Dry dry dry garden

 It has been so long with out rain the grass in my garden is almost non existant. Just baked hard earth really.

 There are a few flowers that are still surviving the dry heat.  

 Down at the creek in the shade is still green, but the water is just lying there hardly moving at all.

 And looking really, really murky not its usual crystal clear self.

 I had a good scolding from this little fantail while I was down there.  It was swooping around my head and tweeting its head off.

 The plant that is enjoying the conditions best is the leucadendron, it is positively thriving in the heat.

Today in my winter garden..........

 In my Winter garden today there are still roses blooming against blue skies and daisies turning their heads up to the sun

 Thank goodness for the Queen's birthday long weekend, giving me an extra day to get out and enjoy the sunshine.

 And do a bit of well needed gardening.  Vege beds cleared ready to get spring plants in soon.  Just seven borders to weed and the wild place to strim.  Oh well roll on next long weekend.

What I did today...........

Today I just sat around feeling a little bit sorry for myself. I have a bit of a virus, infection, rashey, swollen neck thingy. So I was told it would be a good idea to sit still for a day or two. I am not that good at sitting around. It seemed like a good idea to do a bit of messing about with my camera, trying out different settings and attempting to read the really boring manual. Here are some of the results.

Sometimes I feel a bit like this daisy all swamped.

Found this tiny little pansy with what looks like cat whiskers.

Messed about with the big long lens to pry into the live of a couple of butterflies.

Its about time

For a daisy reaching up for the sun.

Today's Daisy

Today's daisy snapped quickly as I rushed past on my lunch break, trying to get back to work before the rain started. Unfortunately, I did not rush fast enough and got soaked. Luckily, it was very mild today.

Wet Daisy

On one of the very hot days last week I rather stupidly said, "I wish it would rain." Somebody must have heard my comment. For the last 3 days it has poured. The cats are not impressed at all.

Daisy Update

For six months after I broke my ankle I had to take warfarin to prevent me from getting another blood clot. The side effects were tough going, I was cold all the time and tired all the time and my hair fell out.
Now the six months is up I am glad to have my energy back and my hair. The being cold side of it would have been good now that summer is here. But there is one strange side effect of taking warfarin. Not one that I had heard of before, my sense of taste was intensified. Everything tasted so absolutely, incredibly, wonderful. I thought, at first, that it was Peter's cooking. Until I stopped taking the warfarin and my taste buds returned to normal. It was a bit of a shock. No wonder I put on so much weight.
Now you may be wondering what all this has to do with the daisy. Well the answer is nothing. I just thought it was a great picture.

Today's Daisy #77

Today's Daisy is my brother's new dog. Very cute isn't she.

This is what ....... what I want to be when I grow up

No not a daisy, though that is a thought. What I would like to be when I grow up is slim, tall, willowy. I would like to wander around the garden in a floaty dress and big hat, with a big basket of flowers. Unfortunatly as I am short and plump, wearing jeans and a t-shirt, grubbing about in borders yanking out weeds, with hair sticking out at odd angles. Guess it isn't likely I will ever get to wander around the garden in a floaty dress. But who really cares, it was a nice day dream, thanks to Bug and Pop for the suggestion.

Spots, Dots, Circles and Spirals and today's daisy #52

The first day of a week of decoration - Spots, Dots, Circles and Spirals. Tomorrow is stripes and lines.

Jess over at Button Beauty is also going to join in.

Today's Daisy #46

Today's teensey wee daisy, very cute isn't it. I thought I would stick my finger into the pic just so that you could get an idea of its size. Which reminded me of the photos I brought back from Paris when I was 12, every single one of them had my finger edgeing into the shot. It was my first holiday away from my parents and my first camera. If I ever come across one of the pics from paris I will post it and let you see.

Today's Daisy #31

On Saturday morning Peter and I managed to sneek away to Napier for breakfast. As we were too early and all the cafe's were closed we had to go for a wander. I found another Art Deco daisy.

And a palm tree that looked like it was painted on the building.

And the obligatory seagull.

Some boats.

And lastly the cafe that we went for breakfast in.

Oh and not to forget the warehouse conversion. One day I would love to be able to convert a warehouse into a home. I love the idea of all the space and light.

Today's Daisy #23

Today's Daisy is a rusty mark on the playground of my youngest's school. By next week fingers crossed they should all be back at school. Boys that is not Daisies.

Today's Daisy #11

Today's daisy just in front of my hide away hammock. We searched everywhere in the garden to find a place to put up the hammock. Eventually I found a place in the shade between two Portugese Laurels. Perfect, I can watch what is going on in the garden, but still enjoy a few minutes peace while being hidden away. Our youngest has still not managed to find me.

This is my view of the garden.

The First Day of Summer

I still can't get the hang of fact that we are heading for Christmas once again. I am not organised with shopping or with cards. Sorry everyone it is all going to be very late again this year. Here are some snaps of my garden on the first day of summer.

Roses and Cabbage Trees.

Some Daisies, can't miss them out.Another of those roses I was going to pull out last year.

Catmint and Yarrow against the side of the house.

And lastly what happened to the weather when Peter fired up the BBQ. Mind you the food still tasted good, Lamb Kebabs, Couscous, Cucumber and Mint Salsa, Yogurt Carrot and Date and some mouldy pitta bread, oops.

Today's Daisy #9

Today's daisy is the pendant I wore last night when we went our for a meal with my work colleagues. Peter and I had a great time, but were not too impressed with the meal. We went to Glen Etive a restaurant which mixes Scottish and Kiwi food styles! At the start of the evening we were served breads, for which I think they paid $5 per head. Sounds reasonable, but there were 17 of us and we were supplied with 16 slices of bread. Peter and I had to share a slice. How can they justify $5 per head for one tiny slice of bread. I would expect about to get at least two slices per person. The next course was soup, Kumera (sweet potato) and Coconut, very very yummy. Then steak on a bed of mash, again very nice, but just not enough veggies, and the ones we did get were soggy. The pudding was meant to be Scottish Christmas pudding, we suspected this would be battered and deep fried christmas pudding. Instead it turned out to be Spotted Dick (and yes the whole table went through the whole range of jokes you would expect to hear). I was really looking forward to this, but yet again the accompanying sauce was a very meagre portion and the Spotted Dick itself was so dry and unappatising. Now the setting was really lovely with a view out of Havelock to Te Mata Peak. So we may well try it again sometime, perhaps for lunch on a nice warm day, just to see if maybe the restaurant is better when it is not catering for large parties.

Today's Daisy #8

I found today's daisy at the bottom of my water jug. If you look at the image really closely you can see my hands and the camera reflected in a couple of the lower edges.

Today's Daisy #7

Another interesting thing I past this morning on my walk. I am having ideas already about what Peter could paint on our mailbox.

Today's Daisy #6

Today's daisy grows in one of my borders, nearly totally hidden under a rock rose.

Today's Daisy #5

Today's daust is a sunflower growing against the side of our garage. One of the ones that self seeded from last years batch.