Finally today we had a plumber up to sort out our water tank and hot water cylinder. 6 months ago Mum arranged for one guy to come up and so far, from that guy, we have had one visit to inform us that he would be back the next day and we haven't seen him since. That was 3 weeks ago. So we called another company and thankfully they got onto the problem a bit faster!
So he sorted out the maze of hoses by the tank in the shed paddock and informed us that it was empty even though we thought it was feeding the other tank. Hmmm... anyway, we now have pressure for the greenhouse hose, the tap on the corner of the house and also found that we have another tap down by the garage and that too has pressure. And he fixed the hot water cylinder so now we have consistently hot water in the kitchen and the 2 downstairs bathrooms. No more filling the bath up with the kettle. And we learned a bit about the layout of the pipes around the farm and the different valves. Very exciting!
I watched the chickens fluffing around for about an hour today. Babi gave herself a dust bath while Dinky made a huge fuss trying to sort out a nest in preparation of egg laying and Rita took her tiny flock on an outing into the long grass of the uncovered part of the coop. Blanche occupied her time pushing Babi out of her dust bath and generally looking at me sceptically. But it looks like all the girls are laying (minus Rita while she raises the young 'uns) somewhat consistently. We were told it would take about a week for them to settle in and therefore lay but, as I said before, we had eggs the morning after they arrived. They obviously approve of their new home.
We gave the boys a groom as well. Brother is losing an astonishing amount of fur now that the worst of the weather seems to have past (still raining but nowhere near as cold) and he has gone a beautiful dark bay, almost black on his neck and oh so soft. Dino didn't build up as much of a winter coat but he is still shedding a significant amount as well. And because of all the loose fur they have been quite itchy and ever coverless opportunity they get they are nibbling at each others shoulders, backs and tails. Brother actually had Dino's entire tail in his mouth the other day which was rather amusing. Dino loved it.
Marty finished off cleaning the greenhouse today and I got back into the aviary while the rain held off and continued trying to clear around the 4 trillion raspberry bushes so that we can plant another 7 just beacuse we don't have quite enough yet. And a gooseberry bush has popped up in the middle of them all even though it was never planted there and the closest one is about 20 metres away on the other side of the garden shed and a fence. How it got there is beyond me. Not to mention all the kiwifruit roots that have burrowed under the concrete foundations, the garden shed and the undercover part of the aviary to pop up in various places. I have no idea how we're going to control them. Rampant roots.
Whenever I write the chores of the day it seems like so little but it has taken us all the daylight hours to complete. I guess the work is on quite a grand scale at times. The chicken watching was not helpful on my part. Oh well. If you saw them you would undertand. A constant source of entertainment.
Mum arrives tomorrow morning and Richard is up on Friday so we're in for another busy weekend. I will write about it soon.
The earthquake the other night was quite scary. We are miles away from where it was centred but it was still strong here. Apparently not as long as it was in Hastings but it gave us a good jolt awake. 5.9 is pretty big. I am hoping for no more. The previous owners of the house told us that there were frequent earthquakes here but that is the first we've felt. However we have only been here full time for 5 weeks!
Here's hoping!
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