November 2016

There’s been lots going on at home in the last few weeks.  On October 30^th there was a dusting of snow on Mount Riley (1314m), but since then summer’s been trying to get her feet under the door.  More than adequate rain but plenty of sun too, and no shortage of the usual spring nor-westers.  It was 30 degrees yesterday, and the combination of sun and rain means everything’s growing.  Hay making won’t be far off – it’ll be good to get that done well before Christmas for a change.

On November 14^th, the people of Kaikoura and surrounds experienced a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake.   Kaikoura was dealt massive damage, and has been pretty much cut off.  We’re a little over 100kms away and it was bad enough here.  Pictures and ornaments were thrown around, but thankfully for us, nothing worse.  The computer survived to tell the tale.  Some of the wineries have had significant losses (all that wine…) as have other Blenheim businesses.  Wellington also bore a hefty brunt and there are many buildings will need strengthening or bulldozing.  Several aftershocks have been pretty huge quakes in their own right.  State Highway 1, that links Blenheim to Christchurch, has been so severely munted that it may never re-open.  That beautiful coastal road.  The only current road route to Christchurch is via the inland Lewis Pass and adds about 3 hours to the journey.  We’ve had to make alternative travel plans for our Christmas visitors (Kaja, Michael and Melissa) and for Lucas to get out of Christchurch for the festivities.

The earthquake was soon followed by extensive rain.  The resulting flooding temporarily closed State Highway 6 – the route between Blenheim and Nelson, adding to the chaos caused by the destroyed coast road.  The wetland had a good dousing and provided quite a playground for the cows.  On the whole it’s been good to have plenty of rain, especially after the recent droughts.

We were the happy recipients of two Jersey cross cows, re-located from Wairau Valley to here.  Karyn and Greg chose the smallest of the pair, in the hope that that’s a temporary size only.  In the absence of a Greek God of bicycles, he’s named after the God of transport – Hermes.  We finally settled on the name Heracles for his partner in crime.  They’ve quickly made themselves at home.  Heracles has already proved his worth by obviously responding when Athena and Hera were on heat.  Both heifers were finally artificially inseminated so hooves crossed that was successful.  As the smallest, Hermes is bottom of the pecking order, but he’s working out that if he spends time with Dionysus, then mischief can prevail.  Dionysus found his way into the vege garden one day, trying (we think) to get closer to Hermes who had been separated from the others at the time.  He was chased out through the gate, then turned round and hopped straight back in over the fence like he’d been doing it all his life.  He’d better not be teaching the others that particular trick. He has also shown both Hermes and Heracles how to break into the chook run.  No idea why either, but apparently bird netting is delicious.

The same weekend that the cows arrived, we also collected pigs.  Karyn and I drove out to Nuggety Creek in the Wakamarina Valley to collect 4 gorgeous Wessex Saddlebacks.  They came from a free range farm where the pigs roam anywhere and everywhere.  They were about 10 weeks old when we picked them up, and bigger and sturdier than any pigs we’d raised before.  It took a while to work out we had 3 boys and 1 girl.  In keeping with our other ‘classic’ name choices, they’ve been named Nemo, Bruce, Crush and Darla.  Darla is the smallest but the feistiest.  Like all pigs they love weeds and have shocking table manners.  They’re great entertainment value.

We reviewed our previous methods of sprouting grains, and instead of using hand sewn muslin bags we are now using buckets that have small drilled holes in the bottom.  When we rinse (twice a day) the water just slowly leaks out of the bottom.  The grains themselves (actually only peas so far) are kept moist with a damp piece of towel and protected by wooden boards.  It’s considerably easier than the bag system and they remain outside, not in the kitchen.   The sprouted peas are a good protein source and are very popular with the pigs.

On the maintenance front, we’ve had another load of lime spread, and we’ve re-painted the house with preservative.  Dull, boring tasks but necessary.  We last painted the house 5 years ago, not long after we moved in.  We have a longer ladder now, so it was a tad easier this time.  The lime has only been applied to half the property because a miscalculation meant that double the dose was applied.  In the big picture it wasn’t a bad mistake, because there’ve been many years without lime.  It just means that next year the other half of the property should also receive a double-dose. 

Since the chooks were confined to barracks, there was no longer an excuse no ignore the flower garden.  It was finally weeded, watered, rearranged and mulched with barley straw, and is now looking quite beautiful.  It’s filling out with self-seeded annuals, and the perennials have begun to flower.  The paeonies are more glorious than ever before; even the roses are looking (and smelling) quite lovely.

The orchard is very much looking like an orchard.  Some trees, like the plums, are fruiting away, whilst others are less abundant than last year.  The Broxwood Foxwelp cider tree looks healthy though isn’t laden, and the brand new Cidre Bisquet tree fruited its little heart out but they didn’t set.  It’s not looking good for cider this year.  Luckily there’s always next year.

The vege garden is gradually being cleared, and planted with a variety of seedlings nurtured by Madame Cholet.  Far too many lettuces and probably enough tomatoes to feed the country, but otherwise a good selection of veges are on their way.  The straw mulch has worked a treat to keep weeds down, but it gets shifted around a lot by the wind, sometimes overwhelming young seedlings.  Rampant wild rabbits have also caused some destruction.

The bees swarmed again, and also went to a new loving home.  Same hive, quite amazing that any workers are left, but they definitely are.  Each hive now has an extra honey box on top, so they shouldn’t be able to complain about limited space.  I’m hoping to take the first batch of honey off at the end of the year when there’s no risk of tutin. 

November 21^st was Dad’s birthday.  Usually I choose some flowers from the garden and gift them to the sea off Karaka Point in the Marlborough Sounds, where we scattered some of his ashes.  That wasn’t possible this year, so instead they were thrown into the Onamalutu River, where they danced a while before being taken downstream. 

Lucas starts his new job at the end of the month.  Sam has been accepted by the NZ Army as a band musician, and Billy has taken up a chef apprenticeship.  He has yet to be eligible to sit his restricted driving licence, so we’re having to do the drop offs and pick-ups, but no more school bus runs.  Ever.  Not quite flown the nest, but definitely those boys are moving into new life phases.  I’m not feeling old at all…