Missy the manx minx

We have been kitten sitting for a few days. 

Missy is an 8 week old manx kitten
 and she had fun trying to demolish the Christmas tree.

When that didn't work she decided to climb to the top,
 but couldn't quite get to replace the star.
She did manage to dislodge 
several decorations  on her way up though.

And after swinging on tinsel and lights for a while

she collapsed in a heap on the back of the couch and slept.

Oh, Claude was not impressed 
that we had a kitten in the house, 
even a female one.

Keep well as you prepare

for the new year

Diana

Unto us a child is born...

Luke 2:1-20 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." 



So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”  And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

******************

wishing you all 

a blessed Christmas 

and all you hope for 

from the new year

Diana

A silly week

Pohutukawa flower (N Z Christmas tree)

It's been a silly  week.

Or I should probably say a busy week.

Yesterday was the last day for youth group,

I organize and wrap their Christmas presents

then help to ferry kids to wherever their breakup is being held.

Tomorrow is the Sunday school break-up, 

I help organize their prizes

 and food for their 

Christmas party.

And help set up the hall for said party.

Guess who volunteered to help at

a kids craft day as well?

And I am not a crafty person, gulp.

There have been several meetings for that, 

and a prep day as well.

It'll all happen on Tuesday this week,

so that the mothers can have an extra day 

shopping before Christmas, without the kids.

I'm not complaining, you understand,

 but I will be pleased when it is Wednesday.

So just to relax a bit, and be a bit silly, 

I'd like to share this New Zealand version 

of a well known Christmas song with you.

I think you'll guess the tune.

A PUKEKO IN A PONGA TREE

On the first day of Christmas 

My true love gave to me 

A pukeko in a ponga tree

On the second day of Christmas 

My true love gave to me 

two kumera 

And a pukeko in a ponga tree 

On the third day of Christmas 

....

and so on, until... 

On the twelfth day of Christmas 

My true love gave to me 

Twelve piupius swinging 

Eleven haka lessons 

Ten juicy fish heads 

Nine sacks of pipis 

Eight plants of puha 

Seven eels a swimming 

Six pois a twirling 

Five - big - fat - pigs ! 

Four huhu grubs 

Three flax kits 

Two kumera 

And a pukeko in a ponga tree! 

Kingi Ihaka

Pukeko

Ponga  fern

 

A summer Santa and two silly pukeko

Have a great week, folks.

Blessings, 

Diana

Girls day in town

Yesterday I had a day in town with my daughters.

And two of my grand-daughters.

Ooh and I'd better not forget youngest grandson, Danny.

After doing some of our shopping 

we headed to the gardens for lunch.

Pizza in the park

One of the grand-daughters' beau had 

appeared on the scene by this time.

(Isn't it funny how blokes can sense when there's food around).

Although we'd had cold (warm) drinks with lunch

it was such a hot day we decided to head to eldest

grand-daughters' flat for tea and coffee

and a bit of relief from the sun. 

She had just finished decorating her Christmas tree.

pretty blue & silver tree

Her first Christmas tree away from home

 and she is very proud of it.

As she is of her garden.

She has put a lot of work into it.

Of course I went out and looked around 

and encouraged her, she's really keen.

a work in progress

Then after a social half hour or so 
 it was time to head home again.

Enjoy your week,
don't be too busy,

Diana

Christmas is coming

Some of the parcels are wrapped

 - and posted away.

Some parcels have arrived 

and await a place under the Christmas tree.

The Christmas tree in the church is decorated,

and the Nativity has been set up.

Today along the main road of town 

the Christmas tree is being erected.

All I have to do is finish wrapping my parcels 

and write out and post my cards.

I love this time of year,

especially as it gets closer to Christmas.

I know some people think it's a hassle

 but I love the hustle and bustle, 

the crowds and the noise,

the kids excitement (and sometimes tears),

the end of year school concerts and other functions,  

the decorations in the streets and shops,

the carols and songs

and the busyness of it all.

So I wish you all a hassle free December

and a wonderful Advent

as we lead up to Christmas

and the celebration of the birth of Christ.

Diana

Harry

 Do you remember Harry from a few posts ago? 

A nice, benign gentleman who held posters and signs for groups,

 outside a community house.

He has been vandalized! 

I can't see the sense in it, 

just mindless destruction really.

I think maybe the idea had been

 to remove him, but he was well anchored. 

I hope your week has

been better than Harry's. 

Diana

Coffee anyone?

My GKB and I went out for lunch today. 

That's not unusual, we often do on a Saturday.

We went to our usual place,  

where we know we can get our coffee 

the way we like it.

Instant, black with a small jug of trim milk on the side.

Today when it arrived, my GKB looked at it and said

'this cup looks dirty'.

We decided it wasn't 

but that some of the instant coffee powder

 had spilt onto the rim and handle, making it look grubby.

The fact that the cups were a pale grey 

and his was chipped didn't help though.

We weren't impressed.

Anyway this reminded me 

of our last couple of trips to Christchurch.

About a third of the way up the road

is a small cafe giving free coffee to vehicle drivers, 

encouraging them to take a break on the trip.

It's quite a nice wee stop, and yes that's our messy table.

Of course I had to pay for my drink,

GKB was driving, 

cona (filter) coffee this time for both of us. 

A bit further up the track we stopped again

and seeing as I'm not really into milk

I had a pot of tea, while he had a fancy (milky) coffee.

I think that was it while we were travelling up, 

we try to limit it to 2 breaks on the journey,

 but we did have a coffee or two out 

while we were in Christchurch.

That's our trim milk on the side there at the right, 

but the coffee was in piddling little (tea) cups.

Oh well, you can't win them all, and it was wet.

But the time I really laughed, 

and my GKB spluttered and nearly blew a gasket,

was while we were waiting for friends in what 

he would think of as an up-market establishment.

We ordered our drinks, tea again for me and coffee for him.

This little demitasse cup of coffee arrived!

Oh dear. His face was a picture.

Splutter, splutter, what the **** is that? he said to me.

I paid ****** good money for that.

What did you ask for, says I.

A short black, says he.

Well, that's what he got.

A shot of very strong, thick, syrupy coffee

that he mixed with about half a bowl of sugar

 and ate with a teaspoon.

Oooh, he was mad!

What he really wanted was a flat white,

 or a long black, and got himself all mixed up.

Oh dear.

He gets himself all in a dither 

when he goes anywhere out of the usual.

What he really likes is this...

...a nice big mug, full of instant coffee, 

with a dash of milk, made by himself or moi.

And why not?

Hoping all is well with everyone.

have a great week,

Diana

Around town

On my walks around town I see some unusual and creative stuff.

Some of it is man made and some not.

Like this telegraph pole.

The ivy must have been planted by someone 

and it always intrigues me as to why.

 Surely it could cause problems if it grew along the lines?

Then there is this gate set in a hedge along the Silverstream. 

I guess at sometime it lead into the property behind,

but not any more.

Further along the Silverstream is this world globe.

When I first saw it I thought someone had 

just made a ball on a pole out of some scrap metal.

But look closely, that's Australia on the bottom right and New Zealand is just a little further around from it. 

Indonesia and Asia are higher up and to the left.

Made from scrap metal from a car.

Very clever, I thought.

Harry

This fellow is named Harry, so I'm told,

 and he has been made to hold signs or notices.

He stands outside a community house.

Outside number 15 is this letterbox. 

He rather took my fancy.

Someone else has been very creative.

This is my favourite today, though.

A beautiful mural on the front of a private house.

It has been there for years but I still love it.

Have a great week,

Diana

A (mostly) quiet day

Today I went to Brighton with my little mother

 and my good friend, Bon.

We went to a quiet day/retreat. 

Well it was supposed to be a quiet day

and for the most part it was.

Little mother and I walked down to the beach in the morning,

and we took Bon back down in the afternoon for a stroll.

I have to confess that while the three of us were together,

shock horror, we Talked!! Oh dear!!

It was a beautiful, warm day and my little mother

 and I sat out in the sun for lunch.

Yes, in this little glade behind the church, 

on these two very uncomfortable chairs. 

I noticed another lady had a beach roll that she just lounged on

 and looked a lot more comfy than we were.

Mind you, my little mother did manage to doze off 

for a few minutes in the sun.

These funny looking things were growing on a vine out there

 and I asked one of the locals what they were

(after it was all over, you realize, I did behave most of the time). 

I'd never seen them before.

Apparently they are banana passion-fruit. 

I was tempted to pick some but thought I'd better not.

And just for fun I wanted to show you the welcome mat

 outside the back door of the hall, 

I had a good chuckle over this. 

 Somehow I don't think this door is used very often.

***************************

I forgot to take my camera with me

so took these pics on my cell phone. 

The sun was so bright I couldn't see the screen,

so just pointed and hoped.

Now I'm hoping they don't disappear

on me at some point in the future.

Hoping this finds you all well, 

have a good week,

Diana

Through the track (part two)

As promised I have finally taken another walk 
through the track and taken photo's on the other side. 

Apart from this one. 

I couldn't resist. Cows have such beautiful eyes.

 I'm not sure that they were 'girl' cows though, 

I think they may have been juvenile boys, so I didn't tarry long.

Juvenile boys of any kind can be a bit unpredictable.

They were in the paddock where previously

the horse had been looking over the electric fence.

This side of the track is more cultivated than the other side.

I was going to say more civilised 

but thought that would be rather rude of me, haha.

But you'll see what I mean.

Horses relaxing in the spring sunshine.

The pine trees at the back are 

actually quite a distance away, 

across a road well behind the front houses.

Sheep in a paddock at back 

with deer fencing in the front. 

The deer fences are two metres high, 

to stop the deer escaping. 

No deer there today though.

A sheep, alpaca and horse 

at the racecourse end of the track. 

I thought they were all sharing the same 

paddock but no, the horse is further back.

A fairly traditional farm house,

when it was built it would have been regarded

 as rather a flash place - right up to date.

These days it may have the farm labourer 

and his family living in it,

or the original farmer with his wife,

 while the son will have built himself a new 'flash' place

just down the road a bit where Dad could keep an eye on him.

The entrance and driveway to a 'new flash' house.

If you look really hard you can just see the corner of 

the house behind the trees near the left side of the picture.

And back to the start,

from whence we came.

I hope you've enjoyed taking another stroll 

through the track with me in the spring sunshine.

It was lovely and warm with no breeze

and a hawk (aka: swamp harrier) circling overhead.

Until next time,

take care,

Diana