A Tiring but Productive End to 2010

Today is New Year's Day and it's drizzling heavily which we are very thankful for as we are almost in drought conditions. Some overstocked farmers are already having to buy in hay. We had part of one of our bigger paddocks cut for hay on Christmas Eve and unfortunately the baler has not turned up yet so its spread all over the paddock getting a little wet right now. We have had day after day of beautiful hot dry weather - temperatures close to 30*C, and plenty of gale force northwesterly winds as well.

Clearing out our water race to improve water flow. Always a welcome little job when the weather is stinking hot. Jennifer is also sussing out a good spot to encourage eels

All the cattle are now in together in front of the house. Denise is fostering adoration and obedience by feeding out a small ration of feed nuts. Bella and Clarissa at the back; Bonnie with her head out towards Denise; Zita and Zelda, and little Charlie in the foreground. The far back of this paddock past the electric tape has been cut for hay - still to be baled.

Over the last few days and weeks, we have been concentrating on cleaning up our house garden. This has entailed hours and hours here and there with the weedeater, attacking grass up to knee height on what was formerly paddock grazing horses. Denise arranged to hire a huge industrial roaring beast of a push mower over two days to then attack the weedeaten down pasture which was working just fine until a tyre came off a wheel yesterday morning. Fortunately, most of the mowing had been done.

Denise being hauled along by the industrial mower, magically transforming rough pasture into what will be, in about 12 months' time, beautiful lawn (we hope)

While we were returning the mower, we got to look at and test drive on the footpath, a lovely brand new ride-on mower. Denise persuaded the salesman to bring it down to Fossils Retreat to see how it performed on the newly mowed grass and it outshone itself. Needless to say, it is here to stay.

Jennifer having her trial run on the new mower. That's all our raised vege beds in the background, with a pile of topsoil to the side that still has to be barrowed off elsewhere

Irrigation has become a priority in the overall plan now. Just to give all these veges and the surrounding few fruit trees a good drink took 120 litres of water - hauled up from the water race on to the back of the ute and carted up to the house. We will be checking out with our local Council next week that we are, in fact, allowed to draw water from the race, and we'll have to be seeking opinions on how to go about this and get the water up to a holding tank and also put drinking troughs in the front paddocks. Yes, it will be expensive.

We've had some amazing sunsets and cloud formations over the past few weeks. This photo was taken about 8.45pm one evening as Denise was getting washing in from the line.

After our exhausting last couple of days, for New Year's Eve we went and visited friends on a lifestyle block in Greytown for a few drinks, and came home about 9pm. We spent the rest of the evening quietly at home eating a crayfish each, enjoying a few wines and Jennifer was treated to a lovely feet treatment in her new Foot Spa. We saw the New Year in, and collapsed into bed. Today, we are somewhat stiff and sore and lethargic, but the drizzle is clearing away so no doubt we will be out raking up some of our copious grass clippings to use as mulch. We're out to friends' tonight for dinner, then off to the races tomorrow for a picnic day out. Perhaps we will win enough to pay for our irrigation! (Hardly likely but an entertaining thought) ...

Our First Christmas at Fossils Retreat

Our first Christmas has come and gone at Fossils Retreat. Fortunately, we both started holidays at the beginning of the Christmas week, which enabled us to start cooking, baking, shopping, getting beds organised and creating bedrooms out of previous storage rooms in the house. The domestic animals were very quick off the mark to recognise that holidays had started and get into the summer holiday spirit ...

Madge relaxing on a spare bed after a hard morning's work hunting rabbits, birds, tailess lizards and tiny field mice

Scruffy checks out that we have indeed removed every Christmas ornament from this box

We got the 8ft Christmas tree up and placed and got the last of the ornaments up 2 days before Christmas Eve.

Scruffy checking out that we have placed all the Christmas tree lights symmetrically around the tree

After heading down to Wellington on Christmas Eve to take Jennifer's mum out for a Christmas lunch, two family couples arrived that night and stayed over; Denise made fantastic waffles and fruit and yoghurt and/or cream for breakfast; one couple departed for Christmas lunch elsewhere; and 3 more family couples and 2 kids arrived around midday on Christmas Day. For a change, the gale-force north wester winds abated and we were able to open the french doors into the kitchen and dining room and sit outside, which enabled all to improve on their summer tans. We had a great Christmas Dinner about 4 o'clock on Christmas Day which was even more remarkable (as somebody commented) in that no family arguments at all ensued. The family all departed early afternoon on Boxing Day to go to their respective homes, and Denise and Jennifer did absolutely nothing for the rest of the day apart from feeding pigs (very disappointing left-overs - zilch, in fact) early that evening.

We also decided that if we were ever going to restore our fridges to their natural states, we had better get some friends in to help get through the leftovers, which we did on the evening of the 27th, having spent at least some hours constructively - finally getting another gate made for our house fencing - which makes it an awful lot easier to carry down pig buckets to Porker Villa than climbing over the fence as we were used to. We still have lots of friends and family planning to visit over the next few days, which we are looking forward to immensely.

The Christmas tree finally up and lit, decorated muchly with some of Jennifer's selection of American Christmas ornaments - the fairy angel seems to be a little tipsy after Christmas Day but she has now recovered and resumed her rightful upright position at the top of the tree

We Make Progress on our Freezer Purchase

Well, we must say we are very impressed with the rapidity Head Office of The Warehouse responded to our complaint of no 300 litre freezers available for us. Follows, the chain of correspondence since our original letter :

Good afternoon Jennifer,

Thank you for contacting The Warehouse regarding the in-store special of the 300L freezer over the weekend.

As this promotion was a store-only offer, these terms and conditions are at the discretion of the store involved and the item in question was in extremely high demand over the weekend.

Also, each store has its own policies on laybys and rainchecks around Christmas due to the nature of retailing in this busy time of year.

However, what I will do for you is contact the manager of The Warehouse Masterton in order to gain some feedback on your circumstances.

In the meantime, please forward me your contact telephone number, the name of the staff member, time of your visit and any other information that we can use to investigate this for you.

Regards
Alfonso

Customer Services Advisor

We then had another email from Alfonso the next day :


Good afternoon Jennifer,

I have just heard back from The Warehouse Masterton who want me to forward the following response:

Hi there,

thank you for bringing this to my attention Is it possible to know who Jennifer spoke to on Saturday. Could she narrow down the time for me?

For a number of reasons:

We had 4 going into Saturday, the display and 3 boxes that were merchandised behind. I personally worked nightfill Friday night and know this was so. We sold 3 on Saturday and the display model we sold on Sunday We most always have the 300l chest freezers in stock. (You can look at Itran to verify this) In regards to the advertising, it was a 2 day deal and these are advertised on tv, not in mailers and are promoted instore with the flyers. Could you let them know if they sign up to the website they will get this info in advance, as well as other family and friends exclusive deals.

I am more than happy to honour the weekend special when we receive more in

Also can you please forward your contact number and I will get them to ring you.

Regards

Alfonso

We replied :

Hello Alfonso

I've found the docket from the Masterton store. On Saturday 11 December we purchased at Till: 136H @ 4.33pm DK 68583. 'Deanna'? at the till directed us to the Returns/Enquiries counter to ask about the freezers, where we waited for service approximately 5 minutes; so we would have started talking to the female employee at that department about the freezers who gave us the information as already detailed to you at about 4.40pm. I'm sorry, we don't recall her name. There were two of us - good looking, middle aged females. We believe the employee has shortish wavy brown with red highlights hair, possibly glasses, mid 40's or so. Very pleasant.

Our contact details :

Jennifer ... and Denise ...
Carterton

Cheers and thanks for your swift attention to this matter Alfonso. May you and yours have a very Happy Christmas

Regards

And next day we heard again from Alfonso :

Good afternoon Jennifer,

Thats no problem we are here to help.

Jennifer, I will forward this to the store manager in order to get a
resolution for you.

If they have not contacted you in the next few days please let me know
and I will investigate further.

Thank you for your email and if you need any further assistance, do not
hesitate to contact us.

Merry Christmas
Alfonso

Customer Services Advisor

We'll give it a few more days and wait to hear from them. We visited the Masterton store yesterday and confirmed they have no 300 litre chest freezers for sale. Just goes to show it was worthwhile following up. (Mind you, they could work it that none will be available until about August next year ...). Will keep you posted

General Update and A Bit of Trivia

What with lots of things happening and our grass going wild - pigs a'wandering through the water race into the neighbours' (we're pretty sure we've plugged all the escape routes now); rams having to be separated and moved in with the cows; thistle-grubbing; drenching, etc. - haven't had time for many photos. The weather has been hot and dry, with the nor'wester doing its share of the soil drying. The cattle and pigs have been drinking plenty, and Denise is developing a truly admirable set of biceps carting 20 litre containers of water from our water race. The sheep are able to access the race from their current paddock, but there are still large trecherous muddy areas along our banks, so we don't risk the smaller Dexter calves. Jennifer is currently exempt from water-hauling duties due to pulled R arm tendons, but is keeping up with watering and tending our copious-producing vegetable beds.

We left it too late to organise Pharoah for Christmas ham and bacon, and also Phyllis for pork. Pharoah has developed, it appears, into a fine, healthy young boar and the girls are advancing at a great rate so we are a little worried but however can do nothing until 10 January, when the home-kill man comes to terminate their short and romantically sweet lives. We imagine Penelope and Poppy will make wonderful roasts, ribs and chops and like to hope they will be destined for a visit from the home-kill man shortly after. We will seriously need another big freezer.

Hence, when visiting our nearest branch of The Warehouse this last weekend, we were thrilled to find that chest freezers were on sale ... read on ... Jennifer's letter to The Warehouse :

Dear The Warehouse

On Saturday 11 December 2010 I visited the Masterton branch of The Warehouse, and discovered in-store advertising of a considerable percentage off the normal selling price of your chest freezers. The notice stated that the discount was valid for this past weekend only.

There was a flyer advertising the 300L freezer, showing the discounted price if purchased.

I enquired at the Enquiry counter at the Masterton store whether I could pay for one now, and return the next morning with a suitable vehicle to take it from the store. I was told that there were no 300L freezers in stock. No rain checks as it was a weekend only special. I asked if I could buy the freezer displayed in the Masterton store. I was told 'No'. (No reason). I was told that Masterton had never got any of the 300L freezers. (Yet there was a flyer advertising the discount price off the 300L freezer in the Masterton store). The helpful Enquiries person advised that the Petone Warehouse was showing 300L freezers available.

As I was returning home on Sunday 12 December, I detoured a considerable way and visited the Petone Warehouse store. In store was the same advertisement above the same 300L freezer, advertising the discounted price for that weekend only. There were 300L freezers in stock. I asked if I paid for one now, could it be held and picked up the following Saturday when we had a suitable vehicle? I was told that goods would only be held for 24 hours. I asked about courier/freight charges, and was told there was no delivery to Carterton (where I live).

By then, I had had enough. Well, wouldn't you? Mainly because :
There was an advertisement in the Masterton store telling me I could buy a 300L freezer at a discounted price, yet it appears that was untrue
I live in Carterton. It is a good 20 minute drive to your Masterton store anyway; and I deviated about 40km to visit the Petone store.

I must say I don't think much of your advertising or P R policies. I would be interested to know just how many of the freezers you did sell in all your stores this past weekend if there was no advertising apart from weekend store advertising? I mean, I am looking for another new freezer as I am sure a lot of other rural folks are (for a start) to put all their Christmas hams and homekills in. If I had read in advance that The Warehouse was going to heavily discount chest freezers over the weekend, I certainly wouldn't have made the 20 minute drive to and from in my car, and would have obviously taken my ute and tie-downs, assuming, naturally, that my local store had a freezer in stock to sell me.

I look forward to your comments

JENNIFER M NIDD

p.s. I would be interested in buying the floor model in your Masterton store. Why take up the floor space advertising something it doesn't even have?

We'll keep you posted ...

Our Dexters Become Mums

We weren't quite sure of the dates our two Dexters would be calving, so it was with great surprise when we spotted a small black shape on the grass near Bonnie back on 22 October. One dear little fellow who we have called Charlie.

Proud first-time Mum Bonnie, with Charlie - one day old

Not to be outdone, Bella then produced, with no fuss, nine days later on 31 October while we had visitors, little Clarissa

Bella with Clarissa, one day old

So, Charlie is now just over four weeks old and Clarissa is just three weeks old today. Clarissa is finer and taller than Charlie.

To try to give you an idea of size - remember, the Dexters are three quarter sized cattle. The top of their backs are probably not even chest high.

Jennifer trying to get up close to Charlie who is four weeks old in this photo.

Meet the Freezer Packs

We both happened to be home one Friday, and went up to the weekly Friday Clareville Livestock Sale. We had hastily hammered up a pen at the back corner of our new implement shed (complete with FREE wooden pallet which, tied up with baling twine, has made a splendid gate) and shot up there. Quite a few weaner calves on sale. (No weaner pigs either). We wanted heifers, so while spending half the time keeping an ear out on the going prices for bull calves, we picked 'ours' out. We got one that we wanted, a nice, large friesian/hereford; missed out on another (opposition bidding too high), and were undecided until we realised the auctioneer was trying to get just $5 for a dear little brown friesian/hereford calf that nobody seemed to want. Denise's hand shot up like greased lightning, and she was ours instantly.

We have had a nice solid stock crate with spring-loaded gate tailor-made for our farm runabout ute - one which we middle-aged folk can easily manouevre on and off, so it was no problem getting them home. Unfortunately, we were still suffering from the effects of an extraordinarily wet September, so couldn't drive the ute right up to the shed, so they were lifted off the back of the ute and 'guided' in to their new pen.

Zita, the little $5 bargain baby, being 'guided' towards her new home by her two new Mums. Note our new fence now sealing off the big paddock enabling us to create a 'home garden'. We had the posts put in several weeks ago, and we have been buying and nailing up the planks as we have progressively sold our baleage. There are still 4 gates to be made ...

First thing we did was to give the two babies a couple of litres each of electrolyte solution as a precautionary measure, as we are now going to start feeding them with powdered milk. The solution clears up minor diarrhea and scours which can easily occur through sale stress, change of environment, diet, etc.

Denise enjoying feeding her first calf. This one, we named ZELDA. She is the biggest of the two. The pink spray mark on her head is to show she was our bid.

As stated - Zelda is a big-framed strong little girl - we estimate here, about 6 days old. Unfortunately, at this tender age, the stomach takes a while to tell the brain that the tucker has actually finished. Even at a few days old, she packs a strong 'surprise'.

Zelda and Zita have continued to do well, with only a minor case of scours each in the first few days. Zita is turning out to be a not so tiny calf now, and we are thrilled at how she has come on.

Zelda and Zita enjoying the last of their milk powder feeding. Here - they are about 7 weeks old, and we will be switching to calf growing pellets and hay as alternative grass feed. They have been regularly browsing well on Moozlee, a molasses sweetened crushed grain and corn mixture

Zita and Zelda learned very quickly about electric fences. They are 7 weeks old now, and are hoping for more feed. That's the rest of our new fence, giving us an enclosed home garden.

All going well, we hope to keep Zita and Zelda for almost two years, and then, we are afraid, (but secretly looking forward to) we will have them home-killed. You will all be able to say in a couple of years when you come for a BBQ - 'Oh yes, I remember reading about Zita - she was the $5 runt that nobody wanted, right?'

A Lesson Well Learned - or How We Wanted 2 Pigs, Paid for 5, Ended up with 4 ...

When we purchased the land for Fossils Retreat, there was a set of unfinished yards. We built and put up two new gates, Jennifer sorted through the huge stacks of derelict wood from the house renovations, and Porker Villa was built - a very flash and roomy dwelling constructed of 4x2, 17mm ply and solid matai plank floor, topped with recycled removable corrugated iron roof.

We had noticed with growing anxiety, very few weaner piglets for sale, due no doubt to folk with more foresight than us having already snapped up all the available weaners who were now, no doubt, well on their way to being Christmas fare. Jennifer found some on offer on Trade Me and won the bid for two. Porker Villa was all but finished, when the piglet gilts arrived a day early - and very small they were too. Realisation dawned that these two could easily escape by burrowing under the yard planks, so much hurried scrabbling (in foul weather) to find suitable extra planks from the mountainous scrap wood piles. However - all in vain as the little sods were out within 10 minutes and spent the afternoon hooning all around the neighbourhood paddocks.

We spent most of the evening rounding them up (they had been christened Penelope and Poppy at this stage) only to have them escape from a new place in the enclosure. As it was dark and we had already walked miles and miles and miles, we turned in for the night. We were out at daybreak the next morning after fixing the last escape exit by torchlight, and found them huddled far out in a neighbour's paddock. They were duly rounded up and herded home - only to escape again later that day. The frustrating thing was that they didn't respond to the usual 'rattle clunk' of the feeding bucket, to 'Here, Pig Pig Pig Pig Pig' or to following you with bread or feed nuggets, so we assumed they must have just been taken from their mother.

Regular escapes occurred over the next two days, with each exit blocked after discovery. After herding them home again at near on dark, they broke out of our fence and under the neighbour's fence and off into the moonlight. We had had enough. Denise swore she was off pigs forever. We both lost some weight over these few days and developed blisters on our heels.

As so much time and effort had now been put into the construction of Porker Villa and its sunken water trough, abundant pea straw bedding and sunny recreational area - Jennifer went off to the Livestock Sale held weekly at Clareville, north Carterton, and came home with two more gilts. Quite a bit bigger than Penelope and Poppy. These two were named Phyllis and Prudence. Later that evening, while entertaining a guest for dinner, three glasses of wine down and it was already dark, we had a knock on the door from a neighbour advising that two pigs were running around the paddock. We managed to retrieve Phyllis and block the escape route, but Prudence was last seen heading south. We hoped she would turn up at the villa next morning, but she never appeared again.

The price of three pigs down, and we had one. Pigs need company, both for amicability and general wellbeing, and they snuggle together to keep warm. Phyllis was rather dejected. Her tail never quite made it to curly. The following Friday, Jennifer visited the Livestock Sale again and came home with a companion for Phyllis - a handsome lad who was christened Pharoah. Phyllis was well pleased, and upon his arrival, after a shared lunch, they disappeared into the villa to make the bed.

Phyllis and Pharoah were getting along just fine, and both had very curly tails within a day or so. Anyway, about 4 or 5 days later, a neighbour rang to say that a dairy farmer away east about 2kms away had our two piglets - Penelope and Poppy. They were duly collected from the kind dairy farmer who had been fattening them on excess milk with a promise from us to return with some bacon.

So now we have four pigs. We hope to be able to send Pharoah off for hams and bacon in time for Christmas. He is getting to be a bit of a worry and is getting very athletic with Phyllis, but we are sure they are both too young for such shenanigans.

Penelope, Phyllis, Pharoah and Poppy waiting anxiously to be let out for the afternoon's free range. We only let them out when we are home, and in the afternoon. They range all over the paddocks (under constant supervision!) and get under the gates and annoy the sheep and cows. They now respond beautifully to 'Here Pig Pig Pig Pig' and the rattle of the food bucket and hassle you back to their yard to get fed and locked for the night.

We are lucky in that Denise gets to bring home a 10 litre bucket full of yummy food scraps such as left over bread and fruit and the like. Neighbours and friends also help out. Every night we cook on our woodburner, a big stock pot full of peas. Lovely warm mushy peas for breakfast every day - yum. When there's a shortage of food scraps, we use pig nuggets. With the free ranging in the afternoon - a pig will eat grass and forage in dirt for nutrients and will consume one third of its daily food needs. Plus all that sunshine and fresh air and running around!

Phyllis (at back), Poppy and Pharoah doing what pigs do best - using those little snouts to forage and dig. Note those lovely curly tails!

So, the lesson well learned - don't buy livestock off the net. Much better (and cheaper!) to buy at the Livestock Sale where you can see what you are getting - just hoping nobody else is after weaner gilts when you want two.

Spring was in the Air - briefly

September continued to be wet, with a couple of tempting fine days in between heavy showers and gale force winds. As usual, a very cold southerly snap came through which closed the Rimutaka Hill road for a few hours. Jennifer was caught out after a night watch and waited 3 1/2 hours at the Hutt side of the hill until the road opened at 09.45, and was in the first convoy over.

Snow on the lower slopes of the Rimutaka Hill Road connecting the Wairarapa to the Hutt Valley. At the top of the hill, snow was laden on tree branches and had been cleared to metre deep banks at the side of the road

We continue to be frustrated at home with the weather. We have given the idea of a wood shed for 2010 away, as we managed to just keep ahead of our firewood, but the wet weather did not let us get the skilsaw and electrical leads out to get stuck in when we were both home and available.

We are still waiting for the water table to drop so we can get the second water tank in - 4 months later, it's still at the gate. This will take water from the implement shed erected a few weeks ago. Once this last truck has been to place the water tank, we can get the digger man in to relevel and do us a top coat on the driveway so we won't always have a lake after rain

Here's a shot taken from our kitchen window showing six raised vege beds made. The two piles of topsoil have been there for weeks as it's been too wet to get out and fill the beds. Note the huge lake in our neighbour's far paddock - this is just surface water. September rainfall 2010 was double that of last September - and that was considered wet!

One of the Dorper ewes didn't lamb. They are doing really well, although we have had a few problems with their feet with continual wet weather and ground.

Annabel, with the last of the lambs to be born - twin ewes Beatrice and Bianca

Our First Lamb and it's STILL Raining

One of the Dorper ewes, Abigail, produced a lovely big ram lamb on 1 August. Since then, we have had two sets of twins. More on the lambs and mums at a later date - if it ever stops raining and we can get the flock gambling and prancing with joy to see some sunshine ...

Baa aaa ry (just kidding - BARRY) our first lamb at 4 days old. That's his mum, Abigail, just behind him, with 3 aunties getting in the act on the right

In the meantime, between all the rainy days, we have had fence posts dug in (five weeks ago - and it's still too wet to ram them in firmly) all around our house recreation/orchard area. We have managed to get up one small section of rails, with another big stack of palings ready and waiting (in the rain) for the weather to clear so we can use the skilsaw outside and slosh through the mud to nail on another section of house boundary fence.

We have been lucky in that we ended up with 58 big bales of baleage, and we have sold all but 3, so that profit has been channelled back into fencing the house section off so we can get started late planting our orchard trees.

Bonnie and Bella, our two Dexter cows, are doing well. They are getting good break feed tucker on firm ground (sort of firm) determined by electric fencing. Bella is starting to show signs of being well in calf, but Bonnie is showing little at this stage. They continue to remain skittish and are also fed baleage every night - depending on how much green tucker they have been allowed that day.

Sorry we've been a bit tardy of late in keeping the blog up to date. I have heaps more chapters to come - it just seems a little difficult to get time to get to the computer - all sorts of livestock problems keep urgently cropping up, but we promise to make much more of an effort.

Madge and Tansy sure don't mind the rain and cold and aren't complaining ...

Rain, rain and more rain

Honestly - it has done nothing but rain, rain rain over the last few weeks. Our progress outside has been sorely limited. We have managed to get a good old fashioned clothes line in, and a roof bearing on the garage for a wood shed - hence the timber lying around.

Another gloomy outlook taken from inside the utility room. Our new implement shed is nearly completed (with massive problems and further expense due to water-sodden ground); the saw horses are ready and waiting for a break in the weather so we can saw up more old timber from the house for firewood (under the blue tarps).

Tansy has had a deck extension to keep her from being stranded in a lake. Our second water tank is still waiting at the gate, and it appears it will be another few weeks yet before our water table is down enough to install and connect it to the implement shed.

However, we have been able to get odd jobs done like grubbing thistles, new gate latches, raised vegetable beds in place (now awaiting topsoil) and a start has been made on the new pig house. It has a very grand solid matai plank floor. We hope to be getting a couple of weaners in 2-3 weeks' time, so pig housing has moved to the top of the priority list - completed in the rain if necessary. We were hoping to have one ready for hams for this Christmas, but it's a bit late now in the year, so it will have to be Easter Ham.

We have been making a conscious effort not to complain about the wet weather, as we are reliant on rainwater for our house use. Droughts in the Wairarapa are common, and we are very aware we could well be bemoaning the lack of rainwater in six months' time. Lucky we have baleage for the Bonnie and Bella.

Our New Arrivals

Skipping ahead a bit to keep you abreast of our livestock arrivals.

First to arrive on 2 May were four Dorper ewes - all hopefully in lamb. We chose Dorpers for a few reasons - we are interested in rare and heritage breeds; they are a meat breed and they do a good job of self-shearing. The Dorpers have black heads - note the wooly top coats that rub/wear off.

They are a South African breed, and are able, it appears, to have three breeding cycles as against two of most other breeds in the same timeframe. Rams and ewes mature at a more early age as well. We don't know yet how old ours are - we have yet to get them yarded - we found out very quickly it takes three or more people or two and a good dog - but we did get Astra in for a hoof trim.

We picked up four smaller white lambs at the Clareville weekly Livestock Sale on 4 June. There are two ewes and two wethers. They don't have names. They were a bit boney when we bought them but they are fattening up nicely, eh? The two wethers are Christmas dinners and freezer pack. We'll keep the two ewes and get them in lamb next year to produce more freezer packs.

The Dorpers (in front) : Annabel, Abigail, Aroha and Astra. All hopefully in lamb. Freezer packs and mothers of freezer packs behind

Great excitement last Sunday 26 June - our first cattle arrived. We decided to go with Dexter cattle, which are about three quarters the size of regular beef cattle. They say the meat is excellent - but it will be a few years before we can start eating the offspring. We were lucky enough to find two for sale nearby, and the seller kindly delivered them.

Bonnie and Bella, our black and red Dexters. Bonnie is rising 3 and expecting her first calf early September. Bella is rising 4 and has already raised one calf, expecting again late September. You can get a good idea of their height by comparing them to the 7 wire fence behind!

Both the Dexter Cattle and the Dorper Sheep are registered with the NZ Rare Breeds Association.

We are awaiting delivery of a 4 bay implement shed - but like the second water tank we purchased 6 weeks ago which is still sitting inside the fence, things have been held up by continual rain. We have a lot of surface water at present. We are hoping the shed will be up in the next 4-5 weeks, and the plan is then to get a few four-day calves and rear them. Another freezer pack ...

YAHOO! We're back on line and lots of news ...

Hello again dear readers

We have now been established at Fossils Retreat for about 8 weeks and have only in the past few days got our landline on and computer connected with a new email address. Lots has been happening at Fossils Retreat and lots hasn't happened due to lots of rain - good for our solo connected water tank - our second 30,000 litre tank was delivered about 6 weeks ago and is sitting waiting at the front gate. Our plumber tells us our water table is now so high it will be at least October until it can be sunk and connected to our implement shed which we hope will be delivered and assembled in about 4 weeks' time. However - thanks for your patience. We WILL be updating the blog over the next few days and more frequently and lots more photos. Check in in a few days' time.

Jennifer and Denise

Belated Catch Up

Sorry, folks, sorry - it's been a busy many past weeks and although we have been visiting and carting up stuff to Fossils Retreat, there does not appear to have been a lot to progressively chart photographically. It just seems we have been plodding along with not a lot to show at times. (Plus we FORGOT to take the camera twice).

What has been happening quietly on the scenes whenever we have had days off to get up there - is painting and cleaning up. We now have the newly built laundry/utility room painted with two large cupboards erected and painted; the kitchen dining room has been all painted (except for some window joinery); the kitchen is all installed and electric oven and gas hob working fine; the hall (12 foot stud!) has been painted, along with ceiling (ghastly job - enamel paint); the living room was completed painting this weekend (today, in fact). That's with all the skirting boards and architraves primed and x2 enamel coats, as well.

We've been busy scurrying round and about picking up bathmats, towel rails, toilet roll holders and the like. We have had and still have although tailing off, a minor cluster flies epidemic along with nearly everyone we know in the Wairarapa.


We hired the largest possible skip and made a slight dent in the three demolition piles behind the house. We made a gate and hung it and painted it one coat (1 to go).

Feijoa plants/hedge are doing just fine. Ditto the silver birches we have planted at the entrance. Vege garden is going crazy with all the mushroom compost we have virtually at our doorstep from Parkvale Mushrooms. (1 ute load for $30).

Tomorrow is moving day. The movers are coming around 8am. At Fossils Retreat, we have worn and used and paint splattered although clean, wood floorboards throughout, stuck sash windows, and peeling lino to take up in the kitchen. Over three days, the corpses of thousands of cluster flies have been discovered and disposed off. We know truly know the real truth of that old saying 'dropping like flies'. Three huge piles of wood to sort through into usable (and denail) / firewood / brazier burnoffs. But a woodshed needs to be built first ... and quotes for a fireplace and heat transfer units to be done.

FRIENDS - We apparently are going to have to get a new service and email address etc. but it won't happen for 2-3 weeks. Have faith ... the blog will continue with heaps more progress note and photos.

And we'll leave you for a few days with the most recent autumn morning photo from Fossils Retreat ...

Looking east from our dining room about 09.30 one morning. This is our only view of the Tararuas from the house. Expect lots of snowy caps in winter. We had 50 heifers from the over the road dairy farmer come and chew down our grass over a few weeks. Where the hot wire stopped you can see in the foreground and get an idea of how much long grass we had. That old deady brown tree on the middle left is the macrocarpa we had taken down last November that we haven't had time to go out and deal to.

And Rats to You Too

Last time we were up at Fossils Retreat was the weekend of 13-14 February. We had arranged for a huge skip to be delivered so we could make a start on getting rid of a lot of our three huge piles of demolition materials. As there is plenty of timber (and plenty of nails in it) in the three piles that needs careful sorting (usable/useful/hmmm/firewood) we concentrated on filling the skip with stuff like plasterboard, old lining boards and the like. As we were turning over and throwing off wood to get to the rubbish, I warned Denise of the possibility of rats. When the skip was nearly full, Denise loaded up the barrow with smaller bits of debris scooped in armfulls into the barrow. She had just chucked one armload in when I looked down into the barrow and saw ...


These wee babies (7) were pink and nearly transparent, no more than 2.5cm (1 inch) long. Denise reacted immediately and for some reason did a rather peculiar dance consisting of stamping her feet, clutching and pulling out the front of her singlet and screaming her head off. When she had calmed down and realised none had gone down her front (remembering the mouse episode in the potato tyre), her motherly instincts kicked in. We figured they were just newly born - probably while we were partaking of a long lunch and reading the weekend papers. Sadly, motherly instincts were quashed when Jennifer reasoned that 7 rats were better taken care of now as against in the house in 3 months' time.

Note : They were given 2 'instant death' treatments by Denise. There were no survivors and the wee corpses were reverently covered and disposed of in the rubbish skip

So, now we have three still large, but flatter piles of timber - a lot of matai - to be sorted and denailed (we're looking for helpers who want to develop their arm muscles. This is hard wood). The front gate has been finished and hung after several trials and tribulations. We have two raised vege beds up - one filled with soil and mushroom compost, and have planted lettuces, silver beet and brassicas. We just hope we get some rain in between our next visit.

Twilight, looking south from the front gate of Fossils Retreat

It's Bye Bye to Louey the Fly and a few Other Inconveniences

Things have slowed a little as far as interior renovations are going at Fossils Retreat. We now have a working bathroom (we just need a shower curtain); toilet; all kitchen conveniences including TWO filters from our rainwater tank, and laundry tub and water. Electricity in most rooms. Our builder has started another job, so it appears we only see him on rainy days (or any day Jennifer is there to put a few hours in).
Next trip up, we bring up a permanent queen bed and 'make' a bedroom of one of the front rooms.

Bye Bye to making up and dismantling the rather uncomfortable couch/bed each day. This photo shows our 'studio' living just prior to the new kitchen being installed.

Spent a fair bit of time doing smallish jobs that took a while. Had a good old scrub and tidy up and got two raised vege beds completed. Spent a lot of exhaustive time excavating and sieving some of our topsoil hill and transporting it by barrow to the beds. Well, one bed. A barrowload doesn't go far when you're filling raised beds. We have a good stash of mushroom compost under a tarp nearby - got a ute load full a few weeks ago from the Mushroom Factory down the road.

Bye Bye Louey the Fly. Denise wanted a photo before she scraped the stickers off and cleaned the window. The cracked pane has since been replaced. This is the view above the kitchen sink. The two new raised vege gardens in the bottom panes

The potato leaves are dying off (the ones we planted in tyres with old hay around). Denise was excavating the first tyre with delight when a tiny field mouse ran up her arm and dived over the fence. I'd like to see her if it was a rat ...

Another little job done. Our mailbox finally up. It wasn't that easy as we had to make a whole new little supported shelf for it level with the others. Tansy has just come back from chasing a hare

Follow up on Open Home

We arrived up at Fossils Retreat after work on Friday 29 January at 11 o'clock at night. Breathless, we opened the back door and gazed in admiration at our new kitchen. Drawers galore. Denise immediately had to start unpacking everything remotely belonging to the kitchen and put it away. Ditto the fridge. (We had bought a Buy Now fridge for $120 off Trade Me). We finally got to bed at 2.45am.

Folk started arriving shortly after 11 o'clock. The BBQ was set up, and over the next 12 hours, we had 30 friends and family and neighbours pop in. The new oven worked splendidly to satisfaction (apart from the fact that the symbols in the manual in no way look anything like the symbols on the oven face which can be a bit of a problem if you are looking to fan bake, for example) and the day went well. The weather was brilliant.

One of Denise's daughters made us a beautiful housewarming cake, which was just scrummy and kept Jennifer well satisfied for the next few days.


Cutting Tracey's housewarming cake in the new kitchen

On Sunday morning, Denise sat up in bed at 8.45am and announced 'I can't do a day like yesterday today'. Que sera, sera ... the weather had turned cooler and rainy so no BBQ outside. We had 12 guests on the Sunday which was nice and cozy - all sat around on our couch/bed and assorted plastic picnic chairs admiring the half painted kitchen (the half that the kitchen fittings went on) having a few drinks and a few laughs.

By tea time, everyone had gone. We had plenty of leftovers in the fridge to last the next few days.

No work was done on the place this weekend.

Open Home

OPEN HOME

at

164 Waitangi Road Carterton

Over the weekend of SATURDAY 30 & SUNDAY 31 January

Any time after 11.00am each day

Denise and Jennifer invite you to drop in and view the current progress. We are hoping to be able to offer a wide but interesting assortment of foodstuffs but would appreciate any contributions towards refreshments. At this stage we cannot guarantee the state of the place but we are hoping to have a toilet working. Overstayers welcome.

End of the Year Wrap

We made another lightning trip up to Fossils Retreat on 31 December, laden with more stuff from the garage at Avalon. Prior to that, we were there for the day on 20 December, when Stan kindly gave up a couple of hours and downed some trees for us - which we now urgently need to get sawn and split so we will hopefully have some dry firewood this coming winter. Stan taking down a small lone gum on the road on the south side of the property. Best taken down now rather than in 2 years when the Council complain it is hitting the power lines

Stan also took down a few willows on the east side that were preventing a gate closing, and a large macrocarpa that was starting to die on the inside. Unfortunately, nobody got a shot of the macrocarpa being felled.

Jennifer demonstrating prowess with a splitting axe. A pity that this is the only shot Denise got with her phone and the log fell over

When we arrived, we were thrilled to see lots of big wrapped parcels all over the paddocks. Well, not too thrilled in that the parcels were a bit bigger than we anticipated and there is no way that one person can move one of them. Two people can't move one, actually. Hmmmm

50 big bales of baleage dotted around the paddocks

Jacob the builder is on holiday for a few days, but we did manage to contact and meet up with a plasterer who is going to start with the gib stopping for us. (Dry wall, for American readers).

Denise models the latest in fashion for rural Race meetings. She is thrilled to bits to find we have a 'permanent' door step

The new addition - laundry and utility room - now all lined out

Denise is looking into the corner where the new pantry will go. The wall opening has been cut into the lounge for the bi-fold doors, and the former doorway from the hall has been filled in

Our new bathroom, taken from cribbing space from each adjoining bedroom. Yes folks, believe it or not, a claw foot bath will be going in here AND a basin AND a toilet AND a few other fittings. Claustrophobic people may find visiting this wee room a bit of a challenge

We are really pleased the way things are ticking along. The only hold-up at present is that the plasterer cannot do the kitchen/dining area walls as the bracing needs to be inspected by the Council, and the chap who does this is on holiday until the 11th. We will now have to put off the kitchen going in by a week as we will need to have the kitchen area plastered and painted beforehand. Plenty of other chores to do though.

The little feijoa trees are doing very well. We are so lucky in that (to date) the hares haven't snacked on them. Potatoes seem to be doing OK but hard to tell without rummaging around in the tyres. They are only just starting to put up the occasional flower.