There are hundreds of thousands of acres of pine forest to the west of Hawke's Bay.
Most of central North Island is pine trees.
In July and August with the prevailing wind, the air is full of pine pollen. It covers everything with a golden dust. Walk on grass and shoes or boots are covered in the golden dust.
The car sale-yards have fun every morning having to dust/wash their cars!
The air in Hawke's Bay is currently golden!!!!
Yesterday we had a schorcher of a day too with the temperature up to 35 degrees in the sunshine on our deck. A good August day anywhere in the world! :-)
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Thursday 20th August - update on the calf
To update those of you reading about the neighbouring farmer... see previous entry
The dead calf was left for 8 days... He finally removed it last weekend before about 24 hours of rain flooded the paddock.
The dead calf was left for 8 days... He finally removed it last weekend before about 24 hours of rain flooded the paddock.
Thursday 20th August - Coleraine - where is it?
The Irish name 'Cuil Raithin' was anglicised to Coleraine by the Planters in the 17th century.
Cuil Raithin is Irish for 'ferny corner'. Coleraine would have been a great name for New Zealand with the multitude of ferns found here!!!!!! I vote for that name if the current name is ever replaced!!!! In its early days, the North Island was once called New Ulster and the South Island, New Munster because of the host of new Irish settlers here!
Coleraine was also the name of the county which is now Londonderry. (The county was never historically County Derry.) The county was renamed County Londonderry by the London Companies in the Plantation of the 17th Century.
One of Coleraine's most famous sons was Bonar Law who became Prime Minister of the UK after the Great War. His grandson is Lord Coleraine. I will return to Bonar Law another time on this blog...
People who left Coleraine to settle in other parts of the world have taken the name and given it to their farm or town. So there are Coleraine's all over the United States, Canada and Australia.
We have a Coleraine in Hawke's Bay. A man from Coleraine named his farm after his home town when he settled on the slopes of Te Mata near Havelock North. His descendants run the farm as a vineyard now.
Coleraine is the top red wine in New Zealand. It is also the most expensive!
R and J gave me 2 bottles of Coleraine 2005 when I started my last contract. I think I will open one bottle and have a glass when I start my next contract!
Good years are 2005, 2006 and 2007 if you are looking to buy a bottle! :-)
Cuil Raithin is Irish for 'ferny corner'. Coleraine would have been a great name for New Zealand with the multitude of ferns found here!!!!!! I vote for that name if the current name is ever replaced!!!! In its early days, the North Island was once called New Ulster and the South Island, New Munster because of the host of new Irish settlers here!
Coleraine was also the name of the county which is now Londonderry. (The county was never historically County Derry.) The county was renamed County Londonderry by the London Companies in the Plantation of the 17th Century.
One of Coleraine's most famous sons was Bonar Law who became Prime Minister of the UK after the Great War. His grandson is Lord Coleraine. I will return to Bonar Law another time on this blog...
People who left Coleraine to settle in other parts of the world have taken the name and given it to their farm or town. So there are Coleraine's all over the United States, Canada and Australia.
We have a Coleraine in Hawke's Bay. A man from Coleraine named his farm after his home town when he settled on the slopes of Te Mata near Havelock North. His descendants run the farm as a vineyard now.
Coleraine is the top red wine in New Zealand. It is also the most expensive!
R and J gave me 2 bottles of Coleraine 2005 when I started my last contract. I think I will open one bottle and have a glass when I start my next contract!
Good years are 2005, 2006 and 2007 if you are looking to buy a bottle! :-)
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Wednesday 19th August - child abuse by any other name
You can drive in New Zealand from the age of 15.
The New Zealand government finally came to its senses yesterday. They announced that they are seriously considering raising the driving age to 17.
Many years too late I think!
Last year young drivers aged 15 to 17 were responsible for one third of all deaths from road accidents in New Zealand - 120 deaths out of a total of 400!!!!!!!!!!!
They interviewed lots of 15 and 16 year olds on the TV news last night. They all thought they were safe drivers! Good job they cannot vote at 15!
R had an accident on her way to school this morning. A 16 year old rear-ended the car in traffic. The cars were damaged but noone is hurt. The boy was in one of her classes yesterday! He will have a huge repair bill.
A good lesson for J to see being a young driver on the road can be an expensive luxury!
Wednesday 19th August - Who do you think you are?
Living we New Zealand, we sometimes get the opportunitiy to see other versions of British TV programmes. We are currently watching a series of the Australian version of 'Who do you think you are?'
Australians seem to have a fascination with their families criminal past and seem to deify criminal forebears. We saw an example a couple of weeks ago where an Aussie actor was on the show searching for his roots. He found that he had 2 sets of Irish forefathers. One from Ulster turned out to have done well in Australia and been one of the most wealthy families in Australia at the start of the last century.
The actor chose to research the other branch of his family and discovered that his relative had been transported to Australia as a criminal rather than be executed in his native Munster. His reaction was amazing!
Australians must be the only people in the world who treat their criminal forebears as 'royalty'!
Wednesday 19th August - Would you eat your best friend?
A Tongan family in South Auckland were found to be barbequing their pet dog at the weekend.
Apparently dog is a delicacy in Tonga!
And it is not illegal to eat dog in New Zealand so the SPCA cannot prosecute!
How would you like your dog cooked?
:-)
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Tuesday 18th August - identity
New Zealanders delight in the nickname 'kiwi'.
A kiwi is a strange bird that fistles around in the dark when everyone is asleep... probably right definition for New Zealanders who are awake and active while Europe sleeps... :-) Kiwis are on the verge of extinction... the birds that is!
Kiwi is used in the definition for everything and was/is sometimes used as a racist way of separating the identity of europeans from maori here...
I was amused to see 'real kiwi pies' advertised in a bakery the other day. What was really in the pies... did they catch the kiwi, kill it, and then cook in pastry????
A kiwi is a strange bird that fistles around in the dark when everyone is asleep... probably right definition for New Zealanders who are awake and active while Europe sleeps... :-) Kiwis are on the verge of extinction... the birds that is!
Kiwi is used in the definition for everything and was/is sometimes used as a racist way of separating the identity of europeans from maori here...
I was amused to see 'real kiwi pies' advertised in a bakery the other day. What was really in the pies... did they catch the kiwi, kill it, and then cook in pastry????
Tuesday 18th August - not really a beehive
The late winter / early spring flowers are coming in to bloom. One of the most spectacular is the kowhai tree which is sometimes claimed as the national flower of New Zealand. Search out kowhai on google to see more. Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowhai
It's much better as an emblem than the shamrock but up there with the flax flower!
The HQ of New Zealand government is nicknamed 'the beehive' but if you look closer you can see the inspiration for the architect was actually the kowhai tree and its flowers...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beehive_(building)
It's not a beehive, it's a kowhai tree!!!!
It's much better as an emblem than the shamrock but up there with the flax flower!
The HQ of New Zealand government is nicknamed 'the beehive' but if you look closer you can see the inspiration for the architect was actually the kowhai tree and its flowers...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beehive_(building)
It's not a beehive, it's a kowhai tree!!!!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Friday 14th August - what is a bad farmer?
The paddock next to ours has had beef cattle in it for about 2 weeks. There are a number of new calves.
Last Tuesday evening about 9pm, I heard one of the cows roaring appearing to be in distress. I went out to check if it was in our paddock but it sounded further away.
Wednesday morning on the way to school, J and R noticed a calf on the wrong side of a drain between the drain and the fence. J checked to see if it was alive. It raised its head.
Wednesday afternoon when R came home, she told me about the calf and I went to check. It was still lying in a ball in the shade. It was cold. I got it to its feet. It was unsteady so I carried it across the drain to a sunny spot. His mother came to check what we were doing. The calf struggled to its feet again and tried to feed but the mother was no help. R saw the farmers daughter-in-law and told her about the calf. She said she would report it to her father.
Thursday morning, I walk down to the postbox and see the calf lying alone. It's mother has abandoned it. I watch during the day and the calf is struggling to follow its mother but is still not feeding. I phone the farmer and tell him that calf is struggling to feed. He says that he will check.
Friday evening, I see calf lying at bottom of hill below our house. It is unable to get to its feet because it is so weak. The mother cow is roaring because the calf will not get up. I walk across to see the farmers son and tell him that calf is in very poor state and will need attention. Son tells me that they are his father's herd and he looks after them.
Saturday morning, calf is dead in same spot where I saw it last evening.
The farmer did not look once near the calf in the last 3 days although we had given 3 messages. I know many a farmer whose own health would have suffered to try and keep animals alive.
Sunday afternoon. The mother cow is sleeping beside her dead calf.
Friday morning. Nearly a week later the dead calf is still lying down there. The farmer drives past the dead calf every day. When does it become a health hazard?
R and J wanted us to adopt the calf on that Wednesday afternoon. I said that was stealing. I wish we had done what R and J wanted. The farmer would not have cared.
Thursday morning, I walk down to the postbox and see the calf lying alone. It's mother has abandoned it. I watch during the day and the calf is struggling to follow its mother but is still not feeding. I phone the farmer and tell him that calf is struggling to feed. He says that he will check.
Friday evening, I see calf lying at bottom of hill below our house. It is unable to get to its feet because it is so weak. The mother cow is roaring because the calf will not get up. I walk across to see the farmers son and tell him that calf is in very poor state and will need attention. Son tells me that they are his father's herd and he looks after them.
Saturday morning, calf is dead in same spot where I saw it last evening.
The farmer did not look once near the calf in the last 3 days although we had given 3 messages. I know many a farmer whose own health would have suffered to try and keep animals alive.
Sunday afternoon. The mother cow is sleeping beside her dead calf.
Friday morning. Nearly a week later the dead calf is still lying down there. The farmer drives past the dead calf every day. When does it become a health hazard?
R and J wanted us to adopt the calf on that Wednesday afternoon. I said that was stealing. I wish we had done what R and J wanted. The farmer would not have cared.
Monday 10th August - a third driver
J passed the theory test which permits him to become a learner driver. There are 35 questions and he did not have any wrong. The pass mark is 32.
At 15 and three quarters I think he is still too young to be driving on the road.
I have a few battles ahead.
Monday 10th August - the Armoy Races
Road racing on motorbikes is one of the most dangerous sports.
There is a generation of young men from Armoy who are dead or crippled because of crashes while road-racing.
The brains trust who decided to permit the Armoy Races on Saturday should have their heads examined!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)