25 November 2008
This past weekend was semi successful in terms of work done.
Last Monday we had 3 cubic metres of post peelings delivered. We’ve ordered 40 but 3 is as much as we’re getting for now. The recession has hit and fence posts are now a luxury item. They don’t sell, so new ones don’t get made and the byproduct, post peelings, aren’t created.
This is disgustingly bad timing for us. It’s our cheapest option as far as a patio floor goes, not to mention covering dug up, muddy areas around pig troughs. Timing-wise we need the stuff now. Unfortunately we have been told the wait may extend to February.
I can only be grateful we’ve sourced the last 3 metres from Croft Poles in Te Hana. Our local supplier Topuni is completely out.
So at this stage we’ve spread nearly the whole lot. Most of it is on the patio but I’ve spread a few barrow loads around Spotty and Stanley’s trough. The old post peelings on the patio have just about rotted away. In the mean time the dogs have dug up and ripped apart a lot of the carpet weedmat underneath and the chickens spend hours scratching around in them, baring more carpet for playful dogs to get their teeth into.
Getting to Know Blake
Jo, Phil, Blake and mum all made the trek north for the weekend so it was a full house. Jo brought bags of fresh cheap veges from Auckland and mum brought Baker’s Delight bread. Ahhh, the delights of the old life!
At 6 months of age (or thereabouts) Blake is finally registering people as a source of entertainment, rather than a passing visual distraction. He is definitely more interesting now than he has been up until this point. Jo and Phil are quite besotted. In fact they’re so besotted they’ve become those parents that think their child is just perfect in every way.
Not that I’m knocking it. It’s great for Blake – up to a point. But this is where I really lose my ability to, I guess, appreciate a parent’s perspective. This is the stage where the child becomes the centre of the parents’ world. It’s not just about survival any more. Now it’s about moulding the child into a perfect human being. This is the time when everything the parent does starts to make an impression on the child.
Jo and Phil’s goals and dreams are now focused on Blake. He is the centre of their world.
I can’t imagine why anyone would want to take on that tedious, monotonous responsibility. I love that I can change the goal posts whenever I want. I love that my dreams can be completely about me if I want them to be.
My sister is incredibly happy. That is good. If it was me I’d be incredibly miserable.
Having said that, I’m making every effort I can to be a good aunt. Quite frankly I want Blake to like me and to like our home. I enjoy my sister’s company but generally if I want to see her then she has to come here. So now if Jo visits then so does Blake. If Blake doesn’t like me or doesn’t like being here then I won’t get to see Jo that often. It’s in my best interest to form a good relationship with Blake.
If I’m completely honest, I was initially worried that if I spent any time holding or talking to Blake that I might catch the ‘I want a baby’ bug. However I’m happy to say that that hasn’t happened. It turns out I can actually hold a baby without setting off the biological clock.
Building a Smoker
Despite having guests we still had our ‘To Do’ list to work through. Aaron and Phil started making our cold smoker. I wanted to smoke our oldest salamis this weekend so that we could finally try them. The smoker has been placed in the garden next to the car turnaround, as there is a natural incline on the hill to allow the smoke to travel from the firebox up an underground steel flue to a wine barrel smoker. All went well with the firebox and flue but taking the top off the barrel proved to be impossible with the tools we have. The lid needs to be cut on an angle so that it can just drop back down into place, but the lid is so thick we couldn’t get any tools to cut it.
I was gutted but if you can’t do something then you just can’t do it.
While the men worked on the smoker I planted more flaxes around the driveway entrance. I drove a stick into the ground next to all the newly planted flaxes the same as I did last week. I have high hopes for these flaxes!
Aaron’s borrowed Pete’s trailer for a couple of weeks and the deal was we took Pete’s garden prunings already piled high on the trailer. What a score for us! We set about chipping those into a wonderful leafy mulch, perfect for our compost! It was working really well and then the throttle got stuck and the chipper kept losing power. Add to that a blunt blade and after chipping 2/3 of the pile we called it quits.
We use that wonderful chipper every weekend and it is now in desperate need of a service. Fortunately we bought it in Kaiwaka and can get it serviced there. Of course that means we’ll probably be without a chipper for 2 weeks. Bummer.
Dad made a brief visit in the afternoon. He and Don were heading to north to a funeral service. It was good to see Don still alive after being told he only had weeks to live a few months ago. Not that he isn’t a mere shadow of his former self, but hey, he’s hanging in there.
Monday morning was nice and sunny. I managed to shift a lot of post peelings in the morning down to Spotty and Stanley’s trough area. All up I carried 16 baskets of post peelings down the drive but after the 16th trip back up the hill I was well and truly knackered. I can only hope all that hill walking did something good for my butt.
Troubles With Rats
By lunchtime the day was starting to turn stormy. At some stage in the afternoon I went into the carport to get something and that’s when I found it, one of our salamis lying on the ground. It had been gnawed from one end to the other. It had to be rats. I was absolutely gutted. In fact for the rest of the day I found myself stewing on the fact that we had now lost 2 salamis. All that work, all that time, just so a sodding rat could have itself a really good dinner.
That was pretty much the rest of my day ruined. And as the weather turned more and more stormy so did my mood.
Monday evening we moved the cattle from behind our stream to Gary’s roadside paddocks. It was our first attempt at shifting the new girls and the weather was just horrible, wet with strong winds. Aaron unlocked the padlock to open the gate but the lock would not open. No amount of swearing or banging it against the post would work. The CRC was in the carport, which meant a long trudge back up the drive. Aaron volunteered. I stayed on the drive as the cattle stood by the gate just waiting.
Eventually Aaron returned and sprayed the lock. The lock opened and Aaron opened the gate and ran over the bridge calling the cattle. I stood on the drive ready to move them on. The cattle made a beeline for the lock and the CRC and started licking it furiously. Crap! I quickly moved up to Baby Red to push her and as I did the young heifers turned around and ran back into the paddock. Eventually I managed to push Baby Red and the boys away from the lock and they started running toward Aaron. The 2 young heifers were panicked by my presence so I had to get in behind them and eventually they ran through the gate and after the others.
The cattle then ran, kicked and bucked their way down the drive. The dogs didn’t even bother to follow. They’re so used to the cattle trying to trample them that they’ve got to the point where they’d rather not be involved.
And so we put the cattle in the paddock and set up the fencing and walked back up to the house. I showed Aaron where the salami had come down and then Aaron noticed another salami that had been attacked by rats that I hadn’t even seen.
I Lose The Plot
That was all that was needed for me to lose it mentally. I was angry beyond angry and no amount of consoling by Aaron would calm me down. Aaron went to bed even earlier just to get away from me and I sat in the livingroom with dogs as the storm really hit. I tried to get the dogs to go outside once my bedtime rolled around but the weather was so foul they cowered inside.
Coppa’s mood had also deteriorated with the weather and he started growling and snarling at Whisky. A fight was imminent. I opened the door and shoved Coppa outside into the storm.
Then I turned off all the lights and curled up on the sofa with a duvet. After a couple of hours Coppa started barking furiously at the weather and that set Whisky off. I opened the door to tell Coppa to shut up. Whisky ran outside and Coppa ran inside. I shut the door and got back on the sofa. Coppa wasn’t interested in sleeping. That meant I didn’t sleep, instead I just lay on the sofa feeling thoroughly pissed off about everything.
Aaron got up for work about 3ish and he put Coppa outside. I finally went to sleep and then my alarm went off at 4:15.
I got up and fed the animals. The storm had blown over by then fortunately.
Back at the house I rang work and told them I wouldn’t be in. I was grumpy and tired and I didn’t want to risk driving to work in that state.
I ended up actually being sick on Tuesday and called in sick again. Wednesday I went to work but I was so ill I ended up having Thursday off. I must have come down with some kind of virus and apparently my symptoms matched those of a bug doing the rounds of staff at work.
I felt so crap Thursday I decided to get outside and work on the new duck pond for as long as possible before I collapsed form exhaustion. After about 3 hours of digging and clearing and sweating buckets my arms and shoulders were burning and barely functioning. I went inside and collapsed on the sofa. By the end of the day I felt great.
Signs of Recession
25 November 2008
This past weekend was semi successful in terms of work done.
Last Monday we had 3 cubic metres of post peelings delivered. We’ve ordered 40 but 3 is as much as we’re getting for now. The recession has hit and fence posts are now a luxury item. They don’t sell, so new ones don’t get made and the byproduct, post peelings, aren’t created.
This is disgustingly bad timing for us. It’s our cheapest option as far as a patio floor goes, not to mention covering dug up, muddy areas around pig troughs. Timing-wise we need the stuff now. Unfortunately we have been told the wait may extend to February.
I can only be grateful we’ve sourced the last 3 metres from Croft Poles in Te Hana. Our local supplier Topuni is completely out.
So at this stage we’ve spread nearly the whole lot. Most of it is on the patio but I’ve spread a few barrow loads around Spotty and Stanley’s trough. The old post peelings on the patio have just about rotted away. In the mean time the dogs have dug up and ripped apart a lot of the carpet weedmat underneath and the chickens spend hours scratching around in them, baring more carpet for playful dogs to get their teeth into.
Getting to Know Blake
Jo, Phil, Blake and mum all made the trek north for the weekend so it was a full house. Jo brought bags of fresh cheap veges from Auckland and mum brought Baker’s Delight bread. Ahhh, the delights of the old life!
At 6 months of age (or thereabouts) Blake is finally registering people as a source of entertainment, rather than a passing visual distraction. He is definitely more interesting now than he has been up until this point. Jo and Phil are quite besotted. In fact they’re so besotted they’ve become those parents that think their child is just perfect in every way.
Not that I’m knocking it. It’s great for Blake – up to a point. But this is where I really lose my ability to, I guess, appreciate a parent’s perspective. This is the stage where the child becomes the centre of the parents’ world. It’s not just about survival any more. Now it’s about moulding the child into a perfect human being. This is the time when everything the parent does starts to make an impression on the child.
Jo and Phil’s goals and dreams are now focused on Blake. He is the centre of their world.
I can’t imagine why anyone would want to take on that tedious, monotonous responsibility. I love that I can change the goal posts whenever I want. I love that my dreams can be completely about me if I want them to be.
My sister is incredibly happy. That is good. If it was me I’d be incredibly miserable.
Having said that, I’m making every effort I can to be a good aunt. Quite frankly I want Blake to like me and to like our home. I enjoy my sister’s company but generally if I want to see her then she has to come here. So now if Jo visits then so does Blake. If Blake doesn’t like me or doesn’t like being here then I won’t get to see Jo that often. It’s in my best interest to form a good relationship with Blake.
If I’m completely honest, I was initially worried that if I spent any time holding or talking to Blake that I might catch the ‘I want a baby’ bug. However I’m happy to say that that hasn’t happened. It turns out I can actually hold a baby without setting off the biological clock.
Building a Smoker
Despite having guests we still had our ‘To Do’ list to work through. Aaron and Phil started making our cold smoker. I wanted to smoke our oldest salamis this weekend so that we could finally try them. The smoker has been placed in the garden next to the car turnaround, as there is a natural incline on the hill to allow the smoke to travel from the firebox up an underground steel flue to a wine barrel smoker. All went well with the firebox and flue but taking the top off the barrel proved to be impossible with the tools we have. The lid needs to be cut on an angle so that it can just drop back down into place, but the lid is so thick we couldn’t get any tools to cut it.
I was gutted but if you can’t do something then you just can’t do it.
While the men worked on the smoker I planted more flaxes around the driveway entrance. I drove a stick into the ground next to all the newly planted flaxes the same as I did last week. I have high hopes for these flaxes!
Aaron’s borrowed Pete’s trailer for a couple of weeks and the deal was we took Pete’s garden prunings already piled high on the trailer. What a score for us! We set about chipping those into a wonderful leafy mulch, perfect for our compost! It was working really well and then the throttle got stuck and the chipper kept losing power. Add to that a blunt blade and after chipping 2/3 of the pile we called it quits.
We use that wonderful chipper every weekend and it is now in desperate need of a service. Fortunately we bought it in Kaiwaka and can get it serviced there. Of course that means we’ll probably be without a chipper for 2 weeks. Bummer.
Dad made a brief visit in the afternoon. He and Don were heading to north to a funeral service. It was good to see Don still alive after being told he only had weeks to live a few months ago. Not that he isn’t a mere shadow of his former self, but hey, he’s hanging in there.
Monday morning was nice and sunny. I managed to shift a lot of post peelings in the morning down to Spotty and Stanley’s trough area. All up I carried 16 baskets of post peelings down the drive but after the 16th trip back up the hill I was well and truly knackered. I can only hope all that hill walking did something good for my butt.
Troubles With Rats
By lunchtime the day was starting to turn stormy. At some stage in the afternoon I went into the carport to get something and that’s when I found it, one of our salamis lying on the ground. It had been gnawed from one end to the other. It had to be rats. I was absolutely gutted. In fact for the rest of the day I found myself stewing on the fact that we had now lost 2 salamis. All that work, all that time, just so a sodding rat could have itself a really good dinner.
That was pretty much the rest of my day ruined. And as the weather turned more and more stormy so did my mood.
Monday evening we moved the cattle from behind our stream to Gary’s roadside paddocks. It was our first attempt at shifting the new girls and the weather was just horrible, wet with strong winds. Aaron unlocked the padlock to open the gate but the lock would not open. No amount of swearing or banging it against the post would work. The CRC was in the carport, which meant a long trudge back up the drive. Aaron volunteered. I stayed on the drive as the cattle stood by the gate just waiting.
Eventually Aaron returned and sprayed the lock. The lock opened and Aaron opened the gate and ran over the bridge calling the cattle. I stood on the drive ready to move them on. The cattle made a beeline for the lock and the CRC and started licking it furiously. Crap! I quickly moved up to Baby Red to push her and as I did the young heifers turned around and ran back into the paddock. Eventually I managed to push Baby Red and the boys away from the lock and they started running toward Aaron. The 2 young heifers were panicked by my presence so I had to get in behind them and eventually they ran through the gate and after the others.
The cattle then ran, kicked and bucked their way down the drive. The dogs didn’t even bother to follow. They’re so used to the cattle trying to trample them that they’ve got to the point where they’d rather not be involved.
And so we put the cattle in the paddock and set up the fencing and walked back up to the house. I showed Aaron where the salami had come down and then Aaron noticed another salami that had been attacked by rats that I hadn’t even seen.
I Lose The Plot
That was all that was needed for me to lose it mentally. I was angry beyond angry and no amount of consoling by Aaron would calm me down. Aaron went to bed even earlier just to get away from me and I sat in the livingroom with dogs as the storm really hit. I tried to get the dogs to go outside once my bedtime rolled around but the weather was so foul they cowered inside.
Coppa’s mood had also deteriorated with the weather and he started growling and snarling at Whisky. A fight was imminent. I opened the door and shoved Coppa outside into the storm.
Then I turned off all the lights and curled up on the sofa with a duvet. After a couple of hours Coppa started barking furiously at the weather and that set Whisky off. I opened the door to tell Coppa to shut up. Whisky ran outside and Coppa ran inside. I shut the door and got back on the sofa. Coppa wasn’t interested in sleeping. That meant I didn’t sleep, instead I just lay on the sofa feeling thoroughly pissed off about everything.
Aaron got up for work about 3ish and he put Coppa outside. I finally went to sleep and then my alarm went off at 4:15.
I got up and fed the animals. The storm had blown over by then fortunately.
Back at the house I rang work and told them I wouldn’t be in. I was grumpy and tired and I didn’t want to risk driving to work in that state.
I ended up actually being sick on Tuesday and called in sick again. Wednesday I went to work but I was so ill I ended up having Thursday off. I must have come down with some kind of virus and apparently my symptoms matched those of a bug doing the rounds of staff at work.
I felt so crap Thursday I decided to get outside and work on the new duck pond for as long as possible before I collapsed form exhaustion. After about 3 hours of digging and clearing and sweating buckets my arms and shoulders were burning and barely functioning. I went inside and collapsed on the sofa. By the end of the day I felt great.
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