My great-grandfather bought the Ballyhome farm in 1919. He had 4 sons all farming. Two sons had just returned from service in the Great War and he needed more capacity than the Ballyrock farm could provide.
Ballyhome has been home to 4 generations of the family since then.
90 years - a reason to celebrate!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tuesday 28th July - do swallows make a summer?
When I was in New Zealand in December, 2004, I was surprised to see swallows here. My Uncle Robert said that he had first seen them on his farm in the Wairarapa in the 1950's nesting under a bridge.
New Zealand has a mixture of wild birds 'imported' from other parts of the world. Colonists in the 1850's and 1860's wanted to create a New Britain and brought many native British birds to settle. Guthrie-Smith in his book Tutira notes their progress through the late 1800's as they expanded round the coastline from Auckland. We have sparrows, finches, thrushes, blackbirds, yellowhammers among others. All these nest in our trees.
I have been wondering if the swallows are migratory and where do they go in winter? Hawke's Bay on most winter days is as warm as an average British or Irish summer day. Why migrate?
This cool winter I have seen many swallows flying around Poraiti and Napier. There must not be many flies and bugs out there for them to feed on so why are they still here? Are they confused because they are not in Africa? Do most of them go to Australia or further north?
A puzzle...
New Zealand has a mixture of wild birds 'imported' from other parts of the world. Colonists in the 1850's and 1860's wanted to create a New Britain and brought many native British birds to settle. Guthrie-Smith in his book Tutira notes their progress through the late 1800's as they expanded round the coastline from Auckland. We have sparrows, finches, thrushes, blackbirds, yellowhammers among others. All these nest in our trees.
I have been wondering if the swallows are migratory and where do they go in winter? Hawke's Bay on most winter days is as warm as an average British or Irish summer day. Why migrate?
This cool winter I have seen many swallows flying around Poraiti and Napier. There must not be many flies and bugs out there for them to feed on so why are they still here? Are they confused because they are not in Africa? Do most of them go to Australia or further north?
A puzzle...
Tuesday 28th July - snow
The wood delivery man, Andy, last week said he had been out to Poraiti a lot this winter. It was our second delivery of firewood this year. When the first lot came in May I expected it to last until 2010 but we have had a log fire on nearly every day since then.
Andy, a local, says that he has never seen snow on the hills like we have this year. Even the hills close to Napier are white. Further west, Kaweka mountain is 43 km away as the crow flies and it has been looking like a skiing mountain since May. We have now had countless frosts - it was down to minus 2 this morning... the countryside was lovely and white before sunrise.
So what about global warming?
Andy, a local, says that he has never seen snow on the hills like we have this year. Even the hills close to Napier are white. Further west, Kaweka mountain is 43 km away as the crow flies and it has been looking like a skiing mountain since May. We have now had countless frosts - it was down to minus 2 this morning... the countryside was lovely and white before sunrise.
So what about global warming?
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Monday 20th July - twelfth week in Napier
We had no
- hall burnings
- bonfires
- marches
- riots
- people going out of their way to be offended
Boring... not!
Had some sunny days... 26 degrees max. :-)
Cricket (al Lords), Golf (at Turnberry), Rugby (at Eden Park) on TV
Perfect!
Didn't Tom Watson do well... seems like nothing has changed in 30+ years!
:-)
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Saturday 11th July - most horrible place
My friends have left Northern Ireland after their short tour.
Sounds like they had a great time on the Causeway Coast.
They identified their 'most horrible place' as Newtownards. Funny that!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Friday 10th July - mid year and mid winter
July 2nd was actually mid-year with 182 days left in 2009. It is a lovely mid-winter day today starting with a frost but beautiful blue sky.
It's a bit like a (very) good April day in Northern Ireland...
The wattle trees are coming in to bloom and the daffodills are coming out... early spring!
It feels like time for a new year resolution! Last year my resolution was to lose 10kg in weight... didn't believe I could do that myself but there was a 'Biggest Loser' competition at work which helped the motivation. By Christmas Eve 2008 I was down 15kg to 81.3kg, the lightest I have been in 30 years... I think I was the biggest loser. :-) I have been feeling much better and more active! My picture on my Facebook profile in January seemed to worry some correspondents! Resolution for 2009 was to stop losing any more which I have achieved. Target at the moment is to keep (get) fit... More cycling and walking called for!!!!
It's a bit like a (very) good April day in Northern Ireland...
The wattle trees are coming in to bloom and the daffodills are coming out... early spring!
It feels like time for a new year resolution! Last year my resolution was to lose 10kg in weight... didn't believe I could do that myself but there was a 'Biggest Loser' competition at work which helped the motivation. By Christmas Eve 2008 I was down 15kg to 81.3kg, the lightest I have been in 30 years... I think I was the biggest loser. :-) I have been feeling much better and more active! My picture on my Facebook profile in January seemed to worry some correspondents! Resolution for 2009 was to stop losing any more which I have achieved. Target at the moment is to keep (get) fit... More cycling and walking called for!!!!
Friday, July 03, 2009
Friday 3rd July - school holidays
School holidays today with the start of the 2 week mid-winter break.
J has organised his time around sports.
He is leaving tomorrow to go with friends to Tauranga on the Bay of Plenty for a tennis tournament. J comes home from that next Thursday. ( If he had remained in Northern Ireland he would have been playing in the Ballycastle July tournament! I think he will be warmer and drier here! )
The next week is the New Zealand Schools National Orienteering Championships over in Manuatu. His school have been the NZ boys champions for the last 3 years and will be keenly defending their title!
The cat will miss him!
J has organised his time around sports.
He is leaving tomorrow to go with friends to Tauranga on the Bay of Plenty for a tennis tournament. J comes home from that next Thursday. ( If he had remained in Northern Ireland he would have been playing in the Ballycastle July tournament! I think he will be warmer and drier here! )
The next week is the New Zealand Schools National Orienteering Championships over in Manuatu. His school have been the NZ boys champions for the last 3 years and will be keenly defending their title!
The cat will miss him!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)