Monthly Archives: August 2009

Graeme and Jeremy Cameron arrived at 8:15 am and for the next three hours did the tree work I’d hoped to get done before Karola returned:

• Remove the large dangling branch way up in the Douglas Fir, hanging by a thread
• Tidy up the oak felled by Charles Bagnall, including the branch of the neighbouring tree his mis-aim clobbered
• Cut off the three quite large dead branches on the oak overhanging the proposed position for the cottage
• Fell the small (12 metre high) dead oak 20 metres or so from the road
• Cut up various fallen branches, including those from the above, into metre long sections that I can move with the tractor

Meanwhile Mark came and completed the ramming in of the boundary gatepost – the one we had to move back a foot or so because otherwise the gate in the boundary fence would clash with the new gate across the orchard drive. He then got on with the intermediate posts for the new fence along the western side of the orchard paddock; 26 posts to do.

I put in the stay on the boundary gateway post and began straining up the fence again.

Karola rang again tonight and relayed her exploits so far in the south of England over their long holiday weekend; much appreciated.

I gave about a dozen eggs to “postie” and another 8 to Graeme Cameron – I can’t keep up.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 7°C—18°C; no rain [74.9]

Progress today: two stay posts put in at either end of the new orchard paddock fence. Also the Ngaio hedge nearest the road gate on the orchard drive has been trimmed back fairly severely as requested by our orchardist.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 8°C—21°C; no rain [75.6]

Outside I’ve laid out the intermediate posts for the fence along the west orchard drive, strained up a top and bottom wire, marked the post positions, and chizelled out the stay holes in the two strainers. I’ve collected up quite a lot of wire but am not sure I’ll have enough.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 2°C—21°C; no rain [75.2]

Periods of very high wind but otherwise a cool, sunny day.

Mark completed the last of his large strainer post insertions and so next week he’ll be able to do the intermediate posts; we’re hoping all will be done before Karola arrives home in a week’s time. I finally tied off the wires along the new boundary fence and stapled up the posts – to the discomfort of my wrists for sure.

I’ve asked Mike Croucher to come and mow the lawn next week; and Graeme Cameron for a morning next week to tidy up a few tree branches.

To my delight, SkyTV in New Zealand have stopped being hostile to people wanting extra remotes for their systems and I’ve bought four extra ones, to be picked up from their office in Hastings on Monday.

I’ve fenced off a slice of the Middle paddock for the main mob and let the eleven ewe lambs into the Totara paddock, now vacated by the main mob.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 13°C—20°C; no rain [76.1]

Mark came again and got two and a half of the large strainer posts in; the end is in sight.

The 20 metre HDMI cable and wall plate for the new TV arrived this morning and I tried to get it in place before the mySky HDi installer came at 10:30 am. Not quite. Anyway he did the switch and they have left me with the cables and connections I asked for:

• HDMI output for the new TV downstairs
• Component analogue output – ostensibly for an old and damaged TV that has component input but no HDMI. It’s actually for later use with a DVD recorder to let me save fairly good quality (not HDTV) video on DVDs for Gill, Ben, and Mary, for example. Although the mySky HDi saves programs you request, the only thing you can do with the saved programs is play them on your own mySky HDi TVs.
• RGB analogue output to what’s called an RF Modulator which puts all the signals on a coax, like a a TV aerial cable – lower quality but that’s how we viewed all our TV pictures until today’s change.

At the end of the day I have hung the new TV on the wall, replacing the bulky old 21″ TV and its set top box and DVD/VCR player in the living room. The new set top box etc will sit in my study now, not pollute the 100 years of antiquity in Karola’s living room. I have threaded the 20 meter new HDMI cable up from my study into the attic, across the attic to the old chimney space, down the chimney space and out into the living room. The cable ends in a neat little wall socket, no dangling nest of cables sprouting out of the wall.

Time to take a breath, find out how to work all this stuff, and prepare for the mixed reception it’ll get from Karola. I was intending to replace the study and dining room TVs with very nice Sony 22″ LCD flat panel TVs, all connected up using the new high quality HDMI cables, but it was not to be. Today’s story is not that these TVs are on reorder, due in at the end of August or early September; no, the store systems now say that that particular model, which everyone agreed was very popular, has reached “end of life”; there will be no more. I’ll have to wait for a similar compact model, I’m expecting a long wait.

With the mySky HDi installed (he, the installer has to come back to do something to the satellite dish, it was just too windy to do it today, he said) and working on the new TV and on a TV in the kitchen and dining room I can relax, things are not too different from when Karola left.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 5°C—19°C; no rain [76.2]

For the first time in months I went outside and noticed the breeze from the north was warm. Despite forecast rain it was a sunny warm day and Alan finished pruning in Karola’s orchard, which he hadn’t expected.

Mark got stuck into the big post at the big shed end of the new fence along the orchard paddock only to find that, about a metre down, he bumped into the side of a 8″ (200 mm) tile drain running parallel to the direction of the fence. So we stopped that and instead tackeld the other end; a certain amount of tape measure and triangles and we decided where the posts were to go and that two sets of railings as a chamfer across the corner next to the gate in the boundary fence would work well. At lunchtime I ordered the railing from Tumu; they may be ready by the end of the week.

Mark completed the post for the northern (Craig Vernon’s boundary) after I added the “foot”. As the chain saw is broken I had to do this with saw and chisel which demonstrated clearly why, despite the noise and danger and so on, chain saws do save a lot of time.

We contemplated yesterday’s annoying error; that the post in the boundary fence with Craig was put in about 8 inches (200 mm) too close to the existing gate across the boundary so it left no room for the new gate to swing across the orchard drive as intended. Oh sadness and so on; I didn’t have the heart to tell Mark to dig the new post up and put it in in a better place; eventually I just made the best of a bad thing and decided we’d move the existing boundary fence gatepost back 200 mm, simple, but wasting a lot of time and energy.

Meanwhile, work on joining up the wires on the new boundary section alongside our planting area between the Homestead and Karola’s orchard block continued. After three days or so of being well strained up the big post at the north end had given way by several centimetres and the gate was now pushing up into the sky, the latch end having lifted by 150 mm at least. So, I released the wires and banged a substantial wedge between the stay and its block; this helped a lot. Not enough though; when I restrained the 7 wires again the gate tilted up at the latch end by 50 mm or so, so I went through the routine again, giving the wedge a few more hefty blows with the sledge hammer and now all seems to be well.

Rick from Clapcott’s rang and came over in the afternoon and measured up the inside of the cottage.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 10°C—22°C; no rain [75.6]

Mark and I docked the first seven lambs; he did the holding that Karola usually does but was silent on the advice and counsel so their tails may be a bit long. We then put ear tags in the 11 #800 ewes and the old trouper #531 (Piccolo).

Mark dug another enormous hole, this one replacing the latch post of the gate through the boundary with Craig Vernon’s to the north. Despite the water that appeared just at the very bottom of the hole, 1.2 metres down, it feels very solid.

After Mark had gone I spent several hours rearranging the TV wiring ready for the MySky HDi installer on Thursday. I was still up in the attic, measuring lengths of coax and having coughing fits amongst the “batts” glass wool and rat droppings. Reluctantly I calculated that it would take a 20 metre digital cable to go from the mySky HDi set top box in my study, up into the attic, over to the old chimney and down into the living room. So be it – having bought the new flat panel TV and hoping to hang it on the wall and make it inconspicuous before Karola gets back, I quickly ordered the 20 metre HDMI cable with its repeaters/boosters etc and hope it comes in the next day or two. It’s unlikely to be here in time for the installer though. The “best” TV will be this new Sony 32″ model (Dave Mitchell said don’t bother with 24″ or 26″, they’re no less visually intrusive than the 32″). Then there’s the very old, very small TV that used to be in the dining room which is now perched on the hot water cupboard in the kitchen. I plan to replace the two other other TVs with Sony 22″ portable ones – chosen by me because of their looks. There are very few TVs for sale under 32″ and the really small (19″ and 20″) ones build such an ugly, bulky bezel that you’re getting the space (footprint) of a 22″ but the viewing screen of much less; these Sony 22″ have a modest bezel and are so popular that they’ve sold out across New Zealand until next month.

What with lugging around very heavy old 19″ CRT TVs and all the antics trying to thread cables up and down the walls I overdid it and did not rest easy – one pays for these little exertions now, for days afterwards – but at least it’s not swine flu.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 7°C—19°C; no rain [76.8]

Sunny day. Blossom treats everywhere. Sheep duties as usual, and I’ve set up the next strip of the Totara paddock for the main mob to begin on tomorrow.

Feeling particularly wicked I went TV shopping in the morning; swayed by Dave Mitchell’s practical advice I am trying to get a 32″ Sony flat panel LCD TV and a couple of Sony 22″ flat panel LCD TVs. TVs smaller than 22″ are rare and mostly the smaller screen is uglified and bulked out at the edges with speakers and the like so I had my eye on a particularly minimalist Sony 22″ TV but they’re sold out till next month – across NZ, allegedly. So I settled for the last Sony 32″ in Hastings. I also opened negotiations with Sky TV to get our account upgraded to the new MySky HDi system – it’s a lot cheaper than having two Sky decoders and if Karola wants to watch something and I want to watch something else then I can record it as she watches. Sorting out the next round of TV connections and equipment is mind-warping and I will sleep much better once the decisions have been made (assuming the things work as intended).

Rick from Clapcott’s the architects came and measured up the outside of the cottage this afternoon. I did a little light fencing in preparation for Mark coming tomorrow morning.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 3°C—15°C; no rain [77.5]

Mostly cloudy and cold; usual routine re letting the main mob onto their strip of the Totara paddock and giving #903 a coupe of good feeds. Bicka preferred it while I was outside putting up the wires on the newest bit of boundary fence; she likes to pootle around within sight without actually helping with the job in hand.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 4°C—14°C; 0.1 mm rain [77.5]

Quick jaunt into Hastings to pick up a mended watch and a bit more food; Bicka and I spent the rest of the day doing a bit of quiet fencing and giving #903 his daily fill of mother’s milk.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 3°C—14°C; no rain [77.0]

Cloudy old day; Bicka and I went on a brief trip to town in the morning and did a bit of fencing late afternoon. #903 had three drinks and looks passably nourished.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 5°C—13°C; 0.6 mm rain [77.3]

Mary’s rain gauge had another 62 mm rain since last emptied on 27th July. Grass is beginning to show the spring growth spurt; flowering plum has been a mass of pink blossom for the last week; the nice old plum by the garage is just beginning to break into flower – it’ll be a mass of white tomorrow or day after. Wysteria is about to flower; Camelais just go on and on.

Only a few puddles left and the filling of potholes on the drives has been mostly successful.

Three feeds for #903 today, and all I do is hang onto mum #672 while #903 drinks until bored/full and then they’re released until the next time. By late afternoon it was dry enough underfoot for a bit of fencing.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 5°C—13°C; 0.3 mm rain [77.3]

Apart from a quick shopping dash in the morning, I only went out in the rain to feed animals and give #672’s lamb #903 a chance to drink.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 6°C—10°C; 18.5 ml rain [77.2]

Beautiful sunny day although it took the morning to dry out the ground enough for outside activities. I gave #903 three drinks today; breakfast, lunch, and supper. I can’t make my mind up whether I still have a problem or not; today #903 seemed less happy to even follow his mother so I suspect her beastliness continues.

Main mob’s last day on their current strip of the Totara paddock.

Les Clapcott came round mid afternoon and we chatted about the proposed cottage move and renovation; he’s sending round a man to measure the outside and build us a little model, including the additions, ready for when Karola returns in September.

Karola (in France) and I tracked down where Hilary Haylock’s brother and wife are staying and as Karola suggested I called the Motor Lodge and made sure they were still staying there before letting Hilary know.

Bicka caught and dispatched a baby rabbit or hare tonight.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 7°C—16°C; 15.2 mm rain [77.9]

Still a bit too damp outside till mid afternoon but the haltering went ahead with a new twist. I doused both lambs rear ends with vanilla essence to confuse the mother. No such luck. I did the same again in the evening with aniseed, we’ll see if it had any effect tomorrow, maybe she’ll get really upset and reject both her lambs.

Late afternoon some good fencing progress; two lots of netting re-strained and guide wires recrimped.

Main mob had another 4 hours grazing their strip of the Totara paddock; I also gave them a bale of hay. The young ewe lambs had 2 – 3 hours on their strip of the Totara paddock too.

Had a chat to Alan Ladbrook; he is gradually clearing some of the unnecessary machinery away from the big shed; we discussed how the apple trucks used by contractors are very large and need a big turning area and indeed can barely get through the gate from the road into the orchard drive. Also the sheep apparently have eaten a lot of apple tree buds which is very bad, it is the older sheep allegedly which get the taste and teach the others. Sounds like Alan would prefer there were no sheep ever in the orchard, but that didn’t stop him having some lambs in the orchard on his own account a couple of years ago. We were a bit non-plussed when he announced, after we’d bought and he’d planted several hundred peach trees, that the sheep couldn’t eat under those at any time.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 1°C—13°C; 0.1 mm rain [77.7]

Rained all day. Did the halter routine briefly with #672 after breakfast and again after lunch and will be checking to see if the 1st born is actually sneaing enough to get bye without the haltering.

Main flock let into the Totara paddock strip for 3 hours.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 11°C—13°C; 16.5 mm rain [77.8]

Laid out a new strip for the ewes to graze in the Totara paddock; also laid out a piece for the ewe lambs because that part of the Totara paddock seems heavily infested with a kind of wild mint that Karola believes can cause sheep to abort, so we don’t want the main flock pigging out on that area.

Late afternoon I did a bit more fencing.

Flowering Prunus is in flower as are the Tutara Belle early peaches next door.

More haltering for #672 today.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 12°C—15°C; 4.6 mm rain [78.5]

I never learn; I didn’t let Bicka out after 10:00 pm so she came and asked to be let out at 2:51 am – why I should be so sensitive to her little scratchings on the bedroom door is anyone’s guess.

Not so cold out of the wind but cloudy. The usual haltering routine with #672 – her lambs really don’t look as if they’re starving; I do wonder if, despite the bunting away, the 1st born is actually getting to drink sufficiently without the haltering routine. Hard to tell.

Fencing went well today, 4 stay posts added and now the respective netting fences can be repaired and restored, leaving me with the particularly enjoyable bit, hanging the three little wooden gates.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 8°C—14°C; 1.7 mm rain [78.4]

After a bit of sheep work – attending to #616’s left front foot and haltering #672 yet again, I went into Hastings for food, laundry, and to retrieve my Mac Mini that apparently was burgled by its previous owner, not itself stolen but had some things missing inside that no Mac Mini should be missing.

Quiet day, did some more fencing and that was it.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 5°C—18°C; no rain [77.9]

Slow day. Started with the haltering routine; #672 is still rejecting her 1st born.

I marked out the outline of the cottage exterior walls and the verandas and took photos.

A little bit of Red Queen fencing and that was it.

At lunchtime #632 had twin ewe lambs, small but otherwise seeming healthy, #906E and #907E. Mother and daughters joined the others in the Middle paddock late afternoon.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 1°C—15°C; no rain [78.2]

Charles Bagnall is due after lunch.

I did the haltering trick with #672 again, her lambs don’t look like they’re starving so maybe it’s working. Other lambs are gambolling so seem in fine fettle. I changed the strip of grazing for the main mob to a different slice of the Totara paddock.

Went to Farmlands and bought some marker spray, in case Charles wants to use it to show the possible outline of the cottage once moved; also ordered the button tags for this year’s crop of lambs, and the big ear tags for the eleven ewe lambs.

Posted a spare set of Teaching Company DVDs to Geoff Robinson in England – a third the price it costs me to import them from the USA.

When Charles came we pegged out a proposed outline of the cottage once moved; Charles also chain-sawed down the misshapen oak next to the green shed, it was 3/4 rotten in the middle. We treated ourselves at the West Shore Fish Cafe for dinner.

Hawkes Bay Weather: -1°C—14°C; 0.2 mm rain [78.5]

Last night I heard airgun shots and looking out found Johnny Lowry and friend shooting our pigeons by flashlight. I went down and discussed it with them – they said they’d tried ringing the bell but no-one came. I said that they must ask first and if they don’t get an answer, they can’t shoot. Also, I was quite happy with the number of pigeons we had now; they could shoot possums or rabbits but no more pigeons. Johnny said OK. We shall see.

Late morning I saw a young healthy pigeon walking round the water trough in the Front paddock; I investigated and sure enough it had been shot and one wing was mashed up. I caught it and dashed its brains out – so unnecessary.

To my delight and surprise all five lambs survived the night. As far as I could tell, the #604 lambs and the #613 lamb were drinking just fine but #672 was still bunting away her first lamb, #903R. It wasn’t clear that the other lamb, #904E was getting any milk either. So, I put #672 and her lambs in the yards with a bale of hay and then, about every two hours, turned her on her end and tried to get the lambs to feed. #903R did feed quite vigorously. From the feel of her udder it’s likely that poor #672 has mild mastitis – not an infection but too much un-drunk milk, so perhaps the forced feedings relieved that a bit.

Later #672 began assaulting lamb #903R, hitting it against the walls of the pen quite hard; I expected broken bones. Bridget made a sensible suggestion, to tie #672 up so she couldn’t head-but the lamb, so I did that. Sneaking back to see how things were going on I found #903R drinking away solidly and #672 not seeming to worry at all. As dusk fell I let them back into the Middle paddock for the night, with the oteher ewes and lambs, and #672 again began butting #903R away, so I’ll probably need to do the same halter trick tomorrow, assuming #903R, with a full tummy of milk, lasts the night.

In between times I was doing my Red Queen work on fences – making minor changes and then putting things back together so that, to all intents and purposes, nothing has changed.

Hawkes Bay Weather: -1°C—14°C; no rain [78.8]

And with the first lamb expected early in September this was to have been a quiet Sunday of reading and chores. Except that when I went to let out the sheep a cluster of four stayed behind: #604, her twin ram lambs, and three very determined would-be mothers: #623, #704, and #717. Most of the licking was being done by these “aunts” and the poor mother was hardly getting a look in.

Anyway, a while later after much difficulty in fending off the “aunt” ewes, I got #604 and her twins into the yards (where she had a small bucket of sheep nuts with obvious enjoyment) and from there into the Middle paddock where she grazed vigourously.

Late morning I looked out from the sun porch and saw yet another lamb; #672 had a large, healthy looking ram lamb but again the aunts were giving her a terrible time. #672 is one of Karola’s special 9 Texel ewes and skittish like the rest so I didn’t want to frighten her away from her lamb; she didn’t seem particularly to know what was going on. However, with the aunts stopping her bonding I decided they had to be moved so, with difficulty, I got #672 and her lamb to join #604 in the Middle paddock – again the fresh, long grass was appreciated.

Mid afternoon and I checked and #672 had popped out another lamb a ewe, , so two sets of twins, but both the mothers seemed inclined to look after one lamb and let the other wander off in the direction of the aunts – being in a different paddock didn’t stop the aunts from calling incessantly.

As night fell, #613 had a ram lamb and I gently eased them into the Middle paddock as well. The temperature was dropping sharply and although I united the twins with the right mothers before I went in, I am pessimistic about what I’ll find in the morning; #604 had accepted her two OK but $#672 was butting her first born away and wasn’t that helpful to her 2nd born in terms of letting it drink.

In summary:

• #604: #901R, #902R
• #672: #903R, #904E
• #613: #905R

Hawkes Bay Weather: -1°C—11°C; 0.2 mm rain [78.5]

Rest day today; after feeding the animals and letting the sheep out I spent the day in warmest rooms I could find and for a few hours snoozing in the sun in the sun porch

Karola, Anna and the two grandsons left for France early early Saturday morning – we await dispatches.

Hawkes Bay Weather: -3°C—13°C; 0.1 mm rain [78.8]

As I gave the chooks and geese their breakfast I saw two geese locked in battle; each had hold of a good beak-full of the other’s neck feathers ands was battering the other with its wings. Suddenly the cockerel saw what was going on and rushed over. He bobbed or leapt up higher than the geese, squawking and fluttering, telling them to stop I suppose, which soon they did. I tried to take a photo but of course just as I was ready to press the button, it was all over.

Friday started cold and sunny but became quite warm by lunchtime. What I’d hoped we’d achieve, we did achieve.

We straightened up and banged down the two gateposts either side of the entrance from the orchard drive to Karamu from the north; these posts had lifted out about 300 mm (a foot) due to my exuberant wire straining of the netting fences going off either side several years ago. A bit of sledge hammering and the posts sank back to where they are supposed to be; we also “twitched” them upright, they each leaned a little away from the entrance due to the strain.

Mark then put in two big strainer posts about a metre away from the gateposts, just the right width for me to install small wooden gates for access to the planting areas either side of the entrance.

That’s all for Mark for a week or so while I “make good” the several half-completed fences we’ve been working on for the last couple of weeks.

No hay for the sheep today; they’re getting 4 – 6 hours grazing on strips of the Totara paddock until that’s all eaten out.

Hawkes Bay Weather: -1°C—15°C; 0.1 mm rain [78.7]

Mark arrived at 9:00 am and I immediately sped off to Hastings to drop off my Mac Mini computer for the installation of a wireless card, and to get some more milk for Mark’s morning tea. As it happened, the second-hand Mac Mini I bought off TradeMe.com in January 2006 for $650, had some of its internal organs harvested, so there’s bits missing that the wireless card needs.

Mark finished the 25th and 26th intermediate post on the boundary fence and followed that with two big strainer posts going either side of the little wooden gate to the tap at the top of the Totara paddock. Meanwhile I, using the tractor (for ballast), #8 wire and wire strainers, pulled upright the gateposts either side of the wide gate to the big shed; I then banged in large wooden wedges between the stay posts and their stay blocks to keep them upright. So far so good. Then I chainsawed six stout, long poles into additional stay posts and created the same number of stay blocks out of pieces of half-round fence post.

After lunch I gave the sheep a new strip of the Totara paddock and then went into Hastings. A more productive day, I thought, although the sheep work yesterday was pretty useful too.

Hawkes Bay Weather: -1°C—15°C; 0.1 mm rain [79.1]

Bicka woke me up at about 1:30 am, again. I must learn to put her out around midnight whether she feigns deep sleep (and loud snoring) or not.

Today Mark put in another four intermediate posts and I prepared some strainers and stays for the little wooden gate we’re going to put in the netting fence right by the Totara trees in the Totara paddock; chainsawing and hammering sort of stuff.

I fed the sheep a bale of hay.

As planned Bruce Richardson arrived at 11:30 am; I’d already penned up the eleven ewe lambs and their wether squires, #630 and #631 (aka Piccolo). Mark was yardman and fleeco; having an extra pair of hands is invaluable, otherwise the sheep tend to just stay put or wander off in the wrong direction.

The 11 lambs and 2 wethers (just crutched):

• The wethers are heavy and a bit overweight, particularly #631, but otherwise healthy
• lambs OK too, #818 is a bit daggy, it’s probably congenital

The 35 ewes and 1 ram (all crutched and all except ram and #409 vaccinated with 5-in-1):

• #104 – ram now tagged in the correct (right) ear

• $203 (3 May) – no sign
• #206 (11 May) – no sign
• #218 (11 May) – some sign
• #219 (3 May) – no sign

• #401 (3 May) – don’t know
• #402 (11 May) – no sign
• #403 (11 May) – don’t know
• #405 (11 May) – no sign
• #406 (3 May) – no sign
• #409 (11 May) – dry

• #604 (15 April) – lambing soon
• #613 (15 April) – in lamb
• #616 (15 April) – dry
• #623 (15 April) – in lamb
• #629 (15 April) – in lamb
• #632 (15 April) – lambing soon

• #671 (15 April) – some sign
• #672 (15 April) – lambing soon
• #673 (15 April) – some sign
• #674 (15 April) – in lamb
• #675 (15 April) – some sign
• #676 (15 April) – in lamb
• #677 (15 April) – in lamb
• #678 (15 April) – dry
• #679 (15 April) – no sign

• #703 (11 May) – no sign
• #704 (11 May) – in lamb
• #705 (11 May) – in lamb
• #707 (11 May) – in lamb
• #710 (11 May) – in lamb
• #714 (11 May) – no sign
• #717 (11 May) – don’t know
• #719 (11 May) – some sign
• #725 (11 May) – dry
• #726 (11 May) – no sign

The ewes went to the ram in stages beginning with the #600s on 15 April (due 6 September – 13 September), four more on 3 May (due 24 September – 1 October), and the rest on 11 May (due 2 October – 9 October).

I somehow missed writing down the inspection results for: #401, $403, and #717.

Total tally:

• Don’t Know: 3
• Very probably dry: 4
• No sign yet: 10
• Some sign but not soon: 5
• Definitely in-lamb: 10
• Will lamb soon: 3

The Sudoku Nine:

• 7 are in lamb, 1 will lamb soon
• 2 are probably not in-lamb

Hawkes Bay Weather: 0°C—16°C; no rain [78.8]

Mark has completed putting in 20 of the 26 intermediate posts. I continued finishing off around the north west corner; nearly there and definitely stock proof. But where does the time go.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 2°C—17°C; no rain [79.5]

Mark came and began doing the running posts for the 100 metres of new boundary fence; by 2:00 pm he’d dug most of the holes and put in 9 posts out of the 26.

Meanwhile I gave the main mob of sheep a new strip of the Totara paddock; they had it for a few hours only to save some for the rest of the week. The main mob also got a bale of hay today.

I then continued on the inner netting fence parallel with Mark’s boundary work, preparing for the addition of a small gate to access a water tap.

After Mark left I went to the local outdoor timber merchants and stocked up on a few essentials:

• 8 strainer posts
• 3 small wooden gates (much cheaper than the metal ones)
• 30 metal standards
• 1 4.25 metre heavy metal gate, matching the two we already have on the orchard drive
• a coil of #8 wire
• assorted fasteners, gudgeons, and straps for hanging gates

Hawkes Bay Weather: 1°C—16°C; no rain [79.9]

The great winding up of electric fence went ahead today; 12 spools of 300 metres each and a post every 8 – 10 metres. In addition, 150 metres of alkathene and two water troughs to be removed. It took most of the day.

Afterwards I mucked about moving sheep hither and yon. The idea was to draft the 11 ewe lambs out of the flock and put them with wethers #630 and #631 (piccolo) while putting Piglet with the main flock and at no time letting them mix.

The main flock got a bit bored with being herded into the yards, let out of the yards, and put back in the yards again, but it all worked out as planned. Piglet is showing enthusiasm for a couple of the ewes although while I was there they were repulsing his advances quite vigorously; I don’t know how to interpret that – an over zealous Piglet or a ewe without a lamb. I think it was #715 and #203 who he was chasing initially.

Alan Ladbrook and sons asked to come possum shooting last night and I guess they did because I found a big dead possum under the oak tree in the Totara paddock. Tomorrow at 7:00 am is rubbish collection so I put it straight in the bin.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 6°C—17°C; 0.8 mm rain [79.9]

Slowly – it took much of the day, including many breaks for cups of tea and so on – I moved two large posts that Mark had put in on Thursday. They were only about 300 – 400 mm (a foot) out of position but it wasn’t until I’d completed one side of the entrance and gateway into the orchard from the One Acre paddock that I realised these two posts were just too far out of line to be left where they were. My fault entirely, I hope Mark doesn’t notice.

Sheep had a bale of hay and were let out into the same strip across the top of the Totara paddock that they had yesterday. Parts of the day were quite balmy in the winter sunshine.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 1°C—20°C; no rain [80.9]