Monthly Archives: November 2017

I got ewe #218 out of the Front paddock leaving her two ram lambs behind. Neither she nor her lambs liked that one bit.

Late morning we got the all ewes and ewe lambs into the yards and then led the ram, ram lambs, and wether into a different pen. We applied Magnum against fly strike on all the sheep (withholding for meat of zero days). One of the nine ewe lambs, and five of the 14 ram lambs destined to be sold on Tuesday, were a bit daggy so Karola washed them as clean as she could using a garden hose. Very lucky that we saw no maggots because the withholding period for the powder to kill the maggots and eggs of fly strike is 24 days and James Russell (Jimmy Rural) would not want that.

The ram & wether and ram lambs went into the Long Acre which has put on a bit of growth since the recent rain. They can stay there until Tuesday. The ewes and ewe lambs went into the One Acre (lucerne / plantain / red clover) and Front paddock – they did like the One Acre. I took down the electric fence in the One Acre – the cells we used for fattening the ram lambs – and the ewes have the run of the whole paddock.

Picked my first raspberry for this season from the runner bean garden. The raspberries have grown wildly but there are also 7 – 8 perennial runner beans coming up. I trimmed the flax along the inside of the railings next to the Damson tree (place of three gates); I’d been meaning to do that for ages as the flax has grown so much it is shorting out the electric fence.

Karola began weeding the bay tree hedge around the cottage lawn; the recent rain made the ground soft and so the weeds came out without breaking off, which is good.

After an early dinner I took Bangle round the orchard and then loaded up the big trailer with old, rotten logs from the stump dump.

My First Raspberry This Season

Karola Makes Inroads On The Bay Tree Hedge Weeding

Another Picture Of Bracket

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—22℃ no rain [73.7]

SwimGym

Later Karola drove me and Bangle to get the mid-week shopping. I also bought a replacement pair of work gloves – I have “temporarily mislaid” the pair I bought a couple of weeks ago. And picked up two sharpened chainsaw chains.

Then Karola & I got back to the moving of rotten old wood from the stump dump to the parking place next to the bund under the oaks. Karola also emptied a big trailer load of the Iris I’d mowed and scraped up within the stump dump. Karola was rather cross that it contained so much heavy earth (not heavy metals, just earth) and it took her a while to decant the trailer onto part of her bund.

Beautiful, balmy day again so after lunch I continued catching up on my backlog of unread Economists – two to go. Then, just as I was contemplating returning to work, it rained. Good to have the rain, but any wood moving would create huge amounts of mud so that wasn’t to happen.

Swamp Cypress – A Delight All Year Round (Green In Summer, Red In Autumn, Bare in Winter)

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—24℃ 1.6mm rain [73.6]

Soon after breakfast, Santa Claus arrived in the form of a John Bostock ute and Peter Fitzpatrick, the manager of Karola’s orchard, and many others. He was bringing JB’s annual invitation to the races in January and a Christmas gift. This year it is a large coolie bin (“eskie” in Oz). Peter says JB now has 51 orchards in Hawkes Bay, leased or owned, for organic apples.

I did a bit more mowing of Iris in the Long Acre, pushing back the Iris where it’s encroaching on what used to be grass.

Karola & I then started moving more of the old, rotten wood from the stump dump to the clearing I’d made alongside Karola’s bund – under the oak trees. We stopped around 1:30pm for lunch and relaxed until around 4:30pm when we did another couple of hours. I took large logs on the forks of the Fergie, Karola filled a Cyclone trailer with smaller pieces.

Just before dinner I took Bangle round the orchard.

John Bostock’s 2017 Christmas Gift – Very Solid Quality

Pushing Back Iris In The Long Acre

Relocated Old Rotten Logs

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—23℃ no rain [74.0]

SwimGym with Karola. On the way home we took a piece of car to Mudgeway Wreckers so that they could retrieve the bolt assembly Henare needed for his Mazda Mirage. The idea being Henare would pick it up this evening after work. Unfortunately they needed to know the car make and model to be sure to get the right bolt from their 1000 or so wrecks piled out the back. I eventually managed to contact Henare at work and gave him the number to call but found out later that the couldn’t hear Henare on his mobile so the whole endeavour was a waste of time.

Later we went into town and while Karola shopped I, finally, got a haircut – this time I tried Clinton Christopher who has an inexpensive “salon” opposite Cornucopia/Taste in east Heretaunga street. Clinton is tall, bearded, soft-spoken, young-ish and his salon is kitted out in a mishmash of posters, wooden chairs, large mirrors and knick-knacks. He said he learned from Richard Branson’s books about the need to differentiate if one didn’t have the capital to compete head on with the successful competition. Without prompting he decided to talk about his interest in crypto-currencies so the time went pleasantly enough. While waiting for the haircut I had coffee and a GF citrus slice at Taste. Such indulgence. On the way home we dropped off a couple of chainsaw chains at the Saw Doctors, they’ll be ready on Wednesday.

Karola continued watering her recent important plantings, lugging hoses about.

I installed the newly purchased ball cock in the downstairs loo cistern and it appears not to leak, to function properly, and to avoid the thrumming of the pipes that has plagued us and our guests in the homestead for years. Thanks to Anthony Fletcher for locating the cause.

I got a call from Hadyn of Bay Electricians and he thinks the clicking relay is failing so will come out when he can and replace it. He wanted a photo of the relay.

Having charged the battery overnight I was delighted that the old tractor started without fuss today.

Janet Scott came for afternoon tea and gossip.

I mowed the Iris round the big old Ginkgo tree in the Long Acre and as I was finishing it began to rain. It’s been raining gently ever since.

Iris Mown Round The Old Ginkgo

The Clicking Relay In The Cottage Sub-Mains Box

Oak Avenue Weather:15℃—24℃ 10.0mm rain [74.3]

Henare came as planned late morning and began by stacking the small branches and off-cuts from “limbing up” the fir tree at the eastern end of the Long Acre, ready for the chipper. He then stacked the small bits of gauge timber in and on the three old apple boxes in the stump dump.

Meanwhile I, using the Fergie with its mini-forks, moved a heavy piece of curved wooden fence made of battens and then moved the big logs under the fir tree, oak and rhododendron branches that have been there for a decade, and added them to the store of old, rotting logs next to Karola’s bund, under the oaks.

Henare & I moved the rails for Karola’s new diagonal fence off the Iris and out from under the dripline of the fir tree – so that I could mow the Iris.

Karola went out and bought fish & chips for lunch

Afterwards I went round the paddocks and moved the ewes & ewe lambs to their last cell. Also gave the rams & wether another cell. Turned off the water irrigating the runner beans / raspberry canes, the pentagon of Swamp Cypress, and the bay tree hedge and special Manuka shrubs.

Henare & I then stacked the firewood I cut yesterday into the two extra old apple boxes in the space beside the farm shed lean-to.

Henare then dug out an old, but solid, tree stump from alongside Karola’s bund, under the oaks. I, using the Fergie and orchard mower, cut much of the remaining Iris in the stump dump. It was very very dusty and I wore a face mask – just like the Japanese do when they have a cold. A much longer, and also very dusty job was mowing under the fir tree next to the stump dump. It is only possible to get a tractor in there now the lower limbs have been removed. The cleared space will make access to the stump dump through the gate – part of Karola’s new diagonal railings that are a work-in-progress – much easier.

After I’d mown the Iris I somehow managed to stall the tractor and it would not restart, so my plan for Henare and I to squash and load the scrap metal on the big trailer was postponed until at least tomorrow evening. Henare went home. I then, using the new tractor, mowed the 121 driveway and round the edge of the homestead lawn and the big oak – the path I will need for electric fence when next it is time to graze those areas.

Mowed the lawns of the cottage and its curtilage.

After dinner Karola & I took Bangle round the orchard, stopping to chat to Brian Cope through the shade netting.

Fir Tree Debris Ready For Chipping

Henare Attacking The Tree Stump

Iris Thick Under The Fir Tree

Iris Cleared From Under The Fir Tree

Oak Avenue Weather:15℃—20℃ no rain [74.8]

Karola had a very sleepless night, worse than usual. All the GP says is “google ‘sleep hygiene’” which we did ages ago and have tried most of the habits.

I went off after breakfast and got more diesel and ’91 petrol for the chainsaw etc, topping up the Landrover on ’95.

Henare didn’t come today, he has the flu.

Moved old pallets and stray bits of lumber to stump dump. Set up the newly aquired apple boxes – two near the farm shed lean-to, three down in the stump dump.

Karola heaved around the spare farm gates in the stump dump, moved some roofing iron, and carted off three loads of old branches in a small trailer.

I chopped up all the branches I cut down yesterday, chainsawing them into firewood and mulchable woody rubbish. Henare came over in the middle of this because he wanted help with some old, damaged car part – part of a suspension I think. This was not good as, when helping get at the piece he was after by using the reciprocating metal saw, I accidentally sliced the head of the vital bolt in half. We hope he hasn’t donated his flu bug.

Took Bangle round the orchard at dusk – she’s been pretty much ignored today.

Catalpa In Bloom

Firewood From Yesterday’s “Limbing Up” Of Two Fir Trees

Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—22℃ no rain [74.3]

SwimGym with Karola

Bangle took me round the orchard – absolutely gorgeous day, again.

More meddling with my iPhone but it seems to be fixed – a software reset that didn’t remove any apps or their data seems to have done it.

Sheep hungry already although there’s another couple of days before they get a fresh patch.

Friday shopping – took homestead back door key to get two extra ones cut. Lunch at Taste, again.

AoNet man came mid afternoon and re-adjusted the transceiver dish on the garage – they’ve moved the dish on Te Mata peak by a kilometer. All working again now.

Cut back flax crowding Karola’s fruit trees up near the runner beans

Cut off large branches near ground from fir tree in 121 driveway overhanging Goose paddock and the fir tree in Long Acre near the new diagonal fence.

Getting a bit dry so irrigation turned on for:

• runner beans/raspberries
• swamp cypress pentangle
• cottage bay trees and manuka

Releasing Karola’s Fruit Trees

Finished Cutting Dead Overhanging Limbs – Driveway Fir Tree

Removed Lower Branches With Drooping Ends – Long Acre

Oak Avenue Weather:15℃—22℃ no rain [73.3]

Took Bangle round the orchard

Set the leaky pipe irrigation on for the runner beans.

Rang around the Hastings area hairdressers looking for Kim, the hairdresser that Karola liked when we went to Cut Above. Kim left and the Cut Above people were not allowed to tell us where she’d gone – some sort of agreement amongst the salons. Over 30 hairdressing establishments in Hastings, another 50+ in Napier. I give up.

Hand watered (a plastic bucket each) 29 Manuka plants along the west boundary with the orchard; 27 that I planted this year, one that survived from last year, and one older red cultivar Karola planted before that. Bangle joined me in the orchard, pottering about and mainly just lolling in the shade.

On the way back I rolled up the lengths of #8 wire left from re-constructing the fence between the Holding paddock and the Long Acre, putting them on the stack of bricks in the stump dump. I was surprised to see that Karola had moved the remaining rolls of netting over against the south fence, where I’d intended they go.

Still trying to fix my iPhone

Oak Avenue Weather:9℃—20℃ no rain [73.7]

SwimGym with Karola

Off to Vidal’s restaurant for a delicious lunch with the rest of the Havelock North Friendship Club, until recently called Probus.

Karola took Bangle round the orchard

Bit of drama with the Internet connection. Our landline, which uses that connection for VOIP, started to play up early afternoon. The security system couldn’t call back to base so the security firm were trying to contact us. The Internet connection faltered then stopped. Just to make it worse, my iPhone has been playing up for the last months, it only rings if I have it unlocked so if it’s in my pocket or otherwise closed the caller is redirected immediately to our land line. So when our ISP was trying to call me to discuss, on my iPhone, he got the land line, which wasn’t working. It was all sorted out late afternoon, quite quickly once I was able to talk to the right technical guy.

At last I’ve finished the chores from last weekend, Henare has finished putting in strainer posts for the present, the bonfire is done and dusted, so I can get back to my study of economics with my UK friend Geoff. Also having discussions with New Zealand friend Geoff about the electric car he’s bought, a Zoe Renault. Would suit Karola rather well I think.

Renault Zoe Dynamique NAV ZE40 41kWh 2017

Additional Features:

This New Renault ZOE is a game changer for the EV world offering a realistic real world driving range of 300kms!
Plus having the ability to A/C charge on 3 phase power from 0-100% in just 2 hours its practicality is uncapped.

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—20℃ no rain [73.8]

On computer much of the day. Moved the sheep to their next cells, in the case of the males it was back to their first cell once more.

Completed booking the flights etc for the IDS trip to Dunedin in April next year.

Cleaned the goose bath the lazy way, letting a hose overflow it until the water came clean.

Meticulous Maids came and cleaned the cottage in the afternoon.

Lisa, who works in the office at John Bostock’s, came round after work as arranged and had a long discussion with Karola about whether she could keep some bees here. The preferred solution is for her to have some hives along the other aside of the boundary fence by the big shed. If arrayed along the fence then JB’s team could mow round them without hazard. Lisa will see if Peter Fitzpatrick will allow it.

Henare came and put in the fifth strainer post for Karola’s new diagonal railings. We quizzed him as to whether he would want to have bees here and his dream of a thriving bee business with his brothers and cousins up at the Mahia is several years away, so Lisa’s hives wouldn’t be competing for the space for a while, if ever.

I took Bangle round the orchard as dusk fell.

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—21℃ no rain [73.6]

SwimGym – Karola went around 7:30am but I watched the first half of pre-recorded rugby match – Scotland versus All Blacks and went down later. As I feared, the same match was being played at the gym but Jonathan kindly switched it off knowing I was trying to avoid knowing the outcome.

Watched the rest of the match when I got home – the Scots played very well and were so unlucky not to win.

Karola had appointment at 11;00am in the hills beyond Havelock North and didn’t return until almost 2:00pm. While waiting I found that I could see where she was by simply looking on the iPhone’s “Find My Phone” app. I have since enabled it for Bridget to be able to see where we are, sounds like a good idea now we’re getting older.

Took Bangle round the orchard.

Details of the 2018 IDS trip & AGM arrived this morning by email. They said that accommodation was filling up fast and that school holidays would make getting flights difficult next April. Wi5thin the hour I had hotel booked and flights provisionally booked, held until Thursday.

A woman in the office at John Bostock’s called to see if she could place some bee hives at our place. She said she worked for Peter Fitzpatrick, the JB manager who looks after our orchard. I said she’d need to talk to Karola. Asked her if Peter had five spare old apple boxes I could have. Later that afternoon I transported the five boxes, one at a time, from up by the big shed in the orchard, using the Fergie and mini-forks.

Henare called in after work and put in another strainer post in Karola’s new diagonal railings enclosing the stump dump.

Rabbits 20 Metres From Cottage

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—19℃ no rain [73.6]

Julia & Kevin set off for their big mountain race while we entertained Mahe & Anthony with a protracted breakfast.

The homestead downstairs loo makes a banging, vibrating noise which I always thought was a case of airlocks in the pipes but Anthony suspected otherwise. We investigated and he determined it was a broken ballcock system in the cistern that generated the vibrations.

The staunch runners returned having achieved creditable times for the ascent and descent of Te Mata peak. We had snatches of lunch and then the Fletchers all set off back to Wellington.

I took Bangle round the orchard.

Once the guests had departed I mowed the rest of the cottage lawn, set on the cottage drip irrigation and set a sprinkler to water the tear-drop garden outside the cottage kitchen window.

Oak Avenue Weather:11℃—16℃ 1.4mm rain [73.5]

Karola, Bangle & I went into town, Karola for some last minute food items for the visitors, me for some fencing stuff in case Henare comes again today.

I started mowing the cottage lawn when Henare arrived – he’d phoned and TXTed but I am not receiving stuff on my iPhone at present. Henare & I laid out the path of the railings and gate for Karola’s new diagonal fence across the stump dump and I then left Henare to begin putting in the five new strainer posts. By late afternoon he’d put in three which wasn’t bad – hour and a half each.

The Fletchers arrived at 1:00pm just as I was finishing mowing the main part of the cottage lawn – so it looked Ok for their arrival.

Karola, Bangle and Mahe, Anthony’s grandson and Julia’s son, went for quite a long walk round the paddocks and orchard – Bangle enjoyed that.

Karola then made us prime Angus beef hamburgers for lunch after which Julia & Kevin went off to register for their big race up Te Mata peak tomorrow. Anthony, Mahe, Karola & I went over to Napier and spent the afternoon at the Aquarium.

We regrouped at Karamu late afternoon and I went off and brought back mounds of fish and chips. Karola provided a delicious ice-cream and fruit salad dessert.

Henare Starts On The Strainer Posts For Karola’s New Diagonal Railings

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—17℃ no rain [72.9]

SwimGym with Karola

Later we went into town and enjoyed another nice lunch at Taste, just like last week.

Karola did some preparation for the Fletcher’s visit tomorrow. Karola has already offered beef hamburgers and fish & chips to the visitors which has been enthusiastically accepted. They plan to arrive for the hamburgers at lunchtime, In the afternoon Tony, grandson Mahe, Karola & I will go to the Napier Aquarium while Kevin and Julia go to Havelock North to register for the Sunday morning Te Mata Peak race – “The Peak Challenge” I think it’s called. Then fish & chips in the evening.

Henare came round mid afternoon and we finished off the reconstruction of the fence between the Holding paddock and the Long Acre. Well, Henare did all the battens unaided and I still have to rehang the gate, but otherwise it’s done.

Henare Staples The Last Batten

Oak Avenue Weather:13℃—23℃ no rain [72.8]

Most of the day spent on the bonfire. Bit of a scramble to add some last minute rubbish from the big shed and a little more old oak. Plenty of newspaper and a couple of litres of diesel as fire lighters. By 8:00am it was well alight. Mid morning it was mostly done, by mid-day it was dying down. Late afternoon I used a sprinkler to hose down the remains, as required by the fire permit.

Ewes and ewe lambs were given a new cell, as were the male sheep.

Mid morning I, using the Fergie and old orchard mower, cleared a large patch near Karola’s bund as a place to store the stumps and branches that will be moved from round the Wellingtonian in the current stump dump.

Karola & I went to a RSNZ-organised tour at a subsidiary of the international engineering conglomerate ABB, a small company based in the business park at the Napier airport. They make sophisticated industrial electricity smoothing technology – very expensive, very precise, very big and heavy. Using microelectronics their systems detect when the incoming electricity has a voltage sag and construct a voltage addition to rebuild it to the required voltage. Big emphasis on safety, high tech in a number of fields – power management of course, but materials science, realtime software, circuit board development and test, and testing of the finished products.

After we got home I took Bangle for a short walk.

Bonfire Ready To Be Lit

Well Away

Almost Done

And Dusted

Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—20℃ no rain [72.9]

SwimGym with Karola.

Karola tried out the new vacuum cleaner having charged it overnight.

Trevor Mitchell from the Fire Service came and looked at my bonfire, from the distant vantage point of the ha-jha, thankfully. He approved it for burning including overnight as he thought it’d be bound to burn for more than a day. I explained I would have a pressurised garden hose run over to the bonfire site.

Around lunchtime I did the shopping. Afterwards I took Bangle round the orchard. Also weeded the runner bean enclosure in north-west corner of the One Acre. There are only a couple of runner beans showing as yet but the raspberry canes are flourishing.

Read a book, “Behavioural Economics – A Short Introduction” all afternoon.

Just before dinner I cleared the seed heads off all the Acanthus outside the railings on the right side of the 133 entrance, in the nick of time as they were close to being ripe.

Henare and some young cousin, she was probably still at school, dropped by – I think Henare was child-minding for a sister but I’m not sure, he didn’t seem best pleased.

We gave Bangle a dose of anti-flea medicine this evening.

Karola Wielding Her Dyson Cordless “V7 Animal”

Acanthus In Flower

Acanthus Flower Stalks

Acanthus Safely Beheaded

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—18℃ no rain [73.7]

Late morning Karola, Bangle, and I went into town to get Karola a new vacuum cleaner – this time a cordless one. Karola has had many vacuum cleaners over the years and I think we still have three or four working ones now. Even ignoring the one I use in the farm shed and garages to blow clean the floors etc, that means there are three for the homestead and cottage.

So, we first went to Clarence’s Lighting Depot – they are closing down at Christmas and have a 50%-off sale until then. Karola has bought most of her lights from Clarence over the years. This time we went for a new bulb for her bedside lamp. We have one each of this particular model, halogen lights which are actuated by just touching the base. One touch for ‘dim’, another for ‘medium’, a third for ‘bright’ and then it’s back to ‘off’ again. Karola has taken against the cycle and would prefer one that had only two states – on and off.

We were in luck, the last two of a suitable replacement and we got the pair for the price of one.

Then on to the hospice shop to drop off some colourful plates – we had them in the flat in Wellington and I am rebelling against using stuff that is eminently replaceable. We do have stuff that we like, and that would be hard if not impossible to replace – so at 71 years of age it’s time to start using the best for usual, in my humble opinion. Then Countdown for papers and some more grub before the big adventure, “Harvey Normans”.

We first chose a light, rechargeable, vacuum cleaner. The lightest ones by far were Dyson – they are also hideously expensive, for a vacuum cleaner. So we got one, on special so $200 off, with $100 back on for an extended warranty. No bags, only 16 minutes on full power when fully charged. Nicely packaged, excellent wall stand with charger built-in, just enough different heads – nothing to dislike so far, except the price. But, Dyson, such a strong brand name. That;s Karola’s 71st and Christmas all in one, in fact maybe 72nd as well.

Then, remembering that Karola had asked me what I wanted for my birthday later this month, desktop fans. The idea is this. Over the next four months it’s going to be warm, and in the afternoons and early evenings very warm. Particularly upstairs and outside. So any outside work is best planned for the morning leaving the afternoon for reading and computer stuff. But my ‘den’ is upstairs in the cottage which will be unpleasantly hot – so maybe a fan will keep it tolerable, avoid me just going to sleep at the wheel, so to speak.

Now I am the proud owner of a Dyson magical desktop fan – no blades and very Apple-like in its minimalist design. A shiny plastic hoop wafting out cooling air. I am delighted. Again Dyson is not knowingly underpriced, my goodness. Quite enough retail therapy for this month.

Took Bangle round the orchard. Played with the new fan and installed the vacuum cleaner stand downstairs next to the cottage back door. Not such a bad day really, and Karola, who has intense dislike of new things and of technology in general, smiled a bit too.

Dyson V7 “Animal” Rechargeable Vacuum Cleaner

Dyson 30cm Desktop Fan

Oak Avenue Weather:7℃—18℃ no rain [73.6]

SwimGym

I took Bangle round the orchard where workers were using string to tie down nascent fruit laden branches. I think the idea is that branches pointing upwards put their energy into new leaves, when tied down so they are horizontal they put the energy into growing the fruit.

Bangle and I went shopping. Meanwhile Steve of ChemWash (Steve Morton 06 843 8502 or 027 439 0823) came and, as arranged, washed down the cottage walls and solar panels. It can extend the time between painting, allegedly. The solar panels still seem to have a lot of pollen residue which the gentle washing didn’t shift. However, Google comments suggest that a bit of grime doesn’t cut the output of solar panels much and is probably only worth it if you do it yourself.

The work that Henare and I did yesterday meant that the usual Sunday chores were partly postponed, so these got done today.

Mid afternoon I continued on reconstructing the fence between the Holding paddock and the Long Acre, stringing all seven wires and re-siting the two running posts.

Stock-proof Again, Though Not Finished

Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—16℃ no rain [73.5]

The All Blacks playing France in France began at 9:00am our time and we watched this game; Henare arrived as planned this morning but a bit early, half way through the rugby game.

Bangle and I went round the orchard at half-time, missing an uninspiring 15 minutes of the second half. Rugby can get a bit tedious after a few matches, especially if you don’t care passionately about outcomes.

Henare put in the two stay posts for the replaced fence between the Holding and Long Acre paddocks. I tackled a patch of blackberry in the stump dump along the Scott’s boundary, pulling out most of it and poisoning the few larger clumps. I then completed the re-stacking of the old fence and orchard posts up off the ground and cleared the remaining iris in that area.

Late afternoon Henare and I took four loads of old oak branches from within the stump dump in the big trailer to the bonfire. The fire is ready to light, pending a permit from the district council. I submitted an online permit request on Saturday night – Karola found a notice in the Hawkes bay Today newspaper saying that permits were required from Saturday evening at 6:00pm onwards – so I missed out what I’d been aiming at which was to get the fire done before the restrictions came in. Bother!

While we were moving the logs Gavin Curry and little girl Melanie? came in from the road with Oakley (next door’s chocolate labrador) on a rope, asking if we knew to whom he belonged. Oakley is the peripatetic dog from the Cope’s next door. Gavin said they’d found him, nearly dead, stuck in Greg Cormes’ apple dump down the end of Ormond road, near Omaha road. He, Oakley, had apparently jumped in and been unable to clamber out. I mentioned to Gavin that we knew Luke (a cousin) working for us, and his father Steve Curry. Gavin said that Steve is fighting a serious cancer, but winning. Luke is Gavin’s boss at Hustler.

Henare brought Denise over for another walk this evening.

Blackberry Clump In The Stump Dump

Blackberry Gone

Henare Put In Two Stays On The Holding/Long Acre Fence

Four Loads Of Old Rotten Branches Went To The Bonfire

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—16℃ no rain [73.4]

Breakfast at 6:00am but then I went back to sleep, it’s happening too often these days. Henare rang unexpectedly at 8:15am and we agreed he could come over and help me for the rest of the day. I rushed off to SwimGym, I’d planned to go this morning, despite it being Saturday, as I missed it yesterday. I got back shortly after Henare arrived and he began mowing the ungrazable parts of the homestead lawn, which he did last week and the week before.

I carefully measured the path of the new diagonal fence that Karola wants across the end of the Long Acre paddock. The safe option is to use two panels of 6m railings either side of a wide gate.The “almost works” version uses a 6m and a 4.8m panel either side of the gate. With the longest spare gate (4.4m) it was about 20cm short.

Later Henare and I went to GoldPine and I got strainers, trailings, and posts for the new diagonal fence. Unfortunately, after we’d loaded up the dozen 6m 150x50mm railings we found out that the 75x50mm railings were only available in 4.8m lengths. So we went with half a dozen 6m 150x50mm railings, another half a dozen 4.8m 150x50mm railings, and ten 4.8m 75x50mm railings. Each panel has three ‘fat’ 150mm wide railings and two ’thin’ 75mm railings. We are going to join two 3m 75x50mm lengths cut from 4.8m railings to provide the thin railings for the 6 metre panels.

The last wrinkle in this not “quite interesting” saga is that the gate between the Holding paddock and the Long Acre is about 40cm longer than the spare wide gate. That would solve the 20cm gap for the diagonal fence. As it happens Karola has for some time wanted the fence between the Holding paddock and Long Acre upgraded, the wires are too loose and it looks rickety. So, with some trepidation, I set about replacing the rickety fence and at the same time moving the gatepost so that the slightly narrower gate would fit.

By the time Henare left this evening I had taken down the fence, taken off the battens and cut the wires, and he had moved the gatepost by half a metre. Now we have to add a stay post at each end and put up the seven wires using new, and hence more elastic #8 wire before putting the battens back on and hanging the replacement spare gate.

Female sheep were given a new cell of the Middle paddock, the male sheep (and #218) were given a new cell of the One Acre.

Karola has deconstructed the two very heavy pipe gate frames that I’d clad with plywood to act as gates in my original very makeshift yards back in 2002. More recently they’ve been used as a base for the pea straw in the little leaky hay shed but they were just too long and poked out of the shed, making it hard to secure against sheep intruders. The pipe frames can go with the scrap to the local scrap metal merchant.

Reconstructing The Holding Paddock Fence

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—16℃ 1.4mm rain [73.8]

No SwimGym because, although I got up and breakfasted in good time, I fell asleep again and when I woke and rushed down to the gym it was absolutely overflowing with people so I postponed.

Mid morning Karola and I both went to see our GP, Dr Richard Jamieson. Karola has been doing a lot of hard work outside, including lifting heavy posts and other things – which she isn’t supposed to do. Last night Karola remarked that she had stabbing pains across her chest when she moved her torso. This continued throughout the evening and were still affecting her when she woke in the morning. I was just going for my quarterly diabetics free checkup.

According to Richard, and matched by the online information I Googled last night, the symptoms were not those usually associated with any heard problems and were indeed most likely due to pulling a muscle in her chest when heaving about the heavy items.

Richard also said the both Karola and I had excellent blood pressure readings and cholesterol levels. We are lucky indeed.

After the doctor’s visit and picking up the prescription medicines from the pharmacy next door, we went to Cornucopia to get my weekly GF bread loaf and a few other odds and ends. Enticed by the ambience we decided to have lunch next door at Taste. Karola had a corn fritter/omelette and I had a large and delicious “eggs Benedict”. Then on to New World for the main weekend shop.

Well fuelled, I continued with the stump dump reorganisation. It really has transformed that space, there’s a lot more room than we thought.

Bangle mooched around near me in the stump dump in the morning, but got a bit bored with it so I took her back to the cottage. Karola then took Bangle round the orchard, which she much preferred.

Henare and Denise called round in the early evening, Denise to walk a few laps of the Front paddock, Henare acting as Denise’s chauffeur.

The Bonfire Site – From The East

The Bonfire Site – From The West

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—17℃ no rain [73.6]

After a very slow start this morning I spent the day working on the clean-out and re-organisation of the stump dump – the place where along with a lot of old oak stumps and glarge fallen branches we keep our stock of fencing materials, posts, battens, wire, and netting. Oh, and also the implements for the old Fergie (MF35) tractor: an auger, a blade, and a sprayer.

The clearing out has gone well, large amounts of the dense infestation of iris have been cleared, leastways the foliage but not the rhizomes.

My Two Fuchsia Plants Blooming Vigorously Outside The Cottage Kitchen Window

The Disorganised Piles Of Fencing Material

The Start Of The Clearing And Reorganisation

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—19℃ no rain [?]

SwimGym with Karola

Having rather overdone things yesterday I spent all day just reading or dozing, only emerging late afternoon to take Bangle for a walk.

Karola did some helpful reorganising down at the stump dump.

Gales have swept up New Zealand bringing snow to parts of the South Island, floods to Nelson, gales to Wellington, and a bit of drizzle in the morning here. It did blow hard last night and again off and on all day here, but it’s passed through now.

Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—23℃ no rain [73.5]

Using the old tractor and its orchard mower I cleared as much of the Iris in the stump dump area as I could access. I’ve already taken a lot of the old metal and wood from the cottage renovation away, this time it is mainly old wire and unwanted offcuts and part rolls of high-tensile fencing netting that have gone to the bonfire site.

I also cleared round three large oak trees using a hand hoe. The Iris is easy to cut but it is rhizome based so will return, for sure.

This is all part of the project to tidy up the fencing materials and get rid of any broken or rotten rubbish.

Karola planted the last two of her trees bought for this season’s plantings, Melicope ternata (Wharangi), both down near the gate from the Long Acre to the 121 driveway. Karola continues to water her Cercidiphyllum (Katsura) positioned around the big oak and also watered her two new plantings using garden hose.

Karola, using her tree guard skills, made a circle of netting to hold leaky pipe; we have quite a lot that’s not being used at present.

I took the trimmings of Karamu shrubs after Karola topped the three trees against the railings on the 121 driveway.

Stump Dump – Clearing The Iris

Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—23℃ 1.0mm rain [73.3]

SwimGym with Karola.

I TXTed Anthony Fletcher and he is still in hospital recovering from his heart attack and acquisition of a stent.

Karola spent the morning tidying up in preparation for the cleaners, Meticulous Maids, coming in the afternoon.

Later I went into Hastings with Bangle. She had her nails trimmed – all very calmly done. I then cunningly dropped off couple of pill prescriptions at the Stortford Lodge pharmacy so that I could avoid waiting and pick =them up on the way back. Then off to Pet Essentials to get more dog biscuits for Bangle. This time I got a bag of her usual “original” mix and a bag of the “grain free chicken/turkey” variety, the variety that Bracket will have become used to before she arrives – still expected in January. I have already stopped giving Bangle any special prime beef mince and rice, substituting another cup of Nutrients for the specially cooked stuff. Now I plan to give her a mix of the “original” Nutrients and the new variety so it’s not all change at once.

Then on to the next two days food and back to the pharmacy to pick up the prescriptions. Oh, but one was a repeat and that had to be filled by the pharmacy back in Hastings. So, far from saving time, we now traipsed back into the centre of Hastings, through busy traffic and a lot of roadworks, and had to wait for the prescription to be filled at the pharmacy there.

Male sheep (and #218) were given one of their three cells of Plantain/Clover/Lucerne in the One Acre paddock – four days after they were given the corridor tranche. Ewes and ewe lambs were given a new cell of their grazing in the Middle paddock – also on a four day rotation. The idea is to avoid knocking back the cells too hard to encourage quick regrowth.

Meticulous Maids came and cleaned the cottage mid afternoon.

The afternoon was relatively quiet, just catching up on some odds and ends left from Sunday’s chores list. I did go down to the garage and get more diesel and standard petrol (for chainsaw and lawn mowers) and to fill up the Landrover. By chance I met Henare at the pumps and he said he’d be coming over later.

And they did, just as we were having dinner. Henare and Denise walked by themselves round some of the paddocks and joined us for coffee/tea etc afterwards. Once they left Karola & I took Bangle round the orchard in the gathering dusk.

Contrasting The Previous & Next Grazing Cell For The Ewes & Ewe Lambs

Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—20℃ no rain [73.4]

Karola spent the morning tidying up the sun-porch and getting waylaid into sorting through old clippings destined for one of her scrapbooks.

The old tractor battery has been charging for a couple of days but still doesn’t show fully charged. So I tried to put it back in anyway and here the problems began. The cables didn’t seem to be long enough. I tried turning the batter 180 degrees, still no joy. Then the discolouration appeared to be on the battery terminal marked with a plus, but the cable looking like the live wire wouldn’t reach. That cable had a terminal protector which on our other vehicles is reserved for the positive cable. I tried tracing the cables back but they ended in unmarked attachments to the generator, or so it seemed to me.

I read up a bit about 1963 MF35 tractors and happened by luck upon one fact everyone (except me) knows, the terminals on a tractor battery are of different sizes. Luckily I had only loosened the terminal clamps to the point where I could jiggle them off so matching up the cable and terminal was, in the end, very simple. The tractor started first pop.

Next I mowed the cottage lawn and curtilage grass – with the Honda self-propelled lawn mower, not the tractor.

While I was doing that, it takes over an hour, Henare arrived with Denise and they went for a walk round the orchard. When they returned we had afternoon tea (well, coffee, tea, water, and chocolate biscuits).

After they left Karola did a little on her latest tree guard and I took Bangle round the orchard. And there’s another day gone, poof!

I did find out one useful thing about controlling Californian thistles. I have been spraying the heads with Roundup which makes a large unsightly patch of dead grass round each spray site. Karola kneels down and cuts of the top and applies the more potent Vigilant, which probably kills more of the underground root system which is the heart of the villain. But there are thousands of them and Karola’s approach is just too slow, labour-intenstive, and expensive. My Roundup spraying is only slightly more than cosmetic because I don’t think it zaps the underground root system much at all.

There is, according to Massey University, a better way. The better way that appeals to me is to mow the thistles while it’s raining. One has to keep at it for 2 – 3 years but apparently it is a proven non-chemical, low cost solution.

Oak Avenue Weather:9℃—25℃ no rain [73.3]

The day began with the watering of 28 Manuka plants, a bucket of water each, one hour from first to last bucket. Bangle was with me in the orchard, chasing the scent of rabbits and mooching around under the trees and in the long grass.

After lengthy searching through my computer archive I found Karola’s document that describes the experiences of several families who stayed at Karola before we came back to New Zealand in 2001. Yesterday I found most of Karola’s old computer documents – the ones about Francis Ormond and so on, but “Memories of Karamu” was not among them. Today I eventually tracked it down.

Later I mowed the driveways and the lawn behind the homestead garage. And then the homestead lawn which took most of the afternoon.

After that I mowed two strips across the One Acre paddock, through long stalks of Plantain, Red Clover, and Lucerne. These divide the One Acre into three cells for rotational grazing of this sheep fattening mixture. I also put up the electric fences along each strip.

In the early evening I mowed under the grove of trees nearest the western boundary, nipping off the Iris and returning the space under the trees to its intended “park-like” aspect.

After dinner Karola and I walked with Bangle round the orchard.

A thoroughly exhausting day.

Proof Positive – Bangle Can Climb The Stairs

Driveways and Behind The Homestead Garage Mown

Homestead Lawn Mown

One Acre Cell Divider Strips Mown

Under The Trees On West Boundary Of Middle Paddock Mown

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—27℃ no rain [73.3]

My cold came back for unknown reasons – there’s a lot of colds and flu about it seems – and disturbed my night, so much that I got up and had a cup of tea and slice of toast with spread at 1:45am. Not a good idea.

Went to SwimGym with Karola and from there immediately to the blood test clinic across the road. One of my quarterly diabetics tests is due and this time, I don’t know why, it was a “fasting” test, I was asked not to have breakfast. I waited in the queue patiently for 30 minutes. Oh, but taking the test at 8:30am was far too soon, said the nurse, you need to fast for 12 hours, so go away and come back later. Grrrrr.

So we went home and Karola had breakfast and I mooched about waiting for the hours to pass. I rang friend and car enthusiast Bruce Utting and talked about what he knew, having consulted a car dealer friend of his, about the 1997 Mercedes SLK 230 convertible coupe model. Nothing spectacularly bad but nothing good either. I then went back to Oak Ave Cars on Omahu road, where I saw the car on display yesterday, only to find that it had been sold. Probably just as well as, despite it looking terrific, it would have become a damn nuisance and I’m not sure the grandchildren would want to learn to drive in something so different from modern cars.

Around 1:00pm we set off to do the weekend shopping and then try again for the blood test. Different nurse who, when questioned, said yes you do need to fast for between 8 – 12 hours. Grrrr again. Still all done and trip successful. To celebrate the breaking of the fast Karola & I went to Bay Expresso and had a hearty 2:30pm breakfast (lunch for Karola).

Late afternoon I mended a couple of old saw horses – the chainsaw chains last a lot longer if I don’t cut logs on the ground. The horses used to hold large racks of bamboo years ago.

Bangle & I walked round the orchard.

After dinner I enticed Bangle to try the stairs and she did get to the top.

Rabbits hippity-hopping all over the paddocks, Pukekos too numerous to count, pairs of quail on the lawns and in the planting areas, and our persistent Welcome swallows continue building their mud nest above the cottage garage door.

Oak Avenue Weather:15℃—24℃ no rain [72.8]

Continuing the project to get rid of much of the scrap wire and netting and other metal around the place, I tried to use the old Fergie to move a rusty old bench and heap of twisted and bent standards to the bonfire site. Unfortunately the tractor wouldn’t start – flat battery. So, using the (relatively) new battery charger bought for Karola’s car I set the battery to be charged and moved the mioni-forks from the old tractor to the new one. Then I was able to put the old bench and standards on the bonfire.

I got a call from FloorMart and they were checking if it was OK to put up the cottage stair carpet today – it was and around mid-day two installers came and fitted it. Bangle hasn’t been enticed up it yet but with its clear demarcation by colour and feel from the floor at the bottom I think it will be safer, no more mistaking the last step for the floor.

While pottering round I happened to be near the bund where Karola throws her weeds and thought I might as well have a peek. Standing on the top of the bund I saw the missing tape measure and a glove – invisible from ground level. That’s a relief, maybe the missing fork is also in there somewhere.

I trundled off and bought Karola another 20 standards for new tree guards. They were on special at GoldPine as were 2.1m unpointed strainers and some good half-rounds. I bought two strainers for the new fence karola wants, fencing in the stump dump, and a dozen half-rounds. The new fence will probably comprise a pair of 6-metre railings on either side of a 5-metre metal gate – I already have the gate. I won’t buy the railings until very sure of when I’ll get round to putting up the fence – when Henare has had a chance to put in the strainers as gate posts. Otherwise the railings tend to warp badly.

On the way back from my trip with Landrover and big trailer to GoldPine I noticed a very smart second-hand Mercedes sports car for sale at Oak Avenue Motors. I stopped and took a couple of photos. We certainly don’t need another vehicle but I was taken by the look of it – it’s a two-seater convertible coupe, twenty years old (like our Landrover), and 200,000 km on the clock. Made in Germany in 1997, sold new in Japan, imported to NZ in 2003. I might gently follow up and see whether it’s just a potential millstone or might be fun for our long summers in Hawkes Bay. It’s a Mercedes SLK 230.

I checked with our friend who knows cars well, Bruce Utting, and he checked with a car dealer friend and that was pretty neutral – that car, that age, not uncommon. Nothing special but nothing really bad either. I did online AA check of history and valuation – all OK too.

In the afternoon I mowed the Goose paddock. The ewes having grazed in there for a few days it’s an ideal time to mow all the Iris and give the grass a chance to get ahead. Then I mowed round the perimeter of the One Acre again. Then I added a mown strip or lane across north-south for the electric fence for a corridor – the rest of the One Acre will become three cells grazed rotationally. Put up the corridor electric fence and let in the rams and wethers. They were curious and nibbled but weren’t frantically eager for this taste treat of Plantain and Lucerne.

I took Bangle round the orchard and that was about it for the day.

New Stair Carpet – Safe And Warm

Nice Looking Runabout: Mercedes SLK 230 (1997)

Goose Paddock – Park-Like After Mowing

Electric Fence At Edge Of One Acre Rotational Grazing Corridor

Oak Avenue Weather:7℃—22℃ no rain [73.1]

SwimGym

After breakfast Karola & I went to FloorMart in Omahu road to discuss the cottage stair carpet. Geoff Person was in and Karola talked to him – chose the colour and decided whether the quality of the carpet I chose initially was acceptable – it was. Wool carpet but inexpensive and not so tightly woven as a more expensive “stair-quality” carpet.

Karola then went off to Flaxmere to do the recycling and get some food, leving me and Bangle behind. I spent most of the time searching for Karola’s 30m yellow tape measure which has been missing for more than 24 hours. No joy. Maybe stuff is being stolen, more likely the special fork with a missing tine and the tape measure are where they were left and we just haven’t lit upon quite where yet.

I carted more old wire & netting to the bonfire site.

After lunch I had my six-monthly appointment with Dr John Beaumont – ophthalmologist – at Royston hospital. No change, which is very good.

Then Karola & I went back into town to get the rest of the food for the next couple of days. Only incident of note was that, due to very confusing packaging, Karola, intending to buy a couple of duck legs for tomorrow, bought one pack of duck leg and one of duck fat. Not to worry, fat is good for you this month.

Karola took Bangle round the orchard and I did yet more carting of scrap wire & netting. All done, leaving about 500 metres of sheep netting for Karola to turn into tree guards.

This All Has To Be Dis-Tempered By Fire Before The Scrap Merchant Will Accept It

Stop Press – Photo Of Bracket – Alex’s Puppy

Oak Avenue Weather:7℃—22℃ no rain [73.0]