Ann & Peter

in New Zealand

Haere Mai

July has been a fairly normal winter month for us. Peter has been digging up bonsai starter trees from the ground and Ann has been potting them up. The 100 Kanuka saplings that Ann ordered to finish off her hedge going round the inner part of the garden arrived. Peter had already lifted all the grass and dug the holes ready for Ann to spend a day planting them - she was very tired at the end of the day. Just as well it was the school holidays so she had a couple of days to get over it.

In early May we went over to Tauranga with the Bonsai Club to see a few collections over there. Whilst we were at Adriaan and Poppie's place Peter bought himself a large Redwood tree and a Ficus (Fig) for Ann. At the time we did not have space on the minibus to bring them back over to Hamilton so we left them over there to be picked up later. As it's an hour and a half away we thought we would make a day of it and drive to Waihi with the dogs and walk round the rim of the gold mine before going to Adriaan's to pick the trees up.

It rained almost all the way to Waihi but stopped when we got there. All round the pit rim were signs telling you about the history of the mine as well as a few bits of worn out equipment.
	Jaz wanted to see if the man at the bottom of the pit had a treat for her.
After we left Waihi it started raining again and Peter and Adriaan got wet putting the trees into the ute. Peter's tree is so big it had to be tied in specially.
	Ann's Ficus is a more moderate size.
When we got back Peter had to put his tree into a wooden crate - big isn't it!

Peter also found time to finish the new staging for bonsai which is ready to have the shade cloth put on for the summer.

Despite it being her holiday Ann was back in school for a one day course on the first Saturday of the holiday and a half day course on the last Friday.

The flashing lights that the girls have been using at night whilst we are on our walk have proved to be a bit troublesome. Maxie lost part of hers as it unscrewed itself whilst out walking during the day. We found the bits the next day but it hasn't worked properly since so Ann found a couple of very bright white LED bicycle lights which the girls wear on their collars to light up the way.

The last weekend of July saw us at the annual weekend bonsai workshop. Ann spent a lot of time outside playing with the power tools to carve out the tops of two of her trees whilst Peter was doing some hand carving inside in between helping others.
	Gordon from the bonsai club stayed with us for the Saturday night and gave us this little fellow who sits on a rock outside the bay window looking down the drive.

Peter had three days off at the end of the month and spent it trimming the hedges (we have over 400metres of hedge) - then he went back to work for a rest!

News from Home

Ann's dad, Mike, bought a new combination gas/electric cooker as the glass had gone in the door of his old one. He had a few problems getting it fitted. The cooker arrived and an electrician to wire it in. Unfortunately there was no gas fitter so it couldn't be installed. The next visit saw a gas fitter but no electrician. Finally, on the third visit there was a fitter who was qualified to do both gas and electrics.

Peter's dad, John, was invited to attend another Veteran's day at Swanshurst School to talk to the pupils about his experiences during the war. This is now becoming a big annual event with a lot of veterans being interviewed by the pupils. You can see some of the photos from the day here - Veteran's Day at Swanshurst School

John also had a day trip to Evesham with his naval association. A cruise along the river with a fish and chip lunch which he thoroughly enjoyed.