You can tell we've had a fairly quiet time recently, as I'm starting off with an egg story! But this is not just any old egg, this is a potential record-breaking egg in the making! One of our chickens has always laid a super-jumbo sized egg, so for obvious reasons Lew named her Kiwi, in recognition of her efforts. However, the other week she excelled (or should that be "egg"celled?!) herself and laid a whopper. The egg was so big, she couldn't fly up into the nest, and had to lay it on the floor of the coop.
Checking in with the Guiness Book of Records, we found the world record for a domestic chicken egg is 180 grams. Average jumbo egg is around 60g. Kiwi's effort? 154 grams!!!
Still on the home front, Lew and I have been making a few attempts at clearing the river of tree debris which was still stuck in the river after a huge flood 18 months ago. Lots of tree trunks and large branches have lodged themselves at various points, providing traps to snag any other debris and rubbish that gets washed down the river. So, having cleared as much as possible from the banks, it was time to launch HMS Unsinkable.
I was the self-appointed Transport Manager, so with aspirations of a place in the 2016 NZ Olympic rowing team, I was soon handling our sleek streamlined boat with ease....
With Lew finally satisfied that I wouldn't tip him out, I came back to collect him and added Operations Manager to my CV, while Lew took on the role of Chief Labourer and Dangerous Equipment Operator....
At one point it became obvious that the boat was a bit superfluous to requirements, so we had a man overboard - entirely voluntarily of course - and I continued multi-tasking as Team Photographer...
Luckily neither of us had accepted the role of Occupational Safety and Health Officer, so the underwater use of saw....
and chainsaw....
was judged to be acceptable and within the job description!
Our timing was just right, as we've had the most enormous storm this morning. The rain should raise the river enough to wash away all the bits and pieces we managed to release.
We've just had my parents here for a week, so we've spent some lovely days showing them around the favourite places we have got to know during the year. The weather was perfect, although perhaps a bit hot for mum and dad- even though its September, we're still up at around 30 degrees every day.
Inevitably re-visiting places means that we don't take many photos, as we've already taken them earlier in the year. We're finding we take fewer photos anyway, as things which once seemed unusual or noticeable, have now become more normal or ordinary. But there are still some sights that are just irresistible to the camera....
On the food front, we are now into the fig season. This is very similar to the asparagus season in New Zealand - they're only around for a very short time, so you have to go into overdose mode and consume as many as is humanly possible, as tomorrow they will be gone. That's all very well with asparagus, as, apart from the bizarre effect on your pee, there are usually no real adverse effects. Figs on the other hand......well, lets just say you have to go carefully to work out the safe daily consumption!
Lew has never really seen the attraction of figs, but he has suddenly become a convert, as they are so beautifully ripe, and there are so many different varieties within a 5km radius of the house. He has therefore taken on the hunter-gatherer role, and has been spotted in the early morning light, taking off on his bike to relieve the neighbours of their excess figs overhanging the road! So far he has got away with it, but as the hunting season has started up again, he needs to make sure there isn't a gun-happy Frenchman just around the corner!
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