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Monthly Archives: November 2021
Kitchen Things – Prices Rise Tomorrow
I had dentist appointment after breakfast then it was the usual Tuesday shopping. Raining most of the time but the harder stuff didn’t get to Karamu until late afternoon.
On the way home I dropped in to HomePlus and enquired about the model of bath that Bridget, Karola, and I have chosen. It’s a very simple Tonto 1500 Freestanding Bath, 1500mm long and 730mm wide.
Paul is here with one of, maybe the only other, plumber in Gareth’s team. Gareth had been round and determined that the initial choice for where the waste pipes would go was impractical so now Paul has to build a false wall into the exterior wall of the shower room at the end of the laundry and the pipes will go from all the wastes upstairs down behind that and out to the old septic tank. There are no windows in that wall, there’s only an extractor fan so it will be unobtrusive. We discussed where the showers and bath were to go based on Bridget’s plan and I was urged to decide on actual specific bath and loo and shower soon so that the plumbing could be accurately positioned. Ivan the electrician was here this morning too, using Bridget’s plan to begin the wiring.
Worked on the kitchen appliance list with a few calls to Kitchen Things to get more information. Shopped online at Harvey Norman’s for the items Kitchen Things couldn’t supply. Bought a fridge to go under the bench in the kitchen and a kitchen kettle. Also two Fisher & Paykel Single Dishdrawer dish washers for under the bench at either side of the sink. It was a bit tricky as the online shop would only let me buy one but by ringing the Hastings store I was able to buy a second. Got a call as that apparently confused their systems but all straightened out now – they didn’t understand how Ian Brackenbury and Karola Brackenbury could each be ordering the exact same appliance to be picked up at the Hastings store.
Made a table of the appliance dimensions and the Kitchen Things prices of the appliances for the kitchen and then shopped for them online at Harvey Norman, noting their prices. Late afternoon I had a list which demonstrated that the Kitchen Things total was several thousand dollars more than that at Harvey Norman. After discussion with Bridget and Karola I reluctantly ordered everything from Harvey Norman except for the new exciting Miele fridge and freezer – their prices were the same everywhere I looked online except for Kitchen Things who were offering almost $500 off.
As Bridget suggested, I checked with Harvey Norman that everything on my list was or would be available before the end of March. They were. I ordered the items and cancelled my tentative order with Kitchen Things. Then when I got the order email I found the prices were higher than those I’d found online so I called to investigate. Meanwhile Kitchen Things had shut and their quotes expired. It turned out that, unbeknownst to me, somehow while searching, when looking for a Harvey Norman item that wasn’t available in New Zealand, I’d been flipped to Harvey Norman in Australia. So the prices I’d found were lower. Too late to change now so I sadly continued with the Harvey Norman order. Instead of saving over three thousand dollars I saved less than one thousand. Quite irritating. Still, the Miele fridge and freezer are so expensive that I think Kitchen Things were not too upset.
Anyway, all the kitchen stuff is bought and will arrive over the next few months so tomorrow I can concentrate on the bathroom white-ware. This is not my favourite subject, nor yours, I’m sure.
On the way up to the orchard for our “Tour de Orchard” we spied a ewe sitting down and looking unwell; she didn’t get up when we approached her. Postponed the tour and drenched #514 with Matrix (withholding for meat of 14 days). Maybe that’ll do the trick, she looks a bit daggy and thin as a rake.
Oak Avenue Weather:17.6℃—21.8℃ 22.8mm rain [77.397] TdO eggs=2 Mark=0
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Shock, Horror, Covid
Gill called this morning to see if we’d heard about the latest Covid case in Hawkes Bay – we had – and whether we knew that a “location of interest” was our local pharmacy, Unichem at Stortford Lodge. Panic and chaos ensued. I have missed my farm journal entries only a few times this year but as Murphy would have it, last Saturday was one of them. And already I have very hazy remembrance of that days events.
Had we gone to Stortford Lodge on Saturday – well the journal says we went on Friday. Check the Visa online account. Oh dear, I bought coffee from BP in Stortford Lodge on Saturday, but there’s no receipt and no record of the time. We together recall that Karola did go to the pharmacy while I waited for the coffee – but at what time, at what time! Karola remembers trying to scan her covid tracing Q-code but thought it probably didn’t work. Concerns rising. But Karola burrowed into her handbag and produced the till receipt for her pharmacy visit. Whew and double whew – timed at 11:15am. The danger period began at 4:15pm.
Nina (Meticulous maids) came in the afternoon and cleaned the cottage.
Alan Kemp from Pace Power and Air called and discussed generators – I’d forgotten I made an online enquiry several days ago asking for price of a particular model on their website. Alan made some helpful suggestions:
- My application was best met by an “off grid” solution as I anticipated a week or more of continuous operation
- Should be a three or more cylinder engine running at low revs for long troublefree running
- water cooled, not air cooled
I spoke to Megan at Kitchen Things and asked her to swap the Bosch fridge and freezer for the rather expensive Miele ones with the lever handles – Bridget was rather taken with it when we browsed in Kitchen Things last Monday, as was I. Karola and I decided we did not want the new innovation of a combined oven and microwave even though that unit fitted snugly above the wall oven – both Bosch. Our view is that each appliance needs to have one and only one use and be simple to use.
Paul came as usual and worked on more of the verandah decking. The scaffolding people came and put up more scaffolding along the west side so that work could begin on the south end of the verandah roof. Matt called in with his fortnightly bill and to say he was off for a couple of weeks, waiting for the joiner to come back and finish the new upstairs sash windows and more. Gareth the plumber did not appear so my rush to get the plan of appliances positions wasn’t so necessary after all. Just as well because today with a lot of remote help from Bridget my sketches were corrected and we added all the electrical lights, switches, and power points.
Ivan the electrician turned up mid morning, not expecting to begin yet but suggesting that the extractor fan cowling for the bathrooms would best be made of galvanised iron, not plastic. The plastic cowls from China do not last in the Hawkes Bay sun he said. So he’ll get four of those made up locally. I gave him another half dozen eggs.
It took Mark all afternoon to pick up all the grass he cut in the Goose paddock last week. I had let it grow too tall. The Grillo is good for this, as hoped, and the Goose paddock is looking much better now.
More conversations with Megan at Kitchen Things in Napier as we home in on the appliances we need for the homestead. Prices go up on Wednesday so tomorrow I need to make up my mind and, failing us finding a much better deal for almost the same items tomorrow, we’ll go ahead. Bridget has been helping remotely with advice and by finding some appliances that Kitchen Things don’t stock – dishwasher drawers and under-bench refrigerators for example.
Mark has used up all the petrol so I got some more from Caltex on Omahu road and foolishly got some Magnum ice-cream’s on a stick. A moment on the lips etc.
Late this evening I took the revised plans of the appliance positioning with Bridget’s electrical lights, switches, and power points added over to the homestead and replaced the ones I left yesterday. I was ambushed by a large possum which despite feeble efforts to bang it on the head with a length of 6 x 2, scurried past me and out into the night. There was more scuffling from inside the homestead which I’ll have to investigate tomorrow.
Mark Cleans Up The Goose Paddock
Stop Bank – Squash Profusion
Stop Bank – Potatoes Or Tomatos?
Oak Avenue Weather:15.6℃—24.5℃ no rain [77.717] TdT TdO eggs=1 Mark=4
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Scramble To Draw The Appliances Plan
Having put off the making of the “final” plan for appliances and where they fit in the new extension, I belatedly got onto it in the evening. In somewhat of a panic I called Bridget mid evening and she helped a lot. By 1:00am I had a plan with all the appliances mapped out although, as it transpired, the sizes weren’t quite right. Still we had the right number and rough positions for the laundry and its shower room, the downstairs cloakroom, and the two bathrooms upstairs. Farm journal neglected, bills not paid, no TV, and no restful reading before bedtime.
Old Roses Delight
Equestrian Centre Arena By The Stop Bank
Oak Avenue Weather:16.5℃—20.4℃ 0.4mm rain [77.912] TdT TdO eggs=2
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Stortford Lodge
Without workmen or Mark it was a quiet day. Late morning we tootled off to Stortford Lodge where I got coffees at the BP petrol station and Karola walked over to the Unichem pharmacy.
Mark’s New Sheep Pit
Oak Avenue Weather:10.3℃—27.7℃ no rain [77.912] TdT TdO eggs=2
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Belated Best Wishes To Ben
Waited until Mark arrived and started him off on digging another “death pit” now the old one is occupied. Then, given the Grillo is back, he began re-mowing the Goose paddock to pick up the grass
Mark got a surprise when going into the Long Acre; we thought it a good idea to combine the rams in the Long Acre so that Mark could leave the gate open while mowing. A cloud of bees descended on him and a football-sized ball of bees fell to the ground in front of him. I imagine it was a swarm doing what swarms do – swarming. Later Henare said he thought one of his hives down near the big Wellingtonian (north-east corner) must have swarmed. By the time Henare came round after work the swarm had moved on.
Karola and I went down to Stortford Lodge to the pharmacy there and I posted a belated birthday card to my brother-in-law Ben who turned 80 on Wednesday. While there I got Karola yet another packet of Clinicians Sleep tablets (some mixture of harmless chemicals, no prescription required) and another bottle of supplements to promote healthy nails, hair, and skin. Then off to Rush Munros for ice-creams. Finally dropping in at Farmlands for more lacing wire – soft wire for tying down tree guards and the like – and 25kg of kibbled maize.
I noticed that Blue Band had been sitting on her eggs for far too long so Mark and I examined them with a torch and concluded they were all infertile. Pushed out poor Blue Band and emptied the broody coop. I think she may have been relieved as obviously nothing was going to happen. I also removed the two fake eggs under each of the broody hens in the chook house though I doubt they’ll mend their ways because fo that.
Oak Avenue Weather:8.8℃—28.7℃ no rain [77.742] TdT eggs=1 Mark=4
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Ewe #712 Died
Trevor from Outdoor Power brought back the Grillo after its service. He also discussed the need for a better air filtering systems as, despite our efforts to keep the filter clean, fine grains are getting through and threaten to ruin another engine. Trevor will investigate the possibility of getting a bespoke snorkel made to move the open end of the air intake up to the top of the roll bar and terminate it with a double filter.
Meanwhile Outdoor Power will get me a replacement belt for the deck – Craig called me to say it was badly damaged and no guessing how long it will last. I’ll use that original manufacturer’s expensive belt as a template and see if the outfit on Omahu Road who gave me a perfectly serviceable kevlar replacement belt for the main drive can get me one for the deck at half the price.
Worked on the plan for fixtures and fittings in the homestead new extension. Ran out of “Tippex” whitener so Karola and I popped into town and got some more, also dropping into Outdoor Power to see how the Grillo was getting on, and picking up coffees from BP on the way home.
Mark came and finished off the mulching of the Totara tree avenue before mowing the Goose paddock with the Kioti tractor and starting on weeding and mulching the avenue of 16 Lime trees (Tilia x europea).
Unlucky afternoon because while mowing the Goose paddock he picked up a short length of #8 wire hidden in the grass and it tore a massive hole in the brand new rubber grass discharge flap, the one I had fitted by Power Farming last week. Mark has tried to mend it with duct tape but I’m not optimistic.
Mark’s afternoon was interrupted by finding a dead ewe, #712, behind the Wellingtonian over in the north-east corner of the front paddock, near Henare’s bees. Foaming at mouth suggest poison to me but we can’t be sure. Unlikely to be anaphylactic shock from a bee sting and no symptoms of Facial Eczema so must have eaten something poisonous like leaves from Ngaio or similar. Mark took the dead ewe in the Kioti tractor bucket over to the death pit he’d dug some months ago and buried it.
Quail Family – Three Chicks Like Bumble Bees
Oak Avenue Weather:5.5℃—18.8℃ no rain [77.680] TdT TdO eggs=2 Mark=4
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Grayson Fixes The Heat Pump
We were expecting to go to the annual Christmas lunch of the Hawkes Bay cCombined Friendship Club at Birdwood Cafe on Middle road but I got a TXT from Grayson Allen suggesting he could come and finish off the installation of the heat pump today, now. Not an offer to be refused so we cancelled our lunch and Grayson spent much of the day here fixing things. He brought Vincent, a NZ Mitubishi rep, with him which meant they both worked to solve the unexpectedly loud noise from the heat pump.
Thery found that the compressor inside the heat pump enclosure still had its shipping packaging in place which wedged the compressor solidly against the frame and accounted for the noise. Removing that and the compressor purred quietly on its rubber bearings. Grayson also lagged all the pipes carrying hot water round the system and put some anti-corrosion liquid into the radiators.
Vincent said that if we wanted a tutorial on the workings of the controller we should look on YouTube for “FTC5 flow controller”.
I chatted with Paul and we talked about reusing one of the original doors as the replacement back door. There’s the original door into the old kitchen that’s 805mm wide and 2020mm tall, stored temporarily up in the big shed. Paul also agreed to get our joiner to add a weather strip round the cottage back door; Karola has often remarked that it currently lets a draft through. Recent regulations insist that all new doors have a weather strip embedded in the frame to reduce heat losses.
Mark came at 1:00pm and continued with the Totara avenue – adding the bigger tree guards, mulching, and watering them.
Victoria Trembath called and asked if we were OK. Apparently our messages saying we’d not be coming to the lunch hadn’t got through. Later Victoria Trembath, on her way driving up to Gisborne, dropped in and gave us our lunches from Birdwood cafe, neatly wrapped up. Victoria is a member of the Friendship Club, and according to LinkedIn is a free-lance technical writer. The car she arrived in had logos and advertising for the Red Cross.
Henare and Scott came after dark and moved the ten hives they’d put temporarily in the Stump Dump which is just as well because with that many hives near the gate I couldn’t get in.
Weatherboard On The West Wall Of The Extension
Vincent Peers Into The Innerds Of The Heat Pump
AirTags: Blue Dot: Me, Cockerel: My Wallet, Sheep: Karola’s Handbag
Oak Avenue Weather:10.7℃—20.8℃ 0.2mm rain [77.874] TdT TdO eggs=2 Mark=4
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There’s A Hole In My Wall, Dear Liza, Dear Liza
Paul and Matt, having finished putting in the rafters for the start of the west verandah, took out the two windows facing west and built the framing for the new doorway into the homestead at the foot of the stairs.
Tradesmen to do the joinery, exterior painting, and guttering are all tending towards starting in the new year.
Off to Hastings for the weekly shopping. Began by dropping off two dozen eggs at the Food Bank, then the usual New World, Artisan for coffee, BNZ for cash, and Cornucopia for my GF bread and some Zany Zeus greek yoghurt for Karola.
Mark spent the day replacing the tree guards for the Totara avenue with the ones liberated from Karola’s Totara and Rimu round the Canary Island pine. Another day should do it.
Where The New French Doors Will Be – At The Bottom Of The Stairs
Oak Avenue Weather:13.4℃—17.9℃ no rain [77.884] TdT TdO eggs=1 Mark=4
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Fetching Bangle Home
Late morning we went off in the Subaru to pick up Bangle from her holiday home up the Taihape road. I was raining gently, more of a mist on the Taihape road and visibility was poor. After about 45 minutes we passed what I remembered as the large creosoted letter box on the brow of a hill and coasted down the other side expecting to find the driveway to Tracey and Graham. There was a roadside sign with a farm name on it in big letters, Waiahare or something similar, and I was sure that couldn’t be the right place.
Ten kilometers or so further on, past the turn-off to the Hildreth’s Romney Stud, we thought we’d overshot so i tried to call Graham. No vodafone signal; drove on a bit, tried again and got through this time. We turned around and followed Graham’s instructions, finding the driveway without incident. It was indeed the driveway with the new farm sign. On the way up we’d passed ten huge logging trucks with trailers coming down off the mountains, loaded with large pine logs, bound for Napier port. Having them looming out of the mist was quite scary even though they did seem to be sticking to their side of the narrow winding road.
Back home with Bangle, Mark had arrived and was working on the moving of tree guards from the trees around the Canary Island pine to the avenue of eleven Totara he planted along the Log Acre fence line.
I chatted to Paul a couple of times today, saying that after discussion with Bridget last week we had decided not to alter the old doorway into the junk room – the doorway into the new kitchen from the laundry. We’d leave it where it is and swinging as it does. That way, even though the food cupboard will be recessed about 250mm compared to the oven, the open door will protect people from hurting themselves on the sharp corner that makes. Also, taking Ruth’s advice, we’re going to have the whole new verandah roof lined with grooved plywood, just like the cottage kitchen and dining room.
Looks like I now have three broody chooks: Blue Band, Green Band, and now Yellow Band. Hmmm.
Oak Avenue Weather:13.5℃—22.3℃ 1.6mm rain [78.160] TdT eggs=4 Mark=4
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Back Home To Hawkes Bay
Nice relaxed start to the day; Bridget and the grand-daughters took us out to the airport in time for a brunch under the huge model eagles.
Uneventful flight back; Karola remarked that on both flights the pilots had been women and she attributed the unfussy landings to gender.
Counted the sheep, all present and correct. Strolled round the orchard before dinner.
Oak Avenue Weather:9.2℃—28.7℃ no rain [?] TdO eggs=2
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Off To Wellington For Birthday Dinner
Neighbour Janet Scott popped round in the morning to drop off a card and some strawberries. We took ourselves for a walk around the orchard even though Bangle was at holiday camp – just to stretch our legs before the flight.
Quiet drive to the airport in plenty of time for a coffee and boarding. Bridget met us at the airport along with Natalie and Lexi. First thing we noticed at Bridget’s place was the great progress they’d made with their renovations. Natalie relinquished her room to us for the night – it used to be the old kitchen. The old dining room is now, enlarged, the living room and the kitchen and dining rooms are in what was the living room. A lot of changes and certainly liveable now; for quite a while it was in such upheaval that visitors really had no place to be.
The birthday dinner was at Taste in Khandallah again. Eleven of us: Ian, Karola, Gill, Ben, Bridget & Chris & Natalie & Lexi, Annemarie More, Jane Fuller and Anthony Fletcher. A convivial group and I think a most enjoyable evening.
My Holiday “Safe Place”
Out Exploring With The Others
Heading Back For Food
Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [77.330] TdO eggs=3
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Death To Phalaris Grass
Woken by the phone around 7:00am, Justin Bray of Small Farm Services said the weather was right and he could do the spraying of the One Acre this morning. Spraying to kill off the all too vigorous Phalaris grass and allow the lucerne, plantain, and red clover to flourish – that’s the idea. In fact there seems to be quite a lot of white clover struggling to come through too which is not a bad thing.
Of course the timing wasn’t good as Karola and I were having a last minute hair spruce-up ready for the feast tomorrow night. We solved it by having Karola take her Subaru off for the first slot with Kimberley at Ambiance, and I was to come afterwards in Zoe, hoping that I’d at least got Justin started before 9:15am.
Bangle went off into the shrubbery and later we discovered she’d snuffled out Mark’s dead possum grave and was digging and munching in a most disgusting way. Justin arrived as he planned at 9:00am and eased his rather large tractor (no Lamborghini though – ref Clarkson’s Farm TV programmes) through our farm gates. Took one photo (below) then beetled off for my hair appointment arriving just in time.
Before Justin arrived I chatted with Paul and Matt about the proposed changes to the western verandah and after some pondering Paul agreed that what we wanted was possible, the hard bit being to make the point where the new verandah meets the old original front verandah smooth without any step or tripping point. I also located Bangle and shut her in the cottage garden.
Only slight concern with the spraying was that Justin appeared to use the entire contents of the one-litre bottle of spray – minus what Mark ahd used for his knapsack spraying of course – a bottle that was supposed to be sufficient for a hectare. I don’t think I’ll ask.
Mark came and continued with the work on tree guards for the young Totaras. Mid afternoon Graham Harvey dropped in as planned and after a coffee and a chat took Bangle off to her holiday home up the Taihape road. Overnight Mark caught two more possums.
Got an email from Ruth and had a good chat on the phone. It looks like we’re together on the changes for the verandah. Re the bathrooms and so on, Ruth is OK with the kitchen and the cloakroom downstairs – as Bridget has laid them out. Ruth has structural concerns (the dreaded bracing requirements) with the downstairs bathroom off the end of the laundry so I agreed we’d keep it as Ruth drew it originally. The laundry can be as Bridget drew it.
Upstairs was a bit more of a challenge. Because of the structural issues I agreed we’d use the layout as originally drawn by Ruth for our bathroom, the one associated with the master bedroom. At Ruth’s suggestion Karola agreed that we could move the hot water cylinder back into the Linen cupboard/room where it was originally. For the guest bathroom Ruth was not happy about Bridget’s and my layout which put the bath along the outside wall and looking out of the window across to the big oak. A consequence of Bridget’s plan is that we need to put a shower against the wall separating the two bathrooms and at present that wall cannot have a shower touching it. Ruth agreed that she’d find a way to manage the bracing requirement with our preferred change, a shower in the corner of the outside wall and adjoining bathroom wall.
Ben’s Recording Of Tui In Zelandia This Week
Justin Spraying The One Acre
Henare’s Bees – His Original Four Hives In The North-East Corner
Henare’s Bees – Four More Hives With My Five Swamp Cypresses
Henare’s Bees – Ten More Hives In The Stump Dump – Somewhat In The Way
Both Downstairs Windows In, Previously Upstairs
Beam For The New Kitchen – Holding Up The Floor Above
Yes, Definitely Laminated
Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain 77.850] TdO eggs=2 Mark=4
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You Can Hear The Grass Growing
Lad from Power Farming turned up just after 7:00am and replaced the Kioti tractor grass discharge chute and sharpened the blades. Unexpected and I’d thought I’d have to drive the tractor down to their place myself.
Talked to Paul about the discussion with Ruth and how she’s going to try to draw up the much preferred plan which makes the west side verandah all verandah, sweeping round to dovetail with the north front verandah:
- Rafters and purlins open to the iron all along the verandah – no ceilings
- Original weatherboard remains exposed even where the verandah is protected by windows
- Three windows on the north end of the new verandah, four down the west side – which is better than the protection I’d asked for on the first plans back in 2018/2019.
- Kwila verandah planks throughout
Paul didn’t seem to mind even though there’s quite a bit of tricky rework needed where the decking has to meld with the original front verandah.
Karola suggested that we re-use eleven of her tree guards on trees round the Canary island pine for the extra protection needed for the young Totara trees along the Long Acre fence line. So we changed plan and Mark began by rolling up the 50 metres of deer netting we’d been measuring yesterday. Bit tricky getting into the Stump Dump now as Henare has a palette of bee hives in there, buzzing away.
Then Karola, Mark, and I began taking the tree guards off the Totaras and Rimus surrounding the Canary Island pine. Amazing how firmly the long grass inside the guards clung to the wire making removal quite hard. We lifted four of the guards off over their trees but the others we need to cut before unwrapping from the tree. I snipped the shade cloth where Karola had sewn it up and Mark started cutting the wires and then re-crimping them to make a complete if slightly smaller tree guard. Karola thinks that having the trees released from their guards gives a much better look and I agree.
Mark caught a possum and a hedgehog overnight.
Late afternoon I was in the kitchen and noticed a glass on the sideboard that had a little liquid in it, the glass that I’d had a mixture of soda water and freshly squeezed grapefruit juice in this morning. Thought I’d tidy up and drain the glass, but uuggh, it tasted very strange. Got Karola to smell it and taste what she could and we think it was some sort of cleaner or disinfectant. So I quickly drank several glasses of water and had another cup of coffee. It might have been white vinegar but not Dettol nor bleach, the other chemicals within reach. A mystery but I have no ill effects as yet.
Left a message with Grayson Allen’s office to point out that they’d sent me his invoice when we’re still waiting for him to come and finish the inspection and pipe lagging of the new heat-pump installation.
Called Ivan and said that, given that there may be some changes to the electrical plans for the bathrooms he should not begin wiring up next week.
Called Steve of FireStarter concerning the cottage wood burner. He’s snowed under. The guy who came and measured up is dying of prostate cancer, and Steve still thinks we’re not going to get permission to replace the Jotul with any new wood burner that has a flue going out through an external wall. I agreed to call him next year and continue the conversation.
Stop Bank Frog Pond – First Croaking Of The Season Heard Today
Oak Avenue Weather:8.4℃—21.5℃ no rain [77.769] TdT TdO eggs=3 Mark=4
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Building Plan Proposed Changes
Having decided that the eleven young Totaras need taller and wider tree guards I decided to ask Mark to make new guards. There was half a role of deer netting in the Stump Dump so Mrk took that into the Middle paddock and unrolled it. We need about 40 metres of netting for the eleven guards; Mark measured it and we had more than 50 metres. However Karola insisted that the guards needed stronger wires, that the deer netting she used was stiffer and hence held its shape better. So Mark drove me down to GoldPine and we compared the deer netting there – we didn’t see any difference.
Mark and I did a bit of a survey of all the tree guards in case more needed replacements and while we did that we sprayed any Scotch thistles we came across.
Two possums caught in Mark’s cage traps last night.
Later Ruth came to look at the construction work and we had a long, long discussion about the west verandah. Ruth would dearly like us to just go with the current plan which makes the sun porch into a proper room. I tried hard to see how that would work for us but really it doesn’t. In the end Ruth embraced the new direction where the verandah becomes much more like our first plan – the plan Ruth drew up for us a couple of years ago. Trickiest bit is getting the verandah, now to run the entire length of the west wall and mesh with the old original front verandah. The front verandah deliberately slopes forwards so that the rain runs off and it’s a couple of centimetres lower than the floor level of the new verandah.
Having ended up with a proposed plan that pleases me and Ruth believes she can do, I then described the rearrangements of bathroom and laundry fixtures that Bridget set out at the weekend. I certainly hadn’t assumed that Ruth’s layout of baths and loos etc were anything more than scene setting but now I know that the bracing regulations also bring with them some placement constraints. Main thing is that showers cannot be placed against braced walls. In the evening I had another look and I think that Ruth may be able to accommodate the main changes – placement of the hot water cylinder and the guest bathroom bath.
Henare brought bee hives around well after dark. He TXTed me to say the moves were complete around midnight.
Lucerne After Spraying Grasses (Right)
Oak Avenue Weather:10.7℃—24.7℃ no rain [77.666] TdT TdO eggs=3 Mark=4
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No Peace …
Strong gale-force gusts shook the house and trees all through the night and most of the day. Bangle seemed to get upset and demanded to be let out in the middle of the night, scurrying under the house where she feels safer.
The day began with rounding up the sheep and lambs and putting them in the holding paddock. We also cajoled the rams up to the yards and put them in a small pen.
Then it was the usual Tuesday, the making of the shopping list and off to town. We took Bangle as she was due at Emma’s grooming at 11:30am so it was going to be tight.
First Farmlands for more chook pellets and wheat. I may regret it but I took the two sacks of pellets for $49. this did not work out well last time because I suppose that’s how they get rid of very old stock. And I argued with myself that the enhanced, molasses-coated wheat, a “complete balanced chook food”, was a waste for chooks that are seriously free range. So I’ve reverted to just ordinary feed wheat. There’s not a lot of room in the Zoe so Bangle had to share the back seat with three bags of chook food. She was unimpressed.
Then the pharmacy for more supplements – as I muttered to the assistant, it’s crazy how much we spend on supplements without any real proof that they make much difference – vitamin C, magnesium, fish oil, and various sleep inducing concoctions that don’t need pharmacist approval and hence, I think, are 99% placebo.
Cornucopia organic food shop for my weekly GF bread then off to New World. By then we were running late for Bangle’s appointment so went straight over to Emma’s – getting there spot on time. Returned to Hastings to finish our shopping – cash for Mark and coffee and cake for us. There was a demonstration on the street corner near Artisan coffee shop; some people protesting against vaccination and/or lockdown and in particular the mandated full vaccination for teachers and nurses. There’s a subtlety that I don’t understand in that it is a legal requirement to pay taxes, to educate your children, to drive on the left, not to drive while drunk or under drug influence – but not a legal requirement to get vaccinated against a disease that has the potential to overwhelm the health system, to make hundreds of thousands of people sick, and to kill many, especially the more medically vulnerable.
I think if you had a religious objection to paying taxes or driving on the left that would get short shrift So I am appalled at the noisy protests and very concerned to think that some people or organisations are whipping up resistance against the governments incredible efforts to keep us safe, to stop the health service imploding, and to allow as much economic activity as they possibly can.
Yesterday when returning from getting Bridget to the airport we passed a long procession of vehicles on Pakowhai road hooting and waving flags and displaying slogans. Today there were demonstrations near the coffee shop (as above) and also outside the hospital.
Off home to have lunch and unpack the groceries and then it was time for me to pick up Bangle.
Mark caught a possum and a hedgehog in cage traps overnight. The aniseed lure seems to work well – at least until there’s so much fruit around that they aren’t hungry.
Meanwhile Mark mowed the cottage lawn and curtilage and then tended our row of eleven totara trees running east-west along the fence line between the Long Acre and Middle paddocks. He weeded them, added more mulch, and gave them a drink. It was a bit worrying that the leaders of several of the trees had been bitten off by sheep leaning over the tree guard and reaching the top most sprouts.
Interrupted Mark’s work so he could help us draft out the lambs from the ewes ready for shearing. Also got a bit of a jolt when my attention lapsed for a moment. I was in the yards in a small pen with both rams and ill-advisedly turned my back on them when bending down to pick up a rattle from one corner. WHAM, the ram belted me from behind and my head crashed into the side of the pen, also grazing my ear on the opposing wall. Luckily for me he seemed satisfied with his handiwork and didn’t attack again as I lay on the ground, stunned briefly. No-one seemed to have noticed and when I staggered up and told the tale they weren’t that interested. Mark did say, oh there’s blood on your head. No obvious lasting effects so far.
Ivan the electrician came and discussed the plans Bridget created with us over the weekend. Apart from the electrics for extractor fans required by law in each bathroom he thought the plans practical, not extravagant, and complete. He thinks that the upstairs is very straightforward and can work off Bridget’s marked up copy of Ruth’s building plan but wants me to re-draw the downstairs plans. We gave Ivan another half dozen eggs, his third lot. They enjoy them a lot, comparing them favourably to insipid supermarket eggs.
Lachie and his fleece-oh mate (Hawkes Bay Mobile Shearing) came late afternoon and did a very clean job of shearing the 25 ewes and two rams. He agreed to come back and give the sheep the zinc boluses protecting against facial eczema in a few months time.
Too late and too windy for walks and cycle rides today.
Oak Avenue Weather:14.2℃—26.9℃ no rain [77.916] eggs=3 Mark=4
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Window Shopping For Kitchen/Bathroom Stuff
Bridget, Karola, and I set off for a morning of looking at vinyls, bathware, and kitchenware. The first two were almost next to each other on Omahu road, down near the expressway interchange. Floormart Hawkes Bay has new owners since we last engaged them to carpet the cottage stairs but were helpful and have agreed to come on Wednesday to measure up and quote. They had hundreds and hundreds of vinyl colours/patterns and two grades of wearability. With Bridget’s help – I don’t think Karola or I could have done it by ourselves – we looked through the bundles of swatches, bundle after bundle after bundle.
We picked out half a dozen patterns that were possibles. I started out thinking that we’d have the same vinyl flooring upstairs and down and that I really didn’t want vinyl pattered as if it were wood or tiles or anything other than honest vinyl. I ended up thinking that some sort of tile pattern would be OK and that we could have a plain pattern for the laundry and downstairs bathroom and a bit more pattern with colour for the upstairs bathrooms. Bridget is typing out a list of the designs and colours we said we possibles.
Next we went to what I think is called Hastings Aluminium but where we got the showers for the cottage from back in 2013. We left with brochures and helpful advice. After that we went back home so that I could brief Mark on the afternoons work delights, and we then went to Lappuccino’s for lunch. Off afterwards to the airport with an hour’s browsing in Kitchen Things in Napier – they sell almost all the items we were afer except single-drawer dishwashers and under-bench fridges. We talked about the combined kitchen sink taps which provide instant hot water for coffee and tea and also the usual hot and cold water. Apparently the small capacity of the almost-instant water heater that go with these taps cannot really provide enough water for washing up – so we’re back to our eaqrlier idea of havinh a small conventional hot water cylinder in the blind corner of the L-shaped bench in the kitchen.
Bridget caught her plane with minutes to spare; she responded to the “last call” for her flight and we got a TXT later saying Natalie had met her iat Wellington airport and driven her home. A delightful and productive visit from Bridget.
Early evening we went to a Royal Society lecture by some chemical scientist researchers from MacDiarmid Institute who gave short lectures on Zero Carbon, Zero Waste, Low Energy Computing and Sustainable Resource Use. I found it frustrating because while the experts were obviously expert in their fields and passionate about their subjects due to the shortness of time and their execrable presentation skills we didn’t get much out of it. The most interesting few minutes was a discussion about the amazing feats that allow New Zealand technicians to test city wastewater for signs of the Covid virus.
Meticulous Maids came, as expected, and cleaned the cottage.
Mark cleaned the remaining seven sheep troughs and also cleared the undergrowth so that we could walk from Karola’s orchard through the planting area (by the raspberries) and into the One Acre without getting tangled up. Recent attempts to go that way meant Bangle had to tunnel through the periwinkle towering over her.
Karola’s Thriving Flax In The North-West Corner Of Her Orchard.
Robin Harrild Sent This Unflattering Photo Of Boris Johnson Leading COP26 In Glasgow
Oak Avenue Weather:12.6℃—27.9℃ no rain [77.552] TdO eggs=3 Mark=4
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Focus On Homestead Kitchen and Bathroom Plans
Bridget, Karola, and I went to Mitte-10 to get a couple of replacement keys cut – I’d lost one of the padlock keys needed to get into the homestead during the construction. We also had a look at their whitegoods but nothing appealed. As we were in the vicinity we dropped in to New World and got a few more things to eat. And of course on the way home we sampled the wares at Rush Munro’s.
The forecast for the weekend had been for a heat wave and sunny weather. Well it was hot, but not that hot, and surprisingly we had quite a shower of rain late afternoon.
Bridget and I revisited yesterday’s plans for the electrics in the new kitchen and bathrooms and Bridget annotated the plans with items we might otherwise overlook.
More Downton Abbey episodes in the evening.
Oak Avenue Weather:15.7℃—31.7℃ 4.2mm rain [76.787] TdT TdO eggs=2
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Bridget Comes Up For The Weekend
Bridget arrived mid morning and we picked her up from Napier airport. We had brunch at Bay Espresso in Karamu road on the way home. And got ice creams from Rush Munro on the way home from there.
Bridget and I did a tour of the homestead development and Bridget then revised the plans for the bathrooms, cloakroom, and laundry. Once we’d settled on where things were Bridget added a plan for the lights and their switches, and the power points. The plumbing plan just follows where the fixtures are placed so no separate plan was drawn for that.
We all, including Bangle, went down to the Ngaruroro stop bank and, later, strolled round the orchard.
Relaxing after that Bridget watched some old Downton Abbey episodes on TV-On-Demand and after dinner we all watched the full three episodes of something called The Pembrokeshire Murders.
Bridget & Karola In The Orchard – Next To Recently Attacked Old Man’s Beard (Clematis Vitalba)
Oak Avenue Weather:18.1℃—28.9℃ 1.8mm rain [77.163] TdT TdO eggs=2
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First Double-Hung Sash Window Installed
Karola and I went into Hastings for Karola’s fortnightly hair appointment – and grabbed a coffee at BP on the way home.
Mark and I finished cutting back and poisoning the Clematis vetalba (Old Mans Beard) in the orchard southern boundary Casurina windbreak. We noticed a machine I hadn’t seen before which was disturbing the soil alongside and between the apple trees. Apparently this soil disturbance discourages an insect pest which, after developing as larva in the topsoil, emerge to climb up the nearby apple tree and damage the fruit. Up until now the orchard folk have harrowed alongside the trees but this new machine wriggles sideways and cultivates the soil between the trees as well as alongside.
Mark mended a leak in alkathene pipe in the Holding paddock and cleaned the trough there – something Karola has been mentioning quite regularly for some weeks now.
I took down the little shelf attached to the wall of the cottage verandah, just below the air vent from the bathroom, with its wicked array of wire spikes intended to repel Welcome swallow nest builders. They, of course, had ignored the spikes, circumventing them by building a mud base for their nest that covered the spikes. Karola has been urging me to remove the shelf with spikes and nest. Mark then water-blasted the entire verandah and its walls so it looks gleaming white once again.
Then Mark and I continued with cleaning out the homestead garage.
Builder Paul and I had a discussion about the order of things needed to get the spouting done, the weatherboard painted, and the roofing done. We need to get the fascia painted before the new guttering is fixed to it and prefer to take advantage of the expensive hired scaffolding if we can.
New Equipment Seen In Orchard, Harrowing Alongside And Between Trees
No It Isn’t The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB) – Dreaded Pest Not Yet Found In NZ
Californian Quail Pair Outside Cottage Bathroom Window
Upstairs Window Now The New Laundry Window
Oak Avenue Weather:13.4℃—25.7℃ no rain [77.098] TdT TdO eggs=2 Mark=4
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Ruth Pulls It Off
Talked to builder Paul today and he told me that Mark had caught two possums overnight, one in each trap. Paul was not best pleased with the urine and faeces they’d left in the new downstairs bathroom so he was glad to see them go.Paul also said there was recent evidence of rats in the homestead, under the floors where he’d cut holes for sprinker Paul to come and put sprinkler heads in the downstairs ceilings.
Builder Paul’s dad dropped in this afternoon to see how things were progressing. Interestingly he was the first apprentice working for Mackelsey when first Mackelsey set up in business as a builder in Hawkes Bay. Libby senior, Paul’s dad, stayed with the firm until he retired, becoming the overall manager of their construction projects – a role to be repeated by builder Paul before he left Mackelsey’s to work on his own account. Karola and Paul’s dad chatted together for an hour or so, reminiscences and historical stories, good for both of them.
Elizabeth Pishief, our archaeologist, emailed to see how we were getting on, suggesting that maybe we were finished by now. Yeah, right! I said in reply that I, an optimist, thought Masrch 2022 would be a better estimate. Elizabeth will call round in a day or so to see where we’re at anyway.
I called up Ruth, our architect, to see how she was progressing on the amendment to make the sun room just a piece of verandah rather than a fully spec’d room to internal standards. Ruth has had a couple of long conversations with Chris Cochrane, our “big beast” in the conservation architecture world in Wellington, and they agreed that as the proposed changes did not alter any of the key parameters involved for resource consent the amendment really only needs to go to the council building consent group. So it is unlikely to trigger an involvement of Heritage NZ and hence should be a straightforward and timely approval. Ruth is very busy however, lucky Ruth in the age of Covid, so probably won’t get to the plan changes until next month. Neither Karola nor I feel we need to push for the speediest resolution so December is fine.
Mark mowed all the nettles he could find in the sheep paddocks and after afternoon tea he and I attacked the stretch of Clematis strangling some of the Casurina windbreak in Karola’s orchard.
Paul & Matt Get More Weatherboard On
Oak Avenue Weather:14.2℃—22.2℃ no rain [76.780] TdT TdO eggs=3 Mark=4
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Kitchen Plans Arrived
Mark came and finished mowing the lawns. I then set him the unenviable task of vacuuming out the homestead garage so I can put things back on the shelves and use it as a garage once more. Mark took half a dozen eggs and a couple of books we are returning back to his parents place in Napier on the bluff – we forgot to take them yesterday.
Paul is putting up weatherboard although still without Matt who we were expecting today. Paul received a quote for replacing the guttering and spouting for the homestead, about $12,000 which is reasonable.
Green Band is proving a bit of a disappointment after possibly eating the eggs she was supposed to be brooding when in with Blue Band I found today that she’d crushed the one egg she’s been sitting on back in the chook house.
We need the latest plans for the kitchen for Bridget at the weekend so I called Classic Kitchens and they emailed them over this afternoon.
When Kirsty called in a few days ago she brought us half a dozen small red apples – examples of a specialist variety called Rockit. These are small, maybe twice the size of a table tennis ball, and are sold in plastic tubes just like tennis balls. There’s apparently a fast growing market for them in China and 30 other countries, 100 million being exported this year.
From Stop Bank – Obviously A Local Grower For The Specialty Apple “Rockit”
Rockits
Oak Avenue Weather:12.9℃—20.5℃ 0.2mm rain [76.669] TdT TdO eggs=2 Mark=4
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Possum/Merino/Silk Blue Jumper
Shopping in the morning, it being Tuesday.
Picked up the new jersey I’d ordered from Alexanders; I had about three similar jerseys I’d worn out at the elbows so those went on the recycling pile and I luxuriated in the new one. Dark blue but nowhere near navy, V-neck, made in Christchurch allegedly from pure NZ possum fur, merino wool, and a little silk for strength.
After lunch Karola and I looked through a few more places where old clothes, mainly my old clothes, were lurking. We filled the back of the Subaru with clothes, some being new or new-ish, about half being serviceable, and the rest with holes or tears so probably rags. Jenny Hendery who helps run the Anglican ‘St Andrew’s Op Shop’ in Westshore, the other side of Napier, has offered to sort through them.
So, late afternoon we drove into Napier and Jenny & Noel gave us afternoon tea and we disgorged the heap of old clothing onto their sofa. Jenny gave us some strawberry plants which I expect to put in a corner of my raised beds.
Jenny & Noel’s View East Over Napier – Look At That Garden
… More North-Easterly View – Cape Kidnappers In The Distance
Pre-Loved Clothes Anyone?
Back Seats Down – Just As well Subaru Is An Estate Car (Station Waggon)
Nice Jersey, Pity About The Hair
Oak Avenue Weather:12.0℃—21.4℃ no rain [76.824] TdO eggs=2 Mark=4
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Lamb #110R – Leg Seems To Have Mended
I talked to builder Paul and he is pleased with the way things are progressing. Matt is off on another job until Wednesday but then Matt & Paul expect to begin putting up the weatherboard. Paul observed what I saw yesterday that there have been possums (or large rats) playing in the back porch over the weekend – “droppings”.
Mark and I yarded up a bunch of the sheep and lambs so that we could catch lamb #110R, the one with a leg in a splint. We took off the splint. To my surprise and delight the leg seems to have healed. It’s very raw at the bottom edge where the splint must have rubbed against the skin but the point of breakage seemed good. Lamb #110R walks a little awkwardly but does put weight on the mended back off-side leg.
Mark mowed the cottage lawn and curtilage and continued where he left off before the rains came on the homestead lawn.
Mid afternoon Karola and I emptied the two fridges, the one in the cottage and the combined fridge/freezer in the cottage garage. Then Mark helped me switch them – back to where they were a few months ago. Karola found that switching fridges didn’t solve the problem that things got too cold, they still did. And I found going out to the cottage garage every time I wanted frozen peas or beans or ice-cream, or Beyond Meat, an unnecessary irritation. Anyway, we’re back to “normal” now. In addition I moved the matching Fisher-Paykel freezer from its spot near the garage door to alongside the fridge; again I think this is moving it back to where it used to be.
Early evening I began cutting through the vines of Old Man’s Beard that is strangling a portion of the Casuarina windbreak along the south boundary. This is in the orchard and I worry that it is actually killing the trees. It’s been growing there and spreading for maybe four years or more.
Old Man’s Beard, (Clematis vitalba), Strangling A Portion Of The Casuarina Shelter Belt
Oak Avenue Weather:11.7℃—20.4℃ no rain [77.025] TdT TdO eggs=2 Mark=4
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De-Cluttering The Cottage Garage
Searched for more clothes that could be sent off to Jenny’s “op shop” – in the sun porch and the cottage garage. Slim pickings. For most of the afternoon I helped Karola do tidying up in the garage and Karola swept the floor which in itself made a big improvement.
Henare dropped in late afternoon after feeding his bees over in the north-east corner.
Friday’s Delivery – The Specially Sawn Matching Weather Board
On Friday The Big Skip Was replaced By An Empty Small One
Downstairs Looking West: Laundry With Enclosed Shower, Then Replacement For Old Bathroom
Upstairs Looking West: Two New Bathrooms
Back Porch With Its Hat On
Oak Avenue Weather:12.2℃—19.0℃ 0.8mm rain [77.396] TdT eggs=2
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Recycling And Discarding
In the morning, doing a little computer backing up, I spotted an anomaly when using the Transmit file transfer program that may give a clue to an issue I’ve had with it for a couple of years. Sent the evidence off to the support team in USA.
Robin Harrild (robin@harrild.co.uk) has been conversing with me over email for a few days now; he was with IBM at Hursley at about the same time and I knew him slightly in my early years there. We’ve been reminiscing about people we knew in the 1970s and some of the good times I had in IBM stem from those years.
In the afternoon I remembered Karola had been threatening to take recycling to the depot for a couple of weeks so we filled the Subaru with paper, plastic, and glass and took it to the “transfer station” in Henderson road.
Afterwards we went to BP in Sotrtford Lodge hoping to get coffees to have while we put the Subaru through the car wash. Got the coffees and a token for the car wash but then found that the cae wash was out of commission. So we trundled up to Caltex in Omahu road and got the wash there. The Subar had a thick layer of dust over the roof and most of the outside, some of it sticky pollen or similar, The wash did a good job (see photo below).
On a roll I then took a ruthless look at my wardrobe for the second time – the clothes in the cottage – and threw out over half my trousers and shirts. A couple of weeks ago I went through my clothes drawers and discarded at least a third of the garments there.
There really is no need to keep clothes frayed at the edges, paint splattered or torn from working around the place but it’s a bit of a wrench to be sensible and know there’s no way I will need them again. One or two things in good condition but that were mistakes at the time – too small or ill-fitting – but most of them are damaged goods. Unlike when I was young, I’m not sure poor people are interested in mendable good quality clothes any more. I suspect, sadly, that most of these clothes will go directly to rag bin as being unfashionable and/or needing a bit of repair.
Karola and I also went through the overcrowded coats cupboard containing coats and other winter wear for Karola and me. We put about a third on the “op shop” discard pile, and will put another third over in the house as items of nostalgic value but no practical use for the foreseeable.
Those Squash Growing Quickly With The Rain
Major Recycling Trip – Paper, Plastic, Glass
And Subaru Given A Wash After Months Of Neglect
Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [77.352] TdT TdO eggs=2
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Selwyn Comes And Adds Another Smoke Alarm
Got up expecting to take lamb #110R with the broken leg to the vets this morning but as Karola rightly pointed out, capturing a large lamb in the rain, soaking wet, was not likely to be good for me or the lamb so I called and cancelled the vet appointment. I now plan to capture the lamb on the next fine day when Mark is here and remove the splint myself. If the leg has healed satisfactorily in some way then we’ll let it be, otherwise Mark can have some dog tucker.
As expected Selwyn came this afternoon and used the opening in the wall at first floor level occasioned by the extension to add another smoke alarm at the bottom of the stairs, outside the new downstairs bathroom door. We also discussed adding a heat detector in the new kitchen area once we’re a bit further along.
Blue Band is still being a very committed broody hen whilst Green Band is not so sure. In fact I’ve mislaid her two eggs and she has decided that sitting on a nest in the chook house is preferable. Not sure what to do about that.
Showers of rain coming through so our first attempt to go down to the stop bank failed and we went round the block in the Landrover – by which time it had passed so we went down and did our usual exercises.
Oak Avenue Weather:12.2℃—16.5℃ 6.4mm rain [77.403] TdT TdO eggs=2 Mark=0
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They Can See Us Coming – $25,000 Indeed
Karola was so repelled by the surroundings of her dentist’s new premeses yesterday that she vowed never to go back there. It was not only the lack of parking close by, the unfinished construction work all around, and the insubstantial ramp up to the front door but, inside, the stark concrete dullness of it all. Anyway at Karola’s request I’ve transferred her to my dentist, Tracey Eales, so that it’ll be the same surgery she’s used to.
Paul & Matt put the roof on the back porch today. I had a long chat to Paul about the upstairs passage that now extends into the extension. The old homestead is on a bit of a lean so that where old meets new in the passage it changes height by a centimetre or more. Paul has eased the plywood floor in the extension up a bit and made the floor at the join slope downwards a tad so that if we carpet the passage extension with fitted carpet of the same kind as Karola has down the middle of the upstairs passages I think it’ll fit in, be warm and not a tripping hazzard.
Paul got a quote today for re-roofing the balcony and the east verandah – excluding the extra wood work needed to add rafters and purlins – for over $25,000. Seems ridiculously high to me. I’ve asked Paul if he can get another quote and also ask Superior Roofing how much the concave/swallow roof design was costing over and above conventional corrugated roofing.
Mark didn’t come today – too wet. The ten day forecast is for rain every day.
Green Band has been sitting as if broody in the chook house for the last two days so I took her and her two eggs, made a nest alongside Blue Band with her ten eggs, and left them to it.
On our way round the orchard with Bangle we had a thrilling experience. The small tabby cat, that I feed most nights on a post near the cottage, was out in the paddock resenting Bangle’s nonchalant trotting across the pasture. It arched it’s back and hissed. Moments after the photo below was taken the little cat launched itself at Bangle and got within a metre or two of her before Bangle realised something was up and scooted off. So much fury in such a little animal.
Cat And Dog – Bangle Nearly Ambushed
Oak Avenue Weather:9.6℃—14.3℃ 7.4mm rain [76.708] TdT TdO eggs=2 Mark=0
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GST Submitted On Time
Off to Hastings for Karola’s regular dental checkup, just in time. Karola’s dentist used to work in same practice with his wife Tracey – my dentist – but they’ve separated and Rob has set up a new practice in the heart of Hastings in a barely habitable building being massively refurbished. Construction work going on all around; inside the practice the ceilings and several of the walls are still structural concrete. But the visit was a success; Karola did always have excellent teeth.
On the way back got some coffees from BP’s Wild Bean Cafe and also got some special oil to mix with the seQuence herbicide, called Bonza as the local distributor of seQuence said Conqueror oil isn’t suitable.
Listened with Karola to morning radio, in this case a very good interview with the unlikely Siouxsie Wiles, a British scientist and communicator discussing aspects of the Coronavirus and its vaccines. Very clear and sensible.
Accepted Justin Bray’s quote to do the spraying – now we wait for the weather to improve.
Talked to Classic Kitchens man Stuart, and he said he’d get me a final drawing of the proposed new kitchen suitable for us to work on with Bridget and then pass to electrician and plumber. Checked with Paul that he can move the existing doorway over a bit to allow the pantry unit to be the same depth as the sink and oven units.
Mark busy today and anyway it started raining sporadically this morning and is now steadily pouring and expected to continue for a day or so.
Vet’s receptionist rang me to be sure i was OK with the Friday appointment to look at lamb #110R’s broken leg. Did I know that if it were to be amputated that’d likely cost between $800 and $1000 dollars. So, change of plan. I’ll take the lamb in, the vet can look at it and advise. If the leg is not mending then Mark can dispatch it and have for dog tucker. For the vet to euthanise it costs far more than the lamb is worth, so a bullet is not too cruel and a lot cheaper.
Got Karola’s GST done this evening.
Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [76.747] TdT TdO eggs=5 Mark=0
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Melbourne Cup (A Horse Race)
Shopping Tuesday again.
- Pharmacy
- Cornucopia for GF bread standing order plus more yoghurt for Karola
- New World
- Artisan for coffee and cakes
- the new CountDown – feels spacious and well stocked – similar to the New World in Green Meadows
- Alexanders Mens Wear to replace the soft but not fluffy “possum/merino/silk” pullover that has both elbows as raggedy holes. Replacement jersey now on order from Christchurch.
- Farmers for cosmetics for Karola
- Mitre-10 for a leaf rake to replace the broken one and couple of dustpans with brush so we never run out
- Rush Munro for comfort food
Mark had started on more mowing when we got back. He finished doing the 121 driveway and started on the homestead lawn – the grass is absolutely cantering up.
Following the successful visit yesterday by the council building inspector, NTF, (“no trouble found”), and the fastening of the roofing iron on the second storey extension, I took photos of the wrapped and roofed new building.
Karola enjoys watching the Melbourne Cup every year and this year was no different. Horse that won, not the Australian horse Incentivise that was greatly favoured, was Verry Elleegant, a mare born, owned, trained, and ridden by New Zealanders.
Waterproof Skin Over The Framing
Viewed From The Inside
The New Karaka Green Corrugated Iron Roof
Karola Chats With Lonely Fiji Covid Castaway On Stop Bank
Oak Avenue Weather:8.1℃—20.5℃ no rain [76.939] TdT TdO eggs=5 Mark=4
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An Inspector Calls
The building inspector came round and did one of the mandatory inspections of the building works. Nothing major found said Paul and he was a pleasant young man who was curious about the wood in-fill so that the lower ceiling did not breech the 3-metre rule; he seemed not to have heard of that rule. Anyway, another milestone passed.
Matt & Paul laid and fastened the Karaka Green corrugated iron roof to the new two-storey extension.
Mark began a few days of mowing.
Meticulous maids (singular) came and she cleaned and wiped and dusted in the cottage.
Large Paddock Of Squash – Twin Cotyledon’s Peeking Above The Ground
Oak Avenue Weather:9.3℃—18.8℃ no rain [77.371] TdT TdO eggs=2 Mark=4
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