Progress Report

So I tried the mint. I’m not too optimistic since the flies buzzed around me as I brought the cuttings into the house. I left doors and windows open for them to escape the pungent mint smell but they were noticeably loathe to venture outdoors. They are definitely house flies; not farm flies. Perhaps we inadvertently brought them with us from Auckland.

Anyway, things progress. My tomatoes are close to becoming table food, the squash are doing well, and nothing else is growing. Even the garlic is dying off and I thought nothing got to garlic. Perhaps we have vampire insects.

We have one of the most beautiful Pohutukawa trees I have ever seen. These trees from the Myrtle family have multiple trunks and the splashiest red brushy flowers you’ve ever seen. This tree was planted several owners ago and sits in the perfect position outside our dining room window.

Lately I have noticed small branches, and fair sized twigs scattered all over the ground. Tui birds attack this gorgeous tree and savage it. I have seen the tree tremble all over as these black and white birds hop around twisting branches in their beaks. They are beautiful birds but very destructive. They are also not fans of man. They dive bomb us. I wave my hands and scream at them (not very effective) but I worry about my tiny grandchildren. Yet another reason this over-protective Grandma goes outside when the wee ones do.

I looked up the Pohutukawa tree and found out that it is slowly disappearing from New Zealand. Part of it is that there is more farm land than before but a major problem is my old friend the possum. Yet again these varmints come up on the top of my Most Wanted list.

The steers have finally decided to graze on this side of the paddock. I must have ruined their bucolic sanctuary for them when I hiked the paddock yesterday to see if they were all right. Now this paddock isn’t Mt. Everest, or even the dreaded Paddock #1 but its steep enough to be going on with. I appeared on the crest and 14 brown eyes raised themselves from the grass to watch as I lurched down among them. I don’t want to say that they’re nonchalant about me, but not a one of them moved. I could have touched them as I wove my way to the far gate. A far cry from those cows from Hell we had before.

I approached the sheep paddock from the far side and saw some of the flock gathered in the gully with the willow trees. They love it there. They never seem to come out. I don’t know if there is enough grass down there for them or if they have some sort of sentry who warns them when I come down the driveway and they all beat feet for the gully. Whichever it is, I will take it on faith that they’re all right. I’ll let our sheep whisperer, Yael, count them when she moves them on Sunday.

Our freezer was delivered today. It’s huge! I made some joke about storing a body in there and the delivery man told me that they referred to it as the ‘coffin’. Eventually it will be the coffin for some sheep and probably a  steer as well. I haven’t sorted out my feelings on that yet. I’ll let you know.