September 2015

It was my special birthday on August 23^rd – half way towards getting a card from the queen, as Sam kindly pointed out. Peter and me decided to have a weekend away and opted for Nelson as our destination.  The boys were left home alone and in charge of the animals.  We spent a lovely Saturday meandering around the market and then the shopping mall, before heading back to the motel for DVDs and chilling out.  It was such a luxury to be able to spend ages in a 2^nd hand book shop and a spa bath without anyone getting bored or whinging.  On Sunday morning, Peter took me to my surprise birthday destination – the airport at Motueka for a sky-dive.  It was a fantastic and truly memorable day, and very worthy of a special birthday celebration.  Thank you Peter – great to know that you can still surprise me after all these years!

Other memorable presents included knit-your-own-gumboot-cuffs and a bee necklace.  There was a wheelbarrow of assorted poo – specially selected by my chief poo-picker Billy, and on the same theme, this stunning painting of a turd was created by the talented Emily (to her ‘mad auntie Silke’).  Aw shucks, you lot know me so well.

Happiness is…..planting seeds, with all their seductive promise of abundance.  Though I’m wise enough to know that the promise may not quite match the reality, it remains a favourite pastime.  This year I’ve started some seeds off in the house in a miniature heated and covered seed-tray.  Last year some early tomato plants got frosted in the tunnel house, so no plans to repeat that.  So far cucumber, melon, gourd, tomato, pepper, aubergine (egg-plant), Echinacea and nasturtium have germinated, and I’ve just sown some brassicas and asparagus.  Some have come through nicely and are already potted on.  They’ll go into Madame Cholet after the current cold-snap, ensuring that they’re not close to the walls where frost damage is more likely.

The horse arena has progressed a little.  Four olive trees are planted and staked, and some very reluctant weed-spraying was done prior to laying down weed mat.  Proud of finally getting round to planting the trees, I splashed out on a length of expensive jute tree-tie.  It wasn’t enough to secure the 4 trees, and I’ve no idea what possessed me to pay dearly for it, instead of using the usual old ripped T shirts or bits of crappy rope lying around.  So I untied it all and re-fashioned it using baling twine extensions.  A much more satisfactory outcome all round.  Spurred on by this success, the remaining posh jute was used to re-stake the nut trees too – they should now be much better able to withstand the spring winds which are probably on their way.

The lambs are ever-robust and have found their way into the wetland on several occasions.  I’m prepared to let that go, as long as they keep out of the vege garden.  We’ve only recently stopped feeding out ‘sheep nuts’, and the flock still turn up religiously when we feed the chooks to see if there’s anything for them.  The ewe mother of the single lamb is the tamest – she’ll even tolerate me patting her head.  The lambs keep their distance.  Maybe they haven’t yet forgotten the indignity of tail-docking and vaccination. The photo shows their strategy for sheltering from the rain.  Here's hoping we don't have to move the trailer in any hurry.

Hera’s getting rounder in the abdomen, and we’re hoping that’s not our imagination.  Her calf is due mid/late October, assuming that she’s definitely pregnant.  The cows (and we’re mostly blaming Zeus) have now destroyed 3 gates.  Recently they took out the gate to the tiny paddock behind the house and were happily munching on the stored hay in the shelter.  Billy and me had to persuade them to return from whence they came.  Zeus was surprisingly cooperative, and it only occurred to me afterwards that we were lucky he wasn’t having a bad hair day.

We had 6 roosters and 4 hens, and so much carnal carnage there were occasions when it was like a porn movie out there.  When it verged on episodes of what appeared to be gang rape, it was clearly time to do something about it.  So now we’re down to 1 rooster (the new Cornelius) and the 4 hens, and a bit less space in the freezer.  And a much smaller chook-food bill.  They still free-range every day, and so far have kept to the orchard area.  They can continue to free range until the time comes when they discover the vege garden, then their activity will be curtailed. 

In the last week of August we welcomed Japanese boys Kakeru and Mikiru to our home.  They travelled over with around 40 fellow pupils from Jissen Gakuen school in Tokyo and were here for a week of English Language immersion.  They were billeted out to us, though attended school at the usual times.  Being the end of winter put the dampers on a number of activities we usually offer to guests, but we were determined to get some fishing in.  Happily our friends Jeff and Vanessa Hammond also had 2 Japanese boys, and they took them all out with Peter and Billy on their boat into the Sounds on a fishing trip.  At home they particularly enjoyed numerous games of table-tennis, table-football, Mr Bean DVDs, as well as the obligatory PlayStation.  They were prepared to have a go at everything and were really lovely company, despite the language difficulty.  We hope that one day we might be lucky enough to see them again.

Sam’s band activities have been newsworthy lately.  He was interviewed by the local paper and they published a half-page article and photo.  The Brass Band has a concert coming up for which he’s the poster-boy.   As the current NZ National Soprano Cornet champion (slightly long story), he’ll be doing a solo and a duet.  It’ll be quite an adjustment for us when he leaves home next year.

Despite the chilly nights, we’ve been getting our fair share of stunning sunny days.  Plenty of rain too, and finally some visible pasture growth.  Sam’s already mowed the lawn twice, and it‘s nearly ready for its next trim.  Spring blossom is popping up everywhere and bulbs are flowering.  The wetland has been a happy recipient of the rain and is looking stunning. The weeds are already onto it – they never miss a trick.  It seems I’m beginning to get my come-uppance for my laissez-faire approach to the vege garden of late.  Partly that’s been because of the focus on the horse arena, but also that we’ve occasionally escaped the life-sentence block and done other stuff, even a bit of guilty day-time reading.  Have we reached a watershed in the natural progression of the life and work of a small-holder?  Or have we perhaps lost our marbles?  Spring will no doubt have its revenge. Moo ha ha…