About 6 months after we moved in to Rotowhenua Road, a cat appeared and would linger around the house for a few days and then move on. We occasionally would give it some milk outside but never feed it properly. Our next door neighbours named it and fed it too. No one knows where it originated. It is smart enough to be able to climb in through open windows...
It arrived back with us in April this year and R & J started feeding it. It has now adopted up and expects to be fed on a daily basis. We now have a pet cat which on the coldest nights sleeps indoors beside the log fire. It knows its comforts...
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tuesday 23rd June
I have reviewed the last few comments on here... I think they are all on the negative side....
So need to put a few more positive stories up here.
Thanks to all of you out there who are being very supportive. I enjoy the humour!
I have started putting up links to some of my friends more oddball blogs... referenced at the right-hand side of this page.
So need to put a few more positive stories up here.
Thanks to all of you out there who are being very supportive. I enjoy the humour!
I have started putting up links to some of my friends more oddball blogs... referenced at the right-hand side of this page.
Tuesday 23rd June - A H1N1
The flu virus is spreading through the three main New Zealand cities with hundreds now infected. They predict at least a third of the population will be infected over the next two years.
It has not managed to get over the mountains to Hawke's Bay yet but it will in time.
We are being told to stock up with enough food to survive for a week if we are infected. Those with the flu have to stay at home until they recover!
The government health ministry has pulled away from shutting down workplaces and schools if there is new infections. I expect they did not want to be hit with huge expense claims from employers if they stopped companies trading. So in the event of a real pandemic, do not expect the government to think of health... they will think of the cost first!!!!
The flu virus has managed to find its way into a Wellington prison. It would have been funny to see a prison being shut down and everyone sent home. :-)
It has not managed to get over the mountains to Hawke's Bay yet but it will in time.
We are being told to stock up with enough food to survive for a week if we are infected. Those with the flu have to stay at home until they recover!
The government health ministry has pulled away from shutting down workplaces and schools if there is new infections. I expect they did not want to be hit with huge expense claims from employers if they stopped companies trading. So in the event of a real pandemic, do not expect the government to think of health... they will think of the cost first!!!!
The flu virus has managed to find its way into a Wellington prison. It would have been funny to see a prison being shut down and everyone sent home. :-)
Friday, June 19, 2009
Friday 19th June - perspectives
One of my friends who reads this blog was talking to me yesterday about how people are changing their projected image in the challenging workplace environment...
... people will do strange things to protect their jobs!
... and talking of strange things...
Last week in a job interview I was asked if I would be comfortable working with a team of people who would obviously be much younger than me! Strange question!!!! Work is work!!!!
I worked as a recruiter in Northern Ireland for many years and would NEVER have entertained asking that question! New Zealand has an age discrimination law and I never declare my age on any job application I make... I think I have just been discriminated against... they came back a few days later and said I was too experienced!!!
I must be getting very experienced! :-)
... people will do strange things to protect their jobs!
... and talking of strange things...
Last week in a job interview I was asked if I would be comfortable working with a team of people who would obviously be much younger than me! Strange question!!!! Work is work!!!!
I worked as a recruiter in Northern Ireland for many years and would NEVER have entertained asking that question! New Zealand has an age discrimination law and I never declare my age on any job application I make... I think I have just been discriminated against... they came back a few days later and said I was too experienced!!!
I must be getting very experienced! :-)
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Thursday 18th June - little northern irelanders
... 'if you're Irish come into the parlour... there's a welcome there for you....'
... if you are Romanian??????????
People living on the island that is Ireland have migrated to other places for thousands of years to try to make a better life for themselves... you can meet many of their descendands in different parts of the world today.
Why can Romanians not try to make a better life for themselves in Northern Ireland?????????
We certainly live in a global village... bad news travels very quickly!
Thursday 18th June - weather today
It's a lovely sunny Hawke's Bay winter day... started off about 3 degrees this morning at 8am. If there is not a southerly blowing, it usually gets up to 15 to 20 degrees by midday. Almost a summer day in Northern Ireland!!!!
The mountain ranges about 20 miles to the north and west are coated in snow. A beautiful winter scene!
Luckily we can look from a distance and not have to experience the snow or ice in Napier.
The grass continues to grow although slowly... this has been the coldest Hawke's Bay autumn / winter for a few years. Normally this is the growing season and farmers from elsewhere in the North Island winter their stock in Hawke's Bay but not this year!
Talking of growing, I am about to plant my onions and garlic for the new season. The first venture into the garden for a while! The rain in mid May to early June has left the ground very damp. Garlic is a new experiment... I will keep you updated on progress.
The mountain ranges about 20 miles to the north and west are coated in snow. A beautiful winter scene!
Luckily we can look from a distance and not have to experience the snow or ice in Napier.
The grass continues to grow although slowly... this has been the coldest Hawke's Bay autumn / winter for a few years. Normally this is the growing season and farmers from elsewhere in the North Island winter their stock in Hawke's Bay but not this year!
Talking of growing, I am about to plant my onions and garlic for the new season. The first venture into the garden for a while! The rain in mid May to early June has left the ground very damp. Garlic is a new experiment... I will keep you updated on progress.
Thursday 18th June - employment
I have been out of work for several weeks... a victim of changing circumstances...
I am currently chasing IT work anywhere in New Zealand but also taking the opportunity to sort out the section and do other long delayed work on the property.
I have my workshop totally wired and am starting to make some pieces which I intend to place in one or two craft shops to see if I can gain alternate income. It is a challenging time but I am hoping that there will be some interested buyers out there...
I am currently chasing IT work anywhere in New Zealand but also taking the opportunity to sort out the section and do other long delayed work on the property.
I have my workshop totally wired and am starting to make some pieces which I intend to place in one or two craft shops to see if I can gain alternate income. It is a challenging time but I am hoping that there will be some interested buyers out there...
Thursday 18th June - update on the shoulder
J and I were involved in a car accident in April 2008. I drove round a corner and met Swedish tourists who had forgotten which side of the road to drive on... a head-on collision. Fortunately the only damage apart from our car being written off was to my shoulder.... a broken bone which took a while to heal. It was starting to click and be painful with the onset of autumn 2009 here and I went back to the doctor in May.
He diagnosed early osteoarthritis (OA) developing in the joint and recommended me seeing a physio. So now I am seeing a physio for my shoulder and my hip which is also giving early OA problems. Discovered the hip problem when playing squash recently... it almost stopped me moving for about 4 days!
I need to keep active and build up the muscles in my joints to keep the pain away...
Another funny thing... my physio is Richard McConnell, a New Zealander with a Northern Irelander surname... His parents hail from Belfast... and his sister is living in Carrickfergus... Northern Irelanders everywhere!!!!
He diagnosed early osteoarthritis (OA) developing in the joint and recommended me seeing a physio. So now I am seeing a physio for my shoulder and my hip which is also giving early OA problems. Discovered the hip problem when playing squash recently... it almost stopped me moving for about 4 days!
I need to keep active and build up the muscles in my joints to keep the pain away...
Another funny thing... my physio is Richard McConnell, a New Zealander with a Northern Irelander surname... His parents hail from Belfast... and his sister is living in Carrickfergus... Northern Irelanders everywhere!!!!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Wednesday 17th June - update on the herd
In mid October 2008, J made his venture into farming. He bought 2 young Friesian steers which had just been weaned. They were about 12 weeks old and he planned to keep them for 6 to 8 months to graze in our paddock and hopefully J would make some money with the project.
By Christmas, we saw that despite the spring drought in October to December, the calves were not keeping ahead of the grass and J bought 2 weaned Hereford - Friesian cross steers to keep the first 2 company. He was a proud farmer managing a herd of 4 steers.
It rained over the Christmas break and the grass greened up a bit in January but by mid-February a summer drought meant that we had to buy some hay to keep the herd going through March. It rained a bit in March and April to keep the grass green.
By Easter, the 4 steers were growing fast and were clearing all the green grass as it grew in our paddock. We had a decision to make, sell the older 2 or find pasture elsewhere to keep the herd together. One of our neighbours has a paddock of about 2 acres that he had let grow all spring and summer without any cattle or sheep grazing. We approached him and he let us have his paddock for free. All he wanted was the grass to be kept down.
We moved the herd in to their new paddock in early May. The paddock has a steep hill at about 45 degrees and J fretted that the hill was too steep and the calves would fall. I tried to reassure him that cattle had 4 legs and would be more stable than humans...
About a week after we moved the herd, I went over to check the herd and found one of the older steers lying flat on his side. From a distance I thought he was dead but as I got closer, he lifted his head. He was warm and sweating but unable to get up.
I went back to the house, phoned a vet and told J. The vet arrived about an hour later and diagnosed that the steer had a broken neck and it was paralysed below the break. The steer would have to be put down. J could not watch... he petted the calf goodbye and walked away before the vet injected the calve.
We had to get an excavator to come in about 2 days later and bury the calf in our paddock.
It was a shock for us all but especially J that we lost one of the herd. He had watched over his animals every day and even though they were a business to him, they were still pets.
The vet had never seen a calf or a cow with a broken neck before in his career. Noone else I have spoken to has ever seen that either...
(David T. - have you ever seen the like????)
We can only conclude that a dog spooked the calves while they were near the top of the hill and unfortunately the calve fell and rolled down the hill, breaking his neck.
The steers are still grazing in the steep paddock and are thriving. We are keeping a watch for dogs.
( The vet, a New Zealander asked me where I was from... it turns out that he had spent some time in Ballymena and had been to a wedding in Bushmills Distillery! A small world!!!!)
By Christmas, we saw that despite the spring drought in October to December, the calves were not keeping ahead of the grass and J bought 2 weaned Hereford - Friesian cross steers to keep the first 2 company. He was a proud farmer managing a herd of 4 steers.
It rained over the Christmas break and the grass greened up a bit in January but by mid-February a summer drought meant that we had to buy some hay to keep the herd going through March. It rained a bit in March and April to keep the grass green.
By Easter, the 4 steers were growing fast and were clearing all the green grass as it grew in our paddock. We had a decision to make, sell the older 2 or find pasture elsewhere to keep the herd together. One of our neighbours has a paddock of about 2 acres that he had let grow all spring and summer without any cattle or sheep grazing. We approached him and he let us have his paddock for free. All he wanted was the grass to be kept down.
We moved the herd in to their new paddock in early May. The paddock has a steep hill at about 45 degrees and J fretted that the hill was too steep and the calves would fall. I tried to reassure him that cattle had 4 legs and would be more stable than humans...
About a week after we moved the herd, I went over to check the herd and found one of the older steers lying flat on his side. From a distance I thought he was dead but as I got closer, he lifted his head. He was warm and sweating but unable to get up.
I went back to the house, phoned a vet and told J. The vet arrived about an hour later and diagnosed that the steer had a broken neck and it was paralysed below the break. The steer would have to be put down. J could not watch... he petted the calf goodbye and walked away before the vet injected the calve.
We had to get an excavator to come in about 2 days later and bury the calf in our paddock.
It was a shock for us all but especially J that we lost one of the herd. He had watched over his animals every day and even though they were a business to him, they were still pets.
The vet had never seen a calf or a cow with a broken neck before in his career. Noone else I have spoken to has ever seen that either...
(David T. - have you ever seen the like????)
We can only conclude that a dog spooked the calves while they were near the top of the hill and unfortunately the calve fell and rolled down the hill, breaking his neck.
The steers are still grazing in the steep paddock and are thriving. We are keeping a watch for dogs.
( The vet, a New Zealander asked me where I was from... it turns out that he had spent some time in Ballymena and had been to a wedding in Bushmills Distillery! A small world!!!!)
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Saturday 6th June - weather update
As we approach mid-winter, Napier today was the warmest place in NZ with a high of 16 degrees...
We have had the chilliest autumn in NZ so far with 5 white frosts so far during autumn in Hawke's Bay, the coldest being on Thursday morning when we got down to minus 0.7 degrees... :-)
Last winter we had 4 frosts from May to October.... so we are exceeding that already!!!!!!!!!
We have our log fire going most nights... it keeps the house really warm. The logs cost about $230 (about 90 UK pounds) for the winter so that is much less than oil or gas central heating for a year!
Last weekend was very cold with snow down to 200m. We are at 90m above sea level but we had hail at our place and there were a couple of snow showers in Napier!!! Very unusual.
The Kaweka Range (about 30 miles west) is now snow covered and will be that way until late September. It was actually covered in white for a couple of days in March when we has a cold blast of weather come up from the South Pole.
Global warming is not happening in NZ this year!!!!!
We have had the chilliest autumn in NZ so far with 5 white frosts so far during autumn in Hawke's Bay, the coldest being on Thursday morning when we got down to minus 0.7 degrees... :-)
Last winter we had 4 frosts from May to October.... so we are exceeding that already!!!!!!!!!
We have our log fire going most nights... it keeps the house really warm. The logs cost about $230 (about 90 UK pounds) for the winter so that is much less than oil or gas central heating for a year!
Last weekend was very cold with snow down to 200m. We are at 90m above sea level but we had hail at our place and there were a couple of snow showers in Napier!!! Very unusual.
The Kaweka Range (about 30 miles west) is now snow covered and will be that way until late September. It was actually covered in white for a couple of days in March when we has a cold blast of weather come up from the South Pole.
Global warming is not happening in NZ this year!!!!!
Saturday 6th June - the return
I have returned to blogging...
Some of my good friends have noted that I have not posted any news for six months.
I have a few tales to tell and will be adding some stories happy and sad from the first half of the year as well as current news.
As they say after the ad break on TV News, ' Welcome Back!' ... it always puzzles me that they say that when it's them who have been away...
... More soon :-)
Some of my good friends have noted that I have not posted any news for six months.
I have a few tales to tell and will be adding some stories happy and sad from the first half of the year as well as current news.
As they say after the ad break on TV News, ' Welcome Back!' ... it always puzzles me that they say that when it's them who have been away...
... More soon :-)
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