new fences and began adding the intermediate posts on the longer stretches of railings, to stop them warping and twisting.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 6°C—16°C; no rain [83.3]

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Take It or Leaf It

Mary raked up many many little mounds of leaves; Karola helped and carried them away to her leaf dump, and also cooked us delicious meals and planted a few more trees for good measure.

I made a start on putting up the netting on the new fences.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 2°C—17°C; 0.1 mm rain [82.6]

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Occasional Showers

Sheep all accounted for; 36 (including Piglet) in the back of the orchard; 14 (including the two #600 wethers) in the middle of the orchard.

Spent some time on putting up wires along the new fence lines but rain stopped play and the rest of the day was mostly indoors with occasional walking about outside when the sun shone.

Meanwhile Mary swept up prodigious amounts of leaves into small heaps under the big oak – to help the grass underneath breathe – and Karola planted the 20+ Coprosma repens for the double-width hedge across part of the north-western edge of the lawn, where it abuts the Totara paddock.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 8°C—17°C; 1.1 mm rain [82.4]

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Railings Day

Earlier start than usual, up just as dawn broke, and Mark arrived 15 minutes early too. We hung a netting gate at the end of the new flax planting area and spent the rest of the morning doing railings; we finished the railings at the new gateway into the Middle paddock from the 121 drive and the railings up at the gateway into the peaches from the Middle paddock on the southern (Scott’s) boundary. We cut the rails for the last piece, closing off the end of the netting fence round the Griselinia in the south-east corner, but didn’t have time to put them up as rain stopped play around 2:00 pm.

It rained fairly consistently for the rest of the day.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 9°C—15°C; 22.2 mm rain [82.9]

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Bamboo Mulch Used for Flax Planting Area

Misty morning, cold but not very cold, with sun breaking out mid morning for a rather nice day. Mark arrived around 9:30 am and we dug up some Robinea stumps along the 121 (new-ish) drive, pulling an obstinate one out with the tractor. Then it was a day of putting mulch round the new flax plantings, 100 metres x 1 metre wide and about 50 – 100 mm thick.

Lambs sent to the works averaged over $100 NZ dollars each this year – over $1800 for the 17 lambs.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 6°C—16°C; 0.2 mm rain [83.3]

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Lambs To Slaughter

Rain began after breakfast but only as short showers so when Mark arrived at 9:30 am he and Karola went out and did sheep work, preparing for the wethers and ram lambs to go to the works in the afternoon. The ewe lamb #810 was drafted out and joined the wether lambs and ram lambs in the yards; the stray wether lamb went in with the rest of the ewe lambs in the orchard. During that exercise the farmer with sheep in the orchard behind Karola’s orchard bumped into them and it turned out the stray was an ex-pet lamb and was his. He arranged to come and pick it up late afternoon.

Mark then installed three more stay posts and helped me dig up one very firmly installed old fence strainer. I also pulled out the fence posts along the new driveway so that the old netting fence can be replaced with wire and totara battens and be better aligned with the homestead and garage.

Partway through that, after lunch, Karola, Mark and I loaded “the boys” and #810 onto the trailer – they were a tight fit, all 17 of them. The trip to the works took about 15 minutes round trip.

Shortly after we returned xxx Baxter? arrived in a ute and retrieved his wether lamb, offering that any time we needed some help to give him a call.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 7°C—14°C; 2.1 mm rain [83.5]

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Rest Day After Travel Day

Lesiurely breakfast and then Karola and Mary went off to town while I mooched about rolling up pipe and counting sheep. After a hot midday dinner we went to Titoki Nursery and picked up 26 more Coprosma Repens – the nursery is closing soon and the proprietors plan to go down south and get jobs in forest conservation – a 5-day a week job not the current 7-day a week job that the nursery requires. Then we went on to Greenleaf Nursery in Clive and picked up 3 swamp cyprus, 2 pencil cyprus, 9 willow poles and 3 other small trees. Than completed our not-so-busy day.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 4°C—12°C; 0.1 mm rain [83.7]

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Wellington – Return to Hastings

All packed up and in to Bridgets in the morning; picked up Mary in Karori at noon and set off for home up the Wairarapa. Rimutaka road much better in the dry and with better light; on the way down the Rimutaka road was a horrid drive with very poor visibility and light drizzle and it was dark.

Lunch in Masterton at the Museum cafe. Home as darkness fell; very cold.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 0°C—11°C; 0.2 mm rain [83.3]

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Wellington – 1st Day – Alex’s Birthday Party

Up in good time and quick drive into town to Khandallah for Alex’s 3rd birthday party. Delivered Alex’s presents and Chris’s new gumboots. Party began before 11:00 am and was all over before 3:00 pm – a dozen children and their parents; food, facepaint, and singing.

Hawkes Bay Weather: -1°C—10°C; no rain [?]

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To Wellington

Busy morning prior to departure. First 100 metres of alkathene laid from sheep yards across to the newly planted flax. Then the sheep and their water troughs all checked. Then a general locking away of tools and hiding of trailers from road view. Only then did Karola notice an extra sheep in the western planting area – which turend out to be a wooly stray wether. We drove it into the yards and inspected it, definitely not one of ours, so we left it in the Island paddock to deal with when we returned.

We packed (light, not even a computer, because we’ll be back in 2 days) and were away by 2:45 pm; driving down via the Wairarapa, having a good meal at Masterton’s La Scada restaurant and getting to our Wellington flat by 7:00 pm. Cold outside and bitter wind on the beach, walking Bicka, but Karola soon had a wood fire going in the flat and it was toasty warm.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 0°C—16°C; no rain [83.5]

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New Makita Mitre Saw Has Its Debut

Took Karola in to pick up her car after its service yesterday. Strung some wires whole Mark did another couple of stay posts and then we carted the generator and electric saw on its stand down to the fence area and we put up one set of railings.

In the afternoon Karola and I pottered around outside in preparation for our trip to Wellington tomorrow – the wether and ram lambs are in the One Acre paddock and they needed a water trough; the ewe lambs were hungry in the Island paddock and so, now that the peach tree thinning has finished, we were able to pop them into the orchard – in the piece recently vacated by the wether and ram lambs.

Robert Russell rang to say that the wether and ram lambs were due at Progressive Meats on Wednesday between 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 0°C—15°C; no rain [83.3]

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A Proper Winter’s Day

Another cold night and beautiful day. Took Karola’s car in for a service and bought a pair of gumboots from Farmlands for Bridget’s Chris.

More fencing with help from Mark. Karola continued planting trees.

Some fun and games with sheep – Karola dagged a couple of the lambs before lunch and as dark fell we were chasing the ewe lambs who had taken advantage of my fence construction to make a jail break and rush around on the new drive.

Hawkes Bay Weather: -5°C—12°C; 0.1 mm rain [83.4]

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Splendid Hawkes Bay Winter Weather

Very cold overnight but a clear, cloudless blue sky and sunshine all day; warm in the sun, barely a breeze.

More fencing with Mark; steady progress. Karola went off to Greenleaf Nurseries looking for willows, Coprosma lucida and pencil cyprus and swamp cyprus to plant; all but the Coprosma are now on order.

Robert Russell, lamb buyer, came round to look at the wethers and ram lambs – we expect to take them all to the works next Wednesday; prices for lamb are very very good, almost three times what they were last year.

Hawkes Bay Weather: -2°C—12°C; 0.1 mm rain [82.8]

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More Fencing

Karola’s new three-drawer filing cabinet was delivered after breakfast.

More fencing in the morning – Mark has rammed in 11 running posts and dug holes for 4 others. I put in a couple of stay posts, 7 more to do.

In the afternoon Karola and I went to Hastings, shopping. Bought a new washing machine – all the shops are discounting like mad for the Queen’s Birthday weekend. A quick check on the Web gave us the choice of either cheap and ordinary (Samsung, Indesit, Electrolux/Simpson) or rather expensive and hard to service locally (Miele). We plumped for the former.

Went to Farmlands and bought cat food, marker spray paint, 50 metres of netting for the fence and 2 x 50 metres of alkathene 25 mm (1″) pipe for the irrigation for the flax and Kanuka – to connect the leaky pipe to the nearest tap of our irrigation mains that feed the troughs and all the planting areas.

Hawkes Bay Weather: -1°C—13°C; no rain [83.2]

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Ha-Ha Gateway Finished

Cold, windy, and only very occasional glimpses of sun. Karola persisted with planting and raking leaves and other good outside pursuits; I did finish the gateway at the end of the ha-ha by adding a slam post and putting up a set of short railings from there to the edge of the ha-ha. Karola and I also used the tractor to dig a few holes next to trees she wants to move or remove – privet mainly.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 6°C—11°C; no rain [82.8]

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