Ann & Peter

in New Zealand

Haere Mai

The strawberries are going well - we've been eating them for dessert most nights and taking them into work as well. Over the month we have picked (and eaten) about 40kg. Ann has made strawberry jam a couple of times to try and use up some of the surplus, it's very nice.

The birds like our strawberries too. We watched a mother bird hop under the 'bird proof' netting, swipe a strawberry, hop out and feed it to her baby!

The orchard is coming along. We have small apples, crab apples, grapes and nectarines, the kiwi fruit, lemon, lime, mandarin, feijoa and pomegranate have just flowered.
	We managed to have a big bonfire to get rid of a lot of the berberis hedge that Peter's been cutting down, as well as a large pile of smaller branches from when we had the trees cut down. A second bonfire is ready for the stuff we couldn't get onto the first one.
This has meant we've been able to tidy up the pile of wood alongside the shed and behind the external garage. These areas are now ready for bonsai trees we've dug up from the growing on beds and made ready to sell.
	The trees in the growing on beds are getting big so next year Ann has plans for Peter to dig up quite a few.

Maxie came limping in from the garden one Sunday evening, we don't know what she did but we suspect she got stung or bitten on one paw. Two trips to the vets for painkillers, x-rays and antibiotics and she's back to normal after spending 5 days of limping around on three paws.

Jaz is finally realising that she's not a puppy anymore. She's begun to slow down on our daily walks – unless she see's a cat, rabbit, piece of paper or stray leaf - then she turns back into a muppy again!

We have nests all around garden - in the acacia and maple trees, red robin and pittosporum hedges and one bird even laid an egg in one of the strawberry beds.

We also have birds with very little brains here at Harvey's Hideaway - regularly flying into the windows and giving themselves a headache (or worse), or getting caught in the netting.

November has been very dry and sunny allowing us to do a lot of work in the garden at the weekends, but it does mean we have a lot of watering to do as well. We've had about 3 days / nights when it has rained and daytime temperatures are constantly in the high 20s.

We hear that the Brits now have a 'happiness index' which measures how satisfied everyone is in the UK. It was all over the news here. It's good to know that your happiness is being measured!

News from Home

Ann's dad, Mike, returned from a cold but enjoyable holiday at the lakes, and is busy sorting his washing ready for a long holiday in the USA.