has just produced these (there are actually 11 in this bundle!):
to join these (7):
and these:
This first born litter was 5 so we now have 23 piglets!!!!
Thursday, September 22, 2005
More babies!
Octavia
has just produced these (there are actually 11 in this bundle!):
to join these (7):
and these:
This first born litter was 5 so we now have 23 piglets!!!!
has just produced these (there are actually 11 in this bundle!):
to join these (7):
and these:
This first born litter was 5 so we now have 23 piglets!!!!
HURRAY!!
Received this email from Daddy this morning!!!
Hi, Just to let you know that we exchanged contracts this afternoon and have a completion date of the 29th. We are on our way!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mum & Dad xoxoxoxoxo
Hi, Just to let you know that we exchanged contracts this afternoon and have a completion date of the 29th. We are on our way!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mum & Dad xoxoxoxoxo
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
The Weather Worsens!
Spring seemed to well and be well and truely established, the daffodils came and went and then..... the rain came, then the wind, then the temperatures dropped and yesterday Christchurch came to a grinding halt because of snow, and the snow fields ar eplanning to reopen. Although the sun is shining at the moment we have a maximum predicted 13 degrees today. We had got used to temperatures in the 20's. Oh well, at least the paddocks get a good watering.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Did I say nice rain?
Well the novelty has worn off!! It's been torrential for 24 hours now and the wind is blowing a hooley. Going out to feed the calves and lamb is no joke, waterproof trousers and a dryasabone required. I must say the calves and Fidget looked quite sweet all curled up together in the barn. One door blew shut and it has lodged inwards damaging the door stay, we have wedged it and Eric can fix it when the weather improves. The door stay is 10 foot above the ground so balancing a ladder in this wind is not advisable!
I forgot to mention yesterday that it was election day, (did you vote Bridget?) probably because I got to vote in hospital so did not have to venture out. Well by 11.10pm we found out that the ruling Labour Party had won, by one seat. 50 to 49 (of 122 seats). Winston Peter's NZ First Party (right wing) has 7 seats but already opted not to partake a coalition but will support a confidence vote for the leading party. We now face weeks of negotiations while a coalition is formed. Interestingly, the very recently formed, Maori Party now seems to hold the balance of power and with National declaring they would abolish the 7 Maori seats in parliment I don't think they have a chance will them.
As I mentioned Helen and Phil, George and Tom, came for supper last night. Though I say so myself it was a lovely meal, Normandy Pork (sort of pork/apple casserole cooked by Eric), broccoli, carrots and leeks from the garden, the first of the seasons asparagus, and jacket potatoes. A slightly overcooked Creme caramel (Delia's recipe) and a fabulous cheeseboard Phil rustled up. He also had a platter of sweet chilli peppers and goats cheese cubes, seriously scrummy. Helen has recently been diagnosed as diabetic and been very motivated to loose some weight. She looked great. They came early so George could feed the calves/lamb/chooks and pigs. He was impressed with all this - except the inordinate amount of saliva calves produce, which always ends up round the thighs of your pants!!
On the subject of pigs, Olympia and Octavia are seriously pregant and I expected Eric to find more piglets down there when he went to feeed them this evening. This is going to cost a fortune in pig nuts, 3 lactating sows!
That's all!
I forgot to mention yesterday that it was election day, (did you vote Bridget?) probably because I got to vote in hospital so did not have to venture out. Well by 11.10pm we found out that the ruling Labour Party had won, by one seat. 50 to 49 (of 122 seats). Winston Peter's NZ First Party (right wing) has 7 seats but already opted not to partake a coalition but will support a confidence vote for the leading party. We now face weeks of negotiations while a coalition is formed. Interestingly, the very recently formed, Maori Party now seems to hold the balance of power and with National declaring they would abolish the 7 Maori seats in parliment I don't think they have a chance will them.
As I mentioned Helen and Phil, George and Tom, came for supper last night. Though I say so myself it was a lovely meal, Normandy Pork (sort of pork/apple casserole cooked by Eric), broccoli, carrots and leeks from the garden, the first of the seasons asparagus, and jacket potatoes. A slightly overcooked Creme caramel (Delia's recipe) and a fabulous cheeseboard Phil rustled up. He also had a platter of sweet chilli peppers and goats cheese cubes, seriously scrummy. Helen has recently been diagnosed as diabetic and been very motivated to loose some weight. She looked great. They came early so George could feed the calves/lamb/chooks and pigs. He was impressed with all this - except the inordinate amount of saliva calves produce, which always ends up round the thighs of your pants!!
On the subject of pigs, Olympia and Octavia are seriously pregant and I expected Eric to find more piglets down there when he went to feeed them this evening. This is going to cost a fortune in pig nuts, 3 lactating sows!
That's all!
Saturday, September 17, 2005
It was only one night in hospital....
....and the drip only left a moderate bruise!
Adhesions, that's what the Reg said it was. It started about 4pm on Tuesday, abdominal pains that worsened over the next few hours. By 7pm I realised it was the same thing that I had had in the South Island which was only relieved by a trip to the doctor for Buscopan and Tramadol injections. So off we went into Matamata. By now I was in agony. The GP was very, nice and after taking a brief history gave me some intravenous Buscopan (an anti spasmodic), the effect was dramatic to say the least and the pain disappeared totally, instantly. With Buscopan tablets and instructions to go to ED if the pains returned, it was back home and off to bed. The early night we had promised ourselves (I had worked a 14 hour day on Monday and the night before neither of us had slept well) wasn't as early as we had hoped but by 10.30pm they were all asleep. I say 'they' because I wasn't, the pain was coming back. I had taken more Buscopan and Tramadol but it wasn't helping. The timeline becomes a bit blurred from here on but Eric took H and A to R+R's (he had phoned and warned them earlier in the evening that this may happen) and we went to Hamilton. By now I was vomiting and shaking violently but by the time we arrived the pain had subsided. ED was amazingly quiet and I was seen and processed within 3-4 hours (that's seriously quick for Waikato ED!). I had the option of going home and only drinking, "only if you insist", or being admitted. I opted for the latter. Firstly, Eric had an exam the next (same!) day and I was worried that I'd have him back up again in a few hours of the pain came back, and secondly, quite franky I was scared of getting into that much pain again and having a 40 minute drive to the hospital to access pain relief. Anyway, I was admitted at 2.30am, had a drip and IV fluids overnight, was allowed to drink in the morning and after tolerating lunch was discharged. Eric wrote his exam on 2 and half hours sleep! I'm now fine but the abdomen has been somewhat tender this week. The X-Rays etc showed a partial bowel obstruction which obviously cleared itself. It's all related to previous surgery. The reassurance of the Reg 'this self-resolves 90% of the time' was tempered with 'you can guarantee this will happen again'. Remind me NEVER to run out of Buscopan tablets!!
In ED Eric commented that I hadn't bought my camera. Why? I asked. 'Well you take photographs of eveything for blog and could take a piccie of you here' !! Thank you Darling!
Some photos, and filling the blog gaps
Eric attempted to dag our sheep in late August. He borrowed Richards dad's hand shearing kit but it didn't work too well. I think it was a combination of the blades being a bit blunt, Eric's inexperience and the unit didn't match the power supply well. I took these.
'Now you put these round what Daddy?' (docking rings for those of you who don't know what she's holding)
Fidgets turn.
'What us?' - Fidget and Feral
New calves arrive-28th August
Alice and Fidget
I mentioned in my 'partial blog', more photo's there incidently (including ones of piglets - just scroll down), that we attended Harriette's class's Winter Feast recently. They have been studying everything medieval and this culminated in a feast for all the parents. It also doubled as a fund raising exercise for there up and coming camp to Wellington (Yes Trish I may be going so we can catch up then). The 37 children in the class (Yes >37), dressed up, danced, performed, served and taught some of the audience how to to some of the dances. It was a very pleasant evening and they all worked very hard. The teacher was amazing, he did all the cooking and kept a very low profile, allowing the children to conduct the evening. they were also marked on the project and Harriette scored very well. The photos aren't brilliant (and my battery ran out) but these should give you a feel for the evening.
Back to Cedar Lodge, this is just to assure you that the slotting goes on! Eric culled our chooks and these ones lost out.
We did eat one but this led us to the conclusion that if we want to eat our chickens then they have to be less that 3 years old!!!!! Well we knew that didn't we! I have just refered to Eric before writing the last bit. E,H and A are in the kitchen cooking-E (Helen and Phil are coming for supper tonight) and eating breakfast-H and A (it's only 10am!). Eric said the chooks were scrawny. 'What like you 2' says Harriette??? 'Harriette I don't think you could call your mother or I scrawny' To which my delightful daughter replies 'No I mean old and tough'
This is what we get up at 6.30am to do each morning...
The weather. We have had some fabulous warm weather, weeks of it, and the sixth driest winter since records began. However since getting the paddocks limed we have wanted some rain to wash the grass. The cows don't like it chalk flavoured. Well the rain has arrived - with a vengence! Unusally it has come in (huge) showers. Here when it starts it usually doesn't stop for 3 days. Anyway, it's fabulous and I can stop irrigating my veg plot, which looked like this this morning...
Saddle, Alices calf club calf from the first year, and No 3 went to market a week ago. Saddle moo-ed, incessantly, and we are not sad to see him go. Neither was Alice, she banks $500 profit, after deductions for hay, drench, calf milk etc. We get almost nothing as we gave Harriette $500 in payment for Freckles as we don't want her sold. This is the girls spending money for the UK - whenever we get there!!!!
The goosers are definately laying, 8 eggs at the last count, getting close is now too dangerous!! They obviously consider the sheep a big threat (despite the fact Eric has electric fenced them off) as whenever they come close there is an enormous kerfuffle down there.
That's the animals, now the children! Alice got 100% in her basic facts test this week for the first time and Harriette got a distinction in her Austalian exams in Writing, coming in the top 2% in the country (2 marks under the highest NZ score). She also passed her grade one piano exams a fortnight ago. Harriette's behaviour has improved somewhat, I think we have computer usage tackled, and she is proving quite witty at times. Alice is much the same, little Miss Angry of Matamata - Boy can she fly off the handle. I can't think where she gets it from!!!
I didn't get the job I went for. It was 20 hours/week covering maternity leave for 12 months in the Public Health Unit. The interview went well and my plan was that IMAC would second me. However, when I then thought about fitting in my job to 1 and half days a week until Xmas as I am on this CAT course I began to wonder about the sense of having applied. When the guy phoned me with their descision I can honestly say I was saying to myself 'please don't offer me the job'. The ego was a bit dented but the sucessful person had a Masters in Public Health and had worked in a PHU before. I can't compete with that. The course is going well so far, very practically based and not terribly acaedemic, which makes a nice change. I think it is going to be really helpful and I am already hugely rethinking the way I teach.
Eric is seriously stressed/exhausted. He has had 2 exams this week, has not been sleeping well and has assignments due regularly over the next month or 2. He has also been covering his colleague, Steve, who is on leave this week and every time he has skipped a lecture to do some studying, the phone has gone and he has had to go and shift bulls on a road or pick up a dog. On top of this he got his exam timetable this week. He wanted his exams spread over a couple weeks at the end of the timetable giving him some time to study. Needless to say they are almost one day after the next and right at the start.
Well this blog has taken me about 3 hours to do and I have an assignment to get in for Monday. Thank heavans it's raining so I can't get distracted outside.
Adhesions, that's what the Reg said it was. It started about 4pm on Tuesday, abdominal pains that worsened over the next few hours. By 7pm I realised it was the same thing that I had had in the South Island which was only relieved by a trip to the doctor for Buscopan and Tramadol injections. So off we went into Matamata. By now I was in agony. The GP was very, nice and after taking a brief history gave me some intravenous Buscopan (an anti spasmodic), the effect was dramatic to say the least and the pain disappeared totally, instantly. With Buscopan tablets and instructions to go to ED if the pains returned, it was back home and off to bed. The early night we had promised ourselves (I had worked a 14 hour day on Monday and the night before neither of us had slept well) wasn't as early as we had hoped but by 10.30pm they were all asleep. I say 'they' because I wasn't, the pain was coming back. I had taken more Buscopan and Tramadol but it wasn't helping. The timeline becomes a bit blurred from here on but Eric took H and A to R+R's (he had phoned and warned them earlier in the evening that this may happen) and we went to Hamilton. By now I was vomiting and shaking violently but by the time we arrived the pain had subsided. ED was amazingly quiet and I was seen and processed within 3-4 hours (that's seriously quick for Waikato ED!). I had the option of going home and only drinking, "only if you insist", or being admitted. I opted for the latter. Firstly, Eric had an exam the next (same!) day and I was worried that I'd have him back up again in a few hours of the pain came back, and secondly, quite franky I was scared of getting into that much pain again and having a 40 minute drive to the hospital to access pain relief. Anyway, I was admitted at 2.30am, had a drip and IV fluids overnight, was allowed to drink in the morning and after tolerating lunch was discharged. Eric wrote his exam on 2 and half hours sleep! I'm now fine but the abdomen has been somewhat tender this week. The X-Rays etc showed a partial bowel obstruction which obviously cleared itself. It's all related to previous surgery. The reassurance of the Reg 'this self-resolves 90% of the time' was tempered with 'you can guarantee this will happen again'. Remind me NEVER to run out of Buscopan tablets!!
In ED Eric commented that I hadn't bought my camera. Why? I asked. 'Well you take photographs of eveything for blog and could take a piccie of you here' !! Thank you Darling!
Some photos, and filling the blog gaps
Eric attempted to dag our sheep in late August. He borrowed Richards dad's hand shearing kit but it didn't work too well. I think it was a combination of the blades being a bit blunt, Eric's inexperience and the unit didn't match the power supply well. I took these.
'Now you put these round what Daddy?' (docking rings for those of you who don't know what she's holding)
Fidgets turn.
'What us?' - Fidget and Feral
New calves arrive-28th August
Alice and Fidget
I mentioned in my 'partial blog', more photo's there incidently (including ones of piglets - just scroll down), that we attended Harriette's class's Winter Feast recently. They have been studying everything medieval and this culminated in a feast for all the parents. It also doubled as a fund raising exercise for there up and coming camp to Wellington (Yes Trish I may be going so we can catch up then). The 37 children in the class (Yes >37), dressed up, danced, performed, served and taught some of the audience how to to some of the dances. It was a very pleasant evening and they all worked very hard. The teacher was amazing, he did all the cooking and kept a very low profile, allowing the children to conduct the evening. they were also marked on the project and Harriette scored very well. The photos aren't brilliant (and my battery ran out) but these should give you a feel for the evening.
Back to Cedar Lodge, this is just to assure you that the slotting goes on! Eric culled our chooks and these ones lost out.
We did eat one but this led us to the conclusion that if we want to eat our chickens then they have to be less that 3 years old!!!!! Well we knew that didn't we! I have just refered to Eric before writing the last bit. E,H and A are in the kitchen cooking-E (Helen and Phil are coming for supper tonight) and eating breakfast-H and A (it's only 10am!). Eric said the chooks were scrawny. 'What like you 2' says Harriette??? 'Harriette I don't think you could call your mother or I scrawny' To which my delightful daughter replies 'No I mean old and tough'
This is what we get up at 6.30am to do each morning...
The weather. We have had some fabulous warm weather, weeks of it, and the sixth driest winter since records began. However since getting the paddocks limed we have wanted some rain to wash the grass. The cows don't like it chalk flavoured. Well the rain has arrived - with a vengence! Unusally it has come in (huge) showers. Here when it starts it usually doesn't stop for 3 days. Anyway, it's fabulous and I can stop irrigating my veg plot, which looked like this this morning...
Saddle, Alices calf club calf from the first year, and No 3 went to market a week ago. Saddle moo-ed, incessantly, and we are not sad to see him go. Neither was Alice, she banks $500 profit, after deductions for hay, drench, calf milk etc. We get almost nothing as we gave Harriette $500 in payment for Freckles as we don't want her sold. This is the girls spending money for the UK - whenever we get there!!!!
The goosers are definately laying, 8 eggs at the last count, getting close is now too dangerous!! They obviously consider the sheep a big threat (despite the fact Eric has electric fenced them off) as whenever they come close there is an enormous kerfuffle down there.
That's the animals, now the children! Alice got 100% in her basic facts test this week for the first time and Harriette got a distinction in her Austalian exams in Writing, coming in the top 2% in the country (2 marks under the highest NZ score). She also passed her grade one piano exams a fortnight ago. Harriette's behaviour has improved somewhat, I think we have computer usage tackled, and she is proving quite witty at times. Alice is much the same, little Miss Angry of Matamata - Boy can she fly off the handle. I can't think where she gets it from!!!
I didn't get the job I went for. It was 20 hours/week covering maternity leave for 12 months in the Public Health Unit. The interview went well and my plan was that IMAC would second me. However, when I then thought about fitting in my job to 1 and half days a week until Xmas as I am on this CAT course I began to wonder about the sense of having applied. When the guy phoned me with their descision I can honestly say I was saying to myself 'please don't offer me the job'. The ego was a bit dented but the sucessful person had a Masters in Public Health and had worked in a PHU before. I can't compete with that. The course is going well so far, very practically based and not terribly acaedemic, which makes a nice change. I think it is going to be really helpful and I am already hugely rethinking the way I teach.
Eric is seriously stressed/exhausted. He has had 2 exams this week, has not been sleeping well and has assignments due regularly over the next month or 2. He has also been covering his colleague, Steve, who is on leave this week and every time he has skipped a lecture to do some studying, the phone has gone and he has had to go and shift bulls on a road or pick up a dog. On top of this he got his exam timetable this week. He wanted his exams spread over a couple weeks at the end of the timetable giving him some time to study. Needless to say they are almost one day after the next and right at the start.
Well this blog has taken me about 3 hours to do and I have an assignment to get in for Monday. Thank heavans it's raining so I can't get distracted outside.
Friday, September 09, 2005
Update on the Smith Emigration Saga
Just spoke to Mom and Daddy. They had packers booked for next Tuesday and were rushing around in a dizzy flat spin after everything came together so quickly. Their caseworked at NZ House went off for 2 weeks, with Mom and Daddy's passports on his desk so their was a panic about them getting their passports back in time to leave. Daddy went up to London yesterday (his first trip on a train for 30+ years!!!) and they have them now. Their solicitor has phoned to tell them the solicitor in the bottom of the 4 link chain hasn't done his searches yet and so there will be a delay of one week now. It gives Mom and Daddy a bit of a breathing space but the people buying their house are livid as they are living off boxes having virtually packed everything already. Mom and Daddy's server has crashed again and although partially sorted they have restricted internet access at the moment - a bugger if you want to house hunt from the other side of the world! Other than that they are fine and MOST IMPORTANT they have done my massive IKEA shop - having hired a van for the trip. Thank you soooooo much. I spoke to a colleague in Katikati yesterday and she has offered to take Mom and Daddy for games at the 3 local golf courses there so that will keep them happy (Mom and Daddy are thinking of settling in that sort of area).
Trip to Wellington yesterday was good, if tiring and we woke at 6.30am this morning to hear the transport lorry arrive (it usually doesn't get here until 7.30-8am). We had to dash out of bed to shift Saddle and No 3 into the pens to get them off to market. Saddle is Alice's first calf so she is excited at her bank account being seriously boosted. The money we get from No 3 will go to Harriette as we are buying Freckles off her. We want to keep her to breed from, again. We got our 3rd calf from Richard and Robyn on Monday which gives us 3 from this year + the 2 born here. That will do now. Although the 3 new calves are in the paddock next to the rest of the cows the 2 calves born here often go under the electric fence to play. I can waste so much time watching them frolicking around.
Harriette is back to school today after 4 days off with a bad chest. Had a bit of drama at the start of the week when a GP (not ours) said she had asthma!!!! Load of rubbish and a trip to our GP the next day got it sorted. Hopefully she is on the mend now though she has been going up and down.
I MUSt go and spray my nectarines now, I meant to do it 2 days ago but haven't had time. I am DETERMINED to not loose the fruit to brown beetle and curly leaf this year!
Trip to Wellington yesterday was good, if tiring and we woke at 6.30am this morning to hear the transport lorry arrive (it usually doesn't get here until 7.30-8am). We had to dash out of bed to shift Saddle and No 3 into the pens to get them off to market. Saddle is Alice's first calf so she is excited at her bank account being seriously boosted. The money we get from No 3 will go to Harriette as we are buying Freckles off her. We want to keep her to breed from, again. We got our 3rd calf from Richard and Robyn on Monday which gives us 3 from this year + the 2 born here. That will do now. Although the 3 new calves are in the paddock next to the rest of the cows the 2 calves born here often go under the electric fence to play. I can waste so much time watching them frolicking around.
Harriette is back to school today after 4 days off with a bad chest. Had a bit of drama at the start of the week when a GP (not ours) said she had asthma!!!! Load of rubbish and a trip to our GP the next day got it sorted. Hopefully she is on the mend now though she has been going up and down.
I MUSt go and spray my nectarines now, I meant to do it 2 days ago but haven't had time. I am DETERMINED to not loose the fruit to brown beetle and curly leaf this year!
Sunday, September 04, 2005
A partial blog.
It’s awful not blogging for so long. I have a brain like a sieve at the best of times and trying to remember 2 weeks worth of happenings is flippin' difficult. Perhaps if I work backwards…
Today is Father’s Day, well it is here anyway. The girls bought Eric books on farting - Harriette (he is laying in bed next to me reading that one as I type and keeps shaking the bed he’s laughing so much!Typing is not easy!), and AB’s/ Lions rivalry over the years- Alice. I bought Eric a Gofa shovel!!! It’s the invention of a local guy and is for digging fence posts (no of course I’m not hinting that 3 years later my veg plot still has no ‘proper’ fencing – would I?!!??) The shovel is very long with a lever in the handle that tips the blade 90 degrees so you can scoop the dirt out from the bottom of the deep hole. Very clever, and very effective. Eric had had a generally non day as he has spent most of it writing an assignment due in tomorrow. He is on leave from uni at the moment so I will drop it off when I am in Hamilton tomorrow. I am going to Polytech! I am starting a Adult Teaching and Education course. I don’t think the course will be terribly challenging as I have done all this stuff before but I am really looking for some alternative ways to teach in the classroom. I feel I can usually get over what I want but am not very imaginative and cannot use different forms of teaching very well. I have been assured this is the course to show me. It actually can be counted towards a Diploma in Adult Education so may go further with it, we shall see.
Yesterday was the final game in the Tri-nations and watched it at R+R’s. A really enjoyable match, not least because Australia did a good job trying to catch us up after being 20-0 at half time (I think). They put in a sterling effort as NZ went off the boil but couldn’t quite make it. I am very impressed with new boy Luke McAllister. Don’t know that he can quite rival Carter but certainly has a brilliant future in front of him. And those thighs……..!!!! I’ve never seen anything like them!
I have spent another weekend gardening and the veg patch is definitely coming on. More carrots and beetroot went in today and the seedlings in the greenhouse are coming along. I have also put fert round the fruit trees and will spray them again tomorrow. We will have some fruit this year!
This was taken on 26th August...
...and this was taken today.
We also, at long last, had the paddocks limed. 11 tonnes of the stuff. It is something we should have done before but haven’t and now have been forced to because there is more moss than grass growing these days.
The lorry arrives (refilled)...
The goosers weren't too happy!
One of the goosers is laying and has made herself a nest so maybe little goosers will arrive before long. On the subject of babies, last years piglet, saved for the freezer, has just produced 8 piglets. She was not supposed to be pregnant as we got rid of the boar, but it looks like he did the damage before he headed for the freezer, 3 times over looking at the 2 sows!! Unfortunately 3 of these piglets died. Eric found them outside the pen so it looks like they wandered off shortly after birth and couldn’t find their way home. We were planning to scale down the pigs but looks like we’ll be carrying on for awhile!
No Ninja here!!
Mom and Daddy are flat out now. Their house sale looks to be proceeding OK and the packers are booked for 12 September. I have sent my IKEA shopping list and all seems to be going OK. They haven’t booked their flights yet as they are waiting for all to be confirmed, and they haven’t got their passports at the moment. They are planning to do a few weeks in Australia on the way to stay with Auntie Joan. Coincidentally my cousin Teresa is getting married on 1 October so that will tie in nicely. It will be strange, and nice, to have them here all the time. I do feel for Sharron (my sister) though. It would be nice to think she might one day come and visit us but I don’t think that will happen.
Well I will finish now and try and come back to this in the next few days to tell you about the Winter Feast and my job interview (no I’m not leaving IMAC). Night night all.
Today is Father’s Day, well it is here anyway. The girls bought Eric books on farting - Harriette (he is laying in bed next to me reading that one as I type and keeps shaking the bed he’s laughing so much!Typing is not easy!), and AB’s/ Lions rivalry over the years- Alice. I bought Eric a Gofa shovel!!! It’s the invention of a local guy and is for digging fence posts (no of course I’m not hinting that 3 years later my veg plot still has no ‘proper’ fencing – would I?!!??) The shovel is very long with a lever in the handle that tips the blade 90 degrees so you can scoop the dirt out from the bottom of the deep hole. Very clever, and very effective. Eric had had a generally non day as he has spent most of it writing an assignment due in tomorrow. He is on leave from uni at the moment so I will drop it off when I am in Hamilton tomorrow. I am going to Polytech! I am starting a Adult Teaching and Education course. I don’t think the course will be terribly challenging as I have done all this stuff before but I am really looking for some alternative ways to teach in the classroom. I feel I can usually get over what I want but am not very imaginative and cannot use different forms of teaching very well. I have been assured this is the course to show me. It actually can be counted towards a Diploma in Adult Education so may go further with it, we shall see.
Yesterday was the final game in the Tri-nations and watched it at R+R’s. A really enjoyable match, not least because Australia did a good job trying to catch us up after being 20-0 at half time (I think). They put in a sterling effort as NZ went off the boil but couldn’t quite make it. I am very impressed with new boy Luke McAllister. Don’t know that he can quite rival Carter but certainly has a brilliant future in front of him. And those thighs……..!!!! I’ve never seen anything like them!
I have spent another weekend gardening and the veg patch is definitely coming on. More carrots and beetroot went in today and the seedlings in the greenhouse are coming along. I have also put fert round the fruit trees and will spray them again tomorrow. We will have some fruit this year!
This was taken on 26th August...
...and this was taken today.
We also, at long last, had the paddocks limed. 11 tonnes of the stuff. It is something we should have done before but haven’t and now have been forced to because there is more moss than grass growing these days.
The lorry arrives (refilled)...
The goosers weren't too happy!
One of the goosers is laying and has made herself a nest so maybe little goosers will arrive before long. On the subject of babies, last years piglet, saved for the freezer, has just produced 8 piglets. She was not supposed to be pregnant as we got rid of the boar, but it looks like he did the damage before he headed for the freezer, 3 times over looking at the 2 sows!! Unfortunately 3 of these piglets died. Eric found them outside the pen so it looks like they wandered off shortly after birth and couldn’t find their way home. We were planning to scale down the pigs but looks like we’ll be carrying on for awhile!
No Ninja here!!
Mom and Daddy are flat out now. Their house sale looks to be proceeding OK and the packers are booked for 12 September. I have sent my IKEA shopping list and all seems to be going OK. They haven’t booked their flights yet as they are waiting for all to be confirmed, and they haven’t got their passports at the moment. They are planning to do a few weeks in Australia on the way to stay with Auntie Joan. Coincidentally my cousin Teresa is getting married on 1 October so that will tie in nicely. It will be strange, and nice, to have them here all the time. I do feel for Sharron (my sister) though. It would be nice to think she might one day come and visit us but I don’t think that will happen.
Well I will finish now and try and come back to this in the next few days to tell you about the Winter Feast and my job interview (no I’m not leaving IMAC). Night night all.
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