Monthly Archives: August 2010

Over Halfway Through Lambing Already

Ewe #714 aka Freckles (mother of the ill-fated Dot and Dora last year) has had twins: #024R and #025R. On of the four hogget ewes, #906, had a still born large ram lamb and was really beside herself with grief for most of the day. Later the old lady #218 had twins but the large ewe lamb died leaving the rather small ram lamb #026R. #218 was pretty miserable about it.

Lots of rain, large puddles in all the paddocks, but luckily not too cold. Work indoors on computer today, except for checking the sheep and tagging all the untagged lambs.

Karola went into Hastings in the afternoon with Bicka so I went alone on my constitutional.

Weather:8°C—13°C; 19.0 mm rain [79.6] 06:30

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Two More Sudoku Twinsets

Bit of a rush today to get to the gym so that Karola could get back and off to Napier for a public hearing on water rights. As she said, she hasn’t been “on a demo” for a long long time and this is something of a protest at the council’s plans to reduce all local orchardist’s irrigation resource consents.

According to Dr Rodney Waterworth who called this morning, polymyalgia looks like the last of my ailments, that there are no more unresolved symptoms showing in blood tests. That is very good news. In celebration I went round the sheep and found two more sets of twins: ewe#673 (#020R and #021E) and #679 (#022R and #023E). I gave the ewes with lambs another additional swathe of fresh grass.

Karola arrived back early afternoon and later I did a bit more on the fence.

Weather:9°C—13°C; 16.3 mm rain [79.2] 06:30

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Wild Pork Roast

Bicka and I went for a mid morning walk in the sunshine; I then moved a concrete post that Mark put in on Thursday, I’d asked him to put it in what turned out to be the wrong place, not for the first time.

Jenny and Noel and Fiona Clark and Toby Clark (brother and sister and Jenny is their aunt) came for a big Sunday roast prepared by Karola with the centrepiece a large shoulder of wild boar from Rowena, Karola’s friend.

No more lambs today but we did tag and shift into the Front paddock the ewes and lambs from yesterday, born in the Island paddock. Also Piglet is much improved so we gave his ears another dose of mite powder and don’t think the vet will be necessary, thank goodness.

Weather:8°C—17°C; no rain [79.8] 06:30

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Piglet Is Unwell

A little more on the fence in the morning. Karola went out for most of the day to her Federation of Graduate Women meeting. I walked with Bicka in the afternoon. We went round the sheep morning and afternoon, tagging the newcomers in the afternoon. Piglet (#104) is unwell, shaking his head all the time. We put him in the yards and he was strangely docile so must be quite sick. Couldn’t see anything wrong although his head was a bit puffy and hot. If it’s not better by Monday I guess we’ll call the vet.

Ewe #616 had twins #018R and #019E.

Weather:5°C—20°C; 0.4 mm rain [80.4] 06:30

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And Five More

Ewe #676, one of the Sudoku, had twins: #013R and #014E. Meanwhile ewe #403 had twins, #015E and #016E and another Sudoku ewe, #672, had twins but one, a ram lamb, was dead on arrival, the other is #017R.

Auntie #219 is still being a bit of a nuisance but luckily the real mothers seem less fazed this year. Of course, today being Friday we began with the Gym. By lunchtime the sun was out we had lunch on the verandah. The afternoon was spent outside, Karola in the garden and me finishing off the repositioned netting fence near the big shed. It’s been about a year since I spent time outside at Karamu, fencing.

Weather:6°C—17°C; 0.2 mm rain [80.5] 06:30

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Five More Lambs Today

Mark came just after 9:00 am and we worked for a while on the boundary fence then spent the rest of the morning putting up the netting fence I’d repositioned near the big shed – the southern end of the orchard paddock. Mark put in three concrete posts on the boundary fence; I took battens off the last 10 panels of the fence, saving the old Totara battens for Karola.

Bicka and I went for our constituional at 3:45 pm, gooing in a clockwise direction this time.

Ewe #402 had ram lamb #008R; ewe #704 had twin ewe lambs #009E and #010E. We tagged them and put them in the Front paddock with the others. I noticed that #219 was up to her Auntie tricks again this year although #704 seems unfazed by #219 trying to steal one of her lambs; I shut #219 in the yards until Karola and I could put the new families in the Front paddock, out of Auntie’s way. At dusk ewe #705 had twins, #011R and #012E.

Weather:8°C—16°C; no rain [80.9] 06:30

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No Lambs Today

As usual, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we set off for exercise and swimming just after 7:00 am, back for breakfast at 8:45 am. Sheep and lambs all well. I did some more on the fence refurbishment. In the evening Karola and I, but not Bicka, wen to BurgerFuel, a healthy burger joint in Napier, for a free tasting as part of a meeting of the local Coeliac Society. It was as I expected.

Weather:10°C—14°C; 1.2 mm rain [81.0] 06:30

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Mark As Yorick Excavator

Mark Hendery came round to help in the morning. He dug a large hole under the oaks in case we need to do any burying now that lambing has begun – a practical consideration. Then on to more pleasant things we worked on the boundary fence refurbishment project.

Karola went round the ewes in the morning and found ewe #675 had twins (#006E, #007E). Karola’s friend Rowena dropped in for a few minutes then Karola went into town and collected this season’s ear tags, among other things. After lunch Karola and I tagged all the lambs.

Bicka and I went for our usual walk in the afternoon.

Weather:8°C—13°C; 0.7 mm rain [81.4] 06:30

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Let Lambing Commence

Mostly glorious sunny, but cool, weather. Exercise and then a quiet morning beginning with breakfast on the verandah in the sun. Last night Karola computed that the first lambs should begin appearing on 23rd August – which I have been saying for last three months.

Karola came to find me late morning having found our first lambs of 2010 and having helped #629 with her birth.

Ewe #717 – twins (#001E, #002E). Ewe #671 – twins (#003E, #004R). Ewe #629 – single (#005E). As planned, as soon as some lambs appeared we’d put all the ewes without lambs into the Totara paddock, except for the Texels we call “the Sudoku” (aside: there are only seven now, not nine, so maybe they should become “the Samuri”?). So, seven Sudoku – one with a lamb, and two other ewes with lambs are in the Front paddock; the rest in the Totara paddock. This should stop the problem I had last year with the Sudoku’s – the “aunties” (yet-to-lamb ewes) stealing their lambs.

Lunchtime I bought a concrete stay post from Latteys Civil Engineering for $35. Then Sue Hills rang to say Tricky Trees had done some tree work for her and they had too much mulch/chippings, would we like it. Yes. Late afternoon, after this sheep work, I took off another 30 metres of battens. Adam Ladbrook came after work and began chainsawing up the oak branches for firewood – selling firewood is a sideline of his. Some of Willie Thow’s workers came to the orchard and I think did some spraying as well as carefully marking the end of each row of apple trees with a band of colour showing what variety that row is.

Janet Scott dropped by with friend Wendy who wanted some bamboo – she’ll come and select some pieces in a few days time.

Weather:4°C—16°C; no rain [81.1] 06:30

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Battens Off

Morning walk with Bicka and then some electric fence moving for the ewes. Late afternoon I began removing battens from the remaining 200 metres or so of the boundary fence with Craig Vernon that we are going to refurbish this winter. Karola finished planting out her Acanthus from Pitoitoi – outside the front gate railings.

Weather:4°C—15°C; 1.5 mm rain [81.0] 06:30

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Ladbrook Day

Karola went shopping; Bicka and I went for our walk; I re-nailed up the railings removed to allow the planting of Gill’s gift Damson tree. Good conversation with Alan Ladbrook – he has a new job which works better with also managing his own (and our) peaches. Karola went over and talked to Alan’s wife Julie and caught up on the news there. I called son Adam Ladbrook and he came round and agreed to saw up and take away the pile of oak branches from our recent big branch incident, it’ll take him a couple of weeks he thinks as an after-work activity, depending on the weather. Alan Ladbrook dropped off a farm gate so that I can turn the current single gate entrance from Karola’s orchard into Craig Vernon’s orchard into a two-gate entrance. Early evening I went over and unbolted the gudgeons from the current gate.

Weather:9°C—12°C; 6.9 mm rain [81.0] 06:30

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Concrete Posting

Exercise (for me) and swimming (for Karola) then breakfast. As we were having it Keith and his elderly sidekick Ron turned up looking for casual work. I took the opportunity to have Keith spend three hours helping me on the tractor move a pile of very heavy concrete posts from near the big shed to the post dump down in the south-eastern corner. We also laid out ten posts along the boundary with Craig to the north that will replace broken or missing posts in that fence line. Meanwhile Ron started cleaning the garage. Keith and Ron will come back on Monday to finish the garage. Karola and I went into Hastings for some shopping and a delicious lunch at Cornucopia.

Weather:7°C—16°C; 0.7 mm rain [81.4] 06:30

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Damson Tree Planted

Karola and I attended to Piglet’s friend’s (#630’s) front feet and we looked over the 31 expectant ewes, some looking quite close to lambing now as expected. After lunch Bicka and I went for our walk and then spent happy hour or so moving electric fence. Karola did more Acanthus planting and also planted the splendid Damson tree from Gill in a prize position behind the Liriodendron in a special tree triangle between the three gates.

Weather:3°C—16°C; no rain [81.0] 06:30

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A Day To Specialise

Gym for an hour a bit after 7:00 am. Then appointment with yet another specialist who confirmed that I have Polymyalgia rheumatism – fully curable in a year or so with the right medication. I seem to be collecting the less belligerent forms of auto-immune disease afflicting old codgers. Then morning tea with Jenny and her son Mark Hendery and off to the eye specialist who acknowledged my eyes are in fact pretty much the same as they’ve been for the last year and indeed I don’t need the additional medicine he prescribed last month, well not yet anyway. A small victory but mine own.

Weather:5°C—17°C; 0.1 mm rain [81.0] 06:30

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William Thow – Orchardist

Haircuts and Farmlands in the morning. Then a change of electric fencing for the ewes – closing up the One Acre to let it regrow and giving the ewes another slice of the Front paddock.

In the afternoon William Thow took us to one of his orchards and described his replanting plans and techniques. William is trying hard to convince us to agree to major replantings in Karola’s orchard and to his leasing of the orchard for a decade. We are not fully convinced.

Karola then went back into town and Bicka and I did our hour’s constitutional.

Weather:6°C—21°C; no rain [82.3] 06:30

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Planting Acanthus

Exercise and then a relaxed day. Ewes had a fourth day grazing the swathe of long grass in the Front paddock. Karola did some more planting – of Acanthus from the garden at Pitoitoi.

Weather:7°C—15°C; 0.1 mm rain [81.3] 06:30

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Ben To Brazil

Karola went off after lunch to a meeting of the Historic Places Trust local branch in Havelock North. After that she visited Tommy Ormond and also saw Peter Ormond, all this after a visit to the Hastings farmers market.

I stayed in out of the constant drizzle except for an hour walk with Bicka just as the drizzle was easing late afternoon.

Ben set off for Brazil from Wellington airport.

Weather:10°C—12°C; 9.8 mm rain [81.8] 06:30

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Time Out For Constant Drizzle

Ewe lambs put into the orchard paddock. Piglet and friend given the run of the Middle and Island paddocks. Ewes given a couple of hours in a swathe of long grass in the Front paddock. Trough set up for the ewes down by the Sitka Spruce.

Karola planted all the Camelias she’d brought back from Pitoitoi, despite the constant rain. Bicka and I stayed indoors except for our hour constitutional late afternoon.

Weather:12°C—18°C; 19.9 mm rain [81.3] 06:30

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Return To Karamu After Brunch

Karola had loaded up her plants and trees and battened down the hatches yesterday so we did a bit of packing (I took Bicka out) and then went off for brunch with Felicity and Geoff at Chocolate Dayz.

We then packed up – a very full landrover – and set off for Karamu via Haywards Hill and the west coast. Despite forecasts to contrary it didn’t rain but it did get dark and the dashboard lights in the Landrover fused yet again – something to do with the trailer wiring but heavens knows what – so Karola had to drive without instruments for the last 30 minutes.

Weather:13°C—19°C; no rain [?] 06:30

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Wellington Day 6 – Natalie’s Real Birthday

Natalie went to school as usual. Charles Bagnall came round again and he hosed down the carport roof and did some more with the gutters and the stormwater drains. Karola dug up a trailer-load of Camelias and Acanthus to take back to Karamu. Then Karola and I went in to Bridget’s and Bridget and I walked up KauKau again – again I got to the style, Bridget and Bicka got to the top. After that I went round to see Mary and later we had a special dinner with Chris and Bridget and Natalie and Alex(andra) – some gluten-free sausages I’d got at Bridget’s suggestion from Eastbourne.

Weather:2°C—16°C; no rain [?] 06:30

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Wellington Day 5

No Charles today. I took Bicka for an extended morning walk and got a paper and coffee from Chocolate Dayz cafe. Karola went off on the bus to have lunch with Jane Johnson, returning by bus late afternoon. Meanwhile I cut down a large Kowhai tree and dead punga from by the Pitoitoi front door.

In the evening we went into town to Elements restaurant in Lyall Bay and had dinner with Ben and Gill. The meal and conversation was fine until the end of the meal when Gill was struck down by perhaps mushrooms or celery in her salad and she and Ben spent till 1:30 am in A&E – Gill recovered gradually over the next couple of days.

Weather:-2°C—13°C; 0.1 mm rain [?] 06:30

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Wellington Day 4

Karola and I took Bicka for a morning walk and upon returning to Pitoitoi were pleased and surprised to find Charles Bagnall demolishing our dangerous front steps. We took advantage of that to load the rotten wood into the trailer and to take it all to the transfer station in Seaview.

After returning to Pitoitoiand unhitching the trailer we rushed into Khandallah to Bridget’s place. Karola and Bicka and I then walked up mount KauKau – this time I made it to the top and took some photos of Bicka sitting on the brass plate marking the summit, Karola got as far as the style.

Laster, as planned, we met Anna-Marie at CIRCA in deepest Wellington and had a restaurant meal before going to their theatre show, The Great Gatsby.

Weather:-1°C—13°C; no rain [?] 06:30

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Wellington Day 3

A quiet day in Days Bay

Weather:5°C—10°C; no rain [?] 06:30

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Wellington Day 2

We went in to Khandallah and Bridget and I climbed mount KauKau – well Bridget got to the top and I got to the style 10 mins from the top. Bicka accompanied us, of course. There were lots of people and dogs on the way up and down, it being the weekend.

Weather:4°C—16°C; no rain [?] 06:30

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Natalie’s Pre-Birthday Party

Karola and I unloaded the wood from the trailer. Late morning we went down to Chocolate Dayz cafe on the waterfront for Natalie’s lunch. Natalie and her sister Alex, mum Bridget, dad Chris, both grandmothers (Karola and Anna-Marie), and me.

The party decamped to the Queensgate Mall in Lower Hutt and went on from there to watch Natalie at her swimming lesson in Khandallah. Meanwhile Bicka and I went back to Pitoitoi and set off for Khandallah later to pick up Karola and go on to dinner with Kirsty Faulkner and Bruce Utting and their guests Sue and Vaughan White, growers of lavender in Te Horo at Lavender Creek Farm. On the way in to Khandallah I too went to the Queensgate Mall and bought an Apple wireless keyboard – a beautiful piece of design and functional but rather pricey.

Weather:6°C—15°C; 3.5 mm rain [?] 06:30

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To Wellington With Wood

Steady drive to Wellington, over the Rimutaka mountains pulling a heavy trailer of fire wood. We went straight to Pitoitoi in Days Bay and had a quiet meal in front of a wood fire while the wind howled and occasional rain lashed the building. Karola got fish and chips from “Pirana” in Eastbourne; it being Friday night they were too busy to do a special rice flour batter so our fish was grilled.

Weather:4°C—16°C; no rain [?] 06:30

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Wether Lambs To Works

Mark Hendery came round at 8:30 am and we put the stock crate onto the trailer and loaded up the 12 male lambs with no fuss. The paddock was very slippery due to the recent rains but the Landrover coped, in low-ratio diff-locked 4-wheel-drive it trundled quietly across the grass leaving distinct tyre marks a couple of inches deep, but it didn’t get stuck. I had started up the tractor before we began, using the Landrover to jump-start it, before beginning the paddock manoeuvres. Lambs sent to works: #903, #914, #916, #921, #926, #927, #929, #930, #932, #940, #941, #945.

Mark also loaded the trailer with some apple firewood for us to take down to Wellington tomorrow.

I did a bit more electric fencing and let the ewes into a swathe of Front paddock grass for a couple of hours. Bicka and I went for our hour constitutional – I do dislike the traffic which, while infrequent, is very noisy and very close – I get Bicka off the road for each oncoming vehicle.

Weather:0°C—14°C; no rain [82.0] 06:30

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Sheep Buyer Visits

Rain overnight and soggy underfoot. However today is a Wednesday so it’s off to the gym just before 7:00 am, me for my exercise programme, Karola for a swim. Back for a shower and breakfast. Then back into town for some x-rays of my shoulders, seeking signs of arthritis.

Later we moved the sheep around so that the male lambs were in the Island paddock, the ewe lambs in the yards, and the mature ewes in the One Acre and orchard paddocks. We drafted out the four ewe lambs that may be in-lamb and put them with the other ewes. Then the rest of the ewe lambs were put into the Middle paddock.

Early afternoon I rolled up the electric fence along the top of the ha-ha and created a swathe of pasture along the road end of the Front paddock with a lane up the northern side to the gate into the One Acre. The idea is that the ewes will be given a few hours in this part of the Front paddock before they have their lambs. We may also get them briefly to graze a section across the west end of the Front paddock where the grass is most luxuriant, to stop it getting so long that it gets stale and rank.

Robert Russell came at 3:30 pm as planned and took a look at the male lambs. He arranged for us to take them to the works tomorrow morning at 10:00 am. I called Mark Hendery and he is coming to help load the lambs at 8:30 am tomorrow – oh and to put the stock crate on the trailer first of course.

Weather:9°C—15°C; 4.4 mm rain [80.4] 06:30

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Ewe Jail Break

Not cold but drizzle all day. In the morning William Thow called and said he’s like to begin pruning the apples next week – so the lambs need to come out of the orchard.
First I let the ewes into the strip along the top of the ha-ha and around the Sitka Spruce, then I went for the hour walk with Bicka.

Late morning Karola and I moved the ewe lambs into the Island paddock and took down the miles of electric fence that had been their home in the orchard for the last month or more. It took 2½ hours and we scrambled to get to the doctor’s appointment at 2:15 pm.

Doctor’s appointment was a scheduled quarterly checkup and all is slightly better than expected. Upon returning home Karola spotted a sheep on the road outside our gate. Shock, horror, it was one of ours. We were in the nick of time, they’d obviously been roaming freely in the garden for a while and had just got bored enough to want to forage further afield. I shooed the several that were on the verge back through the gates and shut them. It turned out that the continual rain had so softened the ground that my electric fence had popped out and fallen over; that’s how they managed to break out.

Weather:8°C—11°C; 6.5 mm rain [81.0] 06:30

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Male Lambs Reverse Facial

Up early and our first proper session at the Swim Gym. Back home for a shower and scrambled eggs in the sun on the verandah. Karola also got her car back wheel bearings replaced this morning. The usual thing, Karola came back with a loaner car while I was finishing my exercises and was briefly upstairs at the Gym getting a coffee when I finished – so I spent 20 minutes outside waiting for her and she likewise was inside waiting for me. C’est la vie.

I put an electric wire up from the end of the ha-ha to the road fence and let the ewes in to have the top of the ha-ha, same as yesterday, and the area round the Sitka Spruce near the old wooden gate. Put the male lambs into the yards and “piglet” and his friend in the goose enclosure. Karola then spent couple of hours in the unenviable task of trying to clean up the rear ends of her male lambs ready for sale. Not sure if it was too much rich, new grass at once or parasite load that made them all so daggy so quickly.

Male lambs potentially for sale: #903, #914, #916, #921, #926, #927, #929, #930, #932, #940, #941, #945.

Weather:4°C—20°C; no rain [81.2] 06:30

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Diane and Peter Arthur Meal

Hour walk with Bicka then I put up electric fence for a strip along the top of the ha-ha, just beyond the mulch path and the ewes enjoyed munching up the grass and weeds in short order.

Diane and Peter Arthur came to meal at 1:00 pm – a large pork roast with many fresh vegetables, a Karola tour de force. A very good meal with the only surprise being that Bicka wolfed down the remains of the roast because it was on a low shelf behind my chair – that is, within reach.

Weather:12°C—16°C; no rain [?] 06:30

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