Wednesday 22 June 2016

Shortest Day

Winter has "technically" arrived, as yesterday was the shortest day of the year, bringing with it a heap of rain that, believe it or not, is quite pleasant. It's not cold, well not icy cold like it has been and there hasn't been any frosts lately. A good thing, that.

Although this rain that has been booked in for the last week has meant that a whole heap of work has been in a rush. We've had this one fencing job where the posts needed to all be in before the rain hit last night, as the tractor was working on a large lawn area that had a couple of nasty hills. We wouldn't have gotten the tractor out again once the lawn was slick from the rain, thankfully Dad and Nikolai (our newest employee) got all the posts in yesterday afternoon, making life today a little less stressful for Dad.

Monday was, for Nick, Nikolai and I, spent dismantling a couple fences. One made up of old concrete posts and wires that is being completely replaced. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, pulling the wires off the posts. However the Kikuya was as high as the fence at some points, so pulling rusty barbed wire through that was rather joyful. But it's all pulled out now thank goodness! Then Nikolai and I went on to the next job and rolled up all the wires on another fence which was much easier, so then yesterday they could pull all the posts up and sort the new fenceline. Perfect timing for this rain. But it was so, so nice to get out of the house for almost 6 hours on Monday doing all that work - it made a nice change rather than sticking around home doing next to nothing. I wouldn't say getting scratched to shreds from gorse, blackberry and rusty barb wire is high on the "most exciting job ever" list, but it was something different for once.
I'm doing the odd milking here and there but life isn't too busy these days. I can't believe June is almost over, as in a few weeks time we'll be flat stick!

We all somehow got jinxed over the last couple weeks and somehow caught colds (already!) however Nick has since progressed into the Flu which is verging on pneumonia - doctors' verdict from this morning anyway. We've gotta haul him back to the doc's tonight if all the drugs haven't made a difference by then. So fingers crossed he gets better, it's not something that you want to have around...

Everyone is staying mostly out of trouble these days. I keep putting off going to the dentist - I know I need to go but you know how it is...avoidance and procrastination won't keep my teeth looking amazing but yeah I've been avoiding them for over a year now....he he he ooops.

11 comments:

  1. Wow...hope Nick gets better soon...doctor visits aren't fun :P

    And oh the dentist. Argh I've been avoiding a visit too :/

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    1. Lol yeah I know I need stuff done, which is kinda why I have put it off... :/

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  2. You know, until you mentioned that Kukuya stuff, I'd never heard of it. We just don't seem to have it round here aye, unless its something sheep it and cattle don't, but even then I doubt it.
    And concrete posts, I've never had the joys of dealing with them. How heavy are they, compared to a regular wood post? Just wondering.

    Hope Nick gets better soon too!!!

    Dentists, meh. I went the other day, first time since turning 18, because my wisdom teeth were bothering me a bit and I was wondering if I'd need an extraction. he said no, they'd be fine, there seemed to be enough room, but *we'll* keep an eye on them. However, he also did the usual clean and polish, and used that little drill thing. Trouble is, he went too deep on one tooth, and made a small hole. At first it was really bad, every time I had something cold (even just breathing in a breath of cold air), I would get instant tooth ache. Even now, I can still feel it with my tongue, this kinda rough area that makes it feel like I haven't brushed them or something.
    I wish you the best of luck with Mr Dentist!

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    1. Kikuya (or however it is spelled, we pronounce it Ki-kooe) is a northland thing. Hideous stuff that is like a matted root system above ground and is so uncontrollable, although it is helpful in summer cos it lives well in droughts...
      Although it has a habit of growing up things, like over fences lol. The concrete posts aren't too bad considering. They're probably as heavy as a #1 post soaked with water...they're only smaller ones, but I won't be lifting any onto the tractor forks-I'll play the "weak girl" card...lol


      How much did that dentist bill kill you for? I pay $60 for a checkup where you're in the chair for five minutes, they poke, prod and X-ray and then hand you the bill. I've never had a clean and polish etc, they reckon everyone needs the hygiene thing but I couldn't imagine the cost O.o! $200 for a small filling! Yikes that was last years quote anyway...

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    2. I think we pay $80/$90 for a checkup, but that includes the clean and polish. And I'm pretty sure that's one of the cheaper dentists in Auckland . . . :P

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    3. Oh right, Northland can keep it then!!! :P Do animals eat it much? I know round here, the main drought grass we have the animals don't like, they only eat it if they're really desperate. So they eat all the other grass, then the other stuff just takes over. Rat's Tail is what its called round here, not sure if that's its proper name...

      We don't work with number one full rounds much sorry... I'm guessing they'd be similar to 2 number 1 half-rounds? In which case, heavy enough... Haha, tractor forks, ya lucky sod. Round here we carry them everywhere. Although, that depends. With the Argo being such a useful beasty, being able to go practically anywhere you ask it almost, it takes a bit of the leg work out, but there's still the occasional walk. Out the back is worst, there you sometimes have a couple of hundred metres to walk, just because there's nothing that can get there, tractor or Argo... :P

      The clean and polish comes with anything at our dentist, check up, fillings, x-ray. They stung me for $120, most of which is for 2 x-rays, then just the fact of asking questions. I'm lucky enough to have never needed any fillings or such, my teeth have always been "perfect" (haha), so never needed the extra work. Orthodontia was my bill, I never got braces, but I did have an expander and plate for awhile.
      I'll tell you what, though, I know some people in India, they reckon dentistry is better over there, and only $10. And that's 10 NZD. So for larger operations, it would almost be cheaper to go over there and get it done, flights included. Funny, you'd be skeptical of Indian dentistry, just because its Indian, but they reckon its better quality and less painful, apparently...

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  3. Err I like my dentist lol sorry but he's really good at what he does. Days are getting longer woohoo

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    1. Sorry, been meaning to reply to these!
      He's good, blood tests reckon it's a virus but they don't know what yet. Slowly getting better :)

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    2. Oh right, that's good-ish then. Pity he's not completely better, but at least he's improving...

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