As each month rolls by, I’m always concerned that there’ll
be nothing left to blog about. Then I end up writing so much it needs editing out. The weather has been unremarkable, with
plenty of frosty mornings, sunny days and enough rain. Earthquakes have been a theme though. A weekend of them, plus some more, with
aftershocks still persisting. The
epicentre is nearby in the Cook Strait, closer to the small town of Seddon, but
also causing damage in Blenheim and Wellington.
As I write, some of Wellington’s city centre has yet to re-open. Apart from wonky pictures and a sense of
being unsettled, we’ve been fine here.
Fingers crossed the quakes pass, without feeling the need to sock us
with the ‘big one’.
To our surprise, we woke up one morning to a newborn
lamb. It shouldn’t really have been a
surprise as Rambo has been alongside his ‘girls’ all the time, except when he
went on his shagging vacation. We’re
wondering if this mother-ewe became pregnant before he went on holiday, and
hoping that maybe this is the one who didn’t lamb last year. Time will tell, and in the meantime we can at
least enjoy the happy gambolling of this beautiful boy lamb (whilst trying not
to remember that eventually we’ll eat him!).
We’re still eagerly anticipating Persephone’s calf. She’s due in early August (and Aphrodite
later in August) so it could be any time now.
In the meantime, Hera’s settling beautifully into the herd. All of them are becoming increasingly tame.
Butch bowls across the pasture with the others in hot pursuit when he sees Peter in
his fluorescent work jacket, knowing that hay is on the menu.
The pigs had an appointment with the home-kill man. Three were processed at the local butchers,
with the meat from two going to friends.
The remaining one was butchered at home, with the much-appreciated help
of Glenn (and Mandy who came round for coffee but ended up getting roped into
the action). The outcome - our very own
home-made wet and dry cure bacon, burgers, ham, sausages, chorizo, prosciutto
and the salamis in the picture. I’d
planned to make black pudding, but it wasn’t possible for the blood to be
collected. It’ll be a while before we
know if the salamis and prosciutto have been successful, as they’ll have to
hang for week/months, but so far so good for the others.
Four of the roosters met the same fate. Two of these were Derryn's, and she was well-impressed with the taste. That leaves us with 14 chooks, mostly hens but some could go either way. That's still more than we need in terms of eggs, which at least we are getting now. Probably we're getting lots of eggs, but the chooks keep
escaping out of their run and darned if we know how they’re getting out - they
wait until we’re not looking.
Every now and then we find a clutch of eggs somewhere on the property. Wing-clipping is the next plan, as there’s a chance they’re finding a
way out over the top.
The rabbits are still gorgeous and growing and getting
through a mountain of food. Shortly
after the last blog, we realised that something was very wrong with
Galadriel. Her back legs were nearly
totally lame. An internet search
indicated that either it was a temporary paralysis, an infection, or a broken
back. Time eventually confirmed the
latter, but we’ve no idea how that could have happened. She remained unable to move, and after nearly
2 weeks of care in the form of daily bathing (to wash away the excrement), her
condition deteriorated significantly and we put her down. Such a sad moment. At that time, her kits were just 5 weeks old,
but at least she’d been able to successfully raise her young to weaning. She’d seemed to enjoy those warm baths,
massage and gentle stretching - at least we were able to do that for her. Her body now nourishes a newly planted
persimmon tree in the orchard, and her kits continue to thrive.
The veg garden has visibly changed. All the beds are now created and the shelter
(aka the Gin Palace) is progressing quickly.
A couple of changes of plan include a ‘window’ and a couple of shelves
for propagating seeds, which will add to its functional capacity. Can’t wait to see and use the final version! The process of covering the grassy/weedy
pathways within and between the circular beds has begun, using cut-open stock
feed bags, cardboard and the wood chippings we created from the wetland
willows. It’s great to be recycling all
those materials, though it’ll take considerably more than we’ve got to complete
the whole area. Cardboard’s not a
problem, but a weed-mat equivalent may be more challenging. Hopefully we’ll be able to source some
chippings from a neighbour who has a tree business. Everything looks a bit brown at the moment,
but that should change once the crops are planted.
All the fruit bushes have been transplanted from the orchard
and located in what will hopefully be their final positions. Many of them are already starting to bud
up. The seed catalogues are out, so time
to start planning! I’ve saved many seeds
from last year’s crops and flowers, probably way too many. Actually it’s not only probably, it’s
definitely too many. Optimistically
they’ll be good currency with which to trade, assuming that my labelling hasn’t
been too haphazard.
Sam went away with the band for a national contest, so me,
Billy and Lucas decided to have a quick break in Hanmer Springs. Billy took his friend Joshua again, and Lucas
took girlfriend Sophie. Lots of pool and
lolly shop time for them, and some reading and walking time for me. We met with snow, ice and slush on the
mountainous parts of the drive over, but the return journey weather was sunny
and simply glorious. Kaikoura was particularly
stunning, and we stopped off at Ohau Point to check out the seals. A short walk through native bush leads to a
beautiful fountain and freshwater pool which they use as their playground. A truly special place.
Then back home to another special place. The Onamalutu Valley continues to be a source
of beauty, whatever the season. Mount
Riley, the highest peak in our area, has been snow-capped at times, adding to
its serenity. The frosty mornings are
delightful, announcing sunny days ahead.
We’re getting some hints of spring, mostly in the form of insect bites
and bumblebees, but at least a sign. The
days are stretching out, slowly and gently promising that balmy days are on
their way.
