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Monthly Archives: March 2020
No Sign Of The Promised Days Of Rain
We are so lucky, our normal life is so like lock-down that we’re barely noticing the difference. It must be very stressful for Anna’s & Bridget’s family but I imagine Gill & Ben are much the same except for the endless hand-washing.
Today I tried to get an old Bluetooth ear-piece to work with my iPhone but gave up after an hour and used old Apple ear buds with a cord instead. Thanks to my friend Geoff in UK I have series two of “50 Things That Made The Modern Economy” and expect to listen to two of them each time I do the Tour de Twyford. This morning it was the Langstrom Hive and then Cellophane.
After I got back I had a short session of retail therapy, getting new wireless (Bluetooth) ear phones and a wooden carving tray, the latter because Karola’s old one has warped and split in the sun. The latest and greatest Apple wireless earphones are very expensive but highly recommended. After some research I plumped for relatively inexpensive PowerBeats High Performance Wireless Earphones – about half the price of the AirPod Pro.
Phoned Farmlands and arranged to pick up bag of wheat and bag of maize from their store in Stortford Lodge, went down there straight away and got the bags no queues, no fuss, no staff and only a couple of other customers arriving as I left to pick up their orders.
In the afternoon I jiggled the plywood underlay for the chook house roof until it was as square and true as I could get it and then nailed it down with 70 long galvanised nails. Next, tomorrow I hope, I’ll put the roofing iron on.
So Hot In The Sun – Lunch On The Cottage Kitchen Verandah
Chook House Roof Ready For The Roofing Iron
Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—22℃ no rain [75.91] IKBOrchard TdT
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Basic Income On My Mind
Up and round the block before breakfast – long may it last. But oh how embarrassing …
The first time on Friday I think I just pumped up tyres (I wonder what the pressure is meant to be) hopped on and rode off. Since then I’ve been wearing a proper helmet (some say it is more dangerous than without) and hi-viz throw, turned on the blinking red back light. No bicycle clips though, but Gill remarked they’d look a tad odd with shorts. And today I also wore an oilskin because the iPhone forecast was for rain, rain, rain and more rain.
I passed a young Māori woman (ie under 60) running in the same direction and we said hi. A few vehicles, orchard workers I suspect, zoomed past. Then, keeping well to the other side of the road (many trolley-lengths apart), two young women quickly passed me, cycling along as if on a country gentle amble, in sports wear but no helmets no hi-viz etc and no raincoats. Gosh I felt old and fuddy-duddy.
The 7km ride takes 24 minutes, well it has so far, though Google says it takes 20 minutes. I turn left, down to Evenden road, then left, up Evenden road to the end, left again, up Raupare road mostly until Omahu road then left down Omahu road and left down Oak Ave. Never even realised there were any ups and downs, in a car it all seems flat.
Had a (very) minor moment of inspiration: How do you get the macron over the ‘a’ in Maori? – I always have to look up how to do it. Text replacement of course. I use an app called aText for that which is a bit easier than the built-in stuff. Now, whenever I type ‘Maori’ I get ‘Māori’.
Spent the morning reading and answering emails, predominantly about Basic Income and about the American Virus. Only late afternoon did I get back to the chook house where, with help from Karola, I nailed up the two main plywood sheets for the roof underlay.
We did have a short shopping trip, locally to Gagan’s the green grocer roadside stall and on to Flaxmere New World. I had to wait for about 20 minutes to get into Gagans who allow only one customer at a time and are taking the self-isolation controls seriously. Waiting in the queue I was told that the queue in Hastings outside the New World there the queue was 40 trolleys long, snaking across the car park. Gagans had sold out of cream, had stopped serving ice-cream, and had no oranges so I persuaded Karola to drive me to Flaxmere New World, just down the road.
I was not impressed with the Flaxmere experience. The queue was short but they let too many people into the shop at once and the aisles are narrow so it was impossible to get around or pay and get out without almost touching other customers. Still, fingers crossed, I got the cream and ice-cream and oranges plus a couple of newspapers for Karola.
Last Friday I began a new shopping plan whereby I get all the main groceries for a week in one shopping expedition and expect only to get fresh fruit and vegetables between times at a small shop such as Gagans. Tonight Bridget called to check we were still alright and suggested the once-a-week shopping routine – so I got that right.
Chook House – Almost A Roof
Oak Avenue Weather:9℃—19℃ 1.1mm rain [76.04] IKBOrchard TdT
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Tour De Twyford
Did my “Round The Block” on bicycle.Spent the afternoon on the chook house, and Karola helped with the tricky lifting.
Fed doves and geese. Later Karola checked her sheep and switched them about – I think Karola and her sheep get bored with the same old pasture day in, day out. Karola pointed out a small young adult tabby cat today running across under the big oak.
Anna’s email this morning describing a little of Ealing life under lock-down triggered answering emails from Bridget and Gill.
Chook House With Rafters In Place
No SwimGym So 7km Bike Ride Fills The Bill
Returning From Tour De Twyford
Anna’s Lock-Down Report From Ealing
I hope you are isolating diligently! We are all fine, even if the confines of home are getting duller. Working from home is easy, the sadness of others is not easy.
You will have seen Boris is now afflicted, which, if he can get over it quickly may not be such a bad thing and finally they are testing those on the front line in the NHS. We clapped for the NHS and other health workers on Thursday evening at 8pm out of windows and doors and I found myself welling up. Although there are plenty of idiots in the UK, there are also millions of good-uns. More than 500k volunteered to help support the NHS in only a few days.
In good news, today we managed to get a food delivery and also a bakery delivery of delicious bread, sausage rolls and cinnamon buns : ) Dad – now may not be the time to worry about a few pounds here or there… In even bigger good news, Barney got his long awaiting offer to study engineering at Durham. If he gets his predicted grades approved and if this madness has calmed down he will start in September. Not much else to say – our days are spent planning and eating meals, taking our regulation one walk and arguing over what film we watch.
Anna’s Home Office In Ealing
Anna’s Bubble Counts Off The Days
Yoga – Self-Isolation Mode (Anna & Dave)
Bridget’s Lock-Down Report From Khandallah
Great news about Durham, Chris wants to know if he has decided what sort of engineering yet – in NZ he did a generic first year then specialised for the following 3 years. I thought when we went to Uni you specialised straight away.
Today and yesterday the weather has been horrible, which has been great to keep everyone indoors for the first weekend of lockdown. Hopefully our makeshift weather proofing (thick black polythene ) won’t get pulled off by the wind.
Cases are escalating exponentially as expected. I am feeling much like you. My welling up came when the cleaning lady from Colombia came on Tuesday – she only deals in cash (not trusting banks and governments after whatever she had to flee in Colombia). I had remembered to pick up extra cash and gave a few weeks pay to her, which hopefully she found a way to spend, as most places only accept contactless now). We both were tearful as she said goodbye. I hope her family is OK with no income and so little English.
Chris and I both feel that for us life is not much different. Neither of us have a social life to speak of, so that won’t be missed. Chris will miss his golf, but he is allowed to get frustrated and go for a walk (so the only thing missing there is a small ball and some sticks). The whole family each has an office set up, Chris has the kitchen dining room (close to the kettle with a lovely big monitor). I have the living room – close to the TV and a jigsaw puzzle on the coffee table, my desk is reclaimed from downstairs – we had to rip it out for the builders so the timing was good. The girls have their rooms.
Alex has been the shining light when it comes to exercise – getting up early for remote school and jumping on the trampoline for 20mins. Chris has been the hunter, walking to the supermarket – a 1km round trip which he said he would do 3 times a day to exercise (maybe that will start next week?!?)
Every day we congregate for lunch and dinner and life goes on. I am not sure if the girls will miss the social contact or if all the ways to communicate will make up for it – or maybe be better as you get a break from some of the ‘joys’ of being around lots of your peers.
Be Kind (Jacinda’s motto these days) and may the internet be forever streaming fast for you.
Gill & Ben’s Lock-Down Report From Seatoun Heights
We’ve been in ‘Ben & Gill’ lockdown since the 21st – responding to Jacindas plea for us older lot to stay home. Luckily plenty of general food stored but fresh veg & fruit are being supplied by lovely neighbours. Like you, various places around the house have been dedicated to a new function – Bens office has boxes to receive outside goods prior to cleaning or decanting.
We’ve formed some different routines that are finally becoming habits.
Today is $&&&&@;;;: cold, wet weather so Ben & I have donned winter jerseys and are pursuing our inside projects. Bens writing a paper on population changes of marsh warblers across UK since 1970s and I’m clearing up files/paperwork/computer archives etc – the fallout after a couple of years researching/writingbook/eBooks for Eve’s Journey. Then I’ll get to Amsden history (Jacks writings as a start) and intend to do a spiral bound ‘book’ just for family. Please note the word intend.
66 Seatoun Heights Road – Not a mountain to be seen. Blech….
Oak Avenue Weather:11℃—20℃ 1.9mm rain [75.78] IBOrchard TdT
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Chook House Rafters
Late start and big breakfast before cycling off round the block again. Today I wore a helmet and a hi-viz jacket because I’m a bit concerned I might fall off and that traffic on the Evenden/Raupare road sections is infrequent but they think they have the road to themselves. I passed the same woman as yesterday walking for exercise along Raupare road.
Fine day but it’s taking a while to dry out so I’m delaying mulching and mowing for now.
Spent the afternoon on the chook house, getting to grips with the rafters, five on each side, each with a special “birds mouth” cut so that they sit squarely and firmly on the top plate.
Picked all the Cox’s Orange Pippin apples as they are now ripe and will soon fall of their own accord otherwise. These have been a success as have the huge WBC pears but we’ve had no plums at all and the Black Doris still looks pretty sick – leaves all reddish-yellow.
Karola has cut back the Muehlenbeckia near the cottage sun porch and cottage garage; it is very attractive but vigorous and forces its way into the walls.
No sign of cat and kittens down in the stump dump; think I’ll stop putting out food for them.
2019/2020 Season’s Crop Of Cox’s Orange Pippins – From Our Micro-Orchard
Template For The Chook House Rafters
Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—19℃ 0.2mm rain [75.73] IBOrchard TdT
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A Whole Lot Of Doving Going On
No SwimGym any more so I tried the bicycle route Bridget suggested, round the big block, almost exactly 7km and this time it took me under 24 minutes.
Counted the doves waiting for breakfast or more likely brunch, I counted sixteen doves on the ground around the Camellia bush.
Now I have Bridget’s hand-me-down iPhone 6Plus working OK I’ve copied Karola’s old iPhone 5S onto my surplus iPhone 5SE and all seems to be working as expected. Same size & weight and same setup so that’s OK.
Read up a lot about Covid-19 and watched a very helpful YouTube video about how to safely handle fetching food in from the supermarket, sent from Peter Offenberger. Better equipped by this new information I went to Gagan’s the green grocers and stocked up on vegetables for the weekend.
We have no handy hand sanitisers but, being my mother’s son, I do have endless supplies of Dettol disinfectant – you can never be too thin nor have too much Dettol I say. The 20 seconds of soap routine is a bit tedious so I have a bucket in the kitchen half full of water with lots of Dettol in it. Karola is not thrilled by the smell.
Karola has lots of white vinegar and she was hoping that would be a good disinfecting liquid but sadly, according to Mrs Google, it does kill some viruses but not Covid-19.
The set of smart scales I sent to Anna’s house arrived today but, prudent woman that she is, they’re not going to open the package for a few days. I felt I was losing my weighing buddies; Bridget is getting a bit irregular (in weighing, in weighing) and Dave only has scales at his des. res. in Richmond so when he’s consoling Anna in Ealing and amusing her two bored sons he isn’t where his scales are.
Rain promised for this afternoon and, just as I had got the Grillo out into the One Acre to top the aggressive Phalaris grass it poured. Heavy showers on and off all afternoon. Meanwhile Karola has moved the virgin lambs into the Front paddock and the ewes and ram into the Middle paddock with access to the crop in the One Acre. They like a change of scene. Oh and ewe #718 has a very sore leg – looks like it’s the leg not her foot. If it persists we’ll have to take a look.
The poorly goose is still hanging in there.
What’s Going On – Now There Are 16 Barbary Doves
Footprint App – Showing My New Cycling Exercise Route – 7km
Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—24℃ 10.4mm rain [76.27] IKBOrchard TdT
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Goose Out Of Sorts
Rose late to a sunny, cool start to the day. It really warmed up in the afternoon. From the kitchen we could see ten Barbary doves foraging under the Camellia (see below). This is odd. We had a couple of doves for several years that dropped in occasionally. I then was given eight more by Emma, the dog grooming lass. We had a spate of murders, six carcasses actually seen. So either there has been progeny or immigration.
Took up all the electric fence from the One Acre and hence gave a fourth and final new tranche of lucerne, phalaris, and californian thistle to the sheep. They were instantly all over it.
There were only three geese waiting to be fed this morning so later I went looking for the corpse – well they are very old, my guard geese. Found the fourth one just sitting under a tree. However when approached it didn’t scuttle away, just sat there, so I assume it is ailing, probably ready to shuffle off … I picked it up and brought it back to the cottage, it’s light as a feather, set it down in shade by the farm shed and gave it grain and water. Later I saw grain in the water bowl so she obviously had a bit to eat and drink. She has a preferred companion who I shooed in beside her and she perked up at that. Later they were both walking round quite freely so i put them back in the goose paddock. Maybe it was just something she ate – I hope so.
Mowed the cottage lawn and curtilage – very dusty but there’s four days of rain forecast so best to prepare just in case rain comes. Also did the little lawn in front of the homestead garage and down the 121 driveway.
Picked up the firewood and slash I created when clearing the path of the chook run fence near the rainwater tanks. Quite a pile of slash to be mulched now.
Absolutely nothing done to the chook run or house today.
Karola sorted out the keys and garage remotes and alarm remotes, making sure they had the correct labels.
Ten Doves A’Dancing
Guard Goose Under The Weather
Before And After The Sheep Graze In The One Acre (“The Lucerne Crop”)
Oak Avenue Weather:5℃—24℃ no rain [75.79] IKBOrchard
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Level Four’s Eve
Brrr it was cold last night, down to one degree.
No SwimGym today – gym closed due to level three, level four kicks in tonight.
As planned yesterday, Karola & I went to the pharmacy in Stortford Lodge for our 2020 flu jab. Nothing doing, we had come today as suggested, after eleven as suggested, but the practitioner was swamped – maybe tomorrow.
Then on to see if we could get some fish for supper and more milk from New World – twenty trolley queue dissuaded us. Ditto Countdown, but even longer queue.
Got two loaves of GF paleo bread from OMG shop. I asked if two would be greedy but lass said two was OK but three was not permitted. They have bead curtain over the entrance door so I suggested it wasn’t a good idea and they quickly tied it back.
On to TakiTimu Fish Supply and got 700g of fresh red gurnard for fish pies for a few days.
Back home I continued with the chook run, clearing stuff and marking out the perimeter. At lunchtime I found that Bunnings had got the third roll of netting from Bunnings in Palmerston North and I could either pick it up today or wait for four weeks of more, until level four was lifted. So I went and got it.
Karola and I moved the chook house skeleton out of the sun and under the trees using the little tractor to lift up one end.
Late afternoon I rang Mark and we agreed that, abiding by the level four rules, he’d not be coming over until the level four was lifted. That is a pity.
Today I took the plunge and moved from my trusty ancient iPhone 5SE to the handed-down iPhone 6Plus from Bridget. In comparison a huge heavy behemoth. The idea is to move Karola off her much loved if annoying iPhone 5S to my years younger iPhone 5SE. I am waiting for the small iPhone mooted for 2020 which is delayed; Apple haven’t repeated the iPhone 5 size since the 5SE but this year something almost the same size is expected and I may hop on that bandwaggon when it comes.
Oak Avenue Weather:4℃—21℃ no rain [75.79] IBOrchard
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Scavenging Before Level Four Begins
Off in the morning to GoldPine to get a few more bits of wood so I’d be sure not to run out – ludicrously over-provisioned but don’t tell Karola, it’s her orchard lease that pays for all this stuff. On the way I filled up the Landrover at Caltex and got Karola a couple of newspapers. Very busy at GoldPine with mostly quite old codgers getting the wood for their projects or building sites they planned to work on while under lock-down – hadn’t been so busy ever, they said. And they were closing tomorrow with everyone losing their jobs, they thought.
I got another four planks each of 4×2, 3×2, and 4×1 – as we used to call them. And a coil of 250 metres #8 wire for three wires to support the netting of the new chook pen. And a stout post for the gateway into the pen – I already have another stout post and several half-rounds over from the cattle-stop project that will serve for the corner supports for the pen. And 40 long warratahs (“standards”, or metal posts). The 100 metres of 1.2-metre tall chicken netting I’ve already bought completes the chicken fence.
Later Karola took me and Bangle to Hastings for some more last-minute purchases from shops that will very likely close tomorrow for at least a month.
First to Farmlands for more sheep nuts and maize, sheep nuts for the sheep (heavens to betsy – what will they think of next), and maize for the geese, doves, and sometimes for the sheep. There was a queue; I had to wait for someone to come out before I was let in – I had a suspicion that Vince, an old familiar Farmlands man, was rather enjoying his policeman role. After a few minutes, in I went, only to wait for another ten minutes to be served. To be told that neither sheep nuts nor maize were in stock, maybe next week. Oh and from tomorrow Farmlands will be open but you have to email or phone in your order first and then come and collect it from a designated pickup point, the price being debited to your account – no cash, no credit cards.
Then to Mitre-10 for some roofing screws. It then dawned on me that I hadn’t thought about painting the chook house but a four-week lock-down will give plenty of time for that. So I got 4 litres of primer and a couple of litres of our standard livery – Karaka Green. Well the other colour in the livery is quarter-pearl-lustre, an off-white that Karola seems to like. And we have gallons of that left over from doing up the cottage and building the farm shed. The screws were no problem, nor was the primer, but the gloss Karaka green had to be tinted and there was endless waiting around to shuffle to the front of the queue for that. Karola was a tad restless after waiting. I can not imagine that Mitre-10 would be considered an essential service by the government, though the crowds there today show that hordes of men and women in Hawkes Bay think DIY is imperative.
On to Animates (pet shop and pet food) to pick up an extra bag of dog food for Bangle. I give Bangle a small handful of high-protein energy food called Nutrience and a large handful of Nutro for Seniors, practically worthless as food but gives the impression of a big daily feast. That was quick and easy, and Animates is an approved essential business so will remain open albeit with some additional physical barriers to avoid contamination.
Coffee shops were closed so we swung by BP with its Wild Bean Cafe – but no luck, BP had already switched to its essential service role and was only providing fuel and only via the night-shift window. So we went on to Gull, another service station incorporating coffee, food, and endless junk drinks and snacks. Gull was still fully operational – I bought some more batteries, AA & AAA, torches and TV remotes gobble them up at inopportune moments.
Lastly to Gagan’s, a roadside green grocers that grows some of its own produce. It was open and “thinks” it will remain open during “Lock-down”.
We knew from emails last night that the chooks would not be arriving on Friday, nor many Friday’s to come. In fact, if normality ever returns the chooks I get may not even be the one’s earmarked for me today. Sarah of Chook Shed’s best guess is May.
I called the panel beater but Zoe is in the paint shop and will not be ready before the lock down.
I called the guys making the roofing iron for the chook house – very unlikely as they were rushing out the last orders for others as we spoke.
But later I got a call from them, to their surprise and my delight they managed to squeeze my order in so later I trundled over to Onekawa, on the outskirts of Napier, and picked it up.
Mark came and spent his afternoon continuing the preparation of the pathway for the chicken fence in amongst the Tradescantia and other undergrowth. He won’t come tomorrow because he will be downtown in Napier trying to purchase some last minute non-essentials. I had thought today, Tuesday, was the last day before lock-down, and clearly many shops had the same idea, but officially it begins at midnight tomorrow.
Oak Avenue Weather:1℃—18℃ no rain [76.40] IKBOrchard Mark=4
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Last Day At Level 2
SwimGym – and after the midday news, when PM Jacinda Ardern put in the hard word, that’s the last gym session for quite a while. New Zealand has moved to Covid-19 state of alarm Three and we move to Four on Wednesday. Most everyone is to stay at home. Supermarkets, pharmacies, petrol station and a few others will continue, everyone else “go home”.
We have 24 hours to go out and get anything we deem essential, but that the average NZer doesn’t. So more screws of various sizes, a bit more #8 wire – like 200 metres or so, some more 4×2 planks perhaps.
I anticipate we’ll miss out on getting the chook house roofing iron (was due Thursday) and on getting Zoe back (was due next week), and tonight I hear that the PetBus which was bringing my chooks up to Napier from Christchurch on Friday has cancelled. Well, that certainly relieves the pressure on getting chook house and run finished. Haircuts – gone.
This morning we called the AA and requested “Homestart” for the Landrover. The old codger, who has been here before he says, checked that spark was getting to the plugs and then, as I suspected, said it was lack of fuel getting to the engine. So he got the Landrover taken back to Newport Auto-Electricians, they must have been thrilled to see it back so soon – I only picked it up after weeks of absence last Friday.
Mid afternoon back came the Landrover, running perfectly. The problem, one of the connections to the fuel pump, the “new” pump that Newport had installed, wasn’t properly fastened down, so with a bit of vibration it parted ways and no fuel was being pumped. I hope someone got a rocket over that – quite annoying to have it gone for weeks without the delights of a gradual breakdown just hours after I picked it up, ending in two hours twiddling thumbs in darkest Onekawa. Grrrr. But with Covi-19 there’s little point in saying anything, we all have bigger fish to fry.
Mid morning Lyn Sturm sailed in and out, off to lock herself down for the foreseeable. I managed to delay her so that she and Karola could chat, Lyn in her car, Karola in the cottage speaking through the window.
After breakfast I went shopping and, somehow it felt like Friday, bought enough provisions to last us over 3 – 4 days. Had my last coffee for a while from Artisan and noticed the new Covid-19 testing station in the old, disused Health Centre across the road. Security guard shooed me away when I took the photo (below)
Mark came and we concentrated on the new chook run, Mark clearing the path for the pen fence, I chainsawing up a dead ‘rhodo’ and trimming the box hedge down the 133 back drive pretty severely – all part of making the clearing for the fence. Mark had already pruned the drive-side of that hedge, this was on the inside.
In the end I didn’t get any more done on the chook house itself today.
Karola is cutting back unruly growth in the cottage garden – a sprawling Banksia rose, voracious Muehlenbeckia forcing its way between weatherboards and up the walls, and the bay tree hedge which apparently hadn’t noticed there was a drought on and has sprouted vigorously.
Hastings Invitation-Only Covid-19 Testing Station – Staff In Background In Biohazard Gear
On Wednesday New Zealand Is On Level Four
Oak Avenue Weather:9℃—27℃ 0.1mm rain [75.77] IKBOrchard Mark=4
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At Home Today (But Only Level Two)
Still at Covid-19 Alarm Level Two; anyone over 70 is advised to stay at home.
I worked on the chook house. With help from Karola I got the vinyl floor done. It began with using the plywood floor, not yet fastened to the floor joists, as a template for the vinyl (linoleum) and cutting it to size. Then the plywood floor was nailed into place and the fun began.
I ladled about ⅔ of the vinyl adhesive onto the plywood and spread it round with the galvanised notched scraper. The scraper’s serrations were way too big – I took the advice of some Mitre-10 newbies when buying it – and there wasn’t nearly enough adhesive. Resorted to reading the instructions and we should have primed the plywood and the scraper was way too coarse. So I nipped down to Mitre-10 and got another litre of the adhesive and the right scraper – all the time Karola telling me it’s dried too much, put the vinyl on now despite not enough adhesive and in great furrows.
I got back in about ¾ of an hour and liberally applied the remains of the first pot and all the second pot to cover almost the entire surface of the floor. Karola and I then gingerly positioned the vinyl. The adhesive was by now past “tacky” and each repositioning was a difficult tearing up of the vinyl, but we persevered and finally got it to within 2 – 3 millimetres of where it was supposed to be. Smoothed it off and declared victory.
After dinner, by the light of my halogen work lamps, I experimented with creating the rafters, including the infamous “bird-mouth”, a cut which leaves the rafter fitting snugly on the header plank.
Mocking Up The Chook House Rafter
Anna Cheers Us With A Whimsical Cartoon
I Send One From New Zealand
Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—28℃ no rain [75.68] IKBOrchard
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Some Progress On Chook House
Spent the day on the chook house and by this evening the skeleton just needs a roof, rafters and all that, and the floor is almost ready for the vinyl covering.
Landrover given more petrol but still doesn’t start so it isn’t as simple as just running out of gas.
Karola has been writing emails much of the day – and she says Jacinda Ardern, our prime minister, has today asked that all people over 70 try to stay at home for the duration of the CovId-19 crisis.
Timmy – The Young Texel Ram Who Arrived Yesterday
Karola Reconstructed Her Portable Sheep Yards
Little Homemade Trailer Now Our Little Red Trailer
Floor Joists Done
Oak Avenue Weather:11℃—21℃ no rain [76.12] IKBOrchard
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Enforced Idleness In Landrover
SwimGym
Then Newport Auto-Electrical called to say Landrover was ready to be picked up.The rat damage was repaired and the theft-protection chip bypassed so that the old keys, including the bare spare key without a chip, just worked. And all for the low low price of $2500-ish and a two-week stop-over at their garage. They suggested I might try making an insurance claim, they too were slightly embarrassed at the total.
And Bunnings called to say that two of the three rolls of chicken netting had arrived – they could not fathom why the third one hadn’t been ordered but it’ll probably turn up next week.
I called James Russell (Jimmy Rural) to see where he was with getting us a ram. The very young ram arrived mid afternoon and Karola adores him, is now talking of keeping him for at least two years when last week she wanted the ram off the property within three mating cycles, about ten weeks. Not going to feed another mouth in a separate paddock for almost a year before we need him again.
Mark came and, after helping us draft out the ewe lambs from the mothers-to-be, before the ram arrived, we uprighted the old trailer and he painted the top side the same vivid red. He then tidied up one or two rangiora tree guards and weeded and mulched the Griselinea we’ve planted on the corner of the 121 driveway, where it turns towards the cottage. That’s where we used to have seven Pittisporum but four of them have since died, cause unknown, possibly old age.
So when shopping in the morning, apart from the weekend food I bought a Matika circular saw from Hector Jones, happenstance a small metal-cutting saw, quite capable of cutting plywood, was half-price.
The young chap remembered Mrs Brackenbury and her exploits with milling a fallen elm tree years ago. I was able to tell him that we had beautiful wooden bench-tops made of it in our kitchen as well as the 133 entrance railings. But I corrected what Karola apparently also told him, that elm was used by the British navy and would never rot. I said all our untreated elm posts rotted at ground level; it was perhaps that elm doesn’t rot as long as it remains submerged in water.
Also picked up my two rolls of chicken netting from Bunnings and 20kg of “pullet growing” mash and 5kg coarse oystershell grit from Farmlands.
Mid afternoon I headed in the other direction, towards Napier, and ordered six sheets of coloursteel (Karaka green) and ridging for the chook house. I should be ready on Thursday, which is cutting it fine.
Oak Avenue Weather:13℃—25℃ no rain [76.36] IKBOrchard Mark=4
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Little Red Trailer
We’ve had six or more dove corpses since my dove experiment began so I was surprised and delighted to see not just the usual faithful four but eight doves descend on the bird table this morning.
Worked on the chook house for much of the day but did a trip to town mid afternoon – which I could as easily have done tomorrrow, as I realised shortly after crossing the cattle-stop. But anyway, given that panic buying seems to be happening, sooner rather than later may have been prudent. Even so I could not find yeast at New World, Countdown, or the Four Square in Frimley.
The search for yeast came about because Karola thought getting some of the pre-mix for my special OMG bread would be a good idea. The pre-mix lacks only water, yeast, and sunflower seeds. We have water, I bought sunflower seeds, but no yeast anywhere. Bridget has kindly offered to send us some she has – she said she’ll never use it all anyway.
As planned Mark came and painted the underside of the little home-made trailer. The rust is not really hurting except for the tray or bed which has rotted through, rusted lots of holes. My idea is to cover the tray with plywood as soon as we’ve stabilised the rust with this bright red paint. We’ll let it dry overnight and then turn it upright and Mark can do the top sides.
Eight Doves Visit At Breakfast Time
Mark Attends The Little Old Trailer With Red Anti-Rust Paint
Oak Avenue Weather:5℃—25℃ no rain [76.72] IKBOrchard Mark=4
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Not More Kittens!
SwimGym then later I ferried Karola to a talk at Duart House in Havelock North, did mid-week shopping, and ferried her home.
Somewhere in there I checked on progress in mending Zoe – last parts arrived yesterday and it’ll take a couple of weeks to use them to fix Zoe.
And dropped in on FloorMart in Omahu Road, bought three metres of vinyl for the floor of the chook house. Then bought the second axle for the chook house.
Assembled the second axle and fitted it – so the chook house has a wooden chassis and wheels. Began assembling the superstructure.
Mark spread some several kilos of elderly grass seed around the 121 entranceway and then watered it – there’s no rain in todays ten-day forecast. Mark came back to the house quite excited because he’d seen another mother cat with at least four kittens in the Stump Dump. Very similar scenario that we dealt with at length at the end of 2019. After work he spent half an hour shooting at the many rabbits – I think he did get one or two.
Oak Avenue Weather:2℃—19℃ no rain [76.77] IKBOrchard Mark=4
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Focus On Chook House
Went looking for wheels for the chook house this morning. Bought four wheels of the kind shown me last week at Wheels Plus in Omahu Road, a type of solid tyre that feels like a pneumatic tyre but doesn’t need pumping up nor can it go flat. Then off to Central Metals in a cul-de-sac off Wilson Road for a piece of iron rod for the axle, 1195mm long. Just after I left I asked myself, why oh why did I get just one axle. On to Fast Trade in Omahu Road for washers and split pins and a decent metal drill for the pin holes. Then back to Central Metals but alas my piece of rod was the last he had in stock so I’ll have to come back later in the week.
I found the drilling went smoothly, not too many repeat holes before I got a snug fit.
Mark came and continued removing the leaves and dead undergrowth, and quite a lot of discarded rubbish, fro the roadside strip between the cattle-stop and the Scott’s boundary to the south.
Karola emerged into the windy and definitely cooler temperature, a southerly wind, and moved the old, rusty corrugated rainwater tank from next to the farm shed lean-to down to the stump dump.
Meanwhile I cut dados in the main horizontal posts and assembled the foundation for the chook house.
Chook House Foundation With One Pair Of Wheels Attached
Roadside Area Cleared Of Dead Vegetation And Passer-By’s Rubbish
Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—16℃ 0.4mm rain [76.16] IBOrchard Mark=4
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Meticulous Maids
SwimGym late morning then shopping.
Stopped by Bunnings to see if my chook netting had arrived yet. No, the truck bringing it from Auckland caught on fire, said the manager. I said that ranks up there with “dog ate my homework” as an excuse. He laughed. I also checked out what wheels Bunnings had suitable for the chook house.
Dropped into Wheels Plus and asked about wheels for the chook house. There is an inexpensive wheel, quite small, that has a solid tyre, some material that makes it feel like a normal pneumatic wheelbarrow tyre.
Began marking out and cutting the dados in the chook house foundation – the wooden rectangle that will have wheels so that, as Karola explained, it can be moved around the paddocks. Adding wheels was Karola’s idea.
Mark came and first picked up the quantities of cutting or slash where I’d cut down noxious privet trees and saplings; he also picked up the Tetoke trimmings where I’d removed low-hanging branches overhanging the 121 driveway. These now await mulching next to the farm shed.
Later mark began tackling the enormous amount of vegetative debris along the roadside from the 121 entrance south to the Scott’s boundary fence. He also uncovered a lot of rubbish discarded from passing cars.
Meticulous Maids came and cleaned the cottage.
Janet Scott called in for afternoon tea and a chat with Karola.
Late afternoon Lyn Sturm came to see Karola and for a biscuit and a chat.
Oak Avenue Weather:13℃—26℃ 0.4mm rain [76.11] IBOrchard Mark=4
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Resting After Our Outings This Week
Quiet day after the last week. Odd jobs only, for example, cutting back the Tetoke trees along the 121 driveway but only where the lower branches were coming out into the driveway, so not very much cutting back. And spreading the mulch made last week across the bit of ground alongside the farm shed lean-to. Oh and we moved the Spider Electric Fencing sign from a standard on the 121 driveway to a rail on the cattle-stop.
Karola’s Micro-Orchard Bears Fruit – WBC and Winter Nellis Pears
Karola Reviews The Completed Cattle-Stop – View From The Road
… And View Towards The Road
Oak Avenue Weather:7℃—23℃ no rain [76.20] IKBOrchard
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Three Day Event – Cross-Country Horse-Of-The-Year 2020
I didn’t have much time because we were due to leave around 11:30am to attend the Landrover Burghley Horse Trials at the Hastings show-grounds, the national Horse-of-the-Year show. We had tickets for the last day, with seats in the VIP enclosure. The sun shone. horses galloped and jumped, and it was a relaxing afternoon. Being the last day of the show many people had drifted off, planning on beating the rush.
So I beetled off to GoldPine and got the wood I thought I’d need to make the chook house, about a third of it I have already so this was the other two thirds. Pure chance but I hit a sale week and the wood cost less than expected.
We arrived at the main gates, as instructed, just before 11:50am. From there we were redirected to another driveway, our part with reserved places was, allegedly, full. And another, and another. Having missed the 11:50am walk of the course with expert commentary we went in to the main overflow park and had a 15 minute walk to the VIP enclosure – but it was a nice day and so a pleasant walk. Karola enjoyed the walk to the place we were to have lunch, through lines of horses and ponies, and we were seated at Table 9 along with ten others. Had a good lose virew of a couple of the jumps and a speaker nearby gave us expert commentary.
We were home by 5:00pm.
I then made some alterations to the RHS railings at the cattle-stop and put the last two short sections of railings up. What remains is gate latches.
I took Bangle round the orchard, quickly, and then had a Beyond Meat pattie pair for my second dinner.
Spacious Sheds Accommodate The Horses
A Few Metres Away From Our VIP Table
Cattle-Stop All Railed Up
Oak Avenue Weather:8℃—21℃ no rain [76.61] IBOrchard
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Wet Afternoon
SwimGym then shopping with Karola – and thats the morning gone.
Mark came after checking that it wasn’t raining here – it was over his way. No rain and none forecast till Wednesday. So he came and rounded up stuff to mulch, by which time it had started to drizzle a little. We had a cup of coffee waiting for it to pass, which it did. Then Mark got stuck into clearing up the mass of stuff to be mulched …. and it started raining. It rained all afternoon, stopping only when he’d just finished – and then the sun came out.
While Mark was feeding the mulcher I cut and poisoned all the privets I could find in the jungle between the homestead lawn and the wooden wall – bounded by the ha-ha on the north end and the 133 driveway on the other. Henare, Karola, and I cleared this area of privet and thick masses of blackberry a couple of years ago – it’s all back with a vengeance.
So we stopped a little early this afternoon, both soaked by the rain.
Mark Feeds The Caravaggi Mulcher
Masses Of Privet – Cut & Poisoned
Oak Avenue Weather:10℃—18℃ 4.4mm rain [76.61] IKBOrchard Mark=4
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Sir Roger Hall Evening
I spent much of the morning pouring over plans for the new chook house and we then went to Lappuccino’s for dinner at midday, assuming we’d not have time for a meal between the Roger Hall talk “A Writer’s Life” and his new play, “Winding Up”. I had my usual fish and chips, GF, except I’m sure the chips were not GF given later events this afternoon. Enough said.
Sir Roger Hall, New Zealand playwright, entertained a small group with an illustrated walk through his life as a playwright. And then, as Peter called and warned me earlier, there was a 90 minute break until the play. So we had another meal at a Turkish restaurant, Cafe Anatolia, in Hastings, ten minutes walk from the Opera House where the talk and play were being held.
Mark came before we were back from lunch and began clearing branches from those I’d cut two days ago when felling a tall dead Lacebark tree near the rainwater tanks. Karola and I went round that area and cut down a handful of privet trees, noxious weeds which spread rapidly, and their remains were added to the pile.
Then Mark went back to the cattle-stop and put in the remaining two posts, square 1.8 metre posts forming the slam post for each little pedestrian gate. We left around 4:45pm to get to the Sir Roger Hall talk by 5:00pm and just made it, leaving Mark to tidy away and shut up the shed and garage.
Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—20℃ 0.1mm rain [75.93] Mark=4
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Sore Wrist Slows Play
SwimGym while Karola did the shopping. We picked up the sharpened mulcher blades.
Last night after my enthusiastic bout of chainsawing it seems I strained my wrist and it objected quite strongly in the early hours. So, on the way to SwimGym I called into ProActive (physiotherapists) and asked to see Tony Snell, son of the late Peter Snell and the man who cured my back strain months ago … and who consulted on Bridget’s bad foot last January. Tony Snell wasn’t in but his physio partner was and just happened to have a few minutes. He diagnosed the injury as a tendon attached to the thumb and prescribed rest and anti-inflamatories – should be healed by the week-end.
We got back before Mark arrived around 1:00pm. Mark and I continued on the cattle-stop railings. We carted the mitre-sawbench and generator down to the 121 entrance and put up railings either side of the cattle-stop. There’s only a couple of small posts and short railings to do to finish.
Oak Avenue Weather:6℃—22℃ no rain [75.73] IKBOrchard Mark=4
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A Little Light Chainsawing
Re-attached the mid-mounted mower to the little tractor, took it down to the stump dump and disconnected it again. Seems Power Farming doesn’t want to buy it or sell it on consignment so there it will languish.
Starting to browse for ideas for the chicken house I need in a couple of weeks time.
Mowed the cottage lawn and curtilage with the Grillo though it barely needed it – but as the forecast for the weekend is for welcome rain I thought I’d get it done.
In the afternoon I cut down a couple of very dead lacebark trees near the rainwater tanks and chopped them up for firewood. Exhausting. Then, to capitalise on the new batch of 2-stroke fuel I’d mixed, and on having donned all the clobber, I cut up a small pile of stray logs stockpiled near the farm shed.
Quite tired and aching so the dinner and mindless TV was welcome. And tonight I ate the second of two packs of Beyond Meat – plant-based pretend meat patties, tasted OK. Beyond Meat is one of several companies trying to make a plant-based meat substitute with most of the flavours of real meat and we have a small investment in this high-risk speculative USA company.
Five Metre Tall Dead Lacebark
Tonight’s Dinner – Eating Our Own Investment
Gill’s Summer Breakfast – Same As Ian’s Pudding Except Replace Banana With Lashings Of Cream
COVID-19 – As Anna Says, “Wash Your Hands”
Oak Avenue Weather:9℃—27℃ no rain [75.85] IKBOrchard Mark=0
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Progress On The Cattle-Stop
SwimGym then shopping – took back the chicken netting I mistakenly thought was 1.4 metres tall when that was the wire size. No problem. But first I checked with Bunnings that the 1.2m tall chicken netting they had ordered from the manufacturer was indeed available and would arrive within the next fortnight.
Karola moved the ewes so that they had the Front paddock and access to one of the One Acre triangles from there. Then she let the ewe lambs have the Middle paddock and a triangle of lucerne from there.
Mark came and first we released that damn lamb which keeps pushing its way into the elm sapling grove. Then we banged in 15 more standards and tightened the netting, hoping that will keep the blighter out.
Rest of the afternoon was spent at the cattle-stop, putting in the two 2.1 metre long, 200mm diameter thick posts and hanging the two little pedestrian gates.
Lyn Sturm came and had afternoon tea and a chat with Karola.
Corner Big Posts In And Pedestrian Gates Hung
Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—_24℃ 0.1mm rain [75.94] IKBOrchard Mark=4
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Sheep Antics
Rested in the morning but finally got going after lunch.
If I make a chicken run of most of the triangle where the rainwater tanks are it’ll need a fence of about 100 metres. I could use some of my quarter-round fence posts to hold the netting up or use metal standards (waratahs). Standards are more expensive than cheap posts so I made an inventory of the unused standards we have at present, a lot of tree guards have been taken off the trees now they’re bigger, and I have 58 that are 1.8 metres long. If the netting is 1.2 metres tall then they’d be perfect – easy to put up and easily removed later if we change our minds about where the run should be.
Karola reported that some of the sheep troughs were not re-filling and when I checked none of the taps and troughs along the western boundary were working; the rest of them were still flowing. So I knew which junction was the most likely point of failure and it’s a little white tab on a valve (inline tap to you) underground in the planting area up by the big orchard shed. After flipping it on and off a few dozen times – this has worked in ther past – I bashed the valve with the end of a spanner, and that did the trick. I suspect hard water furring up the valve somehow, or sand or grit perhaps. ANyway, rejoicing because now everything was back to normal.
However, before I explored the failing water supply Karola and I moved one of the troughs from up near the big orchard shed to by the damson tree so that her ewes and lamb flocks both had plenty of water. The damson tree has two trough connections and two nearby taps and these were all working OK.
Mid afternoon, alerted by constant loud bleating for hours and hours, I “rescued” the ewe lamb that had crawled under the temporary fence round suckering elm saplings in the goose paddock and couldn’t figure out how to get out again. It’s the same lamb that has done this for three days in a row. The first time it happened Mark and I witnessed an amazing escape manoeuvre, one that I’ve never seen before. The lamb jumped and crashed into the netting almost at the top. It jumped again and this time rolled over the top – literally. It’s head was still on the inside when it twisted its body and rolled over the top wire. Over in seconds and no photo opportunity as she was way down the paddock to be with her friends byt the time we registered what we’d just seen. Brings to mind the possibly apocryphal story of English sheep rolling across cattle stops. I certainly hope our lot don’t get that into their heads.
In last few days we’ve sighted cats three times; a grey one going under the summer house (aka old wash-house), a grey with white paws I disturbed in the shrubbery between the rainwater tanks, and today sloping across the Totara paddock.
As Karola and I were accompanying Bangle round the orchard, on the home leg so to speak, we saw sheep in the orchard. “Who left the gate open” flashed through our minds, but left unsaid. This just proves the value of the cattle-stop, we obviously cannot be trusted to shut gates properly.
To my surprise, when we got closer it turned out to be five rams, very much rams, and not ours at all. So we shepherded them into our Holding paddock and from there into the yards. I gave them some water and we moved the females an extra paddock further away from the rams – there’s no telling how high rams can jump if the enticement is right. I called Hastings Council animal control just to let them know, in case anyone was frantic, “what and where”.
After dark, putting out the rubbish on the roadside (in a bin, no, not just tipped out), I noticed a torch on the opposite verge and shouted out “Hello”. “Hello, you haven’t seen any rams have you” came back the reply. It was Matt Saunders, our neighbour directly across the road, who had been looking after some prize milking sheep rams for a friend up the Taihape road – they’d run out of grass on the hills up there and Matt was giving the five rams a bit of grazing. Half an hour later Matt came over with a trailer and the five rams trotted briskly down the race and hopped up into the trailer – seems like they were used to it.
One Of Several Monarch Butterflies Enjoying The In-Flower Lucerne
Oak Avenue Weather:11℃—22℃ no rain [75.58] IKBOrchard
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One Acre Electrified
Got some more bits of wood for the cattle-stop railings from GoldPine, then electric fence switch and, from Mitre-10, some post insulators and a 100-metre roll of rabbit fencing.
The electric switch is for terminating a new branch of the electric fence that runs along railings and under the gate from the Chinese Photinia to the Damson tree. This will simplify the electrification of parts of the One Acre, Totara, and Front paddocks.
The so-called “rabbit netting” is for the chook enclosure but, due to my inattention, I find it is only 1.066 metres tall and not 1.4 metres. The 1.4mm is the dimension of the wire with which it is made. I am looking for netting over a metre high for the chook enclosure, preferably 1.5 metres tall, so when I saw the 1.4 I snapped it up. I have not found ordinary netting more than 900mm tall searching online although there are (very expensive) custom kits of wire and posts which are 1.8 metres tall. Bunnings have chicken netting that is 1.2 metres tall and nearly $100 cheaper for 100 metres. Bother!
Put up the electric fence in the One Acre paddock and then created the new branch of the electric fence by running an insulated aluminium wire from the Chinese Photinia along the railings and then in a shallow trench under the gate and on to the Damson tree railings. Threaded the insulated wire in a piece of alkathene water pipe when it went underground.
The sheep grazed one block of the One Acre late afternoon, guzzling the lucerne but not so much the phalaris. The lucerne is in full flower and buzzing with bees. Over the last three days the phalaris has just rocketed up so we’re concerned that the lucerne may struggle to compete.
Underground Insulated Wire To The Damson Tree
Terminating In Switch On Damson Tree Railings
Two Electrified Diagonals Cut One Acre Into Four
Oak Avenue Weather:7℃—22℃ no rain [75.90] IKBOrchard
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New Blinds Installed
SwimGym then shopping for the weekend. Also got some bolts for Mark’s gate creations and dropped off the very blunt blades of the mulcher to Saw Doctors – they’ll be ready midweek.
John (the blinds installer) came and put up the three new honeycomb blinds in the cottage, two upstairs and one in the bathroom downstairs. He also moved my upstairs curtains, which I liked very much, to the windows downstairs in the living room. John also installed our first honeycomb blinds, the two in the cottage dining room. I did comment to the saleswoman, when measuring up for this second batch, that they were not as tight fitting inside the window frame as I’d expected. This time they were slightly too snug a fit which means I’ll have to sand down the edges of the window frame in several spots so that the blinds rise and fall smoothly.
No sooner had John departed than “ChemWash” arrived, almost an hour early. He washed down the sides of the cottage but neglected (and we didn’t remind him) to wash the solar panels. Still, the house is gleaming white, very clean.
Mark arrived soon afterwards and spent the afternoon finishing off the two small pedestrian gates for the 121 entrance. They just need hanging now.
Elizabeth Pishief, the archaeologist who did the investigation and assessment when we moved the cottage, arrived at 3:00pm and we talked about the plans for the homestead – she was very positive, encouraging, and supportive of our plans – which Karola really appreciated. Elizabeth agreed to do the archaeological assessment report for our homestead renovation but will wait until the ground is exposed for the new two-storey foundations to check for interesting artifacts.
I spent an hour on the Grillo making sure that when we turn the One Acre lucerne paddock into four rotationally grazed segments, the electric fences don’t short out.
The COVID19 coronavirus virus, and the advice from my friend Geoff Robinson, has galvanised me into action, to get the vege garden going and get some chooks.
So I have today ordered 5 – 6 Black Orpington hens and a Light Sussex rooster – the better to protect the hens from passing falcons etc.
My first thought for constraining their wanderings, avoiding them camping permanently outside the cottage kitchen windows and annoying Karola, is to put up a temporary chicken netting fence, 1.2 metres tall, round the triangle of garden holding the rain water tanks. The perimeter is about 150 metres long and with Mark’s help we could quickly fence it off and include a small entrance gate. That area of the garden is very shady and overwhelmed by tradescantia, which Karola hopes is a much prized and nutritious food for chooks.
… and there’s the matter of a little hen house to be made.
Black Orpingtons – Gentle, Docile, Big Hens
Black Orpington Hen
Light Sussex Cockerel
Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—19℃ no rain [75.89] IBOrchard Mark=4
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Very Welcome Rain – Though Not A Lot
Rained overnight but gradually cleared to showers.
I started work on the railings to join up the cattle-stop with the road entrance.
Mark came and started on creating the two small pedestrian gates to go alongside the cattle-stop. Mid afternoon he changed the (very blunt) blades on the mulcher so that once things have dried out we can mulch the slash from thinning and topping the griselia hedge in the stump dump along the Scott’s (southern) boundary.
Lyn Sturm dropped in for a chat and afternoon tea with Karola.
Mark’s Work On The Two New Little Gates For The Cattle-Stop
Oak Avenue Weather:11℃—17℃ 0.6mm rain [75.91] IKBOrchard Mark=4
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First Across The Cattle-Stop
Rain, blessed rain – not a torrent but a steady drizzle.
SwimGym while Karola did a bit of shopping, principally for ingredients for the pudding she’s making for our dinner at Jenny & Noel hendery’s tonight.
Paul & Gareth came mid morning and back-filled the cattle-stop to provide gentle slopes up to and down from the grid. Mid afternoon we tried it (see below). Now I have to add the railing wings and little gates and it’ll be complete.
Early evening we went in to Jenny & Noel’s place on the bluff at Napier, joining Ian & Margaret Hay-Campbell foir a very pleasant meal and wide-ranging, convivial conversation. will sleep well tonight.
First Car Over The New Cattle-Stop
Oak Avenue Weather:12℃—21℃ 4.8mm rain [75.63] IKBOrchard Mark=0
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The Big Meeting (Architects)
Before the meeting at 10:00am I did some checking and re-checking of the cattle-stop railings, the angle they make and how level everything is. I then poured the 20kg bags of quick-setting ready-mixed concrete into the post holes, one per hole. I wanted the holes to be filled up to the level of the bottom of the cattle-stop, Paul will back-fill with gravel and compact the ground so that there are gentle ramps leading up to and down from the cattle-stop. Turned out that one bag only half-filled the holes so I determined to add another bag per hole.
Time was running short before the meeting with architect Graham Linwood and draughtsman Ruth Vincent so I deferred driving down to Mitre-10 for the concrete and instead took down the electric fence round the house lawn and big oak.
Graham came early, before I’d gobbled down my breakfast, and Ruth was an hour late, but we did get the main points covered and ended up with three assignments:
- Graham is to prepare a heritage assessment document, having worked through the questions with us at the meeting.
- Ian is to approach the archaeologist Christine Barnett (| Archaeologist Poutairangahia, Central Region | Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga | Ph: (64 4) 494 8320 | DDI: (04) 494 8323 | Mobile: 027 217 8903) and discuss a plan to get the proposed new sites of disturbed earth examined and the findings added to the existing archaeological report made for the Karamu cottage. That is, if Christine thinks any new investigation needs doing at all.
- Ruth is to take Graham’s concept sketches which describe the changes to our original renovation building plans that he has reviewed with Chris Cochran and with Laura Kellaway and Laura has approved in principle, and amend her set of plans to include the changes. This is to include new changes which we think won’t alter Laura’s agreement-in-principle:
- Keep downstairs bathroom in size and function (and flooring) – but update the fittings & fixtures
- No bathroom adjoining the new laundry – all existing kitchen space used for new laundry
- Completely remove wall between “apple room” and “junk room” when combining to be new kitchen
- Potentially re-think the back porch but retain approximate dimensions and position
- (ref Chris Cochran comment) Prefer not to replicate the very small windows upstairs or down on the south-facing wall.
Meanwhile Karola will focus on relocating the stuff in the existing house kitchen, junk room, apple room, and downstairs bathroom.
We took Ruth out to lunch at Lappuccinos on Omahu road then Karola drove me to Mitre-10 to get four more bags of concrete. I poured those and it filled the post holes nicely. Then laid the cattle-stop pipes and bolted them down. We’re ready for builder Paul to do the gravel back-filling and compacting later this week.
Oak Avenue Weather:15℃—28℃ 7.7mm rain [75.73] IKBOrchard Mark=0
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Focus On The Cattle-Stop
SwimGym
Shopping – and I picked up my EFTPOS card which I left at OMG bread shop on Friday.
No Mark today, he’s not well. Meticulous Maids did come and today did a quick clean of the homestead – in case our architects want to actually look at aspects of the planned renovation of Karamu. Tomorrow morning Graham Linwood & Ruth Vincent, Karola and I meet to make a plan for providing Heritage New Zealand with the detail they want supporting the concept drawings Graham has done, complementing Ruth’s plans of our wishes.
With help from Karola I set up the sides of the cattle-stop ready for concreting-in the posts tomorrow.
Going round the orchard with Bangle we came upon a black object lying on the ground. A dead pukeko I thought, no. A dead cat I thought, coming closer, no. It was a long-haired black cat with white paws that sniffed my hand before bouncing away out of reach. Probably belongs to a neighbour. Maybe we’ve mistaken it for Cleo – the black cat with a white bib we think is living in the orchard.
Karola saw a quail family yet again, this time scuttling across the homestad lawn, under the Liriodendron.
Seven doves came briefly to eat at and around the bird table this afternoon.
Cattle-stop sides Braced Ready Foir Concreting-In The Posts.
Oak Avenue Weather:13℃—23℃ no rain [75.95] IBOrchard Mark=0
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Prefabrication Of Cattle-Stop Side Rails
Main job today was to create the siding rails for the cattle-stop. These have the same railing pattern as the rest of the railings here, “fat thin fat thin fat”, except that because the cattle-stop is a few inches proud of the ground level I’ve used a “thin” bottom rail to compensate. The sidings are to be on an angle so that the gap formed by the cattle-stop is wider at the top than the bottom.
Oak Avenue Weather:14℃—22℃ no rain [75.93] IKBOrchard
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