I know I should have done a blog post earlier in the week, but as I've said before, things just get away on you up here with no apparent warning! Last week we discovered that 30 hectares of brassica crop that we had just sown for summer feed for lamb fattening had a slug issue. This of course meant that I had to go down and spend over 3 hours one evening spreading slug bait all around the crop with the aid of the quad bike and fert spreader. All I can say is Thank God for the Ipod. Going around and around in circles in a paddock left to my own thoughts would have driven me crazy. Some women go out to cafes for their time out, not me, I spread slug bait! Thought we had got on top of the issues with the crop only to have the Wrightsons rep turn up to tell us that we had a massive infestation of greasy cut worm (Agrotis Ipsilon). I had never heard of greasy cut worm, but now know all about it! For the benefit of anyone else who doesn't know it is the larvae of a moth type thing that originated in Australia. The caterpillar itself is about 50mm long and has a sharp cutting mouth which runs along the rows of sprouting brassica and nips them off at ground level. Poor old Scott had to go straight out and spray the paddock, as soon as the spray arrived from Gisborne. This all occurred at 7pm so Scott was out spraying until nearly midnight and then back again at 5am the next day. He was pretty grumpy I can tell you! Just as well we went to Whakatane and went fishing!
Fishing was great. It was Madi's first time out at sea in a boat. Weather was pretty good considering but not the best for fishing. We went out through the Whakatane bar and then motored up to Matata. Fished in water 30-50m deep. Caught snapper, tarakihi and blue cod. Would have caught more but had a terrible time with Barracudas coming up to the boat frightening the fish away and tangling all the lines! Still had a great time though.
Schooling is coming along nicely. Not impressed at all the art that has to be done. Today we have been tye-dyeing which makes a hell of a mess. The intinerant teacher is due to visit us tomorrow and I noticed in his letter to us he made a point of asking for the dogs to be tied up...guess he doesn't want his laptop bag being peed in again! Have had a few issues with Madi's science project. Iwa the dog decided it would be a good idea to pick up her trays of seeds and distribute them around the lawn just as they were beginning to sprout. We have had to start that experiment all over again but have learnt that things must be put out of reach of animals and small children! Speaking of small children, Jimmy is coming home this weekend from Hawkes Bay. Have missed him quite a lot, but no doubt will be pulling my hair out within minutes of arrival back home.
Scott is busy busy this week. He has a board meeting and the Partnership Annual General Meeting in Gisborne this weekend so has been flat out writing reports and finishing budgets and associated spreadsheets. When I say Scott has been doing it, I should actually say he has been standing over me while I complete them for him! Hence part of the reason I haven't completed the blog!
Off to the creek and river this afternoon to try and catch some whitebait. I think the season may be finished but we are only catching them to look at and then let go. We went down to the beach on Monday and saw heaps of them but didn't have a net. Purchased a butterfly net today as that was all that was available in Ruatoria which hopefully will do the trick. If not, I am sure the kids will have a lot of fun trying. I may try to get some photos.
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