Monthly Archives: February 2010

Having been advised on the radio last night that a severe earthquake in Chile had set off a serious tsunami – but that it wasn’t powerful enough to do any damage this far away – I awoke to news that Napier harbour had been emptied of ships at 3:00 am, a full tsunami alert was underway and the tsunami was about to hit the Chatham Islands in 30 minutes. As it happened, a noticeable wave did hit New Zealand but without causing damage; it was over a metre high in the Chathams but only 30 – 40 cm high on the North Island east coast.

Karola and I yarded up the wether lambs in the Totara paddock and I drafted off piglet the ram and his friend #630 and the five lambs not large enough to go to the works this time. Karola then dagged a couple of the dozen that are to go to the works tomorrow.

I spent the rest of the day inside; Karola made more tree guards.

Weather:11°C—25°C; no rain [79.9]

Quiet day; sunny with a gentle breeze. Karola did more weeding and tidying and tree guards. I worked on my first iPhone application.

Weather:8°C—22°C; no rain [80.1]

Karola did more weeding around the Sitka Spruce in the Front paddock through the big old wooden gate. I used another tank full of spray on thistles in the Front paddock. Karola spent the afternoon doing more tree guards while I spent another day inside trying to write my first iPhone application.

Caren from Airnet called to say they’d like to switch me to an Internet plan with more capacity just for this month as they saw the huge amount of data sent and received. I thanked her and told her it was due mainly to a virus Roger’s computer had picked up while he was staying at our flat in Wellington, otherwise I’d probably not have exceeded the monthly limit. I usually use less than half my monthly allowance. This will save us about $100.

Weather:8°C—21°C; 0.1 mm rain [80.6]

Hastings in the morning. Robert Russell dropped in after lunch and we penned up the “first fifteen” (all 17 of them) and he chose 12 to go to the works at 11:00 am next Monday. I did another tank-full of thistle spraying around the edges of the Totara paddock, more on the front drive, and between the front gate and the wooden gate into the Front paddock and along the top of the ha-ha.

Weather:10°C—28°C; 0.7 mm rain [80.4]

Quite windy so no spraying today. Karola finished weeding up the side of the front drive.

I pruned the Tasmanian Blackwood saplings at the 133 entrance – they had bent over so far that some of them were scraping on cars going in and out.

Lots of Monarch eggs on the swan plants but no caterpillars yet and the little praying mantis lasts another day.

Weather:14°C—25°C; 0.1 mm rain [80.6]

Karola and I yarded up the mature ewes and drafted out the three lambs temporarily in with them after being drenched a few days ago. Also #403 is limping badly on her left front foot so I had a look and sure enough it was poisoned so we applied spray to that and opened it up to the air a bit – not as much as I’d like because Karola is sure that blood will attract flies and hence make things worse.

We found horse mushrooms near the sheep yards and had them for lunch.

Then I did an hour of spraying thistles and Karola began another day of weeding along the drive. Late afternoon I did another hour of spraying. The goose enclosure, Middle paddock, and Totara paddock and Island paddock thistles have all now been sprayed.

My swan plants have been visited and revisited by gravid Monarch butterflies and are dotted with eggs. My friend the tiny praying mantis is still running about on swan plant one; she’s only 15 mm long. I’m hoping she can browse on caterpillars and so keep the population below the level at which they strip the plant and then wander off to die.

Weather:11°C—26°C; 0.1 mm rain [81.6]

Karola is weeding along the front (121) drive including round the Titoki trees and cutting down the suckering Robinia, except for the really tall ones. She also let the sheep in for another acorn feast.

I did a spot of thistle spraying late afternoon, when it had cooled down a bit.

We’re both wondering, after the guided tours yesterday, whether we might do something with Ginkgo in the orchard paddock. That paddock should be either re-grassed or planted in something this autumn; the current short rotation ryegrass only lasts for 12 – 18 months.

Weather:11°C—27°C; 0.1 mm rain [80.8]

This morning we both attended a Tree Croppers Association outing to an orchard growing ginkgo trees for the leaf and then an orchard with a block of figs, for the fruit. Both interesting although pretty hot standing in the sun for a few hours. Spent the afternoon recovering from definitely too much sun.

Weather:12°C—26°C; 0.1 mm rain [81.0]

Mike Croucher (Garden Groom) came and mowed the last bit of the lawn, long overdue because of the irregular showers and incredible grass growth. Karola sprayed a strip along each side of her Taupata hedge-to-be and gave the mature ewes an hour of acorn delight along the 121 drive.

Meanwhile I watered my swan plants and watched as a couple of Monarch butterflies cruised in prospecting for egg-laying opportunities. There’s a 2 cm long praying mantis on one of the three swan plants who may keep the caterpillar numbers down. I planted my three prize swan plants ($20 on special) in three green plastic pots with trays ($90) using compost from Karola’s bund under the oaks. They’re now settled on the balcony just outside my window.

Mary’s TV gave up the ghost today. Serendipity that Roger and Anne Hughes took a replacement TV intended for Mary down to the Pitoitoi flat in Days Bay when they went back to Wellington from here. Roger very kindly popped it round and swapped it for the broken one.

Weather:10°C—26°C; 0.1 mm rain [80.5]

Added some miniature railings made of old totara battens between the end of the new fence and the little white pump shed.

Dosed all the mature ewes with Magnum (withholding for meat, zero days), just in case. They seem to be quite sleek on their diet of grass and acorns.

Weather:6°C—21°C; 0.1 mm rain [81.0]

Drizzle off and on but that didn’t stop Mark and Karola putting up the 40 battens on the new fence. Meanwhile I spent the morning trying to straighten up the strainer at the far end – the one which the little wooden gate shuts against – because it had taken a distinct lean after I strained up all 8 wires. By dint of looping wire round the top of the strainer and the bottom of another strainer 20 metres away I straightened up this end and only slightly pulled over the strainer at the other end.

After lunch we got the bigger wether lambs and the ram and consort into the yards along with #903 – the wether lamb missed out yesterday – and the mucky ewe lamb, #942 and gave all but #942 an application of Magnum against fly strike (withholding for meat – zero days). Karola then washed #942 and put #942 and #903 in with the mature ewes on the basis that a less lush diet would be good for them.

I had a chest x-ray as part of my continuing medical saga and had the x-ray 45 minutes after I rang to get an appointment. The hospital is 12 minutes drive away. Must have been a slow day; doesn’t sound like the UK’s NHS.

Weather:15°C—27°C; 1.2 mm rain [80.4]

I put up 4 more of the 8 wires on the new fence then Mark arrived around 9:15 am. He spent the morning finishing the railings – the intermediate posts and the nailing up. Meanwhile I went into Hastings for some wire and staples and then finished the 8th wire, then strained and joined them all. So by lunchtime we were ready for the battens – which we’ll do in the next day or so as the weather permits.

Garden Groom came and had another go at the lawns – still about a quarter of them to do.

In the afternoon I mulched up the walnut tree cut down as part of the new railings – it was a wilding that was beginning to interfere with the Chinese Photinia. Karola went round the sheep and spotted one with fly strike, lamb #942, so we got them all into the yards – all the young and small lambs that is – and administered Magnum anti-flystrike liberally to all even though the last dose of Zenith should have been sufficient for another 3 weeks protection. Magnum withholding period for meat of zero days. In addition we drenched 3 that were daggy with Cydectin (withholding for meat, 10 days) – #915, #917, #929 and #942. One lamb, #903, got left behind in the Front paddock so we’ll have to attend to him tomorrow.

Weather:19°C—24°C; no rain [80.7]

Morning in Hastings including a big brunch at the Coffee Club in Stortford Lodge; afternoon the usual fencing for me and weeding for Karola.

Weather:17°C—21°C; 0.1 mm rain [80.8]

Ben and Gill got off in good time for their trip up to the Coromandel – we’re hoping they might call in on the way home to Wellington too.

Rain threatened but Karola and I got out and started on more of the fence and Taupata hedge mulching. Mark arrived at 9:00 am and he put in one deep post supporting the new railings before rain made the earth too sticky to continue. Meanwhile I had dug the 7 holes for the running posts for the new fence to run behind the Taupata hedge.

It cleared up in the afternoon, after I’d released Mark mid-morning because of the rain. Karola carried on with weeding and clearing and Garden Groom came for a couple of hours and got about half the lawns mown.

Weather:16°C—23°C; 0.7 mm rain [80.4]

Up early and out to beat the heat expected in the afternoon. Karola made great strides in her weeding and mulching of the Taupata hedglet and I put stay posts on the two end strainers of the wire-and-batten fence that is going up on the paddock side of the same hedge.

Gill and Ben arrived for late afternoon tea and another delicious gluten-free dinner from Karola.

Weather:16°C—24°C; no rain [80.2]

Busy day; Karola continued her project to weed and put mulch on the Taupata hedge – well the struggling proto-hedge – along the edge of the lawn to the pump shed. Meanwhile I put up the railings on the new pair of railing panels joining the Taupata hedge with the ha-ha. I also put up the little wooden gate I made a decade or more ago called “Karola’s Gate” – this provides a way from the lawn into the Totara paddock, for people, not vehicles. As part of these activities I took down the robust walnut tree that has been growing up under the Chinese Photinia and is beginning to interfere with it. Karola says that it looks better without the walnut tree. She made another delicious lamb roast this evening; it is hard not to eat too much with her cooking.

Weather:17°C—28°C; no rain [80.3]

Mark came around 9:00 am and while he put in a 2.7 metre long strainer post for the end of the new railings from the end of the ha-ha to the Chinese Photinia, I put in a smaller post for the end of the new post and batten fence along the edge of the lawn to the pump shed. Mark then put in another 2.4 metre strainer midway between the end of the ha-ha and the previous post – there’ll be two sets of railings between these three strainer posts. I’d rung Tumu Builders Merchants earlier and at lunchtime we went there and picked up the railings (some have to be sawn in half, lengthways) and some #8 wire and a couple of small half-round posts.

In the afternoon, despite the heat, Karola worked on her improvements to the sheep yards. At the end of the day she was exhausted and when driving the Landrover into the garage she bumped the side of the doorway, pushing it in about 2 inches and breaking a light and piece of bumper on the left front of the Landrover. More annoying than serious thank goodness, she was going very slowly

Weather:17°C—26°C; no rain [81.1]

Karola outside when not raining (which it was, off and on) weeding furiously. I half-dismantled the old rotary clothes line that was entangled with some young 3 metre tall oaks on the back lawn. Also put in a post at one end of the new fence between the pump shed and the ha-ha. Meanwhile Karola went shopping.

Weather:15°C—26°C; 1.3 mm rain [80.0]

Fruit picking in full flow up in the orchard. Truckloads of fruit rumbling off every few hours.

Karola and I got the ewe lambs and smaller wether lambs into the yards and treated #934 who has very bad digestion. Karola cleaned her up and we sprayed her with Zenith (withholding for meat of 7 days) and then we drenched her and #903, #937 (Dot) and #938 with Scanda (withholding for meat of 10 days). #934 was put in with the mature ewes in the Middle paddock so we could more easily keep an eye on her for a few days.

Weather:17°C—25°C; no rain [80.1]

Roger and Anne left for Wellington at noon. Otherwise a quiet, relaxed day.

Weather:12°C—24°C; no rain [79.9]

Rained quite a bit but I took Helen round the orchard in the Landrover after she’d done a spot of pruning of wysteria, then it was time for her to pack, join us in a quick lunch, and go off to Napier to catch the bus. We all went in to Napier to see her off; later Karola and Roger and Anne went shopping while I walked with Bicka along the foreshore.

Roger and I spent a somewhat discouraging evening failing to exactly pinpoint which program was sending stuff out onto the Internet from his laptop. While I was relieved that there was an alternative explanation for the 100’s of megabytes of stuff being uploaded and downloaded by some mysterious software in Roger’s laptop – not my faulty configuration of the server in the office – we were annoyed that we couldn’t actually find and stop the software from misbehaving except by taking his laptop off the network. We traced the bad behaviour to 1st February when Roger was down in Pitoitoi; for the previous two days there’d been no unusual Internet behaviour at Pitoitoi then it began with the same pattern of huge uploads and downloads we saw here in Karamu. That was the same day Roger loaded a particular piece of software and so we suspect that software mightily.

Weather:9°C—22°C; 4.8 mm rain [80.3]

Hot sunny day. Reunioners go to Farmers Market in the morning. We all go to the airport in the afternoon to see Campbell and Jane off back to Auckland. Anne and Helen and Karola then have a swim at Ocean Spa while Roger and I walk Bicka and have a coffee and read. Then we all have dinner at the Westshore Fish Cafe.

Weather:17°C—29°C; 0.2 mm rain [79.9]

The Jane, Helen, Karola reunion continued all day with participation of course from Roger and Campbell and Anne and me and Bicka.

Karola and I penned up the lambs and at 10:30 Neville Hughes (on behalf of Bruce Richardson) turned up with the Mobile Shearing unit and:

• sheared 17 large wether lambs
• crutched the other 29 lambs
• dagged ewe #676

Anne and Helen and I spent a while sorting out the sheep back into their respective mobs after I’d made a few errors – leaving gates open and drafting lambs into the wrong paddock. Now the mature ewes are back in the Front paddock, the 17 (we put wether #903 back with the others as he was not doing well) large wether lambs and piglet (#104) and wether consort (#630) in the Totara paddock, and the rest in the Front and One Acre paddocks.

Weather:13°C—24°C; no rain [79.9]

In the morning Roger, Bicka and I went shopping in Hastings for mice (computer) and other computer bits and bobs, and for a new collar for Bicka. After lunch we all went into Napier; Karola and Anne for swimming at Ocean Spa, Bicka and Roger and I for a 30 minute walk along the sea shore.

Helen and Jane and Campbell arrived at Napier airport just after 10:00 pm and Karola’s, Jane’s and Helen’s reunion began as soon as we got back around 10:30 pm.

Weather:13°C—24°C; no rain [79.3]

Warm, dry weather and peach picking is in full swing. In addition Alan Ladbrook has got a large amount of gravel laid on the muddy orchard drive from the end of the homestead block, round the railings re-erected yesterday, on to the big shed and from there nearly up to the back boundary.

Karola had a haircut in the morning. Colin and Maggy Nagel came at about 10:00 am for lunch. After lunch Karola trimmed the wysteria on the balcony yet again and I did a bit of fencing – put wooden “foots” on two posts for the new fence to go along the edge of the lawn and continued with some hole digging.

Roger and Anne arrived late afternoon and we had a leisurely afternoon tea, a walk around the sheep, and then a venison dinner.

Weather:18°C—24°C; no rain [79.7]

Last night we enticed Mark Hendery to come over today to help re-establish the damaged railings. The prior railings comprised two panels between three large posts, it all being about 9 metres long. The new railings are 4.8 metres long between two posts and a lot of things worked in our favour:

• we were able to reuse nails from the prior fence
• the railings end nicely in line with the boundary fence going down the orchard drive to the road
• the railings come in two lengths 4.8 metres and 6 metres; our new railings turned out to be exactly 4.8 metres long
• I had two spare thin railings of the right length so I only had to buy 3 wide railings to make up the set
• three reinforcing half-round posts were needed (one every one-to-two metres to stop the rails warping) and by good fortune the holes from two of the half-rounds on the prior railings, and the middle main post, were all in exactly the right place to serve for the new railings

All much serendipity and we finished the new railings by mid afternoon.

Karola served up morning and afternoon teas and a seriously good midday meal.

There are lots of mushrooms and other fungi around because of the warm, humid weather; Karola even suspects she’s found some truffles, real ones. Bruce our shearer rang to say he’d try and come next week to dag the lambs but that we should be on the lookout for flystrike as it was very very bad at present – again because of the weather. We dosed all our flock before going to Wellington a week ago so we’ll probably be OK for another few weeks.

Weather:16°C—24°C; no rain [79.3]

Very very gentle rain for much of the day. Apart from a bit of wandering about and measuring lengths of future railings there wasn’t much going on outside. I’ve reorganised my computer systems and now the study, you’d think it was a bit late for spring cleaning.

Weather:16°C—22°C; 0.2 mm rain [79.8]

Mary’s rain gauge contained 80 mm of rain since last checked on 23rd January, certainly the wettest January since our records began and, rather disconcerting news, Ngaruroro, the local major river came to within a metre of overflowing its stop banks which, if they did overflow, could expose us to serious flooding. Indoor day again except for an hour early evening when I began work on a fence Karola wants to surround her Taupata hedge along the west edge of the lawn from the pump shed to the ha-ha, more or less.

Weather:17°C—21°C; 10.2 mm rain [79.5]

Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [?]