Monthly Archives: March 2023

Bayswater call to say they’ve found my iPad. Meanwhile Mark has dropped in and retrieved it. End of missing iPad saga.

Mark arrives at 10:00am and drives us all: me, Karola, Bangle, over to 111 TeMata Mangateretere road – same road that Emma the dog groomer is on. There a man called Paul helped us make the transfer from Justin’s trailer to ours. All went very smoothly and only untoward thing was the ram stamping his foot very hard and repeatedly as he indicated what he thought of us. Mark drove us home and into the Front paddock where we let him out. He trotted straight towards the ewes. Ram and ewes are to stay in the Front paddock and the One Acre, as far away from the ewe lambs as possible, for the next few weeks.

WHile we were out fetching the ram Keith bowled the ginkgo in the circle at the front of the homestead. It’s quite a lot bigger than I expected; it was obscuring both floors of the homestead so Bridget was right to require its removal.

Karola and I took the Subaru in to Tony’s Tyre Service where it was fitted with four new tyres. We sat in the little waiting room for 90 minutes as they did it. Now we’re in good shape for the trip to Bulls tomorrow – WOF, service, and new boots.

Bridget called tto say that today she tested positive for Covid, again. So she won’t be coming up to drive us to Bulls tomorrow and join in the festivities. We hope she has only a very mild infection this time. Meanwhile Mark has agreed to step in and do the driving. He’ll join in most of the activities too such as driving us round the Ngaio boundary and attending the evening barbeque. We’re sleeping at Chloe and Harry’s place, Burleigh, and returning after the Burleigh buffet lunch on Sunday.

Feisty Large Ram Arrives At Karamu

Duty Calls

Ginko Obscuring Verandah View Is Downed

Oh No, Bridget Tests Positive Again

Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [788.3] TdO eggs=2 Mark=4

Subaru is in for a service and WOF today, ready for Bridget to drive us to Bulls on Saturday. Karola and I drove into Napier and left the car at 9:30am; a few minutes later we were picked up by Mark on his way to us to start work at 10:00am. That all worked as planned.

Justin of Small Farm Services called to say he wouldn’t be there when we picked up the ram tomorrow but Mark and I still plan to do it. All we have to do is convince a large, fierce ram to jump from one trailer into ours; what could possibly go wrong.

John Henderson called and rescheduled his appointment from 1:00pm to 12:00 noon which suited us all. He came and measured up for the Acorn stairlift (memories of Barbara Florent’s stairlift in Boulogne). Having paid the 50% deposit this evening I now await confirmation that the stairlift will be installed the week after Easter, in time for Anna & Dave in May.

At the end of Mark’s shift he took us back into Napier to pick up the Subaru. Apparently a few small things needed fixing as they explained on the phone, but they expected it to be ready by 2:15pm. Mark dropped us off and then we waited for almost an hour and a half for the service and WOF to be completed. I was rather impatient from all the waiting and left my precious iPad on the table in Bayswater’s little waiting room. Probably Mark will retrieve it for me tomorrow.

Wind was still gusting mightily today so not a good time to saw down the ginkgo in front of the homestead. Luckily my little chainsaw is too puny to get through the quite massive main trunk of the ginkgo so I deferred cutting it down until Keith can help tomorrow.

Bespoke Lamp Shades Arrived

Ginkgo Obscuring Main Aspect From Homestead

Trunk Too Thick For My Small Chainsaw

Oak Avenue Weather:10.3℃—18.3℃ no rain [78.4] TdO eggs=3 Mark=4

Mid afternoon I was upstairs doing a bit of email and I heard an almighty crash. Winds had been strengthening all afternoon and coming in vicious gusts. I went outside to investigate and found the old Ginko had fallen. It’s been dying for over a decade with fewer and fewer leaves each year so not unexpected.

Lovely smell from the burning cedar stump.

I dropped Karola off at Chatham House for the morning where she meets a small group of “seniors” and they have a chance to chat with a cup of tea and cakes alongside a few gentle group exercises for mind and body. Learning from the pandemic lockdowns it’s important for couples to have a little time apart and mixing with other people. I have my monthly Free Thinkers, a lot of email contact, and Mark coming to do odd jobs five days a week so already have my mixing.

Mark noticed that all except two lambs were shut in the yards. We’ve no idea how tis happened but the most plausible reason is that we left the gate into the orchard open and someone kindly shooed them back and put them in the yards for us.

Mark and I continued clearing dead and fallen debris from along the avenue boundary fence and later Mark began a clean-out of the chook house using sawdust for the floor.

Ben went out to Waikanae last week and returned with some beautiful bird photos (below).

Cedar Stump Mostly Consumed

Big Old Ginkgo End-Of-Life

Royal Spoonbill – Waikanae – courtesy Ben Bell

Shoveller Duck – Waikanae – courtesy Ben Bell

Brown Teal Duck – Waikanae – courtesy Ben Bell

Whitefaced Heron – Waikanae – courtesy Ben Bell

New Zealand Dabchick – Waikanae – courtesy Ben Bell

Pukeko – Waikanae – courtesy Ben Bell

Oak Avenue Weather:7.5℃—15.4℃ 2.0mm rain [78.1] TdO eggs=3 Mark=4

Shopping for the week ahead including giving Seawater Seafoods another chance. This time I stressed i wanted two separate purchases, about 200g each of gurnard and terakihi. And I got two packages each of almost exactly 250g. I noticed that the gurnard and terakihi prices were the same per kilogram so maybe the bundling it all together and labelling it as terakihi wasn’t actually overcharging me.

Bridget wants us to get the cottage washing machine cleaned and she is right, it is a little manky. However I saw an advertisement on TV last week for a washing machine cleaner, Easy Off BAM, so today we got some. It worked on TV; now to see if it works in practice.

Last night Keith started a fire on top of the ragged stump of the fallen Cedar. Apparently when the root base gets stressed it produces oils that are flammable hence it’ll make a good fire and burn up the stump including back along the main roots. Much much less expensive than getting the roots excavated.

Peter Wiffin from just the other side of Janet Scott, our southern neighbour, has been cutting up firewood and at the same time helping clear our many fallen tree branches. As he told me yesterday, he and Keith actually went to the same school.

Hawkes Bay Today – 13 April 2017

Oak Avenue Historic Area in Hastings was blocked by busted branches and trunks for all of its 1.4km after Cyclone Cook hit on Thursday night.

Oak Avenue resident and former Asblundh forestry foreman Keith MacAulay said with 150-year-old oak trees blocking Ormond Rd and reports of similar situations throughout the district he broke out his chainsaw and rang his friend Graeme Eyles.

Mr Eyles donned his Yummy Fruit Company personal safety equipment and dragged tree trunks from the road using a chain tied to his 4WD.

Several RSE orchard workers living beside Mr MacAulay pitched in to help, clearing debris from the road so cars could pass.

Cedar Stump Burnout – Keith MacAulay In Charge

Cedar Stump Burnout – Schoolmates Peter Wiffin And Keith MacAulay

Oak Avenue Weather:8.7℃—24.5℃ 6.8mm rain [78.0] TdO eggs=2 Mark=4

Tomorrow is proper weekly shopping day but despite that we went into Hastings. I picked up a beef bourguignon meal from MYLK for tonight, Karola bought a bunch of flowers for Sally Pearce who has organised our fortnightly cleaning since 2013-ish. Sally is going out of business at the end of this week so we’ve had our last clean by Meticulous Maids today.

Mark continued his mammoth task of dragging/carting fallen tree debris from the 121 driveway to the bonfire site. After midday break he and I started on clearing some of the debris from the roadside fence line north of the huge fallen Himalayan Spruce which is blocking the ha-ha. There’s more fallen stuff than I’d suspected along that planting area, the four metre wide strip along the boundary.

Peter Wiffin came to establish what more wood he could saw up and take for firewood, apparently he got into conflict with some out-of-towners who’d decided to take ownership of some fallen oaks further down the avenue so wanted to be sure he wasn’t treading on toes of anyone else here.

Electrician came and talked to Karola and took away half a dozen eggs leaving half a dozen apples. In a TXT I pointed out that this was very much a “coals to Newcastle” thing as we had apples coming out of our ears. Surely he knew that.

Builder Paul was here this morning, working on improving the old french doors in the homestead. I went through a list of things we’d like him to do beginning with the elevated platform for the generator. Ald we want Karola’s large linen cupboard upstairs – it used to be a bathroom – to be fitted with shelves, lots of them.

Conkers In The Making – One Of Karola’s Chestnut Trees

Oak Avenue Weather:9.6℃—24.7℃ no rain [77.5] TdO eggs=2 Mark=4

Ruth Vincent called in mid morning to see how we had fared in the cyclone. We chatted for a long time about our experiences. Good to see her.

Builder Paul rang and arranged to come next week to see if he can improve the old french doors, how they close and lock.

Later Henare brought round his strimmer/weed eater which he’s lent us for a while.

After our walk round the orchard with Bangle I took the Landrover out onto the avenue and filled the trailer with branches from the verge on our side of the road. I also observed that there were a lot more branches down in the planting area alongside the boundary fence.

Justin of Small Farm Services made contact and we’ve arranged to pick up the ram on Friday morning.

Oak Avenue Weather:10.3℃—24.6℃ 0.2mm rain [77.8] TdO eggs=2

Cynthia Chalmers called in as expected for morning coffee and had a long chat with Karola. We showed Cynthia round the homestead.

Peter Wiffin wants to take firewood from the big pile behind the homestead garage to which I agreed enthusiastically as I’ve cut it all to firewood lengths and as we have no use for firewood it’s otherwise going to waste.

On way to stop bank via Carrick road we were blocked at the Evenden road crossroads due to a serious crash. The road was still closed when we returned an hour later.

Henare and Jack came and tended their bees, apparently only one hive is still thriving here. Bee keepers in Hawkes Bay have lost many thousands of hives. Some have been washed out to sea or flooded but many others are out of contact due to slips making roads and farm tracks unpassable and for those hives the regular actions against Varoa and other diseases cannot be carried out meaning the hives will perish over winter.

Jack helped me carry Bridget’s two flat-pack desks up to the first floor of the homestead. I noticed three gouges into the packaging that i hadn’t noticed when the packages arrived so I’m hoping they don’t spell damage to the contents.

Oak Avenue Weather:7.4℃—24.5℃ no rain [77.8] TdT eggs=2

Cynthia Chalmers was supposed to call in for morning tea today but shifted it until Saturday, tomorrow.

Mark came mid morning and moved branches to the bonfire pile until break at noon. After that we together put the stock crate onto the big trailer ready for me fetching the loaner ram next week. Then we drafted out the lambs from the rest ready for introducing the ram. There is one lamb that looks like a Wiltshire as it’s shedding wool. There’s been a stress or chemical shock which has created a weakness in the wool which creates a uniform break in the wool all over its body. No surprise really, it’s wether #202 which I medicated heavily when I thought it was dying a few weeks ago.

Keith was here workong on the fallen wood. Several of Karola’s Titoki trees, an avenue along the 121 driveway, have been damaged severely and Keith has tidied them up. He suggests using Yates Prune Tec Sealant (Bunnings 30$) to protect the cuts against fungal and insect infection.

Ebbett Hawkes Bay, the Hastings garage that services the Zoe, is closing down because since General Motors ended the Holden car manufacture in Australia they have insufficient business to continue. We’ll still be able to get Zoe serviced but in Napier instead of Hastings.

Remembering that we expect to have Bridget drive us over to Bulls next weekend, 1st April, and knowing that the Subaru’s WOF and service were due soon, I’ve booked it in next week. Hastings Bayswater is all booked up but I managed to get a slot on Thursday at Bayswater Napier.

Marina Wilson, who is compiling a Wilson family tree for the Ngaio family meeting on 1st April, emailed asking for Karola’s dad’s dates of birth and death. I finally remembered where I could find these as Karola’s papers are so voluminous and so chaotic that there’s no chance of finding relevant official documents here. The ormondreunion.com website has the Ormond family tree as at 2005 and it had the dates.

Delightful Sunny Cool Friday

Karola Outside Cottage Picking Up Sticks

Oak Avenue Weather:5.8℃—20.4℃ no rain [77.9] TdO eggs=4 Mark=4

Postie brought me my new iPhone SE 3rd Gen today, a day early. Tonight it replaced my old iPhone SE 2nd Gen and I hope it clears up the idiosyncrasies of the old phone plus has a much better battery life.

Mainfreight brought me five cardboard boxes being the two new flat-pack stand-up desks that Bridget ordered for me when last she was here.

Mark did more moving of fallen branches to the bonfire pile. He also mowed under the big oak as soon as the grass was dry enough.

After dinner I did a spot of chainsawing along the 121 driveway.

Bangle had her “Wormicide Tape tabs 100” tablet tonight, ready for her trip to farms in Bulls on 1st April.

Oak Avenue Weather:7.2℃—20.1℃ no rain [78.3] TdO eggs=0 Mark=4

Max from Harris Pumps & Filtration came and changed the filters and UV tube in the homestead pump. The filters were a new type Max called “carbon” which he said should solve the odour and colour problems for the homestead water. Bridget will test that when she comes up in a couple of weeks.

A male version of Mrs Harris came and knocked on our cottage door asking if he could join in with Keith and cut up wood – he was after firewood. I said he could take as much of the big pile of pre-cut firewood behind the homestead garage as he liked. I asked, and promptly forgot, his name, maybe his first name was Raul?

Keith came and continued his chainsawing and dumping activity having mostly recovered from his bad migraine a couple of days ago.

Mark came and took more branches over to the bonfire site; he also used the tractor to mow along the 121 driveway where he could get access, there’s lots of fallen wood still along the verges.

Marcus Ormond dropped in and dropped off his latest and final farm brochure – photos of his cuts of lamb with recipes. We discussed his potential taking over of the grazing next year. Marcus also had a contact, a “good guy” said Marcus, who is looking for firewood so we agreed he could take and split any of the oak chunks stacked alongside the bund – but he wasn’t to interfere with what Keith was doing, just use any wood once Keith had dumped it.

Oak Avenue Weather:8.2℃—19.6℃ 0.2mm rain [?] TdO eggs=4 Mark=4

We like the fish from Seawater Seafood but this week again I wasn’t given what I asked for. After much selection and re-selection of fillets because he kept giving me way too much, finally he wrapped up both the gurnard and terakihi in the same wrapper and charged me as if it were all terakihi. Gurnard is usually quite a lot cheaper than terakihi. So I’m tempted to give them up.

I took Karola to Chatham house today, for the morning, where small groups of older folk meet weekly to chat and in some cases have quizzes and walks and talks. Hannah Blow recommended it as potentially giving Karola a break from my permanent presence and vice-versa. Since the lock-downs we have been on each other’s toes pretty much 24×7 so it sounded worth trying.

After then doing the weekly shopping including buying Thursday’s fresh meal from the MYLK shop, I no sooner got home and groceries unpacked than it was time to go back and pick Karola up. We treated ourselves to coffees on the way home, of course.

Oak Avenue Weather:11.0℃—25.4℃ 4.0mm rain [?] TdO eggs=2 Mark=4

As if we didn’t drive into town enough, despite tomorrow being the weekly shopping day, we went shopping this morning. I took the chainsaw to the Stihl Shop to be mended and serviced and they lent me a “loaner” in the interim. Also got an Ecomist dispenser and couple of refills plus two pairs of Levi’s for Karola.

Treesman Keith was away today; he’s not been well; but we expect him tomorrow.

Mark came and finished painting the 133 gate so it now looks very like it did when Natalie painted it a while back. He then spent most of the time dragging branches to the bonfire pile in the Front paddock.

Banded Dotterel Teenager (courtesy Ben Bell)

Black Fronted Tern (courtesy Ben Bell)

Little Tern (courtesy Ben Bell)

Pied Stilt (courtesy Ben Bell)

Wrybill (courtesy Ben Bell)

Oak Avenue Weather:10.8℃—27.3℃ no rain [?] TdO eggs=5 Mark=4

Got a voicemail from a neighbour, Christine Thow, this morning. A result of me, a few days ago, when putting Bangle onto the back seat of the Zoe, first taking some sheets (wrapped in plastic) off the seat and onto the roof. Then forgetting that. Christine & Graham Thow are long-time residents of Ormond Road, their son runs Matipou orchards and pack-house further down the road. Anyway I get this polite voice-mail from Christine suggesting I might like to pick up this parcel which lay on the edge of the road outside their house. Luckily the plastic was transparent and my laundry mark was visible. What was particularly amusing was that Christine failed to turn off her phone for several minutes after leaving her message and so I her her and Graham talking, saying she’d decided to leave the sheets on her verandah as they were going out, and he remarked that the sheets didn’t look very white. And these were sheets bought by Bridget only a few months ago.

Another worrying incident today was that, while making my weekly update to the two-months of calendar stuck to the fridge and transcribing any hand annotations, I came across one for March 30th at 11:00am with the comment “TTT”. I cannot for the life of me remember what obvious event that clue refers to. I guess at the end of March we’ll find out.

In addition I got a TXT from a stranger asking if (that is ‘why’) I’d called them. My iPhone has been doing strange things unbidden a lot recently so I”ve concluded that the physical buttons on the phone are faulty so that as it bumps around in my pocket it plays music or podcasts or, occasionally, rings people. After discussion with Bridget I’ve now ordered the latest iPhone SE after checking that it is the same physical size as my current phone – that way the wallet will fit.

Karola suggested we have brunch at Bay Espresso so off we went, passing the striking field of orange-skinned pumpkins on the way. Several people with dogs in the cafe garden today which was interesting for Bangle. Afterwards we went on to Clive and the wetlands walk. This was cut short possible because I’d eaten some gluten or possibly because I’d had a large glass of fruit juice last night – rhubarb and boysenberry juice. Anyway, after an emergency stop at the hotel in Clive all was well.

Later Bangle and I did pop round the orchard.

Field Of Picturesque Pumpkins

Oak Avenue Weather:11.8℃—22.4℃ no rain [?] TdO eggs=5

Apple picking in Karola’s orchard so lots of activity there.

Listened to a long but good interview by Kim Hill on National Radio, with Sir Sam Neil. Followed by an interview with biologist about the strange creature he called the velvet worm and which I call peripatus. They are supposedly quite rare but I recall when secondary school age living in Elsdon I found a number of them over the years up in the bush where I had my possum trap line.

Did some chainsawing of a newly fallen big branch near the sheep yards. Jammed the cutter bar and ended up dragging the big branch out from its precarious lodging in a fork high up. Tree narrowly missed having its full force land on the chainsaw but the chainsaw did come loose and drop to the ground but now its handle is broken.

Ben sent photos of a recent trip he made up to the Kapiti coast:

The group photo shows white-fronted terns with a darker black-fronted tern (front right, partly obscured) and a locally rare little tern (front left).

The other shots show a juvenile white-fronted tern and a banded Caspian tern (ringed near Nelson as a chick on 23 Dec 2014 – it had also been seen at Waikanae sandspit on 21 Feb 2002).

Oak Avenue Weather:13.8℃—21.6℃ 0.2mm rain [?] TdO eggs=5

Mark took a rain cheque today. On checking his traps i saw we’d captured a hedgehog so released it.

Jason from HomePlus came and we discussed the bathroom handrails I wanted installed.

The three of us went to Henderson road and did the recycling which was piling up a bit, then to greengrocer Gagan’s for just a bit of fruit and vege for the weekend, finally to Caltex on Omahu for more petrol and diesel for the farm implements.

Doves Feeding On Dovecote Landing Strip

Oak Avenue Weather:16.6℃—27.5℃ 1.6mm rain [?] TdO eggs=2 Mark=0

Mini-shop today to choose and pick up MYLK meal.

Took Karola and Bangle down to the stop bank, going downstream to avoid the bees for now. Bangle decided it was too hot so we returned after a short walk and Bangle and I went round the orchard when it was cooler.

Mark came early today, at 9:30am which caught me by surprise. Mainly because the traffic from Napier to here seems to have sorted itself out. He did some work on the 133 gate including finishing off the stay post to make it swing more cleanly. Also a it more mowing, we’re stll trying to catch up with the rampant growth over the last few weeks. And he did some loads of branches from the fallen trees to the proto-bonfire in the Front paddock.

Oak Avenue Weather:8.8℃—23.1℃ no rain [?] TdO eggs=2 Mark=4

Sounds of apple picking in Karola’s orchard.

Mark came and continued mowing. He also took some gravel from the newly metalled 133 driveway and filled the significant pothole in the 121 driveway where a big oak branchj had gouged into the track. He’s mowed the cottage lawn and under the big oak as well as giving a second cut to much of the homestead lawn. He also continued with work on the 133 gate, painting the frame and bars with Karaka green. We gave Mark some of Henare’s honeycomb.

Bridget took us to Lappuccino’s for lunch again before returning to he full day of zooming into meetings at work. We also discussed getting some handles to make standing in the showers less precarious and we chose the pattern for the upstairs bedrooms and staircase.

Karola, Bridget, Tux, Bangle, and I went round the orchard late afternoon. Only Tux revelled in the deepest mud he could find; the mud smells horrid.

Ivan dropped in and I gave him four eggs.

Postie called in and delivered the wrist band for Karola’s airtag. Karola often goes out without her iPhone otherwise we could have kept in touch with that. It’ll be interesting to see whether the airtag is any use on the stop bank but I doubt it – there are precious few iPhone users within Bluetooth range on or near the stop bank.

Carpet Swatch Chosen For The Homestead

Oak Avenue Weather:7.2℃—22.2℃ no rain [?] TdO eggs=5 Mark=4

Shopping in the morning including handing over two dozen eggs to Nourish for Nil. Fish from Seawater Seafoods and Bridget had offered to make a fish pie so I asked for 400g of terakihi and 200-250g of gurnard, the terakihi for the pie and the gurnard for when Bridget had left. When I got home I found he’d given me: 250g terakihi and 179g gurnard. His mind must have been elsewhere but it all worked out fine because we used all the fish for the fish pie and I had not factored in the roast leg of lamb which we ate hot on Sunday and cold on Monday.

Mark came and spent his time mowing.

Brett from FloorMart came out after lunch and Bridget and I discussed what we wanted for the upstairs at the homestead. We’re having the same carpet everywhere in a neutral grey colour. The new stair carpet will extend across to the threshhold of the room at the top of the stairs. It will continue across to the balcony doors and down to the master bedroom’s bathroom. There’s to be a small fitted carpet in the passage extension just outside the guest’s bathroom. and all the rooms will have large carpet rectangles that extend out to 200mm-400mm from the walls. This way we hope to avoid commitments to specific bedroom layouts.

Karola had her appointment with Phil Donaldson, her optician, and he confirmed it was not shingles but was the quite common dermatitis – so the hydrocortisone cream was a good treatment.

We went to the stop-bank again, going upstream. Unfortunately as I approached the bend with the 24 hives of bees off on some scratch ground away from the river I met a small truck with two bee keepers coming away from some hive maintenance. What I didn’t realise was that they’d left some of the bees pretty cross so as I drew level with the hives I was attacked, bees repeatedly banging into my face and getting tangled in my hair. I wasn’t sure what was happening until one stung me on the nose at which point I strode purposefully (ie ran) away. I used to be allergic to bee stings so we asked the been keepers for some anti-histamine but they didn’t have any – were two very short asian gentlemen in full bee keeper regalia and they were apologetic about the sting. I did not swell up a lot nor did I go into anaphylactic shock so perhaps I’m no longer allergic.

Oak Avenue Weather:7.8℃—21.2℃ no rain [?] TdT eggs=3 Mark=4

Karola’s left eye – well the cheek below her eye – looks a bit red and puffed up and it’s got slightly worse over the weekend so first I called the Eye Institute and tried to have a word with Penny Wilson, the practice nurse I know quite well. We got a message back later saying that from the description it was most likely some form of dermatitis and suggested Karola see her optician. Karola’s ophthalmologist, Liz Insull, is booked solid for the next month. Later, presumably because of some mis-communication at the Hastings clinic, Dr John Beaumont called me himself and opined that eczema was very likely and we were on right track to see optician.

Bridget suggested we ask the local pharmacy which has shorter waiting times so we went into Stortford Lodge and consulted my friend Christina, one of two registered pharmacists there. She worried us a bit by saying that there was some possibility it might be shingles as there’d been a rush of cases hereabouts recently. But looking art it she thought it unlikely but insisted we visit the optician and get it properly classified. We bought a tube of hydracortisone 0.5% cream for treatment.

We dropped in at FloorMart and Brett Person agreed to come out tomorrow and measure up our carpet needs in ath homestead.

Brunch at Lappuccino’s then off to Chatham in Windsor Ave in Hastings to meet with Karola’s memory difficulties counsellor, Hannah Blow. It’s very close to the MYLK shop. On the way back we picked up Rush Munro ice-creams.

Meticulous Maids came and did the cottage. It’s their penultimate visit as Sally Pearce is closing the business at the end of March – cost, staffing, illnesses are just too much.

Mark checked and counted the sheep; all fine. He then continued mowing the long grass of the homestead lawn.

Oak Avenue Weather:12.4℃—28.0℃ 0.4mm rain [?] TdT eggs=4 Mark=4

[2023-003-12]We had another brunch at Bay Espresso on Karamu Road with the dogs out in the back courtyard.

Overcast so not too hot as we walked the dogs along the Clive estuary and Clive wetlands stop-bank. Not many sea birds yet; there seem to be many more in the winter.

Bit of extra shopping in New World including the smallest leg of lamb they offered. Bridget turned that into a delicious roast dinner with enough over to have it cold the next day. e somehow went past Rush Munro on the way back from Clive with the expected result.

Ducks Near The Stop Bank

Oak Avenue Weather:11.3℃—24.6℃ no rain [?] TdC eggs=2

Quiet day beginning with brunch at Karamu Road’s Bay Espresso where the dogs can sit with us outside at the back.

Later we all went for a walk upstream along th Ngaruroro stoop bank before picing up fish & chips for dinner. Then another few episodes of The Big Bang Theory with Bridget.

Bridget & Tux, Her Faithful Hound

Returning On The Stop Bank

Oak Avenue Weather:12.1℃—24.6℃ 0.2mm rain [78.0] TdT eggs=2

Mark came mid morning and began by scooping up several maize sacks full of the sawdust from cutting up the big oak trees on the drive. Peter Wiffin picked up from the spots he did sawing but when I realised there was a lot more on the 1212 driveway I asked Mark to capture it before it got wet. He’s taking some for his chooks too.

The mid afternoon Mark and I got the sheep in and drenched all the lambs with Cydectin (withholding for meat of 14 days) and gave all the sheep pour-on Cyrex (withholding for meat of 7 days). Although I was told of Cyrex by someone in Farmlands as suitable for prevention and cure of flystrike, having got a bottle from the Vets I’m not sure it’s what I need. For prevention it seems more suitable for heavy immersion or wetting of sheep rather than a few stripes along the back.

We counted and re-counted the sheep and todays tallies are: 30 adult sheep, 10 ewe lambs, and 7 wether lambs.

Mark also found another dead lamb, dead for a few days. Ewe lamb #126E almost certainly died of barbers pole worm infection like the other lambs recently found dead. Despite a sudden thunderstorm with heavy rain and violent wind gusts Mark buried the dead lamb in the Front paddock near where it lay. As soon as Mark had gone the rain stopped and the sun came out, of course. Today’s drenching was a late reaction to the several dead lambs over the last month. I found #202 in a bad way a while ago but dosing with Cydectin and a bit of Keytol pick-me-up got him back on his feet. Today he looked just as bouncy as the rest.

Power Farming engineer came at 1:30pm and spent a few hours giving the Kioti tractor a service, the last hour being in the thunderstorm.

White Tailed Spider Upstairs In Homestead

Oak Avenue Weather:15.5℃—26.7℃ 18.6mm rain [77.8] TdO eggs=5 Mark=4½

Off to Kim’s for hair cuts in Ahuriri this morning. No holdups on the expressway, alll smooth sailing.

Then over to Havelock North to hand some final tax records in at BM Accounting, to our administrator Diana Baker. On the way back picked up our evening meals at MYLK and the latest laundry at Diamond Dry cleaners.

Keith Macaulay hard at it with his big chainsaw and using my old Fergie to move the wood.

Mark came and found another dead lamb, this time #223R, the very late arrival that was left as a ram in case needed. Our plan now to hire a ram for 50 days seems much more suitable. He buried the dead lamb. Mark has “released” the eight lelandii trees in the orchard, patching up the gap created by seven dead casurinas. He has more to do on the 133 gate but has primed the ironwork and any bare wood.

Henare’s Frame After I Harvested Honeycomb, Bees Scavenging

Drive To Cattle Stop This Morning

… And This Everning

Oak Avenue Weather:11.6℃—28.5℃ no rain [77.7] TdO eggs=3 Mark=4

Mark continued mowing the lawns with the Grillo. The grass has really got away with the cyclone and then only a few days here and there without rain. He caught another possum last night.

Peter Wiffin collected up the (untreated) sawdust from his sawing for his chooks and I had thought of doing the same. Peter picked up a maize sackfull for me too.

Keith put in an appearance and made progress on the second pair of big trees crossing the 121 driveway.

Ivan called in and picked up half a dozen eggs. He also asked about firewood and I offered him as much as he wanted albeit the fallen trees will take a while to dry out.

Helicopter buzzing around us this afternoon as they sprayed around the Kelson packhouse; not sure if they’re apples or vines around the packhouse.

Went downstream on the stop bank from Carrick road to the other side of the asparagus fields passing the bit of colour and adventure where orchardist has made his wife a corner of dahlias and row of hops.

Orchardist’s Wife’s Dahlias and Hop Vines Seem OK After The Flood, Next To The Asparagus

Oak Avenue Weather:7.6℃—24.7℃ no rain [77.7] TdT eggs=4 Mark=4

Mark came mid morning and, while we were out shopping, mowed the cottage lawn and did more on the stay post for the 133 gate. Mark caught a possum last night and will be setting the cage traps again for tonight.

Margery Cobbe called having got no reply from me to a phone call and an email earlier. Turned out that I was using deceased husband Brian’s email address so I shot her a repeat email containing a few photos of the flooding. As I got no “bounce” message from Brian’s email address I suspect it is still alive but that no-one’s monitoring it. I regaled Margory with our exploits on the day the cyclone hit Hawkes bay.

Margery also mentioned Peter Offenberger’s Covid and how his wife Charlotte had caught it a few days after he did. Peter is on the anti-virals but is still feeling very much under the weather.

Stops for: BP’s coffee, Pharmacy, Farmlands, Vets, Laundry, New World, Cornucopia, BNZ, Nourish for Nil, BM Accounting, and Seawater Seafoods. We dropped off the 2022 tax information at accountants BM Accounting in Havelock North; I finished all but some reports from Karola’s Australian iPac fund which I hope to do tomorrow. I actually met my latest tax administrator, Maria Baker. And seeing that we were already in Havelock North we attempted to get into our dog walk in Tainui Reserve. Although Joll Road is at last open we found the park itself still shut “till further notice’. The visit to the Vets was to get a worming tablet for Bangle as per Mary Wilson’s command – something to stop transmission of “sheep measles” which sounds dire, when Bridget, Tux, Karola, Bangle, and I go over to Bulls for the “beating of the bounds” on April 1st.

Later we popped over to Carrick Road and did the upstream walk along the stop bank, entertained by a helicopter spraying thousands of “rocket” apple trees. The ground is still under water or so sodden that getting a tractor in to spray wold be disastrous.

No sign of Keith nor Peter Wiffin today, no chainsaw screeching.

Helicopter Spraying Rocket Apples

Oak Avenue Weather:6.6℃—22.4℃ 0.2mm rain [78.0] TdT eggs=3 Mark=4

Mark came mid morning and we went to HirePool off St Auban Street, over the railway, and hired a 50kg compacter. Mark then spent his day compacting the gravel laid by Elms. Karola, Bangle, and I took it back late afternoon.

Yvonne called for a chat; we’ll see her at the Ngaio beating of the bounds on 1st April. Yvonne related an amusing tale (schadenfreude alert) that James, Karola’s cousin, drove Muff and Jonathan up to Bulls in Muff’s ancient manual-shift car a few days ago, for Mary Wilson’s 70th birthday. On the way they stopped for fuel and james couldn’t get it to restart eventually someone helped him by jump-starting it. They got to Yvonne’s place and the next morning had the same problem. Called the AA. A very quick visit. James, somewhat embarrassed, then admitted he’d been trying to start the car while it was in gear and without a foot on the clutch. I am surprised it didn’t just try to start anyway lurching forward.

Meanwhile the troublesome three: me, Bangle, and Karola, went over to Carrick Road and down to the stop bank. This time we had a short walk downstream rather than upstream. Deserted, not a soul to be seen, like yesterday. I took a couple of photos to indicate how high the river had risen, about half the way up the stop-banks I’d say and anyway far from overflowing these “one in 200 year” stop-banks. It was the breeching of the bank several kilometres further upstream that did the most damage.

Inside The Ngaruroro Stop Bank Showing Water Height On Tree

Inside The Ngaruroro Stop Bank Showing Water Height On Gravel Mountain

Oak Avenue Weather:10.8℃—18.8℃ 1.6mm rain [77.9] TdT eggs=5 Mark=4

So we’ve explored the access to our usual walks: Ormond Road to Ngaruroro (gate locked), Pakowhai Regional Park (Gateway barred), Tainui Reserve (Joll Road closed), and today Carrick Road to Ngaruror (open). The farmland and houses alongside Carrick Road were badly hit by the Ngaruroro breaking its stop banks, on the roadside outside each house was a pathetic clump of sofas, chairs, white goods. Fields and orchards were still partially under water. Apples that came into contact with flood waters are deemed polluted and unsaleable, which is at least a third of every tree. Hectares of pumpkins sit forlornly, almost ready to pick and now just green waste.

The walk of a couple of kilometres was bracing, not cold but light drizzle. Karola found it all rather depressing I think.

Acres & Acres Of Ruined Crops – Very Sad

Cattlebeast Cyclone Survivor Living Rough On The Ngaruroro River Bed

Oak Avenue Weather:14.2℃—20.7℃ 1.2mm rain [78.2] TdT eggs=5

Keith and sidekick John worked away all day and got a way made through the first two big trees blocking the drive. Peter Wiffin cut more firewood from the pin oak up near the big orchard gate.

Karola, Bangle, and I went to Clive to see if that walkway – the limestone cycle track along the Clive wetlands – was open and it was. The afternoon began hot and sunny, ending in a light rain. We stopped off on the way home and had lunch, well dinner really, at Bay Espresso in Karamu Road.

Firewood Be-Gone (To Peter Wiffin)

Abandoned Bee Hives On Clive Estuary Bank

Great Progress On Clearing The 121 Driveway

Oak Avenue Weather:15.4℃—26.5℃ 9.8mm rain [78.1] TdC eggs=3

Chris Elms arrived around 8:30am so I need not have worried he’d be there before 7:30am. He said he’d drop round in the morning so I roused myself at 7:25am hoping I’d be up before he came. Anyway he took a quick look at what I wanted and said no problem, he’d try and get it done today. As per the photos below he returned mid afternoon and laid about 50 metres of gravel from the 133 letter box and another 20 metres along the flax on the route to the cottage. Elms has been doing gravel work for us for absolute ages. John Pollock who worked for Elms was the driver of the big ancient excavator who:

• Ploughed and sowed the Middle paddock when it was put from Craig Vernon’s Red Delicious orchard to pasture (2002?)
• Dug out the Ha-Ha (2006)
• Rolled up the bamboo root mat and pushed it into the Middle paddock for burning, also refurbished the orchard drive at 145 Ormond Road (2008)
• Brought gravel for the building of the floors of the cottage garage and the farm shed (2011)

Chris said that these days Elms was just a family business; his son John worked in the office and brother (Roger?) like Chris did outside work. It’s certainly downsized a lot from its hey day; L.E.Elms did much more than hauling and spreading metal for driveways etc.

Meanwhile Peter Wiffin was hard at it with chainsaw. He made major inroads on the big branch that fell off the pin oak near the big gate into the orchard near the orchard shed. He also chopped up the branch that fell off the big swamp cypress next to the farm shed.

Keith MaCarthay did more hours on the big oaks over the 121 driveway. Today he brought a mate, John McLeod, another brawny tall Scots-looking man who wanted to work with Keith by driving my old Fergie tractor to cart off the slabs that Keith cut up. John McLeod is Matrix Pest Control (027-243-2400) but I gather semi-retired. Allegedly he stayed in the homestead when he was 17 as guest of Harris’s son – stayed in one of the homestead rooms which he was not really allowed he was told.

Mark came and did a bit more work on the 133 gate and, when looking round the sheep, found wether lamb #210 dead. Not #202 which I was half expecting but one of his step-brothers. Mark buried the carcass. He also cleared a lot of the smaller branches away on the 121 driveway to help Keith approach the second pair of big trees. Now you can see from the homestead up to the cattle-stop corner.

I booked in the Kioti little red tractor for a service by Power Farming with Phil on Friday 10th at 1:30pm, somewhat overdue.

133 Entrance Getting Muddy

Good Coating Of Gravel Solves That

Elms Dump Truck Spreads Last Of Gravel Along The Flax

Mud Be Gone

Keith Carves Up Big Oak Into Manageable Blocks

Oak Avenue Weather:15.4℃—23.8℃ no rain [78.2] TdO eggs=3 Mark=4

Thursday is the day I’ve chosen to have a freshly made MYLK meal so off we went soon after Mark arrived at 10:00am. On the way I remembered to try and collect Karola’s 3-month supply of medications, all neatly packaged in impenetrable blister packs, one per day.

MYLK shop is at the eastern end of St Aubyn Street so over half way to Havelock North. So I went to see if the dog walk at Tainui Reserve was open – no Jo;; Stree is still closed off half-way up.

The grass is still very wet so Mark continued on his refurbishment of a chest of drawers for the homestead “white room” aka the tween room upstairs. And he finished the dovecote so now I need to entice the doves to become familiar with it.

Peter Wiffin came for several hours getting himself more firewood but Keith MaCaulay, who sent me a TXT saying he’d be over soon, wasn’t.

Oak Avenue Weather:12.0℃—24.6℃ 0.2mm rain [78.1] TdO eggs=3 Mark=4

Peter Wiffin called in at 9:15am and as he wasn’t expected until 9:30am it was lucky I was sort-of awake. I showed him the firewood in apple boxes next to the farm shed. As we have no wood burners nor any aspirations in that direction any more it can all go. I showed him the big branch off the Ginkgo in the Long Acre paddock – he’s to have the firewood from taht and leave the rest so we can carry it over to the proposed new bonfire site in the Front paddock. And finally he is to have all and any firewood-sized stuff he can salvage from the Goose paddock including from the limbs that Chris Ormond cut off for us last week, the oak trees and the conifer.

Keith also came over and got stuck into clearing the big oaks off the 121 driveway.

Mid afternoon Henare and Jack came over, after some bee work and before an evening of badminton, and used out big trailer to cart a lot of branches over to the Front paddock. I gave Henare some eggs and a coffee as well as cash though he would have done it for nothing because Karola is “whānau”.

The main event of the day was a visit by Hannah Blow, a community liaison officer from Chatham; charming woman who told us about the Hastings local activities provided by what they call the Chatham hub – where like minded people can meet regularly, helped with the challenges of getting old at home. Particularly relevant in the wake of cyclone Gabrielle and the pandemic.

Mark continued work on the chest of drawers and dovecote, and some painting of the 133 mended gate.

We came across wether lamb #202 whilst beginning our walk round the orchard. I gave him more Kytol and a dose of Cydectin (withholding for meat of 14 days) and then, to my delight and surprise, he actually ran off to be with his mates – so that’s a big improvement.

Oak Avenue Weather:14.3℃—23.8℃ 0.4mm rain [78.2] TdO eggs=5 Mark=4