'My John Deere is better than your John Deere!" I yelled, then laughed like an idiot. Bob the fencer smiled. But behind his dark glasses, I'm pretty sure he was wondering what the hell I was on about: I was sitting on my little John Deere ride-on mower. He was in the cab of his enormous John Deere tractor. If there was going to be any sort of, ahem, measuring contest, it was game, set, match and enormous trophy to him.
Bob, who lives up the road, was at Lush Places to fix up the two fences that were given a terrible beating when we had a couple of our sky-high shelter belts trimmed a couple of months back.
One fence, the one that runs next to a Leyland cypress hedge, lost a few posts, broken off at ground level, and required a partial facelift. But the one that runs 90m below a belt of alders was completely munted and would need Bob to perform the equivalent of fencing open-heart surgery. It took him two days to complete, with two new strainer posts, and the result looked as neat as stitches. His wire work, posts and stays are as fancy as any art gallery installation. Bob is an artist as well as a surgeon.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 25 - December 1, 2023-Ausgabe von New Zealand Listener.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 25 - December 1, 2023-Ausgabe von New Zealand Listener.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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Spilt milk
Excess dietary calcium goes into toilets, not bones.
To the Max
The testosterone and torments of late adolescence are centre stage in this novel about finding your place in life.
A chemical killer
A new book outlines the life of a woman who may well have been New Zealand’s most prolific poisoner. What was it that led police to exhume the body of her husband from its watery grave?
Creating the WOW factor
Meg Williams, in charge of the biggest festival involving a bunch of people wearing wacky outfits, admits she's not very flamboyant in her own dressing.
Leaving it all on the park
After cancer treatment, Graeme Downes takes stock of a musical life leading The Verlaines and lecturing future generations of songwriters.
Wrong message
A UK journalist who came here to talk about Rwanda’s authoritarian regime found herself the victim of a social media hate campaign.
Busting a gut
IBD is escalating, seemingly thanks to the Western lifestyle, and New Zealand has one of the highest rates in the world.
The point of Peters
There's been much to admire about the NZ First leader's politics over the years, but where has it got him?
Don't call us ...
Finland's ingenuity galvanised the rapid global uptake of cellphones, so it's paradoxical the country's latest claim to fame should be the elevation of no-speakies to a new commercial opportunity.
He is here
In the week my brother died, there was a storm in the universe.
