After a more peaceful (less barking, more room, comfy bed) night in the homestead for Bridget and the grand-daughters, everyone got up a little later than usual, exactly the opposite of what’s expected when the clocks “spring forwards” as they did today.

We all (except Bramble) went to Rush Monroe’s for an ice-cream then Bridget finished packing and off they went.

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—23℃ no rain [80.7]

Long day and the clocks “spring forward” tonight. We had brunch at the Coffee Club then the rest went shopping and to take Natalie to the doctor in Hastings returning mid afternoon.

Bridget and her girls decided that the cottage attic was not as comfortable / quiet / dog-free as the homestead so they’ve decamped there for tonight.

Karola made us a large lamb roast dinner so we’ll all sleep well tonight.

Sadly #717’s ram lamb twin, #239R, died sometime today of unexplained causes.

Grand-daughter’s Temporary Nest Upstairs In The Cottage

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—20℃ 0.3mm rain [80.6]

SwimGym

Quiet day indoors with Bridget and the grand daughters. Bramble a bit bored, being tied up or out in the rain most of the day.

Electrician Alan Roberts (027-444-5609 & 06-870-1322) called round and he expects to do the downstairs wiring OK but upstairs is too hard even for him. Upstairs I’ll use WiFi and just run a thin telephone wire round the skirting for the speaker phone.

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—15℃ 9.5mm rain [80.6]

Henere came just before 9:00am and over the morning he finished the burying of my ethernet cable running from up the power pole to the pump shed in the orchard. We also finished installing the old concrete water trough as pictured below. We began altering the short railings round Gill’s damson tree – after moving the fence between One Acre and Front paddock I replaced some of the railings round the damson but too close to the trunk, hence the change.

Karola’s Preserved Old Concrete Water Trough

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—19℃ 3.4mm rain [81.6]

SwimGym

Henere came at 9:30am as expected and he spent the morning digging a trench for my cable from the power pole to the pump shed in the orchard.

Karola had arranged for the vet to visit at 11:00am to see #613 with the damaged eye. he came and have her injections; said that it probably was an injury, not “pink eye” (sighs of relief).

After lunch Henere and I installed the old concrete water trough and filled it with water. It still needs the ball cock to be cleaned and refitted but water is connected.

Karola finished another tree guard, for a rimu just outside the cottage garden.

Wade of Brimar Trimmers came and trimmed – there’s a lot of Casurina trimmings to be mulched.

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—21℃ no rain [81.2]

While the others packed and cleaned I went in to Mitre-10 to buy some de-oil/de-greasing compound to try and remove the hot spill of rice bran oil on the cottage kitchen verandah. Kwila is a dark wood so they spill isn’t going to show too much anyway. Later in the day I did as the bottle recommended and now we have to wait for a couple of days to see if the stains fade.

The Wellington party got away mid morning and the weather was favourable. They arrived back in Wellington without mishap.

Rest of the day was a bit quiet. Pottering round with weekend chores such as mowing the cottage lawn, sweeping the cottage attic, and counting the lambs, and recounting the lambs.

Henere appeared briefly, offering to come and help with outdoor things tomorrow.

Wade of Brimar Trimmers also dropped by; he’s planning on trimming the Casurina windbreak tomorrow.

I spoke to Les Clapcott’s whiz electrician, Alan Roberts, who, allegedly, is able to pull wires through any tricky place. Alan expects to call in on Thursday to see what we want done.

This is Peter Offenberger’s new house in Havelock North – close to the village and looks very well cared for.

Oak Avenue Weather:2℃—16℃ no rain [80.4]

SwimGym

Mary had a shower and Gill, Ben and I went out shopping and for lunch and to take a look at the outside of Peter Offenberger’s new house in Havelock North. Karola stayed with Mary.

Evening meal included whitebait fritters starter and boysenberries, plums, and ice cream for pudding.

More lambs, unexpected. Ewe #928 who I thought had had a still-born lamb actually produced twins today, #243E and #244R. That means the still-born lamb was probably a twin from #040, #906, or #007. The “dry” ewe, #915, could still surprise us I suppose, she has a bit of an udder.

Oak Avenue Weather:3℃—15℃ no rain [80.2]

Breakfast and then the 2nd breakfast for me, Mary, and Ben of scottish kippers.

Huge Sunday roast lamb lunch put on by Karola and served in the cottage was a big success.

Ben helped me add a top wire across the netting gates blocking the wide gateway into the cottage garden from the south. Bramble has jumped those gates 3 times recently – thinks she’s so clever and races flat out across the paddock to me after she escapes. We hope no more escapes.

Mid afternoon Karola and I took Mary round the smallholding in Karola’s car.

Then Ben and I cleaned up the passenger-side headlamp on Karola’s car, the one I messed up after spray painting her front bumper. It isn’t as new but is much better.

More lambs today, and probably the end of lambing for 2012: #007 had ram lamb #240R while #923 had twins #241E and #242R.

Ben Bell and Lamb

Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—17℃ no rain [80.5]

Cold night and gorgeous day. No more lambs though, except I found a still-born lamb that is either a twin of #019, #040 or #906, or might be the only lamb of #928 who is down as not having lambed as yet. I think it was probably delivered 24 hours ago.

I had a good day just tidying up my cottage – pump shed WiFi and then, with Karola’s help, moving the old concrete water trough from beside the pump shed to its new home over the fence in the Totara paddock. It’ll be a while before it’s conected though as Karola has plans for catching the rainwater off the big shed and feeding the trough with that.

I yarded the ewe hoggets temporarily and looked at #113E’s feet. No sign of foot rot so I assume it’s a joint problem making her limp.

Karola was flat out preparing for Mary’s visit, organising food and furniture etc, including swapping the bed in the homestead living room – well swapping the head boards so it’s a bit lower.

The Wellington party arrived as planned late afternoon ad we had a relaxing evening watching TV in the homestead together.

There’s a new Apple iPhone model out this week and one of its features is a new maps application, replacing the one from arch-rival Google they’ve included in iPhones for years. The new maps app is not as complete or accurate as Google maps and have come in for a lot of criticism, including this rather entertaining notice by London Transport making fun of Apple’s maps deficiencies which are part of what Apple calls “iOS 6”.

Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—14℃ no rain [80.2]

SwimGym

Then the activity of the day was docking the undocked lambs in the Front paddock. Lamb #228 has the button tag in the wrong ear which I’ll redo next time we yard them.

We also moved the remaining ewe who hasn’t lambed, #717, to be with the others in waiting in the Middle paddock. Sometime in the night #717 had twins #238E and #239R.

Karola noticed that ewe #613 had a very swollen and blind right eye yesterday. It’s probably the condition known as Pink Eye – very contageous we’re told so hoping we’ve got them sufficiently spread out that this doesn’t happen to our flock. Usually the sheep recovers in a week or so.

We disassembled the temporary yards in the Front paddock and Karola put them up again in the Middle paddock ready for the next round of docking. In parallel I did a hectic shopping and appointments trip into Hastings. Exhausted, we had afternoon tea (well coffee actually) and then I helped Karola change the bed base in the homestead living room to one that is 3 inches (75mm) lower.

Don Shaw dropped in briefly in the morning – came to pick up a bit of oak to take to his friend that does wood carving in Taupo. Shortly afterwards Neville the contractor came to see if we were satisfied with his drive levelling – which we are.

Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—12℃ 0.2mm rain [79.5]

Having added some circuitry to my Water Meter Project last night I rushed over to test it before the meter was handed over completely to the outside company who will let us meet our obligations to the council for regular readings at reasonable cost and worry free. Turned out the added circuitry improved but didn’t solve the problems I was having so I’m well out of that for now.

Did a few odd jobs outside while Karola went for her Aesthetic Dental appointment and more dental beautification.

Shane Hay came and mowed the lawns before the weekend – and before some showers of rain passed through. Looks like the forecast for the weekend is unrelenting sunshine and cold nights.

Just one more lambing today: #906 had a single lamb, #237R.

John Jones came late afternoon and finished wiring up the water meter. He took the current reading from the metre and left saying that Dave Rankin would be contacting us with user names and passwords etc shortly.

Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—16℃ 1.2mm rain [80.2]

SwimGym – and we’re both fairly exhausted after this so anything we get done in the rest of the day is a bonus. Not helped by the sound of dozens of wind machines attempting to protect local crops from frost – they were in full roar at 3:15am and Bramble barked a bit which woke me though we all settled down quickly once we realised what the noise was.

Karola suggested I convert my Water Meter project into one that tells us the temperature up at the orchard – like our own frost warning. A good choice for me because the bits I’ve spent most time on in last month or so would be used.

Haircuts for us both today in preparation for Mary coming up at the weekend. Also the hand rail now put up in the homestead downstairs bathroom.

Ewe #040 had ram lamb #236R. I checked out the sheep in the Middle paddock – there are 6 that have lambed and 4 more to lamb there. In the front paddock all but #717 have lambed and it’s impossible to know who belongs where and they move so fast you can’t even count them so I’ve given up and only look for #717 to see if she’s lambed yet. We will, I hope, get a better idea of who goes with whom when we dock in a few days time.

Henere and Scott breezed through late afternoon.

I finished installing and tidying up my Internet connection from the cottage garage to the pump shed via the power pole next to the pump shed. The ethernet cable is clipped to the power pole and carries both the LAN signals and power for the WiFi repeater up the pole.The cable is sheathed in a small diameter alkathene pipe where I plan to bury it from the pole to the pump shed. Inside the pump shed the cables end in sockets in a standard wall plate and cables are neatly clipped in place. The ladder no longer leans against the power pole. I’ve done speed tests with a laptop from the pump-shed to the Internet and am getting the same speeds as I get in the cottage – so it seems the extension of our home LAN to the pump-shed is working as desired.

Oak Avenue Weather:7℃—18℃ no rain [79.8]

No lambs today. Possibly we’ve over-counted the lambs by one – they move from ewe to ewe and run around such a lot that it’s hard to be sure who is who’s.

John Jones (“Irrigation Services” and Sue Hill’s son by 1st marriage and Chris Jones brother – Chris manages Janet Scott’s orchard next door) and Dr Dave Rankin of Indigo came and began installing the water meter telemetry system. They decided to use their own network using a collection point at Frank Haywood’s place. Dave Rankin is the owner and implementor of Indigo Systems which is supplying the technology. He is interviewed here: https://www.indigosystems.net.nz/tv01.html.

John Jones – Irrigation Services in Clive: 06-870-0658 027-444-7734 email john@irrigationservices.co.nz)

Dr Dave Rankin dave@indigosystems.net.nz 03-377-4020

We prepare for a special visit at the weekend of Mary accompanied by Gill and Ben.

Oh It’s A Hard Life Being Ian’s Dog – Said Bramble

Oak Avenue Weather:2℃—16℃ no rain [80.2]

SwimGym

Looked round sheep – all’s well. #934 had twins today, #229E and #230R. #705 had twins #231E and #232R. Ewe #019 had a ewe lamb, #233E, late afternoon. Also late in the day #009 had twins #234E and #235E.

I’ve been beaten by the schedule for getting the water meter reading project finished so I’ve cut my losses and we’ve asked John Jones of HB Irrigation Services (who put in the physical meter for us last year) to provide the telemetry via a group of orchardists led by neighbour Frank Haywood. It’s a lot cheaper than earlier offers and they may be able to use the Internet access I’ve set up for the pump shed.

John Burnard, electrician, came today but most of what I wanted done he says is too hard now the walls are up and insulated. He did a few extra bits and bobs for Karola and we hope he’ll come back and put ceiling linghts in the homestead living and dining rooms and fix the cabling from the homestead to the pump shed.

Oak Avenue Weather:7℃—22℃ no rain [80.4]

There have been better starts to the day. I was putting up some coat hooks on the cottage kitchen verandah using four ancient bronze hooks and their matching elderly screws. I dropped a screw onto the verandah and it bounced most disadvantageously into the gap between the verandah and the wall. So I crawled under the house over the large lumps of dry solid clay and other builders’ rubbish and to my surprise found the screw. I wriggled back out, covered in dust, and placed the screw on the verandah while I dusted myself off. Bramble promptly ate the screw. And no, we will not be eagerly awaiting its appearance later.

Lots of lambs today:

• #919 – twins #220E and #221R
• #946 – twins #222E and #223R (#223R very small but active)
• #616 – triplets #224, #225, #226 (all about the same size)
• #613 – twins #227 and #228

We began with 24 ewes plus Kaz’ old ewe. That old ewe was the first to lamb and now 14 of the 25 ewes have lambed. One, #915, is thought to be dry. So, that means there’s 10 more to go.

Ignoring Kaz’ ewe which was mated much earlier than ours, the first of our ewes lambed on 6th September so it’s taken 10 days to get over half way.

I mowed the cottage lawn just before another shower made it too wet to even contemplate. All Sunday chores completed and time for a quiet, relaxing evening.

Oak Avenue Weather:9℃—17℃ 2.5mm rain [80.3]

After breakfast I did a thorough search again for the missing ewe #922 and her twin rams. No sign of them. We then sent an email to Twyford Watchdog – our local neighbourhood watch.

Late morning Karola was out looking at the lambs and to see if there were any more (there was one more lambing, #917 had twins #218E and #219R) and came back to tell me she’d just seen #922 and her twins in the Front paddock, exactly where they’re supposed to be.

So, either someone was playing a joke and returned them or she is a very cunning ewe who walked with her lambs round the thickets ahead of us and out of sight. Amazing and irritating as it is I am inclined to the latter view.

Karola and I spent 20 minutes getting her into the temporary yards so we could dock and tag the twins. Afterwards we yarded #933 and gave the neglected triplet a drink while again I sat on the mum.

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—17℃ 0.7mm rain [80.1]

SwimGym after taking back the nail gun to Hirequip.

We assembled the portable yards in the Front paddock before going into Hastings for lunch. Late afternoon, when it was a bit cooler (strong frost overnight but it warmed up during the sunny day), we docked and tagged the lambs.

However, there was no trace of ewe #922 and her two ram lambs, born on 11th September. We think they must have been stolen.

Triplet mum, #933, is neglecting ewe lamb #207E so I held her while Karola let the lamb have a good drink.

Ewe #933’s triplets comprise two ewes and a ram lamb, #206E, #207E, and #208R. #604 had mixed twins, #216E and #217R.

There are five ewes still to lamb in the Front paddock and ten more in the Middle paddock.

Bramble Meets Bees

Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—19℃ no rain [80.2]

Main event was the construction of a set of railings across the old gateway to the big shed.

No new lambs today.

Oak Avenue Weather:0℃—16℃ no rain [80.0]

SwimGym for both of us and earlier than usual as Bramble woke us soon after first light.

We both had dental appointments and then did a bit of shopping. After lunch Karola helped begin closing the old gateway gap between the Totara paddock and the peaches next to the big shed. We have the railings, the posts and have started sawing to length. It rained a little on and off.

Later I had a test of the Arduino with the water pump operating at high speed – 100 litres every 7.6 seconds instead of the natural head producing 100 litres every 35 seconds. Alan Ladbrooke was using the pump to spray water on the ground under the peaches as he believes there’ll be a thundering frost in the night and the peaches are in full, vulnerable, bloom.

Ewe #604 had twins #216 and #217. As usual she was very friendly and came to us to show off her new family.

As it became dark we took Bramble to the last of eight lessons for the current Dog Training class at the Hastings Racecourse. It was very cold, the wind coming off the snow covered mountains.

Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—12℃ 0.2mm rain [80.5]

Every sort of weather today; cold blasts with driving rain followed by warmer sunny spells. I drafted out the replacement ewe lambs from the pregnant ewes and so we now have four separate flocks of sheep: the early lambers in the Front paddock – including #003 and her lamb who I popped into the Front paddock from the One Acre so that all the ewes with lambs were together.; the rest of the pregnant ewes in the Middle paddock; the ewe lambs still in the One Acre, and #915 and the ram still in the Island paddock.

#922 had twin ram lambs today: #214R and #215R.

Jenny and Noel Hendery dropped back the keys to the Days Bay flat.

Karola is sorting out her stuff – stuff she travelled with and stuff she left here until she got back, and stuff that arrived while she was away.

Karola went over to the homestead and saw that the cleaners had indeed made it cleaner than when she left. Karola also found my favourite pocket knife whihc I reported as lost on 19th February. It is a Java memento from when I worked on that technology for IBM back in late 1990s. I am very pleased. It is also very well designed.

Oak Avenue Weather:3℃—14℃ 3.0mm rain [80.2]

0

SwimGym

Then a rush to try and finish as many of the little things I’d hoped to accomplish before Karola got home. Thwarted substantially by trying to get a smidgen of paint off the headlight on the passenger side. Ended up with 3/4 of the headlight smeared and cloudy and I tried every household cleaner we have but made very little impression – if ONLY I had left well alone. Cleaned the rubbish bin; swept the cottage; went round the sheep and then rushed off to the airport to meet Karola.

Today we had more lambs: #043 has twins #211R and #212R, #003 had #213E. Interesting that #003 was not expected to lamb until later, but it seems that we picked the preponderance of early lambers correctly.

Peter and Charlotte Offenberger have sold their Wellington home and therefore will be coming to live in Havelock North later this year.

Oak Avenue Weather:11℃—18℃ no rain [80.1]

1

Solid day preparing for Karola’s return Monday lunchtime. Anna TXTed to say Karola was at Heathrow safe and well.

Car bumper front left and right have scratch marks, have had them for some time. These have now been inexpertly spray painted today by me and, if you’re not looking for signs of it, they look pristine.

The nasty old oil mark on the homestead front verandah is almost invisible. This was a several months old spill when the lid of my chainsaw oil reservoir came off. I’ve been working on the removal of this blemish for some weeks and nothing works perfectly but there’s certainly less of an oil mark, more of bare wood which will stand out until it gets dirty and blends back in with the rest of the verandah.

Duvet and blankets aired on the washing line in the sun and strong wind. Sheets washed and dried ditto.

Nice surprise this morning, #933 has triplets #206, #207, and #208. I gave them plenty of space as they’re a bit small and I didn’t want to disturb the mother, so I’ll find out the which are ewe lambs later

Late afternoon I saw #911 had twins, #209E and #210R.

Gill’s present of a damson tree is in full bloom now.

Damson Tree At Dusk

Oak Avenue Weather:9℃—19℃ 0.1mm rain [80.5]

2

Mid morning I found ewe #704 with twins, #204E and #205R, both seemed in good condition.

Saw the old cat and again gave her double rations, she does seem a bit thin.

Mowed most of the Goose paddock to give the grass an opportunity to outgrow the iris which is growing there like grass.

Karola sets off for home today; back here in a couple of days.

I got breathalysed this morning, in Williams Street which is a sort-of short-cut to Frederick Street and Mitre-10. Nice young lady cop checked my license and asked me to count to five into her machine. Zero alcohol of course. This was a road checkpoint at 11:00am so obviously Hastings drivers are known to start drinking early.

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—20℃ no rain [80.3]

3

SwimGym – pretty much the high point of the day.

I checked #904; the lamb #203R was OK but no change in the ewe. I called Don Shaw and he came and had a look and basically said she’s had it.I think his initial diagnosis of something that might clear in a day was wrong but I don’t think that’s made any difference.  Don left thinking I would call the vet but instead I called Murray Cranswick. I told him what Don’s diagnosis was and Murray said give it another day and if no change he’ll come over tomorrow (Saturday) and see what to do.

Well I always thought the poor ewe was in very bad shape, that’s why I rushed over to get Don Shaw’s advice. There was absolutely no change after lunch so, enough is enpugh and I called Cas and asked if Mark could come over and dispatch the ewe for dog tucker. Mark arrived around 2:0pm and put #904 out of her misery. He got the meat and pelt; I get to bury the rest. Casually, gently I asked Mark maybe he’d like a pet lamb – not looking forward to 6-times-a-day feeding for the next week. He thought for a while then said yes. So I quietly rounded up a bottle, teat, colostrum, milk powder and sent them all off together. Thank you to Karola for having all the necessary sitting in the vet cupboard. He knows he can bring #203R back if it becomes too much trouble. I did suggest he call Cas to make sure she’d not blow a fuse seeing him with a pet lamb, but I think that just hardened his resolve to take it. Even if it’s for a few days it’s a help to me. Sorry about #904 though. Murray did ask me to check if there were any more lambs inside by feeling her stomach – no there were not. He also asked about the history and I said one lamb each year 2010 and 2011.

Henere Ormond called in briefly but I was busy so he didn’t stay long. Meanwhile I struggle with my water meter telemetry project.

The rest of the sheep look OK. There are bee hives in the peaches. All around spraying begins soon after 5:00am – this is Hawkes Bay orcharding in the spring.

Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—22℃ no rain [80.4]

4

It’s light now at 5:30am, as Bramble reminds me

Got Karola’s GST off in the post and spent most of the day tussling with my project.

Garden Groom (was Mike Croucher, now Shane Hay – 027-515-5604 or 06-843-0443) came and mowed most of the lawn again in preparation for Karola’s return.

We’ve got the first lamb from our own ewes this season; it’s #904 with ram lamb #203R. But she’s having trouble so I suspect more lambs and they/she may not survive. He, #203R, however has I think had a good drink.

As luck would have it, Don Shaw who lives at 188 Ormond Road (06-877 2419 and 027-442-2421) came to see if he could have some old oak and apple wood for a friend with disability in Taupo who likes to carve. Of course I said yes, we have a lot of cut wood that might be suitable.  Shortly afterwards I saw #904 with one lamb and possibly trying to have more. It was all a bit messy and I poked around but couldn’t feel another lamb and poor old #904 was in trouble. I got a bit worried so chased off down the road to Don’s place and he came back and had a look. It’s just afterbirth he said; she needs to clear it herself and there may be another lamb. Nothing for us to do at this stage. That being an expert’s advice I’ve left them to it for the night. Don says the sheep are all too fat and that may well lead to complications – it’s the strange weather and the grass just keeping on growing. Don gave me his cell number and said to call him any time if he can help with the sheep.

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—22℃ no rain [80.5]

5

SwimGym

Most of the day was enjoyably working on my project. Couple of hours late afternoon spreading gravel and earth to fill ruts and complete the spring effort to contain the potholes.

Dog training lesson with Bramble early evening.

After dinner I started on the overdue two-monthly GST submission.

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—18℃ no rain [80.8]

6

Blustery but not cold nor wet.

Bramble decided we should get up at 5:40am, who am I to argue, it was getting light.

After breakfast and some emails I took the car to Newport Auto Electrical to have its clock and dash lighting seen to. There being no kind chaffeur to bring me home I took my bike and rode home, it only took eight minutes.

Much of the day working on my project, when I wasn’t “training” Bramble. Mid afternoon, after a call to say it was ready, I biked over to pick up the car with its brand new and expensive clock module.

Late afternoon Bramble and I spread about 2/3 of a cubic metre of gravel on the worst parts of the 121 driveway.

Then the daily walk with Bramble and some more lessons. The peach trees, as you can see, are in bloom.

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—17℃ no rain [80.8]

7

SwimGym and returned the nail gun to Hirequip in Hastings before 9:00am. Cat came to be fed at the right time today.

Bramble and I collected another trailer-load of AP40 gravel for driveway potholes. I hope to spread it later this week.

Meticulous Maids came this afternoon and did a regular clean of the homestead.

Bramble and I went shopping late afternoon – got the sharpened mulcher blades etc. As we returned it started to rain heavily – but it stopped again in a couple of hours.  Unfortunately Bramble then chose to go and enlarge one of her holes for burying bones and she got muddy. I tried and failed to intercept her coming back inside so the kitchen floor needs washing again

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—15℃ 2mm rain [80.8]

8

No rain today, so far. Spread the gravel Mark and I unloaded yesterday; still needs a bit more as the persistent recent rain made a bog of the 121 driveway.

Mid morning I found the cat wandering aimlessly at the foot of the homestead front steps. I picked her up and plopped her down by her food, which had been waiting for three hours, and she tucked in voraciously.

Janet Scott called in briefly to lend a copy of Home & Garden to Karola.

I listened to the first of this year’s Reith lectures on NZ National radio, very absorbing, and talked about it to Harry later. This year the speaker is economic historian Niall Ferguson, and his subject is “The Rule of Law and Its Enemies”.

Finished the railings at the end of the moved fence opposite to the one Mark and I did yesterday – the railings enclose Gill’s gifted Damson tree which is in bud now. Also fixed up the two gates between the Front and One Acre paddock so it’s in as good a shape as when Karola left, at last.

All sheep still have lots of grass so everyone is staying put for now.

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—19℃ no rain [80.2]

9

Up early and got the nail gun for the weekend from Hirequip in Hastings. Fed the cat but didn’t see it. Later I heard it meowing so I found it and gave it another breakfast, assuming the feral cats got the first one.

Mark arrived as planned after breakfast and we began putting up the railings at the northern end of the totara batten fence running north between the One Acre and Front paddocks. This is where the tree triangle containing a young Liriodendron and a couple of Hebes is now twice the size because, in straightening the fence, the gateway moved eastwards – the gateway closes on the railings of this tree enclosure. Anyway, the enclosure has rails again; I’m trying my best to ensure nothing is worse now than it was when Karola left, despite my several little outdoor projects.

I got some extra planks for these railings earlier in the week because I then used the trailer for a load of gravel to put on our pothole-ridden driveways. But the planks I got were longer than necessary so rather than waste these we went to Tumu’s and got some more of the correct size, after offloading the gravel of course.

Next little setback was the circular saw. Well actually first the petrol generator wouldn’t start – but it always starts so easily, it is a quiet humming little gem, a Honda. Apparently not without petrol but this, once diagnosed, was easy to fix. The planks are two inches thick (50mm) which is almost half an inch thicker than planks I’ve used for farm railings in the past and, blow me down, the circular saw blade wasn’t big enough to cut at an angle all the way through these thicker planks. Plan B – I used the chainsaw instead. Next the nail gun; I had a gas canister and nails ready to use but suddenly I discover that my gas canister came with two nozzles  – as it should – but they were two of the same type and neither was for my particular model of nail gun. Another trip into Hastings fixed that. So the job that I thought would be finished by lunchtime actually only got going by 3:00pm. Mark was thankfully unperturbed by this, his free fish-and-chip lunch probably helped.

After 3:00pm things went quickly and well. We carried on until 6:30pm when it was quite dark, working by the headlights of the Landrover.

New Railings

Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—12℃ no rain [80.3]