Insulation

On Tuesday morning we had our appointment to get the underfloor insulation completed at home. Two young men turned up bright and early and spent about 5 hours topping up the insulation in the ceiling before making sure everything under the house was done. There is a government grant here called the "Healthy Homes Scheme" which enables those living in older houses to get up to a standard of being warm and safe. Because my house was built in the 1930s and although we have a DVS system, a heat pump and a multifuel fire in the lounge we still qualify for it, it wasn't 100% free as we still had a small contribution ourselves to pay but it's well worth it I think.

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

Picton Waterfront

I don't have alot of photos of Picton left, unfortunately due to a glitch with my external hard drive most of them were accidentally deleted. This was taken last April when we were in the process of driving down the north island to Greymouth. Picton is the top of the South Island where the interislander ferries berth after leaving Wellington. The carving in the photo is what's known as a Maori Pou, probably the result of a very clever local artist.

It's a small town with an approx population of around 4310 people and is a gateway to the Marlborough Sounds and Queen Charlotte Track. I would've liked to have been able to spend more time here and take more photos but we had to be on our way.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Winter woolies

As I look out my lounge window I see and hear rain, there are puddles forming on the grass but they won't be there for long - it will be gone by tonight. More and more people are wearing their Winter woolies but I still see the odd one who is wearing a t-shirt and shorts - must be diehard coasters who are use to the temperatures. Finally the underfloor insulation is being completed tomorrow and our kitchen is 90% done. B just has to connect the sink to the pipes under the house. 

Linking up with Blue Monday and Mosaic Monday.

Yellow

Just about everyone knows about the big yellow M right?  We don't go here alot but when we do we all have our own favourite things to order. How is it that cheap food like this is cheaper than healthy stuff? A good question to ponder...

Today I am halfway through my working week. The days I work are Friday through to Monday but lately there has been a stack of nasty winter flu bugs doing the rounds so quite a few colleagues have been home sick. I take vitamins every day so I'm hoping that keeps me from catching the same things.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup.

Mist

So there's not alot this week to report on. It's been very mild with a similar Winter to what we had last year, sunny and reasonably cold but not too much considering we live in the South Island. There was one morning last week when we had quite a heavy frost with a 0 degree low at night but now with rain due we have warmer days and nights.

The cats have been creeping onto our beds at night and it's funny how loud they snore. Still no snow on the mountains though but plenty of mist hanging around.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and All Seasons.

Recharging

These car recharging points are being seen more and more around the country. This is one of a handful seen in Greymouth. The trouble is electric and hybrid cars are not exactly in a friendly price range for the average person. I prefer my economical reliable little car.

We finally have a date for the underfloor insulation of our house which is to be in 2 weeks time, hopefully it will make a difference on the temperature of the floors in cold Winter mornings. Still no snow on the mountains though. I have been busy spreading crass clippings onto my vege garden and around the roots of my citrus trees. The shortest day of the year is coming up soon so I am looking forward to Spring and seeing more colour, until then for the next week we have average temperatures above 6 degrees celsius at night so I can't see the fire being on as much as it has been.

I met with friends last week at one of the local pubs for lunch which was nice but the windchill outside while we were waiting for each other was a bit brutal. Unfortunately I was disappointed by the interior of the building, it seemed that all of the historical period features have been removed over the years and replaced by everything circa 1970s retro - such a shame.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Wind chill

So I finally posted off the baby booties and beanie to my oldest son and his partner. The wind chill while I was out and about was a bit nippy and I have noticed more people on the streets wearing warm jackets or jerseys. 

Linking up with Blue Monday and Mosaic Monday.

No eXit

This is down one of the side streets in town where the library is. It's been never-ending sunny Winter days here with the cold at night getting down to low of between 0 and 6 degrees celsius so the latter isn't too bad. We are still trying to dig out all the dirt from under our house so that the underfloor insulation can be completed. Sometimes when I get up in the morning although we have newish carpet over original Rimu floor boards it's still quite cold on my feet. Will be good when that's done.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup.

Stormy skies

There is an industrial area just up the road from us about 5 minutes away and they have a cheap off the road self serve small petrol station where the gas is a bit cheaper than in town. While I was waiting for B to fill up my car I spotted this stormy sky across the road, we did get showers later on in the day but it's mostly been cold dry sunny days.

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

Tree

While stopping into the local wool and craft shop last week I noticed how bare the trees are now around town. All their leaves are gone and people are staying at home more. We just had a second load of firewood delivered today, the first load of pine blocks we ordered about a month ago and so we now have a nice supply of wood that will last for a while (hopefully).

A few days ago I finished this pair of baby booties and a matching beanie for my son and his partner's baby. I just have to get around to posting them. I had bought some bulk wool online for a good price so I decided these were a good project to work on.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Veges

Wednesday morning is the day we usually do our food shopping each week. We had recently heard about a new vegetable shop opening up so we popped in to have a look. To our surprise their produce was fairly limited and a bit overpriced. Inside the building was freezing cold, I felt sorry for the staff there but to be fair we've had temperatures down to 0 degrees at night which is why before we go to bed we put a couple of decent sized logs on the fire in our lounge so when we get up in the morning there's usually a few ashes left to restart it. We are waiting for snow to fall on the mountains around town. Across the road in this photo is one of the local petrol stations.

Linking up with Blue Monday and Mosaic Monday.

Win

Just about every town in New Zealand has a lotto store. This one on the main street of Westport is no different. Either it's a section in a supermarket or in a smaller shop (4 Square). Very very popular but most elderly people prefer to play it by getting their tickets bought and checked instore. Others like us modern people have an app on our phones and play it online. I use to play it alot but don't anymore, it seems that all I get is bonus tickets and no wins. Waste of money sometimes.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup.

Bridge

Remember the wild goats I mentioned recently? This is one of the spots they hang out at. Every time I drive this way to work I look for them but can never get a decent photo. The bridge here leads to a nearby suburb of Cobden but if I drive underneath it takes me into town and if I go left it also takes me into town. Near the middle of the bridge under neath is the Grey River. After a week of rain we now have a week of Winter sun. This morning it was 2 degrees with frost out on the grass.

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

Cold

Finally we have sunshine. This week the temperatures at night are low with the west coast getting down to 2 degrees celsius. But...the good news is that there is snow on the Southern Alps and on the mountaintops.  Some places like Hokitika, which is a seaside town don't necessarily get the snow but they get very very cold. My oldest son and his partner have now found out they are having a girl baby so I have been busy crocheting baby booties and a cot blanket so that has been keeping me busy on my days off.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Backpackers

Out in Taylorville which is like a suburb in Greymouth is this little blue building which is a place for backpackers like a hostel, apparently it use to be the local pub - good that it's still being used for something.

Linking up with Blue Monday and Mosaic Monday.

VTNZ

Another quiet street photo - this one taken last Winter early one morning when I was in town so not many people about. VTNZ on the left is one of the franchise offices throughout the country where people can get a warrant of fitness for their vehicles or have appointments for driving tests. 

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup.

Which way?

We visited Cape Foulwind last week after stopping in at Punakaiki and decided we would do the walk around the cliffs in the hope of seeing seals on the rocks (we did see 5 of them but my camera couldn't get close enough for a decent shot). It was a very blustery cold but sunny day so we made sure we were wrapped up warmly. This signpost was halfway up the path and I was pondering which way I would go if I could, I decided I've never been to Sydney to I'd try there. Which way would you go?

This was the view over the water and rocks we saw from near the top. Spectacular don't you think?

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.