Kia ora,
It was still mostly dry and quite warm still at the start of the month, although we did have to start lighting the fire on the 10th as the nighttime temperatures began to drop.
Peter has managed to buy another second hand loco – a Great Western 2800 class which he will renumber to match the one his dad, John, worked on at the Severn Valley. He now has 3 locos of the types he and John worked on. The fourth has not been made into a model yet. He is concentrating on adding more point motors and working on the scenery and waiting for the new numberplates for the locos. Unfortunately the new loco gave him a lot of problems so it has been relegated to the back of the engine shed on static display.
He’s now got a name for his railway Y Cwm (The Valley) and the village in it is Coed Bach (Little Trees).
Hamilton Gardens has opened a new garden, an Ancient Egyptian Garden. Ann was on shift the day it opened and Peter was there the next day.
All the hieroglyphs were hand painted over the last year by a local artist. Over the next few years the vines and ground plantings will develop giving the gardens a more mature look and feel.
We’ve been to a couple of book fairs this month. As usual Ann’s haul totally outweighs Peter’s at 12-1 and 11-2.
Pirongia village is expanding. There are 15 new houses that have just been started in the last couple of weeks, and over 30 sections around the village waiting for building to start. The local school is planning on installing several more classrooms.
Strong winds on the 18th to 21st damaged a couple of Ann’s bonsai and brought down one of the pine trees we were growing for firewood.
Peter spent the morning of the 22nd cutting the tree up for firewood as well as pruning a few others with the chainsaw.
Honey and Sox continue to demand their daily walks, followed by some sunbathing, pampering, a few treats and a lot of snoozing.
