Polar Blast coming through

The weather is all over the place lately.  After days of gale force winds, the next prediction was for a polar blast, travelling up from the Antarctic.  We had a lovely mild sunny morning, then the skies darkened, the temperatures dropped dramatically, and down came the hail.  It was short, but very dramatic.

 

Hail stones on the back deck

Front deck and path

It may well be Spring, but the weatherman reminded us that Old Man Winter hasn’t quite loosened his chilly grip just yet.  We have to expect more bad weather before it gets better, we were told.

Hail arrived from the south

A cold snap has swept up the South Island bringing snow and closing some roads.  But it is the South Island farmers and their stock suffering the most, with many new born lambs and calves arriving in the middle of the bad weather.  Up here in the North Island both the Rimutaka Hill Road connecting Wellington and Wairarapa and the Desert Road in the central North Island could receive a dump of snow.  Brrr, we will be switching on the electric blankets tonight, that’s for sure.

They came, they saw, they carried it home

We had a visit from the rellies in the weekend.  They came down in their empty horse truck, looking to see what they could take home.  We’re cleaning out the garage, and son-in-law Robert’s eyes opened up with delight when he was told he could have “first dibs” on any unwanted tools and other items we no longer require.  He soon gathered up an assortment of tools into a cardboard carton or two, and quickly stored them in the back of his truck.  They will be helpful with his contracting business.  He was thrilled to take ownership of several metal storage cabinets.  Just think of all the bits and pieces he can store away in those cubby holes.

  Loading up a storage cabinet

What else took their fancy?  A picnic table and chairs, that will be great for when the family is away in the horse truck.  And how about that large plastic chilly bin – just the thing for Robert to take on a fishing trip to keep his catch in.  He loaded up the wheelbarrow with several lots of field drainage pipes and carefully stored them in the truck.  He can use them on his property, he told us.

One of several wheelbarrow loads of pipes

After a hearty lunch it was back to the garage to have another look around.  That set of old car air horns, yes, I’ll take those, and are you sure you don’t want those car speakers, he asked.  No, you can’t take those plastic storage bins, we told him, we need them ourselves.  With everything safely stowed away, it was time to wave the rellies goodbye.  They were taking a whole heap of stuff home, and doing us a favour at the same time, helping with our garage clean-out.

Homeward bound

Wild weather warning

Bad weather was promised, and it has now arrived.  Winds gusting over 100 kilometres an hour have been causing havoc in Wellington.  A Fire Service spokesman says they have dealt with a string of weather-related calls this morning, including to trees and power lines down in several places.  Most flights into and out of Wellington Airport were delayed this morning.   Just as well we are tucked up safe at home this weekend and not towing the caravan out in this rough weather. 

Weather map courtesy Met Service

The wind gusts have been battering the house but luckily not causing us any damage.  Not so in the garden though.  A dead branch has been ripped from a large tree and is lying on the lawn.  Guess we are lucky that the whole tree didn’t come crashing down. That will give Robin a job to do when the weather clears.  He will have to get out with a saw to cut it up into manageable lengths to dispose of it.

  One branch down

The birds aren’t worried about the wind though.  We have hung half a coconut shell from a tree, packed with a mixture of fat mixed with bird seed and chopped apple.   The birds hang on for dear life as the shell is whipped around in the wind.  The bossy sparrows has discovered this tasty bird treat and keep the smaller native birds at bay while they eat their fill.

Cock sparrow on the coconut shell

As soon as the sparrows have moved away, the pretty little silver eyes come for a feed.  They have to eat fast, before those bossy sparrows come back and chase them away again. 

Silver eyes sharing a meal

Let’s hope that the wind blows itself out overnight and we can look forward to mere settled weather soon.

Camping out at Home

We are definitely getting into the “spring cleaning” mode this week.  Our lounge suite and dining chairs were looking decidedly grubby – covered as they are in a light coloured wool fabric, it was time to get them commercially cleaned.  A couple of phone calls to local operators showed us a huge variation in prices.  There is no surprise that we went with the cheaper option, after all, the extra cash is better staying in our pockets!  The workman arrived on time, filled up his machine and got to work.

A man and his machine

He worked steadily for over two hours, and the furniture certainly looks much cleaner and fresher.  But it will need some time to dry out completely, we had the gas fire on, and the dehumidifier going all afternoon.  However, there will be no relaxing in our favourite “Lazy-Boy” chairs watching  telly tonight.  The furniture is still damp, so we are camping out  inside the house.  It’s not quite the same, but a couple of assorted deck chairs will fit the bill tonight!

Camping out at home

We’ll close the room up tonight and leave the dehumidifier chugging away, and hopefully the furniture will be all dried out by tomorrow.  Otherwise, we’ll just camp out again.

The Gas Man came Calling

Our small gas heater in the hallway wasn’t working, so the serviceman came calling.  Mmm, seems our hall heater is no longer made, so therefore parts are not available.  The serviceman advised that the best option would be to remove the old heater, and  to cap the gas line.  It took no time at all to unscrew the heater from the wall.  Then the serviceman had to climb under the house, find and isolate the gas pipe.  “They always send me to these jobs”, he said, “as I’m the only one on the staff who can fit through these small trapdoors”.

There he goes, crawling under the house

A few years ago,  we had installed an electric “Night Store” heater in the hallway, which uses cheaper off peak power.  So we still have the means to keep cosy over the colder months.

Remember when blokes serviced their cars?

Many years ago, in simpler times, good keen kiwi blokes liked to potter about under the hood of their cars.  Cars were different back then, and Robin used to check and adjust the timing, clean the spark plugs, do his own oil changes, and goodness knows what else.  Cars were cars, and with a bit of knowledge and lots of enthusiasm, young working men could save a lot of money by attending to these chores. 

Over the years Robin had been dipping into his red tool box which was originally put together by a motor mechanic before being passed on to him.  Inside this treasure trove were the various nuts, bolts, screws and bits of pieces, all in the old Imperial sizing.   He also had a timing light and a dwell meter, used often in the old days, but engines on modern cars are electronically controlled these days.  What to do with all these old bits and pieces?

Tool box full of interesting bits and pieces

Our friendly motor mechanic John specialises in servicing older cars and was delighted to receive Robin’s big red tool box and the tuning tools.  Yes, he can definitely use them, John assured him.  And Robin was delighted to find a deserving home for his treasures, where they will be used and appreciated.  Alls well that ends well.

Handing over the goodies at the garage

Spring is in the Air

There is definitely a change in the air, today is September 1st, and Spring has arrived down here in New Zealand.  That is probably why we have been spending some time outside doing a few chores over the last couple of days.  Robin has been wielding a paint brush again, doing a bit of “touch up” painting.  The back and front doors needed painting so off they came.  Robin ran his sander over the old yellow paint, to prepare the doors for the next step.

  Sanding the old paint

We were changing the colour to white and the doors needed one undercoat and two top coats of paint.  Robin was using water based paint which dried quite quickly between coats.  He left the doors outside in the sunshine for several hours to make sure that the paint was completely dry before being re-hung.  And what a difference it made – fresh white paint instead of the old yellow.

Applying the white paint

I’m the first to admit that I’m no gardener, but the Spring weather called me outside to pull some weeds out.  After two afternoons down on my knees, the back gardens really do look more tidy, I’m pleased to say.

I hate gardening!

On our second stint working outside today Robin decided that the weather was warm enough to ditch his long trousers and change into shorts for the first time this season.  Out came the loppers and the overgrown bushes all got a good trim.  What a couple of busy bees we’ve been!