Coming Up Close

  We may be in mid Autumn here but my vegetable garden has been busy. Above is the harvest of cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, parsley, oregano and thyme that was ready last week. Most of it I gave away to friends in need.  If you can get this one where you live it is well worth it. It's a type of miniature spinach named "bright lights" and it goes all year round. I've had people tell me they can't grow this stuff, it's easy really. Everything compostable goes into the soil; eggshells, tea bags, vegetable and fruit scraps, ash from the fire, grass clippings, blood and bone.  Tiger isn't impressed with the nights that are gradually getting colder. We are forecasted for 5 degree celsius nights this week. I visited my doctor last week and got my annual flu vaccination but my son has just gotten over covid for the 4th time and my daughter has it now for the 2nd time.  Linking up with  T hrough my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world   and...

  I'm sure we've all stood in this same way at airports in our lives. This one features B and 2 tourists waiting for coffee at Auckland Airport. There's not many places I've drank a good coffee, just the odd cafe. Linking up with  Weekend Reflections   and the  Weekend Roundup .

  Photo from 2014 of Mangawhai Cadets on Anzac Day Today for us Kiwis is ANZAC Day which is incredibly important to those of us in the southern hemisphere. This day honours those in Australia and New Zealand as it marks the anniversary of the military action fought by both forces. ANZAC meaning Australia New Zealand Army Corps. Many people gather at local war memorials to remember loved ones who have fought in all wars especially their landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula on April 25th securing a beachhead at what became known as "ANZAC Cove". Lest we forget. Linking up with  Skywatch Friday   and  Tom's Signs .

  Last week B and I drove out to Dillmanstown which is a former mining settlement out Kumara way, about 20 minutes drive from Greymouth. We have many many bridges like this one around the country that only have one lane, mostly because they aren't a high traffic area. This one the "William Stewart" bridge was opened 11th April 1991 by the then Minister of Works and Development and Chairman of the National Roads Board the Hon. W.L. Young M.P. On one side of the bridge was a small gravel road leading down to the Taramakau River where I saw a car. The 2 men were either doing a spot of fishing or having a look around for rocks. And on the other side was the Kumara Power Station, quite small compared to others I've seen but no doubt it does a decent job of providing electricity to the surrounding areas. This is the Taramakau River. It runs for 75kms to the Tasman Sea and is the boundary between the Westland and Greymouth districts. Linking up with  T hrough my lens ,  Tues...

  A neat and tidy pavement lined alleyway/shopping area in Paihia. Linking up with  Weekend Reflections   and the  Weekend Roundup .

  One of Napier's main streets in town Napier is one of those old town's that has been reconstructed with art deco buildings due to the major earthquake of 1931. Every years they host an "art deco" festival where people dress up in 1930's costumes and celebrate. Linking up with  Skywatch Friday   and  Tom's Signs .

In a nearby suburb in Greymouth I've been watching the reconstruction of this house and last week I saw that someone had painted a very spacey mural on the outside.  Personally I really like it - it's kind of weird. What do you think? Linking up with  Mural Monday .

  Photo taken last time I was in Westport. I do like brightly painted buildings, especially old ones like this. I personally prefer to make my own pizza, that way I can put more toppings on. What's your favourite pizza? Linking up with  Weekend Reflections   and the  Weekend Roundup .

  In the last week our mornings have been getting very chilly. This photo was taken last week when I started work at 8am. I'm guessing Subway is just about everywhere around the world?  This was the calm before the storm. Greymouth only got the forecasted wind and rain but further south at Franz Josef, Harihari, Ross and Haast had flooding with people being evacuated. Welcome to Autumn. Linking up with  Skywatch Friday   and  Tom's Signs .

We've had some lovely Autumn weather lately with a lot of warm days still.  I decided a walk along one of the local beaches near town was in order. West Coast beaches tend to have a steady amount of driftwood, pebbles and rocks so I collected some new coloured rocks for my collection. Someone had collected some big pieces of driftwood and made this kind of teepee which was cool to see. Linking up with  T hrough my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world   and  Wordless Wednesday .

  I'd forgotten about this mural that I took a photo at last time I was at MOTAT . This one on the front side of a tram shed depicts one that was made in 1891 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia. The tram was bought to Whanganui in 1910 for construction of the Gonville and Castlecliff Tramway board's electric tramway extensions. It was hardly used after 1912 until 1920 when the Whanganui power supply failed for 3 months. Apparently of all the 500 tram motors that were built for use around the streets this one is the only that is still operating in New Zealand.  Linking up with  Mural Monday .

  Photo taken last time we visited Napier which was about 3 years ago I think from memory. This was down one of the little quiet spots in town, which is full of 1930s art deco buildings. This one shows one of the national cell phone companies in New Zealand which is 2 degrees. We have quite a few companies, but this is one of the larger popular ones along with Spark and One (Vodafone). They all have different quirks and ways of doing things - this one isn't for me. Linking up with  Weekend Reflections   and the  Weekend Roundup .

Last week we decided to order some Chinese takeaways from one of the local hotels/pubs (I won't say which one) that had been advertising for a while online. One thing that Greymouth is sadly lacking in his a decent takeaway shop and this one was just like the others, not that great. Instead of getting authentic Chinese food we were given containers of food that were a bit tasteless. In mine were what looked like 2 minute noodles instead of authentic ones. I'm missing the food we use to be able to buy in Northland. What's the worst meal you've ever ordered? Linking up with  Skywatch Friday   and  Tom's Signs .

  This was the extent of me buying Easter eggs last week - these were for B and the kids (I'm doing keto) and they are just hollow dark chocolate. Of course, at my work people freaked out about everywhere being closed for Good Friday so they spent up large - it was very very busy. B has just started his new job today and mine is going well, I work in a much more positive place rather than the last one that seemed like high school.  I don't know if any of you have this where you are but this is a very popular tea here. I am a tea/coffee drinker but I buy bell tea whereas B is strictly a tea drinker and this is his go to. Some of his ancestors are from the north of England so he prefers this one, it's very very strong. We were lucky enough to find the supermarkets here stock it but not sure about the rest of the country. Linking up with  T hrough my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world   and  Wordless Wednesday .