Monthly Archives: October 2024

Another Thursday Outing

Rosie and I took Karola to the Boardwalk again today and we sat out on the verandah overlooking the beach and sea. A bit windy but warm.

Talked to MiMi later on because Karola was a bit grumpy when I left her back at Summerset Palms. Apparently by dinner time she was cheerful again and had a good dinner. Also my favourite penknife, which I suspected I’d left in Karola’s apartment, has been found and awaits my next visit on top of the fridge.

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Chris More’s Birthday

Quiet day after the heater-shelter of shopping day.

Tux ended up falling in the stream at the dog park, got soaking wet but didn’t seem very put out.

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Last Night’s Indian Festival – Fireworks

Discussion of the very loud fireworks last evening, the Hindu festival of Govatsa Dwadashi and Rama Ekadashi, in which Duke, Marcus’ fox hound, was terribly frightened. Bonna, Minty’s little puppy, was unmoved. Bangle and Tux didn’t like it but recovered quickly.

Chrissie went over to the RSE’s rental across the road, and said how the noise was bad for animals and we need much better warning so, for example, Marcus can take the horses away in horse float, out of earshot.

Shopping today was uneventful, as was the dogs walk in the park.

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Labour Day

Long sleep-in which sadly meant I missed most of a gorgeous day but late afternoon we had a walk with the dogs along the Ngaruroro stop bank, downstream, perfect weather.

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Pocket Knife Lost

Bridget took Tux for a long walk along Ocean Beach in the morning, beating the Labour Weekend rush by mid-day.

Yesterday I lost my back-up micro-Leatherman personal pocket knife. Bridget kindly took me back to Clive and we searched where we walked yesterday but no joy.

In the evening I ordered three replacement pocket-knives, well the last three took many years to vanish, the last two this month. I’m still hoping that one is on Karola’s side table at Summerset Palms. I also at long last ordered an Oura ring. It’s expensive and requires an annual subscrition but is allegedly the most accurate and complete health measuring ring on the market. I have to receive the size-measuring kit and then order the ring so it’ll be a few weeks yet.

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On The Cusp Of Summer

Dogs walked along the Clive estuary and wetlands. Bridget also did a major trimming of the flax along the cottage driveway which will avoid scraping the sides of our cars for a fe months at least.

Delightful Manuka Bloom Along the Railings Near The Cottage

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Another Week Whisks By

The lambs have been weaned this week so there’s a fair amount of bleeting day and night – but they’ll settle down soon.

I seemed to spend much of the day doing emails and still have an email mountain to process. Couple of coffees from BP and good walk round the dog park were welcome breaks.

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Dinner With Marcus’ Family

Marcus invited Bridget and me over for dinner this evening, rabbit stew with asparagus etc. Nice to have some nourishment from protein grown on the property. We had the dinner in the Karamu dining room.

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Friendship Club Meeting

Rosie picked me up at 9:20am and took me over to the Havelock North Club building after a quick stop at BP for coffee and a nibble.

The speaker was Ian Hill – Ian is Branch Chairperson for the Hawkes Bay Branch of the Institute of International Affairs. He is a retired New Zealand diplomat whose last appointment was based in Moscow. Ian spoke of his life as a New Zealand diplomat for 41 years.

Rosie came and picked me up and we went straight over to pick up Karola and take her out to Miss Browns in Ahuriri for a light lunch. That all went quite well.

Marcus spent much of the afternoon mowing thistles in the Middle paddock.

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Oh Yes It’s Tuesday Again

Shopping with Rosie. After six weeks away with a medical situation Pavla came and cleaned the cottage again. Quite a feat after six weeks of benign neglect so it’s much cleaner now.

Broody chook agiatedly running up and down inside her coop so maybe she got bored and gave up; time will tell.

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Knick-Knacks

Several hours sorting more trays and cupboards of Knick-knacks in the cottage; it’s amazing how much stuff we’d accumulated and how the memories come back. We certainly did a lot and travelled to and even stayed in countries in the northern hemisphere.

Bridget kindly interrupted her online work to take me for lunchtime coffee and snack, and again. After work along with walking the dogs at the dog park.

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Ocean Beach

We set off for Ocean Beach after lunch. I picked up a coffee and apple turnover at BP’s Wild Bean Cafè then we stopped again at Red Bridge.  The beach was quite busy, lots of dogs, and weather quite perfect.

Bangle didn’t want to go far but Bridget & Tux had a long walk with Tux playing with lots of dogs along the way.

I thought I’d lost Bangle’s lead so we checked where we’d been yesterday at the stop-bank off Carrick Road.No joy but later I found it in my jacket pocket.

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Ocean Beach

We set off for Ocean Beach after lunch. I picked up a coffee and apple turnover at BP’s Wild Bean Cafè then we stopped again at Red Bridge.  The beach was quite busy, lots of dogs, and weather quite perfect.  Bangle didn’t want to go far but Bridget & Tux had a long walk with Tux playing with lots of dogs along the way.

I thought I’d lost Bangle’s lead so we checked where we’d been yesterday at the stop-bank off Carrick Road.No joy but later I found it in my jacket pocket.

— 

 ian@brackenbury.nz      06 879 9065
««« I’d rather be in New Zealand »»»

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Out For Light Lunch With Karola

Bridget and I set off for Summerset Palms soon after 12:00pm and we decided to go to the Boardwalk which is just opposite Kim our hairdresser in Ahuriri. Karola had eggs Benedict with salmon; I had lambs fry & bacon & mash; Bridget had Thai squid salad. None of us could finish our meals, they were just too big for a light lunch.

Later we took the dogs for a walk upstream on the Ngaruroro stop-bank, starting at the Carrick road access point.

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Supermoon & Comet Delighting New Zealanders

Marcus has tackled the cleaning of the homestead garage block walls, gutters, and roof which have been accumulating dust and lichen for years.

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Bangle Goes To See Vet

Rosie has the flu so Bridget kindly took me into Hastings to pick up the MYLK meals for the rest of the week. Before that Bridget took me and Bangle to the Vets concerning her front paws arthritis.

The new-to-me vet Nicole suggested several options beginning with very expensive monthly injections and ending up with more of the pills I’ve been giving her plus some supplements. I also bought some dog probiotics from Animates which might help her avoid eating other dogs poo when we go to the regional dog park.

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Haircuts Planned

As planned Rosie drove me over to pick up Karola for our six-weekly hair appointments with Kim in Ahuriri. I had TXTed Jodi, the lead at the memory care unit, but she didn’t answer. I should have rung the care unit phone. When I got to Summerset Palms I found that Karola was having an off day and didn’t want to come for a haircut.

The appointment was for mid afternoon so Rosie and I had a coffee at Miss Browns and then I had my hair cut. I tried hard to get Kim to accept payment for Karola’s missed appointment but she refused quite strongly, said it was all part of what happens.

Rosie suggested I get some flowers for Karola, for her apartment in SUmmerset Palms so I bought a small bunch from the flower shop next to Miss Browns and on the way home I popped them in for Karola. She was dressed and in a much better mood when I dropped the flowers off. Turned out, I’d forgotten completely about it, that Jenny visited Karola in the morning and that had been difficult too. But the good hours and days outnumber the bad ones, and the good times are increasing.

Rosie is looking for a car to replace her old, rusty one and Bridget agreed we could sell her the Subaru as me having the Landrover and MG was quite enough. I transferred ownership this evening. Rosie is very pleased with her purchase. She looked up on-line on Trade-Me for a price and we split the upper and lower prices suggested there; $3000. I think Marcus may be using it to tow his jet boat as his old red Landrover doesn’t lock so they can’t leave things in it when they go out on the water.

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Gill & Ben Return To Wellington

Gill TXTed to say they got safely and uneventfully home to the Kapiti Coast and still had about 20% left in their (electric) tank at the end of the trip.

Rosie drove me for shopping as usual on a Tuesday, all went smoothly.

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Gill & Ben & I Take Karola Out For Afternoon Tea

Last full day of Gill & Ben’s visit to Hawkes Bay. As planned we three went over to Summerset Palms and picked up Karola just after her lunch and went round to Miss Brown’s in Ahuriri for afternoon tea and nibbles. Karola was in a good mood and we enjoyed ourselves.

Gill & Ben dropped Karola off and then me before going off to see Peter and Charlotte for their evening meal.

Ben’s Volvo is very comfortable and though quite small in the back Gill and I had comfortable back-seat rides.

Gill & Ben have been staying at Lawn Cottages over near Clive, in a very comfortable two-bedroom premier apartment set in delightful grounds and near the sea. When Bridget looked up the daily rate it took my breath away.

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Sunday Chores

It’s Sunday again and time for charging up the MG, putting out the rubbish, and paying the bills.

Gill & Ben came round late afternoon and we all demolished a big fish pie that Bridget cooked for us.

We discussed a plan to take Karola out for afternoon coffee and nibbles on Monday.

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Dinner At Namaskar Indian Restaurant

Just a coffee and a walk along the Ngaruroro stop bank with the dogs before it was time to drive over to Clive to pick up Gill & Ben and take them to the Namaskar Indian restaurant in Joll Road, Havelock North where, as arranged, we joined Peter & Charlotte for dinner.

I may have forgotten again to feed the chooks so it;s just as well they are free range.

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Family Meal At Allessandro’s

Gill & Ben came round in the afternoon for tea before going off to Peter & Charlottes. We sybched up at Allessandro’s the pizza place in Havelock North for a delightful meal comprising in my and Ben’s place meat balls and spaghetti. Others had pizzas and salads and pasta.

Bridget and the dogs and I went round the orchard instead of going to the dog park today as we were running short of time. Marcus has used some of Keith’s produgious piles of sawdust to mulch the avenue of Liime trees (tilia) and some of the citrus fruit he’s planted and protected with tree guards on the old eucalyptus grove.

Not only is there a kunekune pig in the Long Acre but also a chestnut pony, possibly Rosie's.

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Light Lunch At Birdwood Café

Ben set off from Kapiti Coast mid morning and arrived here late afternoon in their smart grey Volvo EV.

Late morning Rosie took me over to Summerset Palms where we picked up Karola and then tootled off to Birdwood Café on Middle Road. Karola had a bacon and egg frittata and I had a chicken & leek pie – both delicious.

Karola & Ian In Birdwood Café

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Kunekune Pig Arrives At Karamu

Marcus and Rosie set up the A-frame broody hen run inside the main chook run. Odd thing today is that the broody hen inside the chook house has only one egg under her whereas she had four yesterday.

Chooks are not very hungry today; they’re obviously getting plenty of food from their foraging free-range in the undergrowth.

Red Landrover came back from Marcus’ farm today bearing their pet kunekune pig – a large while pig, see below.

The Ormond Family’s Kunekune Pig

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Re: Robinsons In Budapest

Rosie is back and drove me to do the shopping interleaving that with taking Bangle for her six-weekly grooming with Emma Speeden.

Saltwater Seafoods didn’t have any salmon when we called in having dropped off Bangle so we did the rest of the shopping and called back.- still no salmon. So we back-tracked to New World and got some there.

Commenting on their short river cruise to Budapest last week, Geoff said:

The boat itself, at 135M long, was slightly larger than our usual canal boat…

Robinsons River Cruiser – In Budapest

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… but the cabin was a bit nicer – and roomier.

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BTW, only four days earlier, the quay where we were moored had been submerged under the Danube floods. It had been touch and go whether the floods would subside in time for our trip. Fortunately, they did.

Budapest’s two most iconic landmarks:

The Chain Bridge

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Designed and constructed by English contractors in the 1840s, very much influenced by Brunel’s then recent Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Hungarian Parliament Building

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Built in the second half of the 19th Century, and – believe it or not – modelled on the Houses of Parliament in London.

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Minty Gets A Puppy

I at last sent off my witnessed statement claiming I was alive – needed to keep my UK pension coming. Marcus did the honours. At the same time I was introduced to Minty’s new puppy, about seven weeks old and looking like a tiny chocolate Labrador. It’s actually a terrier cross so, like most puppies, will lose the rounded looks once it grows up. Her name is, I think, Bonna.

Bridget was taking our dogs for a walk when she spotted Marcus’s fox hound Duke way down Ormond Road so she turned round and fetched him home. Obviously he can jump the cattlestop the way he can jump the ha-ha, with ease.

Cutleaf Waterparsnip – Spreading Massively In Regional Park Creek

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Marcus Bonfire On The Old Ginkgo Stump

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Walk At Clive

Lovely day so we walked the dogs at Clive today. The track up to the end of Old Ferry Road still has several quite large potholes so we did the walk from Clive township up to the seat almost on the turn off the river bank along the wetlands.

I heard the cottage pump running before we left and still running when we returned. A walk round the taps and troughs found a tap half on in the One Acre, undoubtedly turned on by a sheep rubbing.

Marcus's Planting Along Ormond Road Boundary

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. . . Replanting Gap Where Eucalypt Grove Was

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. . . Flax & Cabbage Trees

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. . . And Citrus In The Paddock

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Ocean Beach Beckoned

Marcus has brought a couple of dozen ewes and lambs here and it’s good to hear the ]ambs calling and their mothers answering back.

One of my chooks has gone broody, it started yesterday but I wasn’t sure until today, it might just have been laying an egg late in the afternoon.

Bridget drives us to and from Ocean Beach; smooth driving only somewhat offset by her driving one-handed while eating and drinking her hot chocolates. I sleep most of the drive home.

Bangle seems to be a little stiff these days. I gave her a 5-day dose of tablets to relieve arthritis which she has in her front paws, maybe all paws. It comes and goes.

Bangle enjoys snuffling out treats from a puzzled. It’s a square with moveable tiles but only one empty space and she has to find the food under each tile. Tux learned to use his nose to push the tiles around but Bangle mostly scratches with her paws to uncover new squares.

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Marcus Lights A Fire

A quick drive to Stortford Lodge for a coffee and to pick up couple of sacks of wheat and a sack of maize for the chooks. They laid five eggs today so we’re not going to run short on eggs, me and Marcus family, for the next few months.

Late afternoon we passed Marcus having a good bonfire on the site of the old ginkgo tree down near the southern boundary, in the Long Acre paddock. On our way to take the dogs for their evening ramble at the dog park.

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Karola & Ian To Top2Toe

Bridget took me over to pick up Karola and bring her back to Moera and our fingers and toes person, Paula Bevan, at Top2Toe where we got our feet seen to. Then on to Weatherman’s in Hastings for lunch and back home via Summerset Palms.

Around 9:00am the power went off, a planned outage by Unison. The generator flipped on and purred away all morning.  It was still going when we got back from lunch at around 2:30pm.  I called Meridian and checked; yes the grid had gone live just after 12:00pm.  I then called our neighbour Janet Scott, yes she had power. So I then called Campbell Watt in Christchurch who talked me through turning the generator on and off. The automatic controller isn’t working in that it turns the generator on when the grid fails but doesn’t react to the grid coming back on. Campbell is to get his local electrician to come and re-tune the controller sensors so it does turn off when the grid becomes live again.

The Mains Switchboard

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The Generator Controlled Activation Unit

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Triton Hearing

Bridget took me to my hearing appointment this morning. Triton have moved west along Heretaunga Street since my last visit; they’re right in town.  My appointment was with a screen and an audiologist somewhere on the Kapiti Coast.

I cleared some more books out of Karola’s office; it’s a pity so many books on trees, New Zealand history, and family history.

Later we all went for another walk round the dog park.

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