[Ag-eq] Update on The BlanchRanch Bulletin

[Jewel]

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From: "Jewel" <jewelblanch at kinect.co.nz>
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2014 2:28 PM
To: <GoatsPlus at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Update on The BlanchRanch Bulletin

Just an update on some of the activity at 31 Oxford Street Gore, Southland, New Zealand.


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Part 1:  A repeat but I hope that you will be so generous as to forgive it.

 At long last, my old sheds are being replaced with nice new ones from a firm known as Versatile,
who
specialize in prefab buildings    .  Although they are the same size as the old ones, they seem to 
be so
big:  the reason being, I think, is that the old sheds were wood and the inside of the framework was
lined, so that made a difference of 8 inches between the inside and outside measurements, while the
new ones are metal and are not lined, so there is that extra 8 inches.  8 inches doesn't seem much,
but it is, really, noticeable.
I have had a  reasonable lambing with the sheep.  I lost one ewe who had lambing difficulties, and a
couple of lambs have died, but, as is said, "Where there is livestock, there will be, as a matter of
course, deadstock".
I am going to sell my Romneys as the return on the wool, in today's market, is so poor that, with
the small number I have, I have to pay the shearer more than I get for  the wool.
I am hoping to buy some Dorpers.  The Dorper is a breed developed in South Africa, the founding
breeds being the Dorcettshire, that is the "dor, and the Persian Fat tail, the per.
The dorper is, principally, a meat sheep, and does not have to be shorn as it sheds what poor
quality wool it has.
I have been trying to buy a new milch goat:  Heidi and Minstrel, both  having died in May; however,
I have had no luck!
"The adventures of Peter Rabbit" have, I think, touching wood as I type, been brought to an end, and
he is still alive to reflect on those glorious days of freedom.  He escaped so many times that I
said he must have had the 9 lives of a cat, but, the other day, I found myself saying that he must
have had the lives of 9 cats

Part 2.
re builder and sundry tradesmen ignoring my explicit instructions!  It happens all the time, they
think they no more than a little old, and to make matters worse, blind lady who has the godawful
nerve to tell them what to do!  what would she know?  They go ahead and do it the way they want to,,
and it never works.  I say do it the way the client wants, and if it doesn't work, well it is the
client's responsibility.  Certainly, the tradesman can make his own recommendations, and the client
has the choice of whether he/she accepts them.
After the gang had packed up and gone for the last time, I looked at the job, which, on the whole
is, perfectly, acceptible, but then I came to my bath/supersized tub  arrangement in the new
laundry.  The * bath is one of the old, enormous castiron ones, not one of these modern plastic jobs
that can be lifted on one finger!  Its role in life will be where I can wash large items such as
blankets or a large dog.
I found that Sam had put up a framework similar to a cattle stall.  the top edge is about 30 inches
from the floor, so to get the bath in there would require 4 2 metre tall super heavyweight lifter
Olympic champions.  It looks as though the bath is to rest on its surrounding ledge without any
support from underneath which, as the bath when empty weighs a ton, just imagine what it would be
with a couple of hundred litres of water in it + aforesaid blankets or large dog:  definitely, not
satisfactory!
I didn't want it sitting on the concrete floor as it would be uncomfortable stooping that far down
to wash anything, so I suggested that a piece of heavy timber be bolted on its edge to the concrete
and then, once the bath/supersized tub was in place, have an upright bolted to it which would fit in
snugly against the side of the bath to prevent it wobbling.
I could have done it myself, but as I had skilled builders here, I left it to them after explaining
what I wanted.  I might as well have saved my breath.
Ian Smithies, the plumber and drainlayer has just been here to have a  look and he agreed with my
view.
Andrew Holden of Versatile will come up to have a look for himself.
They made no attempt to level up the yard:  it is akin to my tottering around in an abandonned
goldfield   never knowing  when I am going to take a header down a mine shaft, so I will get Trevor
Penson who did the initial site preparation to come back with his bulldozer and level up the ground.
At Versatile's request, I ordered 5 cubic metres of shingle as, due to the fall in the natural level
of the land, there was a gap of about 300ml between the back wall of the sheds and the ground.  The
shingle was supposed to fill up this gap!  what a cockermaney idea that was;  all the shingle would
have just worked its way out from under the wall, so I said that I wanted the wall to be brought
down to the level of the ground, which was done, and very neatly too,I am pleased to say!
However, I now have a 5 cubic metres heap of shingle for which I have no immediate use.  It could be
spread around the yard, but that would not be a good idea for, as well as the shingle, there is a
lot of very fine grit which would adhere to the soles of my shoes and would be walked into the house
every time I walked across the yard.

postscript:  I have just had a sighted guy here and the first thing that he said was that the shed
doors were of different heights and if he had to look at them, the varying heights would, really,
blow his mind, so "am I lucky or what?" as our good friend, Chet would say, that I don't have to!

             Jewel