Preparing for winter at Warblers Retreat

Covid-19, Day 2, Friday 27 March 2020

Up at 5.30, it feels like normal, there’s lots of computer work to be done now while it’s dark so I can get outside when it’s light – well that’s the plan, it doesn’t always go like that!

I am on catch up in many areas, so it’s really nice to have the chance to do so and not feel so swamped.  Reconciliations on Xero are the main focus at the moment, yuck!  I let it get behind as we got busy and year end is just around the corner.  Hell, it’s nice to have this time!  I bet many businesses will have the jump on end of year accounts, early this year!

Daily Update

We watched the daily announcement by Director General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, of the number of new covid-19 cases in New Zealand;  85 today, another significant rise.  We have been able to watch most of these media releases live, and now it has become a guessing game as to where the numbers will be.  Initially, for many days, it was one new case,  then it jumped to two, four, then eight, 11, 13, 14, then it sky rocked to 36, 43, 50, 78 and now today, 85.  I am sure many New Zealanders will be doing the same – hanging out for the number each day in the hope that it starts dropping back.   When will the turning point be?  The good news is that the number of recoveries has increased over the past few days, 12, 22, 27 and today 37, and, to date nobody has died.  Fingers crossed!

Lunch time was interesting 

A cousin had sent out an invitation to join him as he was trying out a new online gym session.  He runs a successful fitness portal in Wellington.  I must admit, fitness at Warblers Retreat comes naturally, there’s hardly a day that you don’t get a reasonable work out, even if it’s only walking between the Cottage and the Lodge!  I participated in the fitness session as one of his guinea pigs!  It reminded me of warm-ups for hockey games, but the best part for me was playing.  And while I can see this would be a brilliant option for many, and would be very good for me, I think I will continue to get my fitness mainly from working here, especially in the garden.  Although, I must admit,  it has made me think I wouldn’t mind playing a bit of tennis on a regular basis.  Something I would never have considered because there was always too much to do, but mostly stuff I like to do!  I wonder how many others are like me, so much to do all the time that recreation goes out the back door.    I wonder whether there will be that opportunity when we go back to a ‘new’ normal.  

Crane work and firewood

Dave was out with the crane truck and the chainsaw again.  He thought he was almost done when he found another dead standing kanuka behind the Sanctuary.  Anther tricky manoeuvre as, once again it was near power lines, and, right beside the Sanctuary of which we have recently lovingly restored!  I know Dave likes a challenge, but I hate it when it’s risky work with the crane truck, and with removing trees.  Once again, he carefully manipulated the boom to nudge the tree in the right direction after having stropped and chopped the base.  The only casualty was an old garden pot of mine.  Pretty good really.  Imagine having an incident while the nation is in isolation, that would be terrible.  To put others at risk to come and get you, would not cut it, plus who would want to be in hospital at the moment – no thank you!   By the way, the wood shed is looking pretty good, best supply we have had for a long time!

Collecting compost from the bottom of the hen run.

More compost and vege gardening

I spent the remainder of the day in the front vege garden.  It had rained slightly in the morning so the ground was nice to work with. More compost from the chook run, and a general tidy up of the garden and potting shed, plus a few more veges planted.  We have such a cool composting system.  Our hen run is on a slope.  We throw our food scraps to the hens, who pick at them and with the help of gravity, a bit of rain, and some hen scratching, the scraps all end up at the bottom of the run.  The hens consistently scratch over the materials on the ground, they turn it over and bathe in the loose particles, doing all that work for us!  I just go along and dig the compost out and put it back on the garden.  Easy as! We do regularly dump a load of mulch in their run, just to give them new supplies, and they love scratching through it to find new bugs and insects. 

Wrap Up

After shifting a load of mulch onto the bottom native garden area it was then time to shower and prepare for our distantly, 6pm neighbourly meet.  With a bit of light rain, our fat friendly thrush joined us momentarily, as did the neighbour’s boys who delighted in rolling tennis balls down the rainwater channel in the drive.  I love seeing kids make their own fun outside 

Another great day in Pare-dise!