Go to Town

Last week, Saturday was the 'day for everything'.  That means loading up the van, checking the trailer hitch (which hasn't been unhitched for weeks it seems) and heading off towards the Big Smoke.

At Little Smoke, the first stop is to do laundry (took ages because I had to quarry rock hard laundry powder out of the drawer where all the soaps and lotions go - someone had tipped a whole box in there; every compartment. Covering their options I guess; not everyone can read), empty the toilet, fill the water tanks. Three jobs all at the service station so very convenient.

Strangely the rubbish station was closed until midday. On a Saturday? Seems odd to me so I dragged the two bags of haylage wrappers down to the Big Smoke and off-loaded them at the hi-tech waste station there - weighbridge in, weighbridge out, pay at the kiosk like a Channel ferry ticket booth.

Now the good stuff - called at the ReUse shop and bought 2 wooden cabinets of drawers and a cream wool blanket (for avocado dying in due course), then set a course for the hardware store. (The list said leather gloves, bracing strap. I added paint stripper. However by the time I came out there were drawer handles and picture hooks, screws of various kinds and scrapers.)  And there was a plant sale on in the carpark. I hadn't gone prepared for that but never one to pass up cheap plants if they fit my plans, I bought about 30 native plants for $2 each and another 10 in bigger pots for $5 each.

The Kowhais I promised Mr T.

Griselinia (Broadleaf)

Back to original plan - across the road to a plant nursery for straw and a Tuscan Blue Rosemary. They had no straw and I got their last rosemary. 1 out of 2 ain't bad and I'd spent the straw funds on plants anyway.

Supermarket next. That is always a trial. New Zealand has the highest food prices in the world and I don't understand why. I know our growers receive no subsidies or financial incentives and in theory we pay the price they could get if they exported their production. If so, then no one in the world would want to import our overpriced produce - but clearly they do - and our weekly shop is exhorbitant. Its about 5 times what I would have paid for similar quantities of fruit, veg, cheese and yoghurt, and coffee in Greece in 2022.  I have no idea how people feed a family or afford the vaste quantities of processed foods that fill the bulk of supermarket shelves - aisles I never venture into except to buy olive oil as a rate treat.

That needed a coffee in the nearest cafe and some time to contemplate the To-Do list.

Fuel for the van, gas for the stove, and a roll of netting to make a rabbit-resistance fence around the veg garden… Fortunately all 3 items could be cleared off by going to the retail park at Westwood. From there it is only a 1 block backtrack to get on the back road out of town to pick up a trailer load of horse manure, leave a bottle of wine for the landowner who lets me take this black gold for free, and head home.

Monday job…

Although a hot nor'westery day in Blenheim, it was raining lightly back out at the Ranch. Even so I shovelled the black gold into barrowloads and tipped it on the garden. If rain was going to start leaching its goodness, I didn't want it happening on the trailer.

Phooped.

I need to catch up on blog reading so if some comments appear a bit out of time it's just me working back through the posts I missed last week.