Having a birthday that falls in mid-winter is a double-edged sword. While you can ask for a week on a Pacific island as a birthday gift, you must also accept that either side of that week it will likely be cold and damp.
Here in the Far North there's always more winter after the middle than before (yes, I know this defies logic, the laws of nature or physics or whatever, but it's true) and it's colder after than before. The other day we had a walloping frost which rendered my studio in the garden unusable until the heater had been on for 60 minutes.
It's also far too cold to even touch the soil, so instead I have set The Partner to preparing some enhancements for the garden come spring.
I'm keen on a game, of sorts. I can't play chess so an outdoor chessboard would be a bit pointless and Petanque is so 80s. But croquet is great fun and it lends itself to the wearing of lovely hats and the drinking of extravagant cocktails. The Partner is keen on a putting green - not because he putts, but because he's just finished working on a six-hole golf course for a client and he's on a roll.
I've never played golf in my life but I like the idea because a green won't take up the whole lawn, will be invisible unless there's a flag in the hole, and will be rather a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The six-hole golf course at Puketotara Lodge, in Kerikeri, was the brainchild of owner John Levers, who decided it would be the perfect addition to his 12ha property, alongside an orchard, a vineyard, an olive grove, an airstrip and hangar, and garden areas set up for functions alongside the Puketotara River.
Many of the guests who come here are golf fanatics, staying at Puketotara and going to Kauri Cliffs and Carrington for serious golfing.
Developing the greens wasn't as difficult as John expected. After selecting the areas and marking them out the meadow grass was sprayed twice, leaving the soil bare.
It was raked many times to level it, eventually leaving a good layer of friable soil on the top. Just to make sure, a cubic metre of new topsoil was added to each green.
Internet research, intense questioning of golf experts and advice from the local farm supplier store suggested a grass called Duratuf.
The Partner sowed this by hand, probably positioning each seed individually in his determination to achieve a bowling green effect.
He and John raked and rolled ad infinitum, added fertiliser, and then watered twice daily for a month. The Partner had to be forcibly prevented from visiting every 12 hours to check that adequate watering was being done.
The grass is now "riz", as they say, and the six holes have been trialled. Pretty damn good is the verdict.
Come spring, a topdressing of sand and a little more topsoil will provide a glasslike surface and Puketotara Lodge's guests will have a small but perfectly formed golf course to entertain them, as well as the bush walks, the river, horses, alpacas, highland cattle and views to die for.
The Partner will not, however, be enjoying the fruits of his labours because he will be busy creating our one-hole golf course on the front lawn. The seed is sown.