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We Have Quinces


We have good sized, spray-free Quinces available in 2.5kg bags for $10.
Quinces are ideal for preserving, making jelly, paste, jam or just baked in desserts.
They also have a lovely fragrance.

Sad News

First off let me apologize for the lack of posts recently.
We have had another tragedy in the family and it has been a tough couple of weeks.
You’ll read more about that in just a second but first I’ll give you an update on what we have available on the Stall.
We currently have tree ripened Cox’s Orange Apples available in 5kg bags for $5 or 12kg 2nd’s boxes for $10.
They are at the stage now where they are lovely and sweet and the flavor is absolutely terrific.

Back to the sad news.

In Loving Memory of Grandma Gloria

My Grandma died two weeks ago here at home on the Orchard.
She died very peacefully in her lounge wheelchair moments before Mum was going to change her into her pyjamas and tuck her into bed.
It was such a shock as she had a lovely day singing and talking to herself hence there was no warning.
So to say her death was a shock is an understatement as it was far too soon after Dad’s death.

She was heartbroken after Dad’s death and even though she hadn’t spoken in over a year, she started scanning the room with her eyes singing and talking clearly after his death.
It was obvious that she was looking for Dad.
Whenever he used to walk past her he would pat her on her head and say, “good girl Gloria”, or “lovely day Gloria”. She just loved Dad.

She was in her 80th year and her Alzheimer’s first became noticeable after she returned from a holiday to Norfolk Island in the year 2000.
This is when my Mum asked her how she enjoyed her trip, and her response was, “What trip?” It was pretty obvious something was up!!!
We are so glad that she lived with us for over four years. She had a new lease on life when she arrived.
Some of the things she enjoyed were her rides in the Orchard, new clothes, collecting teddy bears, shower gels, perfume, mirrors, sponge cake, sitting on the deck with our cat, sitting in the garden trying to work out what bird was tweeting.
She was never correct in her naming but we played along. Her car trips were a highlight and as she would often lose track of time, a 20 minute morning trip around the block did the trick.
She would arrive home and say she’d had a lovely day out with Sandra! She loved Mum so much as did Mum her.
My mother has a wonderful sense of humour which Grandma responded to!

She never had a day’s sickness. Not a cold or flu. She was strong as an ox like her mother is what my mother would say.
My Great Grandmother whom my Grandma took after lived until she was 89 years and we all thought Grandma would make it into her eighties.
She was such a fixture, I never thought of life without her but then again I never thought of life without Dad.
We miss her so much as we do Dad.
How life can change in less than three months!

In the first three years of her living here, she could often be found sitting proudly in her Lazy Boy chair in the Fruit Stall greeting customers.
Sometimes her comments were a bit weird but everybody was so kind to her.
Thank you to all those who showed her kindness. You made an old lady very happy.
Life was never boring with Grandma. We saw her go through different stages of Alzheimers and during the past year we watched her hold onto Mum’s hand as if she was saying, “Don’t put me in a Home Sandra?”
She had continually voiced this in the past and was always told that this wouldn’t happen, but when the words couldn’t come, the pleading look
in her eyes was upsetting at times for all of us as we all backed Mum as we would never have put her in a Home.

Grandma was a beloved member of our Hobbs Family and is buried beside Dad at Roxburgh Cemetery.

Cherry Update

The Cherry crop is a bit light this year so we will be unable to courier them this season.
Sorry about this.

We are hoping to start picking them around 24 December.
As soon as the Dawson Cherries ripen, we will be opening the Fruit Stall and we will have new spuds, broad beans and peas on the go as well as Cherries.

We are in the middle of a heat wave at the moment!
We’ve had 33 degree temperatures for the past three days and I’ve been run off my feet moving irrigation pipes around the Orchard!

An Update From Ruby

It’s time to get out the jars and give them a good a wash as it is nearly Apricot time!
The estimated time of picking the first varieties, which are Sundrop and Early Rill, should be 8-10 January.
Will keep you updated.

Heat Wave!!!

Mum, Ruby and I have revamped the entrance to our 1950’s style Fruit Stall over the past couple of weeks.
Check it out!

Hopefully we’ll be open on 24 December with Cherries, new Spuds, Peas and Broad Beans for sale.

 

It was extremely hot today!!
Earthing up Spuds on a 30c day probably wasn’t the wisest of jobs to tackle!

Dad was thinning fruit under the shade of some large Apricot trees so he escaped the intense heat.
Lucky him!!!!!!

More Wind!!!

 

The weather has continued to act totally erratic over the past couple of weeks.
It’s gone from hot and dry, to gale force winds, to torrential rain, back to hot and dry, and so on and so forth.
It really can’t seem to make up its mind!

We had some horrendous winds last night which took down a tree in the backyard!!!
Thankfully it was a Pittosporum so no major damage was done to the surrounding trees and shrubs.
The wind was certainly strong though because the 20 year old tree had been snapped at the base!!
Mum is devastated by this as she remembers planting the tree when she was pregnant with me!

On the Fruit Front everything is still looking good (touch wood!).
Hard to believe it’s already late November.
Only a month or so until we open up the Fruit Stall again!

How Cute Is This!

Here’s a photo of my sister Ruby that was taken during the weekend.
She is holding Neveah, the daughter of Anne, who has been a family friend for 20 years since she was just a wee bit older than this dear little baby.
Mum (Sandra) remembers rocking Anne in her pram in the fruit stall whilst her parents were picking apricots.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Here’s a trip down memory lane, a photo of me and Ruby after a morning with Mum in the vege garden back in the Spring of  ’97.

Just a Wee Bit of A Flood!!

Just a wee bit of a flood in the Apples and Plums after 36 hours of rain!
Lucky for us the water is draining away steadily so there shouldn’t be any damage to the trees.

 

Wild Weather of Central Otago

Yes it is official, the wild weather of Central Otago is as wild as ever!

A week ago we had a massive downpour of rain and we had to quickly dig trenches around the Packing Shed to prevent a torrent of water from flooding it.

Below is an example of one of our emergency trenches!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that wonderful event we thought the weather wasn’t going to get any worse for a little while longer.
That is until this morning when we awoke to this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snow on the Benger Ranges.
Yet another sign of the approaching winter.

Yes it is safe to say that we are in for some cold days!!
Thank goodness for that marvellous, combustable stuff commonly referred to as FIREWOOD!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s all for now folks.

Stay tuned for more Hobbs Orchard news in the coming months!