Monthly Archives: March 2018

First Day Of Bridget’s Family Visit

Lie-in morning followed by a family brunch at Groove in Napier – delicious although the cafe and indeed Napier was throbbing with people out on a sunny, balmy Easter Saturday.

Bridget, Karola, and I had lengthy discussions about the shape of the proposed extensions to the homestead. Bridget suggested a number of improvements.

Bridget and I did the weekend shopping we couldn’t do yesterday.

Karola raked up a lot of the long grass lying about under the big oak – fruits of my mowing last week.

Natalie did an hour of mowing in the Middle and Totara paddocks.

Chris had a round of golf, ably ferried by Alex driving a golf cart, at the Hawkes Bay Golf Club, next to the prestigious Hastings Golf Club in Bridge Pa.

The grand-daughters took Bracket for a stroll, I took Bangle round the orchard.

Natalie – Landgirl

Mowing The Totara Paddock

Middle Paddock Showing The Difference

Oak Avenue Weather:9℃—27℃ no rain [74.8]

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Bridget & Family Arrive For Long Weekend

No SwimGym today, it being Good Friday

More work on the model for me today. Karola spent the morning tidying up in preparation for the Wellington contingent arriving late afternoon.

In the afternoon Karola started raking and picking up some of the long grass I’d cut earlier in the week under the big oak. Henare called in and so he ended up mowing the lawn out in front of the homestead making it look much tidier for when Bridget et al arrive.

After Henare left I mowed the cottage lawn; Bridget and family arriving just as I was finishing.

Karola fed the dogs and took them both round the orchard after dinner. Bracket caught a Pukeko, briefly, to her surprise and the indignation fo the Pukeko.

Oak Avenue Weather:_8℃—23℃ 0.1mm rain [74.3]

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Jenny Hendery’s Birthday Passover Dinner

It being the day before Good Friday there’s a long weekend ahead so straight after breakfast we rushed onto town. Karola to buy a replacement watch at K-Mart. Bracket has hidden or eaten one of Karola’s cheap but working wrist watches. I went to FreeTrade (previously known as B&H) and got some engineering screws for the mulcher. I mistakenly thought that the loud clanging noise, which gradually subsided once the mulcher got going, was due to over-long machine screws holding the blades onto the flywheel.

I had woken a couple of times in the night, fretting about what was wrong with the mulcher. So, when we got home I spent the rest of the morning trying to put it back together. I took off the three razor-sharp knives off the flywheel and the 24 paddles that pulverise the chippings. The flywheel is still very heavy but not so threatening (knives) nor delicate (paddles keep falling off). The flywheel had fitted when I picked it up from Hawkes Bay Tractor Dismantlers yesterday so I wondered if there was some slight asymmetry and you had to match up the six holes in the flywheel with a specific orientation of the six posts that hold the paddles and are threaded to receive the bolts. I tried all six choices to no avail. There was no problem getting five of the bolts seated so I threw caution to the wind and bent the remaining post ever so slightly so that it would allow the bolt to screw in. By lunchtime I had it all back together and working, whew! Pity about the clatter but at least the mulcher was working once again.

Karola and I mulched up all but the thickest of the fig tree leaves and branches.

Using the little tractor I re-mowed most of the area under the big oak that I mowed yesterday, using the mower to gather up the grass into windrows.

Late afternoon I mowed the cottage curtilage, leaving the cottage lawn proper for tomorrow.

Karola took Bracket round the orchard in good time; I followed ten minutes later, walking so briskly round the orchard that Bangle had to run to keep up.

We went out to St Andrews in West Shore for Jenny Hendery’s birthday dinner, combined with an Anglican passover service and meal. It was pretty odd, not something I’d come across before – about the Jewish passover feast and its combination with Christian Easter.

Dogs were very anxious to have their dinner when we returned.

The Six Recalcitrant Bolts On The Mulcher Flywheel

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—26℃ 2.3mm rain [75.3]

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Two Steps Forward …

SwimGym with Karola

After breakfast we all went and did the mid-week shopping. First to Cornucopia for some GF bread in case the Friday deliveries are late or mislaid. Very busy, it took Karola ages to get a park, In fact they should arrive tomorrow. Next it was New World which was under siege as lots of people were stocking up for the long Easter weekend.

On the way home Karola dropped me off at Power Farming where I retrieved the little tractor, fixed.

Mowed the second half of the grassy area under the big oak – the part under and around the old gnarled plum tree.

Went off on the Fergie to Barnes Place, off Omahu Road, and picked up the mulcher from Hawkes Bay Tractor Dismantlers. All fixed but it is leaking oil from where the drive shaft enters the mulcher gearbox so it must return and get that fixed. At the same time they’ll make a new protective sleeve for the PTO shaft as the old one is broken in several places.

When I arrived back home I found a couple having a picnic inside our 121 entrance. I suggested they could stay this once but should not repeat it.

Karola noticed that her fig tree, grown tall in the last ten years, has ripe figs. So we combined harvesting the figs with cutting it down it is against the homestead – far too close – so should go before it damages the foundations.

We wanted to mulch up the smaller bits of the fig tree but to my disgust the mulcher made a terrible loud clattering sound when I started it up. I opened it up to see what the matter was, thought I might have fixed it, but then couldn’t put the very heavy flywheel with razor-sharp knives back on. So for now we are back to having no mulcher.

It was supposed to be the last of our eight-week dog obedience course tonight but at the last moment rain stopped play – it’s postponed until next week.

Before Mowing The Long Grass

… And After …

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—25℃ 0.6mm rain [73.8]

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Mowing With The Old Tractor

More work on the model for the homestead extension.

Cleaned the farm shed and then finished mulching and fastening the tree guards of the last four (of eight) young trees in the ring round the big oak.

Peter Arthur and a young man, Will, a plantsman from England, came after lunch, had some tea and cakes, and then Karola took them to look at our trees.

Later I spent several hours on the old tractor with the orchard mower, mowing:

  • the larger patches of Californian thistle – recommended practice when the thistles are damp to gradually get rid of them.
  • the rougher pasture in the Middle paddock, on the east side under the trees
  • the area of the waste management drip lines which are infested with dock stalks and seeds.
  • around the outside of the area I’m hoping Natalie will mow when Bridget and family come up for Easter weekend.

We took dogs round the orchard.

Rough Pasture Mown

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—27℃ no rain [75.1]

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Quiet Autumn Day

SwimGym with Karola

Karola worked on updating her sheep database today.

I’ve basically started again with the homestead model having learned on the way most of what I need about Sketchup to make the re-build much quicker.

I took the dogs round the orchard as it was getting dark.

A man and woman drove in around 8:00pm looking for the Kelson’s pack-house. They had driven down from Whangarei and were lost, they said. I think a big pack-house, the only one on our side of the road in Ormond Road is pretty hard to miss but said nothing on that score. She seemed well spoken enough but he was short, wiry, broken toothed villainous-looking in the dark.

Oak Avenue Weather:7℃—24℃ no rain [74.5]

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Weed Spraying

It was sunny and no wind at all so I seized the opportunity and sprayed the weeds with Roundup (Glysophate) while I had the chance. Re-sprayed round the cottage, in front of the cottage garage, along the drive under the cottage windows and round the tear-drop. Also the gravel stand behind the homestead, the limestone drive in front of the homestead garage, the 133 entrance, and along the west and north sides of the homestead. Four 10 litre tank loads.

Spent rest of the day on the model and Sunday chores.

We took the dogs round the orchard late afternoon.

Bangle weighs 17.5kg this week.

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—23℃ 0.1mm rain [75.5]

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Tracey & Graham Drop By

There wasn’t much wind this morning so I sprayed Roundup in a strip round the cottage and filled the 10 litre knapsack sprayer in order to tackle the gravel stand next to the homestead and the driveways. But the wind got up.

Worked on the model all day.

Tracey & Graham called round late afternoon for afternoon tea and, most importantly, to meet Bracket and say hello again to Bangle. They are very kindly going to look after the pair while we go to Dunedin in April for the annual IDS meeting and field trip. Graham has been a relief postman doing a rural delivery in a van for the last few weeks – over 300 post boxes each day – and he has been working over 12 hours a day and is pretty shattered. But it ends next week.

It threatened rain and so we took the dogs round the orchard early today.

Karola Holding Bracket and Graham Harvey

Graham Harvey and Tracey Craig Dropped In To See Bracket & Bangle

Oak Avenue Weather:13℃—22℃ 4.1mm rain [75.1]

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Another Week Whizzes By

SwimGym with Karola

Karola did the shopping today. I worked on the model.

New tractor developed a fault – the lever for raising and lowering the three-point hydraulic linkage – so I took it down to Power Farming. Karola followed along and picked me up, went into Hastings where I visited the dentist and Karola did the weekend shopping.

Bracket Eating Raspberries

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—21℃ no rain [75.3]

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Ewes Went To The Ram Today

Made significant progress on the modelling of the homestead extensions today.

Meanwhile Henare TXTed to say he was at a loose end today and could he help us. He arrived around mid-day and he and Karola spent the afternoon clearing the area previously occupied by a tall palm tree and rampant Muehlenbeckia – now without the palm and invaded by blackberry. Henare got a bowl of fresh blackberries off this patch which he took home to Denise.

When they’d done that they tackled the western side of the homestead where wisteria has gone wild, going into the sun porch through the louvre windows and up the drainpipes and out into the lawn.

Almost hidden amongst the wisteria were two statues – Karola’s marble statue of the goddess Hebe and my pig statue. I think Anna gave that to me many years ago – in England perhaps.

Moved to new more visible positions in the cottage garden, the dogs took great exception to Hebe, barking and barking until I covered it up with a raincoat.

In between we had a late lunch – soup and toast – and karola got the sheep out of the Front paddock into the yards where I later segregated out the ewe hoggets and the ewe with a broken leg, releasing the 20 others into the Long Acre with the ram and wether. I then put them in the Goose paddock to keep them as far away from the ewe hoggets as possible to make moving the hoggets back to the front paddock easier tomorrow.

Spread grass seed on the cottage lawn and the teardrop lawn in front of the cottage garage – special seed intended for hot and dry conditions.

The Pig Statue

Karola’s Marble Statue Of Goddess Hebe

Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—23℃ 2.0mm rain [74.9]

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Penultimate Dog Training Session

SwimGym, much later than usual.

Bracket had a broken night – meaning we had one too – and her house-training is under strain.

Shopping done and it was mid day already. I got a bit more done on the model for the homestead and then we were getting ready for dog training.

While Karola and Bracket went through their paces I read part 1 of Gill’s draft manuscript chronicling episodes from grand mother Doris Brackenbury’s life. Very interesting and well written. Bangle and I then had our hour of training and, as rain began and darkness engulfed us, we went home.

Oak Avenue Weather:13℃—22℃ 1.0mm rain [74.8]

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Cottage Lawns Mown

We all went into Napier this morning. First to Piping & Co Ltd, a business that makes and repairs canvas things – it’s in Ahuriri close to where we were yesterday. Then to Greenleaf Nurseries where we chatted with Dan and he agreed to give me five ordinary Manuka to replace the five “Kere Kere” white dwarf ones that died. He also will begin sourcing our autumn 2018 list, including 40 more native red beech.

Karola observed that the Long Acre fence battens were pushed about in a few places and in one place the batten had been shunted along so far that there was an inviting space – so I fixed that. There’s a small branch that has broken off the Liriodendron on the homestead lawn and lodged itself a small distance off the ground so i got a step ladder and freed it. Then I went to Caltex on Omahu and filled up two diesel cans and two petrol cans – petrol for the mowers and chainsaw, diesel for the tractors. Bagged up the fir cones I picked up two days ago, freeing up the trailer for lawn mowing this afternoon.

After lunch I mowed the cottage lawn and curtilage grass, catching up with my Sunday chores.

After dinner we took the dogs round the orchard.

Canary Island Pine Cones – Excellent Fire Lighters

Autumn Planting Plan – 2018

  • 40 x Red Beech (Fuscospora fusca)
  • 2 x Monkey Puzzle (Araucaria araucana)
  • 5 x Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata)
  • 6 x Rangiora (Brachyglottis repanda) – NOT multi-coloured, plain green
  • 5 x replacement Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium “Kare Kare”) – all five died suddenly within six months of purchase amongst a dozen other Manuka planted at the same time (not “Kare Kare”) which are flourishing.

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—22℃ no rain 75.4]

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Visit Napier, See The World

SwimGym with Karola

After breakfast I slept until midday, possibly too much excitement yesterday – who knows.

Meticulous Maids came and cleaned the cottage after lunch.

Mid afternoon we went to Napier with the dogs in the back. Karola hand delivered her letter to Perpetual Guardian’s Aaron Hing. We tried to find a canvas workshop that used to be in Omahu road but had relocated to Ahuriri – but we couldn’t find it, only a lot of large logging trucks with trailers snaking their way through the Ahuriri back streets as they waited their turn to enter the docks. So we didn’t go to Greenleaf Nurseries as planned, we didn’t visit Bay Audiology for Karola, and we didn’t find the canvas place, Piper & Co Ltd at 48 22 Bridge Street, Ahuriri, Napier, Hawke’s Bay 4110. (06 835 8636).

Not the most productive of afternoons but I did have a delicious, wicked, iced coffee with cream at New World in Green meadows.

I put up some electric fence providing an alleyway to the second half of the grass under the big oak and access to the wisteria and other foliage along the west side of the homestead. I’m hoping that the sheep will eat out some of that exuberant growth so we can see better what we’re doing when we clear back to the foundations. I fist did a quick run with the tractor to smooth the way for the fence. I’d been meaning to do this since last weekend, and now it’s done and the sheep are in and setting to work.

Henare called in for a chat, a coffee, and as I suggested in a TXT yesterday, to pick some mushrooms.

Dogs fed and walked round the orchard.

Later, after watching another complicated UK TV detective episode of “Endeavour”, Karola heard a morepork calling in the Canary Island pine, and was thrilled. We hadn’t heard it for a long time.

Electric Fence Up

Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—21℃ 0.2mm rain [75.2]

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Horse Of The Year Show – Finale

In the morning I picked up pine cones from beneath the Canary Island pine – they make splendid fire lighters.

Karola & I composed a letter to the Guardian Trust, (now Perpetual Guardian), to Aaron Hing who is organising the wind-up of the Wier-Potaka Trust. Karola will probably use the money to help with the extension and maintenance of the homestead.

AFter lunch we went to the Horse of the year show at the Hastings show grounds for the final half day. We watched most of the Olympic Cup show jumping which had a thrilling finish. Bumped into Jenny Price – sitting in the same row of the grandstand quite by coincidence, there were hundreds of people there – and I bought us all ice-creams.

When we got home I went into the orchard and picked mushrooms – there were many many mushrooms so I quickly filled my pot.

Then I fed the dogs and took them round the orchard while Karola prepared dinner.

Bangle weighs 17.6kg today.

Olympic Cup: The Winner, 17 Year Old Briar Burnett-Grant From Taupo, on Fiber Fresh Veroana

Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—20℃ 5.2mm rain [75.4]

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Horse Of The Year Show

Country Life on the radio at 7:00am. Bracket spent another night in her crate; Karola carried her out when woke in the morning and no incidents inside today, so far.

I spent much of the day on the model, including losing about three hours when SketchUp just seemed to throw everything away – luckily I have been making frequent backs-up.

Karola went briefly to the cross-country at the Hawkes Bay “Horse of the Year Show” at the Hastings show-grounds – but they’d started early, presumably to dodge the rain that began when she got there. – so it was pretty much over. Karola also went to Havelock North and bought & collected a couple of copies of Pat Frykberg’s book. Pat(ricia) is in Somerset Village, aged at least 90, and taught Karola (and Lis Cooney, amongst others) at Woodford House back in the day. Is amazingly on top of things given her advanced years.

At my request Karola made me a batch of pikelets (rice flour) which, with butter and damson jam, were nostalgic and pretty good.

Dogs – orchard – as usual. There were lots of mushrooms today but a few go a long way so we didn’t pick any.

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—16℃ 1.4mm rain [74.8]

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Landrover WOF

So we got up a little earlier to get the Landrover over to Tamatea Automotive as soon as they opened and be back ready for the electrician to install the solar batteries and the cable and plug for charging Karola’s electric car. Got there too early so after waiting around a bit Karola found that the adjacent petrol station was happy to hold the keys for us. I’d seen a long tailback going from Napier to Hastings on the expressway where a new roundabout is being built so we returned home via EIT and Omahu village, the inland back way.

I went to SwimGym.

Soon after I got back, Tony from Bay Electricians rang to say Hadyn, the electrician, was ill and so there’d be no battery installation today.

I went into Hastings for the weekend shopping, including some of what Karola needs to create the picnic with Tracey, Graham, and peter Arthur – abd the odgs, many dogs – up the Taihape road, planned for Sunday. Settled down to some more computer modelling when I got back.

Henare called in and borrowed Karola;s green mower to mow his lawn.

Late afternoon Karola went round her sheep, reporting all present and correct, and the broken-legged one having reintegrated with the flock although, unsurprisingly, not putting weight on that back leg.

Almost too late I remembered we had to pick up the Landrover so we high-tailed it over to Tamatea with the dogs slung onto the back seat. Heath Goldfinch waited for us – he does a thorough job and his prices are, I think, very reasonable.

Henare brought back the mower and brought Karola some pears. Unfortunately Bracket spied them, pulled the plastic bag off the table and had chewed up a couple before we noticed.

After dinner we took the dogs round the orchard.

Oak Avenue Weather:13℃—28℃ 0.6mm rain [73.4]

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New Meaning To The Expression “Break A Leg”

We all woke early prompted by Bracket.

Karola took Bracket out for a short walk and suddenly there were sheep all galloping across the lawn – a gate had been left unlatched and they chose that moment to push it open and escape. Karola screamed blue murder, I cantered downstairs, but actually, apart from being dangerously skittish, the sheep were only going to longer grass. They were not about to be herded peacefully back from whence they came so we just let them into the Front paddock a few days earlier than planned.

One ewe, #536, hung back and seemed barely able to walk. Her right back leg was strangely twisted – so this wasn’t foot-rot or scald and I guessed it was a broken leg. I called the vets and Dave came round within the hour and splinted it. yes it was a broken leg, a single clean break, so there’s hope she will mend. We have no idea how she managed to break her leg.

Of course a commercial operation wouldn’t mess with getting it mended, but we are fortunate to be less business-like.

Henare ran out of orchard work so came round after lunch and began clearing the Wistaria, roses, and other rampant growth along the front of the homestead. As part of this Karola’s garden statue of the goddess Hebe was moved into the cottage garden. Bracket was most affronted, barked for hours at this gleaming white statue, until I put a raincoat over it.

After our dinner, and the dogs had been fed, we went round the orchard as usual. I found more mushrooms – some in the Front paddock, some in the Holding paddock, and some in several places around the orchard perimeter.

Sheep With Broken Leg In A Splint

Bracket Is Upset By The Goddess Hebe

Wilderness Around The Homestead – The East Verandah

Front Verandah Was Like This – East Verandah Again

West Side – Also A Jungle

Karola & Henare Cleared The North (Front) Perimeter Today

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—26℃ no rain [74.6]

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Pleasant Autumn Weather

SwimGym

Then I did the mid-week shopping including buying a new rubbish bin for the cottage kitchen. Bracket can open the current bin just by pressing the lid so that had to go. I got a nice metallic red one but Karola demurred so I had to go and exchange it for a white one – I admit it does look OK.

I tried to find out what the risk of facial eczema was but the online numbers are three weeks outy of date so I called the vet and she was fairly non-commital, wanting me to bring in a soli sample so she could analyse it. I said mushrooms were out and she agreed that FE spores and mushrooms enjoyed similar conditions. I popped the sheep in the Goose paddock, it being the paddock with least grass litter and most shaded.

Karola went off to her final, of six, meetings of the hospital heart club. It runs weekly sessions in a six week cycle and, with the exception of Karola, all the attendees have had heart attacks.

I took the opportunity to take down the electric fence round half the area under the big oak and mow it with the new tractor.

Late afternoon we all went off to dog training. The first hour is for Karola and Bracket and other puppy owners. My hour is for older dogs and their owners.

Under The Big Oak – Before Mowing

Under The Big Oak – After Mowing

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—23℃ no rain [74.6]

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Preparing For Solar Battery Installation

Karola suggested that I didn’t need the WiFi on the garage wall any more so why not just use the same ethernet connection for the solar batteries. So I took that one down as well, and the wiring. Rather sad that my successful wiring up of “power over ethernet cable” (POE) has gone for nought – it did work rather well.

Originally I had four cables buried in conduit under the concrete between the cottage and the cottage garage, two telephone cables and two ethernet cables. One of each to use, and one as a spare. Foolishly the security installer used one of the ethernet cables by mistake, so now I have two telephone cables spare and the remaining ethernet cable will connect directly to the Panasonic battery network adapter.

That’s pretty much all that happened today – oh Henare dropped by for a chat, a coffee, and for me to pay his electricity bill online.

After dinner we took the dogs up to the holding paddock for some training and then on round the orchard. I picked some mushrooms – it’s autumn already it seems. Earlier Karola had picked raspberries off her vigorous canes round the cottage waste management unit. Back from our walk I had mushrooms on toast for supper and Karola had raspberries and ice cream.

Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—26℃ no rain [74.6]

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Panasonic Battery Enclosure Installed Today

SwimGym with Karola

Karola thought the mown path across the grass under the big oak was too narrow so I quickly widened it wiht the tractor, anticipating Aaron Duncan would arrive any moment with the new solar batteries. He’s expected today to drop them off. Hadyn the electrician is due on Friday to wire them up.

I did the shopping and suddenly it was midday – no sign of the forecast rain yet. It did arrive after dinner, for a while.

Aaron arrived early afternoon and didn’t just drop the equipment off but installed the cabinet – which meant we had to decide where exactly it should go. The batteries enclosure is larger than either of us expected and so putting it in the breezeway between the cottage and its garage wasn’t particularly attractive. We plumped for having it inside the garage, near to the roller door and on the all nearest the cottage. In fact it is so big and heavy that it has to rest on the floor. Aaron bolted it firmly to the concrete.

Like the solar panels, the solar batteries require an Internet connection and so I am thinking about how this might be achieved. The battery network adapter needs an ethernet cable connection which might mean another cable right back under the cottage and into the wall between the main bedroom and the living room, along with the many other wires, and even then our current Airport Extreme router/WiFi and an attached ethernet switch are fully occupied.

However I may have a solution using the ethernet cable that is connected to the WiFi access point high on the western outside wall of the garage. That access point was intended to connect the orchard pump shed to our internal network and hence to the Internet but leasing to John Bostock made that unnecessary and anyway the planting area, including a row of willows, means we’ve lost line of sight to the pump shed WiFi access point. That access point is three metres up a power pole next to the pump shed.

So late afternoon, using our long ladder, I gingerly climbed up and detached the weatherproof plastic box containing the access point from the power pole. I retrieved the external-grade ethernet cable as well as the access point and its power connection – I hope the cable will be long enough to go from the cottage garage access point to somewhere close to the solar batteries – time will tell. Most access points have several RJ45 plugs to attach ethernet cables as well as providing WiFi access and it is this capability I hope to use to connect the solar batteries network adapter.

There will be a power point next to the enclosure so that in case of power cuts we can run a few things, including the adjacent fridge, off the battery.

Karola suggested we take the dogs round the orchard early and she was right, we did beat the rain by so doing.

The Panasonic Battery Enclosure

Oak Avenue Weather:11℃—21℃ 5.0mm rain [75.3]

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Rain Gone, Rain Coming – Meanwhile Clemency

Pleasant sunny day. I continued with the modelling, taking more measurements from the homestead.

In the afternoon I completed work on the four tree guards on this side of the big oak, adding mulch and tying the guards to their standards so the sheep cannot lift them up just by rubbing. Then I put up electric fence round half of the ground round the big oak and let the sheep in. They made straight for the lucerne and devoured it hungrily.

After our dinner, and then their dinners, as dusk fell we took the dogs round the orchard – giving them apple treats, as usual – well until the apples are all picked or fallen ones rotted.

Watched the second instalment of the UK TV programme, Civilisations – much more compelling than the first one.

Karola took the dogs out for a final “bio break” and Bracket, unused to electric fence, got a shock. She shrieked, bringing me running down stairs imagining Bangle had finally been pushed too far and retaliated for all the nipping and barging. But within a couple of minutes Bracket was running around, tail wagging, as if nothing had happened.

Oak Avenue Weather:5℃—20℃ no rain [75.1]

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Dinner At Margie & Ian Maxwell’s in Havelock North

Rain cleared up for now, though a cyclone is forecast with heavy downpours on Monday.

Cool start to the morning but most of the day warm and muggy with cloud.

I made a bit of progress on the CAD model of the homestead.

Late afternoon we took the dogs round the orchard and I noticed my runner bean plants had a few more beans – so I picked a bucket of them, mostly rather old.

In the evening we went to Margie & Ian Maxwell’s place for dinner, a secluded spot in deepest Havelock North, next door to the owner of Xero – the very successful “cloud accounting” software firm. Patrick & Lis Cooney were there along with Anne (nee Rainbow) & Alan XXX. It was a bit of a Woodford old girls reunion – all in the same class.

Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—19℃ no rain [74.4]

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Autumn Rains Pitter Patter On The Roof

SwimGym

Karola did the shopping for the weekend.

I worked on the computer model of the homestead and read all day, apart from our walk with the dogs round the orchard during a fine spell.

Karola Sets Off Round The Orchard

I Run And I Run And I Run

Bracket The Apple Dog

Bangle Keeping An Eye On Things

I Want A Cuddle

This Is A Bit Tricky Though

Made It

Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—17℃ 1.9mm rain [73.8]

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Lots And Lots Of Lovely Rain

Rained all night and most of the day, the longest spell without rain was when we slipped out and took the dogs round the orchard at dusk.

Marina & Frank Wilson called and then came for morning tea, they’ve been visiting outer relations in the area – coinciding with the downpour.

Bridget called to say Chris was on a management training course with colleagues from his work, way up the Napier-Taupo road, out of cellphone contact, doing manly things. The road was closed during the night by slips but re-opened this evening.

Otherwise a quiet day inside and when the wind turned to the south Karola lit the fire.

Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—18℃ 47.6mm rain [74.8]

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Dog Obedience Training Session

SwimGym with Karola

Straight after breakfast we hot-footed it into town for haircuts. I did the food shopping while Karola was attended to, then she read a book waiting for me. We were back home in time for lunch and then karola rushed off to her Wednesday “heart club” at the hospital – only a couple more weeks and that’s finished she says.

I continued my struggles with SketchUp and the model of the homestead.

Later we took the dogs to their Wednesday obedience classes, held this time in a horse riding arena because it was raining, had been for some hours, and was forecast to continue. Bracket did her “come” command exuberantly, Bangle again just refused to budge – well finally caved and crept rather dejectedly towards me. Strange because on all other tasks she was as good as any other dog.

“Watch Me”

“Walk”

“Good Walking”

“Sit”

“Good Sit”

“Good Girl”

“Really Good Girl”

Bracket Gets a Treat

“No more treats, sorry”

Bracket Walks The Slalom

Oak Avenue Weather:17℃—23℃ 34.0mm rain [74.4]

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2018 NZ Census Day

Most of the day was spent wrestling with SketchUp – but the model of the existing homestead is coming along.

Late morning I did some mowing with the tractor:

  • round the perimeter of the big oak grass – a path for electric fence
  • a swathe across the big oak grass on the side furthest from the cottage – we’ll use that for vehicle access while the sheep are grazing the half of the big oak grass nearest the cottage from the gate into the Middle paddock next to the cottage
  • the driveway verges and middle strips
  • the rough lawn behind the homestead garage
  • the path for electric fence around the homestead lawns and encircling the Liriodendron and the Palm tree octagon
  • along the east side and west side of the homestead which Henare didn’t finish the other day

Karola, meanwhile, worked hard levelling a large heap of mulch (from the fallen oak branches) in the sheep yards. Mulch makes it weed-free.

I briefly helped Karola with some tree guard standard ramming late afternoon. Rain stopped that and I took Bangle for a brisk walk in the rain round the orchard.

We completed the online census together – it wasn’t very onerous.

Oak Avenue Weather:18℃—27℃ 2.4mm rain [74.3]

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Sunday’s Mowing

SwimGym with Karola

I caught up on the mowing I didn’t do yesterday:

  • the cottage lawn and curtilage
  • the little lawn in front of the homestead garage

Afterwards I spent the day mostly on using SketchUp to continue creating a CAD model of the homestead.

Karola spent the afternoon doing some sorting out in the Apple room in the homestead – it was cooler there.

Shopping late afternoon; the traffic was busier than usual as it was the end of the business day.

I took Bracket round the orchard at a brisk trot; Karola took Bangle on a truncated tour at a more leisurely pace.

Big Tree Guard Under The Big Oak – Protecting Very Old Camelia’s Regrowth

Oak Avenue Weather:15℃—25℃ no rain [74.0]

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Manuka Sapling Deaths Noted

Spent almost all day on the modelling of the changes we plan for the homestead. At this stage still struggling to learn or remember the tools and to get a decently accurate model of the existing building. Karola and I re-measured the external dimensions of the main building. I did all the inside rooms and the verandahs with my Bosch laser range-finder – indispensable.

Took a look at the special Manuka near the farm shed today and was dismayed to see five are now dead as dead can be. Closer inspection showed they were variety “Kare Kare” – only “Kare Kare” and all the “Kare Kare” so I guess they were not right when I bought them – either too root bound or not re-pooted for long enough, or maybe they are very sensitive to getting wet feet – such as when I water them for several days continuously in the middle of recent very dry spells.

In the evening, either side of dinner, I put a bucket of water on each of the 28 Manuka saplings in the Manuka hedge along the west boundary between us and the orchard. Those Manuka look pretty healthy. Karola took the dogs round a bit of the orchard and I ran – well stumbled – round the orchard with Bangle after I finished the watering, as dusk was falling.

Five Dead Special Manuka – All The Same Variety – Leptospermum Kare Kare

And The Icy Clutch Of A Winter Storm In Ealing (Photo c/o Anna)

Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—24℃ no rain [73.9]

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Patrick & Lis Cooney Call Round

Got going in good time. After breakfast I returned to tussling with SketchUp and the plans for the homestead. Mostly seem to be going round in circles trying to find the sweet spot where, by using the right tools, and remembering how it all works, the actual building becomes easy. After watching several snippets of video tutorials, and going down a blind alley whereby I established the SketchUp Pro app called Layout is not a simpler 2D blueprint builder, I at last hit upon the way to scan in a blueprint and effectively trace round its walls and so on. So tomorrow should see more progress.

Mid morning Patrick & Lis turned up bearing Patrick’s own damson cheese – a spread made of our damsons that is excellent with cheese and biscuits. Patrick had put in much less sugar than recommended so I could try some as well, whether that will make it unbearably tart for others remains to be seen.

Afterwards Karola went out shopping for a long time – but then most of her shopping forays do take hours.

Late afternoon I helped Karola exchange one large tree guard for an even larger one for the Rimu next to the cottage.

After dinner we took the dogs round the orchard and I turned off the dripping pipe irrigation on the swamp cypresses – I’d turned it off for the Bay trees and special Manuka earlier in the day. I noticed that my gorse bush, which had been growing slowly in the Taupata hedge next to the cottage well-head, has died – presumably from lack of water. There still are a couple of bushes of gorse growing in the fence line in the north-west corner so I may raid another small bush from there.

Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—24℃ no rain [74.6]

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Wood Sorted And Stacked

SwimGym with Karola

After breakfast we all went into town for the weekend shopping, Karola, Bangle, Bracket, and I.

I emptied the big trailer of the firewood from the fallen oak branches in the Long Acre paddock, separating it into the stuff for Henare and friends, and for us. Not much for us but we have an embarrassment of riches in firewood this year.

Walked round the orchard with the dogs, including a smidgen of training on the way.

Had quite a long chat with Bridget – the turmoil at her work at the bank, my struggling with SketchUp, and the about-to-begin earthworks in her back garden.

34A Izard Road, Khandallah – Bridget’s Back Garden Ready For The Earthmoving Equipment

Oak Avenue Weather:13℃—23℃ no rain [74.5]

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March 1st – Reboot Of The Homestead Extension Project

I got up as usual, had a shower and breakfast, and then went back to sleep until lunchtime. Too much excitement yesterday I suppose – very odd. Or maybe the shower was too soothing. The water is still hot which bodes well for the problem with the top element just being that it had tripped the thermostat. Good if it’s so, but poking around inside the wiring of the hot water cylinder with a multimeter and 230 volt live wires isn’t something I’d want to be doing in ten years time.

Karola has almost finished clearing all the iris under the big oak and the nearby old, gnarled plum tree.

I did do a little Bangle training around lunchtime.

In the afternoon I began re-aquainting myself with SketchUp – the computer drawing program from Google which lets you easily and quickly create building designs with an idea of how they will look and what would fit where. Bridget is much better at it than me and will give some tuition in the next day or so.

Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—24℃ no rain [74.9]

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