Halloween Daisies

Some daisies and a pumpkin especially for Halloween. The photo was taken by my brother Bryan, in his garden in France. Not very scary, but it seemed appropriate. Happy Halloween.

Proud Mum Show-off Time

My eldest son entered the TVNZ Web Site competition for schools all over New Zealand this year. He came in the top 50 out of possibly thousands of entrants. I am so proud of him and impressed at the web site he designed.

The Da Vinci Machines

Yesterday we had a trip down to Palmerston North to see The Da Vinci Machines exhibition. Quite fascinating. Everybody knows some of the machines that Da Vinci drew. But I had no idea of the sheer volume or complexity of his work. He had even invented a rudimentary robot from a suit of armour powered internally by cogs and pulleys. Some of the exhibits could be tested which kept my youngest busy as he already knew everything. Oh for the naievity of being seven. The exhibition has now finished in Palmerston North. You can visit it in Nelson, Dunedin or Christchurch and I really think it is worth a visit.

I'm back already

Panic over I am back on line already. Peter managed to get the router going with the reset instructions I found on the Internet and my eldest managed to get the wireless network back up and running. A team effort. Amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it. Now all we need is an set of reset instructions for our wild middle son. Please leave a comment if you know where I can get some.

Disaster strikes again

This is a very quick post during a break at work. Guess what! My wonderful elder son decided to update the software on our internet router last night. Now we have no internet connection at home. No idea when it will be sorted and if it can be sorted out, and due to current Hubbie's finger problem I really do not want to buy another router (we need to save all the cents we have). So this may be the last post for a while. But I will be back sometime in the future, perhaps when life is not dealing us so many Black Swans.

Snaps I would have taken.....

Today I would have taken some snaps of the Aliums in my garden and the turquoise blue sea at Napier if I had a camera. Phoned the insurance company and I am now waiting in anticipation to find out if and when I will get a replacement camera. Can't wait. I keep turning around and spotting something else to snap and can't do it.

No More Daisies

No more daisies pics for a while. My camera has disapeared. I had it this afternoon while taking some pics in Dale's garden, put it back in my handbag and now it is gone. I feel very lost without it. I have retraced my steps, phoned the supermarket and had Dale searching her garden with a torch. Fingers crossed that our insurance covers us for lost items. If you have any daisy pics please send them to me so I can have something to post, or any other interesting pics would be welcome. Just leave a comment and I will send you my email address. Or if you happen to find a very battered Sony Cyber-shot lying around in Havelock, please let me know.

I told you the disasters had not stopped. I am usually a "glass half full" type of girl, but the latest run of disasters I think will continue for a while. Peter even managed to break the lid on his favourite teapot today. If you know Peter you would know that this is a big issue for him, he is never more than 2-3 mins away from a cup of tea and usually has a mug of tea attached to his right hand. He has had to resort to using my favourite Laura Ashley pale blue and white floral teapot, not his idea of what a teapot should be. For my part, it is maybe not wise to let him use my favourite teapot that I have had for 27 years. Will post a pic of it when I am able to again and if it survives Peter.

Today's Daisies

Today's daisies are on a piece of fabric I picked up on our disasterous trip to Auckland a month ago. I love its almost seventies look. It will be going into my green and cream daisy quilt, when I get a chance to do some more work on it.

Today's Daisies - On a Quilt

I have been working on this daizies quilt for over a year. I keep taking it out and doing a couple of blocks then putting it away again. I could not get it to come together. The problem was created because I was late for the class, disorganised and got my colours mixed up right from the start. I think perhaps I am starting to like it at last. If you squint your eyes up it looks a bit like one of those crochet granny blanckets.


Now I have finished the 36 centre blocks and just need to do about 44 more little daisies, to go round the edge of the quilt. This may take another year to get them done, never mind finishing off the whole quilt.

Mr Lovely Legs

Peter today noticed a box of books in the garage that looked interesting. So got out the ladder to have a look at them. And guess what he fell off, now isn't that a suprise climbing a ladder with a broken finger. On the way down he whacked his crushed finger repeatedly. So off we went to the ED to get it checked out. Four and a half hours later, after seeing the doctor for 30 seconds and getting his wounded finger re-dressed we toddled off home. You may wonder why there is a picture of Peter's lovely legs above and below. Can you spot the problem with them. Yep, not only had Peter whacked his bad finger, he had also whacked his knee. The pain from his finger obviously masked the pain from his leg. Guess where we will be going tomorrow if the swelling does not go down. What a lovely way to spend the holiday weekend.

You know, I wonder what will happen next. So far this year we have had - Broken kitchen appliances Fridge, Cooker and Dishwasher. We bought a second hand dishwasher from Trademe for $50, as forking out for three new applicances in one year was getting a bit expensive. It works really well, no leaks and it is really solid. But the dishes actually come out dirtier than you put them in! So we are back to hand washing, or should I say I am back to hand washing. Peter had his credit card number hijacked and maxed out via Internet shopping by some fraudster back in the UK. Our middle teenager has acquired a very interesting girlfriend and is attempting to take irresponsability to record heights. Then Peter fell off his bike and crushed his finger, not a good thing for a dentist. Would you want your dentist approaching your with a fat black yukky finger. What is going to be the next disaster?

Latest Project

A few weeks ago when we were at the Home and Garden show we passed the stall where we bought our garden table and benches from. I was a little shocked at the state I had let ours get into and how good the new ones looked. So my latest project was to sand them down and re finish them. The result is really good. The above pic does not really show how bad they had become, but the one below does show how good they look now. Guess you can spot the common item in the pics, Peter in his usual spot, doing his usual activity.

Irises

The irises in the garden are starting to bloom.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Buffy always finds the warmest places to sun herself in.

Flowers from my Garden

A few of the flowers from my spring garden.

Hawkes Bay A and P Show 2007

Yesterday was a local holiday and Hawkes Bay A & P Show. Usually we go on the Thursday, which is busy enough for us. This year we decided to go on the Friday and it was just too crowded and too busy. Still got to see some cool animals. I would like to take home one or two of the alpacas above to mow my lawn.

And my youngest and I would like a few chickens to lay us some eggs. We have even entered a raffle to win a hen and two black bantams, not sure if my fingers are crossed or not as if we win we will have to purchase a home for them if we win. Although my youngest says they will be OK in his bedroom!

As much as I love the A & P show. I really hate fun fairs, the smell, the crowds, the noise and the cost. Yuk. But kids love them, so you have to do the stand around and watch them thing. I could not get out of that area of the show fast enough. Could not even bring myself to take a pic to show you.

Mum's New Vase

Mum came home the other day to find this lovely new vase on her windowsill!

Yesterday's Daisies

Last year this bank was covered in pine trees, which were chopped down. Now it is covered in Daisies. Stunning.

Foxgloves

Clive Square gardens again, Foxgloves this time.

Saturday's Daisies

Some daisies from Clive Square again. Peter and I managed to escape on Saturday morning to have a little wonder around Napier.

Tokaanu Geothermal Pools

The last pics from our weekend away. On the Sunday morning before we left the whole village was shrouded in steam rising from the hot pools. There was bubbling and boiling noises everywhere.

Ruapehu

Some more pictures from our skiing weekend. The first is looking down into the Happy Valley area, not enough snow for skiing, but great for sledgeing.

The second pic is looking up to one of the ski runs. It is called the Rock Garden run. You can see why.

Fish

All over the Taupo area are these fish next to drains. I think it is a really cool idea, and I think they look so cute (for a fish).

Today's Daisies

Today's Daisies were meant to be for Peter in hospital, but instead of being there for four days, he was discharged before the flowers reached him. He was obviously just too healthy to be in hospital. The daisies have had to chase him round Hawkes Bay until they reached him at home. Shame they did not get to him this morning before he left.

Prawns

Next door to the jet boat place at Hukka Falls is the Prawn Farm. Thought it sounded a bit corny so did not consider it as a fun place to visit. Then my youngest spotted people fishing for prawns and thought he should have a go. Unfortunatly to get to go fishing you have to do the whole tour. So Peter and my youngest did the tour and I went to the shops with my middle child. When we got back they had finished the tour and managed to catch a prawn. You then carry the prawn into the restaurant in the little bucket and they cook it for you!





I was quite impressed with the whole set up, the restaurant was quite good too. A very good day out for all.

Huka Falls

The water flooding out of lake Taupo only exits via one river, the Waikato. At one point the Waikato has to go through this narrow gorge. Millions of gallons of water flowing over the Huka Falls each second. A really spectacular sight to see. We viewed it from a jet boat on the river. Not an experience that I would like to repeat, but good fun to try once.

Peter's hand

Just had to leave my hubby behind in hospital. He fell of his bike this morning on the way to work. For some reason he landed on the fingers of his left hand. Nothing else was damaged, or scraped, or bruised. Just a couple of fingers squished. At first we thought he just needed stitches. Then it became clear that he would need surgery. The bone in the top of his finger is totally pulverised. So that's where he is right now, at least he has a window bed with a reasonable view.

And if you want to see the pic of his fingers just let me know. He insisted I took one. Infact he even txted a snap to his work collegues, they did not recieve it. So some poor soul is wondering why they have a snap of a yukky finger.

The Old Post Office Tokaanu

This weekend we stayed at the Old Post Office, in Tokaanu, again. These images try to capture some of the character of the place. If you want to stay in a true Kiwi batch and see a slice of New Zealand's history, then I would totally recommend staying here. There are the minimum of mod cons, so if you need pristine and shiny surroundings this is not for you. But I loved it.

If anyone knows what the two strange chairs are can they please leave a comment and let me know. They seem to be a cross between a chair, a set of steps and a very low ironing table!