Monthly Archives: February 2022

Bangle and I walked briskly round the orchard in the morning. There were only a couple of pickers on Hydrladders whom we avoided easily.

Ruth came mid day and we discussed the west verandah design. Paul, Ruth, and I have agreed on the plan paying proper attention to the building regulations and their demands for very robust structures. We’ve also got the pole spacing along the length of the verandah to look right, and the window widths all match and match up with the west-facing double-hung sash windows in the upstairs.

Mark came after a week off and in the first half of the afternoon he used Karola’s small green mower to mow the thick grass of the cottage lawn. Later he began picking up the metal rubbish from my clearing out of the homestead garage and the homestead project.

Called our financial advisor, Chris Day, and got some more cash for the building work. Discussed the world situation and how badly we’d been affected by that.

Karola, Bangle, and I went down to the stop bank for our last trip there for a while.

Meticulous Maid came and cleaned the cottage; they do a good job but insist on moving stuff round which still infuriates me.

Went down to Caltex on Omahu and got 20 litres of diesel for the tractor and 30 litres of 91-octane for the Grillo and lawn mower.

Karola, Bangle, and I went round the northern perimeter late afternoon; there were more pickers in the orchard by then so we didn’t go round the orchard as intended.

Oak Avenue Weather:11.7℃—20.0℃ no rain [76.7] TdT TdOx2 eggs=4 Mark=4

Walk after breakfast but as pickers were in the orchard we instwad went round the Front paddock. Saw that Henare still has two active hives down near the Wellingtonian.

A surprisingly chilly day, overcast with a southerly wind.

Now that we have a new back door to the homestead I’ve taken off all the padlocks and hasps and replaced them with a single one on the back door. I had a look on the balcony at the mended balustrade. Paul had to replace a few struts and painting it will be tedious but at least it’s no longer got any missing or misplaced struts.

Karola and I took the recycling down to Henderson road. As the Subaru still has the bike hung off its tow bar we took the Landrover instead.

Old Front Hall Now To Be The New Library

Swan Plant: Second Crop Caterpillars After Being Stripped Bare By First One

Oak Avenue Weather:10.5℃—19.4℃ no rain [76.900] TdT TdOx2 eggs=4

Glorious morning and after listening to Country Life on the radio – fascinating item about the biggest worm farm in New Zealand (if not the world) – we three walked round the orchard listening to Dr Michael Mosley’s podcast, “Just One Thing”. Today’s episodes: Cold Showers, and Early Morning Walks. No thanks to the former but the latter seems lie a good idea.

I intend to take up the early morning 20 minute walks straight away; usually I’ll do another walk round the orchard late afternoon too. I have been doing a 7km bike ride almost every day since 27th March 2020 but expect to switch to just the twice-daily round the orchard on 1st March 2022. Karola will be happier, she has become very bored with the stop bank routine, as has Bangle. Too many bangs (bird scarers), too much rubbish, too many unsavoury people she says.

I’ve cleared out the old hallway in the homestead, now to be known as the library, so that Paul can start lining it with GIB next week. Karola’s Sanderson wallpaper, smuggled into New Zealand in the 1980s, was laid on top of the old wallpaper which itself is laid on scrim. Scrim is highly flammable so all the wallpaper needs to come off before the GIB board goes on.

Returning Along The Stop Bank, Ngaruroro River Behind Trees On The Left

Near Carrick Road: Large Cropping Field

Large Gravel Piles Extracted From River

Small Row Of Hops, Dahlias In Corner – Orchardist’s Wife’s Project

Asparagus to The Left, Grapes To The Right

Riding Arena On Ormond

Oak Avenue Weather:12.3℃—24.7℃ no rain [?] TdT TdOx2 eggs=0

Two little timers came in the post today, ordered recently on TradeMe. Only a handful out of the hundreds for sale are fully mechanical; the rest all have display screens with those atrocious character displays.

Talked to Paul today. He fixed up a window pane in the new kitchen, broken by the GIB stopper I think. He had a sheet of glass at home and cut it to size and puttied it in. Paul also has mended the broken/missing pieces of the union jack railings – balustrade – on the balcony upstairs. Paul has also put scotia up for ceilings and some walls of the new build. We have to wait for joiner Graeme to make us skirting boards and architraves and scotia to match the originals where old meets new.

Graeme Boaler came round at lunchtime with the frame of the window for the back porch. He expects to have run us up skirting and architrave sometime next week.

Mechanical Kitchen Timers

Oak Avenue Weather:11.1℃—22.2℃ no rain [?] TdT TdO eggs=3 Mark=0

Cooler spell but rain stopped before daybreak.

I ordered some business cards online because I want blank labels of that size for my filing. I couldn’t find any blank stock in Hastings shops nor online so I got the least expensive order I could and put Karola’s details on the back. They arrived today and so Karola has, for the first time, a business card she could hand out were anyone to ask for her address or phone number or email address.

Painters turned up beginning at 7:00am and they painted the inside of the back porch before starting on the inside proper. They did a lot of sanding to prepare the surfaces – the architraves and doors and windows – and created so much dust that the fire alarm went off and I got a call from our security firm.

New Back Porch Painted – Still Waiting For The Window

New Laundry Painted – Looking East Towards Back Door & Kitchen

Oak Avenue Weather:13.5℃—19.7℃ no rain [77.100] TdT TdO eggs=3 Mark=0

A very quiet day; no-one, not even Paul at the homestead; Mark away until next week. Karola is enjoying a new detective novel, Treachery at Hursley Park House, the second novel by Claire Gradidge.

Oak Avenue Weather:14.3℃—22.3℃ 0.8mm rain [77.000] TdT TdO eggs=3 Mark=0

Did a larger shop today as I’m stocking up for potentially two weeks without another visit. Perishables such as fresh fruit and vege excluded, and also milk because even if Karola and I were forced into quarantine I’m sure our back-up would be able to get those for us. It’s Bridget’s idea that we should have a firm plan for what happens should I get sick with Covid. If it’s only me then Karola can look after the animals and me but emails and bills and the like are a mystery to anyone but me.

I received a chilling email today from the Ascent online computer store based in Wellington. Not quite as chilling as being actually attacked though – I pulled out the plug as soon as I read the email.

We have heard today that some Asustor NAS products are being affected by Deadbolt ransomware and our records indicate that you have purchased an Asustor NAS from us.

As planned Paul came and did some small jobs for us in the cottage this afternoon. He fixed the squeaking ledger kitchen door by packing out the top hinge. He reinstalled the doors at the front of the hot water cylinder cupboard and built Karola a new shelf for clothes airing. Being a different shape an size the old shelves did not work. Best of all he made an economical fix to the hexagon blinds problem.

The two hexagon blinds we had installed in the cottage dining room pulled up and down freely between the sides of the window frame. In order to do their insulating job they must fit iside the frame, not over the top as with normal blinds and curtains. However these two blinds do not fit snugly inside the frame, there’s a bit of a gap to allow for the frame’s imperfections, not being exactly squared. So for the next three blinds I asked that they be made more snug and, as could have been anticipated, they then jammed as one pulled them up and down.

My solution was to plane the sides of the frame back until the blind fitted but Paul had a much better idea. When being used for insulation the blind needs to be pulled fully down and fit snugly within the frame. On other occasions it doesn’t matter if the blind stands partially proud of the frame where it isn’t wide enough. Paul’s idea, now implemented, was to make a small recess at the bottom of the frame on each side so that when fully extended the blind’s wooden end could be pushed between the window frame sides. The wooden lathes at either end of the blind are just a fraction wider than the blind itself so this worked perfectly. When extended the blind fitted snugly without binding all the way down the window.

I asked Paul to make the same recesses in the cottage bedroom window and left a message with the sales woman for the blinds so we can get another hexagon blind for that window. O also asked him to contact Gary Patton, the guy who refurbished the big iron bath in the cottage bathroom, as some of the coating is beginning to peel off. Turns out that Gary atton is architect Ruth Vincent’s ex husband. Small world Hastings.

Oak Avenue Weather:15.4℃—26.3℃ no rain [77.309] TdT TdO eggs=2 Mark=0

Yesterday’s big storm in the UK, Eunice, was fierce, about as fierce as the 1987 storm across the south of England when, after dark, in the pouring rain, our upstairs bedroom bay window blew out.

Anna TXTed that there were

Just branches and leaves everywhere – a few houses seem to have lost roof tiles or fences but nothing major – aside from the loss of most of that lovely Lebanese cedar in Walpole Park which crashed through the listed wall (see photos below)

Wikipedia reports that:

Storm Eunice (/ˈjuːnɪs/) (known as Storm Zeynep in Germany and Storm Nora in Denmark) is an intense extratropical cyclone that is part of the 2021–2022 European windstorm season. Storm Eunice was named by the UK Met Office on 14 February 2022. On 16 February, an amber weather warning was issued for the whole of Southern England, Wales and the Midlands. A red weather warningwas subsequently issued on 17 February for parts of South West England and South Wales, with a second red warning issued on 18 February for London, the South East and East of England. Eunice has set a provisional record for the fastest wind gust recorded in England with 122 miles per hour (196 km/h) at The Needles, Isle of Wight. The storm was one of the most powerful to impact the south coast of England since the Great Storm of 1987.[6]

Meanwhile here it was a cool day with some sunny patches. Blue Band and chick are still perky. Mark didn’t come today; he may be away for a few days as he’s not too well at present.

Anna’s Favourite Tree Smashed By Storm Eunice

That Lebanese Cedar In Walpole Park, Ealing

Blue Band And Chick – So Far So Good

Went out to de la terre winery today, about 14km up the Napier-Taihape road, half way to Peter Arthur’s farm we knew as Touchwood Books – where Bangle goes for holidays with Graham & Tracey. De La Terre is a winery with attached cafe and cellar door. Despite the gentle rain (hurrah) we gathered outside in a covered courtyard and had a delightful lunch. Tiny portions, visually striking and tasted good. Not expensive.

The occasion was a gathering of the Hawkes bay local IDS members – ten of us attended including: Peter Arthur (who organised it), Chris Ryan, Dan Haliday, Paul McCarthy, Rob Dunkerly and partner Adrienne, Michael Midgley (Trelinnoe) and Gary Clapperton. Sadly, due to Covid worries, this year’s AGM and field trips, planned for Hawkes Bay, has been cancelled.

Oak Avenue Weather:16.4℃—25.9℃ 7.2mm rain [76.833] TdO eggs=2

Quiet, relaxing day. Did listen to some recent Dr John Campbell videos which are quite encouraging although Dr Campbell thinks Western Australia is going to cause a blip for Australia’s descending curves just because they haven’t let Omicron in yet. He didn’t remark on it but did show an escalating number of cases in New Zealand as Omicron takes hold.

The other reassuring item was information about the protective value of prior infection. For those who actually got natural immunity through having COVID19 it seems that this will continue to give protection against reinfection, or at least severe reinfection for over a year.

Anna has kindly reminded me of the soothing, calming effect of the UK Shipping Forecast so I cast around
and found one in an article about Peter Jefferson and another read by Laurie Macmillan (it starts about 2:30 in from the start of the video). And one more read by Brian Perkins for good measure. This last voice is just what I remember.

Multiple readers can be heard on this clip

Peter Jefferson

Over his decades-long career, Peter Jefferson became one of the most recognizable readers of the Shipping Forecast, his voice a kind of metronome for sailors and insomniacs alike. He had all kinds of other responsibilities at the BBC, but could never really escape his association with the forecast. And then one day, after learning some bad news, he made a mistake. He had just been diagnosed with cancer, and stumbled during a transition on the air. “I thought I had closed the mic,” he recalls, “but I hadn’t and I said “oh f***” … and unfortunately it went out … and I followed it shortly afterwards.” He left the BBC.

Oak Avenue Weather:13.2℃—26.1℃ no rain [76.993] TdT eggs=2

Nipped into town for Karola’s hair appointment; dipped into New World on the way home which was via Onekawa where we needed to make some decisions about the placements of handles and knobs on our new kitchen and laundry cabinetry.

After Paul had left for the weekend Karola and I had a good look round the homestead additions and alterations. Slightly worrying is how dark and tall the little shower room is off the end of the laundry – but white walls and a bright LED light will probably fix that.

Another dose of chain sawing, leaving the picking up to Mark next week.

Henare came round, joined later by Scott and another bee keeper, and they spent much of the evening working with their bees, in the dark. Apparently two hives are doomed – have a disease – but the other two are happy and full of bees.

That Big Oak Branch – Two Feet Thick

New Main Bathroom – Ready For Painting

Old Front Hall Partitioned Off As The Library

New Laundry Ready For Painting

LED Versus Incandescent Bulb Strengths

Oak Avenue Weather:13.6℃—26.1℃ no rain [76.882] TdO eggs=2 Mark=0

Before the ground dried out too much I mowed all the large patches of Californian thistles with the little red tractor. I then mowed a pathway round the perimeter of the One Acre, partly to inhibit the huge crop of Californaian thistles in the One Acre moving out into the adjoining paddocks and partly so we could walk round the One Acre without discomfort.

Starting yesterday I let Blue Band and her chick out for a few hours each day. So far they’ve been quite easy to put back at 4:00pm when I feed the other chooks and collect the eggs. I imagine Blue Band will find her chick lots of natural food if allowed to free range.

Oak Avenue Weather:12.9℃—24.3℃ no rain [76.857] TdT TdO eggs=2 Mark=0

Bridget’s Newly Acquired EV – Nissan Leaf

Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [?]

Grillo returned with its replaced ($800) hydraulic lift for the deck.

Scaffolding people came and removed all the scaffolding from the south face of the homestead.

Did the stop bank walk from Carrick Road today.A delightful sunny day with gentle cool wind. Saw vwery wide machine with squash pickers and another large paddock (below) with many pickers, each with their own colourful sun umbrella, picking beans.

The swan plants in the octagon were stripped bare by the last lot of Monarch caterpillars; after recent rain they’ve sprung back into life but are covered in what I assume are more Monarch butterfly eggs.

I squeezed in another hour of chain sawing.

South Aspect Of The Homestead

Carrick Road Stop Bank Access – Looking South-West

Carrick Road Stop Bank Access – Looking North-East

Bean Pickers On Nichol Road

Swan Plants Were Stripped Clean Have Burst Into Leaf – Covered In Eggs

Oak Avenue Weather:9.3℃—25.9℃ no rain [77.141] TdT TdO eggs=2 Mark=0

Shopping day but first we took Bangle for her monthly grooming. Back to Karamu to create the weekly shopping list then into town stopping at Farmlands (wheat 20kg), Cornucopia (my GF bread plus yoghurt for Karola), and New World (the weekly groceries). Off home and then it’s time to pick up Bangle all silky and clean. That won’t last long.

I did buy a large dinner plate in a Willow-pattern design, made in England but earthenware, not porcelain so quite heavy. Karola has put her expensive porcelain dinner plates into hiding after one broke recently, probably stacked badly in the dishwasher. They are no longer obtainable in Hastings if not the world.

Mark is taking the rest of the week off.

Ivan called round to present his bill and get some eggs. He expects to come back later in the week and connect the homestead power up to the mains. I’m also hoping he’ll put some long life LED lights in the big orchard shed using a very long ladder as the fittings are way up in the rafters.

Oak Avenue Weather:12.0℃—23.6℃ no rain [77.216] TdO eggs=2 Mark=0

First order of business is to get the Landrover and its trailer to Tamatea Motors for overdue WOFs. Unfortunately the Landrover wouldn’t start for quite a while. Temperature has dropped, Landrover occasionally refuses to start but only on cooler days. Used spray can of ether “quick start” mix but it still took many tries and about 90 minutes to finally start it. Then off we went in convoy, Karola following close behind in the Zoe.

We pass the Green Meadows New World on the way to Tamatea Motors so drop in on the way back for a bit more food and a coffee.

Lot of activity in the orchard so I go to investigate. Workers are removing the white rolls of fabric used to reflect sunshine on the undersides of the apples and are also fixing quite a lot of storm damage dotted throughout the orchard in the Galaxy rows. Fuji apples are still growing but the Galaxy are ready to pick and at top weight. The very soggy ground gave way under the heavy, apple laden trees and stretches of several rows collapsed, uprooting the trees and breaking posts.

Late afternoon when taking Bangle round the orchard we inspected the repair activity using tall metal poles and were surprised how few trees were actually past repair – most just got propped upright and roots went back where they belonged. Lots of apples fell off the fallen trees however. Karola, Bangle, and I each tried an apple and they are indeed ready to pick.

Late afternoon we went and picked up the Landrover and trailer, both passed their WOFs. As arranged, Heath Goldfinch (Tamatea Motors owner) gave us a quote for fitting the winch to the Landrover – much more than the actual winch cost so I’ll just dispose of the winch instead of having it fitted. Another silly purchase of mine.

After our Tour de Twyford where we observed the swollen Ngaruroro – angry and swift but not really very high – and dinner I did an hour’s chain sawing of some of the fallen branch.

Karola’s Orchard – Cyclone Dovi – Soggy Ground & Heavy Apple Load

Lots Of Apples Lost But Only A Few Trees

Upstream Deluge Last Couple Of Days Swells Ngaruroro

Expressway Piles Take A Pounding

Mark Has Finished Orchard Shed Shelving

Oak Avenue Weather:13.0℃—18.2℃ no rain [77.203] TdT TdO eggs=2 Mark=0

GIB-stopper here again all day.

Occasional gentle showers but no real wind. Lots news about flooding and storms elsewhere in New Zealand.

More chain-sawing which just uncovered how much wood there is to remove from the big fallen oak branch.

Under Bridget’s House – Cave-In Caused By Downpours

Water Under Bridget’s House – Only Pumping Avoided Flooding Downstairs

Tiny Inroads On Clearing Fallen Branch

Oak Avenue Weather:13.6℃—18.9℃ 3.4mm rain [77.328] TdT eggs=2

Blue Band and single chick still alive and active. THe chick that hatched later yesterday is no more to be seen; the other three eggs not hatched turned out to have live chicks in them when I broke them open to see what was going on. Ben says that’s not unheard of for the hatchings to be staggered.

Late afternoon I did get out and begin the process of cutting up the fallen branch; i now realise just how much wood came down when that branch fell.

GIB-stopper man was here all day, Saturday.

Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [77.828] TdT eggs=4

Discussions with Paul and joiner Graham about the way we handle where the skirting meets the GIB. Karola is not that bothered, preferring not to risk splitting the old Kauri skirting when taking it off. I dislike the way putting GIB on the wall and stopping it just above the existing skirting destroys the indentation from the skirting back to the wall. Paul ahs an excellent suggestion, which we have adopted.

Paul suggests using a square section 20mm rail above the skirting to which the GIB abuts. Graham suggested he scallop the bottom edge to blend it with the detailing on the old skirting.

GIB stopper hard at work today and is expecting to come again tomorrow, Saturday, to continue.

Karola, Bangle, and I tootled into Hastings to pick up dry cleaning, pick up the Hansa chipper’s wheel with a new inner tube,

Mark came and continued with the shelving project. He also let me know that a large branch had fallen in the night from high up an old oak tree – didn’t do any damage that we can see which was a stroke of good fortune; it could have fallen on the eastern end of the homestead garage including the dish connecting us to the Internet; it could have squashed Mark’s car which he’s taken to parking in the shade of that particular oak.

Blue Band showed off a single solitary chick today; I heard cheeping in one of the other four eggs so maybe ther’ll be another one tomorrow.

Large Oak Branch Falls From Up High

Blue Band And New Chick

Oak Avenue Weather:18.7℃—27.4℃ 23.0mm rain [77.467] TdT eggs=4 Mark=4

The belt for the Grillo has arrived and I was asked to bring the old one in just to check it was exactly the right size. Mark helped me remove the old belt from the Grillo and later put it all back together. We also took the front cover off and tried to see where the fault in the Grillo deck-raising system might be but no luck. I called Craig at Outdoor Power and it’s now booked in for next Tuesday.

The inner tube for the Hansa chipper arrived today as well and I’ll be able to pick up the repaired tyre on its wheel tomorrow.

Chatted with Paul about the placement of the homestead downpipes; we need one more downpipe than initially envisaged. About half the homestead roof will drain into the rainwater tanks, the other half will go directly into the storm water drain.

Continuous Spouting gang came and began replacing the gutters and spouting.

Mark continued with the shelving project.

Quite a warm day so we didn’t go down to the stop bank until after dinner; spent the afternoon reading the two issues of The Listener that Gill had couriered up for us – they were delivered to her address in Seatoun in error. The Dyson fan proved its worth.

Oak Avenue Weather:19.4℃—29.5℃ no rain [77.738] TdT eggs=2 Mark=4

The building inspector came and we passed so can now go on to the GIB stopping. Checking the screw positions for the GIB being used as bracing is a key component of the inspection. No sign of the roofing guys yet.

While Karola, Bangle, and I went down in the Landrover to the stop bank, Mark mowed the cottage lawn and then started on the 121 driveway.

Yesterday I discovered the Subaru’s battery was flat so I got Mark to help me roll it out under the big oak and I jump-started it with the Landrover. I’d left two little ceiling lights on next to the rear mirror and this was enough supposedly to flatten the battery overnight.

The Subaru battery needed a bit of recharging so Karola, Bangle, and I went to Rush Munro’s for ice-creams.

Mark finished the mowing and fixed a broken rail up near the holding paddock.

Acres And Acres Of Tomatoes Down By The Stop Bank

Karola’s Orchard: Galaxy Apples Nearly Ripe

Oak Avenue Weather:19.2℃—25.4℃ no rain [77.442] TdT TdO eggs=3 Mark=4

Karola, Bangle, and I went shopping. The rain had helped drop the temperature to a mild low 20℃ so it was cool enough for Bangle to accompany us in Zoe.

Shopping at New World as usual, several products were still just empty shelves although there was no sign of actual panic buying.

On the way in we stopped briefly at PaperPlus – a bit like the old Woolworths of my youth – and I bought a copy of Michael Mosley’s lateast money spinner called “The Fast 800 Keto”. I’d already ordered it from BookDepository last night so later I canceled it, successfully, meaning I didn’t have to find a home for my second copy.

Mark came and continued work on the orchard shed shelving, even though the rain had eased it was still very wet underfoot so this enabled him to work in the dry.

Got home, unpacked the groceries, and realised we’d not taken the eggs in to Food Bank. So, after lunch we tootled back into Hastings and dropped off the eggs. Given that their published opening hours are until 4:30pm during the working week I was surprised to find the door locked at just after 3:00pm. A woman who said she had an appointment at 3:30pm was similarly surprised but thought she could see movements inside. She rang them and the agent, the sole person on duty today, came and got the eggs and advised the woman whom to call to reschedule. The agent said that as she was the only person there she couldn’t keep an eye on the door and do her other work, hence the lock out.

Convolvulus scrambling up an oak on the avenue was impeding my vision when coming out of the 121 driveway so today I pulled what I could off the tree and painted the main stems with Vigilant. I’ve had the same problem in earlier years but never quite get to kill it all. I then did a similar action against Convolvulus that was smothering Ngaio trees on the corner of the 145 entrance.

Later I took the Landrover down to Caltex Omahu road and pumped up the tyres and used the car wash. With the recent inside valet and the car wash the Landrover looked younger than its years.

Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [?] TdO eggs=1 Mark=4

Gentle rain most of the day again.

Walk round the orchard as the least wet way for Bangle to get a little exercise.

eMails and bills, that sort of thing. No Mark because it’s a public holiday today, replacing the actual Waitangi day which fell on a Sunday this year.

Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [?] TdO eggs=4

Most welcome rain continues most of the day.

Assuming it’d be raining we took coats (except Bangle) and I walked along the Clive wetlands limestone path and down to the sea.

Even Bay Espresso was closed on this gloomy Sunday aftternoon.

Zoi Sadowski-Synnott won her gold medal; we watched – well Karola watched the entire event, twelve snow boarders going through their routines three times each. Nice exciting ending. Zoi was born in Australia of a New Zealand father and American mother. They call her the Wanaka Wonder – she lives in Wanaka.

Mouth Of The Clive Estuary

Do I Have To Stay?

Hmm, That Was A Bit Close

Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [?] TdC eggs=3

Morning newspaper came, and was not in the ditch this time but it was uncharacteristically late, arriving mid morning, so wasn’t there when I went out to the gate with Bangle just befofe 7:00am.

Rain forecast but really almost a mist today; hope for more later on.

Russ of Mobile Car Valet came this afternoon, with a sidekick, and did the Landrover which hadn’t been valetted for many years. The leather seats came up nicely.

Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [?] TdT TdO eggs=3

A hot day that kept on getting hotter. Talking to Paul the next inspection is on Tuesday and today he feels all is ready for that inspection. The spouting people are due Wednesday to put up gutters along back (south) roofs.

Karola and I went into Hastings for Karola’s fortnightly hair appointment. Afterwards we continued on to Onekawa, to Classic Kitchens where we dropped off the extractor hood for the new kitchen so they can integrate it into the cabinetry.

I noticed that the old plum tree near the big oak had ripe plums so I tried a few; delicious,

Mark came and first we fixed the big trailers electrics. By some lucky fluke Mark chose the yellow wire to begin re-joining the seven wires within the lighting cable. He used one of the crimps I bought yesterday and we shrank-wrapped the finished crimp using my paint stripper heater. To my delight all lights now work: both indicators, brake lights, and night lights.

The chipper from Ben & Gill has a flat tyre, almost a slow puncture, so Mark took off the offending wheel.

Together Mark and I took off the Grillo mowing deck and released the secondary belt which, as Craig from Outdoor Power told me, had several almost fatal cuts in it.

Mark finished the day with more work on the big orchard shed shelving; we’ve decided to add a third shelf below the other two.

I popped into town beginning with AIT, where I got the Grillo’s replacement main belt last year. I took the secondary belt with me and AIT’s Phil is chasing up a replacement, will let me know late next week.

Then I went to PitStop opposite Tony’s Tyre Service on Heretaunga street in Hastings. In the past they have fixed my wheel barrow tyre problems. They’ll get another inner tube which should arrive on Wednesday.

Couldn’t pass Rush Munro’s on way home.

Peter Offenberger called late afternoon and we arranged to go out, the four of us, for a meal tonight. Went to Fiko which has a mediterranean menu, delicious. Got back around 9:00pm and inside the cottage was still very hot although outside the temperature was pleasant, in mid 20℃s. Remembering the ripe plums we took a few for Peter and Charlotte.

Henare brought more bees here under cover of darkness again.

Karola’s Orchard, Galaxy Apples Ripening Nicely

Quite A Good Joke From XKCD

Oak Avenue Weather:16.5℃—30.2℃ no rain [77.439] TdO eggs=5 Mark=4

Electrician Ivan dropped in and gave us green beans from his garden. We also talked about the plan for him to replace the big orchard she lights with long-life LEDs – the light sockets are too high to reach without particularly long ladders.

The tow-bar assembly I ordered yesterday arrived by post. Mark took this and the instruction booklet and put together the Hansa chipper (made in New Zealand). The main assembly was child’s play but the towbar assembly had some unnecessary obstacles that could be avoided by tiny design changes. Some of the bolts were a millimetre or so too long, they could all be the same shorter length. And the heads of the screws were just a millimetre or maybe two too small so that when fixing the ball and catch to the shaft, in quite a confined and difficult place, the bolts didn’t quite catch against the side of the shaft but instead rotated with the nut being tightened from the other side. By shifting the bolt hole a couple of milimetres it would fit snugly and allow tightening the nut without slippage.

The Hansa C7 Chipper is a really solid piece of machinery let down by a couple of simple design faults. Mark assembled it; the engine started smoothly without effort, and the initial test went well.

Russ from Mobile Car Valet arrived after lunch and was joined by a young woman worker mid afternoon. By 5:00pm he’d cleaned the interior of the Subaru and the Zoe; he plans to come back on Saturday afternoon to do the LandRover.

Mark Tries Out The New Chipper Donated By Gill & Ben

Oak Avenue Weather:21.0℃—31.3℃ no rain [77.697] TdT eggs=1 Mark=4

Cynthia Chalmers came for morning tea and chatted with Karola. She brought her elderly black Labrador bitch with her.

I took Karola in for her eye appointment with Dr Liz Insull at the Eye Clinic. Liz shares chambers with Dr John Beaumont. A most satisfactory visit as Liz assured karola her eyes were almost 20-20, improving over the readings taken last time she was at the surgery. Liz also took out an in-growing eye-lash which may have accounted for some of Karola’s eye discomfort, although it had probably been there for a long time. I was most impressed with Dr Liz.

I got new pin numbers on our two FARMLANDS cards at last, at New World as recommended by the FarmaCard help line.

I ordered the optional tow-bar attachment for the Hansa C7 Chipper; it was less expensive than I’d expected and assuredly less expensive than having a bespoke one made in Hastings.

Mark finished lawn mowing and then continued with the shelving project.

Henare brought another hive of bees over under cover of darkness.

Oak Avenue Weather:15.8℃—30.5℃ no rain [77.640] TdT eggs=4 Mark=4

Bridget & Lexi went off to an open-air fruit and vege shop on Pakowhai road where they got yoghurt ice-creams, a firm favourite.

Karola, Bangle, and I went off shopping much as usual this morning although noticeably some shelves were empty and not being restocked. Another trip later we went to Farmlands for bags of maize, kibbled maize, and chook pellets.

I stopped off at JayCar and was lucky to purchase a portable plug-in radio to replace Karola’s old one (1980s Grundig). Searching online I could find none in stock in New Zealand. Unfortunately when I assembled it and tried it out at home the sound quality was about the same and the interference (crackling, static noise) was about the same as Karola’s old one. To top it all the tuning dial was broken so I planed to return it at the earliest opportunity.

Mark and Paul’s son, builder Matt, lifted the heavy Hansa chipper out of the back of Bridget’s car. Bridget did some measurements and decided that our table-tennis table would not fit in her car, nor into one of the small Cyclone Pup trailers. Karola’s suggestion that Bridget just buy one in Wellington and get it delivered seemed more sensible as the day wore on.

We all had lunch at Lappuccino’s, I enjoyed their “world famous in Omahu road” chuffles – GF waffles with bacon, avocado, lettuce, and cheese-based waffle.

After lunch Bridget and Lexi inspected the house building work to date before scuttling back down to Wellington for school and work tomorrow.

Mark mowed most of the homestead lawn and finished watering the avenue of eleven Totara trees and the five Puriri.

I watered the herbs in the raised beds and the octagon where swan plants stood dry and leafless after the ravages of the Monarch caterpillars. I found one chrysalis on a nearby shrub, there are bound to be others. I turned off the watering system to the Manuka and micro-orchard, the five swamp cypress and avenue of lime trees (tilia), and the two blocks of young red beech trees.

Hansa C7 Chipper

Homestead South Wall Exterior Painted

New Kitchen Ceiling

Upstairs Passage Extension With New Window

Walls Gibbed, Ceiling In Place – Upstairs Bathrooms

Oak Avenue Weather:18.2℃—26.0℃ no rain [77.602] TdT eggs=3 Mark=4