Meet The Neighbours

I met my first neighbour on Thursday. At 9am the school bus pulled up at my gate and the driver came in. Her name is Linda and she lives further down the road in another cottage with her husband. We ended up chatting for three hours and she then invited me to lunch at her place. I haven't been in a bus since I was 14 so it was quite an experience getting in. It was interesting to see what the remainder of the road was like as it heads in further towards the mountains. Linda's cottage is next door to the farm where the Smedley manager lives so there is lots of activity going on there. There were a group of horses standing beneath a tree when we arrived- one lovely part grey one with large fluffy feet she told me is used as a pack horse.

We had a nice lunch in the sun in her sitting room with Linda's chocolate lab trying to sneak inside. She also has three tanks of tropical fish and two huge fluffy cats but only one was brave enough to come and say hello (unlike mine who all took off when she arrived at my place). At 2pm we headed back to my place in the bus before she headed off to pick up the kids from Tikokino.

Later that day my cousin Elaine called to tell me that she had ordered firewood for me and asked them to put in extra kindling and sawdust. This arrived the next morning at 8.45am. The truck driver tipped it off in the driveway before unloading two bags of sawdust for me. They gave me a bit extra wood (a cord and a quarter) so there was quite a pile there. I rang Elaine to tell her it had arrived while beginning to stack it in the car port at the back door. I spent two hours stacking that morning and another hour in the afternoon as I knew it was going to rain the next day.

Next morning I was shaped like a question mark. After spending two hours with a hot water bottle on my back I began stacking wood in the front car port when there was a break in the rain. I stopped for lunch and was just finishing this when I heard a car pull up in the drive. By the time I got to the back door Linda and her husband Hans were in the carport- they couldn't believe I'd actually stacked all that wood (I'd put away over half the pile) and they'd actually come to help me put it away. Within an hour the remainder was stacked and even the concrete swept clean. I'm not used to helpful neighbours so it was a shock to the system. I was so grateful as it would have taken me two more days to do it myself.

That night I lit my first fire in the Lady Kitchener Stove. Within half an hour the whole room was warm. The cats had never seen a fire before. Demelza took up residence in front of it, Piper stared in horror and the others ignored it completely. At least I won't freeze this winter- the first time in nine years.

They're here at last!

I really overdid it yesterday. Vacuumed the whole cottage, washed floors, did an hour's gardening, picked up walnuts off the lawn and finally manufactured a wire aerial for my stereo so I can pick up FM stations.

The big news though is that Briar and Tobermory are here at last. I had a call from Darren the farrier on Friday night to say that he would be collecting them Saturday morning and delivering them in his horse float. He arrived out here at 11.30am as it took him an hour and a half detour which didn't involve so many windy hills. When he opened up the trailer Toby was frothing at the mouth and really unwell. Darren said he'd been lethargic when he picked him up and not to be surprised if he dropped dead as he's sort of at the end of his life. Briar surprised me as she leaped off the float ramp, ignored me completely as she could see all this wonderful green grass. Darren said at the other place it is down to dirt and the ex landlord's horses are completely emaciated.

I made Darren a coffee and we sat out in the sun chatting for an hour before he left again. By this time Briar had eaten her fill and rushed over to say hello as if she'd never seen me earlier and then spent five minutes chasing Toby round the paddock. When I checked on them later he was sitting down in the grass and she was grazing happily. I rang my brother and told him they were finally here. At 5.30pm I heard noises out the back and found Rich there with Diane. They had been out to the farm and collected Toby's house as Richard didn't want him to be without it for one night. The man loves that goat! They couldn't get over how Toby kept wanting to stand next to me but I had suspicions he was getting ready to try and push me over which he likes to do. When I went to put the chickens to bed in the afternoon I called Briar over and she followed me to the hen house- I knew if she was with me Toby wouldn't try anything as he's scared of her.

Diane told me there have been changes at my old place. They have cut down the two beautiful tortured willow trees on my front lawn and have got satellite TV for the cottage. They are also putting new carpet and lino through the whole building and doing all the repairs they hadn't done for eight years.

Today my friend Gretchen asked me what I liked best about this place. Well it's really peaceful, there are no farm dogs running through my place all the time so I can let Mishka out whenever and not be afraid I'll get bitten, I can drink the water, the water is clean and I can use the cold tap over the bath rather than running the hot and letting it cool for half and hour before I could get in, the TV reception is clear, the toilet doesn't block up all the time and it's very private with no one going past and looking in. Oh and I have a really lovely caring landlady.

Diary of the Big Move

A few days ago I did a great job writing a week's diary of the shift on blogger only to have it shut down and lose the lot! Anyway here's how the move went........

Friday March 30th
My friend Stu who had built the run onto the front of the hen house drove over from Palmerston North with one of his employees to dismantle it and move it to Matheson Road. Arrived mid day so we all had lunch before Richard and I caught all 18 fowls and put them in carry cages. Rich pulled the back seat out of the car so we could fit them all in and headed off early so we could hang some rabbit cages in the garage for the next day.

Interesting trip as one of the roosters objected to every large truck that drove past as well as Richard making right hand turns. A smelly hour later we arrived at the cottage. I went inside and wiped out the kitchen cupboards before unloading two boxes of canned goods and crockery (needed to take the boxes back). We then went and decided where to hang a few of the cages and I spent two hours washing a couple out that I hadn't managed to finish that week. Ended up soaked in Trigene disinfectant.

About 4pm Stu turned up with the run but without the hen house which he felt was too flimsy to transport. That was the one moment I felt my blood pressure go up and shoot out of my head. With a light rain beginning to fall and it getting dark he constructed a temporary run for the hens in the car port with two walls of the run and we got them in and fed before heading off at 6pm. Got home in the dark and had to feed everyone by torch. Had a late night stressing and only got four hours sleep.

Saturday March 31st
Woke up at 3.30am but made myself stay in bed till 4.30am to get some rest. Soon as it was light was outside disinfecting the carry cages, litter trays and cat bowls. Cats were aware something was up because I wouldn't allow them outside. At 8.30am I got a text from my friend Tanya who had arranged her friend Billy to drive the rented furniture truck to say they were coming up the road. Billy (who works for a local removal company) managed to back the truck over the cattle stop but couldn't get it right into the driveway due to a tree being in the way. By that time my friends Marg and John had arrived with their ute and a trailer plus my brother Richard, his wife Diane and friend Lorraine. Unfortunately Rich's friend Tony and son who were going to help get my heavy old piano moved were on call out (to State Highway 50 where we were heading ironically) so I had to ask my landlady for help. I couldn't watch it as they took the old girl out- it took four people to get her out.

For the following three hours it was pretty full on with my sister in law packing up my computer and printer etc. while Marg and Lorraine packed up what kitchen items I hadn't managed to finish due to lack of boxes. While this was going on I rang Contact with my last electricity reading and arranged to take over my new landlady's phone number with Telecom. In the midst of this I went into the spare room to check on the cats who were in carry cages only to find one was missing. Panic ensued but Tanya's daughter Alysha found Gypsy hiding behind some boxes in the corner of the room. Shutting the door we swapped them so the two larger cats were in the cage with an inch wide gap that she'd squeezed through and the younger ones were in a more secure one.

In the main room Diane made a pile of boxes containing fragile and breakable items to take in the car while everything else was loaded onto the truck. After three hours it was full and we realised that we'd get the household moved in one trip instead of two as previously estimated.
At 1pm a friend came to do the final clean through of the cottage. Remembering how filthy the place was when I moved in (it took three months to clean) I thought it was in a better state to hand over but apparently I was wrong. We knew we'd have to come back as I'd left a pile of rubbish in the back yard plus we still had the hen house to dismantle and the donkey and goat to move.

At 2pm in stultifying heat the truck left followed by two cars. Tanya and I loaded the cats and five bunnies into the back of the Nissan and headed off followed by Richard and his friend Tony who had turned up with his ute to carry some cages.

It was the trip from hell with all the animals suffering from the high temperatures. We had to stop a couple of times when cages moved so I could reorganise them although in the end I rode with my arm twisted over to hold them in place. By 3pm we had got up into the hills and felt the temperatures lower. On arrival Alysha and I got the bunnies into their new homes (Sherbet managing to scratch my arm badly with a great back kick) and the cats were carried panting in their carry cages into my bedroom.

The next hour and a half the truck was unloaded- Marg and I made my bed which was a major undertaking as there were alot of black rubbish bags in amongst the boxes and furniture and every time I opened one thinking it was bedding it was a fleece!

At 4.30pm Tanya and I headed back to Craggy Range Road to pick up the remaining rabbits. When we got there it was 6pm and getting dark and the cottage had four of the farm dogs roaming round it. They were barking so viciously when we arrived Tanya was too scared to get out of the car and no one called them off. Finally losing interest in us they wandered off with me giving them some vocal encouragement.

Then I realised we were one cage short so Tanya went next door to ask the landlord if we could borrow one from him. She also took my last rent cheque over. He was reluctant to loan us anything except a box but Tanya is a good persuader and managed to get a opposum cage out of him. As he walked away from the garage I looked over preparing to give him a wave but he just looked away.

Tanya and I loaded the last buns into the car and began the long trip back to Matheson. It was a much cooler trip this time although we had the stress of tailgaters riding up the car's backside for the last half hour of the trip. We finally got home at 7.45pm and she left the car lights on so I could see to unload the buns and feed them.

On going inside I found that nearly everyone had left except for Di, Rich and Lorraine. While Tanya and I were away Diane and Rich had set up my computer and printer, TV, DVD and video player plus Rich had put my heat lamp up in the bathroom. After a bit of a chat everyone left and I was finally able to let my cats out of their cages after TWELVE hours. Felt terrible about it but Lorraine had bought her dog and I couldn't release them early like I'd hoped. The four cats looked around the cottage, had a drink and discovered where the litter trays were. I washed out the bath and had a relaxing soak before falling asleep for a couple of hours at 11pm. I awoke at 1pm as Demelza cat was wandering around upset. I unpacked all the bathroom boxes before making a cup of tea and putting Demelza under the blankets where she curled up and went to sleep.

Sunday April 1st
I got up at 5am and opened up the sitting room blinds so I could watch the sun rise over the fields. Mishka went outside but not for long as he was incredibly stiff and sore from following everyone the day before. The cats looked out the windows but I knew I would have to keep them in for a week to get them used to the place.

At 10am Stu arrived to finish the platform he'd built out from the back door for my ramp. We had a cuppa together before he left again at 2pm although he's coming back to finish the hen run. I lay down on the sofa and had a sleep before feeding everyone late afternoon.

Monday April 2nd
Even my bones were feeling exhausted but I managed to unpack more boxes and have another sleep. Late afternoon I was soaking in the bath when I heard noises out the back. I got dressed and went out to find Rich, Di and Lorraine in the field with the hen house which Richard had dismantled. There was more news as they'd been at Craggy Range Road for six hours as my landlady had rung Diane and told her the cottage was disgusting and she would not allow her father to move in there till it was clean. She complained about leaves on the steps where the ramps had been moved, crumbs in one of the cupboards which I was cleaning out as the truck arrived and never got back to. She said the place smelt. Richard had also had to move all my rubbish which was fair enough as he had intended to do that anyway. The landlady could have rung me and discussed this all with me instead of hassling my sister in law about it but I guess I couldn't expect more than this sort of behaviour after eight years of vicious dogs, dirty water, leaking roofs, freezing cold conditions, no repairs etc.

Wednesday April 4th
Rich and Di came out and while I was in town Diane cleared a hidden concrete path near the garage as well as cutting back the hedge and filling in holes. Couldn't get over the transformation when I got back. After lunch Rich put up the hen house with our help (well we held things........) and we then spent quite a while trying to catch the chicken. We did this by putting a wire cage down one end of their temporary run with some food in it which worked well for the first nine chickens but after that they'd worked out they were on the move again so were reluctant to go in. In the end Rich squeezed in the run and shooed them into the cage although we had a couple make a run for it in the car port before they were caught. All 18 were snugly in their old home in the paddock by 5pm.

Friday April 6th Good Friday
I forgot all about Easter. However I did have some special visitors when my twin cousins Elaine and Margh brought their mother over to visit. Auntie Kathleen is 93 and still living in her own home. Margh kept saying that the cottage was like my old place but so much better.

Saturday April 7th
My new landlady Cathy had generously left her lounge suite, computer table and aquarium for me to use. However that afternoon I noticed the tank was leaking so left a frantic message on her answering service. I'd only been here a week and already I was about to kill her fish!
Let the cats out for the first time in a week. Piper came out and took one look before going back into the kitchen whereas Peaches was excitedly looking round the back and getting bombed by swallows in the process. Demelza didn't even come out.

Sunday April 8th
My friend Denise, her mother, son and brother Darren from Australia came for morning tea. While they were here Cathy rang and said she had no idea what was going on with the tank but to ask Richard if he had any ideas. I was also able to ask her about feeding/cleaning schedules for the fish. After her call I rang Richard the resident family fish expert and he told me I probably had the glass top too far over which meant the condensation from the water was running down the tank sides. Needless to say he was right.

Monday April 9th
I spent an hour taking a third of the aquarium's water out and replacing it with fresh. Looks great in there now. Also did an hours gardening round by the clothes line. The garden here is filled with all my favourite cottage flowers: roses, lavender, heartease, herbs, rosemary, foxgloves, camellias and fushias. There is even a walnut tree in the front yard.

Mish and Peaches followed me round the whole perimeter of the property before we sat on a huge tree trunk and looked out over the mountains. Gypsy and Piper joined up for fifteen minutes before the flies got to us. Let the chickens out and within five minutes they discovered every hole in the fence and came through to create havoc. Spent half an hour chasing one mad rooster round the backyard before managing to shoo him through the back gate back into the field.

Tuesday April 10th
Rang Darren the farrier and asked if I could hire him to collect Briar from Craggy Range Road. He said yes and promised to ring later with a time for sometime this week. Just have to find a ride for the goat now.

Spent a frantic day unpacking. Managed to get alot of books back on their shelves and then pulled everything out of the spare room which had been crammed to the door with boxes for a week. Got the bed Tanya gave me assembled and then dragged everything back in. Then went under the front car port and unloaded my big whicker basket which had been too heavy to move on shifting day. Four trips back with stuff meant it was light enough to bring inside where it will live in the spare room with my jewellery stand on top. Now just have to organise an ongoing supply of sawdust for under the rabbit cages, firewood and hopefully get the large animals back here.