After months at sea...

At last! After four months (mostly at sea), our UK belongings have been delivered! It's surprising the things we're most glad to receive. It's not the big things, but things like:

• Wellington boots (referred to as gum boots over here) which will make walking the dogs and tending the vines during these harsh Winter months a lot more bearable!
• Photos, pictures and even the occasional ornament, which really make this home feel like our home.

So, with supervision from Milly and Ned, we've been hard at work today, emptying around half of our 90+ boxes. The kitchen is now fully stocked, the wardrobes full of our clothes and our newly fitted-out office is now also kitted-out with all our gadgets and gizmos.

Tomorrow it's time for us to find homes for books, DVDs and maybe a few CDs and then we can finally put all our furniture in the rooms for which they were intended.

Budding footballers

Yesterday we bought Ned and Milly a cheap plastic football. They loved it –especially Milly – but burst it within minutes.

Today we bought them a more solid fake leather one thinking it would last longer – we were wrong! They both really love footballs but only when they’re deflated and they can both tug at part of it.

They spend ages trotting up and down the garden with it in their mouths – sharing it. Milly just wants to get it and shred it whereas Ned seems content to shake it a lot and torment Milly.

First job in the vineyard

Early this morning our new neighbour, Bruce, came over to show us how to take the nets off the vines. His neighbour, Murray, also came on his tractor with a trailer carrying his invention that made removing the nets easier.

Before

Bruce did the first net for us then James did the other four.  It only took about an hour and was made much easier with Murray’s invention.

James bagging the nets

The grapes are still on the vines as they hadn’t really been looked after by the previous owner and hadn’t ripened enough to make wine. They should have been thinned out so there were too many grapes. 

We have decided to swap some of the red vines for white. We have 420 vines – all Syrah (Shiraz). We are going to replace half of them with Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc so we have a mixture of red and white.

Bruce is going to look into grafting the white vine cuttings onto the roots of the red. The roots are well established and this should give us a good crop of white sooner.

The next thing we have to learn is how to prune the vines. Bruce is going to show us how to do that in a couple of weeks when all the leaves have dropped off.

After

Ned inspecting our work

Ned and Milly's first day together

Ned and Milly both slept through the night. I got up about 6.30 this morning to let them out. They still seem to like each other which is good.

I went to the market and to walk the dogs on my own this morning while James stayed at home looking after the dogs. We didn’t want to leave them on their first real day together.

We’ve told the SPCA that we are going to keep Ned so we have to go and sign the paperwork next week. Usually the SPCA ask for $250 to adopt a dog but Ned has been there so long that he’s been reduced to $1!  James keeps telling him he’s a bargain for 47p J We’re going to give them $250 for him anyway – he’s worth it!

After lunch we took Ned and Milly to the domain in the centre of Kerikeri – it’s a big park with play areas and trees all around the edge which the dogs found fascinating. We should be taking them to obedience lessons, there starting next week, so we thought we’d get them used to it first.

Ned’s a bit freaked out by most things because he’s been at the kennels for so long. We haven’t managed to get him out of the car anywhere until Milly arrived. 

On the way home we stopped and got a toy each for Ned and Milly. They both really like to play. Ned was very taken with his toy but he left it unguarded and Milly promptly ripped out all the stuffing! He‘s still happily carrying it around but it no longer squeaks.

Milly seems to be settling in really well so far. Ned is a bit jealous and won’t let her have any individual attention but I’m sure he’ll get used to it.

Milly

Today we drove to Auckland to pick up Cutie (now Milly). We left at 9am and took Ned with us. We had the option to take him back to the SPCA kennels but neither of us had the heart to take him back – even for the day.

He was fine – he sat on the back seats and snored most of the way! We stopped to let him out for a bit but he really likes being in the car so just wanted to get back in. 

We arrived at the kennels in Auckland at about midday. Ned didn’t really like the noise of the other dogs barking but he liked Milly straight away. She didn’t seem to mind one way or the other about Ned.

We put Milly in the back of the car and Ned back in the back seat.  As we drove home they occasionally sniffed each other approvingly. 

When we got home we let them both off in the back garden. They started to chase each other but Ned couldn’t keep up with Cutie. He became quite clever though, realising that if he ran smaller circles inside her larger ones he could sometimes catch her.

After they were both exhausted they came inside. They follow each other around the house at the moment and seem to really like each other which is good.

Milly ate all her dinner which is a good sign – most of the greyhounds we’ve fostered wouldn’t eat on their first day in their new home.

They’re both currently asleep on their beds J

Ned and Cutie

The fence was finished on Thursday so we now have a fully enclosed section of the garden.

Today we have Ned with us. He’s staying with us for the weekend to see how he gets along. We picked him up this morning at about 9.30am.  He willingly jumped into the back of the car and then immediately over onto the back seat! As we drove home he was happily rolling on his back.  He was a bit unsure when he first came into the house – he’s been living at the kennels for two years so hasn’t spent much time inside.

We walked him around the perimeter of the whole garden so he could see what was there. Unfortunately, when we got down behind the vines there was a dog in our garden from the farm behind us.  This got Ned very excited! The dog went back to his own garden, cleverly negotiating the electric cattle fence to get there.

Ned seems to be very intelligent. He already understands that the big soft cushion in the lounge is his bed and seems to understand when we tell him to go there.  He did have a minor accident up the curtains in the lounge but we’ve put that down to scenting as there were dogs living here not too long ago. He hasn’t done it again... so far.  We’ve been taking him out at regular intervals on the lead in the fenced section so he can get accustomed to where he needs to go to the toilet.

After lunch we were feeling a bit braver so we decided to let him have a run in the fenced area. Armed with treats and a ball we stood at either end and managed to call him back and forth between us.  He certainly loves to run! Unlike the greyhounds we’re used to, Ned seems to run straight into us! He has lots of energy and was very happy to run free. We’re being a bit cautious at the moment as he still seems a bit keen to get through the gaps in the fence and we’re not too sure if he can or not yet.

Last week we had a home check by GAP (Greyhounds as Pets – the only greyhound re-homing centre in NZ). The lady brought one of her greyhounds with her – Gizmo – who was very sweet.  We then had a phone call on Thursday morning from Irene at GAP to say that they thought Cutie would be suitable for us with Ned. She’s four and currently in a foster home in Wellington.  She likes to play so Irene thought she’d get along with Ned as he’s very energetic. It may be a few weeks before she gets to us though as Wellington is at the other end of the island to us and they have to work out the logistics of getting her up here.  It’s about a twelve hour drive from us to Wellington so she may have to have a couple of overnight stays on the way. These are some pictures of her from the GAP website.

Little Blue Tractor?

Today saw the departure of several thousand dollars, but the arrival of an exciting new toy!

For the garden geeks among you, it's an MTD Yardman (LT20-A). It has a 750cc V-Twin engine and it channels its mighty 20HP through an automatic gearbox. It has 10 cutting heights and a simple, two pedal drive system (right-foot accelerator, left-foot brake). There's even a drinks holder (which seems specifically designed to hold beer cans). Oh, and should insomnia strike (and if I feel like sharing my sleeplessness with the neighbours) it has headlights :)

Finally, assuming Norwich City can keep up their fine run of form, I can pretend I bought it in Canaries colours to celebrate their return to the Premiership!

Now, brace yourself for some gratuitously bare legs...

You were warned!