Gardening Amongst The Icicles

I remembered this week why I don't like winter. Cold rain and heavy frosts being two of the main reasons. After going out two days running in freezing rain at the beginning of the week I was relieved to be able to stay home huddled by the fire on Wednesday as we suffered one of the heaviest frosts we've had so far this winter. Now we're in the middle of a torrential downpour with more forecast to come over the weekend. Mishka and Demelza are cuddled up together in front of the fire, Peaches is asleep on a cushion in the dining room while Gypsy sleeps on a wheatpack in the sitting room with Kit curled up on an armchair.

I have been trying to get some plants in before the worst of the weather hits. The old sandpit in the middle of the lawn is now a veggie garden but because the hens are still not contained I have had to go to drastic measures to protect my plants. I have put three bottomless wire cages and shadecloth over the Queen Violet broccoli, gourmet lettuce and coloured silverbeet I've planted for the Spring. So far they've survived.

My sister in law has also given me a few cuttings from her garden. Three pink Marguerite daisies in a pot plus several varieties of different succulent plants. I plonked four of these in the dry garden by the front gate. They look quite good by the large rocks someone had arranged there years ago. This part of the garden runs along the east side of the property and is pretty much barren due to two large trees and a baby Cabbage tree which must suck all the goodness out of the soil. I have tried to mulch the soil but the chooks keep getting in there and chucking it out onto the driveway.

Big excitement today though was running into Gay in Waipawa on the way home from my portraiture class and learning that Rachel has been talking to our new mailman and he is going to bring my mail down to the house rather than my having to make my ten minute trip up to the road to collect it. I am so relieved as that daily trip was a bit much for me, especially if I had been out and was tired. Rural contractors are often very caring people and helpful to country residents, even bringing shopping to them from town. I still miss the guy I had at Craggy Range Road as he would even bring my mail to the back door if it was raining! Talk about great service.

Cat On A Hot Wheatpack

Cats are definitely opportunists and they do tend to look after number one. Especially when it comes to keeping warm. Demelza follows the sun round all day, first sitting in the front door before venturing out on the verandah into the morning warmth. She then goes into the garden and works her way around the house as the sun moves towards the back.
Gypsy however is a great fan of technology. As a youngster she used to curl up asleep on the computer monitor. In winter she wakes me up in the early hours wailing until I let her crawl into bed so she can benefit from the effects of the electric blanket. However now she has discovered my wheatpacks. I leave them discarded on the sofa for just a minute so I can either get a drink or make a pit stop, only to come back and find Gypsy neatly enscounced on top of them. As to all appearances she seems to have suddenly fallen into a deep sleep from which it would be downright cruel to wake her I have to wait until she gets up before I can retrieve them. One thing I do know- she's not only toasty warm but she won't have a painful bone in her body!

Sunday Afternoon Scare

There is much more bird life here than at the last cottage. The other day I saw four fantails sitting on my front fence and four tuis flew up and sat in the macrocarpa shelter belt to the right of the house. Fortunately my cats are too lazy to take advantage of this avian abundance.

However the brutal reality of country life is never very far away. Yesterday afternoon two women knocked at the door saying that a dog was chasing sheep in a paddock near the road. I told them to go to the farm manager's house but it turned out he wasn't there. Two more people had got out of the car by this time and we all went round the hedge to the paddock in time to see a heading dog rounding the flock into the corner. Three sheep were already down, one covered with blood and its legs twitching. I showed the women where the gate was and one went and grabbed the dog by its collar. It was then that I realised it belonged to Irenie, the 88 year old lady who works here on the farm.

I told them that I would find some rope to tie it up but before I could do this Irenie pulled up on her four wheeler motorbike and called the dog who jumped up behind her. One of the ladies managed to lift two sheep back up on their feet and get them back to the flock. The bleeding ewe had to have its throat cut.

You're never very far away from death when you live amongst animals. I think to cope it's a matter of just enjoying the moment and trying not to worry about what may or may not happen tomorrow. I wish I could tell Briar that. She has made up her mind that Tobermory has gone back to the old place and spends alot of her time standing by the back fence looking over there and braying. I must remember to go out and bribe her with carrots tomorrow to try and get back in her good graces.

Tobermory

I've been offline for five days since my nine year old computer finally expired. It had been having a few hissy fits since I moved here, not turning on in the morning usually. This time there was no response to me unplugging it or jiggling its ram and other wiggly bits accompanied by brutal swearing. As usual I was rescued by my brother who bought a computer from Trademe for $50. He brought this out on Wednesday and six hours and nine cigarettes later had it up and running. It's slightly faster than my old girl but I have no idea how long it will last so fingers crossed. Note: when Rich took my old machine home and plugged it in it turned on immediately....


Tobermory has been slowly going downhill this past week. I have had to pull him upright on several occasions even having to make a half hour trek to find him amongst some cabbage trees at the end of the paddock, leading him home with a "I Love My German Shepherd" leash attached to his collar much to the amusement of the farm staff.

This morning he was lying down again but when I tried to help him stand there was no strength in his legs. His breathing was laboured and even his appetite had gone (he even refused a strawberry jam sandwich which is his favourite treat). I rang the farm manager who came over, looked at him and gave me the news I was dreading- that Toby had reached the end of the road. He brought over a trailer and loaded him into it after I said goodbye, taking him away so I wouldn't hear the sound of the shot. He is now buried in the farm cemetary alongside a loved horse and various sheep dogs.

Briar has been inconsolable. She hasn't eaten, she wanders around braying looking for him. Other times she stands by his little house with her head down. I have spoken to a farming friend who is going to try and find another companion or two for her to bond with. As for me I have cried myself into a massive headache. Toby had a long life (he would have turned seventeen in September) and he saw me through some great trials and difficult moments. He was one of the greatest animal characters I ever met and he will be missed.

Hooray Hodgie

There was a death today. However it wasn't the one I was expecting as for the past couple of weeks Tobermory goat has been having trouble getting up. A week ago I looked out early morning and could not see him in the paddock. When I got out there I saw a white lump in the grass and immediately thought he'd died during the night. However he'd just laid down and couldn't get up again. Signs of his struggle were obvious as he had crushed the grass down in a circle around him.

Although not as bulky as he once was Toby still was quite a weight to lift and it took me several attempts to get him upright. When I tried to lead him however he fell and I realised that his back legs had gone to sleep. I stood him up once more and tried to massage these but after a kick was aimed in my direction decided to let him take matters at his own pace.

A couple of hours later he was still standing there but the sun thawed him out and he wandered down the paddock and stood beneath some pine trees. Later that day I gave him some pellets and a carrot and prayed he'd be alright the next morning. The following day he was lying beneath the trees but was not such a problem to lift this time. I put him back on his three disprin a day routine to help ease his arthritis. Never have a problem dosing him as I hide the pills in strawberry jam on wheatmeal bread and it's gobbled down in one piece. Next day I noticed Toby was able to get up on his own and although he hasn't done so since he is still much better than a week ago.

The death that came this afternoon was another old animal but one who had showed no signs of slowing down. Hodgie hedgehog had been slighty off his food the past couple of days which I attributed to the cooling weather which was putting him into early hibernation. When I went to clean out his cage this afternoon however I was appalled to see he'd died while trying to stand up to say hello. I can only assume he had a heart attack. Even so he looked very peaceful and for an animal of well over five years he was in pretty good condition. He will be missed.

Heat Seeking Chooks and The Big Mouse Massacre

Where have the weeks gone? Already I have nearly been here one month and very little blog writing done. I feel guilty doing creative things when so much mess is sitting around but I have unpacked as many boxes as I'm ever going to and am now trying to find interesting and unobtrusive places to hide the remainder. As my linen cupboard is twice the size as at the previous place I have managed to cram a myriad of bags containing different fleeces amongst the sheets and towels. The spare bed is nearly lifting off the floor with boxes of S.T.U.F.F.-Several Totally Useless Fluff Farms- jammed beneath to be left until the next move.

We are also three chickens up with Franz's "wife" Sarah and his two offspring arriving just over two weeks ago before their previous owners left New Zealand to live in Switzerland. Sarah is a pale grey fluffy bantam of as yet unknown breed with an identical son and a fluffy white daughter. We got off to a rocky start when the white pullet managed to squeeze out of a hole in the hen house the first morning here. I had to sit outside in the pouring rain for 45 minutes until she came close enough for me to catch. Then her sibling made a break for it at lunchtime so I just opened the house and left everyone to it. When I went to feed them in the late afternoon Sarah was sitting in a corner of the house with a baby under each wing so I didn't have to do a big round up.

Rounding up the chooks to put them to bed is not such a hassle as it was at the cottage. In fact half the time the fowls come looking for me for they're still able to roam about the homestead as there is no back fence. Recently I was surprised while talking on the phone in the kitchen when mother hen and her five nearly grown chicks appeared at the doorway before making a beeline for the bathroom where they made a couple of deposits. The rule with chickens as with most livestock is- never rush or frighten an animal if you don't want to have to clean up after them. I put on an insincere welcoming tone before encouraging them out the bathroom, along the hall and out onto the veranda. After that they followed me onto the lawn, around the house, along the backyard, through the long grass to the chook mansion where I hurriedly shut them in. However after mulling the experience for a while I realised that I may have a potential goldmine in my poultry. Perhaps they could replace the pukekos in the next energy conservation TV advertisement. After all they love working indoors.


My main problem since arriving has been the mice. After having the cupboards and drawers cleaned out for me on moving day I have watched in horror as many and varied black droppings have mysteriously appeared overnight. And what's worse is the culprit turned out to be a chocoholic and gnawed through a brand new packet of chocolate biscuits before guzzling three! One night as I turned off the kitchen light before going to bed I heard a wicked squeaky giggling from the wall where I assume the mice were having their chocolate biscuit supper while watching a Danger Mouse DVD. In disgust I left all the cupboards open during the night and miraculously a week ago Gypsy caught said mouse thief before demolishing it in the bathroom watched by Peaches (pictured napping in the kitchen window).

I thought this was the end of the matter but no. Glenys had put my opened boxes of cat biscuits in a wooden bin thinking that this would be mouse proof. Last Friday I put the cats' dishes on my knee and began to pour biscats into them only to have one surprised grey mouse fall out into my lap! I yelled which frightened Jerry (well he looked like a Jerry) who jumped onto the floor before running under Mishka. Mish being a sheepdog didn't know whether he should guard the mouse or try to round it up. The mouse realising its mistake made a dash underneath the fridge while three cats were casually looking in every direction but the one they should have.

I had a nervous night thinking about vermin wandering round the house. At 2am Gypsy woke me standing looking down behind the glory box. I shone a torch there but could only see two little signs Jerry had been there- literally. Next morning Demelza was sitting in the bathroom gazing vacantly at the corner of the room as she's prone to do before neatly hooking her paw under the floor and pulling out the mouse. Being a good girl when I yelled "Take him outside" she ran out to the veranda and swiftly dispatched him to the great mouse hole in the sky. This totally disproves my friend John's assertion that my cats are only useful as decoration.

On The Road Again

Well the big shift is over- almost. Saturday the 15th Gine and Gay arrived early in the morning and packed up all the high kitchen cupboards for me and began moving breakables over to the new place. Diane and Richard then arrived and began shifting my spare wire cages out of the paddock. Then Stu came up from Palmerston North to measure up for the front ramp and to help with the hen house. Finally Rachel, her husband and two children appeared and between them and Gareth moved all my firewood over and stacked it in the woodshed. Nearly everyone left at midday so Stu, Di and Rich and I went back to the cottage for lunch which consisted of hot cross buns.

Mid afternoon we returned to Kainui to have a look where we'd shift the hen house to. However on investigating the existing one on the property (complete with concrete floor, nesting boxes and perches) we decided to repair this instead. All afternoon Rich and Stu worked on fixing the roof which they did with a couple of sheets of corrugated iron they found on the property. Meanwhile I was so tired I lay on the sofa that Gay had given me in the dining room.

Late afternoon we collected the fowls. Catching 27 wayward chickens is no fun. I thought the most difficult would be the little bantam rooster who has been roaming wild since the hens kicked him out but he was the first one I caught. We then piled the rest of the birds into a bank of cages and took them for a ride on the back of a trailer before installing them into their new house. Fortunately we discovered a tap right next to where they were to live- fortunately because there doesn't appear to be one outside tap near the house which makes watering the garden difficult.

I did manage to get some sleep Saturday night before getting up early to do last minute packing and to see to the animals. We had emptied out the spare bedroom and I put the cats in this with a bed, litter tray, water and food and three new baby angora rabbits who'd arrived Friday night. A sign saying to keep out was stuck to the door.

At 9am the first people arrived to help- an elderly couple from Tikokino known to Gine. Then Gay, her sister Chris and son Gareth arrived, Marie, Martina and Glenys from art along with Gleny's husband Arthur, Pat and Alec (Gleny's neighbours) Diane and Rich and finally my friends Marg and John. All in all five trailers were used to shift my worldy possessions. As usual I watched in horror as the pianola was wheeled out but tried to keep my mind off it by helping Martina pack up the last of the kitchen crockery while Glenys, Marie and the other ladies cleared out the last of the kitchen cupboards.

By late morning we were at the homestead and I sat by the hallway trying my best to direct people with boxes and furniture. The yellow room at the front took the worst beating and is so full we couldn't get the hutch dresser into it and this is still sitting in the middle of the dining room. Marie and Gleny had provided quiches, fruit and lemon muffins for a beautiful lunch and we all ate these sitting on the verandah. I had to have several lie downs on the sofa which had been moved into the small sitting room at the front as people kept telling me I looked terrible (what's new?) and admittedly I was beginning to feel worn out.

After lunch the first people began to leave so Rich, John, Gareth and I went back to the cottage to do the big donkey/goat shift. It took three of us to push Briar out the gate into the back yard, then we had to encourage her down the drive and onto the road by tugging at her halter. Once we got on the gravel she began to move more easily and even managed to keep her cool when a car came towards up. I imperiously held up my hand to stop them which only made the driver grin and wave back. Gareth suggested we take a short cut into the stock route into the field behind my place. Soon as he opened the gate into this Briar lept forward and it was all I could do to keep up with her.

Meanwhile Tobermory led like a little lamb for Richard who then sat on a trailer with him while John drove at 2kms per hour along the road to the new place. Apparently this has caused great amusement amongst my new neighbours and there have been suggestions it would have made a great video movie. Both animals settled in well to their new home and were munching on thistle heads when I next saw them.

After the big excitement everyone left except Diane and Richard but then Stu arrived to help move the ramp from the old place. While they were taking this to bits I went and comforted the cats who were hiding in the wardrobe. It took till 7pm to get this installed at the new place and then Rich and I were in a rush to move the bunnies before it got dark. We had to make three trips back to the old place and would cage up a few bunnies, put them in the car while Rich struggled to remove the wire cages from the garage in just the glare of the headlights. Fortunately there is electricity in the new shed and by the time we returned Diane would have finished putting sawdust down on the polythene I'd laid beneath the cages.

The last trip we collected the cats as well and finally finished outside at 10.30pm. By this time Rich's emphysema was so bad he could barely breathe. He was so worried as we still hadn't connected the TV, the washing machine or lowered the washing line but we were all too tired to do anything more. They both knew they wouldn't be back here for a week and a half as they were going away before Easter and so Rich made one last call on his reserves to fix my computer which wouldn't turn on. Turned out the ram was loose but I reminded him it is tupping time so no wonder. Fortunately a quick jiggle fixed the problem!

I got to bed after midnight and slept till 6am. My first thoughts on going out in the kitchen were "what a mess" and "where is the plastic shovel for the litter boxes?" Gine popped in just after 8am before heading next door to clean the old place and then Gay came for the day and cleaned out the last of the mouse dung from the kitchen cupboards here and helped me put some more kitchenware away. She also dampened a broom and got rid of all the cobwebs.

Tuesday morning I slept but after lunch went along the road returning some more of my previous landlady's belongings that had found their way here. I spent nearly two hours cleaning out the garage and found some more of my stuff that had never been brought over which I piled in front of the shed. My own hen house is still there as well so hopefully I'll find a way to get this over here eventually. It was a hot day but I drank out of the garden hose before reading the electricity metre and wending my way back via the stock route.

When I got home Gerald my new landlord arrived to try and hook up the TV for me (he couldn't as the aerial connection had been cut off the cord into the house) before sending one of his workers and my new neighbour Hamish in to try (he couldn't fix it either). I managed to eat a little dinner thanks to Rachel who dropped off salad, tomatoes and a chocolate wombat for Easter.

Wednesday was art at Otane thank goodness. I rested when I got home as I knew I had a big day coming on Thursday. An occupational therapist was due to come out in the morning. Fortunately she was running late as I had to go out in the paddock and rescue Toby who had got himself cast and needed help turning the right way up. Managed to vacume the sitting room and part of the kitchen before the OT arrived. She was here two hours finding ways to help me out.

After lunch I let the chickens out at last then returned down the road with more of Cathy's belongings and collected some of my plants and cuttings which I planted in the garden here. Whether they'll survive is anyone's guess as I only had energy to water a few of them. This morning I can barely lift my arm from carrying the three heavy plastic bags back along the road but a sleep this morning as done the world of good so now I am waiting for Rachel's husband to come and try and fix the TV for me. Lets hope third man lucky!