Monday 1st New Years Day. It seems they do not keep the day down here as a general holiday.
Henry & Bill were down in the river floating the posts down. Jack & Thomas were cleaning the stones off the river to make a road. It was a showery day, I was forking out sorrel in the garden.
Tuesday 2nd It rained heavily all day, no-one went out to work.
Wednesday 3rd It rained steadily all day, no one went out to work.
Thursday 4th The weather improved to day and Henry & Bill were floating the posts down the river. Jack & Thomas were cleaning the river of stones. I was working in Jack’s garden.
Friday 5th It was a fine day. Carpenter came over from the other place early in the morning bringing the draft horse “Rock”. He reports a big fresh in the other river and part of the road washed away. With Rock & Star they hauled the remainder of the stockyard posts out of the bush and put them into the river, afterwards they started floating them down. Jack & Thomas were clearing the river bed, I worked in the garden.
Saturday 6th It was a fine day. The men floated all the posts down the river & hauled them out the river on to a bank near the wool shed, these posts are to be carted round to Tangihanga to erect a cattle yard. Having finished this work Henry & Bill returned to Tangihanga in the evening leading Rock with them. Carpenter & I staid the night.
Sunday 7th It was a fine day. I rode back to Tangihanga in the morning arriving there at 1.30 pm. Carpenter returned in the evening, Henry had driven down to Te Araroa to get the new shearing machine. He returned in the evening bringing the mail. Henry Bristow brought a lot of his sheep into these yards as they are going to shear here tomorrow.
Monday 8th It was a fine day. Bristow started shearing to day, Jack & Lily rode over here in the morning, Jack came to fix the new shearing machine.
Ted Pearce & Duncan Brooking (drovers) came to muster the lambs to pick out fat ones to send to the freezing works.
I weeded the onions.
Tuesday 9th There was a pretty heavy shower in the morning otherwise it was a very nice day. Jack finished fixing the new shearing machine in the morning and then they went home. Henry, the drovers and our men all went out mustering and they brought home in the evening a mob of lambs and sheep.
I was digging out stones out in the garden.
Wednesday 10th It was very showery in the morning. Henry was picking out the fat lambs and then they all went mustering again.
I was digging out stones in the garden. It was also showery in the afternoon.
Thursday 11th Jack’s birthday. There was a smart shower in the morning. The others went out mustering also to day.
Friday 12th It was a very fine day. They mustered the remainder of the sheep early this morning and did the final picking of Lambs and the Drovers started away with them about 10 am, Henry had going away 515 lambs & 4 sheep. Mrs O’Regan and Halliwell were sending away lambs also with this drove. Henry went down to pick them out for the latter.
I planted 7 short rows of Canadian Wonder Beans.
Carpenter who was down with a dray to get a load of goods from Te Araroa only returned as far as Bristows, he came home on one of the horses a good bit after dark bringing the mail.
Saturday 13th It was a very fine day, but close and sultry.
Carpenter brought the dray load of goods up from Bristows in the morning. Bill was cleaning out the dip and in the afternoon they dipped the 2 Tooth Ewes, it only took 1 hour and 40 minutes to put through about 800. I was digging out stones.
Sunday 14th It was a fine day, but it was blowing pretty strong.
In the morning I rode over to Jack’s place but I found that Jack, Lily & Millie had gone out pig-hunting, they came home late in the afternoon having killed two pigs. Thomas made me some lunch. Jack went over to Henry’s place in the evening to help Henry muster Sheep for shearing, he took 9 dogs with him.
Monday 15th It was blowing a gale of wind all day which made it very uncomfortable.
Lily accompanied by Thomas rode down to Te Araroa, the former was going to stay at the Hospital to help nurse a patient.
I was forking out sorrel in the garden.
Tuesday 16th It was a very fine day. I was digging in the garden & getting out stones. As Thomas did not come home last night I milked the cows this morning, he came back just before lunch time, bringing two mares who had been to a stallion. A man also came with him on the chance of getting a job here.
Wednesday 17th It was a very fine day, but very windy in the afternoon. I was digging out weeds & stones. Thomas was helping Mr Metcalf’s man Syd Hooper repair a fence between Jack’s place and Mr Metcalfs. The new man was clearing the weeds between the Pumpkins near the Wool Shed.
Thursday 18th It was a fine day. I was digging out stones in the garden. Thomas & Syd Hooper were fixing the fence between Metcalf’s & Jacks.
The new man Pat McInnes was working on the road at the river.
It came on to rain after we had our tea. Jack returned from Tangihanga in the evening.
Friday 19th It was a very fine day. Jack went back to Tangihanga early in the morning before we were up.
Thomas was helping Metcalf’s man fix up the fence in the creek.
The new man was clearing away a slip near the creek.
I was digging in the garden.
Saturday 20th It was a very fine day. Thomas was helping Metcalf’s man fix the fence at the creek.
The new man was getting firewood and cutting docks round the house.
I finished digging near the garden gate and I formed a path.
Jack returned from Tangihanga in the evening bringing a pack horse with two cases of Burbank plums.
Sunday 21st It was a wet day up here. Jack rode down to Te Araroa in the morning. He took Lily to church (Revd Digby Wilson officiating) they returned here in the evening, reporting that there was not much rain at Te Araroa.
Monday 22nd It rained steadily all day, a great deal of rain has fallen and has caused a fresh in the river. No work was done outside.
Tuesday 23rd It cleared up to day. The river was in flood and has done much damage in washing away portions of the road, one, Jack’s outlet at the wool shed. The men were erecting a fence to enclose a small paddock below the house, everything is very wet in the garden, I was not able to do much.
Wednesday 24th It was a fine day. Jack and Pat went to Tangihanga in the morning taking two pack horses. Jack staid there to help them in the shearing, but Pat returned in the evening bringing the pack horses loaded with boxes of Burbank plums & preserving jars. I was preparing a piece of ground where the potatoes were dug out for beans, I dug out a quantity of stones.
Thursday 25th Several showers during the day. Lily & Millie were bottling the plums that were brought home yesterday.
I planted 2 rows of Canadian Wonder Beans where the potatoes were dug out.
Friday 26th A showery day. I sowed 1 row of Butter Beans.
Saturday 27th Several showers. Jack returned from Tangihanga in the afternoon bringing a pack horse with a load of plums.
I weeded some Onions & dug a strip of ground taking out a quantity of stones.
Sunday 28th It was very fine during the day but there was rather a heavy shower late in the afternoon.
After lunch all of us went out riding at the back of the station.
Monday 29th The weather was not so bad in the morning, but very showery in the afternoon.
Jack was mustering cattle in the morning and in the afternoon Jack & Lily rode to Tangihanga taking a pack horse with some empty boxes.
I was doing up Lily’s flower garden. I planted some bulbs & sowed a quantity of flower seeds.
Tuesday 30th Showers all day, not half an hour between them. Pat packed up from the wool-shed two loads of sheep manure. Thomas & Sid Hooper were mending a fence. I did nothing out of doors, but wrote a letter and directed a Weekly News to my brother Henry and my son Willie.
Wednesday 31st It was showery all day not a quarter of an hour fine between the showers. I was unable to work in the garden on account of the weather. We heard through the phone from Tangihanga that the shearers had gone home.