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Cloudy with a chance of meatballs

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  Actually we are hoping for real rain but only after we get a spigot on the tank, connect it to the rain gutter and find a way to close off some of the openings. Meatballs might knock it off its current lovely bed. Before putting in the new concrete tank (see the blog about "to fetch a pail of water" ), we moved this tank from in front of the house to just behind the chicken shed. Due to the rocky and uneven ground, placing the tank required making it a sand bed. To keep the sand in its bed, we had to place the frame on the ground and make it level. Since Scott is still on restricted arm-waving (and hammering and lifting), I provided the brawn while Scott provided the brains and running commentary.  Note the water tank behind the frame in the picture below. That also got moved from the lower orchard. Also note the steep red clay behind that tank. That was similarly under a layer of rocks, tenacious grass and hard dirt. Some parts were harder than others! But we got the frame...
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Lest we forget

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      Manawatu Business Chamber's Post Today is ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) Day, a day of remembrance for the entry of Australia, New Zealand and Tonga into World War I at the Battle of Gallipoli. There are parades, sunrise services, memorial services and days off (Friday and Monday for many folks). We went to Moruya on Thursday and the stores were packed. We were there to pick up antigen for my Q fever skin test. We are considered higher risk (veterinarians with sheep and lots of kangaroo poop around in the gardens) and can get vaccinated; but the vaccine can be nasty if you are already exposed. The antigen was on back order for awhile and I had to go get it within a week of their getting it. Hence the trip to the pharmacy in Moruya.  We snuck into the Tool Library yesterday (they got a grant to have a few trailers of tools that you can "borrow" or "rent" for a few days. We got lots of fencing equipment and a trailer so that we could lug the n...
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... to fetch a pail of water

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  Our tank is now in place. It was quite the production. They set up molds and poured the concrete on site. We were most impressed that they removed the molds from the manhole in the top. This also meant the workers had to be removed from the tank! The tank now cures for 10 days and then we can let it start to fill. Of course, there is no rain on the horizon. We are in for an El Nino year so the winter may be pretty dry.  We have now convinced the sheep to go into the working pen. No work done with them yet and no promises they will stay long enough to be worked on. I went into the co-op on my own because the bumpy road really hurt Scott's incision. I asked about sheep bribery and came home with a bale of lucerne (alfalfa). They do like it! I didn't get a picture of all 5 in the pen but this one was close.  We also went into Moruya to get Scott's incision checked (he had to go with me on this trip). On the way back, we picked up a lawn mower.  Yes, we have several bu...
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An apple a day

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  Apparently Scott hasn't been eating enough apples. All is good now! Above is the view from Scott's hospital window. Scott was diagnosed with a triple fascicle block (poor conduction in heart chambers). This put him at risk of collapse and other heart issues. Not great when you don't live in the country. His doc recommended a pacemaker.  He had been taken to the prep area prior to getting the pacemaker implanted when I took the photo. It was evening as his surgeon was running late and pacemakers are relatively easy to place so get scheduled after more major procedures. Apparently it was another 90 minutes before he actually went into the OR. Since it was late in the day, I couldn't see any updates on the scheduling link that was designed to show me his progress; not great for nerves. Luckily, they let me hang out until he returned to the room about 9:30pm. This made for a very long day since we started the morning in Cobargo, about 3 hours away from the hospital. The p...
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Jack and Jill went up the hill

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  We have been moving a water tank instead of fetching water. But we definitely had hills involved.  Note the two tanks below the retaining wall on the lower right of the image above. There is third tank up by the house. But, since, we are mostly using rain water and we are in a fire zone, we want more water on hand. Those lower tanks are in the spot where we want to put the larger concrete tank. We just emptied and moved the white one. This involved Scott doing a lot of digging to free it from the surrounding grasses (tenacious things) and then careful dragging it to the new site. The new site was on a hill so we moved sand from the first area to the new one and packed it under the tank.  Betty (the truck) again came to the rescue and we were able to tilt the tank just enough to work sand under it.  We haven't yet tried putting water back in it. Hoping the travel across the lawn didn't damage the bottom! My legs are saying it is time for a break.  While Scott w...
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Little Miss Muffet

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  Miss Muffet gets top billing but we all know it is really about the spider. This gorgeous one is a St. Andrews Cross spider. I saw it when coming back from my run one day. [I see things better after a run since I walk REALLY slowly coming up our steep drive when returning.]  A couple of days later, the web looked like this Hence the name. Per the latest ( link worth reading ), the cross reflects ultraviolet light, attracting insects. I think this one caught a moth.  This guy was not so pretty IMHO. A wolf spider . Two were hanging out in the back yard when I was moving stuff around. Not aggressive toward humans but actively hunt their prey (insects) vs waiting for prey to get stuck in a web. Someplace in that head are 8 eyes arranged in 3 rows.  The one below was also spied on a return up the drive.  We have seen several red-backs in the garage and around the house. Those suckers are dangerous so usually go for insect killer vs camera. This image is from wik...
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