May 2019 (the sequel)

Ann and I arrived at Manchester Airport in the early hours, and my phone pinged as we were waiting for Peter and Billy to land.  It was a message from Molly who was dog/cow/sheep/fish/house-sitting, thanking us for leaving our bedroom door unlocked. The photo of the ladder accompanied it.  It was one of a number of challenges, including escapee cattle and fish fungus, that faced her in our absence and that she dealt with admirably. 
Peter and Billy arrived on time and in reasonable nick after a straightforward flight (no jinx for them).  We headed back to Ann's and to prawn cocktail crisps, Warburton's bread, Red Leicester cheese and Jelly Babies.  They both keeled over in the early evening but managed to sleep enough to get on with the next day.

We made our way to the West Midlands and arrived at mum's in good time.  A brisk spring walk around Leasowes Park and the allotment kept everyone going, and we woke refreshed the next day.  Mum's 80th Birthday (not her actual birthday, just the official one - but who's counting??) was spent at the Ewe and Lamb in Bromsgrove.  A delicious meal and celebration, followed by a trip to nearby Hanbury Hall and Gardens (National Trust).  The kids ran off some energy, the adults checked out the gardens and art display, and everyone had ice cream.  Even the weather played nicely!

Morning tea the next day was courtesy of Hilliers in Worcestershire, where we meandered around the gardens, lurked in the bird hide and shopped in the gift and farm shops.  From there we drove back into Birmingham to Kaja's place.  Mum and Nick stayed a while, and Marcus, Nikki, Jago and Freya joined us later.  There was a little rain in the afternoon, but the kids were oblivious to it in the spa pool. Some alcohol was consumed and we settled into a fun evening of Balderdash and a takeaway.  Both Melissa and Michael gave up their beds for us - thanks kids!

The next day we reached our last port of call - Ripon.  My childhood home and Peter moved there when he was 16.  We stayed with his baby sister Julie and her son/our nephew Jake and dog Bella.  We were well lubricated with old favourite beers and well-fed with Julie's lovely home cooking. We drove around a bit and re-visited some of the old haunts - some places very much stalled in time and others nearly unrecognisable.  Soon enough Billy was well over us oohing and aahing about familiar places.
We all went out for a meal, meeting Peter's youngest brother David, wife Lynda and son Josh in the Unicorn Hotel.  David's middle son Nick and wife Karine also joined us.  Down memory lane again, but very much feeling like we'd never been away.


We left Billy behind (too much nostalgia for him to bear) and took a day trip to the coast, heading to Redcar where Peter grew up, to visit his auntie Joan.  One doesn't ask a lady her age, but suffice to say that Joan is hanging in there beautifully.  She put on an amazing spread that we could barely make headway with.  It was a joy to spend time with her.  Both her grandchildren, David and Claire, are intrepid travelers and have visited us in NZ.  Before hitting Redcar, we'd skirted Whitby (great view of Dracula's Abbey) and made a stop at Robin Hood's Bay to drench ourselves further in nostalgia.  Years - rather decades - ago we trekked the Coast-to-Coast walk that ends in Robin Hood's Bay.  I could still feel the exhilaration of taking off my steaming hiking boots and soothing my blistered feet in the sea.  Then we took a route through Saltburn, lingering at the beach for a pie, and drove through Marske, checking out the homes that Peter had lived in.  

In the meantime, Peter's oldest brother John and his wife Carole had arrived from Cork for a couple of days.  Lovely to see them both and great to catch up with news from the Irish contingent of the family.  Billy had been in touch with them and their sons/his cousins a while ago and had made plans to travel back to Cork with them when Peter and I return to NZ. We headed out for a barbecue at Nick and Karine's place in Knaresborough that evening.  Other than a lack of young kids, it was very reminiscent of the days of yore when Peter's family events were big, lively parties.

    

The next day Peter's brother Michael arrived in Ripon, in anticipation of the shindig scheduled to take place that evening.  He came with wife Linda, daughter Jane and husband Steve, son Kevin and partner Jen, and daughter Sam with husband Adam and their kids Harry and Evan.  Linda has been very unwell and we weren't sure if she'd be able to travel, but delightedly she made it.  We all met up again later at the Royal Oak in Ripon and were joined by Peter's eldest sister Wendy, husband Tony, daughter

Heather and husband Pete and their kids Amelia and Oliver, plus daughter Carol with her baby Tiarnna.  Wendy and Tony had brought a very precious gift - a book of photos featuring family and places special to us.  A totally unique and wonderful gesture that we have already frequently re-visited.  His cousin Janet, husband Steve and daughter Claire also turned up.  Quite a crowd already, but Julie had invited some of his old mates too: Alister, Martin, Graham, Brian, Phil and Gillian.  No room at the Inn for us all, but the heated outside table area was perfect, even though the 3 wise men were a no-show!

The next day we took John, Carole and Billy to York where they were picking up a train to Manchester, and from there a flight to Cork.  We dropped them off at the Park n Ride and said our farewells to Billy.  He was finally beginning his bumming around Europe adventure, and it felt a bit like he was leaving home again (3rd time).  Au revoir Billy and Bon Voyage x

Back to Julie's for a final evening of reminiscing and good music, before packing our bags and heading back to Manchester ourselves.  To our massive relief, the car had survived without any damage.  The flight home was uneventful and home was...well it was home.  Home sweet home.  No plans to return to England other than on holiday, but very likely to wait less than 11 years next time!  Hoping we've spread the word to those dreaming of an Antipodean holiday that we're very much looking forward to seeing you here.

P.S. My apologies to those whose photos are absent.  I'm pretty good at getting carried away in the moment, and usually pretty useless at getting round to taking photos, so please don't take any omission personally.  And please please send me any pics that you'd like me to add.
 

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May 2019 (part 1)

No farming blog this month, as I spent most of May on holiday in sunny England.  Instead, I'll take the opportunity to reflect on the highlights of re-visiting my previous pommy life.  It's been 11 years since I last darkened the doors of old Blighty, and there was much and many to catch up with.  And yes it's shockingly late for May - excuses include jet lag, a cold and too much work (worked for 13 out of the last 14 days). Will that do?

Fog at Auckland delayed the start of my journey long enough to miss the connecting flight to Hong Kong.  Eventually I was re-routed via Vancouver (after a hasty visa application) and from there arrived at Gatwick. The tube took me to London Bridge where the lovely Rachel was waiting for me.  Soon Geoff (aka Jif), Sam and Joe joined us.  Jet lag was staved off with a brisk walk up the Thames, and an obligatory pint in a riverside pub.  The next day we took a Thames Clipper to Greenwich Park, had a fish, chip and mushy peas lunch and visited the National Maritime Museum.  A great day in the British sunshine!  Thanks to Sam for giving up his room for me.


Then onto Patsy and David's in Tooting, where I was able to spend precious time in the happy company of Katie and Ben.  They were very little kids the last time we met - fantastic to get to know them again.  Eldest sister Jenny lives in London and joined us all for the evening.  The next day I went to David's allotment and Pats and I pottered around until the early evening.  She had got cheap tickets for a Take That concert in the O2 Arena.  Rick Astley warmed the crowd up first, and Lulu made a guest appearance.  Rachel joined us for a very memorable evening.

My travel jinx was on form the next day, so my trip to Heathrow to pick up a hire car was delayed by a broken down train.  Eventually, I navigated my way out of London in a rainstorm and arrived safely at my god-mother Jayne's near Basingstoke.  We'd recently re-connected via social media and I was delighted that we could actually meet in person.  Jayne and Howard provided a delicious meal including more than one desert!  It was wonderful to meet up and begin to catch up on the last 50 years.



From there I headed west to Auntie Sally's in Somerset.  Uncle Peter was there, and I called into Pat and Pearl's place in Bath the next day on my way north.  Great to see them all and be updated about my cousins and extended family.  I'd recently seen Sally back home in NZ, but it had been more than a couple of decades since I'd been to her home. 

From the south-west, I headed north to Birmingham, towards Marcus's via Mum's at Halesowen.  Fantastic to spend time with the whole family. Kaja and kids joined us all for an Indian takeaway and a good old refresh on family events.  Thanks to Jago for kindly donating his bedroom for the night.

It was a brief Midland stop, and I was underway the next day to York (Stamford Bridge in fact) via the glamorous Trowell Service Station on the M1 to meet my lovely awd mate Pauline and 2 of her 3 triplet sons.  Graham and James, now well in their 20s, patiently waited for me following another travel jinx delay.  Suffice to say that they'd grown considerably since I bounced them on my knees many moons ago. 

Hag and Paul and Lexie the dog were all home to greet me, as usual never very far away from a bottle or 6 of wine.  They have a pretty well-stocked spirits cupboard too, and a few beers in the fridge - all bases accounted for.  Despite this, I managed to avoid the usual humdinger hangover that comes with a stay at Hag's.  We had some great grub, played card game Dobble, and of course that gem of a shower moment (eh Paul!).  It was an interesting visit to Hag's place of work - funny how she's found her niche with disturbed youth!  I'm still trying to persuade Hag to come to NZ, and she's still sure that she won't ever travel over.  Stale-mate but I'm not giving up.


Jane travelled down from Edinburgh and stayed in York for a couple of days.  We had a great day, visiting old haunts in York ('Lakeland', Museum Gardens and of course, Betty's Tea Shop).  I even had a video chat with daughter Jessica whilst we were there.  

I had morning tea with old fellow Stockton-on the-Foresters Jane and Hilary, whose sons Alex and Callum were Sam's school-mates.  Happily they haven't changed a bit and we exchanged photos of our collective off-spring who are all busy with their own young lives.

I also managed to catch up with Amanda, a fellow health worker who I met in NZ and who then returned to England earlier this year.  You won't have heard of it, she said, but we're moving to a small village called Stockton-on-the-Forest near York.  Her husband and sons Thanassi and Alexander are happily settling back to English life.

And I called in on Graham, husband of my dear friend and former colleague Joanna, who died of breast cancer after I'd emigrated.  Really good to find out about their 3 sons, and also to meet Nathan, Janet's son.  His intrepid sister Hayley had stayed with us in NZ a few years ago.

All the while the sun shone and springtime in Yorkshire was a sight for sore eyes.  Driving around the countryside - fanatically obeying the Sat Nav woman - tugged at my nostalgic heart-strings and was a timely reminder of Yorkshire's rugged beauty. 
Across the Pennines next, to Sheffield and Grannie-Annie.  We had a fab day shopping in Meadowhall - a place I'd usually avoid like the plague but years of rural living means that a shopping centre experience finally holds a novelty factor.  I met and enjoyed playing with Ann's youngest grand-daughter Ellie-May.  Then we picked up Peter and Billy at Manchester Airport - and that, as they say, is another story...

April 2019

The first frost of the season hit us on April 13^th, by surprise having missed the weather forecast (an unusual omission for us, but we had happily wiled away the previous evening hours at a barbecue with our Airbnb guests).  The photo shows the sun bursting through, and if you look closely, you can see small icicles hanging from the shade sail.  There was a second and lesser frost the next morning and none since.  The citrus received their first spray of frost coating, and seem to have been spared any frost damage. 

Not so the pumpkins – leaves too tender to tolerate that frost.  The single huge pumpkin (offspring, via a saved seed, of the 25kg Atlantic Giant of 2017) is triumphant.  It's posing with a matchbox to get the perspective.  I'll attempt to weigh it when it's finally harvested.  It had munted the hedge into which it grew, so was shifted (with Peter’s help) back into the vegetable bed and onto a wooden beehive base.  Hopefully that’ll stop it from rotting on the ground.  It will be gifted to a local kindergarten after the Easter holidays.  The crown and butternut pumpkins are ready, and - with much joy and celebration - so are the gourds!  Finally I’ve grown gorgeous gourds, and luckily they were not affected by the frost.  Not sure what I’ll do with them, just hope it'll be magnificent.

Wine production continues, with the addition of a further 23 litres of pear wine in the massive demi-john.  The birch sap wine that had done a secondary ferment with some blackcurrants has been bottled.  One batch was made with sugar, and the other with honey.  The latter is definitely mead-like, but unfortunately, neither batch is especially tantalising.  Maybe they’ll improve with age.  The other wines (greengage, elderberry and pear) were racked and definitely taste more promising.  12 litres of Apple Cider Vinegar has been strained and is now lurking in the back of the cupboard, peacefully developing its ‘mother’.   

Flowers are still plentiful, as are the bees that forage from them.  Bumbles and honey bees are a constant source of joy.  They're always out in force when the sun shines, along with butterflies and birds and numerous other critters.  Despite my prejudices (vegetables not flowers every time), I've grown quite fond of the flowers this year and watching the bees has certainly added to their endearment factor.  The chocolate cosmos was a 99c rescue bargain from Mitre 10.  I'm looking forward to finding plants to fill the developing bed next to the pizza oven in spring.  It's now mounded up with weeds, awaiting horse manure and pea straw to kick start and retain the heat in the composting process.

Green manure seeds have been sown in all the vege beds.  The bed next to the pump shed was planted with broad beans when the lupin/oat/wheat/barley mix ran out.  They all germinated within a few days, and have now created a beautiful green flush over the bare soil.  The keyhole beds low hedges have been trimmed, so they're all ready for winter.  Few vegetables remain - carrots. leeks and beetroot.  The horse arena herb beds and paths have been weeded for the last time before spring.  Some gifted strawberry runners are planted in the lemon verbena bed.  They were given by someone who visited the garden during the tour in exchange for my pink-flowered strawberries.  I'm trying to keep them away from other strawberries so they don't cross-pollinate.  The pink strawberries are very pretty but the fruit isn't so big or tasty.  And there are zillions of them.  Something different is well worth a try.  

One horrifying day, the cows broke into the vege garden.  I first spotted Erebus and Poseidon wandering along the grape vines.  I managed to get Erebus out, but Poseidon scooted through the horse arena into the woodlot zone.  Then I realised that Hera and Athena were in there too.  Luckily Billy was home and he helped evict them and secure the breach.  I hardly dared survey the damage.  Those infant trees, painstakingly watered and weeded, now nibbled or trampled.  At a later check (Karyn made me), it turned out that the damage was much less than I'd believed.  Trampling and nibbling had definitely happened, but the trees were in autumn mode anyway and there were buds on the most-nibbled.  Fingers crossed they come away again in spring.

Kronos had been separated from the herd when this happened - maybe they were trying to get back together.  He's still got his Grass Staggers, though very slowly improving, and we've abandoned the idea of trying to keep him separate.  There's nothing wrong with his appetite and he's filling out, but he still suits his nick-name 'Noddy'.  He and Poseidon are quite suspicious of us and keep their distance, but Erebus enjoys a scratch and a stroke, especially when it comes with a side of hay.

The feijoa fruit is nearly ripe.  The bigger tree next to the gin palace is sporting large fruit, whereas the 3 trees in the horse arena are much smaller, as is their fruit.  Maybe their youth is limiting them, or maybe they are struggling to get their roots through the hardcore.  They can have one more year to prove themselves before a transplant option comes up.  In the meantime, feijoa wine is calling me...

The usual dog walk route, down the forestry track next to our place, takes us past several 'exotic' trees.  We've watched the acorns on the oak trees grow from tiny buds, and now they have ripened we have several planted in a pot on the deck.  Far too many trees if they all germinate, though quite a pleasant problem if that does eventuate.  Cuttings are yet to be taken from the hebes that will replace the lavender hedges, but it is next on the priority list.  

Madame Cholet is mostly closed down.  All the tomatoes have cropped and the plants dug up for compost.  There was a wow moment when the ginger and turmeric were dug up - very fine root chunks were revealed.  Yes, that is the total crop in the photo.  On the back of this very small success, lots more ginger and turmeric will be planted into the main tunnel house beds next year.

The new lime in the half barrel under the eaves also survived the frost.  It looks luxuriously green and healthy.  Its roots are being protected by a deep layer of pea straw.  Another half barrel holds the plant that was a Christmas gift from Sam and Molly (can't remember its name, hope it comes to me).  Greens for salads and smoothies are in the other terracotta planters on the deck - it's handy having them close to the house.

Our crappy old ute has finally been replaced by a much more up-market Mazda flat deck.  It's a single cab that technically seats 3, but only if you're a sardine.  It has heating and aircon, and windows that open, so immediately quite a luxury ride.  The deck is huge and will come in handy for lots of farm jobs.  Peter almost looks like a dude next to it.  Eh Peter?

The autumn colours are cheering up the outdoor palette, and fallen leaves need regular sweeping.  Those ethereal autumn mornings are also upon us - a chill in the air, low hanging mist penetrated by bright rays of sunshine, bejewelled spiders' webs and the sounds of nature.  Truly soul-filling.  The fire has been occasionally lit and some damp days have obliged us to get some indoor tasks completed.  Mostly housework alas, but had to happen sometime.   Soon be time to plan the spring garden from the comfort of the sofa.  Stretch and yawn.