...okay, okay, I confess...

...I'm a royalist at heart :D)



Queen Elizabeth 2nd on her Coronation



So needless to say I have spent a fair bit of time the past week in front of the telly watching the 60th jubilee celebrations.

Part of the time I was at work so my lovely

GKB recorded it for me.

I have seen bits and pieces and so will watch it

all properly at my leisure. Each programme was approximately 4 hours long but as winter has finally arrived with a vengeance I should have plenty of time.

I loved the 1000 boat flotilla on the Thames - quite amazing to watch. It must have been really awesome to have

 been on the embankment with the crowds.

That royal barge was something else!!

I laughed at the little boy who said he loved

seeing it and what was "really exciting was the queen standing at the front driving it." That made his day. :))

It was a shame it was so wet, I'm surprised more of the Royal Family didn't end up in hospital alongside Prince Phillip!

Union Jack

The inside of St. Paul's cathedral is really magnificent, I have added a visit to it to my bucket list, along with a visit to Holyrood House where the civic lunch was held (I think). The carved ceiling in that great hall was something to see.
edit 22/6/12:( I have discovered I have the wrong palace, in the wrong country as well. Oh dear. I meant Westminster, not Holyrood, sorry folks).

Visiting England one day is one of my daydreams.

The queen looked so tiny at the back of the procession into the cathedral for the service and it was such a shame Prince Phillip

couldn't be there with her. But lovely to see all the family there, including the 2 young princesses.

Queen Elizabeth, June 2012

We recorded the concert in the grounds of Buckingham Palace -  a lot of my residents sat up to watch it and were really

disappointed and went off to bed very quickly once it started.

They felt sorry for the queen,

 I think they were expecting something a bit more

formal and sedate.

This week a series on the royal palaces has started so I am hoping to record those for later viewing as well, as unfortunately,

 they play on nights I am working :((

New Zealand flag

Signing off with my national flag having

flown the Union Jack throughout this post.

Have a great week.

Diana

p.s. All of the photo's on this

post have been taken

from the internet.



Going bush for a day ...

At this time of the year, when the days get just a tad cooler,

my thoughts often tend towards Australia.

One of the reasons is the warmer weather

and the other is because half my siblings,

along with their kids and grandkids live in Queensland.

Last time we visited was back in September,

just because we could, for a few weeks.

We visited with both my sisters, who are in north Qld,

as well as the nieces and nephews of course

and another couple of Kiwis we knew before they moved

to Aussie (a lifetime ago).

One of our nieces and her husband invited us to

spend a day at their 'block',

so we duly got in a car early one morning

 with her mother, middle sis,
and drove for a hundred kilometres

 or so down the road a bit.
We arrived in time for morning tea.

Niece and her husband and family had left much

earlier than us, 6am I think, and had set up camp.

Below are some photo's taken on the day, at the block,

7 1/2 acres in all, and it's amenities!!

There were also goats, cows, fruit trees and sugar cane.

And a pond for swimming.

The bunkhouse and alfresco dining room

Goat shed in the background.

The welcoming 'longdrop'.

Outdoor ablutions,

I had a wonderful bath under the stars that night

 before travelling back to civilisation again.

Kitchen amenities, with some of our lunch cooking.

Fish caught on the block, oysters bought on the way in.

Home grown salad greens to go with it.

What more could you ask for? Delicious!

Some of the 'muddies' (crabs) caught during the afternoon, for tea.

The blokes are very much into the hunter gatherer thing

and my GKB thoroughly ejoyed a great afternoon out with them.

The dogs having an afternoon nap on their 'bed'.

 Raised to keep them off the ground because of

creeping/slithering critters and to keep them cool.

Me, with my GKB, holding Blossom, a week old kid.

I was allowed to name her :D)

A couple of the young blokes getting the fire going after tea.

We had a lovely day out and were invited to stay the night

 but elected to travel back.

I'm a bit of a soft city slicker and enjoy

 my home comforts I'm afraid.

Well I hope you enjoyed our day out,

this is just a few pictures to give you a little bit 

 of an idea of what we did one day in Aussie.

There is so much more to tell, but maybe another day.

letting off some steam

Sorry folks, I just have to let off a little steam!

I sat down to write something quite different but

that will keep till later.

Last night I was working (I work in a rest home)

and went to answer one of our residents call bell.

She was in quite a frantic state, had just answered her phone

and couldn't make head or tail of what was going on.

I could hear someone talking to her in a really persistent manner,

in a foreign accent and alarm bells started ringing.

It was one of those ratbag computer hackers trying to

get her to turn on her computer.

Being 99 and in a rest home and not owning a computer

she couldn't work out what was going on and getting in a real tizz.

I'm afraid I saw red and took the phone and let rip.

I sent him packing with a flea in his ear!

(And I didn't swear).

Now the poor old soul is scared to answer her phone in the evening.

These people have got no idea of the damage they do,

not just to peoples computers or finances but emotionally

  - I guess they don't care either, unfortunately.

On a happier note, in February I planted a couple of

sunflower seeds,

far too late for them to do anything major,

I really thought it might already be too cool for them to

germinate but was hopeful.

Well they did germinate and they grew and reached toward the sun. Then we had a week or so of cold weather.

I thought that was the end of them, but no.

Autumn turned out to be beautiful and warm.

The sunflowers grew and grew,

one outdoing the efforts of the other.

The photo above is the one which opened and bloomed,

and even though we have now had a dusting

of snow on the hills it is still standing tall.

Its mate is about 8 inches shorter and the day before the snow it was just starting to open - I haven't been down the yard to have a look at it since, but I must soon.

They haven't reached their full height, but just to have made it to the height they are has really amazed me.

Isn't life grand on the whole.

fishing on the Taieri

Today has been a beautiful autumn day. The temperatures are still reasonably up there, afternoons where you can still get around in a tee shirt as long as you stay in the sun.

A couple of days ago, on a day very similar to this one, my GKB went fishing on the Taieri river and brought home some lovely fresh fish for tea.

While he was filleting it he had a rather frantic Claude helping

(or trying to help). Finally it was all done and Claude had his  reward. And so did we.

       Fresh fish fillets with lettuce salad and boiled potatoes
                                      and peas for tea.
                            (Just fish for Claude, of course).

In the meantime youngest daughter called in and said that on her way home she was calling into the supermarket to buy fish for tea.

So soft Dad decided he had better go out fishing again and get some fish for both the daughters and their families.

Not that he needs an excuse!

So after work today he packed his rod and gear into the boot of the car and away he went for the afternoon.

He put his line in and settled back to make a coffee and enjoy the day. But oh dear, where was the coffee? He had his thermos, hot water, cup, milk, sugar but the coffee 

was still on the bench at home!

So he took some photo's instead while he waited for the  fish to bite. He spotted a swan flying just feet above the water but he couldn't get his camera out in time so missed getting a photo.

 What a pity. Black swans breed down that way and are on the river and the nearby lake.

What a great place to spend a sunny afternoon. I might take a book and go with him next time.

Oh, and yes he did catch fish for the daughters - that's a photo of some of them at the top of the page.

Have a great week everyone.

Along the roadside

We, my GKB and I, have just had a very relaxing five day weekend away at our caravan. Wonderful, relaxing days in the autumn sun. Brisk mornings and evenings and warm sunny days.

Lazy afternoons down by the lake, fishing... well there wasn't a fish rising anywhere, let alone biting, but what a pleasant way to spend our time.

On the drive up and back we took some snaps along the way, some pretty and some just a little unusual.

A stand of toetoe (pronounced toytoy) next to flax when we were stopped at some road works.

Giant pumpkins at a roadside stall.

More giants, rabbit sculptures in a small town along the way. I don't know what they were made of but they were some sort of metal. A rather watchful looking trio. Cute.

 And finally, a pond in the Cromwell Gorge on the opposite side of the road to the Lake. Rugged territory.

I've been home long enough now to feel like I haven't been away, oh dear. Getting back to work does that.

Have a good week, you all.

A walk in the April sun

I have been so busy lately it hasn't been funny, so have been feeling just a little bit tired. Well maybe a big bit tired. But that's okay as I'll be away for a few days next weekend with my GKB to the caravan. She needs a bit of tlc but not sure it will happen this trip.

We had a lovely midday with nephew and his wife and family today and my GKB's sister and her husband. I rang and got the grandboys to come for a visit so the kids would have some playmates, they're all of an age.

They don't see each other much, living in different islands so it's good they're now old enough to remember each other.

When they were all gone again and the house was back to normal (whatever that is) I made myself go out for a walk, it was such a beautiful day. I didn't really have the energy but it's surprising how a walk in the sun gives you a boost. I took the camera as well, just in case, and have some photo's to share of my walk in the April sun.

I walked to the playing fields where I

discovered the soccer nets were up and the first game of the season was under way for the "big" boys. Grandboy Jack will be pleased  as he is a soccer player and was wondering when the season was going to start - after the school holidays are over I'm thinking.

Then through the park where the leaves are starting to

turn beautiful autumn colours...

(one wee fellow and his mother were having lots of fun kicking heaps of leaves around)

...past the (usually) beautiful rose gardens. They're looking a little shabby now and in need of  a good pruning but still quite attractive. I would have liked to have gone in and taken a photo from the other end but there was a loving couple on one of the benches, quite engrossed in each other and I didn't want to disturb them.

Then I was at the children's park, which has just been redeveloped in the last two or three years. It's a really lovely place with a fenced area for the preschoolers as well as a large spider web climbing net and skateboard area for the older kids amongst other things.

Being such a lovely day the place was teeming with kids and their parents.

I walked home along the banks of the Silverstream. There weren't many people on it today, just one or two, and no dogs whatever. But...

...I did see a family of ducks under the bank, several in the water as well as up on the bank snoozing.

A lovely walk, I'm pleased I took myself out.

Have a lovely week, everyone.

I'm off to watch 'Weekend Murders' on the telly.

behind the hedge and over the fence...

A few weeks ago my GKB and I went up to the caravan for a few days of R&R. My GKB likes to get out and do a bit of fishing on the lakeside and I like to just sloth around, although I do sometimes join him, as long as I can continue to sloth around once we get there. (I do go for walks around the town and on the lakeside as well, so it's not as bad as it sounds). I like to take magazines or books with me and enjoy the peace and quiet of Central Otago. Mountain air, hawks circling, and blue skies.

While we're there we usually buy fruit from the orchards, either pick our own or from the roadside stalls. Cherry picking is interesting.

Every couple of days we like to go to a big orchard up the road a bit that has a great barn sized stall that the tourist buses all stop at where they sell fruit, fresh and dried, and also 'Manuka Honey' to  tourists at inflated prices.  **TIP: If you are ever over here touring, buy your 'Manuka Honey' from the supermarket, it's the same stuff and a lot cheaper.**

But they do have delicious real fruit ice creams, oh yummy. And we have to have at least a couple a week, we don't get them at home, and anyway you have to save something for a treat!

There are one or two tables to sit at under the trees and there is a lovely garden hidden by a large hedge. We were sitting at a table enjoying our ice creams one day when a man came rushing out from behind the hedge, 'I've got to get my camera," he said "what a hidden gem."

Now my GKB and I had been behind the hedge several times. What's changed we wondered so went for a walk ourselves. What's changed? The plants had matured, some statues had been erected and it was nearing the end of the summer, so roses were still in bloom as were some of the other summer border flowers.

Very pretty. So the photo's above are from 'behind the hedge'.

Back home again I have been out, ahem, walking occassionally, and had forgotten about this lavender garden in the photo's above. I haven't been over that way for a while. It is still being developed, has only been going for about six or seven years, but you can see how it will look when  it has matured. They hire the gardens out as a weddng venue and it is one of the places we looked at for eldest daughters wedding.  

I enjoyed looking 'over the fence' and seeing what has been done to the public area since we went and looked.

Then when I went around the corner what should I come across but some alpacas lazing about in a paddock enjoying the warm autumn sun.

These were also over the fence, the reason for so much grass in the foreground, which is a good place for them I reckon, they tend to look down their haughty noses at you and are very good spitters!!

Wishing you all a great weekend.