I went through the year's photographs and selected just the most interesting ones for this series of posts. When I'd finished there were 49! So they had to be even more ruthlessly culled.
Work was slow in January, so the year got off to a fairly relaxed start. Our first commercial crop of organic garlic ripened. We had sourced seed from a range of suppliers and found that the local varieties performed significantly better than those purchased from further away. We sold some to the local supermarket, but kept most of the big bulbs for the next season.
At the end of January I had my hernia operated on. This has been described in a separate post.
In February we had to move out for a few days so that the concrete floor could have its final coat of sealant. Not only did most of the furniture have to be moved out, but we had to wait for two days for the chemicals to dry and the nasty fumes to disperse.
At the end of the month my brother, Nigel, visited from England. The main objective of his visit was to be part of our father's 91st birthday celebrations on 3 March.
Dad had been getting harder to look after. We were able to access some help in the home, particularly with showering him, but it became clear that he needed professional care. After the birthday celebrations Nigel and I explained this to Dad and recommended Woodlands Rest Home to him. Fortunately he took the news philosophically.
Living in the countryside and often leaving the doors open means that from time to time birds fly into the house. Some of them then panic and cannot find their way back out without the clumsy guidance of waving arms and oaths. Every now and then we have to actually catch one and carry it outside. On 14 April a fantail got disoriented and after an exhausting chase I scooped it up and took it outside. The poor creature was so traumatised that it just sat on my hand. Eve had time to fetch the camera and take pictures before it flew away.
Where we live snow mostly confines itself to the mountains so that it is tidily available for skiing, but does not disrupt daily life. But while I was working in Christchurch in May it not only snowed in the city, but settled and prettily coated the cars.
In July we had more bird incidents. This time it was kea. NZ's alpine parrot is famously inquisitive. In fact, they can be right little feathered hooligans. They took to visiting us in the early morning. Their investigations reveled that a beak can pull lumps off polystyrene seed boxes. There seems to have been some rivalry as to who could remove the largest chunk and scatter the debris over the grass.
They are protected and, in the proper place, lively and charming birds. They are, by bird standards, very intelligent, but their ideas of fun include removing the rubber from around car windscreens. Eve called DoC for advice. Apparently it is the adolescent birds (damn teenagers!) that are destructive. Remove shiny items, which attract them, and a water pistol is a good deterrent. It doesn't harm the kea but they don't like it!.
Eve and I briefly got involved in the attempt to save the Joan Whiting Rest Home in Collingwood, Golden Bay. Government funding was withdrawn in favour of a new and very hospital-like facility in Takaka. I was even going to be a director of the landlord company if the bid was successful. However, there were numerous obstacles and in the end the property was purchased by someone who wants to turn it into a backpackers hostel.
Work was slow in January, so the year got off to a fairly relaxed start. Our first commercial crop of organic garlic ripened. We had sourced seed from a range of suppliers and found that the local varieties performed significantly better than those purchased from further away. We sold some to the local supermarket, but kept most of the big bulbs for the next season.
At the end of January I had my hernia operated on. This has been described in a separate post.
In February we had to move out for a few days so that the concrete floor could have its final coat of sealant. Not only did most of the furniture have to be moved out, but we had to wait for two days for the chemicals to dry and the nasty fumes to disperse.
At the end of the month my brother, Nigel, visited from England. The main objective of his visit was to be part of our father's 91st birthday celebrations on 3 March.
Dad had been getting harder to look after. We were able to access some help in the home, particularly with showering him, but it became clear that he needed professional care. After the birthday celebrations Nigel and I explained this to Dad and recommended Woodlands Rest Home to him. Fortunately he took the news philosophically.
Living in the countryside and often leaving the doors open means that from time to time birds fly into the house. Some of them then panic and cannot find their way back out without the clumsy guidance of waving arms and oaths. Every now and then we have to actually catch one and carry it outside. On 14 April a fantail got disoriented and after an exhausting chase I scooped it up and took it outside. The poor creature was so traumatised that it just sat on my hand. Eve had time to fetch the camera and take pictures before it flew away.
My "pet" fantail
Where we live snow mostly confines itself to the mountains so that it is tidily available for skiing, but does not disrupt daily life. But while I was working in Christchurch in May it not only snowed in the city, but settled and prettily coated the cars.
In July we had more bird incidents. This time it was kea. NZ's alpine parrot is famously inquisitive. In fact, they can be right little feathered hooligans. They took to visiting us in the early morning. Their investigations reveled that a beak can pull lumps off polystyrene seed boxes. There seems to have been some rivalry as to who could remove the largest chunk and scatter the debris over the grass.
They are protected and, in the proper place, lively and charming birds. They are, by bird standards, very intelligent, but their ideas of fun include removing the rubber from around car windscreens. Eve called DoC for advice. Apparently it is the adolescent birds (damn teenagers!) that are destructive. Remove shiny items, which attract them, and a water pistol is a good deterrent. It doesn't harm the kea but they don't like it!.
Discussing what to chew next
Eve and I briefly got involved in the attempt to save the Joan Whiting Rest Home in Collingwood, Golden Bay. Government funding was withdrawn in favour of a new and very hospital-like facility in Takaka. I was even going to be a director of the landlord company if the bid was successful. However, there were numerous obstacles and in the end the property was purchased by someone who wants to turn it into a backpackers hostel.
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