A Busy Time of Year.

It makes me sad when life gets so busy, for a variety of reasons, that I don't have time to update this blog. Never mind I'm back to doing it today.
 Firstly, things that are growing...we are picking lots of veges but the best and most rewarding for me have been these.....

 I have never grown this variety before. They are Whippa Snapper ( Snap peas ) from Watkins. They can be eaten raw or cooked pod and all...eat the whole thing except the stalk.( no waste! ) In the photo they are cross cut like you can do beans ; boiled for just a few minutes with mint; quite, quite delicious. Note the thick flesh of the pods, that's what makes them so juicy and versatile. Well, well worth growing and as I have them growing in just 2 short rows in different places obviously not fussy about location and did well in both positions. I will certainly be growing them again! 

 This pretty flower is a Feijoa ,  especially for Pamela who loves them. ( I think you call them some sort of Guava in Australia )I love them too and  hope for a good crop next  year .

In the orchard things have moved on. The Kiwifruit pollination is complete ; we have a massive looking fruit set ( work ahead thinning ) The bees however are still here as their owners are so busy. The bees are staying over till next Monday night ( they can forage in my garden, pollinate our vegetables , visit the wild flowers in the gullies or visit the avocados some of them are still flowering.) Here is a close up look at just a few of them busily working last week. See how the crawl upside down to get in the slit at the base of the hive - that's their doorway. They often crash land and push and jostle .

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 I am part way through lifting up and back all the rocks that are near our deck by the house. It is being renewed and extended starting next Monday  I have to make room for Graeme, a friend who is doing the job for us  to work. I have shifted and put into pots lots of bromiliads that were over hanging the boards  More for me to do on this job...but the weather sucks today. Showers every few minutes.and windy.( we were so so lucky with the weather during pollination!! )

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 We have had my only sister and her partner staying for a few days. Yesterday she and I went out to lunch and invited 2 cousins who live over in the Papamoa area about 35 minutes away, to join us.. We had a great old catch up. Here is a wee story I am sure they won't mind me sharing.

One cousin is exactly my age the other slightly older. Just recently they had a scary experience. The younger cousin had just arrived at the older cousin's home as they were going somewhere together. She was 10 minutes early.

 She had just stepped into the house when the husband of the older cousin had a massive heart attack while sitting in his chair. He is 78 but seems much younger. One took his feet the other his top half and they dragged him to the ground. Fortuitously the younger cousin had done a first aid refresher not too long ago so she started CPR while the older cousin got on the phone and called the ambulance.

( apparently you don't do mouth to mouth now ) Fortunately the ambulance was only about 10 minutes and they took over the CPR. They worked on him for 30 minutes before transporting him to hospital where efforts at resuscitation  were continued. He remained on life support for nearly 3 weeks. He thrashed around and talked nonsense. The family discussed turning off the life support with medical staff. One son who was there thought he heard some words that made sense. The others said he imagined it. This happened again so they decided to wait another 2 days. Quite unexpectedly he roused and gradually started calming and moving normally  and then talking.

 He is now home with a pace maker inserted and doing well. He is a keen reader and apparently required 98 % of his previous brain power to read. He can! He has no lasting side effects. Quite, quite remarkable. The medical staff were astounded. He was about 45 minutes with no heartbeat or breathing.

 The timing of events was amazing. A few minutes later and he would have been home alone. My 2 cousins said they surprised themselves with how well they coped.

 The moral of the story surely is don't be too hasty turning off a loved one's life support !.