Touching base

Jacqui has a good crop of strawberries, I wonder if she has enough to share, though? Hmm..

Autumn has arrived and the weather has settled down to some extent. There's very little to no wind, mornings are cool and we sometimes need some heating on while we're having breakfast. Then at the other end of the day we can be sitting with the fan blowing the air around to cool us down. It's pleasant enough to sit out on the swing seat and read for a bit in the afternoons as well and that's always a big plus in my mind :) The picture below is taken from my granddaughter's office window, a city view, with the leaves just starting to turn.

The house next door has sold. Not the one with the new roof but on the other side. It has been empty for two years since the old couple both passed away. The family have been clearing it out and getting it cleaned up for sale. It took two years of family coming to get it done, about three months of intense daily clearing out of papers and personal items then weekends there was always someone there doing something. It taught me that I need to clear clutter out of our house before it gets too much for us and not leave such a big job for our kids. A young fellow has bought it, he looks to be in his 20's, and it'll be interesting to see what he does with it :) It needs a lot of work inside (and we wouldn't mind if he got rid of some of the trees on the fenceline). Just saying.

 

I'm looking forward to my sister coming over from Aussie next month. We're heading over to the West Coast for our primary school reunion and staying a week altogether. I wasn't going to go as both the girls I was really good friends with have passed away and I haven't really kept in touch with anyone else. And the old school building is gone so I can't even wander around there and reminisce - we'll just have to make do with photo's I guess. But sis was really keen and I didn't want to let her go by herself. I'm quite looking forward to it now and I'm sure I'll enjoy it once I'm there. One of our cousins is flying over from the Gold Coast to see us! He was thinking of coming over for a holiday anyway and thought he might as well come while we were at the reunion, he spent his early childhood there as well and wanted to do a nostalgia trip. So that's a bonus. 

This is the programme, or part of it, there is also a lunch 

on the Sunday. There's plenty of spare time to go gallivanting and looking up our old haunts, if they still exist :)

Not a lot has been happening, we're both in good health at the moment, have just had our six monthly checkups. And life goes on in it's own little rythm.

Keep well until next time,

Diana

Tuesday 4

Its time for this week's Tuesday 4 and if you would like to join in or see what others are sharing here is the link:

https://tuesdaysplace.blogspot.com/

Autumn evenings were always special when I was a kid.

The day ended early and the family gathered in the living room where my mother and grandmother watched a little TV and my father sat on the sofa reading and smoking his pipe.  My parents enjoyed a cup of coffee and sometimes a snack.

1. Does your life go along in the same way all year or do  things change with the seasons?

   I spend more time outside when it's warmer though if I'm just sitting with a good book I wear a hat and use sunscreen. When it's cooler I'm only outside when I'm going from one place to another. I'm not a cold weather person.

2. Do you have a favorite meal on the chilly night? 

   I like soups and stews in the winter. My hubby is not so keen on soup but doesn't complain.

3.  Do you have a snack while you watch TV or read?

   Only at afternoon tea or supper although we do sometimes have a small packet of chips or a piece of chocolate in the afternoon and in the evening ice cream.

4. Do you have a fireplace in your home?

   We do, but it hasn't been used in probably 30 plus years. We had a gas heater for a while and now have a heat pump installed, so much cleaner and we can set it to come on before we get up so the living rooms are nice and warm when we come out.

Keep well,

until next time,

Diana

Lunch at the gardens

 Yesterday dawned cool and crisp, just 5C when I climbed out of bed. A lovely sunny, autumn day but with a decided nip in the air. Just nice for a wander around the Botanic Gardens about lunch time.

If you zoom in you will see people sitting on benches enjoying the sun.

On Sunday my son usually takes me and a friend in to church but yesterday he and his wife were wanting to stay in town and do some shopping after the service. So my friend and I decided to take her car and go somewhere for lunch.

The rose gardens are getting a bit shabby.

We decided on the Gardens tea rooms as we were down that end of town anyway and parking wouldn't be such a problem as if we went into the CBD. After a nice relaxed lunch we decided to have a bit of a stroll around, it was such a nice day. 

Ducks on a small part of the pond.

We wandered through the tropical glasshouse, too hot in our winter coats and a relief to get back out into the cooler air :) Then through the rose gardens and past the duck pond. There were a lot of ducks around, maybe they knew it was the start of duck shooting season this weekend. Finally past the bandstand and the children's play area and it was up the hilly part to the car.

The children's play area.

I hope you've enjoyed this little stroll around a small part of the gardens with us. They really are rather lovely at any time of the year.

   We really enjoyed ourselves and have decided to have lunch out on a Sunday more often. 

Have a good week,

Diana

Another sunny Sunday

The sun was shining and so we decided to go on a short road trip down to Lake Waihola and have a stroll on the lakeside. And maybe grab a hot drink before heading home. We headed down the road behind a horse float and I couldn't help smiling as I remembered our daughter in law's astonishment at seeing a "car for horses" the first time she was over from Japan on holiday.

But as we travelled south the clouds started coming in and we thought it wouldn't be very pleasant down at the lakeside. So we decided to take a detour to airport and do some people watching and plane watching instead while we had a drink. The sky was looking a little moody over Mangatua.

 

A new feature at the entrance to the airport was this 'rainbow crossing'. Well it was new since last time I was there early in January. I hope it doesn't become as controversial as the one in one of our larger cities which was painted over by an objector who then ended up being prosecuted for his trouble.

People were only just starting to arrive for their flights so we were able to get a table reasonably close to the windows and where we could see what was coming and going.

One of our national carriers taxiing up the tarmac for takeoff. I prefer this livery to the all black one with the silver fern on it. 

Photo taken through tinted glass.

And some lucky person's private jet parked up. The owner could be in Queenstown as the pilots often need to fly the jets to Dunedin to park them due to lack of space to park in Queenstown for any length of time.

And a statue of our Southern Man is outside the entrance. A tribute to our high country farmers and stockmen. The horse is so realistic I kept expecting it to move while I was taking the photo.

Southern Man plaque. 

Speights is the name of the local beer brewed in Dunedin.

Autumn colours, I couldn't resist taking a photo as we were driving away from the airport. It looks much better in reality and some of the trees are looking decidedly bare but others still have a lot of leaves.

But that's autumn I guess :) 

I hope you've all had a good weekend.

Keep well until next time,

Diana

Some unexpected visits

 It's been a real autumn week weather wise but that didn't stop us from catching up with both our southern great grand boys.

First off was an invitation to have morning tea with Theo and his Mum and Granma at the Village Green. And of course we didn't turn down the opportunity. It was a miserable day but we had all gathered just after 10am. The Village Green is part way between both our suburbs and is at a sports ground - so no searching for a carpark. Yay! And the first thing we saw as we went through the doors into the restaurant was a roaring fire.

We put our orders in, my GKB and I had cheese rolls for breakfast, and were directed to a reserved table by the window. Youngest daughter, also known as Granma, works here so the boss came over and sat with us for a few minutes and had cuddles with Theo. Orders arrived and we spent a very pleasant hour or so chatting together.

Later in the day I called around to a local rest home and visited with a friend. She has no family here and so there is a little group of us who visit and do her personal shopping for her. You can see the state of the weather in this photo but it was nice and warm inside.

Then the next day I had a message from eldest daughter, can Arlo and I come out and visit this afternoon? Of course we said yes. That was another wet and miserable day but a little better than the one before. My GKB set up the construction set before they got here, he always likes to play with it and it takes a bit of putting together and he can get the Lego and a few other games out himself. Guess what he decided to play this time? Chess! None of us play chess but we have a set so at some time one of the kids must have played. I think it was our son.

He taught himself how to set the board up, and we had a lot of fun playing 'Arlo's rules', but we have told him that there are other rules and he will need to learn them if he wants to play with other people. He is 4, turns 5 next month and will be away to school. Where has that time gone? He is the eldest of the great grandkids and Theo is the youngest at 6 weeks. 

Today the sun is shining and it has been nice and warm. We went for a drive to Outram for an ice cream and I went for a stroll up the street afterwards. As you can see, a beautiful blue sky day.

That's it for today, until next time

 be kind to yourself :)

Diana

A nice day for a short walk

The sun was shining, there was only a slight breeze, a pleasant day for a short autumn walk. I went to the top of the street and turned right which takes me out into the countryside. Well almost. It's rural shall we say. Plenty of autumn colour, the leaves are starting to turn now.

Autumn coloured hydrangeas.

Half grown calves watching me .

A few yards further down the road there is a small orchard.

The traffic was starting to get a bit heavy and no 

designated walking paths so I didn't go much further,

 just beyond these trees.

Nearly home again, about 30 feet to the corner 

and we're back in town.

I love living on the edge of town, I have the best of both

 worlds to pick from when I go walking.

I hope you've had a good week. 

Until next time,

Diana

 

Autumn is here

 March has certainly come in like a lion, but it is the beginning of autumn here so not altogether unexpected. Further inland it is snowing but at least it is just squally showers here today. The mornings are darker too, so it is harder to wake up, and the evenings are drawing in. Time to think about putting the winter sheets on the bed.

Early morning.

Today was gym/walk day and we had thought we would meet up with the new mother and take baby for a walk but it was too cold and blustery. Instead youngest daughter and I ended up at the gym and on the treadmill before heading over to participate in baby Theo's bath time and have cuddles. He's a good, contented baby. So Sassy missed out on her walk with me today. I also took the opportunity of delivering the baby album my GKB and I had bought for them. 

At the end of last year I joined a small collective where for $7-50 I can get a small bag of vegetables that last us for 2 weeks. You're informed of what's in the bags before you order, there is not an option but I don't mind as we like most veges, and if you don't like the selection there's no need to order. This week we received potatoes, onions broccoli, marrow and a cabbage. No root veges this time but no matter, I already had some in the fridge. There's also the option of buying a meat pack, and extra vegetables if you want. And you can opt in and out as you want so you don't have to buy every week if it doesn't suit. A good deal I think.

And apart from that it has been a quiet week. I haven't been out much as my hearing aids are playing up and it's not much fun when you can't hear what people are saying and can't hold a conversation. But hopefully next week will be better - I've had an appointment with the audiologist and she has hopefully fixed the problem :)

So not much to share.

Until next time look after yourselves,

Diana

Netball and butterflies and other things in between

This morning my daughter rang to see if I wanted to go and watch the netball with her. Youngest grand daughter was playing a social game at 1pm. It's a while since I've watched her as she has played football (soccer) the past two or three years. I noticed she'll have to get used to using her arms again in defence, she hasn't been able to do that in footy. That's her with the topknot hairdo just under the ball. They played a good game for the first of the season and won 25 - 12. It was played inside where her brothers were playing futsal during the summer.

Autumn has arrived, the mornings and evenings are drawing in and getting just a tad nippy. The days are still warm though, in double figures, and in fact some of them are as warm as our summer days were. Anyway, I have finished knitting my daughter, same one as above, a snood for the winter. It's the same as the one I knitted for her sister a few months ago - I had several balls of  the wool left over so thought I could do that. There is still a ball there so I have decided that I will knit the beanie that is on the wrapper you can see around the wool. It is black I know, but it is fun wool and okay to work with once you get used to it.

I have finished my book for April and as I said I was going to do I picked one that was  light and trite. So much so that I can't remember what it was about. So if you want something light and easy to read and you don't have to worry about, this is a good one. 

That Certain Age by Elizabeth Buchan.

But having said that, I have read several others since. (Excuses, excuses). And I am well into the one I picked for this month. I think it could be classed as an autobiography but I'm not really sure. 

Pippa Blake - Journey.

It is the story of her life with Sir Peter Blake up until his untimely death at the hand of  bandits in December 2001. So far, so good. A Christmas gift several years ago from one of my children.

During the week I ventured down the yard to the roses thinking I would cut them back and then dead head the dahlias. Well the roses were not co-operating at all.  Only one of them had finished flowering and all the others are in bud and starting to bloom again. Honestly, even the plants think it is springtime. So I cut the one back or perhaps I should say I pruned it, and tidied up the rest of them. You can see one of them in full bloom below, with a bud ready to open just behind. Then I walked over to the dahlias to begin on them. They also have a lot of tiny buds on them, but I think the frost will get to them before they get to the opening stage. But who knows? So just the deadheading was done there as well.

Speaking of the garden we have noticed a lot of different butterflies this year, and more of them. Among them were the monarch butterfly which is so lovely. This a photo taken while I was still working. We had hatched some caterpillars in the dining room and released them outside when they were ready. This one flew onto branch just outside the window and stayed there for most of the day, much to the joy of the elderly folk inside. It is sad that they have such a short lifespan, only 2 - 5 weeks.

We also had visits from the Great White or as we know it, the cabbage butterfly. These are far more common than the monarch or any of the others we saw and gardeners regard them as a pest. As well we had visits from a black butterfly with white spots on the wings, which was quite common when I was a child but which I haven't seen often since I moved south. I have no idea what it is called as I have always, mistakenly, thought it was a codling moth! 

The other visitor we have seen is red admirals, I think. I say I think because it is a slightly different colour to the ones I remember, so perhaps these ones were yellow admirals? I used to see more of them when I was a child as well. Of course none of the more uncommon ones stayed on the foliage long enough for me to go in and get my camera, so no pics. But isn't that the way?

And that is it from me today.

I am going to join Amy for Five on Friday

 and hope you'll pop over for a look as well.

Diana

Autumn ... and some Aussie visitors

Autumn is here in the south - but the trees haven't been told.

There is a little bit of colour change but not a lot.

Today was a lovely warm day, 28 degs C. 

so my GKB and I decided  that we would try 

to take some photo's of the plain in all it's autumn glory.

We headed up to the bridge over the motorway to see what we could do.

We were looking not quite into the sun which has resulted in the pictures

being a little hazy. 

Looking north across the plain toward Mount Allen, 

lovely, green and lush.

Part of our little town in the foreground.

Further around toward the west, where our warm wind was blowing in from.

Not a lot of colour. On the whole I think it has been too warm

 even though we have had snow on the hills a couple of times.

Looking west to Mount Maungatua. 

Now what has this got to do with Aussies you may ask? 

Nothing really, except that my little mother's 91 year old sister, 

her daughter and grand daughter came over for a surprise, flying visit.

And flying it was.

They spent a week in New Zealand,

 flew from one end of the country to the other, and back again,

visiting various relatives on the way and tomorrow fly home again.

We all went out for dinner last night, 

girls only as the men had other things happening. 

Three cousins, grand daughter took the photos.

We had a lovely meal together made all the more enjoyable

 because it was a spur of the moment thing.

We all enjoyed the visit, its a long time since we have caught up,

in one case about 40 years.

joining with:

Roses of inspiration

Have a lovely week, 

till next time.

Diana

Winter is a'coming...

Autumn is here and in the last week 

the temps have dropped considerably.

There has been a lot of this happening today,

in fact this was when it had begun to clear a bit towards evening.

I'm hoping that it will be nice at the weekend when we commemorate ANZAC Day,

and 100 years since the Anzac troops landed at Gallipolli

with such awful loss of life on both sides.

I'm hoping to go into the city for the Dawn Service

and I think it will be pretty crowded.

Granddad and Granma 

I love these photos of my grandparents 

and this is hanging up in my lounge all the time.

They were so young. Grandad came back from the war 

 and they lived to a good age, 

bringing up six kids as well as having various grandkids 

living in their home over the years.

My youngest brother looks very much like my grandfather.

Mack

My granddaughter's wee dog, Mack. 

He is a sweetie and a real little guard dog..

but at the moment he is not well.

He has lost control of his back legs and also his bowel and bladder.

After having x-rays it seems he has a slipped disk 

which has calcified and now it is pinching the nerves to that part of his body.

He's had a couple of nights at the vet and is now home in a little cage,

on bed rest. He has to have a harness on when he comes

 out to do his business and needs help standing as well. 

Currently he is at my daughters home 

because there is someone home with him there all the time.

They hope to know this week whether he will improve or not.

I hope so for granddaughters' sake.

Winter time means jigsaw time to a lot of people, me included.

I have suggested that we start a jigsaw library at church this winter

and up above is the pile Mum gave me to sort out, name and mend to go in it.

So that is what I have been doing this evening 

- it didn't take long though, most of the boxs are in pretty good nick.

Mine are already down at the church and one other lady is putting some in as well.

I think we'll have about 50 to start us off. 

Just to finish off here is a teacup I gave my mother in law for Christmas one year.

When she died it came back to me and is in the china cabinet with my other teacups.

It is a Regency English Bone China trio.

I thought it was very pretty when I bought it and I haven't changed my mind.

joining with:

Martha's favorites

Roses of Inspiration

That's it for this week,

see you next time. keep well,

Diana