A much less emotional month compared to August, at least so
far. Animals are thriving, buds are
bursting, pastures are fresh-green, sand-flies are biting, and weeds have well
and truly unleashed themselves. Spring
is in the air, a few frosty nights but some stunning sunny days. The seasonal wind has also set in, and a
recent storm damaged more trees and branches, and threw the trampoline into the
bushes again.
The calves are simply delightful. Athena is like a sturdy toddler now,
mischievous and prone to episodes of lively darting around. Zeus still has a marked limp, and we wonder
if his left front leg was broken or if it was extensive soft tissue damage
during his traumatic birth.
Investigations to confirm this would be tricky and costly (how to X-ray
a calf?). Despite his limp he has no
difficulty getting around and playing with Athena, so we’ve decided to let the
healing process take place without intervention. All the cattle are peacefully together now,
but Butch is getting to be a bit of a handful.
Peter has occasionally had to bop him on the nose to sort him out. He’s next in line for the freezer, so his behaviour is
probably a bit unwise!
We’re enjoying the sheep too. We now have a total of 11 (Rambo, 5 ewes and
5 lambs) so they make up quite a flock. The
4 boy-lambs and the one ewe which didn’t birth are also destined for the
freezer in a few months. Harry, the
rejected lamb, is now the fattest, even though he’s down to one milk feed a
day. He’d feed way more often than that
if he had the choice. Many of the hours
we spend pottering around outside are serenaded by his constant baa-ing. We give him a 2nd feed of warm
water in the evenings, which he knocks back in exactly the same way as he
guzzles his milk. He’s still pretty
cute, though now quite capable of bowling me over at feed times.
4 of the chooks have moved residence, so we’re now left with
7 hens and Bob-junior the rooster. Not
the original Bob-junior, but his brother who had lived chez Derryn pretending
to be one of the girls. He eventually
gave himself away with some cock-a-doodle-doos and was swiftly dispatched back
to us. In the short time he’s been here,
he’s grown considerably and there is no doubt that he’s male. Derryn is looking into getting some fertile
Cochin eggs (a meat-breed) to put under her broody hens. They’ll come to us when they’re a few weeks
old - we’ll be a bit like a chook finishing school.
The rabbit numbers are down (though Belladonna has a new
litter), and we’ve been on another learning curve here. The two tiny (stunted) kits from Galadriel’s
litter had been fostered by Karyn and fattened up. They’d had a great time, spoiled with food
and affection. On their return they went
back to the remainder of their siblings.
The biggest of these was a very dominant bully and for the first time I
really understood where the pet name ‘Thumper’ comes from. When he stamped his foot we could hear it
from the back of the house. One of the
kits was found dead after the storm, and the other a few days later. Our suspicions were confirmed when we found
another rabbit with a wound on his back - a result of unwanted attention from
Thumper. Suffice to say that we have
enjoyed rabbit pie for tea tonight….
The orchard is looking beautiful, and nearly looks like a
real orchard now. It’s still pretty well
cropped by the sheep, and several of the trees are full of blossom. Some of the herbal ley plants are also
re-awakening, and the comfrey is well on its way. Roll on fresh fruit in the summer. The native planting in the wetland and the
horse arena is also much more visible.
Hopefully the plants that have survived this far will continue to do
so. I’m still dreaming of that tunnel
house once there’s enough wind protection.
The veg garden is the apple of my eye, even though in many
places it is in serious need of weeding and tidying up. About 2/3 of the paths are created, recently
using some chippings from a neighbour further down the valley who has a tree business
(and does our hay). A giant load for the
princely sum of a few beers. One more
load like that should be enough to finish it all off. I have had some nightmares in which all the
wood chippings are blown away, but this has yet to materialise. The pathways are uneven in places after
strong winds, but that’s easily remedied.
Though we have now scoffed all the carrots, the garden is still
productive. Mostly right now the
mainstays are brassicas, swedes and leeks.
Hopefully it won’t be long before the recently sown seeds will
crop. In the absence of a greenhouse,
they’re lining the shelves of the Gin Palace. Seed growing continues to fill me with a
childish sense of magic and wonder, and so far so good - there’s quite a good
strike rate. This year there’ll be more
crops for the cows, sheep and rabbits - kale, sugar beet and mangels, and
plenty of corn for the chooks. The expectation
of an abundant crop of everything is totally mesmerising, probably more
exciting than the eventual reality. The
joys of a vivid imagination!
The herb garden has had a bit of a face-lift. Well just a good old weed-out really. It is looking pretty good though. Particularly gorgeous is the arnica, which
has been showing off its happy bright yellow flowers for weeks now. A little while ago I planted a pack of 6
curly-leaved parsleys, and discovered at least 12 of them during weeding. Hmmm, patience obviously would have served me
well. There are also some gladioli popping
up, which keep doing so even though I’ve believed them to be all dug up several
times. No doubt they’ll get hammered by
the wind as usual.
We’re delighted to be finally welcoming one of Peter’s
relatives to New Zealand (visitors so far have been my family and friends, so
quite a momentous occasion). Dave, his
cousin Janet’s son who we last met many years ago when he was a little boy, has
been travelling around Australia and is now heading here. We’re also eagerly anticipating the arrival
of Mum and Nick next week. They’ll be
flying into Christchurch where I’ll meet them and bring them home. We can’t wait to show them around the
property. Then I’ll be taking them on a
short holiday to Te Anau, whilst Sam goes to Rotorua with the National
Secondary Schools Brass Band and Billy plays his soccer tournament in
Queenstown. Daylight Saving starts on the day Mum and Nick
arrive. Long and happy days ahead.
