Monthly Archives: October 2016

SwimGym, both of us.

After breakfast I buried the dead ewe #333 – the new tractor coming into its own. I also took a look around the big shed, looking for the Fergie’s bushel box of odds and ends. No joy there although I did find an array of steel objects belonging to the old tractor and later Bob Masters was able to identify each one – from the damaged quick-hitch of 50 years ago to the simple tool to get the front wheels off the ground. While in the shed I noticed a dirty but otherwise serviceable set of drawers. Karola later told me it came from Bridget’s old house in Station Rad in Khandallah. Karola and I took it down to the cottage, thinking it might be useful in the farm shed.

Bob Masters did come today as expected. He brought the sack of grass seed which was a surprising mixture, not exactly what we’d asked for. I checked my email to Bob email recording our last conversation with him and it says clearly just lucerne and phalaris seed. Apparently the seed merchant had his own ideas and as this is all new to us anyway we just accepted the mix philosophically, we’re about as late into spring as we dare be so delaying would probably require cancelling until next autumn.

The mix is for 0.75ha:

• 6kg lucerne
• 3kg white clover
• 3kg red clover
• 2kg phalaris
• 3kg Tonic plantain
• 3kg Hercules plantain

Lucerne, plantain, and phalaris are drought resistant plants which we certainly do want.

He first rotary hoed the One Acre then went off to change tractor implements – vanishing for several hours. He then returned and rolled (Cambridge roller) the paddock. Later, when about to begin sowing the seed Bob found he hadn’t bought a particular PTO shaft needed for the seed spreader so I ferried him over to his yard near Longman’s Road to pick it up. He rents a shed in a communal yard where he works on his old BMC tractor and chats with the other renters.

Meticulous Maids came in the afternoon and cleaned the cottage, as is their wont every fortnight on a Monday.

I began work on the bottom long shelf along the east side of the farm shed.

Bob Rotary Hoeing The One Acre

Bob Rolling The One Acre

Bob Sowing The One Acre

Bob’s Rented Shed – A Real Man’s Workshop

Bob’s Rented Shed – Roses In The Yard

Bob’s Rented Shed – His BMC Antique Tractor

Oak Avenue Weather:2℃—16℃ no rain [74.3]

Rain overnight stopped but the sky was overcast and the wind bitterly cold. Too cold to do outside things and anyway the grass is still too wet to mow.

Karola has a new plan for the sheep to graze the house lawn once they’re shorn which will be in the next week or so. So I gathered up the electric fence posts before we forgot where they were in the long grass.

I finished Karola’s GST, much of which I did last night. This time it’s a big one because both the new tractor and most of the new farm shed expenses have been claimed.

Rest of the day was spent on the work bench and, by the end of the day, it was complete bar the fixing of the hardboard top to its underlying plywood base.

Henare called round late afternoon for more drinking water and a chat.

Karola tells me that ewe #333 has died leaving orphan lamb #604 who is old enough to be weaned anyway.

Quail Cock On Sunny Verandah Step – Can Mrs Quail Be Far Away?

Farm Shed Workbench In Position

Oak Avenue Weather:2℃—15℃ 0.3mm rain [74.2]

Bob Masters called to say the seed for the One Acre lucerne paddock had arrived; he plans to come and cultivate and sow on Monday first thing.

Karola went to town. I spent much of the morning re-doing some electric fence as per instructions, an L-shaped section of the Front paddock fenced  off, including the Eucalypts and Macrocarpa as well as the ha-ha. More mowing using the little tractor because the grass is long and thick and otherwise would be weakened by “shorting out” on the damp foliage.

After lunch I at last got back to the workbench project and have almost completed the shelves that go under the bench top. Karola chose the height of the shelves nd so we have a high shelf and a low shelf. In practice there are two shelves under each side of the bench top – a shelf of plywood and the concrete floor of the garage, so choosing the height takes into consideration the height of things to be stored on the floor aand how easy it will be to find them.

New Electric Fence In The Front Paddock

Taking Shape – The Bench Top Is Very Firm & Solid

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—18℃ 13.2mm rain [74.5]

SwimGym, both of us, a little late because I slept in. I then spent most of the day getting on with making the farm shed workbench. Karola kindly did the weekend shopping as well as finishing off weeding the Octagon.

I watered the prostrate Rosemary in the cottage garden, the raspberries and runner beans n their enclosure, and some of Karola’s Totara seedlings and the Kanuka seedlings she planted, the ones that have signs of life.

Hilary, The Orphan Lamb Says “Baa”

The Workbench Project 

Oak Avenue Weather:11℃—24℃ no rain [74.4]

Karola embarked on two tree guards for the two five-finger shrubs I bought her earlier. I, at long last, began assembling the farm shed workbench. Henare and I had sawn up most of the 4×2 lengths needed, Paul the builder had sawn the plywood to size a while ago. Today I cut the metal strip to size and glued and screwed it to the back side of the front 4.6 metre bearer and then painted the metal with anti-rust primer. Using the pre-sawn plywood as the guide I assembled, glued and screwed, the frame for the plywood top. I then tacked up enough of the stand so that we could try out the workbench frame for height and fit. Luckily Henare dropped round – he wanted me to send an email to ACC for him – and we tried putting the workbench frame and top in position. It fits snugly. We had to take the plywood top off in order to disassemble it again ready for me to continue with assembling the stand, including the under-bench shelf.

Bob Masters called twice, initially to confirm he’d be doing the cultivation and sowing today, then later to say the seed hadn’t arrived so he’s delaying until it does.

Lamb is still being fed. I watered the raspberries and runner beans this evening and turned on the trickle irrigation for the Bay tree hedge – just for the night.

Also put up a new possum trap. We have two Timms traps but the few times I’ve tried them I caught nothing. There are possum droppings everywhere including on cottage verandah and other places close to habitation, and Bramble keeps waking me at night when she goes haywire after heat ring the possums roar.

Goodnature Possum Trap – Installed

Front Bearer With metal Strip Stiffener

Frame For Workbench Top

Workbench Stand – The Beginnings

Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—23℃ no rain [74.6]

SwimGym without Karola – she’s overdoing it on weeding the octagon and tree guards.

Then I did more spraying while the breeze was fairly mild. I went round the perimeter of the One Acre in anticipation of Bob Masters cultivating and sowing the lucerne tomorrow. I expect to oversow the perimeter with grass seed after Bob has finished so that next to the fences, where Bob cannot reach, we have some vigorous ryegrass to suppress worse weeds. I also sprayed all the thistles i could find in the Front paddock. The wind started gusting strongly so after that I stopped spraying until mid afternoon when I sprayed the Goose Enclosure thistles.

Found online a nursery selling Brachyglottis repanda (Rangiora) shrubs, up near Tauranga, and ordered a courier box of them for Karola, nine pots.

Much of the morning was spent registering the new tractor for the first time. This can only be done in person at one of the NZTA agencies, there’s a VTNZ vehivcle testing station only a couple of km away so I went there. Unfortunately, after filling out the necessary form with great care, I was stalled by the computer application which refused to recognise the tractor manufacturer as Kioti. I called Power Farming but the salesman Aaron White, wasn’t there – I left a message. After this call, made within hearing of the VTNZ desk, they suddenly found a way to cope by just entering the manufacturer as ‘tractor’ and making ‘Kioti’ the model. Took a long time but now I have a number plate and registration sticker.

It was now the lunch hour and so there was a long wait at the pharmacy and at the super market.

Just before dinner I planted the five potted raspberry canes and complemented last year’s runner bean plants with new runner bean seeds.

Summer Raspberry Canes On The Left – Runner Beans On The Right (Eventually)

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—23℃ no rain [74.5]

Good early start to the day. I spent an hour or more spraying thistles, mostly the Californian thistles that have seemingly survived two sprayouts of the One Acre paddock. Quite depressing really, the new lucerne paddock is likely to be infested with Californian thistles in large patches whatever we try.

Then took down the electric fence in the Goose enclosure and reunited the nine hogget ewes with the rest of the ewes and lambs. Began putting up the electric fence round the house lawn after first over-mowing the path for the electric fence with the Honda self-propelled lawn mower – to reduce the grass height a bit more and finish off the sharp corners and ends where the tractor mower couldn’t reach. Also mowed a strip along the top of the gentle rise in the Front paddock out of the ha-ha and made that slope essentially a race to get the sheep onto the house lawn. This strip joins the Totara paddock and the entrance to the top of the ha-ha from the Front paddock, down near the wooden gate. It also has a water trough. Today the sheep have access to the Goose Enclosure, the Middle paddock & Totara paddocks, and the race along the bottom of the ha-ha. Tomorrow I plan to set up the fence round the house lawn and let the sheep onto that – the grass is very long, too long, and lush – should have been grazed or topped a month ago.

Meanwhile Karola had a hard day weeding the tremendous growth in the Octagon round the Canary Island Palm. We have a pile of soil from the digging of the farm shed stormwater and cables trench that’ll fill the octagon nicely.

I talked to Dan at Greenleaf Nurseries and expect he’ll be able to sell me three Electric Red (not Red Damask – Karola’s red flowered Manuka was mislabelled we think, it too is an Electric Red cultivar) and three ordinary white flowered Manuka trees next week. These are for a small drift of Manuka along the railings between the farm shed and the cottage lawn.

Later I went off to buy food and also bought five raspberry plants and a packet of perennial runner bean seeds – for my runner bean enclosure – and two Five Finger trees for Karola.

Before dinner I watered all the Kanuka seedlings with a plastic bucket of water each. Signs of life only in the four seedlings Karola planted and three of my 26 root-trainer plantings.

Gill TXTed from Wellington to say they were enjoying a live one-man show starring the very funny Bill Bailey – wish i could have seen it too.

“Electric Red” Manuka

Wild White-Flowered Manuka

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—20℃ no rain [74.8]

SwimGym but quite late. I got up in good time but, it being a public holiday (Labour Day) the gym isn’t open until 7:00am. I dozed off and awoke to find it was after 9:00am. Karola decided not to go, she’s feeling under the weather after her planting efforts, getting the 26 Kanuka plants in after her six Totara and now a further four Kanuka.

I went to see where Karola had put her four Kanuka – the best, if not only, healthy looking and green Kanuka of the 30 I purchased. She’s put them in the north west corner, near my runner bean enclosure, where we hope they’ll add to the screening out of the neighbour’s new house. I was disappointed to see many small Californian thistles growing in the One Acre, even after two sprayings with Glyphosate (RoundUp). Bob Masters is coming on Thursday to till the ground and then plant our Lucern and Phalaris pasture so I hope to get another spray on those “Calis” before he comes. There needs to be a dry spell without breeze.

This prompted me to weed the runner bean enclosure, easy in the moist soil, and then add a 50mm layer of mulch. If last year’s runner beans don’t come up by themselves soon I’ll add some runner bean seeds. And I thought I’d add a row of raspberry plants on the opposite side of the enclosure. Karola’s autumn raspberry canes, planted on the south-west corner of the cottage garden next to the septic tank, are a great perennial success. They sucker vigorously too, invading the surrounding areas.

The tractor has a slow puncture in its front left tyre but after blowing it up with Karola’s very effective hand pump it stayed up overnight and didn’t need additional air till late afternoon. I pumped it up again and it was alright for the rest of the day.

In the afternoon I spent a couple of hours mowing a strip round the house lawn, well the bit we want the sheep to graze. The grass is over a foot tall (100mm) and more in places so electric fence would short out if I didn’t mow a strip for the fence. The mown strip also protect: the Taupata hedge, the house lawn circle and Ginko tree (and the flowers surrounding its base), the low-hanging leafy boughs of the 34 mete-high Liriodendron, and the flax and native trees along the railings on the north-west corner of the lawn, next to the Canary Island Palm. Set at its highest setting the little tractor found it hard work and I had to go very slowly. We should have taken the house lawn in hand much sooner.

The Liveliest Karamu Seedling

Oak Avenue Weather:13℃—18℃ no rain [74.5]

Cold morning but very warm mid afternoon, for a while.  Changed the swathe of pasture for the hoggets, this is their last patch in the Goose Enclosure and I think Karola may decide to amalgamate them with the ewes and lambs for simplicity of management. Also sheep need to be grazing the house lawn, it’s almost too thick to mow now, even with the new tractor.

My plan was to mulch the Kanuka seedlings today but there was a lot of activity in the orchard so I decided to wait until less busy. So, I filled in the time by topping the mass of Iris and nettles under the band of trees at the west end of the Middle paddock which took about two hours. I then put grass seed along the boundaries of the newly mown area, hoping that these will get established before the nettles and iris recover.

And then it started to rain so Kanuka mulching was deferred. When the sun did emerge I decided to do the regular Sunday lawn mowing instead. That all quite exhausted me and so the mulching and other stuff must wait till tomorrow.

Lamb still being fed two or three times a day – it comes over and bleats when it’s hungry. Karola worked on a large tree guard. And cooked a delicious roast lamb dinner.

This Is Similar To What It Looked Like Before Topping

More “Park-Like” After It’s Been Topped.

Oak Avenue Weather:7℃—17℃ 0.2mm rain [74.5]

Rain overnight and some drizzle in the morning and really cold – a southerly snap. As soon as Cornucopia opened, 9:00am, Bramble & I went in to Hastings and collected the GF bread. Shops were closed yesterday as it was a Hawkes Bay public holiday.

Continuing the gravel spreading started yesterday I smoothed out the AP40 a bit more then covered it with “top course” as in the photo below. Turned out quite well actually although professionals could undoubtedly have done it better, it’ll do for us.

Henare came round this afternoon asking that I pay his electricity bill online (to avoid being late and losing his prompt payment discount) and to get more unchlorinated drinking water. We gave him a cup of coffee and I co-opted him for a couple of hours to help hold planks while I sawed them to length. Many, nay most of them, are actually the right length.

Just before dinner I filled one of the Cyclone trailers with chippings ready for the morning – if the weather permits I’ll start mulching the 26 Kanuka seedlings tomorrow. We hit it lucky wth the rain, if not the temperature, for the first days of the transplanted seedlings.

Gravel Ramp Into Farm Shed & Lean-To

Steep Ramp Into Lean-To From The Rear

Oak Avenue Weather:3℃—14℃ no rain [74.5]

SwimGym together this morning.

Some rain overnight and occasional light showers all day.

I made permanent markers for each of the 26 Kanuka seedlings by adding a white square to the top inside surface of the nearest fence batten. This way we’ll be able to look in the right places when it comes time to release the young trees from their inevitable thickets of long grass. Then we all went into town for the weekend food. It being a long weekend, Labour Day on Monday and Hawkes bay Anniversary weekend, so Cornucopia, the shop where I get my GF bread, was closed. At last I have become used to the self-checkout at New World and it is now faster than even the “12 Items or Less” counter.

Karola and I started smoothing out the pile of rough gravel, grade AP40 and sets like concrete after being wet, in front of the farm shed. We used some of the AP40 for a foundation for the ramp up to the lean-to from the rear. We cleared a small strip alongside the railings, thats where I hope to have a small Manuka shrubbery consisting of “Red Damask” and ordinary white flowering Manuka.

Preparing Driveway Into Farm Shed

… And From The Rear Of The Lean-To

Manuka “Red Damask”, Probably

Oak Avenue Weather:9℃—17℃ 3.2mm rain [74.9]

Big push today and so now 26 little Karaka seedlings are planted, filling gaps in the long line of Manuka that creates a really beautiful swaying mass of little white flowers from now on. Gaps were mostly where a mature Manuka had died, not a seedling failure which is somewhat concerning – there’s a fungus that can kill them I’m told – an imported bio-agent for when Manuka scrub was the farmers enemy, encroaching on pasture.

I cleared the spaces, about a metre square, and dug the holes using a small spade, Karola’s favourite. Karola planted the seedlings which, I must say, look pretty dried out and lifeless, but time will tell. Late afternoon we  gave  each seedling a bucket of water – the forecast rain was just a short shower unfortunately. If possible – but it’s meant to rain again tomorrow and Saturday – I’ll put mulch round each tree.

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—21℃ 0.7mm rain [75.0]

SwimGym alone again.

Karola had a dental appointment mid morning. Spraying was going on in the orchard all morning and so we decided to wait until the coast was clear before venturing out to do things in the boundary planting area.

Meanwhile I made a new division of the Goose Enclosure for the hogget ewes and enjoyed their enthusiasm for some fress grazing. Then I re-surveyed the gaps in the western boundary planting area for gaps in the Manuka hedge, marking with temporary paint on the fence battens where the 30 Kanuka are to go. I noticed the rather nice Manuka cultivar Karola had planted last year in one of the gaps – Leptospermum scoparium “Red Damask”. Also, her new Totara seedlings are well planted, each in their own tree guard with a good mulch blanket.

Karola returned from town and so, after consultation, I cut down the middle willow tree from the line across the big gateway into the orchard next to the big shed. That way I can get the tractor and trailer through rather than taking the long way round via the road and orchard drive.

I spent the rest of the morning cutting and poisoning the wilding apple trees in the planting area – accessing it from the orchard side. These wilding apple trees are the offspring of our old Royal Gala trees, a row of which went down the path of the current boundary, and from the sample apples we had off them earlier I’d say it was the root stock, not Royal Gala, that is proving so hard to get rid of. Of course with a commercial organic operation a few metres away it isn’t a good idea to have wilding apple trees, unsprayed and unkempt. I’d killed off almost all the wilding trees at least a year ago but there was one stretch of perhaps 20 metres where they were fighting back.

Late afternoon we made a brief start on the farm shed workbench project, cut a couple of planks to size so that I could begin assembly. It takes two because the planks are about 5 metres long and when cutting them I need someone to hold the far end steady.

Blossom Time In Karola’s Organic Apple Orchard

Oak Avenue Weather:5℃—25℃ no rain [75.2]

Major push to get the cottage Bay tree hedge mulched today. The 30 Kanaka root trainers are looking a little the worse for wear and I do hope to get them in before the forecast rain on Friday. Lovely warm day. I’m getting used to the little tractor and its flexible front-end loader. Filling the trailer has been easy, using the large mulch pile from the destruction of the old English Beech tree earlier this year. There’s about 50mm (2”) of additional mulch over the entire hedge area now.

Mid morning I took a break, because there was no wind at all, and sprayed the gravel area round the septic tank, also sprayed four large patches of Californian thistles in the Totara paddock, and finished up the knapsack sprayer on the driveway in front of the house garage.

There’s a family of Pukeko on the 121 driveway; two chicks and they’re now quite big, half the size of their parents. Fingers crossed that the feral cats don’t get them before they can fend for themselves. Also a lot of possum droppings around so we must have quite a colony hereabouts. No wonder Bramble goes crazy for no apparent reason in the middle of the night. Her hearing is better than ours, especially for noises of possums and cats.

Yesterday’s Trailer-Load

Two More Loads Today

Final Three Loads Today

Oak Avenue Weather:3℃—23℃ no rain [75.2]

SwimGym – my cold seems to have subsided a bit and Karola has it badly, so by myself again today.

After hearty breakfast I went into town for food, to get Karola’s spectacles fixed, and to buy some more bits and pieces necessary to the building of the farm shed work bench. It was a warm 26 – 27 degrees in Hastings.

Using the new farm tractor I filled the two Cyclone pup trailers with mulch from the chippings pile just near the wooden gate, in the Front paddock. One for Karola to use on her six Totara seedlings, the other to begin the re-mulching of the Bay tree hedge area. After dinner, in the cool, Karola watered and mulched her Totara and I spread the first trailer-load on the hedge area. Karola used only a few shovels-full for her trees, I think I’ll need at least four trailer loads.

Oak Avenue Weather:7℃—26℃ no rain [75.3]

Another Sunday so chores and catching up. Karola is now sharing my horrid cold so we’re snuffling and moaning together.

Karola finished planting the last two of her six Totara – with tree guards. I did my 15 Lavender plants, interspersed with the Bay trees, Escallonia (Apple Blossom) and Osmanthus fragrans already there in the Bay tree hedge inside cottage railings. I repositioned the small irrigation pipe round the Bay trees and added drippers for the dozen new shrubs and fixed a couple of breaks where my enthusiastic cultivation had cut the pipe. Still need to add mulch to the hedge and then tackle the 30 Kanuka root trainers destined for gaps in the Manuka line along the western boundary with the orchard. After that perhaps I’ll get a chance to construct the work bench and shelving in the farm shed.

Lamb still feeding well. She seems to think being chased by Bramble is fun.

Henare aclled round for more drinking water – water without added chlorine.

Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—19℃ 0.1mm rain [75.4]

Weekend begins sunny but turns to thunder, lightning, and rain.

Karola spent the dry time planting her Totara seedling trees – four in today and only 2 more to do. They’re going into gaps in the boundary planting area up near the north-west corner. I, with a cold that seems to be worsening by the day, did manage to put in the seven Osmanthus fragrans, complementing yesterdays five Escallonia (Apple Blossom) shrubs, dispersed amongst the Bay trees in the cottage hedge. I have 15 Lavender major plants to add and then I can replenish the mulch and it’s done.

The post today brought the new tractor tow-bar – an attachment to the three-point linkage that allows me to set the towing height – so that Karola’s Cyclone trailers are level when attached, not sloping downwards. While it rained I again sketched out the plan for the farm shed workbench and made some refinements.

The Height-Adjustable Tractor Tow-Bar

Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—18℃ 8.9mm rain [75.9]

SwimGym

More holes, for the ten prostrate Rosemary plants.

After breakfast I did a quick dash into Hastings for food and for some more sprinkler heads – well drippers actually at 2 litres a minute per dripper. You give each tree its own dripper rather than deluging the general area which is much more effective.

Bob Masters arrived after lunch and quickly harrowed the One Acre paddock before joining us for afternoon tea.

In the afternoon and evening I planted the ten prostrate Rosemary plants and the five Escallonia (Apple Blossom) trees.

Lamb still being fed 4 times a day – drinks vigorously and although free in the paddock with the other ewes and lambs, comes over and bleats when it thinks it’s feed time.

Bob Masters Harrowing The One Acre Paddock

Oak Avenue Weather:3℃—19℃ no rain [75.1]

Last night uncomfortable due to a swollen knee and sudden sore throat etc signalling the common cold. But much better this morning and pretty much back to normal by nightfall. Bramble decided to bark for a while at 3:00am. Eventually I got up and let her out into the cottage garden with the lamb. She soon came back inside and shortly began barking again, this time staring out of the dining room windows towards the avenue. I closed the blinds – I usually do that but didn’t bother last night and the near-full moon lit up the place so things were visible. Bramble shut up and I went back to sleep.

Got half the Bay tree hedge area weeding done this morning. Using the new tractor, after lunch I mowed the drive verges – most satisfactory. Using the usual self-propelled Honda mower I mowed round the outside of the cottage lawn. Around dinner time I dug the nine holes for the additional shrubs and marked where the 15 Lavender plants are to go. A little rain is forecast for tomorrow afternoon so I hope to get these planted tomorrow morning.

Karola did some tree guard work then went off to town for most of the morning. She fed the lamb four times; it spent the day in the cottage garden and seems quite content there.

First Serious Mow With New Tractor

Bay Tree hedge All Weeded At Last

Karola Making Tree Guards For The Six New Totara

Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—22℃ no rain [75.0]

I woke up at daybreak, or just before, fed the lamb, and as soon as it was light I went out and hung the replacement wooden gate – but it still wasn’t sitting properly down on its gudgeons.

SwimGym

I must have bumped my left knee a few days ago because ist started to swell up overnight and the SwimGym exercise made it worse. So I am limping round at present, waiting for the swelling to subside.

After breakfast we took down the wooden gate, filed the inside of the old iron bottom hinge, and reinstalled it. This time it swung properly, seated down on the gudgeons as designed. Added the gate latch, rasped the pointy bits at the top of the uprights smooth, tethered the gate to the bottom gudgeon with a twisted #8 wire through the hole in its shank, and declared the job done. As Karola remarked, the gate is so very heavy, and the gudgeons so tight, that there really isn’t any danger of someone lifting it off its hinges to bypass the combination lock.

Anna sent us an email showing that someone in New Zealand had sent her a parcel and customs and VAT tax had been assessed at about $150NZD. It wasn’t me nor Karola so we asked Bridget and she said that it was a parcel from het to Anna, a jogging top from IceBreaker. Karola paid the taxes online and the mystery was solved.

After a couple of mis-shots I installed one of the SnapClunk door stops to the farm shed person door. So, Jeff has 6 little screw holes to fill when next he comes to put on the final Karaka green coat of paint on the door.

Karola made more small tree guards, one each for her six Totara trees, soon to be planted in gaps in the boundary fence planting areas.

Replacement Wooden Gate In Position

Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—25℃ no rain [74.9]

Sun shining, temperatures over 23 degrees by lunchtime. A summer’s day really.

I began by putting up electric fence in the Goose Enclosure, a strip along the drive fence from north to south. Set up a water trough. This strip will be the service lane for small rectangles of the Goose Enclosure fed to the ewe hoggets one at a time. I then put the ewe hoggets, who have been cleaning up the holding paddock for a week, into the yards. Then the ram and wether, currently in the Long Acre, also went into the yards and after that the hoggets were released into the Long Acre and sent off down to their new grazing in the Goose Enclosure.  Later Karola dagged the wether and he and the ram were returned to the Long Acre. Then we got the ewes and lambs into the yards and docked and tagged the final four lambs. Ewes and lambs returned to the Middle paddock and that was our sheep work over for the day. Except of course for the several feeds a day for the orphan lamb – who spends the day in the cottage garden sampling everything. She even came inside a few times and Bramble is reasonably tolerant except when the actual feeding begins.

Next Karola and I worked on the replacement wooden gate. We took the gate round to the gateway near the Lime tree and propped it in-situ on the bottom gudgeon. Unfortunately the existing gudgeon isn’t long enough to stick out far enough for this gate so, after lunch, we all went off shopping, including a stop at Farmlands where I bought two longer gudgeons, a litre of “Roundup” weed killer (it has a new name) a new jersey, and 3 pairs of socks.

After afternoon tea we carried on with the gate. The gatepost, a large #1 strainer post, seems to be on a bit of an angle so, using #8 wire and wire strainer, we wired it to the base of the equally monstrous strainer slam post and hauled the slanting post upright. In the process we tightened the wires and netting attached to the post. We repositioned the foot of the stay post by banging in a couple of pegs and were rather relieved when, upon releasing the wire strainer, the gate post remained upright. Because the old gate was a foot higher than the new one the top gudgeon needed a new hole so we tried the new longer gudgeon at the bottom. Using that as a guide we bored the fresh holes for the top gudgeon only to find that the bottom gudgeon was stuck fast on the old rusty hinge. Only solution, despite copious quantities of lubricant spray, was to remove the gudgeon from the gate post, which we did. I plan to separate the two tomorrow.

Then a quick shower and change and off we went to a lecture – well two speakers actually – at the Hastings Library. One on soil, one on water – both speakers at odds wth the establishment and in particular with the vested interests who attempt to thwart their research.

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—24℃ no rain [74.7]

SwimGym, both of us.

Karola spotted a lamb that was just too calm lying in the middle of the Middle paddock. Yes it had died – of unknown causes – a lovely, large ewe lamb, #603E. A shame. Into Henare’s “pit of death” she went.

Then after breakfast and a certain amount of pottering about I went down the road and bought the extra bolts needed to finish the recreation of the Front paddock wooden gate.

Jeff Rencontre, painter, came back and bemoaned that the fierce winds had again ruined his painting of the farm shed person door. I suggested he wait now till the equinoxial gales are over before trying again. Last coat of varnish on the map cabinet – so that’s finished.

In the afternoon I installed the bolts on the gate and sawed off the protrusions. I took Bramble to the vets for her 2:00pm appointment to have her stitches removed.

Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—16℃ no rain [74.8]

Where did the day go. Karola started watching a replay of the All Blacks in SOuth Africa and I got sucked in – but in parallel with the Sunday chores so not a complete waste of time. We experimented with letting the orphan lamb out after its morning feed and, eventually, when it got really hungry, we were able to entice it back into its pen for the afternoon feed.

Karola had a look at the farm shed preparations for a workbench and shelving, and passed the recreated wooden gate into the Front paddock as “it will look alright from a distance”, but “isn’t it too heavy”. The wood will dry out but yes it is very heavy, as was the one it’s replacing.

As what I suspect was a diversion to more interesting things, I sorted through the equipment in the cottage garage and carted much of the paraphernalia, which had migrated into the closest outbuilding, back to the house garage. Henare called in for some un-chlorinated drinking water and a chat. Afterwards I continued with the weeding of the cottage Bay tree hedge – just carting away piles of leaves and debris.

Later I called Harry and then Bridget for a chat. Bridget was watching Grand Designs on TV so that was a quick chat.

I shall go out to the house garage in a minute and see if I can do a bit more on putting the bolts and hinges on the recreated wooden gate.

Today I learned a new word – “clevis” – being the name for the design of a link or fastener.

Clevis Fastener

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—17℃ 1.5mm rain [74.4]

Continued with recreating the old wooden gate in the morning. Picked up Karola in the afternoon and then worked on the cottage Bay tree hedge, weeding and uprooting weeds. The couch grass is just impossible and the dandelions and related broadleaf plants sometimes dig their roots in despite the almost ideal damp soil for weeding. After dinner went on with the wooden gate and got all the sawing done and the gate tacked togeter in its final form. There’s still the bolts and hinges to add.

Last Autumn’s Leaves Stuck In The Hedge

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—22℃ 0.8mm rain [74.8]

SwimGym – back to the usual heart rate over over 150 (maximum is allegedly 157) – but no Karola because she’s still in Wellington.

Then fed dog and lamb and did 30 minutes on the cottage Bay tree hedge project. First I’m harvesting the lavender blooms and then pruning the lavender severely. Then I lan to get rid of the buildup of large leaves and weed.

Late morning I had my overdue eye tests – great relief to find the tests saying no change. Then I picked up the weekly GF bread and also tried to find a special tow-bar ball with a long screw. No luck but I did buy a nice 10” adjustable spanner for the new tractor – the big old crescent is too big to fit in the small tractor onboard toolbox.

While at the ophthalmologist’s (John Beaumont and his amusing assistant Penny) I called and asked Elms if they could deliver a small truckload of top-course gravel this afternoon after 2:00pm and they said they could.  John regaled me with his very recent visit to Shanghai; Penny showed pictures of her NZ champion rower daughter on her smart phone. They just had time to squeeze in the eye tests.

At this point I was getting a little fraught. I had builder Paul coming to saw the workbench and shelving sheets of plywood to size; Elms were due around 2:00pm and I’d said I’d pick up my piece of galvanised mild steel strip this afternoon. I tore free of the ophthalmologist around 12:30pm, quickly picked up the bread, dropped in to Super Cheap Auto looking for that special tow-bar ball, and fled home. Changed, fed the lamb (again) in time for Paul who arrived around 1:00pm. Got him set up with the sheets of plywood and then hitched up the big trailer and lashed a 4.8m railing to it to carry the bendy long of metal strip. Rushed into town, to Warren Street which is over the railway line, to SteelWorx. It was bucketing down in Hastings. Using my hammer I “screwed” the thin strip to the railing, paid the $65 in cash and bolted. Took deep breaths when I passed the plainclothes cop ticketing someone – I wasn’t going much over the speed limit but I had a suspicion my trailer lights had fused again. In those circumstances it’s best not to brake or indicate, to avoid bringing attention to oneself.

Back just before 2:00pm and the Elms truck arrived 5 minutes later. The lad did an expert and skilled job of dropping a layer of the gravel over the mud that used to be the cottage drive until we had concrete trucks and timber merchant trucks churning it up when building the farm shed.

Paul was puzzled about what to do with the 3rd and 4th 18mm 1.2 x 2.4 plywood sheets. He cut the first 2 into 600mm widths along with the hardboard sheet and these fitted snugly along the back wall. I too was puzzled – and it seems I’d had another senior moment and bought 2 more of the thick 18mm sheets than needed. The shelving will be made of thinner, lighter, cheaper 12mm plywood and Paul cut those sheets to size before leaving for his beach house with his grandson around 3:00pm.

As the afternoon wore on I went back to dealing with the lavender and weeds in the cottage Bay tree hedge. And the sun came out.

Remaking The Drive Outside The Farm Shed

Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—15℃ 0.7mm rain [74.9]

After a meagre breakfast, as is my wont at the moment, I drove down to Power Farming with an iPhone recording of the loud scraping sound coming from the new tractor when it moved. According to Aaron, not a problem. Also I had searched and searched for the pin that I thought allowed the mower to descend and cut grass. Aaron said, no that pin – in fact those pins – were what one removed when removing the whole mower attachment.

Afterwards I went to Winstones and got ¾ cubic metre of top-course – gravel and silt which makes a good drive surface. This is to fill the dip in the 133 driveway by the gate – where once before we put a load of pea gravel which never really settled down.

Jeff Rencontre came and continued his painting tasks.

Mid day I went into town for food and some bits and pieces from Mitre-10 and a successful visit to SteelWorx. From Mitre-10 I got a new tape measure, having lost my measure several weeks ago, and some packets of wood screws for the work bench project. Paul the builder told me about SteelWorx in Warren Street when I called him earlier. This is the small Hastings business that provided the iron bars used for strengthening the cottage ceiling and lean-to roof. Today I bought a strip of galvanised mild steel about 30mm wide and 5mm thick and 4.61 metres long. As per my workbench plan, this will be screwed to the work bench supporting timber running the width of the farm shed. The man drilled the holes for me as I waited but I wasn’t able to transport it because I need the big trailer and a long plank to which to tie this floppy long bit of steel. I plan to fetch it tomorrow afternoon.

Henare came over and helped me shift the plywood sheets into the farm shed in case Paul does make it over here tomorrow afternoon to cut the sheets into the several bits I need for the work-bench and shelves. I then tortured Henare by insisting he try out the new tractor. My test for him was to mow the nettles under the oak tree in the Totara paddock, which he enjoyed once he got the hang of the very simple, but unfamiliar, controls. Henare then helped me unload the metal in the 133 gateway and rake it smooth.

Ewe #227 finally had a ewe lamb, #619E. I don’t know if she had some still-born ones which I just haven’t found yet, or whether there are more lambs to appear. She was gigantic and I am pretty sure there were twins or even triplets inside yesterday.

Orphan lamb Hilary is drinking well now – over a litre spread over 4 sessions today.

Henare’s First Drive On The Tractor  – Mowing Nettles

Improved Gradient At The 133 Entrance

Oak Avenue Weather:9℃—19℃ 0.1mm rain [75.2]

SwimGym – albeit a rather lackadaisical one if the heart monitor is anything to go by.

Aaron White came from Power Farming with our new small tractor on a trailer. He also provided the user manual. I didn’t spend much time on it today – to frantically rushing round doing other things – but I did note a sound on the right side which made me think something was straining and I am darned if I can find the pin to release the mid-mounted mower from its locked lifted position. The front-end loader is rather nice. Tractor model: Kioti CS2610; Tractor serial number: RY520017S; Engine serial number: S7730-D-8501-260 40282 11/15; date of purchase: 14 September 2016. Sales & Service: Power Farming (Hawkes Bay). Price: $22,320.00.

Lamb fed, dog fed and walked and already it’s almost mid-day.Jeff came mid morning and continued on his four sub-projects: sealing the concrete floor of the farm shed, repainting the door of the farm garage, finishing the painting / varnishing of the map cabinet, and fixing up the Bramble bites on the cottage dining room windows. He also, unasked, painted the top of the two white gates Paul made for us for the cottage go-between.

I took my list of wood and panels to ITM in Omahu Road – I get on quite well with Howard there – to get a pricing to compare with Mitre-10. ITM was around $400 cheaper. Later I went round again and bought the timber at ITM but first I went to see Kerry of Hawkes Bay Tractor Dismantlers and he hasn’t forgotten me but apparently it’s the hot spot for spraying (we should know by the noise every morning) and he is overloaded with people wanting their spraying tractors fixed ASAP. Kerry is also having to put off people who want their beach tractors attended to as summer approaches. We will be patient. My ITM bill ended up $500 less than the Mitre-10 quote but they don’t have the tools to cut the panels to size. AT Mitre-10 that was part of the quote. Luckily Paul swung by to see Jeff and I spoke to him about that and he says he’ll do it – cut the panels to size. Independently of that I gave Paul a gift of a very heavy box of nail-gun nails and the gas capsules. I do not intend to use a nail gun again having been persuaded by Karola to use screws for almost everything to do with wood.

No progress on the tree planting today – the winds have been ferocious.

Ewe #227 got cast sometime in the last 48 hours and she was in a bad way. I righted her up, she’s terribly heavy and full of large lambs, and within 30 minutes she had got unsteadily to her feet and gone for a drink of water. I checked again tonight and she is lying down, right side up, next to a tree trunk out of the wind. I wonder if the lambs inside are alive – but there’s not much we can do about it so best not to worry.

Orphan lamb Hilary had four decent drinks today. Her last one around 9:30pm she got down over half a bottle in just a few minutes.

The Ride-On Mower Plus

Oak Avenue Weather:9℃—21℃ no rain [75.6]

After a late night and Bramble barking at 2:30am so I got up for a while then, Bob Masters rang at 7:00am to say he would be coming to spray the One Acre (again) right away. I scrambled to have breakfast and not appear still asleep and in the end he didn’t turn up till mid-morning. Meanwhile I noticed a pair of Welcome swallows had almost completed a nest high up in the cottage garage so I used the hose to wash it down, same as last year. I took the opportunity to wash the guano off the car and off the cottage kitchen verandah french door lintel – but with very incomplete results. This guano becomes rock hard.

Jeff Rencontre called to say he would not be in today as the funeral required his presence at a dress rehearsal – Jehova’s Witness rituals allegedly. – but he promised to come in tomorrow

I watched Bob, on his own larger tractor this time, and he did the spraying in about 30 minutes, much faster than last time. I was a bit worried about the spray drift (see photos below) but had already checked that the wind, slight though it is, was going east, onto the Front paddock, not our lovely planting areas and trees.

Fed lamb before the spraying started, then again after lunch, then again late afternoon, and finally around 9:30pm. About an inch of milk consumed each time and she is getting quite enthusiastic. She starts looking for the bottle when I come out; I don’t have to hold her – this is a big improvement.

After lunch went into town to get my food for two days. Also got together a list of bits of wood for the workbench and shelving in the farm garage and asked Mitre-10 to price it up. Their email response came in this evening. Also looked at Mitre-10 price for a Matika cordless jig-saw and, armed with this, went to Hector Jones and bought it – the most basic model. My blueprint (free, courtesy of Mrs google) for the farm garage workbench requires some slightly fiddly cut-outs in a sheet of plywood and they recommend a jig-saw for that. I’ll soon wonder how I coped without it, I’m sure. It will be delivered to Hastings on Thursday.

Early evening I started on today’s project – weeding the Bay tree hedge area round the cottage lawn. The weeds pull out so easily after all this rain.

Bob Masters Sprays For A Second Time

Very Light Breeze From The West

Beginning To Weed The Bay Tree Hedge Area

Oak Avenue Weather:11℃—19℃ 4.7mm rain [75.5]

SwimGym rather late after a lie-in. Karola still in Wellington of course.

Painter Jeff made a couple of appearances and did put the first couple of coats on the new shed concrete floor as well as another coat on the drawer fronts of the map cabinet plus, a new request, he filled the dog bites on the cottage dining room windows and will repaint them tomorrow.

Acting on builder Paul’s comment about how one of the twin gates into the cottage go-between had drooped a little, I fastened the supporting post to the cottage using a very long coach bolt.

Fed the lamb a couple of times – it sucked briefly in the proper way but then seemed not to like the taste. I went from the milk powder recipe to one mainly of milk out of a carton, and I switched back to the teat that Karola had sliced to make a bigger opening but not a large hole as I had. I fed the lamb again around 9:30pm and marked the bottle before starting. She drank at least an inch of the bottle.

In preparation for beginning on the bay tree hedge planting area I did the usual Sunday mowing. This being the growing season it was quite a lot of work.

Post Secured Using A Long Coach Bolt, Eliminating Droop

Twin Gates Open Freely Again

Lawn In Front Of The House Garage

One Of Two Trailer Loads Of Mowings

Leading Up To The Cottage

Under The Washing Line

The Cottage Lawn

Oak Avenue Weather:7℃—20℃ 4.8mm rain [75.9]

Karola reviewed the positions for the Pittosporum trees outside the 133 railings and made a couple of improvements. I dug the holes and we then had lunch.

Karola was concerned about the orphan lamb so I went out and searched for it. She was sheltering in a pile of old apple wood, warm and not actually starving but quite alone. As Karola suggested I marked her with raddle so that should we let her loose amongst the other sheep again we could more easily pick her out. I also brought her back to the cottage and re-assembled her pen and plastic rubbish bin sleep-out and gave her a feed. I’ve fed her three times today and each time she drinks properly for a few minutes – without me restraining her or guiding her head. Each time she seems to be more enthusiastic for longer.

Took Karola to the airport for her 3:05pm flight from Napier to Wellington. It was late, leaving eventually at 3:35pm.

Returned to continue putting in the 9 Pittosporum. I used four hoses connected together to get water up to the holes. Each hole was one spade deep and the bottom was broken up for another ½ a spade. I put a large green slow-release fertiliser tablet at the bottom of each hole, planted the trees and trod them in firmly. Then they were each watered for about 5 minutes, enough to make quite a decent puddle round the tree, but that quickly sank out of sight as the ground is very absorbent – free draining. Each tree was then surrounded by a ring of mulch about 100mm thick (4”) but leaving around 50mm (2”) clear of mulch round each tree.

Dinner for me and then for Bramble. Harry called and I called back after dinner and we chatted for maybe an hour. Watched a replay of last night’s All Black rout of the Argentines yet again.

Karola, What Are These Plants Near The Lime Tree?

Handsome Magnolias Near The Ha-Ha

Relocated Sign To Avoid Being Hidden By One Of The New Pittosporums

Pittosporum Initial Watering

One Whole Barrow Of Mulch Each

Example Of The Finished Planting

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—21℃ 0.6mm rain [76.1]

Rained overnight. Too wet to begin planting immediately so instead I tackled the big fallen branch from the Lawsoniana. Karola went off for a haircut – new hairdresser in Taradale, one that I might try next time.

The heavy branch straddles a Lacebark (Hoheria) and a Camelia having snapped or cracked several of their branches. I climbed the Lacebark and tried to saw through the fllen branch but was dissuaded because I could not see a safe place to cut the branch, it seemed likely to fall onto me and there was no quick way to get out of its path. So I towed the branch out of its perch with the snig chain and LandRover, causing more damage in the process but not a lot more. Karola returned home as I was about 2/3 of the way through cutting it all up and stacking the foliage neatly for later chipping.

While Karola was out I gave the lamb a short drink but it seemed not to be getting any more enthusiastic about drinking. It is definitely spending a lot of time nibbling grass. Karola tried again when she came home but with little success so we’ve decided to let nature take its course and released the little lamb – now about 3 weeks old – back in with the other ewes and lambs.

As precursor to beginning the planting I washed and sharpened an array of shovels and hoes. Then, late afternoon, I began clearign the metre-diameter spaces for the nine Pittosporum tenufolium to go outside the railings at the 133 entrance. Unfortunately I was not mindful of the alkathene water pipe running across the ground there – hidden in masses of Acanthus which is flourishing wildly and spreading quickly. The pipe, which has been there for over a decade, was enclosed by Acanthus tubers and I chopped right through it. Water spurted up in a fountain and it took Karola and me half an hour to find the underground tap and turn it off. Soon mended and all back to normal. Nine places cleared and then it was time for dinner.

The Fallen Lawsoniana Branch And Collateral Damage – Now Firewood

Greenleaf Nursery Trees

The Plant Centre Trees 

Oak Avenue Weather:11℃—18℃ 0.5mm rain [75.9]