Only working three days a week means four day weekends and, so far, I've been far more productive on my days off than in the whole of the summer. It's so nice to be able to chip away at jobs and keep the continuity going so that I can see my achievements at the end of the weekend. The only downside I can see is that payday is less but that's compensated by my task list getting shorter. Fine weather for the last two weekends has seen a number of changes around the place so let me fill you in.
Last weekend was rat trap time but I'll make that the subject of my next blog! My deer 'curtain' made from Mikroclima cloth (see last blog) worked fine until the rain came (making the curtain sag) and then the wind got up (which made it billow). The idea was great but the material was too heavy for the long line stretching from the garage to the deck. So Deer Curtain MkII was my challenge for this weekend; I've used the same idea but hung bird netting instead of Mikroclima and so far it's working very well. I had concerns about the birds flying into it (hence the flagging tape) but had plenty of chances to observe the wee ngirungiru as he flitted around me as I worked. He didn't seem to get caught in it so fingers crossed the other birds give it a wide berth too.
Next on the list was to make the steps off the deck safer; I'm still waiting for the builder to put in a wider platform and a handrail but in the meantime something needs to be done so they're not as slippery. I've given them a good scrub then affixed some netting which should work fine until the builder arrives.
I usually add some bleach to the water but didn't want to in case the ngirungiru landed on it. He's so curious about what I'm doing and was flying in and out of the steps as I worked.
My major achievement of the weekend was to finish Stage I of the firewood pile. The sun is too low in the sky to shine on the woodpile on the drive - and with the leaves decaying and holding the water, the wood was starting to rot. I've spent the weekend moving the wood on the drive, trimming the trunks and making piles: wood to cut with the bowsaw, wood to cut with the chainsaw, dry manuka for kindling - and then everything else in the biggest pile but heaped up high so it can dry better.
 |
| Late Saturday afternoon after having cleared a large area in the middle |
 |
| The piles are getting bigger |
 |
| Little ngirungiru keeping me company |
 |
| Late Saturday afternoon - looking toward road |
Today's effort resulted in the last two truckloads of macrocarpa being sorted out. I've still got a lot to do to make it into firewood but at last I've completed what should have been done in the first week it was delivered. I can now bowsaw and lop to my heart's content without worrying about the wood rotting on me.
 |
| Sunday afternoon - Stage I finished |
 |
Sunday afternoon - looking toward road. The water needs to be channelled
into the drain but I'm hoping the clearing that I did this afternoon will
help it drain better |
 |
| I got my Drain Clearing Badge today |
I checked my rat traps (see next blog) and found these kiwi probe holes in the moss by the clothes line.
