Monthly Archives: January 2016

We’ve decided on a new spot for the farm shed and I measured and banged in standards to show approximately where it would go. The 4.5 metre wide lockable part has a single 3 metre wide wing facing west. The wing is for hay and firewood and as a sheltered place for ewes needing help at lambing. The lockable part is for farm and garden and other outdoor tools and equipment, also fuel and paint and animal food and the vet cupboard.

A cooler, overcast day with occasional light showers.

The Shrinking Bee Swarm In A Large Camelia

Oak Avenue Weather:16℃—20℃ 0.6mm rain [81.8]

Alternating hot sunshine and grey warm drizzle. Replaced the leaky pipe along the runner beans; we’ll see if this lot fares better. Picked more beans.

Karola has been pondering the position of the farm shed and I’ve been thinking bout how it will be used. We have a modification for both that is a sizeable improvement, but it’s not firm yet.

Cleaned the concrete trough, took various bundles of weeds to Karola’s “bund”, washed the big trailer in case Henare wants to use it this evening to move furniture.

In the afternoon Karola tackled the raised beds grown heavy with plants toppled in the recent high winds, and vigorous weeds, and I pottered about measuring where the new fence for the Goose Enclosure, including the farm shed, might go. There was robust discussion about what was square with what.

Using the tractor and orchard mower I marked out the path of the proposed new Goose paddock fence.

Path Of The Proposed New Fence Dividing Off The Goose Enclosure Once Again

Oak Avenue Weather:16℃—26℃ 3.0mm rain [82.4]

SwimGym

Then I had my quarterly diabetics’ checkup with the practice nurse and doctor – all OK there. Rest of the morning spent in setting up Karola’s new 2nd-hand iPhone 4S and, after a very useful conversation with Bridget, changing my Vodafone plan to a much cheaper one and adding Karola to it replacing her current pre-pay plan. Karola has a prepay because she doesn’t use her iPhone very much and also because she sometimes has difficulty turning it off – which racks up the call minutes – and sometimes makes calls by bumping it, Karola’s equivalent of “bum dialing”. The new shared plan has unlimited TXTs and unlimited local calls so is just right for Karola.

Karola spent the morning in town to get food and we both went back to town mid afternoon, this time to visit the bank, pick up my prescriptions from the morning doctor’s visit, and to pick up our tickets for the Polish Trip in August. Then Karola found it was so warm that she decided to retreat to the cooler homestead to read. I spent few hours in the Goose enclosure with 50 metre measuring tapes, measuring and re-measuring and laying out where to position the new farm shed.

In preparation for the visit of the tree surgeons in next few days, primarily to take out the big old dying English Beech, Karola pointed out several large noxious privet trees that should also go. As we trudged through the undergrowth of luxuriant Tradescantia I suddenly felt a mosquito bite on my calf and looking down saw I was playing host to many hungry females (see below).

Ooh – Lunch!

Oak Avenue Weather:17℃—24℃ no rain [82.8]

More welcome rain on and off all day. Much harder in Napier apparently, the cricket (Pakistan – New Zealand) was rained off.

Took the bull by the horns and this morning did a clear-out of the obsolete or broken electronics lurking in the store-room (part of the homestead garage block). Three laptops (broken), a tower PC (not), several wireless access point routers (obsolete), three PC keyboards, two home stereo systems, the list goes on.

Karola is sorting out her files in her office, also part of the homestead garage block.

Janet Scott came in the afternoon to chat with Karola.  We gave her some beans. I made small inroads on the tangle of vines and weeds round the homestead front door.

Early evening we all went in to Hastings to K-Mart. Karola wanted to buy a cheap watch – for when she’s working outside. Karola left her old one at Burleigh at Tessa’s party. K-Mart prices are certainly low.

A Colander Of Fresh Runner Beans

The Tangled Undergrowth Along The North Side Of The Homestead

Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—21℃ 6.6mm rain [82.4]

SwimGym

It had rained gently in the night and we had showers all day. Lovely rain.

I had dental check at lunchtime – to ensure I didn’t need a dentist while in Australia next month. Upshot is I’m having a crown installed before I go, at great expense of course.

Picked up some glass jars from Briscoes, Karola had cornered the final jars in a discontinued line and they had to come from Palmerston North. Glass jars for Brambles rice and mince meals because we think that plastic jars may be making the contents go off too quickly.

Also went to the Clearance Warehouse and bought four plastic tubs with lids for $15 each – to help with sorting and storing my small mountain of obsolete or broken electronics.

The post today brought the entire collection of “Rockford Files” on DVDs. These will join my collection of Minder DVDs in store for when I am less mobile than at present. And a nice blue waterproof case for the iPhone 4S I’m attempting to lure Karola on to. Some of the day was spent setting up the iPhone 4S to be almost identical to her existing old iPhone 3G phone.

Oak Avenue Weather:17℃—21℃ 12.5mm rain [82.2]

Another warm day. Bramble slowly returning to normal after her 2nd lot of surgery yesterday. She was very very relieved not to have to spend a night at the vets.

In the afternoon I went into Hastings and got a SIM card for the iPhone 4S that I retrieved from Burleigh at the weekend. I also picked up Karola’s notes on Bramble’s surgery and medication that she’d accidentally left at the Vets. Afterwards I went to Goldmine and bought a few strainer posts and half round posts and standards in preparation for a semi-temporary fence enclosing the to-be-built new farm shed.

Louise Cope called mid afternoon. She’d seen a couple of sheep near her house – they’re living in the new house now and have been for a few months. Not knowing anyone local with sheep except us she called Karola. I went round and searched but didn’t find any sheep. Then I noticed some people with a large ram lamb in the Cope’s old house garden. It turned out that Susan and her partner and child had bought the Cope’s old house last August and had recently got three lambs in the hope of next year having some new lambs. Two of them had escaped from their dry and mainly grass-less electric fence enclosure. Not surprising as I discovered that the electric fence was barely alive, almost certainly due to the long grass touching the bottom wire. Anyway, mystery solved, the two errant lambs were Susan’s and she’d rounded them up and got them back before I arrived. I went to Louise’ house and let her know then trundled off back home for dinner. On a blind corner of their orchard gravel drive I met Brian Cope coming home for his dinner – much swerving and throwing up of gravel but we missed each other.

As dusk fell I tried again to get a laser line across the goose enclosure that is parallel to the back of the homestead garage, figuring that once I’ve established that I can use 3-4-5 triangles to square off the fence line and the approximate position for the new shed.

Pasture Becoming Straw & Tinder Dry

Oak Avenue Weather:20℃—30℃ 1.4mm rain [82.8]

SwimGym this morning.

Then I got Bramble a time to see the vet – the lump on her leg is worrying me.

And then it was some back-and-forth telephone calls wiht the travel agent. We now have UK return tickets costing $500 less each than the lowest offered by the agent last Friday. Even though what I found on Expedia was a very special deal, non-refundable and limited seats, the travel agent beat it by $1 per ticket and the ticket is refundable. So, feels like a success; I sent the agent the money before lunch (direct bank transfer) and we went in and went through the remaining paperwork with the agent this afternoon. We expect to pick up the tickets (Air New Zealand and Cathay Pacific all the way) later this week. We leave for the UK on 5th August and get home here again on 28th August – with a week in Poland with Anna et al mid-trip.

And so how is Bramble, I hear you cry. Well, the vet saw her just after 3:00pm and said that the healing was going well but the bump was definitely one of the screws coming loose. So, he gave her a sedative and we took her home. At 4:15pm we took her back in and helped give her knock-out drops so that the vet could do the very minor surgery to re-seat the loose screw. We returned at 5:50pm and picked up a very groggy Bramble with the screw back in place.

Another warm, action-packed, summers day. In the evening I rolled up the rest of the electric fence around the homestead lawn and called it a day.

Oak Avenue Weather:16℃—30℃ no rain [82.8]

Watering Bay trees, lucerne under the big oak, and the runner beans.

Still recovering from the long day on Friday.

Sheep into the One Acre and I began winding the electric fence around the homestead lawn. Sheep knocked a valve in the One Acre but I heard the water pump going on too often and tracked it down and turned it off.

Oak Avenue Weather:16℃—33℃ no rain [83.1]

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

Having arrived home so late we had a long long lie-in and took the day slowly.

Bridget contacted me to say that, on top of the problem with the unreplaced windows yesterday, their central heating humidifier had leaked all over a couple of cupboards of clothes so they wouldn’t make it up here for any of their Wellington Anniversary long weekend. Sad not to see them but we are knackered anyway, so probably a bit of a relief.

Bramble’s leg doesn’t look right so I’ll take her to the vet’s on Monday. Here’s hoping it’s not a major issue.

More runner beans. Sheep in good shape. Pretty warm.

Bramble Has Quite A lump On Her Leg Now

Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—30℃ no rain [83.2]

SwimGym

Then we packed up, allowing for a possible sleep-over in Bulls, and set off late morning for Bulls.

We had lunch at Latitude 40 South in Waipukarau around 1:30pm – the party food wasn’t advertised as starting until 8:30pm and as it happens it was closer to 9:30pm, so the lunch was a really good idea.

Drove across to Bulls and, something I’d been hoping to do for a long time, visited our burial plots in the Clifton cemetery in Bulls. I had got it into my head that someone else had been buried in our grave sites, but no, they still await occupation. Our sites are just a couple of rows away from the Wilson family brick wall of plaques to the departed.

Then we went to Mount Lees Reserve, the old house and gardens bequeathed to the area by Karola’s uncle Ormond Wilson. Refreshing to just stop and let Bramble have a walk around in the shade of the tall trees.

Afterwards we went to Tessa’s house, which is nearby the main Burleigh homestead, a rested and changed, awaiting the festivities. Maybe 50 people in all, a bunch of younger 30-40-somethings, mostly from a wine group that Tessa belongs to, and plenty of old acquaintances from our visits to Burleigh over the past 30 – 40 years.

Bridget called me to say that she would be unable to make it because the team delivering her new jacuzzi had just left promptly at 5:00pm, leaving the job unfinished and without replacing the big windows they’d removed to get the bath in. So, being unable to secure the house, they had to stay home.

Chloe wore herself out with a sumptuous feast – ham, beef, salmon, new potatoes, salads, and then meringues and strawberries and cream.  Harry, whose back is giving him a lot of grief these days, has shingles, again, but was looking remarkably relaxed considering.

When the loud music started and the younger ones were gyrating to strobe lights and mist generators we toddled off back to Karamu, leaving at 11:34pm and arriving home around 2:15am.

Clifton Cemetery – The Wilson Brick Wall – LHS

Clifton Cemetery – The Wilson Brick Wall – RHS

Our Reserved Burial Plots

Oak Avenue Weather:13℃—30℃ no rain [82.9]

So the day began with a quick sally over to Havelock North to purchase 20 bales of pea straw. We, like all the real farmers and the lifestyle block owners, are holding their breaths wondering when the drought is coming. And, like us, stocking up just in case.

The Australian economy appears to be taking a bit of a nosedive due to the weakened Chinese economy and hence demand for the raw mineral resources which prop up Australia. So, I got round at last to sending off the paperwork to liberate some funds to spend on the improvement of the homestead.

Kirsty & Bruce called in on their way to The Mahia and had a light lunch.

Later Henare came round so that I could pay his electricity bill online. He isn’t able to do it himself and while he’s working he can’t get to the post office or wherever he could pay in person before they close. One of these fine days I will remind him of the very useful thing called a postage stamp.

Before dinner I called Chris Bell at Flight Line in Hastings and he got me a couple of return flights to the UK in August – for out “Polish Tour”. Karola and I will decide on Monday. Meanwhile I am checking with Anna that I have the month and the year right – it is this August we’re expected

In Two Days Another Colander Of Beans

Twenty Bales Of Pea Straw For The Sheep

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—29℃ no rain [82.6]

SwimGym

Jim Cornes hasn’t paid us for the 25 lambs he bought in December so we crafted a letter gently reminding him and Karola took it round to Jim’s sumptuous new house next to the new church in the Exclusive Brethren’s enclave near the sports centre.

We selected our man to fell the Beech tree – Jonathan Boyle was able to do it much sooner than Bart Mulder. Karola then called Bay Beds and asked them to get on with making the base and mattress for her Chapman Taylor bed ends.

I spent the day making lists – lists of things I might do or should do. Also did a bit of research into the hire costs of log splitters and rotary hoes, as one does.

Karola went into town to get food for today and tomorrow. Tomorrow Kirsty & Bruce are due for lunch on their way to The Mahia. And the next day we go to Burleigh for the evening and one night, for Tessa’s 40th birthday.

Excitement of the day was when the car, see below, cruised slowly up the drive, turned round slowly, and cruised back out again, refusing to stop for me even though I strode after it and took photographs.

Peter Wiffin rang after lunch and agreed to come and saw up some more apple wood – large logs for himself and small ones for us.

Because the bottom sash of one of the cottage dining room windows was up, it was so hot we needed the cross-draught, Bramble jumped out of the window onto the drive – not once, but twice. We really do hope this didn’t damage her healing leg.

The Prowler

Oak Avenue Weather:16℃—31℃ no rain [82.8]

I called the vets and asked whether my email had got through. Stuart Badger is away annual leave – that explains the silence. Anyway, Yvonne took the email and discussed with other vet and they assured me all was just fine. Whew.

We went to Stortford Lodge for my quarterly blood test and to get some more Vigilant for poisoning thistles and shrubby weeds.

Another quite hot day. Karola did another tree guard and then retreated into the homestead to read, out of the heat.

We called a couple of tree work firms and both came round today and quoted to fell and cut up the old English beech at the end of the ha-ha. The quotes were identical, just over $1000. Before they arrived I spent an hour clearing the track to the grass bridge of part of the fallen beech branch.

Jonathan Doyle of SuperiorExterior came first. He’s been here before, mostly to use his bucket truck tho get me up to the homestead gutters.

Bart Mulder from ProAbore was the second to quote.

Late afternoon I mowed the Goose enclosure using the tractor and orchard mower. The sheep have eaten the grass quite short and the iris was getting away, now it’s more of a level playing field.

Also today we found out that the helicopter trip to Styx Valley of the Giants would not be allowed. But we do have a firm booking for the Moonlit Sanctuary evening tour in Melbourne on Sunday 21st February.

Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—31℃ no rain [82.6]

SwimGym

I photographed Bramble’s damaged leg, being concerned about a small bump just above where the stitches came out, and emailed the vet, Stuart Badger, with the photos, just in case.

Karola and I went into Napier today. We dropped off a big cheque with Forsyth-Barr, well we thought it was big, from the proceeds of selling the Days Bay flat. After a coffee in the fairly unprepossessing coffee shop on the ground floor of the Forsyth-Barr building in Tennyson St we went to Bay Beds in Onekawa and dropped off the head ends, rails, and fittings for the Chapman-Taylor childs bed Karola has had for ever. It’s time to move on from wire-wove and so Karola is discussing how best to use the head-ends for a single adult bed with slats and a modern mattress. Then we shopped for some food in Onekawa New World before making a bee-line for The Clearance Shed to get Karola a floppy sunhat. She’d been searching for one like her old one, temporarily mislaid, for some time. Then Henare turned up yesterday with a hat just like it and said he got it at The Clearance Shed. Now Karola has one quite like her old one.

After lunch I put up electric fence along the back of the Totora paddock, from the sheep yards to the One Acre, down the One Acre fence line and stopping by the little gate opening onto the homestead lawn. Tomorrow the sheep will be allowed a few hours on the homestead lawn.

Oak Avenue Weather:20℃—25℃ 2.6mm rain [82.5]

Mowed the cottage lawn just in time before Henare arrived to help pick up sticks.The big winds a week or so ago left lots of debris and so Henare and I drove round the paddocks picking up sticks – well Henare did almost all the picking up. We gathered 6 loads in the big trailer, for later mulching and firewood.

At 2:00pm Les Clapcott, architect, came as planned and we spent a couple of hours discussing our thoughts on the extension to the homestead. He was enthusiastic and wants to work with us much as he did on the cottage.

Later I went out to pick more runner beans which I’ve been doing every two days for the last fortnight. Again the leaky pipe watering the beans had split and I put the blue colander somewhere safe before repairing the pipe.

Afterwards I could not find the colander anywhere – I went over the ground time and again The area was small and I knew perfectly well where I’d walked so I could not understand where it had gone. All this in 32 degree heat with little wind. Finally, after about ten minutes, I stopped to wipe my brow and …. (see photo below). Another senior moment for the collection. At least the colander retuned to the cottage brimming with my runner beans.

The Ideal Safe Place For A Colander

Oak Avenue Weather:17℃—27℃ 3.5mm rain [82.4]

The morning began with a call from Ginny Horrocks asking what the paint colour was that had been used on the Pitoitoi town house walls. We searched for any paint that might have traveled up with us from Wellington when we were clearing out the Pitoitoi garage but it was all exterior paint.

Karola and I worked on the finer points of the Melbourne leg of our Tasmania trip in February. It’s looking good although if there’s a heat wave all bets are off.

Now the money for selling the town house has arrived we’re juggling our finances so that there’s some accessible once we begin on the (small) extensions to the homestead.

A sizeable branch had come crashing down from high high up a big Wellingtonian near the roadside fence, crashing onto the road verge. A spent a couple of hours, in the shade but still very warm, chainsawing it into firewood.

Late afternoon I sanded and painted over the many deep tooth marks in the lower sills of the windows in the cottage kitchen and dining room – no guesses for who created these blemishes. We’re hoping that, now they’re painted, they won’t immediately catch the eye of Les Clapcott, our architect, who is coming over tomorrow to discuss the (small) extension planned for the homestead.

Firewood Scavenged From Roadside Branch

Oak Avenue Weather:15℃—29℃ no rain [83.1]

SwimGym, but not Karola who is still recuperating from her Wellington trip.

Late morning Karola went into Hastings and got the bread and other weekend food.

In the afternoon I mowed tracks for the electric fence and put up fence from the yards across to the One Acre and down to the place of three gates and the homestead lawn.

The settlement from the sale of 3/14 Pitoitoi Road town house came through mid afternoon.

Oak Avenue Weather:11℃—34℃ no rain [83.5]

The sheep had another morning under the half the big oak – the side nearest the homestead garage. I then banished them to the Long Acre and took down all the electric fence round the big oak, behind the homestead garage, and along the 121 driveway.

In the evening I went and picked up Karola from Napier airport. We stopped off and had a pleasant Thai meal in Ahuriri on the way back from the airport.

Oak Avenue Weather:11℃—25℃ 0.1mm rain [83.3]

SwimGym (but Karola still in Wellington)

Finally got round to paying the bills hat should have been done on Sunday – still, no harm done.

Settlement day looms – it’s on Friday – for the sale of the flat in Days Bay that is.

Picked more runner beans – we’re going to be overwhelmed with them shortly I think – but fresh they are delicious.

Bit more work on the Tassie trip.

Bramble much the same – limps badly when getting up from a sleep but soon stars walking more normally once she gets going.

Couple of days ago I photographed the young swamp cyprus trees in the planting area north of the homestead. The soil is very acidic because the previous orchardist used to burn his pruning on that spot for many years. The combination of salt concentrations and dry conditions has left us with two of the five trees still doing OK.

The Swamp Cyprus Trees

Oak Avenue Weather:15℃—29℃ 0.1mm rain [83.7]

Slow day after the exercise gardening yesterday (see below) but Bramble and I had a pleasant outing visiting Peter and Charlotte in Havelock North just before lunch. We took a few fresh runner beans, picked this morning. Of course Charlotte now has her own beans, they came on stream a couple of days ago, so it was a bit “coals to Newcastle”.

However, before that I extended the electric fence to include the back half of the area round the big oak and the little grass area south of the homestead garage.

The sheep had a full day and night in the Middle paddock in order to eat any of the tree leaves blown down in the big winds – there’s lots of small branches on the ground. Now they have some time back in the Long Acre with access to the 121 driveway and the areas I fence in today. They seem pretty content.

Karola is pretty busy with the grand-daughters down in Wellington.

We heard yesterday that 3/14 Pitoitoi Road is advertised on TradeMe for rent already.

Under New Ownership

Invasive Lilly Seeds – Came With Bay Dingo “Free” Topsoil

Acanthus – The Removal Of The Seed Heads At 133 Entrance

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—28℃ no rain [83.4]

SwimGym (Karola is in Wellington)

Spent an hour or more chopping and poisoning Scotch thistles. Also snipped off the seed heads of an invasive lily and the Acanthus outside the 133 gateway.

Bramble is hobbling around, rather than limping on three legs as she was last night so I’ve recovered my composure and assume she stressed the wound so it hurts but didn’t dislodge anything crucial.

English Beech Hit By Recent Winds

Henare came round in the morning and mowed part of the homestead lawn – the part the sheep don’t get to graze. Did a good job.

Karola packed. I slept. The day went on. I did do the rounds of the sheep – let them into the 121 drive to eat acorns on the ground following the wild winds – and turned off the overnight irrigation.

Lunchtime and I got fish & chips for us all. Well, Henare had 2 battered fish and half scoop of chips. Karola and I had a Terakihi fillet grilled, no flour, and some home-made chips I did out of boiled potatoes. And a tomato salad.

Later I took Karola to the airport.

Bramble was fine today until the evening when she got up suddenly and I think put too much strain on her injured leg – anyway she’s hobbling badly again and I am distraught although I can’t feel anything out of place in the leg.

Cardoon – Victim of 140kph Wind Gusts

Henare’s Mowing

Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—29℃ 0.7mm rain [83.5]

Bramble to vet at 9:00am and got her stitches out. Vet pleased with her progress.

Karola more tree guard work.

Terrible winds yesterday and less so today – lots of small branches down here and along the avenue. Pretty hot in the sun too.

More runner beans picked today.

I spent the day trying to make the itinerary for our Tasmania trip next month intelligible – it has so many options. Getting there.

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—32℃ no rain [83.7]

SwimGym

Karola did some more tree guard maintenance and she also collected the bread for me and got a bit of food for the weekend.

I spent the day online creating a first pass of an itinerary for our trip with the Robinsons to Tasmania in February.

Sheep had the day on the 121 drive again.

Bramble really is getting back to her old self – lying indecorously on her back and snoring gently.

Henare and Scott dropped in for a chat after (their) work thinning apples.

Oak Avenue Weather:20℃—31℃ no rain [83.8]

Karola went into town for haircut and shopping, returning around lunchtime.

Bramble becoming more her usual self every day.

Put up electric fence along the 121 driveway and let the sheep in. This entails mowing a strip for the fence using the new mower on its highest setting and in mulching mode. The sheep have been in the Long Acre since the dosing with Magnum yesterday.

The 121 Driveway

Sheep Waiting To Get Into The Driveway

Exploring The Fresh Patch Of Grass

Oak Avenue Weather:18℃—28℃ no rain [83.3]

SwimGym

Bramble seems to be recovering well. She is trotting about when we take her for the occasional walk but lies about snoozing most of the time – no change there.

The sheep are overdue for a fly repellent to avoid fly strike so today we applied Magnum to all 30 sheep, including the ram and the two very late lambs. (Withholding for meat of zero days).

Karola asked for a calendar of our trips and visits this year – we are surprisingly busy.

As part of our February trip to Tasmania with the Robinsons I am looking at taking a side trip to the Styx Valley which is said to contain magnificent old forest, some of the oldest and tallest hardwoods in the world.

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—21℃ no rain [83.3]

SwimGym for me today, because I should have gone yesterday but took a rain check, so to speak.

Mid morning we took Bramble in to the vets and the bandage on her ankle was removed. Vet is pleased with her progress. I am astounded at how quickly she’s recovering – after major surgery on her ankle introducing two screws through her leg bones and a piece of wire to hold them tight plus a joint higher up sewn up tight. These corgis are pretty tough and resilient little dogs. Stitches on the upper wound due out on Saturday. Bramble has stopped wolfing down my blobs of cheese contains her medicines so we’ve been trying various other inducements. Last night it was ice-cream that worked. Tonight it is prime Angus mince pattie.

It’s summer time and, with the help of the recent gentle rains, everything is flourishing. The wilding Plane tree, Artichoke, and Cardoon have shot up (see below).

A male quail has taken over the cottage garden as his territory and parades up and down the railings every day. There are 3 – 4 other pairs up in the planting area due west and still more around the place. We’ve seen a couple of families including a clutch of four half-grown and able to fly.

There are rabbits everywhere, eating the valuable grass and starting burrows all over the place. Mostly they are well away from the buildings but a couple are out on the driveway under the big oak every morning to Bramble’s annoyance. If this lot breed successfully and we have a drought in February we’ll have to get something done about them – it’s either the sheep or the rabbits.

I like the ringed doves that seem to have stayed longer than usual this year. there are 3 or 4 of them and they are unafraid of us. Not a good survival trait. And the Canary palm has a small flock of pigeons, down from its hey day of 20 or more to maybe six or seven.

Possums have come back, the males making a terrible din, so although we’ve only seen one or two the place is probably swarming with them. Usually the council takes care of them once the population becomes very noticeable.

We still have too many large rats. The new automatic trap – at $200 a rolls royce of traps – is still working. I think it’s eliminated at least 10 rats now although we’ve only seen about four dead ones. The trap has a counter showing how many times it’s been fired. We got another one, which I did find, today.

The small swarm of bees that settled in a Camellia tree next to the Summer House is still there, hanging on a branch, just as depicted in films. It’s been there for a couple of weeks now and has survived the rains, but I think it’s shrinking – it’s about the size of a rugby ball. It was the shape of a rugby ball and rather larger to begin with.

The Welcome Swallows are still being little pests. They try to nest in the cottage garage which is suicidal because they then get trapped in their for long periods and die, so I am forever shooing them out. Fed up with the mess they make when perching and nesting on the sills above the doors of the cottage kitchen verandah, I’ve strung wires and placed small boards to dissuade them. I’ve even put up a ledge and some perches which, if the swallows would use them, would keep the droppings away from where we walk. But so far no takers.

And thats not to tally the plovers and pukekos. We also, sadly, have a couple of feral cats around the place.

Today I finished the weekly mowing of the lawns – in front of the homestead garage, under the washing line, and the driveway under the big oak and alongside the cottage.

Watched pots never boil, they say, so I’ve not been to see how the runner beans are getting on for a few days. And so I had our first harvest today, double enough for our dinner this evening. Apart from the two largest which were stringy, the beans were delicious. Hard to get them fresher. Only two of the 18 plants have edible beans now, the others will come on stream shortly.

The Raised Bed Kitchen Garden

Beans From Just Two Of The Runner Bean Plants

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—20℃ no rain [83.4]

I skipped SwimGym today. Karola has a legitimate reason in that the pool is closed for maintenance.

Preoccupied with looking after Bramble and continuing with the fresh installation of Karola’s computer. I’ve actually set up both the passed-down iMac and my old Macbook Pro as potentially machines for Karola to use.

I finished mowing the cottage lawn late afternoon, the showers having petered out around lunchtime.

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—17℃ 0.8mm rain [83.8]

Bramble still seemed OK this morning and has even perked up when taken outside for a hobble round the lawn. Despite the overnight showers I mowed a square of the lawn so she could walk around without getting her undercarriage we from long stalks.

Mid morning we took off her morphine patch and gave her the first of her replacement tablets.

I put up a bit of fence round the far side of the big oak and let the sheep in – they were delighted.

Later I compiled a list of all the DVDs I have – including the lectures I’ve bought over the years from The Teaching Company (The Great Courses) – and sent it to Peter Clemerson to see if he’d like to borrow any. These are a cache of viewing for the future so I’ve barely watched any of them yet.

Having a bit of trouble getting Bramble to take her pills tonight.

Oak Avenue Weather:13℃—28℃ 14..3mm rain [84.4]