After The Rain

I think I have about unwound myself from being a question mark shape after all the firewood stacking I did a week ago. The wood has dried out and is burning well although it has been so warm the past few days I've barely needed a fire. After watching two small rivers running down my driveway for seven days a strong northerly wind arrived which dried them up as well as clearing the puddles from the front lawn.

Tuesday morning I went to town and saw the devastation caused by the flooding at Maraekakaho near Hastings city. When you saw how high the school was situated and yet children had to be carried out by the army you realised how massive the rains actually were. Several houses were still being cleaned out and workers were scurrying about the bridge and nearby paddocks which had been turned into huge mud baths. Worst hit was the small fire station. The rain had rampaged underneath the building and ripped holes in the concrete foundations. The shingle driveway had been scoured away and concrete ramp into the shed broken. Dirty brown grass hung on the fence wires giving an idea of how high the water crept. Now we're being told that more heavy rain is on its way this afternoon so goodness knows what tomorrow will bring Hawkes Bay.

In the middle of all this Piper had been going walkabout in the fields at the back of the cottage. She would ask to go outside mid morning then arrive back later in the day happy enough before vomiting up half digested rats. Over the past few days she had gone off her usual food. I have had trouble waking her in the mornings and stranger still she abandoned her post by the fire to take up residence on the sofa with me. Then on Friday she disappeared and has not come home. I am hoping that she's just hunting and that her bad heart and wonky kidneys have not taken her away from me for ever.

Demelza seems to know something is up as she's refusing to go outside except once in the early morning with the dog. She sleeps on the sofa if I am there or else sits on top of the computer unit while I'm working. Last night she came to watch while I had a bath and scared the heck out of me by walking around the edge "kneading" the metal. I had visions of her slipping into the water and clinging onto my vulnerable bits in her frantic efforts to get out.


When I first moved here I would sit on this stump out the back with the sun shining on me looking up to the ranges. Of course when I took this shot it was raining up there so you can only see the foothills. And what is at the bottom of the foothills? Why toes of course!

I Don't Have A Wooden Heart....Maybe A Few Splinters

The rain set in more steadily today without any breaks at all. This was quite depressing as I had an early phone call from the firewood merchant saying he was delivering the macrocarpa at 8.30am. Sure enough right on the dot he arrived in his truck and looked disbelievingly at me when I told him I was going to put the whole cord away by myself. To be honest I didn't think I could do it either. However he turned the truck around on the sodden lawn and dumped the wood near the top of the drive away from the worst of the small creeks that are streaming down the full length of the shingle driveway.


I began to barrow wood to the back carport and stack them next to the ramp as I had with the previous load of pine (pictured to the left on a sunny day in May). Then I began piling wood on the front doorsteps as these were one of the few surfaces that were dry. Seeing that the entire shingle floor of the front carport was wet I had no choice but to start stacking macrocarpa there but after three hours my stacking deteriorated and I was just rushing with barrows stacked with wood and throwing them in one great central pile in order to get them out of the rain. After this I collected as much bark and kindling as I could pile in the wheelbarrow and pushed this through a now very boggy pathway into the carport where it is still sitting.

I have been assured the wood is dry as the trees were cut down over a year ago so I hope the rain will dry off it very quickly as the weather tonight forecast a cold blast (with more rain) arriving on Sunday and I foresee many days spent next to the fire.

Tonight as I write this I am hunched over the keyboard shaped like a pretzel, the tips of my fingers raw as if I have been playing The Devil Went Down To Georgia on rusty banjo strings. However my hands smell delightfully woody and I still cannot believe I shifted all that wood in three hours in the rain. What an idiot!

Third Day of The Big Wet

The rain is beginning to subside this afternoon although a couple of rivulets are still running down my drive from the back paddock. Everything is soaked- even under the house is wet. Yesterday the last of my firewood in the front carport was rained on so I spent a frantic half hour barrowing it round to the back carport where at least it's a bit more sheltered. An unexpected financial bonus has meant I was able to order some more to be delivered by Saturday. One cord of macrocarpa for me to move and stack on my own. I'll be shaped like a pretzel by the time I finish.

7.15 am today found me up to my elbows in mud trying to haul the goat's shelter out of boggy ground onto a piece of concrete path that juts out into the paddock from the back yard. After seeing Toby covered in mud I figured at least on the concrete he'd keep fairly clean and it'll wear down his hooves. He watched with interest as I groaned and swore trying to move the heavy thing and I was half afraid that as I strained to pull it along he would headbutt me in a vulnerable area. However he was more curious and soon as his house was positioned he took up residence.

The chickens are knee deep in water in their house but although I let them out for a run round between showers they only did a desultory circuit picking up a few sad drowned worms before heading back inside. All except one silly hen who decided she was going to sleep out under the stars tonight. She's in for a shock!

I've heard of one poor farmer who has lost 100 lambs. After the drought this rain must seem like the final straw. Everyone has a story to tell of damage to their property. Now they're calling it a 50 year flood as no one can really remember anything as bad.


Finally got my film developed which had photos from my old place interspersed with ones of the new. I took this shot in late afternoon on a cloudy day. This is the front of my cottage. My room is on the left, the office where I'm typing this is in the middle and the sitting room to the right behind the latticed carport. The driveway runs up the left towards the garage. More to follow when I have a bit more time.

Hawkes Bay Floods

The TV news promised heavy rain in the Hawkes Bay Ranges last night and of course that's where I live. When I woke at 5am I heard faint rain on the roof but couldn't see what was going on until 7am. When I went to feed the chooks there were puddles in the paddock and water was beginning to gather at the back of the garage and flow through. No biggie.....till 9am when the rain gathered force and within an hour the drain at the front of the property had turned into a 30 foot wide lake to the right, flowing across the driveway over a bank into the drain in the left paddock where it joined the creek. Water washed across the paddock at the back, cascading under the small wire gate and down the concrete path into the backyard. From there it scoured out the shingle down the drive. Even the back lawn beneath the clothes line was under water.

Maxine rang after lunch to see how I was coping. Apparently the creek near her had risen one and a half metres in a short time and Civil Defence had called in twice. Someone had stacked a few cord of firewood on their property only to watch it swept away. Apparently the army is evacuating people further up State Highway 50 at Maraekakaho, Flaxmere in Hastings is cut off and Puketapu near Napier is in trouble. 150 mms more rain are expected up here within the next few hours.

Killer Donkey

A grey drizzle descended again this morning so I stayed inside to kill the dust elephants. Maxine arrived later and fortunately was present to help prevent a murder.


At lunchtime I heard Briar braying but it was a most unusual sound as if she were very upset. Next we saw her gallop past the sitting room window before turning and running back up the paddock again. Thinking she was just playing we listened as she started braying again and then saw her chasing Tobermory back down the side paddock. But then it turned nasty for as he ran she bent over and bit him in the withers and then pulled him onto his haunches (no mean feat as he is the size of a German Shepherd with the strength of an ox) before biting him again. Toby's mouth was open in distress and he managed to escape again before Briar bit him again and he fell to the ground. Then he lay there and Briar prepared to slam her hooves into his body. By this time Maxine had run outside and was shouting at her to stop and even began firing windfall lemons in her direction.

Briar lost interest in Toby and walked away and by the time I grabbed my swandri and got out to the paddock he was in his house and she had calmed down. With Maxine watching from behind the gate I gave Briar a carrot to occupy her while I checked on the goat. Toby baaed when he saw me and happily accepted his treat. His nose was dirty and his coat wet from donkey bites. Tomorrow it looks as if I'll have to subdivide the paddock and separate them.

I have no idea what inspired Briar's attack but I have a feeling Toby may have charged her. Usually she only plays in fun and never becomes so angry or agitated. Last week when she stole a carrot he was eating he wheeled around and began to sidle towards her chest with his head down. I was wondering if something similar had happened again and caused this usually placid animal to lose her temper.

Hopefully the stress of this attack won't cause Tobermory to go downhill. He's nearly 16 and this sort of thing is too much for an old goat to bear let alone me!

Unexpected Ending

This is my 100th post on Follyfarm but unfortunately it is an unhappy one. This as a result of shock from the accident early last week or else the extreme cold I don't know but it looked like he died in his sleep. I raised him from a baby two and a half years ago and he'd grown into such a character. He was enjoying playing with the new bell and mirror I bought him last Wednesday. This is the best photo I have of him.

Strangely enough it wasn't the bird I thought I'd lose this week. My friend Tanya and her daughter visited on Friday to bring out Aliesha's old mattress to replace my 50 year old one with the dip in the middle (a hollow so deep you'd get trapped and have to mountaineer your way out of it). Anyway it was bitter so we sat in the sitting room talking and saw Briar walk past the window. Aliesha asked if the goat was mine as well and when I looked out I saw Tobermory standing hunched up with his tail between his legs. His eyes were closed and he was swaying and nearly falling over. We rushed out to look and he was shaking. He had been trembling when I fed the hens early in the morning but then so was I as it was so cold. I fed him an apple but when I returned to let the hens out mid morning he hadn't eaten it.

I rang John (my free vet adviser) and he cautioned that as Tobes is nearly 16 it could be his time to go. However when I went out at 5pm to check on his he was eating grass again. Yesterday he was back to normal.

Obviously it wasn't his time to leave us but Tuppence's. It's never easy to say goodbye to a pet and it seems harder when you weren't expecting it. I had two and a half years of great fun with that little sparrow and it was two and a half years he wouldn't have had if the cat hadn't brought him inside so I was able to rescue him. I've kept birds since I was five and each one has been a character that you never forget.

The Rain It Raineth

After so many months of drought we seem to be blessed with too much of a good thing now. The rain began late Monday and here Friday it's still drizzling. A side effect of rainfall is grumpy cats who are stuck inside having to put up with each other. My days consist of cleaning out litter trays and breaking up fights. I worked out yesterday that it takes me half an hour to get organised when I get up as I work to keep everyone happy. First I wake at 3 am as apparently when you turn thirty your bladder turns 103. The Demelza wakes up and knowing how she'll yowl at me for hours I have to shut her out of the bedroom so I can cat nap till 5.30am. That's when Peaches wakes up. Her strategy is to jump off the bed, then on the bed, run across my chest to leap off the other side. She knows she only needs to do this three or four times before I give in and get up. Then the following routine happens.....

Pull back the bed covers. Haul on winter tights and socks so feet don't fall off with cold. Open bedroom door to find Demelza crouched down behind it in order to leap on unsuspecting kittens. Go across the hall and open bathroom where Piper now sleeps in her little sheepskin bed since she began wetting mine. Say hello to Piper. Check to see if she's wet her bed (which she usually has) and/or used the litter tray. Head to dark kitchen. Turn on light and nearly pass out. Unlock back door and allow Mishka dog and Peaches and Demelza go out (Peaches doesn't do anything but sit on the woodpile waiting for the dog to return). Open sitting room door so that Piper can hiss at Kit who sleeps in there. Gasp at how cold it is. Turn on light, radio and heater in that order.

Go down to the bathroom and collect wet Piper bed. Throw in washing machine. Carry litter tray to kitchen, return and wash bathroom floor with disinfectant. THEN I can visit the little room myself. Go into office and turn on computer. Check to see if dog is at the door. When he comes in try to prevent Kit from picking a fight with Demelza who is following him. Peaches makes a run for the kitchen chair.

Get dressed. Turn off heater. Carry nightie and thick jersey I sleep in back to bedroom and pull back curtains. Feed Kit her special dried food. Tip Piper's special food into her red dish and carry this and three other cat dishes with cat food into sitting room. Shut door so I can work in peace. Dish out food and then balancing four dishes and two cans of food on lap return to the kitchen where I feed Demelza high, and Piper, Peaches and Gypsy on the floor. Feed dog last as he's lowest in the cat pecking order. Check Kit has finished her breakfast and let her out. Shut dog in sitting room to stop him clearing up everyone else's food.

Wash hands. Get the computer started on dialing onto the Internet. Make a cup of tea. Check everyone has eaten and then let the dog out. Light the fire and allow this to heat the room for an hour while I go on the net. The evening rigmarole isn't as complicated but it's getting there. No wonder I'm tired!

And news about Angel. She turned up at my old place last week after a seven month abscence. Walked into the cottage where the old man was having his evening meal so he shared his steak with her. He then let her go. She has since been seen in the hay barn but runs away from them. I just wish they would bait the oppossum trap with meat and catch her so I could have her here.

Tuesday night Kit did a silly thing by cramming herself behind the birdcage on top of the fridge for a nap. All I could see were two hairy white feet hanging over the edge. An hour or two later there was an almighty crash. I arrived in the kitchen to find the cage on the lino with the floor lying elsewhere and a worried bird sitting there wondering why he'd woken up out of a pleasant dream about owning a millet factory. His drinker was smashed as was his favourite toy (a bell/mirror). Got him sorted out and vacuumed the seed off the floor at 10pm. Kit then spent the next half hour attached to my jersey desperately apologising. I've docked her pocket money until she pays for the new drinker and toy I had to buy the bird the next day.

Busy week. Thursday I spoke at the Tikokino CWI meeting and Friday morning my landlady's two sisters in law came for morning tea. Rachel has two boys and has moved into Linda's house a km further down the road and Gina is German and lives ten minutes away in the village.

We had a lovely time even though it was pouring with rain and cold. I had the fire going and made a hot drink and Rachel and brought home made banana cake. Gina had been telling her about my painting so she asked to see everything. Rachel left at 12.15 but Gina stayed for another hour so we could chat about art. She is picking me up in a week and a half to take me to the Otane Arts and Crafts painting group. She says there are also portrait classes on a Friday and you pay $5 to help pay for the model. That would be one way to improve my life drawing and I can count the hours towards my course work.

I also sold the two skeins of alpaca yarn on Trademe. Still have 400 grams left to spin. The last couple of days I have been opening wardrobes and looking under the spare bed appalled at my stash. I never realised I had accumulated so many fleeces. It truly is an illness.

It's been very chilly the past two days and Piper and Gypsy have refused to set paw outside so the litter trays are taking a hammering. Where does kitty litter go to when it dies? It's a question which perplexes me every time I have to clean the trays. With the cats being stuck inside tensions have increased. Kit has begun bullying Demelza and Gypsy yet leaves Peaches and Piper alone. It is easy for her to intimidate others as there is always the threat she'll place her huge hairy backside on them and crush them into submission. Obviously in her mind she's a tiny svelte exotic who can trip lightly along mantlepieces and gently alight on laps. I worked this out when I saw her try to cram herself in small places like bookshelves and under the sofa. She reminds me of a larger woman trying to cram herself into too small hipsters.