Hello friends and family I am home again after a wonderful time with the family. I caught up with friends, brothers, cousins and all my offspring, partners and grand kids. They are all in fine fettle and a pleasure to be with. My travel was straight forward this time with no delays or challenges and I was even able to bring home 30 shrubs from Southern Woods in Christchurch to plant here and in the Moeraki reserve. The only problem encountered on my return was that rats had eaten the tomatoes that I had left ripening in the hot water cupboard – a lesson for the future! Jan came out on Tuesday, so we did an audit of the penguin houses in the Katiki reserve. On Wednesday, with Robbie’s help, we began to fix the problems and just as we finished lunch we got a call from Fleur about an injured Albatross. It had been accidentally hooked by a fisherman and the chef at Fleur’s had done an excellent job of removing the hook. It needed rest and quiet to tidy its feathers. On Thursday morning I watched it fly off the clifftop and back out to sea. Robbie came back on Friday and we re-located 4 nest boxes and cleared the path to another one. Job almost completed! We still have a few rabbit burrow entrances to block off. The rabbits do like to burrow in the nest boxes to have a dry entrance-way. Yesterday, Hiltrun, Jan Patrick and I cleared some more tangled jungle down the hill in the morning and Elaine visited to see the microscope in the afternoon. Jan donated blood, so we set up a slide. We can now connect it to the computer and see the field of view on the screen.
Have a great week! Rosalie Hello friends and family After planning out the planting for 100+ Cabbage trees the work began on Monday with Jan and Robbie’s help. I was of the view that little and often is the way to go, but with soft ground and quality help, we planted 14 on Monday afternoon. There was a cold wind from the south, but we are intrepid and digging soon warms you up. After those trees were planted, we went down the hill to plant 2 Taupetas and saw penguins playing in the waves which was a real treat – especially as there was a juvenile amongst them. Tuesday was town day and on Wednesday some domestic tasks made it to the top of the list – like repairing the back-door handle which was about to fall off. As it was dry enough to drive down, I delivered the stakes and plant protectors for the Cabbage trees. Jan came on Thursday and we cut trees in the morning and planted another 16 Cabbage trees in the afternoon. The day was beautiful and the work rewarding. All good! Robbie arrived on Friday morning and we cleared more Ngiaos before I went off to the Moeraki ladies lunch at the Boulders restaurant. I had seafood soup which was delicious. Yesterday was a great day with 5 of us working to tidy up the reserves.
Have a great week! Rosalie |
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October 2024
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