June 29, 2010: It's Been a While...
...since the last blog. Thought I'd better sneak another blog in before the end of the month. The last blog started with a note about having to exercise restraint in eating chocolate...we tried, we really tried! We managed to ration the chocolate...and stretched it out over ...5 days. Guilt, guilt. Two bars of chocolate per day. Please, no more chocolate. Did I tell you how much Kelvin likes coffee...?

The last two weeks has been a blur. We've been busy. We finally got our dog play area fenced in...well some of it. Digging holes for fence posts through rock and in the hot Welsh sun was punishing! But, since we could not get a fencing contractor interested in coming to our place to help us out, nor could we afford it, we decided, in true New Zealand style, to do it ourselves. It was a case of having to as our youngsters are looking for any route to sheep...and we have sheep looking for any escape route.

New fencing around the dog play area

This was my trusty post hole digger, until we hit a rock! Useless after that.

Now, for all you fencing gurus, if you're wondering why we used strainers for fence posts it's all we had! A bit of overkill but what the heck.

We did have help! Two 'angels' from the Netherlands (Steve and Marja) arrived on our doorstep one evening asking if they could train their dogs at our place. "Yes, of course" we replied. Little did we know that they would stay and help us with a million things, including getting the wiring up on the fence. Without them, we'd still be at it...as Kelvin was in the middle of school report cards and grading university papers. We swear Steve and Marja were heaven sent. At least, that's what it feels like! We will see them again this week. Steve...we have more wire ready for you. :-)

I shudder to think how many more post holes are left to dig but gate posts are going to take priority.

The photos above give a wee taste of just how dry it has been in Wales. Despite our best efforts, the grass simply won't grow in our dog play area. It has been hot, hot, hot here. We did have one day of rain which is now a distant memory but nothing of late. We are starting to worry about water for our stock but we are better off than most of our neighbours who are out of water for their cattle. On both sides of us are dairy farmers and they are having to truck water in for their stock. Because we have 11 natural springs on the property, we are still OK for water but we are using bare minimum. Our stream running down the right hand side of our property has a small amount of water high up the hill but none coming down to the lower fields or in to the training field. Our drinking water is OK for now. Of course, we do have a swimming pool full of water too!

Oh, we finally got our swimming pool fixed and it's almost warm enough to jump into. Mind you, it has been so hot that even a cold pool has been enticing. Nah, I'll wait for it to get a degree or two warmer yet.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've been attacking thistles with renewed enthusiasm. One day I even walked all the way up the hill with the spray pack. To be honest, my knees did not like that but now that the borrowed quad bike has had a tyre repair, I can get up the hill more easily and have a good go at the many thistles still thumbing their noses at me. I've been brushcutting soft rushes as well. Now if only I could attack the gorse (Chainsaw needs fixing too!).

I did escape the farm with some Swedish friends to go trialling on Saturday. We all went off down to the Islwyn Trial. I like this trial as it has a nice relaxed atmosphere...and the top of the outrun is blind! Love trials with a blind outrun and lift. None of us had any luck. My dogs had to once again suffer my poor navigation skills and Meg uncharacteristically gripped off at the pen. I was not unhappy with how Meg and Sioux ran in the hot conditions. The sheep could be difficult! Some people had a 'run ending' ewe right from the start and never got past the fetch. At least I got sheep that I could get to the pen with...but my penning skills let me down once again. Oh well, back home we go to try to work on that. With the weather being so hot during the day, training is only really possible first thing in the morning and in the evening.

Our garden is flourishing...although we have lost some rhododendrons and an oak tree to the heat.

Finally, we wish Keith (Kelvin's head teacher, mentor and super nice person) a speedy recovery.