Moving Right Along.

Yesterday  morning we spent an hour at our lawyers signing documents. At 4.45pm we went unconditional on the ( only ) property we wanted to buy.
The lawyers were holding us up trying to straighten out   some minutiae. We could see we were going to miss our 5 pm deadline so were stressing to the max. We asked in writing  ( email ) for them to send the money across to the seller's lawyer. We know the sellers as yet have nowhere to go and we did not want to give them the chance to call the whole thing off.
 It was a huge relief just before 5 to hear the money arrived and we were now committed to guying the property. Phew!
 Our new place which we will shift to in the first few days of next month  is only 2 kilometres away from here. It has a very large garden with lots of fruit trees and a little jetty at the bottom of the last part of sloping lawn. As soon as we get there I will show you lots of photos.
 Meanwhile I have been packing smaller fiddly things. Grandson ( now 2 years 8 months old ) will feel reassured that ALL the wooden vehicles are moving with us. Along with all the other toys and books. I bought 6 large Sistema plastic tubs for my fabric stash. That was the first thing I packed.There is of course lots of equipment and books as well in my sewing cupboard.

 My lovely Daphne bush has decided to flower now so I get to see it and I have picked some for the kitchen window sill.

 It will of course be staying put as will the waterlily bowl beside it. It has a crack that would not let it be transported without destroying itself.

 I will miss my garden very much but can look forward to seeing what comes up in the new one and then making some changes there. I know we will be enlarging the vegetable patch ( but at least it has one established ).

 The carpet got finished!

 Meanwhile I have had a birthday ( 7th ) and a nasty throat and cough which lasted 2 weeks went away then the cough came back and is still with me.

 Today R had a medical appointment so I went along and walked in the sunshine. Good thinking as it is now raining. I am sure 45 minutes Vit D must have helped. I am consuming  Vit C at an excessive rate and trying to get plenty of rest.....that part not working quite so well. Stress may have something to do with it too.

 Never mind things are moving along now and we are looking forward to our retirement.

 ( Will I still want to call this blog, The Quilting Orchardist? )

Finishing Well.

Finally, finally the kiwifruit picking happened last Thursday and Friday in fabulous fine weather - so lucky! Since then BOP has had appalling weather.

 A picker emptying his load into the bin. There were 2 ladies in the gang of 22 .

 They were a happy lot on the whole and worked very hard to make the most of the fine days. They have been having lots of down time this season because of the many, many rainy days.

 We had 4 tractors ;each tractor pulls a trailer that holds 3 bins. All our tractor drivers were older chaps one was 83! He did so well.

 Rob doing some adding up as they go.... Tallies must be accurate.

 The drivers levelling out the top of a full bin.

 The bin trailer gets tilted and the bins slide off as the tractor moves forward.

 The truckie talking to the forklift driver who stacks 3 bins high and lifts them into the truck.( 30 or 32 to a truck ) 

 We were happy with the bin tally. There was some sooty mould we knew that would show up but the fruit is big and the final dry matter test came out very high so that means the fruit will taste good.

 For us this is huge! This was the 36th Export crop of kiwifruit we have grown. We have lived here 40 years and planted it all when we arrived here. So our FINAL crop. .....as we have sold the orchard. It becomes unconditional in 2 days time. The new young owners have been here watching and learning while  picking happened. They are very keen.

 Strangely the selling didn't prove to be the hard part as we thought....finding a new place to buy is far harder. There is one we really like but are not sure if our offer will be enough. I do so hope so cause we can find much else that suits our needs ( must have a workshop / shed and a sizeable garden for fruit and veges. ) that's the hard part there are lots of lovely houses with tiny sections.

 Other things. The carpet layer STILL hasn't come back to finish the part around the fireplace! 

 The new grass seed / lawn is looking fabulous . It's such a bright green colour.