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Two alpacas in thick green grass

Officially Summer – and how lovely it is

The first days of summer greeted with a mixed bag of weather. The first day was coldish and still wet with quite some wind. But that all eased down on the second day which turned into a nice, dry and hot summer day featuring blue sky and green grass.

Kaipara Valley views with green paddocks and trees along the river
Kaipara Valley

Oh such happy animals. All of them. The cats, the chicken, the ducks, horses and alpacas.

The alpacas were shorn just a few days ago and we let them in the paddock with the lovely high grass. They enjoy hiding in there and playing – or spit fighting.

Georgia with her bunch of own and inherited (or collected) ducklings seems to be in good mood too, quacking and waddling along with 12 little fluffballs tumbling behind her.

A yellowish Buff Orpington duck with her ducklings
Georgia with her ducklings

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A photomontage of 4 different wasp traps made from coke bottle hung up

Wasp and Hornet traps

We typically put a waap trap up around the house in summer to keep the number of wasps at bay. This year, they discovered a queen yellow legged hornet in the early stages of building a nest in Glenfield on the North Shore in October, while two males were spotted earlier in the year in Grafton and Albany. It is the first time a Queen has been found in Aotearoa.
Closeup of some flowers

Spring has arrived – with its usual mixed bag weather.

“If you don’t like the weather, just wait 5 minutes.” Spring came with beautiful warm and sunny days, storm, hail, rain and sunshine in between. It was cold and a few hours later warm again and vice versa.
Cows steaming in the cold air against the sunlight

Winter done and dusted

There was nothing extraordinary to write about this winter, really. It’s not been too wet and not too dry, neither too cold or too warm. We had a few frosty nights and a few pretty rainy days but all in all it was reasonably warm and okay from a mud perspective.

And just like that it’s winter again

Feels like summer was just happening. Winter started off beautifully with warm days and sunshine over the long King’s birthday weekend.

Sunshine, rain and lots of grass

The sun has been more prevalent and the odd shower has helped all plants to grow a lot. It’s nice to see so much fresh green in various shades
sunrays through pinetrees with a glimpse of blue sky through the trees

Springtime is here

The weather is getting warmer, and the days are stretching out longer, giving us more daylight to enjoy. The rain is slowly becoming less frequent, making way for sunnier skies.