Winter has definitely arrived, with its frosty mornings and blue skies interspersed with days of rain. It takes hours for the morning mist to evaporate on frosty mornings, and the ground frost can persist longer in shady zones. Hard to believe it's the shortest day already.
The herb garden along the garage is nearly clear and I have long-term plans to get rid of it altogether and widen the path, possibly planting an agapanthus hedge or something that won't need much care. A new home can easily be found for the current herbs. The wisteria and Granny Smith Apple tree are sporting serious haircuts, and the scented jasmine by the sleepout door is tamed. The flower garden beds have died back enough to clear out the dead stems and seed heads. Roses have been pruned, this time by me. I've cut them back so hard that even Karyn didn't criticise (much). Limbs from trees of all sizes have been neatly sawn off with my trusty Stihl pruning saw, including the copper beech that is growing fast despite its proximity to the large tulip tree. All the garden zones around the house are now ready to receive their winter blanket of lucerne straw. That's not a quick job alas.
Though it's mid-winter, there are some colourful gems to be found among the dead or dying foliage. White winter hellebore flowers are hiding behind brown stumps, and there is even a single white NZ iris flower braving the cold, alongside a couple of pink Sweet Williams. The succulent houseleeks are also sporting one pink bloom. More added colour comes from the bright red pyracantha berries that the birds are eating their way through.
The vege garden is clear except for the carrot/beetroot crops. I've done the dastardly weed spray deed and am just waiting for the remaining hardy weeds to die off before applying the weed mat and carpet. That's an even bigger job than the straw application and will necessitate a trip or two to a local carpet store to raid unwanted offcuts from their bins. The raised beds in the horse arena are also cleared and the whole area looks pretty empty and barren, a far cry from its usual level of abundant growth. The fruit trees in there are all savagely pruned, including reducing the height of some of the bigger ones - the entrance pears, crab apple, fig (again) and peachcot. The step-over espaliered apples have never been pruned so starkly - I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's cure not kill. Karyn has been gifted the 'pleasure' of pruning the feijoa tree now that it's finished fruiting. Let's hope she leaves something behind,
The orchard too has received its 'big prune'. Karyn came to help and was given free rein to remove any branch that offended her in some way. Peter helped out with his chain saw on the bigger branches, and our pruning saws did the rest. Heaps of wood was removed and has now been cleared onto a big bonfire pile that is awaiting some dry weather. Branches big enough for firewood were chopped up and have been stacked. A sample of each of those branches was labeled and put aside so we can see how the wood ages and what crafts they can potentially be used for. Mostly this wood is a beautiful orange colour, with the exception of the mulberry (centre of pic).
The bee colony is still going strong and has been properly wintered down. The plan is to take this hive to Jane's place so that she can look after it with her hive and not have to travel here. Her place is just over 1km away - not ideal but still the best option. We're hoping that shifting it in the middle of winter will mean that there won't be many foraging bees to get disorientated.
The cows and sheep are tolerating the winter weather without enthusiasm, especially when it's wet. They get daily (or twice daily for Nike, Kratos, and Triton) hay, and there's still grass to graze. The ewes tend to stay together as a flock, except occasionally the 2 black ones separate and do their own thing. Kratos is the same - dodgy legs getting up but when he's up he can even run when he wants to. He still feeds from his mum and seems to be growing OK. Triton manages to get a feed from Nike too, though always from behind.
Billy is settling in Perth, yet to be gainfully employed but probably not far away. Sam and Molly came up for a weekend for Sam to rehearse with the local Marlborough District Brass Band. He'll be back again in a couple more weeks. He's recently been touring the north of the South Island and will be heading to Switzerland for their Tattoo in July. Laura has moved to Christchurch with the aim of getting an office job rather than working from home. Lucas has recently started a new job with an Auckland employer which should mean he'll be able to just work from home doing ordinary hours rather than the extended hours he did as a contractor. Peter is counting off the days until retirement in August. A friend of Billy's, Josh, will move into the house while we're away, bringing his own livestock (miniature cattle). Hopefully, this house-sitting arrangement will work well for us all. I'm still working on securing an Australia job, should be sorted soon though. I've been invited to present at the GOLD Midwifery online conference in 2024, so preparation for that will have to be shoe-horned in somehow.
Crap-clearing and general maintenance of the house are in full flow. Lots of stuff, even books, have gone to re-cycling places, and some have been binned. Long-standing quirks with the house are being addressed, especially those related to lighting and security that we have been ignoring for years. Karyn has found a temporary home for the (too many) houseplants in a Pilates studio in town. It feels like plans for our Australian adventure are coming together and it's starting to feel exciting. Our prior UK holiday plans are also shaping up too, with most of the complex things like accommodation bookings already pre-booked. Adventure here we come! It remains to be seen whether we'll be desperate to return to this lifestyle block life or pursue other life paths. I can't see us as City Slickers, but maybe we'll be ready to embrace some kind of change. Meanwhile we'll continue to put up with living in paradise.
