August 1909

Sunday 1st   It was a very wet day.  Very heavy rain fell, there was no lull all day, also in the evening.  Willie rode to Ti Point in the morning and hurried back, he got very wet.  Us others did not go out anywhere.  I occupied myself in writing letters.

Monday 2nd   It was a fine day, but the ground is very wet with all the rain we had yesterday, the wind was very squally from W & SW.
Willie went to Auckland in the “Kawau” which called in here at 10 am.  I went down to the wharf to see hm off.  I was preparing pickets & fixing kerbing.

Tuesday 3rd   It was a beautiful day, and the ground is drying up.
I was preparing pickets & fixing kerbing.  In the pm I went down to get the mail and I carried up a bag of sand.

Wednesday 4th   It rained very heavy before daybreak this morning, but it cleared up and was a fine day with the exception of a few showers,  the wind is from the W and blew rather strong.  I commenced to make some concrete steps in the flower garden.  Went down to the village in the pm to get the meat and carried up a bag of gravel.  There was a meeting in the Dacres Hall this afternoon at 2 pm called by the Directors of the Matakana Dairy Factory to make arrangements with the settlers round here for supplying milk or cream next season,  several went from here.

Thursday 5th   It rained heavily before daylight and was showery all morning, but was finer in the afternoon, the sun was nice & bright between the showers.  I was making the concrete steps and getting firewood.

Friday 6th   It was showering nearly all night, and there were several showers during the day, the wind was blowing very strong from the W.  I chopped a lot of firewood.  In the evening I went down for the mail and attended the Library.

Saturday 7th   It was a fine day with the exception of a few showers.
In the morning I was digging in the farm orchard.  In the afternoon I cemented the steps in the front garden.

Sunday 8th   It was very fine in the morning, but there was a long shower in the afternoon .  In the pm I took a walk up to Mr Banks and staid tea.

Monday 9th   It was a beautiful day not a drop of rain.  In the morning I was digging in the farm orchard, in the afternoon I plastered the front of the steps in the front garden.  Afterwards went down to post a letter and paper, carried up some gravel.  While I was down there the “Kawau” came in from Mangawai, there was some fish to go away.  John Greenwood had some turnips fatted sheep going away.  Ernest Wyatt, Joe Torkington and Mr Ansell went up by her.

Tuesday 10th   There was a frost this morning.  It was a very fine day.
In the morning I was digging in the farm orchard.  In the afternoon I was laying some concrete in the front garden, also fixing kerbing.

Wednesday 11th   It was a very fine day.  In the morning I did odd jobs.  In the afternoon I went over to the Pa to read the burial service over Mary Kewene who died last Sunday night and was buried in the Maori Cemetery at the Pa.  A good many neighbours & friends attended the funeral as a mark of respect.

Thursday 12th   It was a very fine day, but the wind has changed to the SE.  In the morning I was digging in the farm orchard.  After dinner I went down to the village to post some letters, carried up a bag of gravel, received a letter from Elliott Greenwood sending me some marrow & flower seeds.  After I returned home I was fixing some kerbing in the flower garden.
Julia Rollinson came round in the Steamer from Ti Point, and came up here to stay with us.

Friday 13th   Another beautiful day.  In the morning I was digging in the farm orchard.  In the afternoon I was laying some concrete in the flower garden and fixing some kerbing.  Mabel came to spend the afternoon.  In the evening Jane, Julia & Mabel went down to the mail, Library and skating, I staid at home.

Saturday 14th   The wind is blowing strong from the N and there is every indication of a change of weather.  There were a few showers in the morning .  Julia, thinking that bad weather was approaching, returned to Ti Point in the morning .  In the morning I was digging in the farm orchard and getting fire wood.  Mr Banks and father in law brought two cows and took a heifer out of the farm that belongs to him.  In the pm I went down to the wharf to meet the “Kawau” from Auckland, also carried up a bag of sand ,  I cemented the path leading to the steps in the flower garden.  In the evening it rained steadily and blew strong.

Sunday 15th   My 66 birthday.   It was a beautiful day, so calm and the sun so warm and not a cloud in the sky.
Revd K. Teale held service in the Hall in the afternoon, there was a good congregation, I read the lesson, collection 18/-

Monday 16th   There was a long and heavy shower in the morning, with this exception it was a fine day.  In the morning I was digging in the farm orchard, in the afternoon I was working in the flower garden.

Tuesday 17th   It was a very showery day.  Mrs D. Knaggs & Miss J. McKenzie came to look at my flower garden in the pm.  I took the horse and sleigh down to the wharf, Willie came up in the “Kawau” bringing a lot of parcels with him which we hauled home.

Wednesday 18th   It was a very showery day.  After breakfast Willie went down to the Village to post letters and after dinner he took the horse & sleigh down and hauled up a bag of Sugar and some Seed Potatoes.  I was getting firewood.  May Dunning was here for dinner.

Thursday 19th   It was a fine day, but very cold in the shade, the wind is from the S and is drying up the ground.
Willie was pruning in this orchard.
In the morning I was sieving leaf mould in the bush for the garden.  In the pm I planted in a box Canterbury Bell Guillaidia & Mimulous plants that Willie brought me from Auckland, also a root of Lobelia that Alan sent me.  I went down to the Post Office after the arrival of the “Kawau” and got the Weekly News

Friday 20th    It was a showery day.  Willie was mixing Bordeaux Mixture for spraying.  I put a lid to a box for Jane and was sorting out my seed box.  In the evening Jane & I went down to the Hall, there should have been two meetings, one the Annual Tennis Meeting and the other of the Hall Committee to arrange about the Flower Show, but neither came of for want of attendance caused by the “Scot” loading firewood at Goat Island beach, all the Dunnings being engaged, and the other young men are going to Coromandel this evening in Peters yacht to play a football match.

Saturday 21st   It was a beautiful day.  Willie was spraying in this orchard.  In the morning I was pruning trees,  in the afternoon I was sieving leaf mould and getting firewood.

Sunday 22nd   It was fine in the morning, but there were several showers in the pm.  Mr McPherson, Presbyterian Home Missionery, held service in the Hall in the morning.  I was the only one from our place who went.

Monday 23rd   It was a very fine day.  In the morning I was helping Willie dig in the farm orchard.  In the pm I finished pruning the roses and made a fire to burn them .

Tuesday 24th   It was inclined to be showery in the morning, but it turned out a fine day.
Willie was cutting tea tree in the cows paddock all day.  In the morning I was papering a box for Jane.  In the pm I went down to the village to get the mail, carried up a bag of sand.  Minnie called in the afternoon.

Wednesday 25th   It rained heavily last night and it looked very dull this morning, however it turned out a fine day, but the ground is very wet.  In the morning Willie went down to meet the Steamer as we expected Alan Wallace, but the “Kawau” is not coming until tomorrow.  Willie was digging in the farm orchard in the afternoon.
In the morning I was covering down the pie melon jam for Jane.
In the pm I was getting firewood and went down to Harpers to get the meat also carried up a bag of sand.

Thursday 26th   It was a disagreeable day, showery and the wind blowing strong from NE.  In the morning I went down to meet the “Kawau” which arrived here from Auckland at 11.15, having been 6 ¼ hours on the trip, Alan Wallace came up by her to stay with us.  I carried up a bag of sand.  Willie was pulling up the creeping weed the top side of the house.

Friday 27th   It rained all day.  We were not able to do anything outside.  Alan helped me shell a bag of Dun beans.  I did not go down for the mail or Library.

Saturday 28th   It did not rain in the morning, but it was dull & Misty.  It rained steadily all afternoon.  In the morning I went down for the mail.

Sunday 29th   It was showery in the early morning, but it cleared up and turned out a fine day.
Willie & Alan walked over to Ti Point in the morning to spend the day.  In the afternoon I went over to see Joe Wyatt who is laid up with rhumatic fever.

Monday 30th   It was a beautiful day, and the sun being quite hot Willie and Alan went out fishing with Archie Morley and they brought home a few schnappers.
I went down to Dunnings beach and sieved a lot of sand & soil, some of the latter I carried home.  Mary Neeley came in the afternoon and staid all night.

Tuesday 31st   It was a showery day.  Willie was mending the fence between the farm and the barley paddock as Norman Matheson’s cows are getting in.  Willie took a Box of Eggs & Butter down to the wharf to send to Newdick.  These are the first Eggs he has sent to Auckland for some months.
I went down to the village in the afternoon to get the mail, the “Kawau” did not get in until 6 pm as there was a strong wind blowing from NE and a heavy sea,  it poured with rain as I was coming home & I got very wet.