Monthly Archives: April 2015

Slow start and cool outside. The smiling face on the solar controller surprised me as it was quite overcast – and it soon turned to a frown when I turned on the heating.

More programming for me and Karola stayed inside mostly too as there was a bitter wind.

On Our Walk Round The Orchard Bramble & I Stopped To Photograph Next Doors New House Development

Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—15℃ 0.1mm rain [83.8]

SwimGym – but without Karola as she is rather exhausted by all the driving, especially in the rain last evening.

Bramble glad to be on terra firm once more.

Apart from catching up we’ve had a quiet day. I’ve been struggling with my programming project for Harry – a step forward and a few shuffles back.

Sheep all seem to be present; plenty of grass but still fairly dry.

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—17℃ 1.5mm rain [84.4]

In Wellington a dark and stormy night with lots of rain, rain continuing through the morning and following us, with some fine but cloudy breaks, all the way home. Massive downpour in Woodville early evening but “dryzabone” in Hastings when we got back around 7:30pm.

Karola took Bramble for a last walk on the beach at Days Bay. I took her up the zig-zag a bit later.

As discussed with builder Willie we moved stuff we wanted to keep out of the basement except for two concrete piles that Charles Bagenal must have bought when he embarked on the same foundation reinforcing job we’re now asking Willie to do. Maybe Willie can use them. The stuff we moved was mainly longer planks in good condition and a few breeze blocks.

Also my invisible friend, the qualified electrician, disconnected the basement wiring at the point where the feed from the mains went into a distribution box with big switches. One was apparently for the pump for an outside ornamental pool – probably for a fountain – but that has been disconnected back at the mains board already. The other was for various garish lights allegedly illuminating a home-made jacuzzi – the whole basement setup at one time being designed as a woman-attractor. We doubt its attraction to anything remotely human.

It turned out that the orange plastic conduit holding the wiring is very brittle and the saddles connecting it to the wall and ceiling snap at the slightest pressure so we now intend to get it all removed right back to the mains box.

We set off for Karamu via Bulls around 11:00am, first dropping off some apples and Economists with the Rashbrookes in York Bay. Then we mooched over to the IBM car park in Petone where Bridget, watching from a first floor window in the IBM building, guided us to her car and remotely opened the boot so we could retrieve some sheets that had ended up being washed in Bridget’s washing machine and belonged at Days Bay.

Off up State Highway 1, lunch at the Red House cafe in Te Horo, and on to Harry’s factory in Bulls by 2:30pm. Harry, Craig (his electronics man), and I discussed the project to create a voice-activated cattle beast in-paddock weighing system. My role is to do the iPhone programming piece.

We left around 4:30pm and passed by Yvonne’s place to give her some apples. Yvonne have us afternoon tea. Then onwards through the Manawatu Gorge – open despite slips but with one piece single lane controlled with lights – and meeting torrential rain the other side. By Waipawa it’d cleared and the place still seemed very dry when we got home.

Oak Avenue Weather:7℃—20℃ no rain [?]

Willie Davis came round at my request to discuss the plans and quote. His wife is having a cesarean section birth in a few days so he’s a tad distracted but we agreed we’d go ahead and send him the signed contract once we got home, including a note about adding in underfloor insulation and the cost of an electrician to disconnect the disused basement wiring. The wiring is in lurid orange plastic conduit that is now quite brittle.

Late morning we went in to Khandallah and, knowing that Bridget had taken the girls to the Westfield Mall in Lower Hutt for lunch and to buy presents for Annemarie’s birthday and get a replacement part for her vacuum cleaner, we had brunch again at Danshea’s Deli. We bumbled around all afternoon, Karola took Bramble for a long walk and I did a bit more programming, and then went back to Days Bay for another rice-batter fish & chip meal.

We’ve had fish meals four times in the last week.

Oak Avenue Weather:11℃—21℃ 2.1mm rain [?]

Took Bramble over the hill and along the beach a short way.

Off to help Bridget & family again today, interspersed with more work on the KiwiTech app. In the morning Karola helped Bridget with more cleaning at the old house.

In the afternoon Bridget cleaned the outside of their old house by brushing the walls with warm water including detergent and then blasting them with water. I helped do some of the blasting with water.

At some point Karola & Bridget took Bramble for another walk up the track to the first KauKau lookout, the one we overshot yesterday.

Gill & Ben fly off to the UK on Friday and this evening we had a celebratory dinner at the Bluewater Bar & Grill in Oriental Bay. Delicious but scandalously expensive IMHO.

Wille Davis, builder, finally dropped off the plans and quote for strengthening the piles along the front (north) of the flat in Days Bay. Probably reasonable price of about $17,000 – same as the solar panel installation.

Large Stick Insect at 3 Station Road

Karola, Ben, and Gill At the Bluewater Bar & Grill in Oriental Bay

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—21℃ 0.1mm rain [?]

Got to Bridget’s mid morning as planned – Bridget was with Natalie at hockey until 10:00am. Then I minded the grand-daughters while Bridget, Chris & Karola went over to Station Road and continued the many tasks of cleaning up the old property so that it can be put on the market within a few days.

In the afternoon, after a splendid brunch at the Danshea Deli nearby Karola minded the grand-daughters for a while and Bridget and I started on the mulching of the flower beds. Using Karola’s small trailer which we’d lent to Bridget to help with the move we got a load of mulch (0.375 cubic metres) from a garden supplies centre down on the Old Hutt Road. I shovelled, Bridget spread.

We used three loads of mulch, Karola helping with the last two and we arrived just a minute before closing so we were lucky to be supplied with the last one. Now all the flower beds and round the trees looks very tidy. As expected, we were overcharged for the mulch but once Bridget told me how much it was supposed to be we haggled the last load down to half price.

Bramble and I went up the ridge towards the transmitter at the top of mount KauKau, up a track I hadn’t tried before. We overshot the first lookout but after about 15 minutes found a place we could look back over the harbour and Eastern bays. We spotted a large toadstool in gnomic colours.

Karola & I went to the Eastbourne pub, the Lifeboat Tavern, for dinner and bumped into Cilla Heymer & her friend Anne Horrill who had just finished. They stayed and we chatted while we had our excellent, but expensive, dinners.

Looking Back Towards Eastern Bays From Track Up KauKau

A Large Colourful Toadstool

Oak Avenue Weather:2℃—17℃ no rain [?]

SwimGym

Karola went off for haircut and to get my bread. I took Bramble for a long walk round the boundary as I locked the vehicle gates with combination locks as usual when we go on a trip.

I took the legs off a small table that we’re lending Bridget to put her computer on. This done it fitted easily in the back of the car.

We packed and set off soon after midday. As arranged we went to Bridget’s house and, after unloading the table to make room, ferried her out to a Meridian works do in Eastbourne. Omi (Annamarie More) is babysitting the grand daughters this evening.

While in Eastbourne we dropped in on Piranha, the local fish & chip shop which makes quite delicious gluten-free battered fish.

Oak Avenue Weather:5℃—18℃ 1.6mm rain [83.2]

It rained gently in the night and again, off and on, during the day.

I took Bramble for a walk in light drizzle in the morning; as often happens she got soaking wet legs and tummy.

Aaron Duncan (Freenergy) came soon after 10:00am and installed the solar PV controller that will attempt to maximise our use of solar electricity for heating water, minimising the power sent to the grid.

As we discussed how the Immersion controller would manage energy flowing to the bottom element of the hot water cylinder – only allowing it to be heated by energy from the grid between 5:00am and 7:00am and only in the winter, I realised we could wire the existing timed controller for the radiators so that the top element could use grid power to boost the heating while the rads were being used. So Aaron’s electrician and his spotty hurbert of an apprentice stayed on and wired that up for us.

We saw a very nice animation of how the 18 panels were supplying electricity over the day – and in particular how the Canary Island pine shaded one or two of the panels much of the time, but obviously not the same ones all the time. We were fortunate indeed not to have got the standard “string inverters” but the slightly more expensive but independent micro-inverters.

I continued struggling with my programming.

Karola prepared for our trip to Wellington at the weekend – a long weekend, ANZAC weekend. Her iPad, left behind at Carol-Jean’s place in Timaru, arrived today by courier, none the worse for wear. Karola planted her american oak and other conifer bought at the IDS tree auction on Saturday. She put them in the bed containing lilacs and lancewoods near the cottage bathroom window.

Oak Avenue Weather:11℃—18℃ 2.9mm rain [83.4]

SwimGym

I visited Tracy the dentist late morning.

Then a day of working on computer, learning enough to start programming an iPhone app for Harry as part of an electronic weight recording system.

Karola checked her sheep and then went shopping in the afternoon having done her emails and phone calls after our enjoyable stay down south last weekend.

Oak Avenue Weather:13℃—19℃ 6.2mm rain [83.4]

Joan left after breakfast. All’s well out in the paddocks and I’m sure Bramble will miss her temporary mistress.

The new solar panel system seems to be working and the internet connection it needs also appears to be operational.

Karola moved sheep around so that the ewes and ram are now in the Totara and Middle paddocks while the ewe lambs are in the Front paddock.

We spent the day catching up.

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—21℃ 0.1mm rain [83.7]

Late morning we set off for Christchurch, stopping on the way for whitebait fritters lunch. All very orderly and an easy flight back to Napier.

Joan aand Bramble were both fine and had obviously enjoyed each others company.

On 16th April the solar panel installation had passed its inspection. Independently and uncoordinated, Meridian replaced the mains meter with a two-way “in-out” meter at which point we could begin enjoying our own sun-generated electricity.

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—22℃ 0.1mm rain [?]

Rob Douglas, the third brother, gave a talk about the oaks planted along the roadsides in Oamaru to commemorate soldiers from local families killed in the first world war. Afterwards we walked around Oamaru Public Gardens – spacious, varied, and interesting trees, shrubs plus an aviary and several ponds and small lakes.

The IDS outing officially ended at midday. In the afternoon we drove to Timaru, heading for Christchurch. We stayed the night with one of Karola’s former class mates, Carol-Jean Crawford nee McGibbon, and her gentle, calm, and welcoming husband, Selwyn. Lovely lamb roast dinner cooked by Carol-Jean.

IDS Itinery: DAY 3 Sunday 19 April

Our weekend will conclude at midday. There will be a talk on the North Otago Oaks, which were planted following the Great War, one tree for each fallen local soldier .

Finally we will walk through the Oamaru Botanic Gardens, filled with many botanical specimens and with Janet Frame connections.

Time to say Farewell. You will now be free to explore Oamaru and its surrounds.

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—19℃ 0.2mm rain [?]

More longish bus rides, more estates, more trees.

Dr Peter Rodwell, in country tweed, bowler hat, wellingtons, and a substantial walking stick was our guide for the visit to Windsor Park – excellent storyteller, most interesting. We heard briefly of the Lloyd Elworthy consortium of British investors who have bought up many farms locally, clearing them and turning them into large featureless dairy farms.

We visited Otekaike Station garden later in the day. Karola is to do an article on this stop by the IDS trippers for the magazine of the NZ branch of the International Dendrological Society (IDS).

In the evening buffet dinner and the AGM followed by the plant auction – a light-hearted way for ISDS members to exchange rare and interesting specimens.

IDS Itinery: DAY 2 Saturday 18 April

• This day will concentrate on the legacy of the early settlers and their historic plantings which survive today.
• Teschmakers. Once a homestead for a thriving farming enterprise, then a girls school run by Catholic nuns, and now a function centre.
• Windsor Park. A historic homestead where the bones of a famous garden remain. This was once the hub of a huge property and in its heyday trees planted reached 30,000 per year!
• McCone Property. A modern farm and beautiful garden full of treasures makes an interesting lunch stop.
• A scenic drive up the Waitaki Valley takes us to the Bayley garden of Otekaike Station, the homestead of a high country property.
• (late addition to the itinerary was a visit to a boutique vineyard)
• In the evening the AGM at the Oamaru Club prior to our evening meal, will be followed by the famous IDS plant auction. The roomy venue allows plenty of space to display your treasures.

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—16℃ no rain [?]

Probably the highlight of the trip was a visit to the Douglas family property, many acres of hillsides and gullies planted over many decades. Three Douglas brothers were with us – they all work on the conservation property as time permits. They battle predators and plant endless new trees. Ever since a major forest fire came in from neighbouring land and destroyed many many years of planting the Douglas strategy has been to avoid large single-species areas but go for drifts and clumps of mixed species with intervening space to make natural fire breaks.

Malcolm Douglas, the twin of John, built a cottage on site out of large blocks of local stone rescued from a demolition project. Inside the walls, floors, and ceiling are lined with wood, a variety of different hardwoods, all recycled. It looked both comfortable and artistic – books, pictures and small artefacts liberally throughout. Beautiful and functional.

Dinner was in a small private function room in the Oamaru Opera House building.

IDS Itinery: DAY 1 Friday 17 April

• Pick-up outside listed Motels at 8.15am.
• Douglas Property. A 100 year project and 5 generations of tree planting.
• Ann Sim Property. Rejuvenation and expansion of another 100 year property.
• Mackay Properties. A mix of old and new ventures. Lunch stop.
• Native Forest Reserve within the Blakely Pacific Herbert Forest – a visit to a native remnant with rimu, matai, miro, kahikatea, totara and pokaka present.
• The day will conclude with a dinner at the recently restored Oamaru Opera House followed by an address by Dr Ian Hall who has led the development of truffles and other edible mycorrhizal fungi in New Zealand.

Oak Avenue Weather:7℃—20℃ 1.0mm rain [?]

Henare came and mulch-mowed the big lawn – he was still at it when we left.

We flew down to Christchurch early afternoon and picked up a hire car at the airport, arriving in Oamaru mid evening. Most places shut by then so had an overpriced roast duck meal – adequate but criminally expensive.

We checked in to our motel – rather we picked up the keys they’d left because it was last their closing time. The motel room was pretty ordinary but we weren’t planning on doing more than sleep there so it didn’t matter.

We didn’t see any of the other IDS members today.

Oak Avenue Weather:0℃—17℃ 0.1mm rain [?]

SwimGym

Joan learns the ropes so she can house-sit while we are down in Oamaru on our annual IDS trip.

We had lunch at Purnels and the Karola and Joan went to see our southerly neighbour, Janet Scott (widow) and they had a long long chat over afternoon tea.

Solar panel installation is complete – needs to be certified and we need a new mains metre to measure incoming and outgoing electricity. The special ImmerSUN controller still has to be installed but the system will work as soon as the new meter is in.

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—17℃ no rain [?]

Joan (Phillips) arrived mid afternoon and together she and Karola went to a talk given by Phyllida and Andrew Russell. The talk was one of a series held in the Hastings Public Library on mainly historical topics, this one was about Phillida’s husband’s (Johnny Russell) grandfather, aka “The General”

Work began on installing the solar panels.

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

Uneventful trip back arriving late afternoon.

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—20℃ 6.8mm rain [?]

A little gardening and tidying up at Days Bay but mainly just relaxing, reading and so on.

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—22℃ no rain [?]

It’s not actually until the 13th but this is the nearest weekend. Bridget & Chris, Natalie & Alex, Annemarie More (Bridget’s mother-in-law), Karola & I had a dinner out at the local pub in Khandallah.

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—17℃ no rain [?]

Spent the day pooling around at Days Bay – nothing dramatic and Bridget & the grand-daughters were busy doing their weekly things like work at IBM for Bridget and school (Marsden College in Karori) for the girls.

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—21℃ 12.7mm rain [?]

Settled in at Days Bay. In the afternoon I had various commitments: first I joined Bridget & Chris at their lawyer, Impact Legal.

Then mid afternoon Karola & I joined Gill & Ben at the interring of the ashes for Mary – at the cemetery a few kilometres along the road to Makara beach. After that we four had afternoon tea at Zealandia.

We had then planned that Gill & I would see the lawyer handling probate for Mary’s will but that was called off at the last minute as critical documents had been mislaid – not by us.

Oak Avenue Weather:15℃—16℃ 29.3mm rain [?]

SwimGym

Gill & Ben flew to Auckland to get Gill’s USA visa.

We packed and set off, rather late, for Wellington arriving at about 1:00am – Bramble was not amused. Having heard in the morning that there’d been another big slip in the Manawatu Gorge we went down via the Wairarapa and over the Rimutaka Hill – the eastern route.

Oak Avenue Weather:16℃—23℃ 8.1mm rain [?]

Miriam & Sophie got on well with Bramble who for reasons unknown was on her best non-snappy behaviour with them even though Sophie was quite rough. The family packed up and went home mid afternoon.

Chris Ormond popped in just to check on sheep-sitting arrangements while we were away – leaving tomorrow night and back on Sunday is the current plan.

Meticulous Maids came and cleaned the cottage – which meant Karola spent much of the day tidying up before they came.

I laid the 15mm alkathene pipe which is replacing the old leaky pipe round the edge of the cottage lawn – for irrigating the bay trees, a Graham Stewart Thomas rose, the lilac & lancewood trees, the persimmon tree, and the autumn raspberries. I still need to add the little dripper inserts by each plant that make this much less wasteful of water than the leaky pipe.

Oak Avenue Weather:15℃—27℃ no rain [81.6]

Karola continued with her battle with the wysteria and roses round the homestead verandah.

I muddled about fitfully, trying to record video off the Sky box into the same format used by my English friend, Geoff. Much wasting of time I fear.

In the evening we went over to the homestead for a delightful meal that Gwen cooked, with Gwen, Bolke & family.

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—24℃ no rain [82.2]

Went to the Ormond Chapel on the bluff at Napier in the morning.

Raked the mulch smooth around the bay trees then gave the whole cottage garden a solid watering. Also watered the rather sad looking swamp cyprus over by the orchard drive. I suspect they are reacting to the high mineral concentrations there – it’s where Graham Velvin used to burn his apple tree prunings year after year.

We watched the last of the TV serial “The Honourable Woman” – so riveting, despite its many flaws, that we watched the last three episodes back-to-back.

Gwen, Bolke and family went for bike rides, including the children spent some time on the Napier marine parade where there’s a model roadway with traffic lights and pedestrian crossings.

Karola made us a particularly nice roast lamb dinner.

Elegant Remains Of An Old Pepper Tree Outside The Ormond Chapel

Oak Avenue Weather:13℃—20℃ no rain [81.7]

Took Bramble round the orchard just after day break; mist lingering between the rows and dew-wet under foot.
Saturday of Easter weekend so the one morning of four days when many shops are open so we went into Hastings and got the Friday bread and other food to last us until Tuesday,

Helped Karola move her sheep around. Ewe #133 was given a dose of drench (Scanda – withholding for meat of 10 days). Ewe #043, who had recovered somewhat from an earlier severe lack of condition, will not have a lamb this spring and so was put with the ewe lambs to enjoy her winter in peace. The ram, 4 wether lambs and 23 ewes now have the run of the Long Acre and the Middle & Totara paddocks. The ewes rushed to get the acorns untouched by the ram and wether lambs in the Long Acre.

Filled the mower with oil and petrol and cleaned a very gummed-up air filter before mowing the cottage lawn.

Otherwise just relaxed, doing a few emails etc. Lovely day.

Two episodes of An Honourable Woman to round the day off.

Honda Mower Air Filter Needs A Clean

Oak Avenue Weather:15℃—26℃ 0.2mm rain [81.6]

Henare came at about 10:30am and we had morning tea. After checking the mulched blades and filling the tractor with diesel we began another marathon mulching session. The piles to be mulched comprised all the wilding apple cuttings from the planting area between the orchard and the One Acre and Totara paddocks together with a trailer load of hysteria pruning and two large branches that had fallen off the large oak near the Scotts boundary to the south. Oh and some weeping willow pruning that Karola did many weeks ago.

I chainsawed up the oak branches into firewood and meltable sized branches while Henare did the mulching. I also cut off side branches and any bits too large for the mulched from the apple and willow cuttings.

We created two large trailer loads of mulch and put them on the Bay Tree hedge area inside the cottage railings. There was just enough to cover the areas needing mulch after Karola, a couple of weeks ago, applied the trailer load of mulch from last months mulching under the Swamp Cyprus.

The whole process took four hours.

Mid afternoon Gwen & Bolke Waters arrived from Wellington, as planned, with Mirriam & Sophie. They’re staying in the homestead for the long weekend, as a holiday.

Mulch Applied To The Bay Tree Hedge

And Karola’s Lilac Bushes & Lancewoods

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—25℃ 0.1mm rain [81.4]

Another odd day. Up at 6:45am as usual but sound asleep again by 9:00am. A knock on the door at 11:00am. Who could it be, I didn’t recognise the besuited person but he introduced himself as our insurance broker, Dean Sewell. Dean had arranged with Karola he’d come to see us today at 11:00am to go through the house insurance renewals.

Karola was no where to be seen. As often happens, I called her mobile and it rang on the bench next to me. Car and Bramble gone too so, as I guessed, she’d gone shopping before it got too hot.

So, I hastily washed and washed my face to wake myself up, drank a strong cup of coffee, and reviewed the figures with Dean by myself.

Oddly enough, it was about a year ago Dean had made a similar arrangement and that time we had gone for lunch to Puketapu and I got lost on the way home leading to a 2½ hour delay. I assured him that Karola and I had both had similar bouts of forgetfulness recently and we weren’t picking on him specifically.

After lunch I finished the last 30 metres of pruning the shelter belt and Karola did some mulching of what had been cut. Mid afternoon the pruning was complete and Karola had had enough of the noise, the vibration, the heavy branches and so on, so we went in for afternoon tea. And who should we meet but cousin Henare.

After a cup of tea and a chat well all went out to tackle the mulching and Henare and I took a trailer each. We loaded it up then took it to the tractor under the Macrocarpa and mulched it. We completed the lot in under 3 hours but I am seriously knackered. In fact I looked sufficiently exhausted part way through that Henare told Karola he thought maybe we should stop.

Also in the afternoon Aaron Duncan (Freenergy) came and took photos and measurements of the electricity meter board to send to Meridian in order that they install the new meter measuring electricity in and out. Aaron plans to do the solar panel installation 14th-15th April.

All Mulched Up

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—23℃ no rain [81.6]

SwimGym

Then, after napping all morning, trying to read the latest Economist, I spent the afternoon hacking away at the overhanging trees in the planting area alongside the orchard drive. Yesterday I did about 10 metres, today I have only 30 metres left after doing about 100 metres. Now I’m whacked.

Karola, not to be outdone, toiled away at weeding out Tradescantia and taking it to the dump. Later she mowed the grass circle in front of the homestead and mowed along the eastern side, nearest the Avenue. After that she was whacked.

We should sleep well tonight.

Shelter Belt Cut Back

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—22℃ no rain [82.4]