We’ve got most of the recalcitrant cows drafted out of the herd now, and sent to Hickmott Road farm. I doubt they’ll settle down there either, but at least we don’t have to deal with them.
I started mowing my lawns today, after getting David and Judys done last week. About halfway through and I hit a boulder that has started to pop up and promptly snapped the driveshaft off the mower. Bad news is that it isn’t covered under warranty, as it is fairly obvious I’ve hit something a lot harder than grass, sheared the keyway, and made a large ding in the cutter bar. It is either replace the motor, or get a demo model that they special off. Kevin at Hammer Hardware reckons he should be able to get me a good deal on a larger mower, for about 50% marked price from the demo models. I’ll find out later this week. Just what I needed, and I didn’t win Lotto either.
Took Tuffy for a walk down to the Aorere last week, well, we’ve been going there for a few days now, initially I went down to see how the James Road bridge replacement is going, photos in here, and then we went down the track to the river.
The swimming hole is a lot bigger now, the few high water flows have shifted a lot of rocks around, and there is now a really good sized pool out of the main river to swim in. It is still snow melt water, and it is cold!
I’m thinking I should have bought a house bus instead of trying to settle down in one place. The expenses keep coming, last Friday I wondered why I had no hot water at 3am, when I tried to have a shower to wake up, so had that in the back of my mind all morning milking. Got home, took the panels off the hot water cylinder, luckily it is outside and easy to access, and found that the worst case and a blown cylinder or thermostat wasn’t the problem. The outlet pipe, copper 20mm, had 2 pinholes that were spraying water like miniature firehoses. Turned the water off, took the pipe off, found Peter the Plumber home at Rockville, he did the original installation a few years back apparently, and made another length up to fit, back home, installed and back to hot water again. My next power bill is going to be horrendous I know, the heating element would have been on continuosly while it was leaking.
We’re feeding out hay to the cows as well now. The fresh spring growth from the grass is great for milk production, but it plays havoc with the cows digestive system, at the other end. We don’t get cowpats anymore, rather a very liquid high pressure jet of liquid fertiliser spray back about 2 metres from the rotary rails. You have to be alert if you don’t want to be covered in a long jet of hot smelly shit.
The native pigeons are all back in the neighbourhood after the spring blossoms on the trees, as well as the Tuis and Rifleman. I’ve got 2 pairs of Tuis nesting in the camellias, and some very fat looking pigeons feeding off the trees the last week or so.
There is still some snow scattered on the tops, but it is fading quickly, but we can still expect some more before the end of October although the Aorere Valley seems to miss on a lot of the really cold weather. We do get rain though, I think it is the highest average in the area when it arrives. But even that is temperamental on where it falls. I’m in the middle of the valley floor and the rain often tracks along the hills to either side, two or three hundred metres away from the house. I can be in brilliant sunshine and watch the rain band hitting the hills at the end of the road.
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