Coming Up Close

 Some parts of New Zealand flood more than others. Our Spring so far has been very very wet, luckily in our town it's not so flat so water drains quite quickly. However in Kaeo, the next town along on the way north is very flat so sometimes the river can rise so high to the point where farmland gets bogged down like the photos above and the roads will be blocked off.  Linking up with Skywatch Friday .

Another one from Kohukohu. I just love second hand shops and spotted this one along the main street deciding to have a look inside. Usually I always come out with something but this one didn't have anything I was interested in. Linking up with  Our World Tuesday ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  Through my lens ,  My corner of the world  and  Wordless Wednesday .

B and I were up in Kohukohu last week, such a quiet little town in the Hokianga harbour. We stopped and had lunch at the local cafe. B ordered some toasted cheese, onion and ham sandwiches - we call them toasties here in New Zealand. If you enlarge the photos you should be able to see the menu. I ordered a crispy chicken salad which was delicious and filling. Hopefully this illustration on the front of the cafe passes as part of Mural Monday . 

This photo was taken probably around 8 years ago in Matakana on a Saturday morning when they hold their weekly farmers market.  Unfortunately with this region being part of Auckland they are under level 4 lockdown. Linking up with  Weekend Reflections  and  The Weekend Roundup .

My youngest son mows our lawns so I snapped this last week of him when we had a brief glimpse of Spring sunshine. I hope this weather continues. Linking up with Skywatch Friday .

Over the last month or so I have been trying to make a really big effort in eating more healthy especially while we were in lockdown, last thing I wanted to do was get bored and eat rubbish. Sometimes I do alot of baking for the boys so it's easy to pick at bits and pieces, before I know it I've eaten more than I wanted to in the first place. I googled some healthier recipes and came up with 3 - above is homemade chicken ramen noodle soup. Recipe here . This one is a vegetable crustless quiche, I think I just added whatever I had in the fridge to this one. Recipe here .   The last one was Zucchini Fritters made with chickpea flour instead of basic white flour as I have a tiny gluten intolerance thing going on. Recipe here .  Linking up with  Our World Tuesday ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  Through my lens ,  My corner of the world  and  Wordless Wednesday .

At the far end of Kaikohe this mural is on the side of one of the buildings. Although it looks a little worse for the wear to me it looks like it symbolizes the town/s history. I see the historical Aperahama Church which was built in 1885 and I see some Maori carvings.  I was unable to find some information about it but all I could see on the mural itself were some names: V. Whiu, J. Harry, E. Capilli, I. Wilcox and J. Paki so I'm guessing these were the artists. Linking up with  Mural Monday .

  This fire engine is part of our local brigade - all strictly run by volunteers of course and they are usually very busy throughout the year. Linking up with  Weekend Reflections  and  The Weekend Roundup . .

While we were in level 4 lockdown alot of my non-urgent clients were paused but luckily I was able to keep working by travelling to Kaikohe for 2 weeks. There is a client out there who has a brain injury and sometimes my manager asks me to cover her usual carer so that's where I've been.  One morning I stopped to take a photo of one of the trees that was covered in pink blossoms. Spring is here. Linking up with Skywatch Friday .

 A familiar scene to many people. When we are in full level 4 lockdown this is what we see outside our supermarkets and shops. In some places there have been reports of people spitting at security guards and refusing to wear masks resulting in being arrested by the police. Most are pretty good and this photo was what I snapped while I was waiting in line at our local supermarket last week, really nice to see everyone standing 2 metres apart while wearing masks.  Linking up with  Our World Tuesday ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  Through my lens ,  My corner of the world  and  Wordless Wednesday .

One of the buildings in Kaikohe has a mural painted on both sides. The mural mainly promotes "Aroha" meaning "love" but also includes wording such as "Maanaaki" meaning "hospitality" - in whole the idea of speaking more Maori language/Te Reo.  A local non profit organization named " Akau " organized the mural and other paintings around town and students from Northtec did alot of the painting in November 2020.  Linking up with Mural Monday .

  One from our most recent lockdown. I decided one day I'd had enough of being inside and that I desperately needed some fresh air so I had a brief walk around town. Only shops that are classed as essential are usually allowed to stay open such as dairies, supermarkets, petrol stations, chemists etc.  This one was taken outside a dairy with signs advertising "fresh milk" and "Keripies". A dairy for us kiwis is like a 7/11 or a corner shop and pies are a big thing here because the bakers can put so many fillings inside, my favourites are mussel or seafood pies. This is for  Tom's post  for things beginning with "K" and  Weekend Reflections .

Last time we visited Auckland City we were astounded to see so many major roadworks going on throughout the streets. There seems to be some huge reorganising going on and many businesses apparently are suffering due to the customers not being able to walk in. Unfortunately progress causes the downfall of many people as does lockdown. I feel for them especially since the rest of New Zealand is now down to level 2 but Auckland is still in level 4 due to them having the most positive cases.  Linking up with Skywatch Friday .

In MOTAT (Auckland's museum of transport and technology) is this wee church named the "Chapel of the Good Shepherd" which was built in Blockhouse Bay in 1867 with the permission of Bishop George Selwyn .  Apparently progress was slow and it took 30 years from start to finish. The first wedding to be held here Mary Emily Pooley and George Keen on 26th October 1898. Linking up with  Our World Tuesday ,  Travel Tuesday ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  Through my lens ,  My corner of the world  and  Wordless Wednesday .

  This rather long colourful mural is on the side of the Tejano Cantina and Fiesta Bar in Taupo. They have tapped into a niche market by serving a mix of Mexican and Texan cuisine.  Linking up with Mural Monday .

Much of MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology) in Auckland is set up as how the city use to look. This mini street shows how shops and stores use to look once upon a time and because the old trams are still running throughout this area the lines can be see in the top left hand side of the photo. As for Covid, thankfully Northland is now in level 3 but poor old Auckland is still in level 4 lockdown. We still have to wear masks in public but many people out walking for exercise not wearing theirs, sad how you get some willing to do their bit whereas others aren't that bothered. This is for  Tom's post  for things with "J" in it and  Weekend Reflections .

Te Hononga is Kawakawa's latest Hundertwasser creation. This memorial park was opened in October 2020 by a local politician, Willow Jean Prime. It's main purpose is to be a community hub which includes a public library, council service centre, public toilets and showers, an art gallery, interpretative centre, community workshop and expanded car parking. Photo taken before lockdown.  Speaking of which we are waiting to see if our region comes out of level 4 lockdown today, fingers crossed. Because I am a healthcare worker I am one of the few services that is still allowed to be out and about visiting my clients. From what I understand the officials are waiting for more tests on the wastewater around Northland to remain clear, fingers crossed we are still clear. Now I read yesterday that a new variant of Covid has been detected in South Africa , it makes me wonder if it is just going to get keep on getting worse and worse. All we can do is our best to keep each other safe. The ar