Tuesday 30 May 2023

Little blue penguins


We were out at Punakaiki aka Pancake Rocks last week as my youngest son had never been there. These sculptures of one species of the local wildlife are little blue penguins aka Korora. Sometimes you may be able to see them swimming or wandering around the rocks. 

Linking up with Through my lensTuesday TreasuresMy corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Sunday 28 May 2023

Blue house


I spotted this little house for sale in Murchison last year. A very pretty wee stucco house from the 1930s era, there are a few properties around the country like this. This one painted blue stands out a mile but not sure I would keep the colour if I owned it. I'd probably be a bit more traditional.

Linking up with Blue Monday and Mosaic Monday.

Saturday 27 May 2023

U-turn

 


Now that winter is on the verge of showing it's face there are less and less people being out and about in town especially at night when the temperature is going down to about 6 degrees celsius. This week for B and I has been a bit stressful - we managed to sort out the issue but it took some time. It seems that there is always someone who loves to gossip. Hopefully next week will be a bit easier.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup.

Thursday 25 May 2023

Up high


Sometimes we can find household items like toilet paper and cat food at cheaper places like here at "The Warehouse" so we visit each week to check out the prices. Last week we spotted these guys fixing the sign on the outside of the building. Definitely wouldn't get me up that high.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

Tuesday 23 May 2023

Windchill


In the mornings now usually the fire is started and funny seeing all 4 cats around it trying to get warm. Luckily my house as a DVS system which is like a home ventilation system that keeps the interior at an even temperature so it's not too cold. The days are mostly dreary and overcast with mist over the mountains so no doubt we will see snow on the tops soon.

Linking up with Through my lensTuesday TreasuresMy corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Sunday 21 May 2023

Waves


There is a fence along the side of a house in Hokitika that has been painted with waves and a Maori waka (canoe), it brightens up the property. The artist is Mark Haldane aka RAJA, a local Greymouth artist.

Linking up with Mural Monday and Blue Monday.

Saturday 20 May 2023

Tagging along


And Toyota - one of the popular car brands here. I do like seeing scenes like this. Dogs always brighten my day - much better than people.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup.

Thursday 18 May 2023

Entry


Now that we are going into early Winter we are seeing more and more sunsets, like this one outside my work last week. The dry cold has hit and I have been cleaning out the vege garden by removing old tomato plants and next week we will need to order a couple of loads of firewood. The lowest temperature we've had so far at night is about 4 degrees celsius so not too bad. Hopefully snow ill on the mountains soon.

Linking up with Skywatch FridayAll Seasons and Tom's Signs.

Tuesday 16 May 2023

Quiet


This was down at the town square a couple of months ago and the sculpture above whoever the man is recently was showing signs of cracking despite still being relatively not that old. I think it's now stabilized but at least it didn't fall on anyone. Looks like a good spot to sit though.

Linking up with Through my lensBlue MondayTuesday TreasuresMy corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Sunday 14 May 2023

Another mystery machine


I spotted another campervan last week, this one is a different take on the last Mystery Machine that I found but this one is in shades of grey and orange.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Saturday 13 May 2023

Shoulder closed


There aren't many roadworks that happen here except if rocks slide off the mountains but when we were looking for a carpark in town on one of the main streets it puzzled me. This sign was up but for no reason, there was nothing happening. 

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup.

Thursday 11 May 2023

Autumn or Winter


Finally we are nearly into Winter but it's felt more like Autumn with cold temperatures not sinking in yet. Last night was the first night we've had where the temperatures were down to 4 degrees and due to get colder. I have severe hay fever allergies throughout the year so I'm finding my usual medication isn't working quite so well. Hopefully a doctor's visit can get me a prescription on some better stuff.  I'm back at work tomorrow after my week off but I have a question. Why do days off always go by faster than the days we work?


Weirdly enough, the bulbs I planted a few weeks ago are already sprouting. Are they confused about whether it's Spring or Autumn?

Linking up with Skywatch Friday, All Seasons and Tom's Signs.

Tuesday 9 May 2023

Pride

I've been seeing a few new building projects being made around town and some of the old heritage buildings being pulled down for them. I'm guessing the old ones are probably not earthquake proof and will cost too much to bring up to an acceptable standard. Shame really but that's progress I guess.



Every week at work a lovely gay couple come in and do their shopping. I always make it a point to chat with them and last week they gave me a bag of brand new pride shoelaces that they sell at markets. When I took them home my children and I divided them up and now we all wear them in our shoes.

Linking up with Through my lensRuby TuesdayTuesday TreasuresMy corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Sunday 7 May 2023

Railway Hotel Murals

On the side of the front wall of the Railway Hotel building is this mural in bits and pieces.


I can't work out what some of the creatures are but the others are a pirate ship, a duck and a crab on this wall.



And another pirate ship with fish on this wall. I don't think there's any particular message in it except that it's a bit of fun painted by local artist RAJA aka Mark Haldane.

Linking up with Mural Monday and Blue Monday. 

Saturday 6 May 2023

Ross Hotel

 


It's not often we travel so far out of Greymouth but when we first moved here we travelled about 90 minutes south to Ross, which use to be a small gold mining town in the 1800s. Since I like taking photos of old buildings, we stopped so I could get a shot of the old Empire Hotel. 




This photo taken in 1965 shows how it use to look. The original one burned down and this one was rebuilt around the 1900s. There's been quite alot of work done to it over the years, I think it looks way better now.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup.

Thursday 4 May 2023

Dragonfly Cafe

 


While shopping for bathroom products this week at a cheaper place than the supermarket we had to dodge the late Autumn rate to get to the car. This car above displaying signage for the Dragonfly Cafe is one I see around town regularly, apparently they are caterers.

B and I are finalizing plans to spend a week in Auckland in the first week of November as my oldest son and his partner have announced they are expecting their first baby aka my first grandchild in October. We are planning to fly up and stay just north of the city in the same town my grandparents use to live in - lots of good memories of them will most likely come up while we are there.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

Tuesday 2 May 2023

Wallpaper

We have been busy pulling out the old kitchen. My house was built in the 1930s and we have been find bits and pieces of wallpaper behind the walls. This piece was found next to where the cupboards were and although I was hoping to save a section of it, it's sadly a bit too ripped up. I do think it's pretty though.

So now we have a decent bench space with some of the new cupboards put together but it's probably going to take a few months to fully organize everything and we are still waiting for a few more items to be delivered.

I have this week off from work so once I get the normal amount of housework and cleaning done, I'm planning to rest and catch up on some crochet while it's raining outside.

Some Autumn planting of seeds has been done outside in the garden with some Hyssop, Soapwort and other seeds I bought online.

Linking up with Through my lensRuby TuesdayTuesday TreasuresMy corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

 

Monday 1 May 2023

Mystery Machine

Outside my work recently I spotted this. Recognize it? A campervan was painted just like the van from the cartoon series "Scooby Doo" from the 1970s. Maybe many from my generation and older will know all about it.


Linking up with Mural Monday and Blue Monday. 

Westport News

  This has been one of the early buildings in Westport from the 1870s that is still being used for the local newspaper, so much old Victoria...