TV & Chatsworth House:

The B&B

There is on television at the moment a series on Chatsworth House, in Northern England. Perhaps it is divided into one viewing for each season? It’s turned out to be only three sessions. We visited the area in 2008, staying at a B&B in one of the small villages on the estate. Holly Cottage it was called and we even saw a robin in their garden. It was all very interesting but somehow it felt uncomfortable. We walked through the villages and along some paths but the feeling that the streets and walks belonged to a person rather than the public was not very nice. New Zealand is now treading the same path which in my view is a

Chatsworth House

backward step. No doubt we trespassed as we had a look here and there. No one spoke as we went by exploring. Chatsworth House is imposing, really impressive inside and well worth a look. The paintings and artwork were quite stunning. We spent a whole day wandering around inside and then around the gardens. I watched a small group of fallow deer in the distance and I would have loved to stalk them and shoot them with my camera but I guessed that wouldn’t be allowed.

Friend David P. picked us up later and he took us up to a lookout to view the surrounding countryside. Grazing nearby were some Highland cattle with their shaggy coats and impressive horns. Chatsworth House has an interesting history and has lived through some turbulent times – something like today?

Shirl slips by under watchful horns.

Conservation
Paramatta Flats:
These flats are on the way to Cable Bay and fringe part of the inlet of Delaware Bay. A salt marsh, I’d say, rising to the small flood plain of the Wakapuaka River. We went out to this native plant restoration area to have a look at the progress made since we were there last. That time was to see how the new DOC200 traps that I had made being set up. The traps are now well used and it was great to see that all the new plants were growing well although needing some rain. Fernbirds inhabit the scrub near the inlet but we did not see any or much other wildlife either. Some tuis chased each other around flowering flax bushes and we passed a recent painting of a lizard on a roadside rock face.

Rabbit Island: All the rat traps on the three main traplines have ‘upgraded’. The Wetland trapline has been extended too. The upgrading consisted of painting the wooden and metal parts of the trap with a rust preventer type of paint, and when the paint dried, vaseline was spread on the metal parts. Hopefully this will extend the life of the traps considerably. The rabbit population seems to be expanding while the seabird nesting area has shrunk due I think to the recent high tides and an increase in the number of walkers nearby. When the 73 odd traps were checked this month, nothing was caught. Hopefully that is a good sign but we haven’t found any seabirds nesting either.

Tui on Flax

Will’s Gully: Shirl & I have made more progress on clearing the pest weeds along K-Slope (the strip of weeds that run parallel to Henry Road heading up towards Grassy Saddle) in readiness for more native planting next winter. Some time was spent just cutting with loppers and a slasher to make it easier for access for the chainsaw. I think we had three days with the chainsaw and now I have “chainsaw elbow”. The right arm is stronger but using the chainsaw, this arm just controls the power switch while the left arm supports most of the weight of the chainsaw. Well, after three days the left arm couldn’t take the strain anymore so that’s it for this year! The vines; Old Man’s Beard and Banana Passion vine, just smother the native trees and kill them eventually. When looking at the area first, it just looks like a carpet of green, so first I look for any tips of the leaves of any native tree peeping above the green mat, then I slash my way to this. The next job is to cut all the vines around the tree, releasing it from its prison. Once the still growing trees are released, I usually slash the vines into sections so I can reach them with the spray gun. Sometimes it’s best to just clear-fell the vines and a chainsaw is good for this work too. Cutting vines with a chainsaw seems a bit extravagant but there are so many of them. Roll them all away and then spot spray any regrowth. This last method saves using a lot of spray too.

If you hear anyone saying that the retired are a drag on the taxpayer, give them a good thump for me would you? I haven’t any energy left to give it myself.
Opinions?

Recent Roadside Rock Painting.

There is much talk of climate change, but this has been going on since the beginning. I think the main problem is a lack of population control. It has been going on and off for a long time, through wars and conflict, although we need some better method than that.  Surely the demands for destroying wild places would be less if there were less people? Reality is the wild places – not the Malls, cars and computers. Didn’t the earthquakes of Christchurch remind us of this?

A friend who lived through the Christchurch quakes told me that after many weeks of absolutely no normal services like power, phone, sewerage and water, his area was presented with a generator but there was the condition that it was dangerous and people must keep their children right away from it. He then asked if there were any questions and a number of hands started to be raised but after a slight pause, he continued, saying that if there was any disagreement or objections, he would send the generator to another needy suburb. The raising hands were quickly pulled down. Reality struck again.

In our area we have the council trying to foist an expensive water storage dam on all the local, and beyond, residents. The water is to be used to irrigate crops and I wonder who next will we be asked to subsidise? It’s just a pity the people charged with our well being seem to be more interested in their own agendas, forgetting about who actually pay their wages.

Rainfall for November at our place was 30.5mm so a little bit less than last year’s November at 41mm but well below our November average of 104mm.

Nearly another year at an end and we have the knowledge to make the next year a lot better. Let’s hope so. In the meantime, season’s best wishes and all the best for 2015.