Thursday 21st July

At times I really feel like it isn’t worth it. Still haven’t got the Pajero back. The heads came back from Motueka on Tuesday, they had it all assembled and running yesterday morning, until the mechanic took it for a run. And the back brake calliper broke.

So it is still sitting in Takaka waiting for more parts. They are hoping to have it fixed by tomorrow now. In the meantime, I haven’t been able to get into work at Long Plain Road, I’ve had 3 more people ring and ask me to do their gardens and lawns, I’m 2 weeks behind with the ones I’m meant to be doing as well.

I looked at hiring a ute or similar, but the cost worked out to be more than I earn at the kiwifruit, not so much on the daily charge, although that was $68 a day, add in the insurance, and my insurance cover only covers rentals hired through their affiliates, not the cheapest ones, and it all got to the stage where I’d be owing money despite going to work.

Still a couple of good things for the week.

If you go back to December, I was trying to get into the Naked Possum and work on their native plant Nursery, but Grant ended up being diagnosed with terminal cancer, on top of the stroke he had a year ago, so that was all up in the air.
Grant died a month back, and Jocelyn wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, but after some time settling back down, she’s going to carry on with the Naked Possum, and lease out the various parts of it, while she retains the managing role.

http://www.nakedpossum.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Naked-Possum/124965522507?ref=nf

I’m leasing the nursery side, it is going to be more producing the plants here at home, and taking them up there, and selling through the retail outlet. Although there is a fair bit of work to be done there as well, the gardens have got a bit overgrown, and the capillary beds are in a sorry state at the moment.

Still, a bit of gardening, some clean up and a few more plantings, it will come back.

They sell mostly Rata, Meterosiderous umbellata, as part of Project Crimsom, to replace the trees that have been killed by possums in the National Park at Kahurangi, and for people to plant on farms and around houses.

That all starts from October, when Jocelyn is having a Spring Opening, I have to have stuff ready to go there by then. I’ll be buying in growing on tubes, and a lot of 1 – 2 yr old potted trees for a while, Jocelyn said they were buying the trees in at 18” high, for $7.50, and retailing at $18, I’ll be having discussions with the nursery about how many for how much as soon as it is all signed up.

The other bit of good news, or maybe not, I don’t know how I’m going to feed him, but anyway, this is Tuffy, he’s 8 weeks old at the moment, Sheepdog/Labrador cross,

I pick him up as soon as the Pajero is back on the road, hopefully this weekend. He was on trademe, free to a good home, and the people who have him live at Collingwood. Sue actually had her Uncle and Aunt live in my house, they had it built and she used to stay here. So it was a bit of local knowledge and from what she said, I got good references from the people she asked around here. Lord knows how big he’s going to get, but if the last Lab cross I had, Samoyed/Lab, was anything to go by,
he’ll be getting a lot of walking to stop him getting too fat.

Saturday 16th July

Well, the week started off badly enough with the storm damage, then proceeded to get worse.

Tuesday morning I got just into Takaka when the Pajero decided it was tired of the early mornings and blew both head gaskets about 100 metres from the garage. Which was better than miles out of town I suppose. It did look impressive though, blowing a huge cloud of steam out the exhaust. Limped it into the garage, and left it with them then got a lift out to work.

We only managed a few hours at work anyway, the rain, hail and lightning returned by 1pm so I got a lift back to Takaka and the garage.

To say that the Pajero was a bit sick is an understatement, both head gaskets were completely blown, luckily I hadn’t driven it too far and the pistons etc were still free and moving. The heads have gone over the hill for crack testing and planing if needed, and it should be back on the road next week.

The next part gets totally ridiculous. I’m looking at about $2,500 in costs, so I was thinking, well, that’s ok, I’m working, have a freehold house, no debts, I’ll hit the bank for a personal loan to cover that.

Ring Kiwibank Wednesday morning, get Rajev Patel, or his brother, answer the 300 questions and assorted details they want to prove who I am, then try to explain to Rajev that I’m working a contract for pruning at the moment till the milking season starts. He asks how long I’ve been working on the contract, tell him 4 weeks now, and he says that that isn’t long enough, I have to be working 12 months or more on contract, try to explain about seasonal work, and milking schedules etc, but realised I was talking to a foreignor who had no idea about New Zealand. And then I had to explain how long I’d been living here. Well, I’ve been in the Solomons for 2 years, Ireland for 3, so there went another strike against me, I have to be living here for 2 years minimum. So no personal loan.

Ok, next step, I’ll get a mortgage on the house. Try filling out the application form online with Kiwibank. To say it is an exercise fraught with frustration doesn’t come close. Whoever set up their website included a time out setting, you get to page 3 and start filling out the details, and it closes down, due to time. Ok, reopen, start again, got to page 2, bottom of it, timed out. Reopen, got to page 4, filling out other details, timed out

Reopened, Managed to get it all filled out, just hit submit when it timed out again, all of this involves filling out the same details on each page again, as well. So I’m down about 2 hours by this stage and slowly getting past my frustration allowance.

Decided to try contacting Kiwibank direct. Found an email address for their mortgage broker in Nelson, and sent off a email. I must commend Kiwibank for this bit. The person phoned me back within 15 minutes of the email going, so we went through the same procedure, with the same result.

I might have a freehold house, but as I haven’t been here for 2 years and not working here for 12 months or longer, I can’t get a mortgage.

I’m starting to feel just a little annoyed by this stage.

Ok, finance companies. Get the phone book out, start ringing around. It all goes well until near the end of the questions, do I own a house? Yes, do I have a mortgage? No, do I have any other debts? No, am I working ? yes, how long have I owned the house? 4 months, how long have I been working? 4 weeks at the present job, 2 months at the previous, how long have I been living in New Zealand continuously? 6 months this time,

Sorry, your application cannot proceed.

So it looks like the poor Irish Visa card is going to take a major hit. And in the meantime, I can’t get to work, so I’ve lost 5 days so far, with another 2 at least next week. But the weather is improving, and we have sunshine and blue skies finally, and snow on the hills.

I’ve got the big branches cut up, going to get the fir tree cut up today, and stored to dry out, then try to get the bloody plaster coat on the wall upstairs to stay on so I can get the room finished.

The cows are all arriving back from their holiday, about 500 of them so far in the paddocks around me, wandering along the hill top calling out and complaining. We should be back on milking in a few weeks, once calving gets underway.

Just had a Jehovahs Witness call in, trying to flog off a copy of Watchtower. Got talking as I tend to do, he’s from Otahuhu as well, lived just around the corner from where I grew up, we knew the same people, same school teachers. Small world.

Monday 11th June

Acacia branch, it landed just short of the trailer and garage.


It’s been an interesting week. I’ve experienced thunder and lightning, hail storms and heavy rain before, but nothing like the past week. Gale force wins, (80km +)and snow as well, although I can’t vouch for the snow on the hills at this end of the valley, the cloud ceiling has been about 300 – 500 metres all week.

The kiwifruit pruning is progressing, we’re using a different pruning method (again) the last few days, so we are all getting used to that and being slower on the rows again. There’s only been a couple of short days due to the weather, we finished early Wednesday and Thursday, about 3pm, Wednesday due to heavy rain, Thursday because I wasn’t keen to be holding steel handled and tipped pruning shears above my head while lightning was flashing through the orchard.

There is snow on the hills to the back of Takaka, if it stops raining for a bit tomorrow I’ll get some pictures of it, but as far as the Aorere, I can’t tell, although by the feel of the wind coming off the hills, there must be a fair bit of snow hiding up in the clouds.

Top off the fir.

Chimney minus the cap and sort of tied in place for the time being.

I’ve lost the cap off my chimney, a large branch off the Acacia, and the top off my fir tree so far. The stay wires on the chimney went on Saturday night, so I had the chimney banging and rattling inside the vent till today. I haven’t been game enough to get on the roof till the wind and hail stopped today. I’ve got it stayed in place again, ok, a bit of a lean, but it’s hard to work on a roof with the wind and rain pushing you sideways. I have no idea where the cap is, I’ve been through the paddocks around the house, and along the road.

I know it is Monday and I should have been at work, but as the thunder and lightning, and the hail were still going at 6am, and haven’t really stopped all day, I figured it wasn’t worth driving into Takaka then coming back wet and cold.

Monday 4th July

Happy 4th to the Americans, Libby, Al, Mary, Marye, Mary Anne, Chip, Dave, Judy Murph, and everyone else.

We’ve finally got some agreement on pay rate, for the time being. We’re on an hourly rate for the last couple of weeks, and possibly this week also, while we cut out another block to see just how long it takes to prune and tie down. Then we’ll discuss a per row rate for contract.

I managed to get up to pruning 1 ½ rows today, fairly easily, either I’m getting fitter, or it isn’t as hard as it first was. Admittedly, one row was full of dead gaps, and no canes to choose from, but we all had that.

It’s slightly cold in the mornings at Takaka, it isn’t too bad out here in the Aorere, the frosts haven’t been anywhere near as deep and white as at the orchard yet, but that is due to change later this week I think. Forecast is for snow and cold temps to arrive about Thursday, with rain and thunderstorms in the North Island.

I’ll just be happy to finally get paid, catch up on the bills, only the one really, telecom, but the next pay will be going on more firewood, and restocking the pantry.

A few of the farms are getting calves already, a few weeks early, I haven’t heard how our herd is doing, no doubt I will once milking starts. Another 4 weeks till the “official” start of the milking season, first week in August normally. Then I can drop the kiwifruit, and get used to early starts and afternoon milking just across the road, instead of driving 100 km a day back and forth to Takaka.

Wednesday 29th June

Sunday Morning 8.30am.

It’s been a busy fortnight, kiwi fruit pruning started last week, and I’ve basically been leaving at 6.30, getting home at 5.30 – 6 pm, eating, and sleeping. Unfortunately, I can’t see it lasting.

We finally got our contract rate on paper today, $115 per row, pruned and tied down, less $1.50 for every metre without canes. The rows are 120 metres long, it’s taken me till today to get up to speed and finish pruning a row in a day, I managed 1 ½ rows, still to tie down though, so there goes another day in tying the leaders to the wires. For $115.

I’m driving 96km each day, watching the petrol gauge instead of the speedometer, the gauge moves faster the speedometer. Luckily we have been on hourly rate till today, so whenever that comes through I may cover my travel costs.

Even the usual pruners, from the last few years aren’t happy, due to the mess some of the contract pruners from last year left. They pulled canes from one side of the trellis to the other, tied down late season growth, pruned out the good wood, or didn’t leave leaders for this year. So it makes for a slow process getting the orchard back into shape. As an indication of the poor pruning last year, the yield from picking this year was 40% down on last year, due to the lack of fruiting canes.

Heres a few pics I took this morning, showing what we are doing, from the unpruned rows, to what we prune back to.

I’m still working on the 2 private gardens, Sundays at the moment, but after I finish at the orchard tomorrow, I’ll do more fulltime there until milking starts in August.

Other than the above, there hasn’t been a lot happening, well, not that I’ve had time to notice, apart from the white herons over wintering at the estuary near Onekaka and along the coast here.

Saturday 11th June

It’s been a week of patchy weather, Wednesday was the only really clear day, so I spent more time pruning roses, and digging over at Hickmott Road, I’m nearly on top of it all there, still some minor pruning to do, but the bulk is just about done finally.

I’ve got another job, closer to Collingwood, similar. A huge amount of roses to prune, a lot of other shrubs to clean up. Plus dig over the beds, they were covered by the flood in January, so there is now a hard pan of silt over everything. Absolute pain to get rid of.

We’re still waiting for some frosts here, Patrick rang last night, it will be close to the end of the month before we can start pruning the kiwifruit, we need 3 really good frosts a few days apart to drop the leaves, hopefully the cold snap that is meant to arrive next week will help things along.

It’s been a year now since Mum died, I ordered two standard rose bushes back in April, to plant out here. Both Blackberry Nip standards, about 3’ high. Mum had one at home, it flowered the whole month before she died, and she loved having the blooms in her room. One of the few good roses with a really good aroma. It almost smells like blackberry, about as much as like tea made by the Sirius Corporation that is almost exactly not like tea.

I’ve got another workshop to run at SeniorNet at the next meeting, just a continuation of the first one from the other month, but with more details about internet scams, and the ones I think the SeniorNet members need to be aware of mostly.

Took the camera out last Monday in the gloom and intermittent sunshine, well, low level light anyway, calling it sunshine is slightly exaggerating things. Here are a few pics from near Collingwood, looking over the Aorere River.

Friday 3rd June

Good lord, a week and a half, time may go slowly but it still vanishes quickly here.

We spent last weekend drying off the herd, all 1250 of them, about 300 per day from Friday onwards, and finished the last of them Monday morning. It took us 5 hours each time, starting at 5am, finishing at 10am. Get the milking cows through, then the drafted ones for drying off, milk them out, give them a shot of Drychlor in each quarter, and finish washing the shed and yard down.

I ended up running a cold/flu/fever by Wednesday, with the last lot on Monday, it was put 80 cows into the bails, then stop, go round them all with the drychlor, then draft them out, then the next 80, etc, It was the stop/go/stop/go and being cold to start with, by Wednesday I was not fit for anything.

I’m still slowly working my way through the garden clean up job. All the roses are pruned back, the gardens have been dug over, etc, now it is the bigger trees and shrubs to look at. One of the Camellias has a bad infestation of scale, so as soon as I know we have 2 – 3 days of dry weather I’ll spray for them. It’s only one tree affected, despite it being in the middle of the rest the scale haven’t spread, so I think it is just the variety that is susceptible to scale. It needs doing soon, all the leaves are literally covered in scale, and starting to yellow and look wilted.

I’ve mentioned about my fireplace, trying to get parts for it etc. Went to Nelson today, which I really hate, 3 hours drive, and by the time I get there and in amongst the traffic, I feel like turning around and coming home. The fireplace shop had some of the parts, but not the back panel, which is now obsolete, so there goes any hope of repairing the one I have. I was thinking it is going to be a long cold winter, but then the guy said he had a second hand one, only a few years old that didn’t meet the new regulations for Nelson, but was ok for out here. I could have it for $100, was I interested? Hell yes was the answer, so for less than the parts for the old one, I ended up with a fairly new, slightly smaller, fireplace.

Old one

New one, well second hand new

It’s a heavy little beast, I backed the Pajero up to the back porch, slid it out of the Pajero, manhandled it into the lounge, then dismantled the old one, dropped the flue, had to get up onto the roof and release the holding wires, then shove the new one into place, lift the flue, settle it in, back onto the roof, retie everything down.

Then got a fire going again!! So far I haven’t smoked myself out, or noticed any fires in the roof, which is always a good start.

It’s slowly getting colder, but no real frosts yet, which is holding back the kiwifruit pruning. We can’t start until the leaves drop, which needs 2 or 3 really good frosts to cause the die back. The La Nina this year has caused a run of warmer weather for the last month, despite the rain and westerly winds, it has been warmer than usual, with most of the winds coming down from the tropics, rather than up from Antarctica. But that is changing. Still no snow on the top of the ranges as yet.

Here is our local Community Hall, out in the paddocks, it is used quite a lot for various functions, birthdays/weddings/general meetings.

Milking starts back about August, it looks like I’ll be doing morning and evening milking, so that suits me. More hours, more pay. And the middle of the day for my stuff.