Overview
Wed. Oct. 21.
Drizzly day. Stretched wire-netting from corner of sheep-yards to whare as a lead in + mustered the ewes + lambs off Mill p[addock] for second docking. Docked 38 lambs including about a dozen monster lambs which have been running on 100 ac[re] "burn" on hilltop. Also dagged the ewes + finished at 10.10 instead of taking all day as I anticipated. Put the ewes (131) + lambs back on Leighton p. Shepherded South End + found sheep all right - grass growing nicely - but only saw 10 of the 16 big bullocks (2 of the 18 on Mill p.) After dinner dug away the manure heap which has been rotting the end wall of stable + then cut a short curved drain on Stuckey's side to divert into the Matahika the stream which runs parallel to the river for 7 or 8 chains before junctioning + practically
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finished the job, putting in a small punga sheep bridge + forming an embankment over the old channel with dirt from excavation. [map here] Dick left at 4 to go home to attend concert this evening. After 5 pm. I did some clearing up + scrubbing on east side of the Kopje + fixed up a little double shed there for bits of galvanised iron, etc. + 2nd hand fencing-wire. Black night.