Ann & Peter

in New Zealand

Haere Mai

After Peter and Maxie's attempts at getting the speed camera to work Jaz had a go with Peter and managed 12 kph - not bad for an old girl.

Ann sometimes uses a pink dye in the weed killer so she can see where she has sprayed. A couple of hours after their bath Maxie managed to roll on the gravel path where Ann had just been spraying. Not to be outdone Jaz walked past the sprayer and got a very pink patch on her shoulder where it had leaked a little.

After the high winds blew our bonsai display screens down back in October we decided to check the others and found that some of the other wood frames were rotting too. So Peter has begun to dismantle them all – starting with the far left one.
Peter also finished the shaded display area where most of our maples are displayed – the shade will now protect the delicate leaves and help prevent them from getting burnt.
	The side netting can be rolled up for watering.

Our strawberries are fruiting well. We’ve had bowls of the delicious fruit for dessert most evenings for about two weeks so far and Ann has made strawberry ice cream and strawberry jam (to go with her homemade scones).

Our berry plants are doing well too (thank goodness jam and ice cream keep well).
The Acacia tree in the corner of the garden has died. Peter is slowly taking it down for firewood. The Pukekos we got from Kerikeri which used to live under the tree have moved to the large gravel bed to get out of the way.

Summer came early and for several weeks now we’ve had the most amazing weather – sunny, hot and humid with some spectacular thunder and lightning storms.  In fact last week-end it was so hot that Ann got sun burnt through her cotton top!

The downside to the longer days is that the girls are waking up earlier. Not a problem on work days but when they knock (loudly) on the back door wanting their breakfast at 5.45am on a Sunday morning it’s not so charming, and once they’ve had breakfast they go back to sleep for an hour or two – but by then Ann is fully awake.

Everything in our garden is growing well because of the sun and the rain. We’re back to mowing every 5-7 days, the veges are springing up which is great, unfortunately so are the weeds! 

We’re also busy weeding and pruning the bonsai. After a quiet few months with not much to do on the trees all of a sudden (it seems) everything needs pruning, weeding, more pruning and ever more weeding!