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Monthly Archives: July 2016
Henare Finishes Off The New Fence
Worked on lists and plans for the impending UK/Poland trip this morning.
In the afternoon Henare came and put battens on the south part of the new fence, Next is to put up the two gates. Meanwhile, with my trusty chainsaw, I chopped up a medium-sized branch that fell off the roadside Coper Beech and then attacked a nasty small stump, part of the English Beech we had felled a few weeks ago, that was interlaced with #8 wire and ½-inch chicken netting. This time I succeeded. I also chopped a small pile of Beech and Camellia branches into firewood lengths, half-filling the big trailer. Finally, for today, I started on the clean-up of the big, heavy branch of the conifer near the new shed that was blown down a few days ago.
To our surprise, because we didn’t hear it fall, the large, rotten, gnarled tangled top of our Western Red Cedar was blown off – maybe five metres off the top.
Computer Cables For The Trip
Top Blew Off The Western Red Cedar In Last Night’s Gales
Oak Avenue Weather:2℃—13℃ 0.6mm rain [74.4]
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Steady Progress On The New Fence
Cold frosty morning as I shepherded the ewes onto the homestead lawn. The more time they spend there, the less they put pressure on the Front paddock.
Worked on emails and computer admin while waiting for it to warm up.
Painter Jeff Rencontre arrived looking for the weatherboard to undercoat, but it didn’t arrive yesterday as expected. So Jeff rushed off to get some quick-drying paint for Monday so that the weatherboards will be ready for Paul just 20 minutes after they’ve been painted.
In the afternoon I did get the remaining wires up on the south end of the new fence. Karola helped crimp the wires and now we’re ready for Henare to put on the battens tomorrow.
Wires Up
Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—18℃ 0.3mm rain [74.4]
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New Shed Wrapped In Building Paper
SwimGym, just me. Gales blew all night and on until late afternoon.
Started writing up lists of things we need to do before we go next Friday, while we’re away, and after we come back.
Talked to Paul about the cost of the new shed, how the roofer quote was high but he was getting it adjusted to use ordinary building paper to line the roof and to include the spouting. Paul also reminded me to check with our accountant whether we can claim GST for the new shed. The answer came back later in the day that yes we could as it is primarily for storing Karola’s smallholding equipment. The weatherboard did not turn up today so it won’t be primed with undercoat till Tuesday at the earliest.
Got a proof copy via email of the sign I plan to put up at the 133 road entrance, affixed to the railings. Also finished painting the bolt and hook-back on the Summer House. The paint has a slight gloss finish and I may try to overpaint with a proper matt finish.
My extravagant purchase of a set of Plantronics BackBeat Pro Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones arrived – very comfortable, very versatile.
Selwyn Cook and colleague came mid afternoon to discuss conversion of the current alarm monitoring systems in the homestead and cottage to run over the Internet rather than copper wire. Once that is done we can switch to the low-cost VOIP landline service offered by our new USP, AONet.
I went off late afternoon to puddle around with the new fence. Meanwhile Ruth Vincent, our building plan designer, called by to see how the shed was going and Karola showed her round the cottage.
New Shed – Wrapped In Building Paper
Oak Avenue Weather:-2℃—16℃ 0.1mm rain [74.5]
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Occasional Gales But No Rain
Karola went off for her last haircut etc before we go to the UK. Before she went we chatted about the clothes that we would be taking.
The new shed passed its inspection and tomorrow Paul will begin the wrapping up in building paper necessary before the weatherboard can go on. We’re still hoping the weatherboard will arrive tomorrow and that Jeff Renconre can undercoat it all in next day or so. Paul and I discussed the services that will be supplied to the new shed – electricity, ethernet, and security wiring. Pal will leave the plywood lining just tacked on so that the electrician and security man and I can get the wires to the various sockets and sensors.
After lunch I put in the three remaining running posts in the new fence and strung up one more wire. That leaves another four wires to string tomorrow and then Karola and I can join them all up – the great crimping.
Tonight I happened upon a reason for my Arduino Due setup – using RF signals to communicate – to not work. I needed one more wire connection and a single line of code in the programs. Thinking others might find this useful I posted a comment on the GitHub site where the nRF905 chip (the transmitter-receiver) libraries and (faulty) examples are held.
Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—20℃ 0.2mm rain [75.0]-
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Progress On The New Fence – And Only Nine Days To Go
SwimGym, alone. A late start because I felt it was a tad chilly and bed was warmest. Jonathan was more talkative than usual which slowed me down even more than usual. For the second time I forgot my heart-rate monitor so Jonathan lent me the Gym’s identical one.
After breakfast we chatted to Paul the builder. We’ve changed our minds about stopping all work on the new shed while we’re away so Paul will continue, but leaving the trench and provision of services until we get back. The man who will supply the windows and doors arrived to measure up and settle on details. We’re having fixed single-glazed aluminium windows with standard 4mm thick glass, and Paul will provide a wooden surround so that they look just like the cottage garage windows. The door alongside the garage-style roller door is the same height as the roller door and will be wooden with a panel of window panes in the top half. The door handle will be lever-action, like the homestead garage. The weatherboard is expected to arrive on Friday and then Jeff Rencontre will paint them with undercoat, possibly over the weekend.
Then I made a quick trip into town to get some longer bolts, the supplied bolts that come with the new security bolt for the Summer House are too short by a centimetre. Also picked up today’s fish for dinner. I also applied a second coat of black paint to the security bolt and hook-back and left them to dry.
In the afternoon I put up three of the six running posts for the second piece of the new fence, taking a break part-way through to put on the Summer House security bolt and hook-back.
Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—19℃ no rain [75.4]
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Rest Of New Fence Taking Shape
Got up early and pottered around until the usual time to get up. It started to rain, just a shower, but it was cold and overcast so we invited Paul in for a cup of tea.
There was a sharp earthquake dead on 8:00am – magnitude 4.3 but local.
When the rain stopped I finished the electric fence round the homestead lawn which also entailed trimming the lawn side of the Taupata hedge from the cottage north to the HaHa. Let the ewes in to forage on the lawn.
Then off to town for:
- a small plastic bucket of batten staples – hoping the weather and Henare’s plans allow him to do the remainder of the new fence on Sunday.
- A test pot of black paint for the new bolt and the existing hook-back on the door of the Summer House. And a small brush to match.
- A nano-SIM from Vodafone, copying over my details to the new iPhone 5SE from the old micro-SIM that the iPhone 4S used.
Back home I transferred my old iPhone 4S contents to the new iPhone 5SE then wiped the old iPhone and posted it in Stortford Lodge addressed to Miss Alex More in Khandallah.
After lunch I strained up the top wire on the second part of the new fence but found that this was not enough to make the strainer end post sit up straight. I added a second wire and strained that up mightily too and the posts came up sufficiently perpendicular. Then I installed the stay posts on each strainer.
As evening fell I painted the bolt and hook-back a reassuring black, having primed with metal undercoat at lunchtime.
Oak Avenue Weather:-1℃—16℃ 0.1mm rain [75.1]
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Sheep Crutched & Vaccinated Prior To Lambing
SwimGym alone. Two regulars in the gym at about the same time as we go, Ruth and Mark, introduced themselves today – well Ruth did. My fault for making the tiniest of small-talk. Anyway her seriously overweight husband is there for medical reasons. His vocation is “storyteller” and he travels about in South-East Asia with a lot of camera gear and creates visual legends for country people, for them to see and keep. Ruth and Mark have children, they are empty-nesters. Their eldest son lives locally and has a dog called Bonnie. I could go on.
Paul came late morning and continued making good the roof prior to the next council inspection on Thursday. The wrapping in building paper and roofing cannot proceed until this inspection is passed.
Karola had the sheep in the yards and was ready for Karl & Wendy & the shearing truck to arrive by the time I got home from the gym – even though we weren’t expecting them until late morning. They did arrive eventually and crutched the 25 ewes and gave them a 5-in-1 vaccine.
Meticulous Maids came today as per the fortnightly routine, but this will be the last visit until at least September. While the maids were cleaning we all went into town and combined some food shopping with other errands – quite a successful afternoon.
Late afternoon I started putting up electric fence round the homestead lawn. The ewes will have access for a few days before being let loose to roam most of the green acres while we are overseas.
Oak Avenue Weather:2℃—16℃ 0.1mm rain [76.0]
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All Those Casuarina Trimmings Mulched Up
Henare came as planned and we spent most of the day mulching up the 2/3 of the Casuarina trimmings still to do. Two heaped big trailer loads of mulch. Afterwards Henare and I sorted out 70 old battens for reuse on the new fence. Henare then stapled the battens to the completed half of the fence.
Henare pointed out a car (BNW – interior badly worn) that he’d seen parked opposite our 121 entrance late last night. I emailed the local constable with a photo of the number plate. Later wI saw another car pulled up behind it with two people searching for something inside the boot. I emailed again with a photo of their number plate.
I put up a two-wire temporary electric fence (sans electricity) as a lane from the One Acre across to the yards and shooed all the ewes into the holding paddock, ready for crutching in the morning.
Jonquils In Midwinter
Southern Planting Area – Before My Low Pruning
Southern Planting Area – After My Low Pruning
Long Acre Clear Of Casuarina Trimmimgs
Henare Battening The New Fence
Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—20℃ 0.1mm rain [76.0]
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Busy Outside On Saturday
Phone call at 6:59am that I just fractionally was too late for. Message said that it had been too wet overnight and we would not be getting the sheep vaccinated and crutched today – but Monday should be dry. Cold start to the day but sunny and later it was 22 degrees on the cottage kitchen verandah.
Karola, Bramble, and I went to Nimmon Baling, open 9:0am – 10:00am on Saturdays, and the same old codger, friendly pensioner who sells the hay, helped load 21 bales of meadow hay, Karola’s insurance in case of bad weather and no pasture growth while we are away. We stacked it in the old hay shelter – the leaky, boggy structure that I built with Luke the “brethren” kid’s help 15 years ago. Karola wraps the bale stack in tarpaulins to keep out the wet.
Karola then began the hard work of clearing away the Casurina windbreak trimmings that litter the nearby ground after last week’s haircut. Interrupted to help me finish off the little bit of post & wire fence I’ve been working on this week. First I had to slacken off all the wires and pack the stay post because it had moved too much, allowing the strainer o take on an unwanted lean-in to the fence. Then Karola and I crimped up the seven wires, I stapled the wires to the four posts, and we are ready for battening. Henare is expected tomorrow, Sunday, and he will probably do that – it’s hard on wrists.
After lunch Karola returned to her clearing of the trimmings and putting them on one of her bunds under the oaks. I completed putting up the temporary netting fence that will stop the sheep walking out through the new shed when they get the run of the main paddocks while we are away.
We watched a BBC TV programme last night, New Zealand – Earth’s Mythical Islands – episode one, Cast Adrift, narrated by Sam Neil. Thoroughly enjoyable. Musing over the sheer size of the South Island sheep station and a charming young shepherd, this imaginary dialogue ran through my mind:
- “Oh so you keep sheep do you? So do we.”
- “And how many sheep have you got at present?”
- “26, not counting the ram – and how many do you have?”
- “26,000 – but that’s including the rams”
- “We’re happy with our 4 hectares in Hastings but it’s very flat, not like your place – how big is it?”
- “Oh about 40,000 hectares – would take two days just to walk from one side to the other – and the mountain peaks can be a bit of a climb”
Twentyone Bales Of Hay On The Trailer
Twentyone Bales Of Hay In The Shed
Mess Left After Trimming The Shelterbelt
Karola’s Hard Work Today, Cleaning Up
Only Needs The Battens
Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—22℃ 1.2mm rain [75.7]
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Internet Upgraded But Teething Problems Cause (Me) Dismay
SwimGym then we both went into town for weekend shopping. Food, of course, and also we picked up the two sharpened chainsaw chains.
I spoke to Vodafone at their shop in Hastings about upgrading my iPhone and as a result spoke to their sales team later. Upshot is that by buying through Vodafone I could save maybe $120 with 24 month contract. And by delaying purchase until we get to UK I could save maybe NZ$200. But the new SIM is incompatible with the iPhone 4S and I need a bit of time and my stuff to make the upgrade, and I’d like to install the latest IOS beta, so best to do it here and pay Apple the asking price. So I ordered the iPhone SE in the silver livery with 64GB of storage – should be here mid-week.
Earlier I heard of a sale at Thompsons Menswear in Hastings so we looked in there and I bought another R M Williams shirt, and more braces, and Karola decided I should try some bamboo underwear on the Poland trip. Easy t wash, allegedly – but what about the splinters!
In the afternoon Ben from AoNet came as arranged and swapped our elderly wireless line-of-sight equipment for modern stuff. It took about 45 minutes and seemed to be working well before Ben drove off. Unsolved issues have plagued me this evening so I’m using my iPhone to get to the Internet while I wait for AoNet to respond.
Not only has the technology changed (only the dish) but I also have a different company as my local ISP. Contacts Lachlan Chapman, Bill Warrilow (021-0229-0229) and Ben of AoNet. New static IP address: 103.240.186.104. New DNS addresses: 103.240.184.10 & 11.
Late afternoon I returned to the erection of the netting temporary fence to ensure the sheep don’t escape while we’re overseas. Eleven standards rammed in and a wire stretched along their tops. More tomorrow.
Jenny Price called up and then called round for late afternoon tea and to show Karola some photos she took while in UK visiting Christopher and cousin Julia.
Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—17℃ 0.9mm rain [75.2]
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Wires Up On Section Of New Fence
I plodded along finishing the running posts and putting up the wires on the short section of a new fence separating the Goose Enclosure from the Middle paddock. Another absolutely glorious winter’s day.
Paul the builder has much of the structure up for the lean-to on the new shed. And Karola continued her tidying up of the flax bushes along the cottage drive.
Wires Up – 25 Metres Of New 7-Wire Post & Batten Fence
Paul Working On The Lean-To For The New Shed
The Weeded Flax Bushes Along The Cottage Drive
Oak Avenue Weather:-3℃—15℃ 0.1mm rain [75.2]
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What A Difference A Day Makes
SwimGym for me alone. On the way back I espied a tractor with hedge-trimming blades and yes it was our usual hedge trimmer. H came late morning and trimmed our side and the top of our tall Casurina windbreak (see below).
After breakfast Karola went into town, including dropping off chainsaw chains for sharpening. Much of the rest of the day Karola spent on getting the flax bushes along the cottage driveway under control; she’d already done about half and now has only four more to do.
It was a gorgeous sunny, warm day with gentle breezes. Paul came, joined shortly afterwards by Alan Wakelin and his son / apprentice. They assembled the sides and roof timbers in an exciting day of rapid progress.
In the afternoon I installed the stay posts on the shorter section of new fence, nearest the new shed, and dug two of the holes for running posts.
From “Slab” To “Framed” In A Day
Brimar Trimmers Do Their Annual WInter Haircut
Oak Avenue Weather:3℃—17℃ no rain [75.8]*
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Slabbed!
It’s expected to rain in the afternoon which lent some urgency to getting the slab in place quickly. The team, the same firm that did the cottage garage and pathways, were fast and efficient. Truckload of 5½ cubic metres of concrete with 20% hardening compound for quick curing came as one load and was sloshed on within the hour. The team came back a couple of times during the day to smooth the surface with a vibration machine and so they left finally about 5:00pm.
My Arduino project needed a few more trinkets and so I rushed into town for them and some more food for us and for Bramble. I have decided to use the self-checkout machines from now on. It’s slower than the “12 items or fewer” lane at New World but much faster at Countdown (Woolworths) which has atrociously slow staffed checkouts.
Played around with the Arduino stuff until at last I got one trinket speaking to another and the receiver acknowledged it. Gave up for the day while ahead. Pruned back the cottage garden rose severely. Took down the electric fence stretching from the cottage down to the Long Acre, anticipating that I’ll finish the new 7-wire post & batten fence before we leave for the UK in August and also have time to put up a temporary netting fence between the cottage and this new fence so that sheep cannot go walkabout in the garden or on sightseeing walks towards Hastings. Henare put in the four big strainer posts and I have already strung the top wire. Today I almost finished shaping the stay posts and gouging out the holes for them in the strainers. I ran out of petrol and it go too dark to quite finish.
Here It Comes – The Shed Floor
And Now It’s Done – Slabs Laid
PS: I panicked, “Paul, you’ve left the bolts out, the ones to hold the bottom of the walls in place?” (or words to that effect). “No worries”, he said. “These days the building regs are so precise as to bolt placement that the only safe way to put them in is after you’ve put the walls up. So instead of setting bolts in the concrete, nowadays we use the bolt-equivalent of an expanding fastener. We drill through the “bottom plate” and the concrete, insert the special bolt, and as it is tightened it expands at the bottom and jams fast.” Whew.
“JB”s Team Trim The Orchard Drive
Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—14℃ 0.9mm rain [75.5]+
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Some New Luggage For Our UK / Poland Trip
SwimGym
Then after a shower and breakfast I went into town for Monday fish and vegetables, and also to look for a food grinder (not a blender) and to get some hormone root growth powder for Karola. Well I didn’t find a grinder but Briscoes was having a 30% sale all day so I spent a long time selecting new travel luggage (see below) for our impending UK / Poland trip. Afterwards I picked up the rooting powder at Mitre-10 and at the same time bought a couple of Rosemary shrubs, ones that only grow about 15cm tall and could be good ground cover around the bay trees.
Late afternoon the inspector came, but no sign of Paul. He finished his inspection and was happy to pass us as long as some clearance between the reinforcing mesh and the door sill were increased, and he’d allow me to pass that on to Paul without us needing another inspection. I called Paul to find out where he was only to find he’d been out on the road waiting for the inspector but somehow the inspector had come in by the 133 entrance and Paul didn’t notice. Anyway, it all ended amicably and we hope to see the slabs poured tomorrow morning – to be dry enough by evening that the forecast rain won’t hurt them.
Karola fed her sheep and let them into the One Acre in addition to the Front paddock. Despite the biting wind she also transplanted her Cardooms from the small raised beds to the Octagen. Using the rooting powder and pieces from the bay tree prunings I did last night, Karola planted several bay tree cuttings in the raised bed vacated by the Cardooms.
New Cabin Luggage For Karola – 4 Wheels And Light As A Feather
New Checked Luggage For Ian – Ditto
Oak Avenue Weather:-3℃—13℃ no rain [76.3]
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Sunday, Again, So Soon
Woke and got up earlier than expected. Got the fire going early. We both had boiled eggs for breakfast and for some odd reason they did not cook evenly. Mine had a full four minutes but were still runny in parts. I blame global warming.
We contemplated going outside but the wind was biting – just as it will be for poor Natalie and Alex and Bridget as their master commands them onto the slopes of Coronet Peak tomorrow. We kept the fire going all day. Karola did go out mid afternoon and feed and tend her sheep. At which point Peter Offenberger and his sister Annette arrived – they were expected sometime this afternoon for a chat. Annette is up from Wellington for a few days. Karola finally came back inside and we had afternoon coffee, and then Janet Scott arrived from next door and there was much gossiping.
Just before dark I realised I’d had no time outside today so I rushed out and pruned back the bay tree hedge round the cottage railings to about a metre in height. I also cut off last year’s autumn raspberries in the corner of the cottage lawn.
Old Autumn Raspberry Canes – Before
Old Autumn Raspberry Canes – After
Bay Tree Hedge – Before
Bay Tree Hedge – After
Oak Avenue Weather:5℃—17℃ 0.1mm rain [76.8]
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Karola Returns
Patches of sunshine when, although cold all day, it was glorious. Worked on my Arduino project most of the time before and after picking up Karola from the Napier airport around 1:30pm.
I did speed into Hastings to pick up my missing bread at 9:00am and also did a few chores in preparation for Karola’s return.
Oak Avenue Weather:-2℃—16℃ no rain [76.5]-
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Fierce Overnight WInds
SwimGym – last time without Karola for a while I hope.
No meals again today, like Wednesday, until the evening meal that is – got to press on with the new slim Ian for the Polish holiday. Exactly three weeks to go.
So, SwimGym followed by a shower at home and then a dash in to town with Bramble to pick up the bread, the gluten-free Young-Buck Purebread sliced loaf of buckwheat, and some fresh fish etc. But the bread had not arrived. Bah, I’ll have to make another dash tomorrow. And to compound the irritations of the morning I got a speeding ticket on the quiet road alongside Frimley Park – $80 and 20 demerit points – Gryffindor House will not be pleased.
Will the shed be in a fit state to leave until we return? Well the weatherboard isn’t due for another week and a half. But the framing is all here waiting, including the roof trusses, and Paul says the roofers will fit it in whenever it’s ready so we should have a roof. Also Paul says that, even if he hasn’t got the weather board on, he’ll have the shed wrapped with building paper before we go, so the inside won’t get wet. Paul left at lunchtime having done all he can before the next inspection due Monday afternoon.
There were fierce gales in the night although I didn’t really register them until I saw the downed branch late this afternoon.
Got on with my electronics stuff including making up a couple of connectors with very very fiddly bits where a thin wire is crimped onto a small metal clip and then inserted in the connector. Bright light helps. Patience would help too, I wonder where I put mine?
New Shed: Mesh Laid Ready For Concrete
Gales Break Heavy Bough High Up Off Conifer In Background
Karola’s Missing Navy Woollen Glove (From The Front Paddock)
Oak Avenue Weather:0℃—20℃ no rain [76.8]+
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Mostly Arduino And Computer Stuff
Woke earlier today. It was warmer but still grey after raining much of the night.
Around 9:30am Sally Pearce came and squirted stuff on the oven. She’d agreed earlier in the week to clean the oven as a treat for Karola when she returns. One of Sally’s Meticulous Maids came back late afternoon and cleaned the gunk off. It was the same MM as got nibbled by Bramble a few weeks ago.
The wind was getting up and despite the overnight rain the preparations for the concrete slab floor were drying out well. Council inspection is required once the water-repelling membrane and reinforcing mesh are in place, and that is scheduled for Monday afternoon. So, potentially, the floor could be poured on Tuesday. The reinforcing mesh arrived mid afternoon, (see below).
In the mail today were three delights:
- A novel that I’d bought on Amazon in the UK for me and Bridget to read
- The car key and its duplicate – no remote function but it does lock/unlock and start the car
- 5 little electronics connectors and their 70 tiny pins – which are extremely frustrating to assemble
Late afternoon I mowed the cottage lawn and other little bits – mainly catching leaves but that will let the grass breathe.
New Shed: Reinforcing Steel Mesh For The Slab Floor
Arduino And Dancing Partner – 433MHz RF Module
Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—15℃ 0.1mm rain [76.4]*
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Progress On The New Shed Floor
SwimGym sans Karola who is still in Wellington
Bramble and I whisked into town for the food, then got the mail and fed and counted the sheep (all present) – and it wasn’t even 10:30am.
I then cut some scraps of thick (17mm) exterior plywood to size and fastened the Havelock Hills Security sign to it, and attached it to a corner fence post at the 121 entrance.
After that I dug out the existing 121 road sign which was so close to the ground that most people couldn’t see it, and lengthened the post. The elm portion of the post has continued rotting so I shortened that by about a third and then added a couple of feet of fence railing offcuts, H4 and very durable, to the bottom. When reburied the sign was about a foot higher than before and much easier to see.
Paul engaged a young man, a plumber, who helped him all day with the preparation of the new shed floor space. They removed the grass and a few inches of topsoil from where the slabs will go and then commissioned Elms to bring a couple of truck loads of gravel and, later, a load of sand. The gravel was levelled and compacted before the sand was layered on top. Next step will be to place the reinforcing iron over a plastic membrane sitting on the sand. Once inspected by the council the floor can then be poured. The plumber will also return to dig the trench from the new shed to the cottage – the trench for the electricity cable and telephone cable (for security alarms), and computer network cable, and the stormwater from the shed roof. The storm water will flow into the existing cottage storm water drain. The change in levels is so slight that we will need another “bubble-up” near the corner of the cottage.
Elms also brought a load of river shingle at my request and very neatly laid some over the muddy ruts forming at the far (road entrance) end of the 121 driveway.
The Security Sign (And The Old 121 Post)
The 121 Post Raised Up A Foot
New Shed: Skimming The Surface For The Concrete Slab Floor
New Shed: Now A Thick Layer Of Gravel
New Shed: And A Top Layer Of Sand
121 Entrance – Muddy Ruts Caused By Rain And Trucks
Elms Makes Good With A Little AP40 River Gravel
Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—14℃ 2.3mm rain [76.8]
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Comings and Goings Aplenty
Bramble and I had a couple of trips into town, to Jaycar for little bits of electronics. The staff there nowadays are quite friendly but clueless. what happened to the electronically literate guys who could argue the toss about resistors, capacitors, pin size, and the like. I have most of what I want, well not exactly but close enough, through repeated trips and hassling. But this afternoon in a combination of me not being careful enough about specifying what I needed and their total ignorance of the subject, I was still unable to get some critical connectors from Jaycar. So I browsed for a long time online and, rejecting the Australian site who had exactly what I needed but tried to charge $65 shipping on an order of $5, I finally found a New Zaland site which had the bits and pieces, but they too were very pricy. Still, as I have to buy 5 as the minimum quantity I’ll not need to order them again – I need only two.
What with the truck bringing the pre-formed sides and roof timbers, and another concrete truck coming to slurp concrete into the holes in the breeze block walls of the slab floor, and Jeff Rencontre the painter all visiting today there was much bustle.
Henare and Denise dropped by early evening to see Karola. They had been to a funeral nearby, I did invite them in but without undue enthusiasm and they went off home to be in the warm.
The Prepared Framing Arrives – Paul Showing The Way
“Now Mind Karola’s Tree Guard!”
Roof Trusses On Top, Walls Underneath
The Breeze Blocks Concreted In
Oak Avenue Weather:-2℃—14℃ 0.1mm rain [76.4]+
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New Shed Foundation Walls Rise Up
SwimGym but alone as Karola is in Wellington befriending the grand-daughters.
I then had a busy morning, well until 2:00pm actually. After a hearty breakfast, very like the ones Karola used to make me on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I fed Bramble and took her for a stroll out to the letterbox.
Called Sally Pearce to see if her ladies could clean the cottage oven while Karola is away – probably they can on Thursday or Friday.
Called the outfit in Auckland that offers to make duplicate keys for modern cars. $200 for a key that works when you plug it in but isn’t a remote. Exchange of emails and I’m ready to send it.
Wrote a letter to Landy Heaven explaining why I left the old, damaged indoor car panel on his doorstep and sending him the spare fastener we prized out of the damaged door panel.
Cancelled the ArmourGuard monitoring contract – well they’ve split from ADT so it was eventually ADT who accepted the termination. Also updated the Karamu Physical Security plan, assembled and labelled the keys and alarm remotes to take to Havelock Hills Security (HHS).
Bramble and I then went off into town leaving Paul the builder to struggle with laying the concrete blocks that will enclose the new shed floor slab. I was in somewhat of a panic because I thought that the last post to catch overnight couriers was noon. Last post is actually 5:00pm. I had to send Karola her cell phone and power adapter, and send the Subaru car key to Auckland to be duplicated. I’m crossing fingers that it’ll be back in time for Karola’s return on Saturday.
We then checked whether Karola had left a pair of trousers at the dry cleaners – no. We got some more cash out from the BNZ in Hastings CBD and some food from New World.
Next I wanted to drop off the set of keys and instructions and alarm remotes with HHS. I’d “googled” for the location and that sent me to Havelock North – but they weren’t there. I called “018” and got a number and their address as 500 Karamu Road, but I couldn’t find them there either. Rang the number but it was just the monitoring staff who could only relay a message, not tell me where they were. I waited for a return call and after a while got bored so went to today’s final destination, Jaycar in Omahu Road for a few more electronic bits and bobs.
Gill called me for a chat just as I’d parked outside Jaycar and soon after we’d finished Margot Grant from HHS called and explained where 500 Karamu Road was. She is a very pleasant small middle-aged lady and I dropped off the keys etc and then trundled back home.
I had completely forgotten that today Meticulous Maids were coming to clean the cottage. They got there about 15 minutes before I got home but finding the door open (which I thought I’d clicked locked) they agonised for a bit and then decided to do the right thing, got on with the cleaning.
A Two-high wall of breeze blocks will encircle the new shed concrete slab floor.
Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—13℃ no rain [77.3]+
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Karola Flies Down To Wellington
Karola, Bramble and I drove off to the Napier airport late morning and Karola set off for Wellington, arriving at lunchtime.
It’s Sunday so the rubbish needs to be put out, the bills paid, and various other once-a-week chores done. Also, with Karola gone the sheep were given some very mouldy pea straw and sheep nuts – all 27 present and correct. Ten gardening ground sheets retrieved and folded and put in the summer house as per instructions. Big trailer emptied (see below). Otherwise it was mostly catching up with emails as the last week of Arduino stuff has been so pleasurably distracting that I’ve got rather behind.
I found a lone mushroom in the sheep-yards holding paddock and had that as a starter for lunch. Quite delicious but I didn’t see any others while out feeding the sheep.
Big Trailer With A Load Of Privet Firewood
Big Trailer Sans Wood
Lonesome Mushroom
Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—13℃ 0.2mm rain [76.9]+
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Tony Returns To Wellington
Up at the usual time and we, that is Tony and I, went off to Jaycar in Heretaunga Street – it opens at 9:00am on Saturdays – and we bought a variety of nuts and bolts plus a nice little 433MHz RF Transceiver module, a module of four relays, and some wires pre-assembled with pins to fit our prototyping breadboards. I also picked up another four 7 watt LEDs from Clarence (Lighting Depot) so that I could have bright light at either end of the upstairs in the cottage.
Tony then proceeded to complete his attachment of leads to the circuit board taken out of an old, obsolete Sky remote – and it worked. By mid morning he had trained the “Watts Clever Easy-Off Smartbox” to accept a signal from the circuit board whenever Tony touched the two leads together – and that signal toggled the mains power switch on and off. Major part of the mission accomplished.
After lunch I toddled off in the Landrover with Bramble to Poraiti – in the hills west of Napier – and dropped off “Landy Heaven”s box of Speights Gold beer. Heavy showers all the way there and back.
To recap – the good things that happened while Tony was here:
- The TV upstairs in the cottage worked for the first time.
- I tidied up the upstairs at the cottage, discarding large piles of print-out, and made plenty of space to do our Arduino projects.
- We successfully replaced the inside panel on the driver side of the Landrover, replacing the one that Bramble had torn badly.
- We assembled Arduino-based mini-projects to send and receive Infrared signals, and others to read from a sound detector module.
- I replaced all 8 3-watt LED lights in the cottage upstairs with 7 watt ones for a much brighter room.
The photo below shows some of what Tony Fletcher and I did last week. Tony also connected the circuit board out of a redundant Sky remote to his Arduino and could send IR messages from his Arduino program, or as we say, his “sketch”. His program closed a switch, the Sky circuit board thought he’d pressed a button and sent the corresponding codes.
The little blue board at the bottom is an early Arduino Uno. On what we call the “breadboard” are, from the left, a small sound sensor (aka mike), a temperature sensor, an infrared transmitter, and an infrared receiver. They all work, though not necessarily at the same time.
It’s all so elegantly simple, reminds me of the time, sometime in the early 1980s, when Geoff, Ron Bowater and I had a most enjoyable few days experimenting with a prototype workstation, a hybrid Motorola 68K (32-bit linear address space), connected to an Intel 8086 (for the IO chipset – and Geoff reverse engineered the BIOS binary overnight), and a comms line into VM/CMS.
Some Of Our Arduino Experiments This Week
Oak Avenue Weather:5℃—11℃ 3.1mm rain [76.9]+
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A Day Of Arduino Delight
SwimGym together. Rained steadily all night and until mid afternoon. Wonderful.
A truck came bearing concrete breeze blocks for the double-height row around the foundations of the new shed.
Karola went out for weekend food. I went back town later for a couple of electronic trinkets and to get some replacement bulbs for lights upstairs in the cottage where we are doing the Arduino experiments. A a couple of the lights have failed and anyway, by replacing the eight dim LEDs – four on each end wall – with 7 lumens rather than 3 lumens, suddenly I can see what we’re doing. Should have done it ages ago.
We were at first thwarted by Tony’s Windows laptop getting all in a mess so that he couldn’t use Arduino tools at all. That was sorted out before lunch but then we hit another road block in that the Infrared LEDs didn’t seem to be working. After we checked and rechecked the wirings we were sure it was connected as needed. Eventually we found that the LEDs had a very peculiar limited angle of vision and if we got the direction right we could use the LEDs attached to Arduinos to turn a TV on and off.
The next step should have been straight forward. We had already selected a button on the TV remote and, using a receiver Infrared chip on the Arduino, read off the command sent by the remote that turned the TV on. So we then tried to communicate with the Infrared receiver that is the controller for our IR-switched mains plug. Works fine with the TV remote but the same code sent from the IR LED on the Arduino, it didnt want to know.
We spent hours trying to find out what was missing, getting deeper and deeper into complex electronic detail, to no avail. And so to plan B. I cannibalised some old TV remotes, long since parted from their TVs, and we spent the rest of the evening trying to use the circuit board of one to be our IR transmitter – it worked fine that way before I split it apart, and even afterwards. But we needed to solder some leads onto the terminals of one of the buttons so the Arduino could pretend to push it. An online article I read a few weeks ago described how to do it, but that was before the remotes buried all their electronics into printed circuits. Quelle dommage.
Breeze Blocks Delivered By Carters
Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—12℃ 23.9mm rain [77.1]*
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New Shed Foundation Trench Progress
Despite a late night with the Arduino projects last night we were up at the usual time. By the time we’d had breakfast the council inspector ahd been and, after quite a thorough inspection, we had the all-clear to pour the first layer of concrete into the foundations. Paul lost no time in ordering the concrete truck and putting in the base concrete layer, 400mm below the floor level. It had threatened to rain but held off til late afternoon after the concrete had been poured.
It was a productive day for Tony and me:
- I did a big clear-out of printouts and moved lots of stuff into the sun porch from upstairs in the cottage, completing the job I had intended to finish before he came and only started yesterday. So that Tony and I would have space to work on our Arduino projects.
- I at long last used the correct HDMI cables from the cottage living room up to the upstairs and got a TV working up there.
- Tony and I finished the replacement of the Landrover driver side front inside door panel. We’d exchanged several broken fasteners from the current damaged door panel to the replacement panel and glued them in place, leaving them to become really solid over night. To my amazement and Karola’s astonishment, the re-fitting went relatively smoothly and seems to have been quite successful.
- The wall lights upstairs are dim and two of them failed along with my desk-top mini-flourescent so I got replacement bulbs, much brighter ones, and we can now see our tiny components clearly.
Tony took us to ClearView Winery for lunch and very nice it was. I probably exceeded my daily diet calorie count or the day but the poached pear was delicious.
Paul The Builder Levelling The First Layer Of Concrete In The New Shed Foundations
The Landrover Inside Panel Front Driver Side
Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—14℃ 26.8mm rain [77.1]+
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Arduino Project Started
SwimGym – alone as Karola still got a bit of a cold.
I had a hectic morning, a haircut followed by a visit to the dental hygienist and then a few bits of food before getting back around mid-day. Started moving stuff out of the way so that Tony could get to work on his Arduino project. Karola and Tony went out for lunch to Bay Expresso in Omahu Road which gave me a bit more time to make space.
Later Tony and I resumed work on the replacement interior panel of the front driver-side door, gleaning some clips from the old panel to replace the broken ones on the replacement. We need to glue these in place so Tony & I went to Mitre-10 for that. Karola had gone off to a doctor’s appointment and we all ended back home about the same time.
Sunny but cold day, as I like it, but of course the forecast is for rain tomorrow – just when the new shed foundation inspection is shcheduled and concrete is supposed to be poured.
Oak Avenue Weather:5℃—15℃ no rain [76.9]*
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Tony Fletcher Arrives – Staying Until Friday
Talked to Christine Barnett today, regional archeologist for Heritage New Zealand, and after I explained what we were doing she said she thought they would pass it – we seemed to be doing the right things. Christine also said she’d send us an email when she’d seen the information I sent Alison just to confirm.
Garry Grant called round to give us a security sign – primarily so that his patrols can identify us. As part of that discussion, and discussion of which keys and codes and remote fobs we should give HHS. We have two remotes per keypad and several keys for each building. I found that the remote activation fobs for the cottage didn’t work – the homestead ones worked OK. So, another call to Daryl and he came round and found a wire that had broken, preventing the siren from announcing the activation or deactivation. That all works now.
“Landy Heaven” called to say he’d found a 2nd-hand driver-side door panel so we can replace the one mauled by Bramble. I went and got it and returned in time to meet Tony, arriving from Wellington. He helped me begin the exchange of the damaged and the 2nd-hand inside door panels.
Karola went out briefly to buy food.
Paul finished setting up the reinforcing steel and then, at Karola’s request, plugged a couple of mouse holes in the cottage dining room floor and adjusted the cottage sun-porch sliding door so that it closed more easily. He also, by jiggling it about robustly, fixed the jammed sash window in the cottage dining room.
New Shed Foundation Reinforcing Steel In Place
Oak Avenue Weather:3℃—17℃ 0.2mm rain [77.1]+
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Red Letter Day For Karola – What Was Lost …
SwimGym, by myself so that Karola could be on hand should the security installer guy, Daryl (027-275-1660), turn up early, or even just be on-time. I’d asked him to come and check out our installation – that his firm installed – as we are about to change from ArmourGuard to a local security monitoring firm, Havelock Hills Security.
We had some notes prepared for the security installer guy’s visit and also tried to think of all the places he might want access to in order to check out the security systems in the homestead and the cottage. Karola made room for him in our wardrobe under the stairs so that he could access the security and telephone and internet wiring there, and in so doing, to her delight, found she’d hung a black bag on a hanger, under my suit, and it contained both the passports she thought lost and over $700 in Australian dollars. Of course we have replacement passports now but the $700 was useful, and it’s good to know that the passports were merely very well hidden, not dropped or stolen.
Daryl was embarrassed to admit that he now knew the reason he couldn’t figure out how the system worked last time he came, the system that he personally installed, the combining of two dwellings with separate keypads as a single monitored system. And that was because he’d started hacking up one solution using the circuit that powered the cottage alarm to trigger a zone on the homestead panel, connected a relay to the cottage alarm circuit but hadn’t connected anything to the relay. And he’d also connected a telephone line to the cottage panel as if to get the cottage to “phone home” if it sensed trouble, but this phone line wasn’t connected to anything. So for the past few years the cottage alarms have not been monitored at all – the alarm would still sound but ArmourGuard was not called.
Daryl also protested that the smoke alarms didn’t really need testing because they are ultra-reliable – and that was a tad embarrassing too when he had to admit that the smoke detector in the homestead garage wasn’t working. “And its one of the newer one too” he said. Then he misplaced his notebook – after some searching I found it on a stool in the living room. And after he’d left I found the homestead security panel door was open and the light still on under the stairs, so I called him and checked – oh, he’d forgotten to re-enable the homestead smoke detectors after testing them. He talked me through some button pressing which allegedly did re-enable them – they stay active 24 hours a day, which is comforting. Oh, and I found the technician’s manual for the cottage alarm system on the table after he’d left – we returned that to him at his office in Taradale on the way to pick up the replacement Landrover indicator lamp (see below). Did I mention that the four wireless PIRs (passive Infrared sensors) in the homestead were only working intermittently because their batteries were exhausted – he said he’s supposed to change them each year when he makes his annual check.So I dashed out and bought a dozen AA batteries and he put them in.
Several months ago Karola was upset that she’d mislaid a small, leather-bound book by Walter Scott – one of a set of about 20 exquisite little volumes, called The Antiquarian. To my delight, while I was accompanying Daryl around the rooms checking the sensors I just happened to notice this book lying on top some other books in a bookshelf in the large bedroom upstairs in the homestead. Another mystery solved.
Yesterday I bumped the landrover on a tree while pulling a trailer of firewood out of the shrubbery, smashing the left hand front indicator lamp. I called “Landy Heaven” today and mid afternoon he called back to say he’d found one – he wrecks old Landrovers and has dozens of carcasses in his yard in Poraiti. Poraiti is up on the hills west of Napier. We drove out there and picked it up, only $70, and when we got home I replaced the broken one in less than ten minutes – the indicator assemblies are really very easy to replace in a Discovery Series 1 Landrover.
Paul the builder got most of the reinforcing in position in the foundation trench for the new shed today; he’ll easily finish it tomorrow morning but unfortunately the council, who require an inspection before any concrete is poured, are booked up until Thursday. We haven’t heard from the regional archaeologist from Heritage NZ so I called – we just want to make sure they have no issues that would be embarrassing later. The archaeologist for our region is Christine (Chris) Barnett 04-494-8323 and she’ll be in the office tomorrow.
Karola continued her project of cutting back the flax along the cottage driveway; she plans to add some trees, probably Lancewoods, between the flax bushes. Later I emptied a small trailer of its firewood – we have enough firewood cut now for years and years.
Oak Avenue Weather:0℃—15℃ no rain [77.2]+
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Major Push To Clear Most Of Rest Of Blackberry In The Shrubbery
Cold start to the day again. Anna TXTed and her “ex”, Marc, emailed with pictures of her son Barney and his first trout.
Boiled egg and toast for breakfast. Henare came late morning, as planned, and put in the fourth strainer post for the new fence sealing off the Goose Enclosure from the Middle Paddock. It took him three hours. Not including half an hour for mushroom soup, three small sausages, toast, and coffee provided by Karola for Henare’s lunch.
Yesterday I mulched up a pile of branches Karola had piled up just inside the old wooden gate in the Front paddock, leaving the larger branches for firewood. Today I chainsawed this up, it’s all seasoned wood, and took the bigger pieces, chainsawed to size, to the cottage for firewood.
After lunch I switched the mulcher for the orchard mower and was alarmed that the tractor began belching grey smoke from under the bonnet. So, having attached the mower I left it to cool down. I then spent over an hour pruning the very old Magnolias in the shrubbery with the chainsaw. That gave us another small trailer-load of firewood but this lot needs to dry out for a year.
I then filled up the empty tractor radiator, checked the oil, and started her up – no problems. And gingerly eased my way inside the shrubbery and whacked the blackberry heaps Henare had cut last week – annihilated it.
Karola spent the sunny but cold afternoon picking up fallen palm fronds, flax prunings and generally tidying the garden for when Tony comes on Tuesday..
Henare finished his strainer post and joined in the onslaught against the blackberry. We finished for the day around 3:45pm and he went off to coach badminton, as is his wont.
I then began wiring up the new fence until darkness fell and Karola called out that dinner was ready. More delicious cauliflower rice. And parsnip-carrot mash. Set off by tender roast New Zealand lamb. We know how to live.
Grandson Barney Florent’s First Trout (Caught On A Nymph)
North End of the Shrubbery – Before Henare and I Cleared It
North End of the Shrubbery – Today, Now Cleared
Landrover Front Left Indicator, Tree 1, Indicator 0
Oak Avenue Weather:-3℃—18℃ 0.1mm rain [77.3]+
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Federation of Graduate Women – Small Reunion Lunch For The Hawkes Bay Branch
A bit of a lie-in this morning, it was pretty cold outside bed. Bright and sunny though and it gradually warmed up. First time this winter we’ve had a hard frost and ice on the water troughs. Really good for clearing out the bugs and bad bacteria – a sort-of sterilisation we welcome every winter.
Boris has gone – I mean he’s decided not to run for the top job in the UK Conservative party after all.
I did a tiny bit of programming this morning, enhancing an AppleScript which takes specially marked in-coming emails and uses them to create entries in the OmniFocus database. The enhancement deleted the email from my in-box so I won’t get these hanging around, clogging things up.
Karola went off to her FGW lunch at East Pier hotel in Ahuriri late morning; I already had the fire going here.
I carried on with my computer study – trying to educate myself on the finer points of “Getting Things Done” and supporting software, OmniFocus. The more I read about it the more appealing it is to me, although it’s been lying around waiting for me to take it up again for almost a decade. But making lists is not to everyone’s taste.
In the late afternoon Karola returned and I went outside for a bit of chain-sawing and mulching of branches until dusk.
Ice On Wheelbarrow Almost A Centimetre Thick This Morning
The Grand Old Oak In Winter
Oak Avenue Weather:-2℃—13℃ 0.1mm rain [77.0]*
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Cold But Clearing Skies
SwimGym – alone again – damp and cold start to the day.
Paul arrived around 8:30am and dropped off the reinforcing steel for the foundations of the new shed, saying he’d be back on Monday when the site had had a chance to dry out.
I did the weekend food shopping after writing down the dieter’s menu suggestions for Friday to Monday.
Karola tended her sheep for a while but mainly housework and emails. Mid afternoon I went out and loaded the big trailer with firewood; part of the logs I’d cut when felling the privet trees in the shrubbery.
Reinforcing Steel Pre-formed By Paul At Home
The Latest In Site Safety Signs Mandated By OSH
Oak Avenue Weather:-4℃—11℃ 0.2mm rain [77.5]+
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