Henare came around 9:00am and we spent most of the day putting in three large strainer posts – which also involved digging up two of them. Henare left at 3:30pm for a Badminton appointment with his son Scott. Two of the posts are rammed in with one to go and then there’s the wires etc. if it doesn’t rain, well no mmore than today, Henare will be back tomorrow afternoon.

I also moved electric fences so that each of the mobs has a nice big fresh swathe of grass. No new lambs today.

Oak Avenue Weather:7℃—14℃ 1.4mm rain [79.2]

Hints of spring. After breakfast we went to Nelson’s over in Havelock North and bought a dozen more bales of pea straw. On Saturdays they are only open between 9:00am and 10:00am.

I checked the lambs in the Front paddock, 24, and in the Long Acre, 22. Karola had found a dead ewe lamb under the holly tree and I noticed that #227 had newly lambed, #446E and was lurking under the same tree.

Then we began the demolition of the fallen rhododendron tree. I set up the tractor and mulcher, Karola chopped up the smaller branches and mulched them while I chainsawed up the larger branches for firewood.
AFterwards I pruned and mulched the shelter belt Casurina tree nearest the Avenue and a dozen old bamboo poles. I’d been meaning to prune that tree for a while as it’s reaching out and overshadowing nearby Griselinia.

Boy and Fawn chase after us if we stroll into their paddock and even follow us back to the cottage hoping for an extra feed.

Karola Mulching Up The Fallen Rhodo – Poisonous To Sheep

“Boy” & “Fawn” (blue & green raddle blaze)

The New Sheep Yards

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—14℃ 3.9mm rain [79.4]

SwimGym but only me today as Karola has a nasty cold.

Then Bramble and I went into Hastings for the weekend food shopping.

After lunch we all discussed the changes needed to fences in the Long Acre to best complement the new sheep yards. This involved measuring of gates and laying out the changed fence lines,

Henare popped in late afternoon to get some documents copied for Scott. He hopes to return on Sunday to help with post holes.

Ewe #917 had twins last night, #444E and #445R.

Oak Avenue Weather:5℃—13℃ 0.5mm rain [79.4]

We checked the sheep and fed the two lambs. Karola is getting a cold so she mainly stayed inside with a fire – except for the time it was gloriously sunny around lunch time.

All lambs accounted for and one newcomer, ewe #919 had a big ewe lamb #443E. Six more potential mothers.

Jenny Price dropped in to see Karola just before lunch.

I did a bit more to the sheep yards.

Oak Avenue Weather:3℃—14℃ no rain [79.9]

SwimGym and then a large second breakfast of bacon and omelette.

Overcast cold day. Rained early afternoon.

I completed Karola’s GST for June/July and Karola activated her online GST account so I paid online for the first time.

Karola and Bramble went out shopping while I strung a wire across the Middle paddock and let the ewes and lambs into what was the goose enclosure of yore. They liked the fresh grass and all the places to hide amongst the trees.

“Boy” & “Fawn” still alive and kicking – Boy is putting on weight quickly.

A bit more on the sheep yards.

Oak Avenue Weather:5℃—11℃ 0.4mm rain [79.8]

Two more sets of twins today: ewe #922 with #439E & #440E and ewe #133 with #441E & #442E.

We spent much of the morning just checking all the ewes and lambs and of course feeding boy (#404R) and fawn (#407E) – fawn has a bad eye that Karla is treating, boy is full of bounce.

Peter Arthur came to see Karola around lunchtime while he waited to see his wife Diane who is in Hastings hospital for cancer surgery. He brought her a book about the life of a single American oak tree and they wandered around and chatted about trees.

In the midst of this Peter Fitzpatrick – “JB”s orchard manager for Karola’s orchard, dropped by to discuss two items: temporary use of the orchard drive by the Copes next door while they build their new house; irrigattion and water consents for Karola’s orchard.

• He’s OK with letting the Copes use the drive for a while
• We’re OK with that too as long it really is temporary and Brian Cope replaces the railings he’ll remove for access through the boundary fence and he repairs wear and tear on the driveway.
• Irrigation is being put in now using the well and pump on the next door orchard (owned by “JB”). When the lease ends they will connect their main pipe into the existing pipe from our pump shed and all should work just fine independent of next door. Peter warned that we would need a much beefier pump to drive the sprinkler irrigation they’re putting in now. We were already aware that our little orchard pump can only do a third of the orchard at a time anyway so this is not a surprise.
• Craig Treneman (Peter’s boss) will visit in a few days and ask Karola to sign papers consigning her water consents to “JB” for him to aggregate over all his local orchards. The consent should revert to Karola when the lease ends.

Late afternon I carried on with the sheep yards. The curved bit of fence is now installed and works so I’m now concentrating on the drafting gates at the end of the drafting race.

Curved Piece Of Fence Guiding Sheep Into Crush Pen

Made Of Old Fence Battens And #8 Wire

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

SwimGym then a substantial (second) breakfast before venturing out to check sheep etc.

Hearing a commotion next to the orchard drive I went to investigate. A big digger was clearing away the Lombardy Poplar stumps along the Cope’s boundary including, sadly, Karola’s red AkeAke she planted several years ago. Sad but not surprised as Craig said Karola could plant them but we didn’t discuss it with the new owners, Brian and Lousie Cope (nee Haywood – Frank Haywood is her father).

Brian drove up as I was photographing the digger so I asked him about the earth excavation – was it for a house or was it the old gravel pathway he was digging up – seemed too big for a house and too wide for the gravel pathway.

Brian said that the area being excavated was the entire building plot, not just the house, and it was necessary because decades of apple orchard and the toxic sprays that used to be common had polluted the ground with arsenic – not enough to matter for farmland but higher than allowed for domestic dwelling plots.

Brian hopes to begin building in about a month and the Cope’s house will be looking directly at Karola’s big shed up in the orchard. The clearing of the old poplar stumps and other rubbish is preparation for a driveway from the new house plot out to Ormond Road; it’ll run parallel and right next to Karola’s orchard drive. Brian would like to use Karola’s driveway temporarily until his new driveway is complete. I pointed out that the person most directly affected would be John “JB” Bostock and his team using it to access the orchard so Brian said he’d talk to John.

Meanwhile Karola found a dead lamb up in the Island paddock, and another ewe had twins.

As arranged by Karola last night, after breakfast Karl (HB Mobile Shearing contractor) and his wife Wendy came to look at sick ewe #911. Wendy gave lots of good advice and Karl administered a shot of penicillin. By mid afternoon #911 was dead. In the evening I used the tractor to transport #911 to the pit and bury her.

Karola went into Hastings and shopped. I buried the dead lamb and checked the sheep again. Overnight ewe #241 had twins #435R and #436R in the Long Acre. Ewe #229 lambed in the shelter of the old yards in the Island paddock. I think she had triplets and the dead lamb Karola found earlier was probably one of those. All the other ewes in that mob still had the right number of lambs. So ewe #229 has #437R and #438R.

Smelling imminent rain I mowed the two small lawns – the cottage lawn and the one in front of the homestead garage.

Henare dropped by early evening to see how we were getting on.

Digger Clearing The Old Poplar Stumps On Cope’s Side Of Orchard Drive

Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [79.6]

A rather nice sunny day. No more lambs today. Karola began feeding the two lambs I’d adopted.

More work on the sheep yards – the tricky curved fence made of old battens. I measured in situ then assembled the fence in the garage. It is so heavy that I had to transport it out on the tractor and use rollers to get it into position. To my delight – and surprise – the fence fitted snugly into place – very snugly.

Bale of pea straw to each mob.

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—13℃ no rain [79.8]

ZERO

Sheep: Ewes & lambs have One Acre plus all of the Front paddock – rest have Long Acre & the Island paddock. Handing back to Karola from tomorrow.

Starting with feeding the two lambs and checking the rest, then a bit more on the sheep yards and suddenly it was lunch time and time to go and pick up Karola from Napier airport.

In the Long Acre today we had additions: ewe #224 with #432R and ewe #152 with twins #433E and #434R. The flood is slowing to a trickle, thank goodness.

Picked up Karola – I and she were on time and Karola looked pretty fresh for someone who had just flown from the UK. Karola slept in the afternoon and I did a bit more on the sheep yards. Then we settled down for a relaxed evening by the fire watching TV.

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—13℃ no rain [80.0]

1

Sheep: Ewes & lambs have One Acre plus all of the Front paddock – rest have Long Acre & the Island paddock. Each mob had a bale of pea straw today.

SwimGym then breakfast then round the sheep. Milk in a bottle for #404R (the rejected twin from #003). Ewe #911 is looking unwell and her lamb is very hungry and weak, lying in a huddle several metres away.

Bramble & I did the weekend shopping. I installed a gate in the sheep yard race and then it was time for lunch. After lunch I fed #404 and went round the sheep again. Couldn’t get the number of lambs in Front paddock to tally. I also took a look at the sheep in the Long Acre and to my surprise, near the ginkgo tree, ewe #209(no tag) had #427R & a ram lamb still born. In the Island paddock ewe #040 had twins #428E & #429R. Late afternoon I noticed that ewe #007, also in the Long Acre, had twins #430E & #431R.

In the Front paddock, #249 – who started out with twins, is down to one lamb; one died overnight. I put it and the still-born lamb in the pit.

Late afternoon I gave a bale of hay to the Front paddock mob & another to the Long Acre mob. I give a biscuit of hay to ewe #911 to cheer her up. By this time she’d moved right across the paddock to the gateway into the orchard drive, leaving her lamb behind in the ha-ha. I brought the lamb over and gave it some milk as well as prodding poor #911 upright and letting the lamb try to drink from her mother. Hard to say whether there’s any milk or not. While the ewes were eating the pea straw I got a good chance to count them and there are 26 live lambs and 18 ewes in the Front paddock – that tallies. There are 20 sheep in the Long Acre, 2 have lambed and 6 are the replacement hogget ewes, that tallies as well.

Bit more on the sheep yards late afternoon then I made the evening meal and some more milk for the lambs before sallying forth in the darkness to feed both lambs. So i didn’t have dinner until after 8:00pm and Bramble had to wait even longer – she was not amused.

Must Be A Plot For A Building At The Cope’s

Oak Avenue Weather:7℃—12℃ no rain [79.8]

2

Sheep: Ewes & lambs have One Acre plus all of the Front paddock – rest have Long Acre & the Island paddock

A busy, productive day. Went round the sheep and spotted a couple of additional lambings. Ewe #249 had triplets – at least they were with her and were about the same size and demeanour and degree of cleaning. She seemed mighty confused as to what to do – but this was her first lambing and so a new experience for her. Later I could only find two of the triplets and though I searched for a bit, couldn’t find the third one.

I counted 27 live lambs and, as forecast yesterday, 3 dead ones, which I buried in the hole we asked Mark Hendery to dig for us two years ago, in anticipation. Lamb #404R was pleased to see me and tried to follow me around after he’d had his morning bottle of milk.

I took down the electric fence in the Front paddock so now the 18 ewes and their lambs have free reign over the Front and One Acre paddocks.

Mid morning I returned to the sheep yards for most of the day, adding support posts to the race and a capping rail on one side for sitting the lambs on during docking, for example. I gave #404R another drink at lunch time and did the official daily census.

Bramble and I are now happy with dinner done, #404 given another drink, and a fire making the cottage warm.

Sheep Yard Race With Work Surface Atop The Inside Rails

Summary Of Lambs To Date

• #113 had #401R & #402R on 16th Aug
• #003 had #403R & #404R on 17th Aug – ewe rejects #404 so I am supplementary feeding
• #231 had #405E & #406E on 17th Aug
• #911 had #407E on 18th Aug
• #150 had twins on 19th Aug – both died on 20th Aug of unknown causes
• #233 had #408E on 19th Aug
• #116 had #409E on 19th Aug
• #934 had triplets, #410E, #411E, and one which died after rejection by his mother, on 20th Aug
• #245 (no tag (#209) had #412E & #413E on 19th Aug
• #213 had #414E & #415R on 19th Aug
• #108 had #416R & #417R on 19th Aug
• #928 had #418E, #419E, & #420R on 20th Aug
• #923 had #421E on 20th Aug
• #249 had #422E & a twin which died within 48 hours
• #101 had #423R & #424R on 21st Aug
• #043 had #425E & #426R on 21st Aug

Oak Avenue Weather:5℃—12℃ 0.2mm rain [79.4]

3

Sheep: Ewes & lambs have One Acre plus part of the Front paddock – rest have Long Acre & the Island paddock

SwimGym and it’s raining – in fact it rained until after lunchtime and I had to work in the rain – because the lambs won’t wait and the sheep yards aren’t quite finished yet.

I spent an hour or more going round the sheep this morning in the rain. I had a list of those who had lambed, to check off when I saw them, but it quickly got so wet the ink ran and it was illegible. I did find #404R, one of the two lambs I was supplementing with a bottle. He drank vigorously. The other one, a ewe lamb who was one of triplets born to #934, is going to die and wouldn’t suck but just lay in a huddle.

Couple of new births today, #928 (triplets #418E, #419E, #420R) and #923 (a single, #421E).

I went round again when the sun was shining after lunch and gave #404R another drink. I think ewe #150 may be losing both her lambs – they look in a very bad way. So I expect three lamb corpses tomorrow. As indicated in the photo below, it really is difficult to know who belongs to whom now as the lambs sit around in gangs or maybe nurseries.

Bramble got wet and muddy this morning so I wouldn’t let her in the cotage to undo the good clean it got on Monday. She spent most of the day in the Landrover and I towelled her off before she finally was allowed inside.

Part of this morning’s work was to enable sheep to graze the Long Acre and the Island simultaneously. Twenty of the sheep, including the six hoggets, self-selected to graze the Long Acre so now we have the flock in two halves and all the ewes with lambs are still in the Front paddock with five more to lamb in there too, #922, #946, #043, #101, #249. I gave the ewes and lambs access to all of the One Acre – instead of just an alleyway – so they have more space and some fresh grass too.

Bramble and I went to Goldpine and got a couple more planks. The main structures of the yards are complete but the gates and gateways in the crush pen and drafting race may not be finished in time for Karola’s return on Saturday – the forecast is for rain and I cannot put in the necessary posts if it’s raining or if the ground is sodden.

Must go now and give #404R another drink.

Lambs Everywhere – So Who Belongs To Whom

Very Muddy – And Pouring With Rain Earlier

I’m Trying To Limit The Pasture Damage

Crush And Race Railings Are Up

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—15℃ 7.5mm rain [79.7]

4

Sheep: Front Paddock lane 5 day 4 – 1 bale

More Lambs Today

• ewe #150 had twins (which later died)
• ewe #233 had a single ewe lamb #408E
• ewe #116 had a single ewe lamb, #409E
• ewe #934 had triplets, #410E, #411E, and one which died the next day
• ewe #245 (no tag) had twins, #412E and #413E
• ewe #213 had twins, #414E and #415R
• ewe #108 had twins, #416R, #417R

So. lambs #404R and #414E seem to have been rejected by their mothers but on the other hand they’re still alive so maybe they’re getting milk from somewhere, not just from my help. I have given in and am giving them a little extra milk – we have quite a lot of milk powder saved from last year. There are so many lambs now I cannot tell who belongs where so I’ve put a dot of blue on the two lambs I’m giving extra milk.

Bramble is disgusted with this attention to lambs.

Apart from a fleeting visit to the local garage to get more milk and a later dash to Farmlands to get lamb teats (Karola had everything else but I could not find any teats), we stayed on the property

Much activity in the surrounding orchards today. In Jane Scott’s orchard they’re banging in posts for new trees. In Karola’s orchard they’re rushing about wih wires for the posts and with irrigation pipes. In the Cope’s orchard there
is some mysterious digging going on in the grassed paddock. It could be that they’re removing an old gravel track that splits up the paddock unhelpfully, or it could be preparation for building a new house.

Mysterious Digging Next Door – To The North

Oak Avenue Weather:7℃—13℃ 7.3mm rain [79.6]

5

Sheep: Front Paddock lane 5 day 3 (fed out the bale I forgot yesterday)

SwimGym – and immediately afterwards I went to Farmlands and ordered this years sheep tags plus 4 replacement tags for ewes who had lost them.

After a second breakfast – an egg and two rashers of bacon for it is a cold and misty start to the day – I looked round the sheep. Ewe #003’s second lamb was nowhere to be seen.I searched high and low for over half an hour and finally found #404R curled up in a crevice in one of the piles of old apple logs – curled up and warm as toast but almost invisible in a corner in a hole that was just the right size.

Ewe #911 was, as reported to Karola yesterday, scouring badly and not looking at all well, But today she had a ewe lamb, #407E and she’s now looking much happier.

Harry suggested tying ewe #003’s twins together – often done with calves to make a cow accept a calf not her own – but Karola preferred that I put #003 and her twins in a small pen to see if #003 is then persuaded to feed them both. I made the pen next to where the rest of the sheep are grazing so she won’t be lonely, I put a bale of pea straw in the pen and also gave #003 a good serving of sheep nuts – which she devoured with enthusiasm. I also cornered #003 and let #404 drink a couple of times during the afternoon. We shall see what tomorrow brings.

Sally Pearce came in the morning and began the process to clean the cottage oven. Sally’s Meticulous Maids came around 2:00pm and did a special detailed clean of the cottage in preparation for Karola’s return. Now the challenge is to stop me or Bramble from putting mud and dust everywhere before next Saturday.

In the afternoon I continued with Sheep Yard work – building the gates for the crush and race. As so often has happened, two steps forward, one step back. After sawing the wood for the frames of the gates I found that almost half of the sides – where I’d used up some wood I already had – were much thinner than the 4”x1” (100mm x 25mm) planks I bought recently. The gates are clad on both sides with thin plywood and so having sides of different thicknesses doesn’t work – so those sides had to be done again. I finished recutting the frame sides that were too thin using the right thickness but as a consequence my dinner, and more importantly, Bramble’s dinner, was delayed significantly.

Ewe #003 With A Twin She Likes And A Twin She Doesn’t

Ewe #911 With Her Ewe Lamb #407E

Oak Avenue Weather:-7℃—14℃ no rain [80.2]

(Not sure I believe the Twyford weather station’s minimum temperature today)

6

Sheep: Front Paddock lane 5 day 2 (forgot the bale)

A mild, dry day.

The usual Sunday chores. Set the other pair of Nooski traps, baited with banana this time, and put them under the cottage as Karola suggested.

Overnight ewe #003 had twins and at lunchtime ewe #231 had twins. Just before lunch I noticed that ewe #003’s second lamb, #404, was trying to attach itself to #113’s family, without success. And #003 would not let #404 drink, bunting it away. I tried removing #403 for an hour to see if it was a matter of not being able to count – that didn’t work. I turned #003 over and gave #404 a drink so at least he’s had some colostrum and milk – maybe they’ll reunite over night.

I quietly herded the sheep without lambs into the yards and took the numbers of those who had lost their big tags so that I can get replacements and big tags for the hoggets when I get the button tags for this year’s lambs.

Bramble and I then carried on with our sheep yard project.

Once Was Pumpkins

Inside Our Big Shed In The Orchard

Outside Our Big Shed In The Orchard

#113 In Pensive Mood With #401R & #402R From Yesterday

Ewe #003 In Lea Of The Ha-Ha With #403R & #404R From Last Night (She’s Now Rejecting #404R)

Ewe #231 (No Tag) With New Lambs #405 & #406 At Lunchtime Today

Sheep Yards: Making The Race & Crush Gates

Sheep Yards: Making The Race & Crush Gates

Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—14℃ no rain [79.6]

7

Sheep: Front Paddock lane 5 day 1

After breakfast I let the ewes into the fifth and final tranche of the Front paddock as they’d done a good job on the lawn and under the big oak. At lunchtime I checked on them and could count only 37 – shock, horror. In addition – they just couldn’t wait till Karola came home could they – the ewe with a black face, #113, had just had twins. I searched for the missing sheep and found her, #003, making a nest by herself under the Wellingtonian. So perhaps she’ll have lambs tonight.

I thought maybe I was being a bit mean not letting Karola know what dastardly special project I’d been working on so last night I told her and she has a few days and some photos to get used to the idea.

Morning work consisted of digging up the two posts I’d put in yesterday afternoon and moving them a few inches so that the side of the crush is straight. Yesterday, after I’d put in these two intermediate posts on the outside wall of the crush I saw that the wall had a big bow in it – hence the rework.

Afternoon work consisted of sawing up the four sheets of plywood to become the cladding for the various small gates needed in the crush and race. Handling 2.4m x 1.2m (8 foot v 4 foot) plywood panels is difficult by oneself. But anyway, I’ve cut them all to the calculated sizes now and in the next day or so I’ll see whether any of them fit.

Ewe #113 – First Out Of The Barrel in 2014, So To Speak

Sheep Yards – The Crush which will, eventually, lead into The Race

Sheep Yards – Three Pens in Half The Area Of The Current Yards

Sheep Yards – Too Many Gates

Oak Avenue Weather:3℃—14℃ no rain [79.9]

8

Sheep: Lawn & Under Big Oak – day 2 – 1 bale

SwimGym

Friday shopping and an early lunch, then Bramble and I did some outside work until mid afternoon. I then had lunch and we both had a snooze for an hour or so – then back out into the cold wind for a bit more action on the project.

Oak Avenue Weather:??℃—10℃ 0.4mm rain [80.9]

9

Sheep: Lawn & Under Big Oak – day 1

Sheep let onto lawn and under the big oak.

Nooski traps, two for mice, two for rats, arrived from Palmerston North by courier. Later on I set a rat trap on the side of the summer house and put a mouse trap in the bottom of the cupboard under the peninsula in the cottage. I baited with peanut butter (highly recommended by many on Internet and by Nooski) with a touch of aniseed essence.

The photos below show each type of trap. First as they appear when “locked and loaded”, then disassembled so you can see the green rubber ring that does for the rodent. The disassembly shows the little tray for the bait that is moulded into the safety enclosure. The transparent plastic cylinder is the killing mechanism. The rings look suspiciously like lambing rings. You roll them up from the pointed end until, as shown, the ring perches on the end of the cylinder, held in place by the lever that is released by the trigger. When I was practising the ring flew off a couple of times and it is impressive how far the ring flies.

Bramble and I pottered about but as the day progressed showers of rain interrupted play until there was a real downpour just as it was getting dark. The sheep voluntarily retreated to the shelter of the Macrocarpa – very sensible.

The “Nooski” Rat & Mouse Traps

Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—14℃ 3.9mm rain [80.7]

10

Sheep: Alleyway & Island day 2 – 1 bale

SwimGym

Fed out a bale of pea straw to Karola’s sheep.

Did a spot of research into efficient rodent traps, as Karola suggested, and found a New Zealand designed and manufactured new trap, the Nooski. It seems to be out of stock in most likely suppliers but man in Mitre-10 said he used them himself and they were very good but he thought the manufacturer had gone out of business. Anyway I found one supplier who said they had the traps in stock so I ordered a mouse and a rat version for delivery in a few days time.

Bramble and I went shopping – for food for her and for me – and I bought a new work jersey from Farmlands as, since Karola left on her trip, both elbows have gone and the sleeves have frayed. Unfortunately they don’t stock “Razorback” jerseys any more but I got the closest to it. I also sent in a couple of chainsaw chains to be sharpened by the Saw Doctors (and picked them up, sharpened, late afternoon).

Mid day I put up the electric fence round the lawn and under the big oak. I fenced off the Muehlenbeckia and round the Ginkgo. This took several hours. The sheep are having one more day in the alleyway and Island paddock and tomorrow will be on the lawn.

As If It Were Spring

Bramble’s Main Meal: Prime Angus Mince, Lambs Fry, and Rice

Trying To Multitask – My Fish Pie Suffers – But It’s Still Delicious

Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—14℃ 0.7mm rain [80.8]

11

Sheep: Alleyway & Island day 1

Mild and overcast with occasional light showers. Bramble and I wound up the electric fence in the One Acre paddock, Bramble insists on rushing up and down and making a hideous noise while I wind up the wires.

Activity in Karola’s orchard – they were finishing off the lines of poles to support the trees and irrigation. The same large digger was used to push in the posts and a team of about five seemed to be there mainly as audience for the machine driver.

Bramble and I worked on the special project until dark.

Digger With Post Driver Attachment

Big End Post Being Driven Home

Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—16℃ 0.2mm rain [80.9]

12

Sheep: Front Paddock lane 4 day 4 – 1 bale

SwimGym and a frosty 1 degree outside the gym just after 7:00am this morning.

Turned into a beautiful day. Bramble and I worked on our project all day. Henare came to see how we were getting on late afternoon and he helped undo a part of the project (one of many such parts) that hadn’t turned out quite as expected and so needed redoing.

It was light enough to work outside until 6:00pm so indeed the days are getting longer.

I next plan to put the ewes on the lawn and under the big oak for a few days but haven’t set up the electric fence yet so tonight I let them into the alleyway that takes them over to the yards and they can have a day in that alleyway and the Island paddock while I set things up.

Next door – our southern neighbour Janet Scott’s orchard – the pruners were at full speed on their Hydralada’s – making them seem like some future science-fiction warriors with super-human exoskeletons, bobbing up and down.

Apple Tree Pruning On A Hydralada Elevating Work Platform

Anna’s Photo Of Karola After Visiting The Summer Exhibition In London in August

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—14℃ no rain [80.1]

13

Sheep: Front Paddock lane 4 day 3

Another Sunday, but far from “Gloomy Sunday”. I have no direct evidence but I believe Karola is now back in Ealing.

Brrr, a real frost last night, as forecast, but a stunningly bright and sunny day and after lunch it warmed up. So, inside doing the usual Sunday chores in the morning then Bramble and I went out and worked together on the special project until dark.

Yesterday I made fresh dinners for Bramble, 12 days worth. Tonight I did one of my “world famous in Oak Avenue “stir fry” meals, enough for three dinners.

Dave Moss’ Photos Of Anna in London – Not Actually Our Restaurant Of Course

A Happy, Fashionable Lady About Town

Oak Avenue Weather:-1℃—14℃ no rain [80.9]

14

Sheep: Front Paddock lane 4 day 2 – 1 bale

Cold morning so Bramble and I started quite late. First we gave the sheep their bale of pea straw and noticing that #922 was limping badly we decided to take a look at her. She was not eating with the others and knelt down to graze so it was obviously troubling her a lot. No others were limping at all as far as I could see.

I drove the whole lot up through the One Acre and along the top of the Totara paddock at which point they automatically rushed into the yards – looking for salt I think.

I put blue raddle on #922’s ear and then took a look at her foot. Apart from a lot of dirt stuck between her toes/claws (yes, that’s what they’re called) and a very small amount of bleeding between the toes I couldn’t see anything amiss. Her foot was quite hot. I carefully and lightly trimmed her hoof. I cleaned out the gap between her toes and sprayed anti-footrot mixture all over the foot.

To my delight, when I then returned the flock to their paddock #922 was walking with hardly a limp at all and putting full weight on that leg.

The rest of the day Bramble and I worked on the special project – sunny but bitingly cold wind and pretty view of Kawekas covered in snow in the distance.

Mid afternoon I made a fresh batch of Bramble’s main meal – very expensive 1kg of Angus Prime Mince, ½kg of lambs fry (liver), and 1½ cups of brown rice. I thought it’d make more but I ended up with only 6½ 500kg jars of Bramble cuisine. I feed Bramble unlimited Nutrients dog biscuits and just ½ of one of these special meals a day. She snacks on the dog biscuits after her special meal and in the night mainly – ignoring them at breakfast time.

Empty Jars Waiting To Be Filled With Bramble’s Haut Cuisine

Beautiful Sunny Day At Karamu

Bramble At The Top Of The Homestead Stairs

You Can Barely See The Snow-Clad Kawekas Here – But by Eye They’re Spectacular

Oak Avenue Weather:-3℃—11℃ no rain [80.9]

15

Sheep: Front Paddock lane 4 day 1

SwimGym.

Sheep given another strip of pasture.

Bramble and I went into town for my quarterly doctor’s appointment – all good news there. In case Karola is reading this: My heart rate is 110/60 which allegedly is very good. Cholesterol etc figures improved. Harry’s favourite, the Triglyceride/HDL ratio, is way down – from acute to normal. They say it’s principally exercise that does that.

Afterwards we picked up the bread and a few bits of food for the weekend plus Bramble’s Prime Angus Mince and Lambs Fry. I have 14 x 500ml containers ready to fill with the cooked result.

Occasionally spells of violent wind but otherwise a mainly sunny day. This Friday’s dinner of lamb chops turned out a lot better than that of two weeks ago.

The Orongorongos From Gill & Ben’s Window in Seatoun

Oak Avenue Weather:0℃—17℃ no rain [81.3]

16

Sheep: Front Paddock lane 3 day 4 -1 bale

Restful early morning, very chilly, but not as chilly as is forecast for the next few days.

Sheep seem OK. Are not eating all their hay so obviously not starving although they did tuck in when I gave hem their bale today.

Bramble and I were out in the watery wintery sun most of the day. Project was one step forward and ten steps back today but should still be finished before Karola returns.

Last night’s fish pie is lasting three days – quite nice even when microwaved.

Only Sound Was The Munch, Munch, Munch

Oak Avenue Weather:9℃—17℃ no rain [81.0]

17

Sheep: Front Paddock lane 3 day 3

SwimGym

The day began with a cool 6 degrees but ended up being the national highest temperature at its daily peak, 17 degrees.

Took Bramble for a bit of shopping for food. Inspected the sheep. Pottered around. Rain mid afternoon so I lit the fire and watched more of my latest Northern European thriller on DVD.

Another fish pie tonight. I’ve tried Lemonfish (shark), Pearl (shark) and today Butterfish.

Oak Avenue Weather:0℃—16℃ 0.9mm rain [81.1]

18

Sheep: Front Paddock lane 3 day 2 – 1 bale

Karl came around 11:00am as planned and vaccinated all 38 sheep in about half an hour. Before that Bramble and I put up an electric fence alleyway across the top of the Totara paddock and modified the first lane of the One Acre to guide the sheep from the Front paddock up to this alleyway.

After some excitement helping get the sheep across to the yards Bramble was raring to go. I took my eye off her for a moment and she was gone – where to – to the very interesting sounds of Jim Cornes loading and unloading lambs in the orchard opposite. When I noticed she’d vanished I suspected she’d have made a beeline for the hubbub and she had.

Bramble was in with Jim’s dogs, thoroughly enjoying it although making Jim lose count at one stage. Bramble was covered in mud – tummy, back, face, and all. I’ve been washing Bramble down with a hose almost every day, and sometimes morning and night, since Karola left – her tummy still seems to be upset – but this morning the wash was another thing altogether. Karola has a nice warm wash in the sink but I callously just hosed her down with the garden hose – cold and bracing to say the least. I did give her a bit of a rub with one of Bramble’s towels and she then went and lay on the cottage verandah in the sun.

It was such a nice day that I mowed the cottage lawn – pretty squelchy but probably the driest it’ll be for a few weeks. I also refilled the little trailer with firewood that we store out of the rain under the cottage go-between. And refilled the other small trailer with pea straw from our little hay shed up in the Island paddock.

As requested by Karola, rat poison placed above Bramble height in the summer house and the cottage sun porch.

After all these activities I cooked two large pork chops with carrots, cabbage, and mashed potato for dinner. Bramble ate the bones.

Winter – Can This Be Winter

Sun Behind The Canary Island Pine

Take One Bale Every Two Days

Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—14℃ no rain [81.3]

19

Sheep: Front Paddock lane 3 day 1

SwimGym

Wet but not cold all day.

I called Karl and he plans to come and vaccinate the ewes tomorrow around lunchtime if it’s been dry overnight.

Indoors except for moving sheep and collecting mail and rubbish bin. Did washing and washing up and Gill brought over linen etc from homestead and I washed and dried that too – no fuss.

Gill & Ben set off late morning and the weather here got progressively worse. However it cleared up in the evening. I was sad to see Gill & Ben go as they’ve been good guests and very entertaining. Gill also mended the hem on one leg of a pair of work trousers. I took photos of Gill & Ben as requested by Mary just before they left.

Meticulous Maids came around 3:00pm and cleaned the cottage.

Oak Avenue Weather:3℃—11℃ 10.6mm rain [81.7]

20

Sheep: Front Paddock lane 2 day 4 & lane 1 day 6 – 1 bale

Very blustery gales in the night – as indicated by the stuff blown off the cottage kitchen verandah – including Bramble’s grooming combings. I retrieved some of these, but not all.

The old rhododendron tree out in the Middle paddock was broken off completely about two feet off the ground. Henare popped round for a while late morning.

Gill & Ben went to the FarmersMarket in Hastings and then to Jolt in Havelock North for lunch. The weather cleared mid morning and I did a little outside work but rain came again after lunch so we sat comfortably inside and watched pre-recorded TV.

After a second meal of Gill’s nice beef casserole for dinner we watched another of the episodes of Vera.

Sheep Having A Bale Of Pea Straw

Rhododendron Felled By Fierce Winds Last Night

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—14℃ 8.0mm rain [82.5]

21

Sheep: Front Paddock lane 2 day 3 & lane 1 day 5

Sunny but initially very very windy – as it had been much of the night.

Lunch with Gill & Ben (Bramble in the car) at Divine Cafe in Napier. Afterwards we, including Bramble, had half an hour wander along the embankment at Clive – along the river bank and the wetlands. Very blustery north/north-west wind. Fewer sea birds than in the past, possibly because it was open to the north. Ben spotted a group of Spoonbills on the far side of the Clive estuary, sheltering in the lea against the gales.

After dinner we watched another episode of Vera.

Tonight I made the meal – fish pie

Oak Avenue Weather:13℃—22℃ 2.1mm rain [82.3]

22

Sheep: Front Paddock lane 2 day 2 & lane 1 day 4 – 1 bale

SwimGym after my usual 8:45am bite of breakfast.

Another breakfast at 10:30am – just after Gill & Ben came over from the homestead – they’d breakfasted over there and were on to morning tea.

Bramble and I gave the sheep another bale of pea straw and, as Karola wants them to have a bale every two days and the grass in their Front paddock swathes is quite long. I’m going to give them four days per swathe with a bale every other day.

Friday food shopping – with Bramble – and by then it was nearing lunch time.

The second special project was finished off in the morning – we all agree it is a success.

Then we drove over to Clifton Cafe for a light lunch – beautiful day and not much wind so delightful looking out to sea.

Gill provided the evening meal – a beef casserole plus some panacotta I found in a drawer. Gill kindly made a batch of four little ramekins before we went to lunch so they went into the fridge and were ready by dinner time. Seems they’re mainly cream and the we add cream – delicious but for occasional use only.

In the evening, by a fire although it was actually quite mild, we watched a pre-recorded episode of Vera.

Oak Avenue Weather:15℃—21℃ no rain [81.8]