Thanks for the good wishes folks, much appreciated.
We had a quiet day.
We drove down to Pekapeka, a little rural place just north of Waikanae, about 200 miles away and all 10 acre blocks, to look at a tractor.
A little Ferguson 35X, 3 cylinder Perkins diesel, same as the one I bought fifty years ago and still own.
This one is in far better condition than mine though; mine had to work in the bush and over our 329 acre dairy farm, whereas this one was used as a motor bike to get from point A to point B.
So there's no slop in the plough arm/hydraulic arm linkages, no slop either in the front axle/pivot pin, the clutch pedal still has the original dimples on it where mine is worn to a razor sharp edge, the front-end-loader mounts under the bell housing are tight, and even the sway-bar pins are tight!
So I bought it!
As a Happy Birthday present from my own self.
Once I've got it home I'll cannibalise all the knobby bits to make one tractor (which will still essentially be my original one,) in pretty good 'almost restored' condition.
A good job for a wet winter's day!

(And really people; I'm not that old! Okay, okay, so I did work on the drawings for the Pantheon . . . and the formula for dirt . . . but hang on World! I haven't finished with you yet!)