Monthly Archives: April 2016

Off again in the bus, this time a short way south to Young Nick’s Head, an heroic combination of conservation and sustainable farming owned by an American financier.

Conservation Activities Include: An “Xcluder” fence from cliff edge to cliff edge cutting of 35 hectares for intensive habitat restoration. Plantings are in year three and just starting to shade grass. All remnant bush gullies stock fenced and replanted. There is a trapping regime covering the entire station. This includes trapping and shooting of cats, rats, possums, all mustelids, hares, rabbits, peafowl, turkey and hedgehogs. Mice are targeted at specific points for lizard protection. Over 200,000 eco-sourced natives have been planted to date. Two sound systems have been installed for seabird attraction. This is novel but has worked to attract nesting gannets and also mutton birds. The sound can be heard 2km out to sea.

The owner gave away the cliffs along the north side of the promontory, including a chain’s width back from the cliff edge. The predator-proof fence cuts off the tip. Much of the original wetlands area has been restored.

Young Nicks Head Station

Restored Wetlands Down Near The Sea

Aerial View Of The Upper Reaches Of The Wetland

Going north along the coast and then striking inland we went to Panikau Station for lunch. The most isolated farm, no cell coverage, no wifi, just a single-lane dirt road for miles and miles. This was the only day of the trip when it rained gently, every other day was sunny and warm. A spectacular drive with huge old eucalypts led down to the house and garden. The garden had been famous, designed by landscape architect Buxton in the 1920s.

Panikau Station – Drive Down To The Homestead and Garden

Huge Panikau Pumpkins

Stone Walls Abound

Karola Under A Very Old, Large Liriodendron

Coming back from Panikau Station and its narrow, steep, winding dead-end gravel road, we took a route via another isolated farm and garden, Wensleydale, for afternoon tea.

In the evening there was another dinner followed by the chaotic plant auction where IDS members give away small trees, others buy them, and the IDS coffers increase.

Oak Avenue Weather:2℃—17℃ no rain [?]

After a restless night – we never did get a good night’s sleep at the Senator motel – we had breakfast snack in the room and set off smartly in two busses for Hackfalls Arboretum in Tiniroto, about an hour south west out of Gisborne. The party comprising about 76 IDS members and groupies / trailing spouses was split into two groups with a bus each.

First our bus took us up to a pocket of very old native bush and on the way to a lookout over the Gisborne plains.

Looking South Over The Gisborne Plains

One Busload of IDS Trippers

Grays Bush – Aboundant Nikau Trees

At Hackfalls the activities were divided into two. Our group, guided by Bob Berry driven by his niece and Hackfalls farm manager, Diane Playle, walked round the arboretum, IDS members like squirrels picking up nuts and squabbling over identifications as is their wont. The other group went for a gentle stroll round the beautiful lake. After lunch the groups switched activity. Then it was back on the bus and to Gisborne.

The evening entertainment was a dinner at a restaurant just out of town, followed by the always brief IDS New Zealand branch AGM. Our table included Gillian Thrum and Phill Carson, both IDS members, the owners of the Green Door nursery and gift shop on Havelock Road between Havelock North and Hastings. Also Jan Chaffey, Jim & Diane Howard, and the vine & creeper man, xxx and his wife yyyy.

Wikipedia: Hackfalls Arboretum is an arboretum in New Zealand. It was founded in the 1950s by Bob Berry. Hackfalls Arboretum is part of “Hackfalls Station”, a sheep and cattle farm of about 10 square kilometres, owned by the Berry family.

Lunch At Hackfalls With Bob Berry & Lady Anne

Bob Berry – Creator Of Hackfalls Arboretum

From the Hackfalls Website

Hackfalls Arboretum is home to over 3000 species and varieties of oaks, alders, cherries, magnolias, maples and more. The collection of evergreen and semi-evergreen Mexican oak species is considered the largest private collection of oaks in the Southern Hemisphere.

Hackfalls Station was first named Abbotsford by its original owners, the Whyte family, who immigrated to New Zealand from Scotland and acquired the Tiniroto property in 1889. In 1916, the Berry family bought ‘Abbotsford’. Bob Berry was born that same year and grew up to be a farmer, inheriting the property in about 1950. Bob developed a special interest in trees for both their botanical interest and beauty and concentrated on growing oak trees, particularly Mexican oaks. The property’s name was changed to Hackfalls in 1984 when Bob’s niece Diane Playle and her husband Kevin bought into and ran the stock side of the station. The name Hackfalls was chosen as this was where the original Berry family lived in Yorkshire, England – Hackfalls Wood. Bob was then free to concentrate on the arboretum and in 1990 he married Lady Anne Palmer, an English horticulturalist who established Rosemoor Garden in Devon. Anne’s expertise proved invaluable at Hackfalls as she extended the existing homestead garden and introduced a variety of new plants. In 1993, Hackfalls Arboretum was made a charitable trust and now has over 3000 rare trees and shrubs growing across 50 hectares.

Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—23℃ 0.1mm rain [?]

SwimGym by myself.

We finished packing and zoomed off to join a subset of the IDS people at Guthrie Smith Arboretum at Tutira for a guided tour at 11:00am. We dropped Bramble off at Pet2Us in Meanee on the way but were 30 minutes behind schedule by then.

At Tutira, the lake about 40 minutes from Napier on the way to Wairoa, we joined the party just as it moved off after a 30 minute introduction to the arboretum and its owner / creator, Guthrie Smith. We met Jan Chaffey and Margaret Barker on the way up the drive, they had decided to motor on in leisurely fashion to Gisborne rather than walk round the arboretum. Chris Ryan led the way, describing the trees and their foibles on a two-hour walk along grassy paths up and down in the delightful autumn sun.

Around 2:30pm we left for Gisborne, stopping for a cup of tea at the 287 Cafe just before Wairoa, and arrived at the Senator motel around 5:00pm. The rooms were large and had a view across the river; as a motel rather than a hotel each room and a toaster, fridge, kettle etc which suited us well. The place was swarming with IDS people.

We went out looking for somewhere quiet for dinner and, across the river we found a very quiet place, well it was quite early for dinner or drinks, and bumped into IDS people Bob and Derelie Cherry from Tasmania. We joined tables and had a thoroughly convivial evening together. We last talked to Bob and Derelie in Oamaru at the Otekaieke house and again at the Oamaru Botanical Gardens where they gave us some advice re our then impending Tasmanian holiday.

Lunch At Guthrie Smith Arboretum

Oak Avenue Weather:3℃—21℃ 0.1mm rain [?]

Languid morning.

Then we all went into town. This time the bread was there, the milk was there, and I ordered my new reading glasses from the optician.

Peter Arthur called to say he would not be coming here on the way to the dinner tonight (his wife is fading fast). A friend brought in the three trees, the books, and a cheque to buy two copies of The Hackfalls Arboretum.

In the evening we went to East Pier, a hotel and restaurant in Ahuriri, where we were joined by 8 other IDS members and had a very pleasant dinner. Brian Myers, the Australian-Canadian president of the Australian branch of IDS, Cliff Lawrence, the president of the New Zealand branch of IDS, Harriet Tupper, the president of IDS world wide, Margaret Barker, Jan Chaffey, Chris and Linda Ryan, Tony Wilson.

Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—20℃ 0.1mm rain [82.6]

SwimGym on a Tuesday, as was closed yesterday.

I then went to town straight after breakfast to pick up stuff for the week ahead, including our trip to Gisborne. But: the Tuesday delivery of PureBread GF bread had not been delivered – they didn’t bake on Monday night; the milk we like hadn’t been delivered to New World when I went there, and there were no parks anywhere near the Optometrists where I had planned to order some reading glasses. Not a brilliant start to the day.

Karola prepared herself for the upcoming IDS trip to Gisborne and did a lot of cleaning and tidying.

Bramble and I wandered once round the orchard.

Oak Avenue Weather:3℃—22℃ 0.1mm rain [82.5]

SwimGym – but I drove down and it wasn’t open even as late as 9:30am so I gave it a miss today (ANZAC Day – Public Holiday). Progress today on getting some computer things done. Lots of episodes of a murder-mystery processed to make it suitable for joining my other video programmes. Big problem with the file uploading to my server in New Jersey (or is it Texas) fixed.

Karola, Bramble and I walked round the orchard – very quiet but lots of apple boxes stacked ready mean it’ll be all systems go tomorrow.

I mowed the bits of lawn I usually do when I do the cottage lawn, so thats done for last week. (I start my week on a Monday).

Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—20℃ 0.1mm rain [82.2]

Rushed off to the Hastings Farmers Market – overcast sky and slight drizzle and almost no customers there at 8:30am. I got the two OMG gluten-free loaves Karola wanted – to take with us to Gisborne on Thursday.

Boiled eggs for Sunday breakfast.

Spent the day on computer, beginning the re-processing of some video for Geoff in UK, and do the mail and so on.

Henare came round late afternoon – he seemed a bit dejected. He wanted to borrow the lawn mower but had to wait and have afternoon coffee with Karola while I rushed round the cottage lawn. I was waiting for it to dry off a bit after the rain overnight and drizzle earlier in the day. Henare brought it back just as darkness fell.

Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—17℃ 0.8mm rain [82.5]

I dashed into Hastings to try and get Karola a couple of loaves of OMG Gluten Free bread – the baker didn’t make any yesterday because his delivery of buckwheat hadn’t arrived. He said there’d be some available today but it’d go fast. I was not the only one disappointed – maybe tomorrow at the Hastings Farmers Market.

Just computer stuff till mid afternoon when all three of us went to Clive for a strole along the lime cycle path. We hit it right, sunny but cool and not too many people. As we came back to the car there were many more people on cycles and with dogs that had the same idea.

Then more computer work after a delicious Bostock organic roast chicken dinner.

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—23℃ 0.2mm rain [83.0]

SwimGym – I am officially not fit – I could have told the machine that.

I then did the weekend shopping after dropping in on Panton Plumbing and arranging a visit in May to come and service/review our cottage hot water system. We both feel it may be losing too much heat so need extra lagging – and the rads probably need bleeding too.

I called Graham Harvey and he was pleased to accept our gift of the little-used Ryobi electric bench saw that I’d lent to Gill & Ben for a year or so and they finally had no use for it. He’ll pick it up in a week or so.

Karola took Bramble on a nice long walk round the orchard – these are good for walker and walked.

Updated the online calendar and fiddled about trying to get a printout that Karola agrees is useful. Easier said than done.

Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—19℃ 0.1mm rain [83.0]

Bramble and I picked some over-ripe mushrooms and spread them on the cottage lawn.

I spent the day working on my re-installation of the computer system. It’s a long process.

Karola returned late afternoon in time for dinner and quiet reading by the fire. She had reclaimed the lost suitcase, where she thought she’d left it, at Burleigh after one of the Wilson family events. Karola also had lunch in Bulls with cousin Hillary (aged 91).

Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—21℃ no rain [82.6]

SwimGym – again without Karola

One of the Gym ladies rides a Pedigo to the gym – well to almost everywhere apparently. I’d not seen or heard of one before, they look quite sleek – cost about $2500 from a shop in Napier. A swankier one costs $4000+ from The Hub in Hastings, the lady said.

Then Bramble and I went round the orchard and seemingly couldn’t help picking a few more mushrooms for lunch. Had large helping of mushrooms with toast, bacon, and tomato – and felt a little sick afterwards.

Made good progress on reinstalling my computer operating system.

And that’s about it.

A few phone calls to Karola; she has delivered or picked up the various things in Wellington and comes home via Bulls tomorrow where she’ll see Hilary for lunch and Chloe to pick up stuff from the not-so-recent wilson family do at Lethenty.

I Hope The Last Of This Years Mushroom Meals

Lovely sunny autumn day.

After breakfast I took Bramble in to the vets as planned. She had a general vaccine and a vaccine against kennel cough which sets her up for going to Pet2Us in August while we are in England and Poland. Stuart Badger, the vet, was also very pleased with her healing of the snapped ligaments. We need to return to get the hardware taken out in several months time – not before we come back from England though.

I made some good progress on documenting my current computer system – 29 pages and growing.

The Landrover battery charged up fully overnight – the charger lights said the battery was full.

Bramble and I had a pleasant walk round the orchard – saw Louise coming home in her car over the fence.

Oak Avenue Weather:2℃—19℃ 0.1mm rain [82.6]

SwimGym sans Karola

The battery charger came today – Bruce Utting (Kirsty’s husband) had suggested getting a charger to fully charge the vehicle batteries because he says a fully charged battery will never go flat overnight just because a light was left on. So the Landrover is being charged overnight.

I put out a couple of the rat trap teaser strips – they gt nibbled if you’ve chosen a good place to set the automatic trap. I hope to find one good place near the cottage and another near the homestead.

Still documenting the current system configuration before I actually pull the plug and do a completely fresh install.

More mushrooms – it’s been a bumper autumn for grass and mushroom growth but sadly at the same time the worst year for Facial Eczema spores since the 1970s.

Meticulous Maids cloned the cottage early afternoon so I took Bramble for a walk. Checked out the sheep and the lambs – numbers all correct.

The Mushrooms Just Don’t Give Up

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—19℃ 0.2mm rain [82.8]

A day for fixing small things and clearing the email backlog. I mowed the lawn – that means the cottage lawn and some other bits and pieces along the driveway towards the homestead, and the little lawn outside the homestead garage block.

Karola left for Wellington just before lunch. She rang from Dannevirke and again when she and Annemarie went out for dinner in Silverstream. Karola’s just TXTed to say she’s safely at 34A Izard Road in Khandallah – Bridget’s place.

The Cottage Lawn – Autumn Flush

Woodford Class Reunion Last Month – Group Photo

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—20℃ 3.0mm rain [83.0]

Peter Wiffin came over and dispatched the two sheep with severe facial eczema – #417 and #421. He took the meat for his dogs and I buried the remains in our sheep grave.

Karola and I put up the 133 gate on the post Henare had set up for us a few days ago. It swings cleanly even though the gudgeon pins are smaller that the hinge holes which makes it droop a little whatever we do. Still, it is an improvement.

I also completed the foot posts on the four strainers needed for the new fence across the west side of the Goose Enclosure.

Henare TXTed to say he was not free in the afternoon as expected – he got more orchard work, which is good.

Front Gate 133 Entrance Rehung

Oak Avenue Weather:5℃—19℃ 0.1mm rain [83.6]

SwimGym

Karola went off to have her moles examined mid morning.

I picked yet more mushrooms and peeled them. When Karola came back I suggested offering to go to Jenny & Noel with the mushrooms and have lunch there. Jenny was enthusiastic and we also took Karola’s GF cake and some cream. A very pleasant lunch with Jennny & Noel in May Avenue in Napier. We also borrowed a book that we’d given Jenny for her 70th birthday last month, “Between You and Me – Confessions of a Comma Queen”, and they gave us ownership of their Cyclone trailer – they were wanting to dispose of it and reclaim the garage space and Karola has always hankered after it so “fair exchange is no robbery”.

Later I did a bit of preparation for hanging the front gate and for the new fence dividing the Goose Enclosure from the Middle paddock. Perhaps we’ll get round to hanging it tomorrow. Janet Scott dropped in for a chat with Karola.

Henare has half a day off tomorrow and has offered to come round so maybe we’ll also get started on the new fence.

Golden Himalayan Cypress in The Goose Enclosure

Karola’s Acquisition – Another Cyclone Trailer

Karola’s Two Cyclone Trailers

Oak Avenue Weather:3℃—20℃ 0.1mm rain [83.1]

In the morning, as planned, Dean Sewell of Hurford Parker Insurance Brokers came and chatted about the renewing of our house, contents, and lifestyle block insurance. No obvious changes – usual raising of the bar for inflation but nothing dramatic. The homestead is basically insured only for functional replacement – the style and materials of a bygone age would not be replaceable.

After lunch Graham Harvey & Tracey Craig came to look at our old unused chicken coops and borrow a book on making chook houses. We feted them on GF cake freshly baked, whipped cream, and a few autumn raspberries. I also picked them a basket-full of mushrooms.

This was quite enough for one day. We did not have the energy to go out and re-hang the front (133 entrance) gate. It was a cool sunny day – delightful outside.

Oak Avenue Weather:3℃—18℃ 0.1mm rain [82.9]

SwimGym

Karola went off to the dentist late morning and while she was out Bramble and I whipped down to Mitre-10 and bought their last spray can of metallic Karaka green paint. This is the paint Karola has been using for the gate at the end of the ha-ha and I thought it prudent to get that final tin.

Henare TXTed and offered to come round this afternoon as his picking job had finished for the day. So he came and put in a very robust, very straight new 2.4 metre strainer post next to the existing post that holds up the railings of the 133 entranceway. Karola and I will rehang the big old very heavy wooden & steel rod gate so it’s easier to open and shut and it doesn’t drag on the ground.

I attached a wooden foot to the strainer post while Henare dug the hole, and, while I had the chainsawing clobber on, I made a start on the feet for three other strainers that will be the backbone of a new fence re-enclosing the goose paddock.

Late afternoon we penned up the sheep, drafted out the eight ewe lamb replacements and the late twins, and #417 and #421, both of whom have facial eczema. Karola picked up ointment from the vets this morning and she applied it to the sunburn on #417 and #421. They too will miss out on having a lamb this year.

George I joined the rest of the ewes – he’s been getting very restless and interested for the past fortnight so was pretty happy to be allowed to join his harem.

Oak Avenue Weather:3℃—19℃ no rain [83.5]

Karola whizzed off to the doctors for a regular appointment at 9:30am and was in time for the viewing of Mahana at Cinema Gold in Havelock North with Charlotte and Peter. I was a little late but got there just in time for the opening titles. Peter and Charlotte have the plumbers in doing some piping for heating and were glad for an excuse to get out of the house. Film set in rural New Zealand in 1950s – the scenery and the townships, buildings, clothes – it was all very nostalgic.

Afterwards we had lunch across the road, Joll Road, at Wright & Co, a relatively new restaurant that opened late 2015. I had a GF pan-fried fish lunch and dashed off for 13:00 appointment for a “Fields Test” at the ophthalmologist’s at Royston Hospital.

For my outside activity today I pruned the fig tree growing up close to the homestead east verandah and stacked wood from the big trailer and a full-to-overflowing apple box.

In the early evening Karola went to this month’s history lecture at the Hastings Library and we had supper when she returned.

Oak Avenue Weather:11℃—25℃ 0.6mm rain [83.4]

SwimGym

So exhausted after that that we didn’t do too much else all day.

I pottered – fixed a leaking junction on one of the above-ground links in our water trough piping; long overdue put a few litres of oil in the tractor engine.

Karola spray painted the new gate at the end of the ha-ha a nice Karaka green. She also removed loads of fallen palm fronds and other detritus from the lawn and raised beds, carting it to one of her bunds.

I noticed that ewe #421 had facial eczema, and I recall that its probably what had #417 looking so poorly for the last week or so – she still does behave as if under the weather though she didn’t get the obvious sunburn effect that #421 has.

Oak Avenue Weather:9℃—24℃ no rain [82.9]

Intermittent rain most of the day. Although there were even more mushrooms today we didn’t pick any. I did get another bowl full of raspberries off Karola’s vines though.

Pleasant walk around the orchard with Karola and Bramble, between the showers.

Otherwise rather a quiet day.

Oak Avenue Weather:11℃—20℃ 1.3mm rain [82.9]

Not cold but mostly overcast day and gentle rain on and off. Karola nipped off to get some final nibbles for the late brunch with jenny & Noel.

I have been trying to convert DVD files and MP4 files into a form that Geoff’s Human system will accept. Very tedious and probably unproductive but I’ve sent him five test files from different conversion programs.

Jenny & Noel came at 11:00am and left after 2:00pm laden with mushrooms and apples and crabapples. There are even more mushrooms now than a week ago, they just go on and on. We had a very pleasant lunch of …. mushrooms, and bacon and GF sausages on toast while we discussed the Hawkes Bay topics of the moment.

I took Bramble round the orchard for a little exercise while a gentle drizzle drizzled.

Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—18℃ 7.1mm rain [82.7]

SwimGym

After breakfast I did the weekend shopping also getting more “Roundup” and 30kg of fine sand – this latter for mixing with the grass seed when hand sowing using a little hand-held sprayer. Just before I left Karola remembered that the US Open golf tournament was playing so she turned on the TV. I happened to see an advertisement for Rebel port offering some shoes at 40% off. Passing Rebel Sport I remembered this and, as I have thrown away my old gym shoes and have been using my very comfortable work shoes for this, decided to try and get a new pair. I did, and 40% off. Picked up the sharpened chainsaw chains too.

More computer stuff for much of the day but took a break to spray Roundup (well a generic with same ingredients – from PGG-Wrightson) along the outside boundary of the One Acre and down the orchard drive side of the Front paddock. Once the current foliage has died I plan to sow this strip with the new seed mix. Bob Masters says his equipment will get to within a foot of the fence, but no closer, so this is an experiment to see if I can create a vigorous belt of rye and clover along this perimeter fence.

Henare dropped in for a coffee and chat – and he took home a bucket of walnuts and another of mushrooms Karola had harvested from the paddocks. He so likes mushrooms that he went out and got more to take back to Denise from the many fresh ones sprouting in the One Acre. Jenny and Noel Hendery are coming for lunch tomorrow and have been promised mushrooms so I hope more grow overnight.

Autumn Crocuses Round The Ginkgo In Front Of The Homestead

Large Raptor Drops In For A Drink

Oak Avenue Weather:13℃—25℃ 0.5mm rain [82.8]

Not much action in the morning. Karola went out for much of the morning, I mucked about getting grumpier by the hour on computer – still not working properly.

After lunch I noticed the wind had dropped and it was cool but sunny so I took the opportunity to spray in front of the garages and the hard stand at the back of the homestead with Roundup – four knapsack loads of 10 litres each. Any other way of removing the weeds growing in the gravel weakens it and forms nucleus of a pothole.

Tracey & Graham emailed saying they’d like to buy the Mandarin Chook House – long since sold to Julie Ladbrook – and built for bantams anyway. But we offered the old chook housing we do still have and they’ll come and take a look.

Karola’s Autumn Raspberries – Yum Yum

Disused Chook Accommodations

Oak Avenue Weather:9℃—21℃ no rain [82.9]

SwimGym – on the new regimen. Jonathan instructed on the use of a chest belt so that the blasted cycle machine could display heart rate as well as time spent and revolutions per second. Jonathan says my maximum heart rate should be 220 – 70 = 150. My book says 205.8−(0.685 × Age) = 157. These are averages with quite a large standard deviation so not precise. My maximum today was 152 for what it’s worth.

After breakfast we took the landrover to Heath at Tamatea Motors for its WOF, rather overdue. On the way home we stopped in at Greenmeadows New World for yet more food.

Heath rang mid afternoon to say the WOF was complete so we bundled Bramble into the car and went to retrieve the Landrover. On the way we picked up 20kg of mixed grass seeds from PGG-Wrightson’s in Stortford Lodge – seed for hand spreading on the barer patches of the paddocks – and dropped off a couple of chainsaw chains for resharpening at the Saw Doctors in Omahu Road.

A lovely autumn day – similar forecast for tomorrow and then rain for the following three days.

Yet More Mushrooms

Oak Avenue Weather:3℃—19℃ no rain [82.8]

Slow morning – occasional sunny spells but mainly sullen cloud.

Internet playing up again and getting worse so Karola contacted Peter Fitzpatrick (a JB orchard manager – manages, among others, our orchard, Max’s orchard behind us and Brethren’s old orchard over the road) and he came round, heard our predicament – the trailing twigs and leaves, and trimmed them up a bit for us. That may have helped as may some configuration changes made at Airnet’s HQ in Hastings.

I sawed up the branch that came down a couple of weeks ago in the Long Acre paddock.

Karola has been sorting through family history since the 2nd World War and typing some  stuff into emails for later reference.

The covey of quail are still here, doing the rounds looking for grains I guess. There have been another 5 rats killed in the automatic rat trap. This morning Bramble found a mouse in the kitchen and chased it around but didn’t seem to be sure what to do when she caught it. So after repeatedly fleeing from the very jaws of death the mouse squeezed back down its skirting-board mouse hole.

Someone unknown seems to have killed most of the rabbits around here as we’ve found several corpses chucked into tree guards – what a smell.

Chainsaw Makes Quick Work Of Fallen Branch

Oak Avenue Weather:7℃—18℃ no rain [82.5]

SwimGym – the new regime for me that takes only half the time but uses the HIT (high intensity interval training) technique of multiple sequences of a bit of strenuous activity followed by a short time of more relaxed pedalling.

I zoomed into town for a haircut and food and to get some metallic paint in spray cans so that Karola can paint the new gate at the end of the ha-ha.

Karola put her sheep, all except the ram, into the Front paddock. I locked the wooden gate.

We cleared up the little incident of the scraped paint – Karola in the car park of the  Bay Expresso cafe in Karamu road on 13th February. I checked with Alan at “Mr Dent” and he confirmed that the cost of repair, around $600, was usual for the slightest ding these days. Lodged a claim with our vehicle insurer, AA, and we just have to pay the excess of $400.

Meticulous Maids came today and cleaned the cottage. The woman who got nipped by Bramble a while back was one of them and she patted Bramble and seemed none the worse for her nip, which was nice for us.

I called Ruth – she is waiting for the farm shed truss specifications from Paul then she can submit the plans to the council. I called Bob Masters, he hasn’t been able to chat to his lucerne expert yet.

My seeding with lucerne and watering weekly throughout the summer has been rewarded with a lush crop of lucerne just outside the cottage kitchen window, laced, surprisingly, with plantain.

Late afternoon it got cooler and started raining – we lit the fire.

Lucerne & Plantain Under The Big Oak

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—20℃ 4.6mm rain [82.5]

Cloudy humid day. I didn’t get to bed until after 2:30am because I was in a long, frustratingly slow chat session with Apple Support. Well actually I had 7 separate session because many of the tests required breaking the session and restarting – and each time I got a new expert and even though they had the transcripts of the previous sessions they preferred to hear it all again. More this morning but finally they got fed up with the glacial progress so got someone in Australia to ring me and, even though the problems are not solved, I have more confidence in this guy. He expects to continue tomorrow after some consultation with colleagues.

We all had a walk round the orchard, Bramble really likes that. Later I took a ladder into the orchard across the road and managed to trim a bit off the low-hanging leaves I think may be interfering with our Internet connection.

Time to change the clocks so that’s all done until the spring.

We watched the final two episodes of The Night Manager so we can relax again. Quite gripping.

Daylight Saving Adjustment

Clocks That Need Changing – 2016-04-10

“SPRING FORWARD AND FALL BACK”
• The iPhones, iPads, and computers adjust themselves.
• Vehicles: Subaru, Landrover
• Cottage laundry: Honeywell hot water & heating + Immersun controller clocks • Kitchen: wooden wall clock, windowsill electronic clock, oven clock
• Cottage bedroom: Karola bedside alarm clock, Ian portable alarm clock
• Cottage living room: carriage clock
• Digital cameras: Karola (2) and Ian (1)
• Karola’s office clock
• Homestead kitchen: oven clock and cockerel wall clock
• Homestead hall alarm clock
• Homestead main bedroom alarm clock
• Watches: Karola (2) and Ian (1)

Oak Avenue Weather:15℃—28℃ no rain [82.3]

Bit of rain overnight but not a lot. Cooler and mainly overcast day.

Computer systems and network still not working properly.

In the morning we sorted out another 31 photos from the 2015 IDS(NZ) trip to Oamaru and put them up in their own page off the web site.

Late afternoon we added a stay post to the post at the end of the wooden fence and hung the new gate. All done before dinner.

Spent ages in a glacially slow chat with Apple support to see if they can figure it out.

The Gate At The End Of The Ha-Ha

Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—24℃ 0.2mm rain [82.5]

SwimGym

Karola needed to send the UK editor of the IDS (International Dendrologist Society) magazine some photos to accompany her article describing our IDS (NZ) trip to Otekaieke, Canterbury last year. It took us a long time but we got there – six photos selected out of 20 – 30 and put up on our web space so that, even though they are several megabytes each in size, Caroline Boisset can access them.

Karola then went off shopping for hours – nothing new there.

Late afternoon we all went to begin putting up the new gate we bought yesterday across the gap at the road end of the ha-ha. The post at the end of the close-gapped wooden fence on which we plan to hang the gate is wobbly and so after experimenting with pushing it upright with the tractor and then blocking it at the base, we realised it was going to need a stay post. So we called it a day.

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—21℃ 0.1mm rain [81.9]