Seen in the Country

Saw this sign while out and about today – but didn’t see any of that outdoors carrying on!

Life on the Farm

Lunch at the Country Club

That sounds rather grand, doesn’t it?  But it was a special occasion, after all.  There were three family birthdays to celebrate – my own, plus the two grand-daughters.  The three of us have birthdays very close together, and we met at the Orlando Country Club for lunch,  in Palmerston North.

The café was exceptionally busy for a Monday, with large groups arriving to enjoy their lunches.  Today was Labour Day, a public holiday and we can thank carpenter Samuel Parnell who declared, way back in 1840, that he would only work for eight hours a day.  The first Labour Day celebrated the struggle for an eight-hour working day, and parades were held  in the main centres, attended by several thousand trade union members and supporters  In 1899 Parliament legislated to make Labour Day a public holiday. Predating both Anzac Day and Waitangi Day, it was the first public holiday in New Zealand not associated with religion, royal birthdays or anniversaries of provincial settlement. Since 1910 Labour Day has been held on the fourth Monday in October.

Sadly, grand-daughter Megan was unwell and couldn’t join us.  But the rest of us perused the menu and made our choices, and plates of fish, burgers, and pasta were delivered to our table.  It was all delicious.

Fish and chips for him, and smoked salmon pasta for her

Gifts were exchanged, and it was nice to meet grand-daughter Emma’s boyfriend Shimon at last.  A very pleasant young man, he did very well with meeting the grand-parents for the first time.  And there was also another family birthday to celebrate, Emma reminded us.  Her foal Firedancer shares the same birthday as me and is two years old today!

Enjoying our family birthday lunch

On our return trip home we drove by to check out how the work on the replacement of the Whirokino Trestle Bridge as coming along.  All the big yellow machines were nicely lined up together, so it looks like the workers had the day off for Labour Day.

A temporary staging bridge has been constructed to provide access across the Manawatū River, although it was hard to spot as we whizzed over the old bridge. There was no chance to slow down and peer over the bridge to the river.  The staging bridge is designed to carry the weight of the 100 tonne crane to be used for construction, concrete trucks and trucks carrying sand, fill and other materials, without impacting SH1 road users. Once the new River Bridge opens, the temporary staging bridge will be removed. It all seems to be going well, and we will be interested to watch developments as the the work progresses.

Welcome to Horowhenua

Standing at the southern entrance of Levin is a huge blue rugby ball, welcoming one and all to Horowhenua, and promoting the Horowhenua-Kapiti Rugby Football Union.  The union was established in 1893 as the Horowhenua Rugby Football Union and was changed to its current name of Horowhenua-Kapiti in 1997, in order to reflect the full extent of the union's districts.

 

Here in Levin we are in central Horowhenua.  The district stretches from north of the town of Otaki in the south to just south of Himatangi in the north, and from the coast to the summit of the Tararua Ranges.  The main town and seat of the district council is Levin, and other towns in the district include Foxton, Shannon, and Tokomaru.   And living as we do in earthquake prone New Zealand, it is interesting to discover that the name means shaking or rippling earth. 

The Horowhenua region is renowned for its fertile soil and temperate climate. This allows for production of a large range of quality green vegetables all year round.  And not just veggies, all sorts of berries, including the ever popular strawberries, roses, potatoes, pumpkins, onions, even grapes.  As well as farming free range eggs, and free range pork.  We are happily living in our own little piece of paradise.

Ultra Fast Broadband in our Village

There has been a posse of workmen from Chorus busy in our village starting to lay Ultra Fast Broadband.  As we live in a village situation, the majority of residents had to agree to this work.  When it was explained that having broadband available to each property was an important point for those selling their properties in the future, residents readily agreed.  This current work is to lay the fibre around the village, and it is up to the individual owners whether they get the connection to their homes through their own internet service providers.  Chorus provided the Body Corporate with a detailed plan showing how this work would be achieved.

Narrow trenches have been dug, as required

The whine of concrete cutters has been heard throughout the village

And the dinky little digger has made a big hole in front of our home

Into the hole went a very big junction box

Cones and rails now in place to stop us falling in the hole

Not all of the work has been so disruptive, in some places only a mere narrow slot needed to be cut through the concrete path and across the road.  The cables end in the the pale green boxes in front of each villa, and from there will go into each household when required.

Neat and tidy, and the slots will be covered over shortly

There is still more work to be done, but no doubt the recurring wet weather stops progress.  The workmen have assured us time and time again that everything will be put back as it should.  We can’t complain, as all this work is being done at no cost.

Spring is in the Air

Our Spring weather has been very wet lately, and the grounds are sodden.  Where does all this rain come from, I often wonder.  Although after a several days of almost non stop rain the sun has finally come out.  Our kowhai tree in the back yard is in flower.  We are really pleased with it’s growth as we brought this tree with us as a rather spindly sapling when we moved from Upper Hutt.

Kowhai tree in bloom

Spring also means that the new season asparagus is ready.  We get ours direct from the grower, just a short drive up SH1.  There is nothing nicer than steamed asparagus with a knob of butter on top, or even better, asparagus mornay. 

Fresh asparagus – yummy

There were workmen busy playing with their big machines on the property.  The asparagus farm is going to be growing strawberries, we were told, and workmen are busy preparing the ground to put raised beds in.  I’m sure we will notice a big change here the  next time we arrive to buy some more asparagus.

Preparing the ground for raised strawberry beds

Family Gathering

After a couple of missed calls and a text, Robin’s baby sister finally made contact with us.  Kaye and Jan were up from Nelson, travelling on the Taupo, and could we meet up somewhere for coffee as they passed by?  Robin’s brother Gary joined us too.  Luckily we could rearrange our morning and we spent a couple of happy, if rather noisy hours in a local café. 

Kaye and Jan, Gary and Robin

There was plenty to catch up on, news of the extended family, a nephew's wedding coming up, and  travel plans. Health news too, as sadly we are all getting a little older.  It was a very enjoyable family get-together.

Once you turn 70……

Look what happens once you turn 70 – your birthday balloon goes down and gives you that deflated feeling.  Oh dear – never mind.

We’re having a quiet Sunday at home for a change, no rushing around today.  The morning started off with the man of the house cooking the obligatory bacon and eggs for breakfast.  Now  Robin is in his happy place – watching the All Blacks play the Argentina team on TV.  Go the All Blacks!

And I’m pottering around quietly in the background, preparing a beef pot roast in the crock pot for dinner.  And a little baking perhaps.   Hope everyone is having a restful Sunday before another busy week starts again.