Welcoming in the New Year…
Well it is been QUITE the first week of the new year for us.
We woke New Years morning to an eerie orange, sepia, type glow in the sky, which got darker as the morning went on. It was the effect of the enormous fires going on in Australia. That the smoke has made it over here, just goes to show how vast the fires are and how devastating it is for our neighbors actually living in it, terrifying !!!!!
The smoke has moved up the island and into the north island as the week has gone on.
We all have lots of books to keep us occupied as the weather has been very strange for this time of year. Certainly not a balmy start to summer!
We have started sorting out our packs for the the Kepler track, we leave next week. For those of you unfamiliar with the 4 day hike here is a link to it….
We have been out walking as much as possible in the odd weather we have been having
Hitting the beach too
The chicks were starting to protest at their confined living arrangements…
Rich banged together a temporary outdoor cage for them and they are MUCH happier out there. Will stay in there for another month and then can join the big hens.
The fruit trees have been looking great and I was envisioning lots of jams and chutneys!
Then a massive storm hit us.
The winds were incredibly high, trees came down, power cuts, roofs came off ,(not ours thank fully!!!), boats tossed about on their moorings and general mayhem ensued.
In the middle of it Diane had a massive feather loss and refused to go in out of the rain, so was sopping wet with no feathers along her back or under her belly, she looked dreadful. Then Luca and Pica were playing out in the wind and Pica fractured her elbow, (best vet guess, did not want to put her through a GA for xrays unless absolutely necessary so we are treating conservatively)!
Turns out Diane was having a unusually huge molt due to her post broodiness phase, and Pica is now doing well with lots of pain relief on board and forced rest. No cast necessary at this point if we keep her off it and rested. If she hits it again she is in trouble, so we have to be very careful.
Here is Pica, high as a kite on morphine and feeling pretty terrible on day 2, she is much brighter now thankfully.
Diane has settled down and regrowing feathers. According to the vet, apart from the feather loss and obvious disheveled look, she is the healthiest hen they have seen in ages 🙂
The trees on the other hand got quite the battering but I am hopeful we can salvage some fruit.
Speaking of fruit, Rich has been continuing to try and grow avocados from seed and for months we have had 5 of these set up on the window sill
Miraculously they ALL rooted and so have been transferred to soil and one is even sprouting!!!! Rich is VERY excited about this progress 🙂
Yesterday despite a low 15 degrees, the sun came out and the wind stopped at last, so Luca got out the slip and slide that he has been desperate to use. My crazy Canadian boys spent a couple of hours doing this…
They had a blast of course despite the cold!
I was so worried during the storm about the chicks, chooks and garden. Anxious we would lose some, if not all of them and kept getting up and going to check on the chooks/chicks especially. Thankfully we built both the coop and the garden in the most sheltered spots of the property so although lots of debri around, they all weathered the storm well.
Today was sunny again, if still on the low side temp wise. We are keeping out fingers crossed the weather continues to improve as want it good for the Kepler, time will tell……. 🙂