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Busy Busy Busy

by | Oct 31, 2020 | Blog Posts | 0 comments

Busy, Busy, Busy

Spring is normally when we get the last of the off season chores done, the garden sorted for the coming year and generally all the ducks nicely lined up.

This year has been quite different. We have most (all ??) of the chores and projects safely behind us, but without a doubt it’s also been the busiest we’ve ever been this time of year. Not swamped with guests, but a steady stream of Ulva & Road tours, and guests at both Sails Ashore & Kowhai Lane. And of course, all New Zealanders.

And of course the normal changes of an advancing Spring are out there for us to enjoy

 

The first of the red spider orchids are appearing on a village roadside

Ladies Slipper Orchid in our garden
This shouldn’t appear until around Christmas, so this single bloom is a real oddity

Bamboo Orchid, About a month earlier than I would expect

This clump of Bamboo Orchid is on a Gum tree, and the best display around

The Spider Orchids are well out, though not huge numbers so far

Guests photographing a Pied Shag Nesting Colony on Ulva Island

The Finished Trailer, with Hunter Safely Aboard

Welding

I’ve just rebuilt a friends boat trailer which I look after. Last year while replacing the back axle a rather large lump of rust fell out of the chassis. The trailer is actually 25 odd years old, so perhaps not surprising. We contemplated a complete new trailer, but decided as it was only the frame which was stuffed, then I could weld the old stanchions and running gear onto a new frame. So that was a week hunched over an arc welder.  My welding skills had not atrophied too much, and now we have a nice “new” trailer for Hunter.

Vegie Garden

Iris’ garden is really coming along well, and by the look of them we’ll be eating new spuds in early December. Everything else looks happy as well, apart from the Rhubarb which seems a little slow. Or perhaps it’s really just a normal year, and our guests (who would normally have rhubarb available for breakfast) are appearing much earlier than normal !!.

The tomatoes have the first truss of flowers, and the courgette plants in the glasshouse are ready for planting out. They seem to have doubled overnight. 

Everything Growing well, and flower buds on some of the early potatoes

Tomatoes and tray vegetables