[Ag-eq] The BlanchRanch Bulletin
Jewel
jewelblanch at kinect.co.nz
Sun Jun 28 05:49:47 UTC 2015
The BlanchRanch Bulletin for June 2015.
At 10am, June 4th, I was alerted to the fact that the bridge that spans the little creek that runs
through my River
paddock was under water, and the main river, the Mataura was rising with the sheep being on the
wrong side of the water.
Now, this had all happened very quickly as they, the sheep, had come in for their feed the previous
night and then, at some
time, had gone back across the bridge, so it, plainly, was not under water at that stage.
I rang "river watch" and found that all the tributaries upstream of Gore were falling, so I was not
worried about them,
knowing from previous experience, that the river had to be 2.9 metres above normal before the sheep
ran out of dry land to
which they could retreat, and with all the upstream tributaries falling, there was no way that the
Mataura was going to
rise to anywhere near that.
However, as the day went on, the river continued to rise and rise and keep on rising! where all the
bloody water was
coming from, only the powers that be knew and the BlanchRancher wasn't being let into the secret!
Much too late in the day, I started to hunt around for farmers who might be able to bring a vehicle
along to ferry them to
safety, but all the farmers that I knew were out looking after their own stock, and who can resent
that, but then I was
lucky! one of the people I had rung earlier in the day, realised that matters were looking rather
grim for my trapped
flock, so she contacted someone who contacted someone else and a truck and a large trailerv were
brought down and the sheep
were taken aboard, and not a moment too soon! They had gone as far up the paddock as was possible
and were knee deep in
water. They were very wet, and as it had not been raining, they must have tried to get through the
flood, and as I shear
only once a year, their fleeces were very heavy, so it was quite a task getting them up the ramp
into the trailer;
however, it was accomplished, and they were released into the paddock on the safe side of the
stopbank without them having
sustained any loss of life through drowning.
In previous years, during winter, I have kept them shut in the stockyard and barn, but this year, I
have left them out in
the paddock but they have free access to the barn where I keep hay in the racks.
I was feeding them twice a day, but then I found that they were only eating half of what I put out
daily, so I have reduced
it to once a day.
Rambo, the lamb that I bottle-fed 2 years ago still enjoys his dates, and is, always, the first to
come in!
It is quite a while since my last BRB, so you may not remember that I have had new sheds put up to
replace the old ones
that were still standing, held up by goodness knows what!
The day after the builders packed up and left, I went into one of these new sheds, shutting the door
behind me, and SHUT it
remained! Nothing I did would open that blasted door! Fortunately, for once, I had my cellphone
with me so was able to
summon assistance.
If I hadn't had it, which, I usually don't, I would have been trapped in that shed from Saturday
afternoon until Monday
morning which was when my home help paid her next visit.
Assistance did arrive but it still took a lot of ingenuity to get that door open! [Versatile, the
builders, had not left
me with the keys as they were not obliged to do until the council inspector had signed the job off].
It was, obvious, or it was to me, that the lock was faulty [all the other locks worked, perfectly],
but the manager of
Versatile didn't seem to be too bothered about it; however, to be on the safe side, I left that door
open for the
timebeing.
That time came to an end when I received this winter's hay supply, and as the bales were stacked in
that shed, the door had
to be closed, and do I hear you ask: why?
my guide dog, Guideon, had seen that I pulled the bales to bits, so, in his eagerness to be helpful,
he did likewise! Now:
this I could have lived with but as his * help went no further than just spreading the hay all over
the backyard, * help
it, really, was not!
I filled the bags with hay and then pulled the door shut as I left. All went ok for a couple of
days and then the door
locked, (fortunately, I was on the outside) but
the hay was not!
The sheds have a 5 year guarantee on them: not much of a guarantee for my outlay of 33,000 dollars,
if you ask me! I rang Versatile re the faulty lock! and I was treated like a stupid old woman who
didn't know her arse from her elbow: there was nothing wrong with the lock, it was me who didn't
know how to turn a knob!
The manager, Andrew Holden, eventually and very reluctantly said that he would come up. I suggested
that to save him driving all the way from Invercargill, I could contact the local locksmith. He
wouldn't
have that!
He, duly arrived, took the lock apart and reassembled it. It worked until the next day when it
locked again.
He said that he would not come up again, but would see if he could find someone in Gore who would
have a look at it, which was what I had suggested the previous day.
However, he contacted what must have been a friend of his, who he said would have a look at the
lock.
Graham, who Andrew had told me was a funeral director arrived. I impressed upon him that he was
here to look at the lock, not for any other reason.
Well, to cut a long story short, Graham must have contacted Andrew and told him that the lock was
faulty, because Andrew turned up at my door the next day and fitted a new lock, which, to date, has
performed without giving any trouble.
I get so furious when men will only listen to other men, and regard women as being ignorant dopes
who are as "thick as two short planks!" [a delightfully colourful New Zealand expression meaning
well! "as thick as two
short planks!" what can be clearer than that?
Yesterday, when I was crossing the yard to the hay shed, my foot contacted with, what I assumed was
a clump of weeds, but
when I bent down to rip them from the soil, I found that it was not a clump of weeds, but a clump of
hay made up of, not
one slab but several! Had I been careless and left the shed door open? no I had not!
It was my habit to leave the door open when I was stuffing hay into the bags, and Guideon wouldn't
take the hay when I was
there: now would he? Oh silly, gullible me, of course he WOULD!and why? because he COULD! his
sleight of hand, or to
put it into doggy language, his sleight of paw, claw and jaw is a wonder to behold!
Some soppy dog owners, the owners being soppy, not the dogs, have persuaded themselves, and, if they
can, others that smart
dogs don't have any of the less attractive attributes of their human companions: less attractive
atributes like taking
advantage of that companion! "Pull the other one, it's got bells on it!"
I am, i think, quite fond of the rotten sneaky sod, but he knows damned well that I can't see what
he is up to and,
provided he is quick and quiet, he can get away with murder!
Now, passing on to matters meteorological.
As I may have mentioned at the beginning of this bulletin, the month started with what was, really,
a very moderate flood, and since then, the river has been up and down like a yoyo, but despite that,
we have had, relatively, little rain, no major frosts and, generally, a fabulous winter.
when one compares the
weather that we, in Southland, are having against the dreadful weather further north and more so in
the North Island, it is, nigh on, perfect. A comment that I often find myself repeating is:
"Southland! New Zealand's best kept secret, and long may it remain so!"
As I said, The North Island has been experiencing very heavy rain. Whanganui and surrounding areas
have been
badly hit with many families having to be evacuated from flooded houses and properties.
I have devised a new seasonal almanac for the BlanchRanch.
As you know, the solstices and equinoces fall on:
winter solstice for the southern hemisphere/summer for the northern: June 21;
vernal/fall equinox: September 21;
summer/winter solstice: December 21;
autumn/vernal equinox: March 21.
Before I drew up the revised BR almanac, I started the season on the date of its solstice/equinox:
thus the first day of winter was the winter solstice June 21, and so on, while the met office
started them on the 1st of that month.
The new almanac has the opening day of the season falling exactly midway between the preceding and
the following astronomical event, so now, on the BlanchRanch (to hell with what Hughie, the weather
god says) winter begins May 6, spring: August 6th, summer: November 6, and autumn: March 6th.
Well folks! That's it I guess!
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