November 2022

                            

We have been blessed with new animal company this month, somewhat filling the void in our lives left by Maggie.  Woody has canine company in the form of Charlie, an adorable 2-month-old chocolate Labrador puppy.  Lucas and Laura had been planning to get another rescue dog, but they were all way too terrifyingly lively for Woody.  Charlie is as placid as a puppy could be, and though he'll outgrow Woody several times over, Woody has territory and age on his side and is enjoying top dog status - for now at least.  Both dogs like to come into our place (obviously that has nothing whatsoever to do with doggie treats...) for a change of attention scenery and, in Charlie's case, for something else to chew.

                                       

Hot on the heels of Charlie, we're also delighted to introduce Kratos the calf, son of Nike and Kronos (Noddy).  She birthed on the date we'd predicted (yup, hard to believe).  Her udders had suddenly developed and she'd been behaving oddly.  We'd separated her from the flock in the small paddock behind the house.  There was a big bellow, and when I went out to check, brand newborn Kratos was on the ground being licked endlessly by his attentive mum, ably supported from the other side of the fence by Apollo, Attis, and Pandora.  Peter, Billy, and Laura were out fishing so I sent word of the new arrival.  When he still wasn't standing up an hour and a half later, I got advice.  Lucas had already tried to help me get him to stand but he seemed too weak and uncoordinated.  We wondered if he'd had some kind of birth trauma that was delaying his adjustment to the big wide world.  Though Nike has shown nothing but adoration for him, she didn't seem to understand that he needed to feed.  I found a recipe for electrolytes and managed to get them messily down him using a silicone funnel.  Our neighbour's daughter's boyfriend (keep up) Isaac called by and tube fed him more electrolytes, and later Billy's friend Josh arrived and tubed colostrum down and gave him a shot of penicillin.  The next day he finally got to his feet and it took a couple more days of general angst and force-feeding before he turned a corner.  He's now 4 days old and still bottle-feeding,  though has finally started to get interested in his mum's teats.  It finally looks like he'll make it!  That's the first relatively positive calving experience for us - hope that Pandora follows suit next month.

  

Meanwhile, the vege plants are also in on the action.  We've been eating asparagus and rocket leaves for a while.  Spinach will be next up, and possibly the tiny cucumbers that are forming in Madame Cholet will mature quickly.  The rabbit protection over the planted-out crops seems to be working.  That hasn't stopped the serious nibbling of carrot tops just as soon as those tops were exposed by weeding.  Laura has planted up heaps of cabbage for kimchi in the raised bed that used to house the flax.  It's still looking dangerously tidy out there, and that's totally liberating.  The remaining weeding is manageable and will happen in good enough time.  It'll soon be another planting moon phase for leafy crops so I'll get a load more seedlings out into the beds.  I took the opportunity during a root crop moon phase to plant 2 packs of carrots, beetroot, and parsnips.  Just need to keep them watered for a few days.

 The metal raised beds were weed sprayed and then dug over.  A fresh layer of compost was added and they're now ready for occupants.  The mints will go back into their original homes, but one of them is now hosting chamomile (pictured) and another has coriander and basil.  We had to add barbed wire to protect a couple of the metal beds from browsing cows on the other side of the fence who'd previously made the most of the opportunity to flavour their grass. 

Madame Cholet is nearly planted up, with new peppers, chillis,  aubergines and another melon planted today.  There's still a little space for the remaining seedlings to go in when they've grown up enough, and maybe I'll be able to squeeze in a few more tomatoes.  If I actually plant all the tomatoes I've grown from seed, it'll be tomatogeddon here in summer.  Guess there are worse things...

Flowers are equally showing off.  The bottle brush next to Maggie's resting place is in delightful full bloom.  Poached egg flowers are everywhere, as are pretty purple aquilegia.  The stunning red Rhodie by the front door is truly gorgeous, and the dreamy pink paeonies have finally opened.  The pink manuka flowers are an absolute burst of vibrant colour and I hope the bees are finding them.  I know I've posted pics of the white water lily before, but it's just too gorgeous to not re-visit.  The main flower bed behind the house is filling out nicely.  Lots of the filling is weeds but it's hard to pick that out, especially when you have dodgy eyesight.  The bed by the pizza oven is way more obviously weedy, and will soon reach the top of the priority list for attention.  

 Those bees certainly are busy, all four hives humming with activity.  I got another sting when I spent too long weeding the chamomile bed, on my finger this time so no dramas.  To be fair to the bees they did give me plenty of warning that I was too close.  One of my very fave young men, Iwan, visited with his mum Hayley, and we managed to spot the queen in the new split.  She's making great progress with her colony.

The nettle beer, now potentially nettle wine, has been racked and some extra sugar added to make it more wine-like.  It tastes OK, not really any big flavour but at least not vinegar.  There's a chance it might mature into something magnificent, and luckily I have low standards for these things.  Lucas's orange and cranberry wines have been racked and are also promising.  I'm still drinking the cider, though only 3 out of 5 of the batches were successful.  One was totally undrinkable (disappointingly that was the Perry) and another was not of a standard to give away (meaning nearly undrinkable).  The other 3 are good old scrumpy.  Crusher Clare and Roy are enjoying a selection of the finished product too.

Sam and Molly will be joining us for Christmas, so it'll be a full house this year plus Alister, Peter's old mate from the UK.  I've managed to avoid shifts over Christmas but not New Year.  It's been a few years since I've had Christmas off work, so really looking forward to a break with everyone around.  This month's blog is ridiculously early because I'm away next week in Rotorua, training with NZMAT.  Covid postponed this training by 2 years, so it'll be good to finally get it done.  It'll be straight into the Marlborough Triathlon when I get back (sounds impressive but it's very much entry level - 5kms run, 14km bike and 100m swim).  FIngers crossed I can at least complete it.  And finally... we've booked our UK flights for next year when Peter retires.  Plenty to look forward to!