Family Journal

Mark TXTed to say that this week was rained out so we’ll see what next week brings. It’s been raining for hours and doesn’t look like letting up all day.

Power Farming called to say my replacement Kioti tractor mower grass-guide had arrived.

Bangle, Karola, and I went into town to pick up the tractor part and did a few other errands while out and about. Found that Top2Toe, a beauty salon in Mahora had moved round the corner and reduced hours so that Joyce Blok? (519a Frederick Street west, Mahora, Hastings 41720: 06-878-2424) only opens when she has a client.

On to Briscoes for tea towels and Mitre-10 for washing machine de-gunger. And lastly, picked up the tractor park and showed them the broken one where Mark’s neat copper lining has made it last many more weeks than the previous ones. The original grass-guide was made of almost indestructible rubber – like a car tyre – but after that we’ve had ones made of plastic which crack and tear too easily.

Blue-Tag and No-Tag chooks still broody. No walk today for Bangle, it’s just too wet everywhere.

Tried another bread making but this time following the instructions on the OMG packet and ending up with two delicious little loaves. It took over four hours in total and about ten minutes of preparation. Unlike Dave’s process we have a three-hour rising time in the hot water cupboard then another hour at 200℃ in the oven. But the real issue is, as predicted, already we only have 1½ loaves left – it is way too enticing.

Surface Flooding Returns

Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [76.5] eggs=2 Mark=0

Monique came a-painting again. Paul called to say she’d try hard to finish the dining room this week. I told Paul about the cloakroom loo leak and he’ll contact dean to come and take a look.

Rain off and on all day so no Mark.

For lunch we went over to Hygge in Clifton. The rain held off so we were able to sit outside with Bangle and Tux. However, it was mid-week and slow and the food really wasn’t that special, a disappointment after my last visit. Bridget, dogs, and I went for a stroll along the cycleway so we all got to stretch our legs and just in time because it began to rain in ernest shortly after we got back to the car.

We saw Bridget and Tux on their way and then went back into Hastings to finish yesterday’s shopping.

Two dozen eggs to the Food bank. Stationery Warehouse of a linen marker pen and more package tape. Pharmacy for more medications. Picked up laundry from Diamond Dry Cleaners but the main item was a new Fisher & Paykel drawer dish-washer to replace the worn out Bosch one. It, in its packaging, was rather larger than I’d expected so Karola had to hold Bangle on her lap in front and we laid flat the back seat and dismantled the back shelf.

Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [76.8] eggs=5 Mark=0

Monique the painter came and spent the day paining in the dining room; she says she’ll come also next Saturday. As Monique pointed out the plasteres have left some sizeable cracks along the edges of the walls which, if Monique fills them and paints over they’ll very probably crack. I need to alert Paul to that.

Bridget sat upstairs in the cottage working remotely.

Late morning Bangle. Karola, and I went off to do the shopping. We got ourselves coffees at BP and simultaneously I got more pharmacy supplies promoting sleep – a very expensive pastime. Then it was New World for the groceries and Cornucopia for the weeks GF bread. Cornucopia also sell the prepared mixture for self-baking so I got another fresh lot, the bag I’ve been testing at home is two months past its sell-buy date – was bought in 2019.

Rushed home as Bridget had a short window when she could come with us to lunch. Lappuccino’s for lunch with Bangle outside in the car and Tux in the small outside eating area at Lappuccino’s. Karola and I had Keto Chuffles with bacon. Not sure why but they were much too much for us and although less salty than in the past were way too salty. Bridget had a good idea, that Karola and I should share one next time.

Mark came and mowed the 121 driveway and associated grassy areas with the Grillo. He then switched to the Kioti tractor and mowed the Goose paddock and parts of the Middle paddock where the iris is making a come-back. This gives the grass a chance as the iris tends to smother grass and sheep do not eat the iris.

Gill came up with an idea from Annette that is really rather good – concerning our very small leak in the homestead roof. Annette suggests nailing up a bucket under the leak in the roof space. It being a very small leak only in extreme weather conditions – or so we think – it’ll evaporate between times. What a good idea. If i can pinpoint the rafter point at which the drip begins that’ll be a great solution.

We all, Bridget and Tux included, went for a walk downstream along the stop bank which tired out the dogs and gave us a bit of appetite for dinner. Thanks to the large lunch we just had a cheese salad and puddings.

Tried out another loaf in the bread-maker. This time we mixed up the prescribed amount of water, yeast, and pre-mix before decanting it into the bread-maker. As Bridget remarked the OMG bread mix is intended to be done in the oven not a bread-maker and would take about the same few minutes to do. So, as this second attempt in the bread-maker was much better but still barely edible and didn’t rise much despite using a full teaspoon of yeast, we’ll give the oven technique a try.

Apart from the elapsed time being several hours – only a few minutes of action but you are involved over 3-4 hours – the main disadvantage I can see is that one would be too tempted to eat more. bread, it’d smell and taste delicious when just baked.

Collecting the eggs today I noticed Blue-Band was back on the job, broody. So I must have just caught her yesterday when taking a break for a leg stretch and bit of food. Another hen who has repeatedly been on a nest in the evening – but who departs rapidly when I open the box – is Blue-Band’s chick from last year, now a fully fledged hen – an Orpington-Light Sussex cross. For now I shall call her “Bandless”.

Counted the lambs and today there are the original 18 plus the two unexpected additions born to ewe hoggets.

Oak Avenue Weather:7.2℃—23.1℃ 0.2mm rain [76.4] TdT eggs=3 Mark=4

Bridget was working remotely today so after a walk round the orchard with Tux and Bangle she spent much of the time with laptop, earphones, and mike in meetings with her colleagues in Wellington.

We did have a mid day break and got a bit of food and drinks from Lappuccino’s at the end of the road.

A bit more clearing out of unneeded garments including the cottage dining room coat cupboard, but there’s plenty more to do.

Karola, Bangle and I took the recycling down to the Henderson Road transfer station.

Mark came and finished mowing the homestead lawn; the grass was long and the ground quite muddy still. He then mowed the lawn under the big oak and it looks quite smart.

Bridget and Tux, I and Bangle, went for a shorter walk upstream along the Ngaruroro stop bank. Tux with his relatively long legs and boundless puppy energy darted hither and yon.

There was a dead dove by the bird table this morning, I hope it died of old age and not from a surfeit of the home-made bread gone wrong.

Looks like there are a couple more hogget ewes who have lambed; I counted two more lambs this evening.

And blow me down, I think Blue Band has decided she’s not broody after all – lucky that I have no eggs coming my way yet.

Oak Avenue Weather:4.0℃—19.6℃ no rain [76.4] TdO TdT eggs=3 Mark=4

Set off for Clive late morning and walked along the limestone cycle track inland of the wetlands and round the corner and down to the ocean. Lots of cyclists, many on electric bikes, and several dogs being walked.

Then on to Karamu Road Bay Espresso for brunch and from there back to Hastings where Bridget masterminded new bed linen for our bed in the cottage and her bed upstairs in the homestead. Once we’d added towels and duvet covers to the two sets of sheets and pillow cases per bed it topped out at over $800 but that was only half the price it would have been except for the sale. Bridget saw that there was a sale on at Bath, Bed and Beyond while in Wellington, hence the need to strike while the iron was hot.

Encouraged by Dave Mitchell’s experience with a bread maker we tried making a GF loaf from an old packet of OMG’s GF pre-mix. We followed the instructions as best we could but the OMG recipe assumed an oven bake. Using our elderly Panasonic bread maker our first attempt was an unmitigated disaster – one for the bird table. We’ll try again but this time add the ingredients in the right order and stir it a bit as recommended in the Panasonic cookbook.

Siestas in the afternoon and then, while Karola engaged Tux in some play out on the lawn, Bridget and I did a sort through Karola’s too-extensive wardrobe and drawers to separate out clothes she liked and had worn recently, baling up the rest in a large archive cardboard box for storage in the homestead garage. Tomorrow we’ll do the same for my clothes and the contents of the coat cupboard in the cottage dining room.

Another short walk round the paddocks then a steak dinner followed by lashings of Rush Munro ice-cream. Afterwards a serious conversation about enduring powers of attourney” and what, if anything would make Karola and me move from Karamu. We agreed that as long as I was both reasonably mobile and able to pay the bills on time we could make life simpler here but there was no need to move. However if either of us became wheelchair bound or I was unable to manage the domestic payments then we’d need to move to something like sheltered accommodation. Based on where Bridget and most of our long-time friends are that would ideally be in Wellington.

We also talked about the practicality of flying from here to Wellington with Bangle. To fly Tux from his home to Wellington cost almost $400 but if Karola or I were travelling with Bangle from Napier to Wellington it’d cost $75 plus the extra cost of a bag, another $20. So to take Bangle with us looks like about an extra $200 per return trip which is not out of the question.

Waterfowl At Clive Wetlands

Tux’s First Visit To The Seaside

View Out Towards Cape Kidnappers

Up Close And Dangerous With Sea Water

Karola With Tux In Pen

Oak Avenue Weather:3.6℃—20.6℃ 0.2mm rain [76.8] TdC eggs=3

Quiet morning waiting for Bridget and Tux to arrive. We did do our full Tour de Twyford along the Ngaruroro stop bank, upstream, while we got messages as they drove past Levin and Ongaonga.

Bangle, Tux, Bridget, Karola, and I walked along the gravel roadways in the orchard, avoiding the churned up mud left by the recent sprayer tractors. They got a few lemons while I found and carried off a dead lamb.

A good sized dead ewe lamb found in the Front paddock. It had no ear tag so was either from one of the ewes I marked as dry or, more likely, from one of the hoggets which was impregnated by a hogget who somehow missed the wethering. We know there was one.

What A Mess in The Orchard

Puppy Tux Begs Bangle To Play – “We Are Not Amused”

Oak Avenue Weather:1.1℃—14.8℃ no rain [76.8] TdT eggs=4

Wind machines made a fearful racket until after breakfast. Still very cold all day and in particular the wind was so biting that we started going for the walk on the stop bank around 11:00am and gave up because it was just such a massive wind-chill factor.

I awoke to a story from Karola that she’d seen sheep and lambs on the grass under the big oak. When I took Bangle out to ablute and for me to r=fetch the paper I was surpprised to find that she was right; there were six or seven sheep on the homestead lawn with their lambs. I walked round the fence line that might have given them access and spied a bloated sheep, motionless, with all four legs sticking in the air. Not a good sign. I walked slowly over to the corpse. The corpse winked at me. I poked it with my foot and it wriggled a little.

I rolled the ewe, #929 – no lamb this year, and stood her up. She lunged off and fell over on her back again. A couple more times of this and I managed to stop her breaking away and held her right-way-up, standing, for about five minutes. Releasing her she swayed and stumbled away but didn’t fall over. Minutes later she was grazing, obviously pretty hungry. An hour later I went to have another look and she was 200m or so away from where I left her and still eating greedily.

The little gate into the Middle paddock by the cottage pump shed was wide open – obviously Bangle left it open as surely neither I nor Mark nor karola would have done it. Got the sheep and their lambs off the lawn and back into the Middle paddock with some energetic barking from Bangle.

Dave Mitchell sent email extolling the virtues of a domestic bread maker. I have always shied away from these as, in my experience with bread makers over many decades, people get enthusiastic for a while but then use dwindles to very occasional baking with months in between. However, he’s right, it might be a way to get my GF bread a loaf at a time when I need it and, if it truely only takes five or ten minutes to do it, it could save rtime and money and avoid waste. Each weekly GF loaf costs $11and we detour from our main shopping to get it, and I eat about ⅔ a loaf a week so I’m throwing ⅓ of a loaf to the chooks every week. The baker, OMG, sells lots of his GF bread mix for his many customers who do bake their own.

Mark came and mowed much of the homestead lawn so it’ll look nice for when Bridget comes tomorrow. He also mended the broody coop where the rams had tried to use it as a climbing frame and had twisted and torn the netting on one side. I’m trying to get some fertile eggs to put under broody Blue-Band.

Late afternoon the wind had dropped considerably so we three did do the downstream walk on the stop bank before making one of Gill’s, I mean Ben’s delicious chili con carne meals.

Oak Avenue Weather:0.0℃—15.2℃ no rain [76.2] TdT eggs=4 Mark=4

No Mark today. The “polar surges” brought with them winter nights and cold days, so much so that Mark said his guinea-pigs had gone back into hibernation and he was doing likewise. We had two short hail storms this afternoon, one pictured below.

We had a very quiet day too, preferring our very warm and comfortable cottage to the world outside. We only went out to get the newspaper, go for our four kilometre walk along the stop bank, and get fish and chips for dinner from Captain Salty at the end of the road.

Temperature has dropped enough this evening to start the frost wind machines – they’re making a tremendous racket.

Hail Outside The Cottage Kitchen

Frost Protection Windmills In Surrounding Orchards

Oak Avenue Weather:2.4℃—10.7℃ 0.2mm rain [76.0] TdT eggs=5 Mark=0

Mark came, it being a sunny day and rain-free, although a nasty winter blast is forecast within 24 hours, hurtling up from the far south. He checked the sheep, set the two cage possum traps, mowed the cottage lawn and surrounds, and planted the small strawberry plants given to us by his mum, Jenny Hendery.

Meanwhile Bangle, Karola, and I popped into Hastings where I bought some more unmentionables at Farmers for Karola. Bridget and I hope to make life easier for Karola by setting out a few simple daily “uniforms” and packing up the rest of her extensive wardrobe of mostly very old and somewhat worn clothes. I did this for myself some years ago and it makes for a boring wardrobe but retrieves lots of wardrobe and drawer space as well as making each day’s choices much easier. And while we were in town we visited Alexanders and got Karola a new belt – to replace her three very worn ones – and another shirt – plain, Navy, cotton.

We got some Rush Munro ice-cream tubs for when Bridget comes though I’m not sure they’ll last that long. Bridget TXTed me to ask that I get some weird rubber milking machine liners for Tux to have as toys. Apparently Bridget’s vet suggested them because Tux isn’t showing much interest in conventional pet-shop chewing toys. Farmlands in Hastings didn’t have any but there was one box in the Napier store so we nipped over there and bought it.

Blue-Band appears to be broody.

Oak Avenue Weather:5.5℃—20.0℃ no rain [76.3] TdT eggs=5 Mark=4

It being Tuesday we went to do the week’s shopping. The ground was too wet for anything useful outside so Mark took a rain check. In fact the forecast was for rain in the afternoon but as often happens the rain was delayed several hours. The shopping run wasn’t too arduous – a whole heap of laundry to the Dry Cleaners, New World for groceries, Cornucopia for my weekly GF bread (back to weekly from fortnightly – it means I waste some but don’t run out). In Cornucopia I also, under instruction, bought some skin moisturiser for Karola who was keeping Bangle company in the car. This proved not to be a success.

After lunch we went back into town and this time Karola came and after discussion with the in-shop experts bought a replacement product that she has since found to be just right. As I was back in town I went to Noel Leemings and cancelled the wall mount for the broken TV – it’s already been two weeks without delivery. And continued my quest for an old fashioned large laundry bag, a big cloth bag with a drawstring. Of course the Hastings shops only stock mesh bags or waterproof bags with elaborate fasteners – and all too small.

Our postie team are Chris and Rae; Chris is the main postman on our run and recently delivered a new TV. Subsequently I found that the TV screen was shattered and so the box and contents had to be returned to Rubber Monkey, the supplier. With Karola’s help i wrapped it in some left-over building paper and applied the delivery sticker supplied by Rubber Monkey. Rae came late afternoon and picked it up and this was the first time we’d seen Chris’s wife – very friendly.

It as getting late so I foolishly took Bangle round the orchard rather than down to the stop bank. As the photos below demonstrate, Bangle got very muddy and even after a five-minute hosing down she was still pretty muddy.

The Orchard – A Sea Of Mud

… And Such Short Little Legs

… Do I Really Have To Do This?

Apple Blossom Just Starting To Bloom – Hives Already Deployed

Oak Avenue Weather:4.8℃—15.2℃ no rain [76.5] TdO eggs=3 Mark=0

Raining this morning and forecast all afternoon so Mark took a rain check.

Electrician Ivan called in to see what was occurring re the painting and so on – short answer is “nothing”. He woke me up and then Karola gave him half a dozen eggs which I’d earmarked for the Food Bank tomorrow. Luckily the chooks came through with another half dozen today.

So a morning of emails and online articles while rain gently fell. Enough of a break at lunchtime for a good walk along the stop bank, downstream. Three other dogs on the path. Apple blossom down this way too.

Had a wake-up call with BNZ about online banking. It turned out that RubberMonkey is a legitimate firm and I spoke with a rep in Wellington and we are on the way to getting a replacement or refund for the broken TV. However, I asked the bank what if the merchant had been fraudulent. If the purchase was on a credit card the usual insurance and dispute resolution is available. As Gill and Ben have experienced, credit card fraud response from the bank is quite good. If you use online banking – thereby not exposing a credit card number to the merchant – you have no redress, it’s like paying with an EFTPOS card or cash. I have been warned.

Wrapped up the broken TV in a piece of spare building paper and hope the courier takes it away in the next day or two.

More Apple Blossom, Downstream On The Ngaruroro Stop Bank

Broken TV Swathed In Building Paper For Its Return

Oak Avenue Weather:10.3℃—16.1℃ 5.2mm rain [76.9] TdT eggs=6 Mark=0

Mostly reading online articles and replying to emails today.

The little ram lamb born to a hogget ewe has died sometime in the last wet 48 hours. In a way it’s a blessing because having a much smaller lamb in the mob to be sold can depress the overall prices whereas a nice level bunch ups the price a little.

Otherwise all 31 ewes and 18 lambs all present and correct – there is one lamb that looks a bit forlorn and is limping so I’ll keep an eye on it.

We did try a walk down on the stop bank – the orchard being just a sea of mud – but rain interrupted play.

Inside most of the day as it rained intermittently all day, very wet underfoot. In the orchard some big tractors were spraying making a terrible racket and churning up the ground between the rows. Seems that, perhaps because the leaves were wet with rain, they had turned up the spray pressure as it was gushing out in a band perhaps four metres high and the spray was drifting across an extra row on each side.

Silly Place to Lay An Egg – Again

Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [76.6] eggs=4

Having found a small leak on the floor of the homestead cloakroom I turned off the cistern and put a note on the seat.

Pigeons from the colony up in the Canary island palm (not Pine) are dominating the bird table. Sparrows dart in and share but it’s keeping the doves – the intended recipients of the maize – from getting much of a feed.

Walk along the stop bank, upstream. Someone has painted big crosses on the limestone path every 500 metres. It’s happened before but I’m unsure why.

My Special Flowering Manuka Heavy With Blooms

Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [76.5] TdT eggs=6

No Mark today, too wet.

Paul Goodchild, “The Gasman”, (027 438 7056 thegasmanhb@gmail.com) came as planned this morning and we discussed the work he needs to do to connect gas bottles to the generator. Paul thinks the gas bottle delivery people will be very happy with the ease of switching bottles. Regulations for the safety of gas bottle use means that some of the windows on that wall of the homestead garage may need to be sealed shut – be made permanently unable to be opened. I don’t see that as a real problem.

Quiet day with rain on and off since mid morning which is a pity really because the ground was just beginning to dry out a bit. Called Heath Goldfinch of Tamatea Automotive and booked the Disco WX2288 in to have a service and fix the could of niggles found by the VTNZ WOF inspector yesterday; the first day Heath can do it is 20th October.

In the evening Campbell Watt, the guy selling us the backup electricity generation system, called and discussed the need for permanent window closures and following that I sent him more photos of the west wall of the homestead garage.

Got a chance to put names to faces for the Woodford Old Girls attending the funeral of Margie Maxwell 16th September (photos below)

Welcome Swallow Pair back For Breeding – And Anna’s Gift to Me Looks On – A Right MCP

Peach Blossom Is Mostly Over But At Last The White Apple Blossom

Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [76.9] TdT eggs=2 Mark=0

The lamb born in last 48 hours to a surprised ewe hogget was, to my surprise and delight, still with us in the morning.

Mark was busy today.

The new TV, same make and model as the ones in the homestead kitchen and dining room, a Sony 43″ BRAVIA X80J 4K HDR Ultra HD LED-Backlit TV, was delivered by our postie this morning. The outside packaging was intact, not broken. This evening I put up the wall-mounted TV and there seemed to be nothing wrong with it. I finally got it hung and cables attached and plugged in. I switched it on and to my horror I saw a spiders-web of cracks extending out from near the bottom right corner – quite invisible until the screen lit up. When I examined it carefully at the apparent point of impact I felt breaks in the screen but these were not apparent while mounting the TV.

Not Modern Art, Sadly

Paddock Flooding – 29 September (Courtesy Ben Bell While here on Visit With Gill)

And Cottage With Homestead Beyond – 29th September (Again Courtesy Ben Bell While here on Visit With Gill)

Oak Avenue Weather:10.0℃—19.7℃ no rain [76.8] TdT eggs=6 Mark=0

Dragged ourselves out of bed and zoomed off to Ahuriri for our hair appointments. Kim has changed the name of her shop from the Style Salon which she inherited to the much more pleasant Copper & Hues Hair. I got us coffee from the next door Milk & Honey cafe. We then pottered into Hastings and I went to the bank, BNZ, where I was identified as a real non-money-laundering person able to operate Bridget’s trust account. The account got frozen because I wouldn’t go to town and get identified which needed my physical presence, my passport, driving license, Gold Card (pension card), and a signature.

Mark used up the exterior ¼ pearl lustre waterżbased paint left over from the farm shed on giving the new cottage pump shed another coat, Mark also checked the sheep and found a hogget with a new very small lamb. The only way I can explain it is that one of her half-brothers, the one that escaped castration I know not how, is the father. Our two intentional rams did not get an opportunity to associate with any of the hoggets. The mother is so surprised and unsure what to do that I fear the lamb will not get a feed but we know from bitter experience that our meddling is never a temporary thing and once we intervene we’ll be saddled with a pet lamb until weaning.

Accidental Hogget Mother With Tiny Ram Lamb – Not Sure It’ll Last The Night

Dr Ben Bell’s Bird Species List – Seen Or Heard Here At Karamu Over The Weekend

Two Species Of Dotterel Seen On East Coast Beach At The Weekend By Dr Ben Bell

Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [76.9] TdT eggs=6 Mark=4

Everyone up in good time, Gill & Ben to pack for their return home to Seatoun Heights Road in Wellington, we three to take Bangle for her six-weekly grooming with Emma. It only took 40 minutes to drop Bangle off and get back to Karamu where we said goodbye to Gill and Ben after a most pleasant visit. Gill clutching her dozen fresh-laid eggs; Ben his photos of Dotterels on the east coast beach.

Bangle is so fluffy and silky clean it seems wrong to immediately get her lathered in mud so no walks today. Not sure whether she agrees though.

The iPad tutorials are not working out – the modern IOS is just too complicated these days, I agree, and while it seems intuitive and obvious for someone who has been doing very similar stuff for years and years, coming to it without the experience is just a huge learning curve. So, we’ve agreed with Beryl to stop the Wednesday iPad tutorials.

Mark came and did lots of mowing including the cottage lawn and round about.

Not An Ideal Place To Lay One’s Egg

Oak Avenue Weather:8.5℃—15.6℃ no rain [?] eggs=4 Mark=4

Sheep and lambs seems to be all present and correct. Walk with Bangle round the orchard was even muddier than before because fof the churning by tractors spraying the trees – bud break for apple trees has just begun.

Ben went off for some serious bird watching on the coast before the rest of us were barely awake.

Taking advantage of my accident yesterday resulting in eight broken eggs Gill & I made a delicious crustless bacon and egg pie. We enjoyed that for lunch but left room for a special pork casserole that Gill cooked late afternoon. In fact it was more delicious than the Mission meal on Friday. Excitement of the afternoon was when I turned the oven on a bit high and the ensuing smoke set off the smoke alarms resulting in a call from havelock Hills Security and much opening of windows and doors until the smoke dissipated.

House Looking Rather Splendid In Afternoon Sun

Ha-Ha Today – Still Containing Plenty Of Water From Recent Rains

Oak Avenue Weather:9.3℃—15.6℃ no rain [?] TdO eggs=3 Mark=0

Gill & Ben had a deep undisturbed night last night, perhaps in part because I caught one of the possums that were fighting two nights ago and still roaming about in the roof space yesterday. Sadly for me I had the unpleasant task of dispatching the possum as i could not raise Mark to come and do it. I drowned it and then later buried it in the sheep pit.

Ben has counted 22 bird species at Karamu yesterday and 18 this afternoon.

We all went off to Bay Espresso in Karamu Roas for brunch, including Bangle.They do a mean Eggs Benedict. We sat in the gardent at the back with Bangle sitting under the table and being fed surreptitiously with bits of bacon by Ben.

Then off to Clive to the wetlands where Ben spotted some familiar bird species and I walked Bangle down to the surf. Rush Munro refills picked up on the way home.

Late afternoon I knocked a full tray of ten eggs onto the floor, breaking them all. I rescued the contents of eight and sister Gill very kindly mopped up the rest of the mess. Now to find a recipe that will keep using eight eggs and gluten free.

A communally cooked dinner – steak with onions, green beans, asparagus, brussel sprouts and potatoes – well I had cauliflower mash instead of potatoes.

Bangle By The Crashing Surf – Please Can We Go Now!

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

After a less troubled night Gill & Ben went over to Havelock North to see Peter & Charlotte. They did the shopping for tonight’s meal and then the four of them went out to Hygge (aka Clifton Cafe) for lunch followed by a walk along the beach towards Cape Kidnappers.

Meanwhile Karola, Bangle, and I went down to the stop bank where Bangle and I walked along to the entrance to Pakowhai Country Park and we then tootled off to Flaxmere by way of Gagan’s roadside green grocers and I did a little last minute shopping in the Flaxmere New World.

Mid afternoon I donned head torch and went up in the homestead roof space to see if I could locate the leak. I found the ceiling board where the drip came from, it was still quite wet, and a purlin above that seemed to have some small signs of wet rot along the upper edge. I think it is a long-standing tiny leak that only became evident because of the torrential rain on Thursday night. The roof space is not a pleasant place to visit – too namy signs of possums and rats and dusty with cobwebs. The batts for insulation don’t help.

I set both possum cage traps with fresh Granny Smith apple and some cinnamon and aniseed lure.

Searching For Leak Into Room At Top Of The Stairs – Roof Space Floor

And Roof Above

Oak Avenue Weather:11.8℃—20.0℃ 2.0mm rain [?] TdT eggs=5

Late start to the day. Last night I did manage to get curtains up in the “room at the top of the stairs” so that Gill & Ben would not be disturbed by too early morning light. I need not have bothered.

What a night for Gill & Ben.

• The electric clock on which I had set the time and plugged in on Ben’s bedside table – accidentally its alarm went off at 12:15am – not appreciated
• torrential rain later followed by a drip, drip, drip from the ceiling, only just missing the bed, woke Gill who stemmed the drips with blankets and sheets to hand
• then a massive possum fight broke out in the roof space seemingly right above their bed
• and later it transpired that the storm had somehow broken all Internet access to the property

There were no leaks in any other rooms, thank goodness. The electric clock was unplugged, and the drip quickly dried up but still needs investigation. I need to set possum traps and revisit Paul’s view that they only get in from ground level.

As with previous occasions when the Internet access failed for the site I unplugged the homestead link and waited for it to self-heal. The cottage regained access. So I tested the ethernet cable from the homestead garage office across to the control box under the stairs and that seemed sound, all eight wires connected in the right order. So I unplugged the four internal cables going to the four TV sites in the house and the Internet sprang back into life. Not conclusive but perhaps its one of those four cables that are causing the problem.

As we drove off in Ben’s car to The Mission for a special lunch I noticed a large fountain of water gushing from a broken pipe in the goose paddock so I TXTed Mark and asked him to fix it and also check the ewes and lambs for any casualties due to the torrential rain. He was then to continue the undercoating of the dovecote in the roof of the new cottage pump shed.

Mark TXTed back later to say he’d fixed the leak in the sheep trough watering pipe and finished the undercoating., and the sheep and lambs were bedraggled but all still alive. It being so wet underfoot Mark went home mid afternoon having finished the dovecote undercoat.

Siestas all round after our big lunch at The Mission and a light supper this evening. Despite the soggy ground I did take Bangle for a walk along the stop bank. The Ngaruroro is up to the top of its usual banks but short of flooding across to the stop banks.

Twelve Hours After The Torrential Rain – The Large Puddles Isolating The Chook House

Twelve Hours After The Torrential Rain – The 121 Driveway

Oak Avenue Weather:13.0℃—17.6℃ 25.0mm rain [76.4] TdT eggs=4 Mark=2

Into Hastings to order another TV wall mount for the Sony 43” BRAVIA X80J TV I ordered from RubberMonkey – they are basically out of stock country wide being last years model but RubberMonkey claim to have one. Noel Leeming can get the wall mount but it’ll take maybe a week. I’m hoping to get all the TVs in the homestead to be identical, quite large, quite capable “smart” TVs that will last for many years. On the way back we got Rush Munro tubs of ice-cream for when Gill and Ben arrive.

Mark came and despite quite heavy rain last night was able to start painting the inside of the dovecote. The paddocks and lawns are very wet, just puddles and swamp-like.

Gill & Ben arrived soon after 6:00pm after a relatively uneventful drive up. At one point Gill was somewhat discombobulated by a boy racer who sped out of a side road in front of them and did several spin-outs and drifts before returning whence he came. No immediate danger but could have been nasty if he’d spun out of control.

Mark Applying Undercoat To The Inside Of The Dovecote

Security Clearance Of Brush Down By The Ngaruroro Expressway Bridge – Favourite Drug Dealer Site

Brush Cutter Like Large Lawn Mower On Arm Of JCB Was A Fearsome Sight

Oak Avenue Weather:10.3℃—14.7℃ 15.4mm rain [76.1] TdT eggs=4 Mark=4

Lot of rain in the night and more forecast so Mark took a rain-check today.

Builder Paul came in the morning as planned and did a couple of things in the cottage:

• Raised the laundry door a smidgen so that we can get vinyl laid on top of the cork tile floor, eventually
• Fitted a new catch to the bedroom door’s carpenter lock
• Made notches in the living room double-hung sash window frame so that the honeycomb blind rested properly when pulled right down
• Improved two squeaking boards by angle-nailing them to their neighbours

After lunch we drove over to beryl’s in Havelock North for Karola’s Wednesday hour tutorial on the iPad. On the return home we hit an alarming hailstorm as we drove along the road from Havelock North to Hastings.

Bridget’s Constant Companion – Tux (Tuxedo – For Obvious Reasons)

Pullet’s Eggs Can Be Small – But This Is Absurd

The Hailstorm As It Hit Beryl’s Patio Just After We left

Oak Avenue Weather:10.6℃—20.9℃ 9.0mm rain [76.0] TdT eggs=4 Mark=0

After some solid rain in the night it was a bright sunny day mostly. I was up late last night changing the homestead LAN to use the new ethernet switches and the Grandstream GWN7630 WiFi Access Point. I gave up around 1:30am with the equipment installed and battened down against earthquakes and wired ethernet working.

I noticed that Paul and the plasterer (GIB-stopper) were here bright and early. Later I found out that the plasterers had not actually finished in the dining room; it needed a final sanding. Monique, encouraged by me, had begun painting thinking the GIB-stopping was complete. So the walls were sanded by the plasterer and Monique will have some work to repeat but the ceiling and architraves etc will be just fine.

The building inspector came and did his final and thorough inspection, which we passed, to Paul’s evident great relief and satisfaction. He’s done it many times before but they always engender some anxiety as to what the inspector might choose to pick on. There were a couple of niggles, things to be fixed, which Paul and plumber Dean spent much of the afternoon fixing. They sent photos to the council – after which we had our certificate of compliance and completion.

Paul now thinks that the water stain on the laundry ceiling was not an incontinent possum but a spilled water bottle. I prefer this explanation.

Shopping as usual; going at around 10:00am New World was quiet yet the shelves had not been plundered empty so my shop was quite speedy and complete. GF bread from Cornucopia, the Organics shop. Another 1½ dozen eggs to the Food Bank. JayCar to return a broken video cable connector and get a replacement. Dry cleaning picked up; to the bank for more cash; and coffees from BP’s Wild Bean Cafe.

Mark came and put 26 “cats whiskers” gutter protectors in at the homestead, completing protection of all the downstairs gutters.

Then Karola, Mark, and I did the annual lamb docking. Eighteen lambs given ear tags, tail rings, and males converted to wethers. According to the records we kept during lambing all the lambs were as described on the record; right mothers and right sex.

Oak Avenue Weather:11.5℃—23.1℃ 2.0mm rain [76.3] TdO eggs=6 Mark=4

Monique needed more paint and it’s quite expensive so I had to go into Hastings to the Resene shop and pay for it so she could pick it up and continue her sterling work.

Mark came and finished mowing the homestead lawn; the grass was long and damp so it took longer than usual. He also swapped over one of the vigorous Puriri trees growing in the shrubbery with the one struggling a lot on the lip of the Ha-Ha. The struggler has not really recovered from being savaged by sheep in its early days.

Late afternoon after Mark had gone I started work on the homestead LAN, replacing the switching devices and in particular the highly recommended Grandstream WiFi access point. I was a little surprised to see that it was powered by POE (power over ethernet) so i had to either make the “POE injector” to add 12v to four of the wires in the eight-wire ethernet cable or buy one. I’ve done that successfully in the past but, not wanting any “weak link” in the network possibly contributing to intermittent failures, I bought one.

Oak Avenue Weather:5.9℃—19.3℃ 5.4mm rain [?] TdO eggs=7 Mark=4

Both feeling a bit groggy after the excitements of Friday but we did potter round the orchard with Bangle before lunch. And later I clambered into Karola’s very tight fitting blue boiler suit and, using some old paint left over from painting the farm shed many years ago, I painted the cottage pump shed. I still have the floor of the dovecote to do; I’ll probably leave the inside walls as they are, a soothing plywood natural colour.

Ian In Karola’s Boiler Suit – Ready To Paint

Cottage Pumpshed – Quarter Pearl Lustre Complete

Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [?] TdO eggs=7

Harris Pumps & Filtration is open Saturday mornings so I dropped in and purchased a couple of bits of galvanised pipe so that I could replace the broken valve on the cottage bore. The old valve I had lying around does seem to work just fine now and dripping has stopped.

Subaru battery has gone flat again so today we jump started it with the Landrover, left it running for 30 minutes, and then drove it in to Rush Munro’s in hope that it would get charged up. Left it running in the Rush Munro car park but found it was just too busy so we left. Back to Caltex on Omahu road and filled up with petrol and got a couple of ice-creams on a stick. Of course one has to turn off the engine to fill with petrol and afterwards it wouldn’t start. Garage cashier kindly helped with a jump-start. It took a few attempts and the guy said he thought the alternator or starter motor was suspect s the battery seemed to have plenty of juice.

And on getting back home I rather stupidly turned off the engine again. So I had to jump start again with the Landrover and have left it running for over four hours. Tomorrow I’ll see if it starts otherwise maybe it does need some professional attention.

Broken Valve On Cottage Bore Replaced

Gill’s Damson Tree In Bloom

Oak Avenue Weather:5.6℃—15.5℃ no rain [?] TdT eggs=5

Well I gather that was her nickname at school. Margie Maxwell died and her school colleagues and many others flocked to St Lukes in Havelock for the funeral this morning.

Kirsty Faulkner brought Wendy Shanahan up from Wellington and they stayed the night with us. So, unusually for us, we had a hearty scrambled egg breakfast before getting ready for the 11:00am service. I dropped Karola off at Cynthia Chalmers house in Hastings and they went together in Cynthia’s car.

Builder Paul came as usual and continued repairs to the homestead front steps. Johnny Lett’s water blasting of the north exterior of the homestead had uncovered some rot and damage to the wooden steps. Today Johnny continued painting along the front, downstairs. Monique, his sister, has already done the same for the balcony and wall upstairs and she continues on the rooms upstairs.

Mark finished cleaning the farm shed gutters and their “cats whisker” leaf guards then spent the afternoon mowing the homestead lawn.

Over the last two days my purchases of a new ethernet switch and a new WiFi access point arrived. The eight-way switch is a replacement for the old Cisco switch in the homestead garage office – installed and operational – and the access point is for the homestead, under the stairs, providing WiFi throughout. I need to get this working before Gill & Ben come up next week.

I retrieved Karola from Cynthia’s place after the funeral and we went over to Clive for Bangle’s walk. However the southerly wind was so strong and so bitterly cold that we just did a very short walk before retreating back into Hastings for a coffee and home.

Annie Richie Sent Us A Couple Of Photos Taken After The Funeral

Oak Avenue Weather:0.9℃—16.3℃ 0.2mm rain [?] TdC eggs=4 Mark=4

Homestead busy as Monique continued painting the master bedroom, her brother Johnny began painting the outside downstairs front wall, Paul finished the new cottage pump shed (except for the ridge cap which is being made by StratFor at Onekawa) and the plasterers aka GIB-stoppers finished the first pass on the dining room walls.

Karola and I discussed her iPad tutorials and it does seem that the sorts of things Beryl is trying to teach are not really what Karola wants to concentrate on. She feels, and I agree, that Beryl is focussing on how to present the information in an email or a note or memorandum, how to edit and manage emails. Where we differ is that for me this is the basics of using an iPad – how to write emails and notes and TXTs the way most people do, so it looks familiar to the reader. Karola thinks this is only needed for business letters so is not necessary.

Mark spent most of the afternoon mowing then began cleaning the “cats whiskers” gutter protectors on the farm shed – they were very much blocked with leaves, detritus, and even root systems of growing weeds. Obviously we’ll have to clean them more regularly in the future. The threatened rain materialised mid afternoon and so Mark went home.

Sheep and lambs all accounted for; no new arrivals.

Before 7:00pm Kirsty Faulkner and her fellow Woodford House school mate Wendy Shanahan arrived. They are staying for the night and going to Margie Maxwell’s funeral at St Lukes Anglican church in Havelock North tomorrow. Karola and friend Cynthia Chalmers, also Woodford Old Girls are going too.

Kirsty brought a chicken casserole which, with potatoes and frozen peas and beans, made a decent dinner for the four of us. We also had Rush Munro ice-cream and fruit for dessert. The visitors slept upstairs in their own sleeping bags so were no trouble at all.

Oak Avenue Weather:3.0℃—15.0℃ 2.2mm rain [76.4] TdO eggs=4 Mark=2

Our walk today took me downstream to the Pakowhai Country Park entrance and back. Karola and Bangle enjoyed a more leisurely rootling around on the banks of the Ngaruroro.

Four saw horses from Trade Tested arrived today – intended as permanent support for two heavy wooden doors to be used in the homestead garage as work surfaces.

Lots of activity at the homestead: Monique continuing her interior painting; GIB stoppers doing their first coat of the dining room; glaziers replacing the cloakroom glass with safety glass as per Ruth’s building plans. Meanwhile Paul has almost completed the new cottage pump-shed with its loft for Barbary Doves. We are attempting to make the loft as rat proof as possible. The loft is lined with plywood, has a plywood floor, and has a landing platform jutting out to the end of the eaves. I am delighted with how it’s turned out.

Mark came and spent the afternoon mowing with the Grillo. According to the weather forecast we have a few hours before it rains again with rain expected on most days until mid week next week.

I drove Karola over for her weekly Wednesday iPad tutorial with Beryl Grayling. On the way home we picked up a further 30 “cats whisker” gutter protectors from Mitre-10, a couple of plug-board length TV aerial cables, and some Rush Munro ice-cream. Rush Munro is moving to the other side of the Hastings railway tracks so it won’t be nearly as easy to go there – on top of which their current shop and garden have been a Hastings landmark since 1931, after the earthquake when the current premises were constructed on Heretaunga Street.

Progress On The Cottage Pump Shed With Integral Dovecote

Oak Avenue Weather:__℃—__℃ no rain [76.2] TdT eggs=6 Mark=4

The 13th was Karola’s father’s lucky number. It’s also the day in September of my favourite sister’s birthday – although we don’t mention the number of those she’s had any more.

Being a Tuesday it’s also our usual weekly shopping day. We left Paul continuing on the construction of the replacement cottage pump shed. Karola, seeing the gabled end and weatherboard cladding is quite pleased with the effect – it will fit in well with the other buildings.

Two dozen eggs for the Food Bank; half a dozen for Mark’s family.

New World for groceries; Cornucopia for my GF bread order, some laundry dropped off at the Dry Cleaners, coffee from the Wild Bean Cafe and, while the coffee was brewing, I picked up another three months of meds for me and for Karola. Apparently this week we passed the marker meaning that for the rest of the year, probably until the end of January 2023, our medicines (pills) are free on the public health system.

Mark came and mowed the cottage lawn and surrounding grassed areas, and along the 121 driveway. He then retrieved the old heavy iron bath from the front lawn – where we put it after man-handling it out of the homestead old upstairs bathroom, onto the balcony, and down to the ground. He’s made a site for it behind the old Camellia tree that used to stand beside the doorway of the old green shed – the shed that was destroyed by a large branch off the big oak several years ago. This is to be another fish pond, settled into the ground far enough to be stable but not so far that the geese will imagine they can swim in it. Like the similar bath-pond next to the cottage bore, this will have a trickle of water keeping it from going stagnant coming from an old bore that was supposed to be sealed when our cottage well was sunk back in 1980s. Just a natural head keeps the trickle flowing, no electricity needed.

Oak Avenue Weather:9.0℃—21.0℃ no rain [75.8] TdT eggs=7 Mark=4