Coming Up Close

View of one of the main streets in town Winter is finally here and a few days early too. Most of the this week parts of the country have had cold storms and yesterday I was at work listening and seeing hard rain throughout the day. We got up this morning and saw that the cover over B's greenhouse had been ripped off overnight. Apparently we've got this weather for the next week or so.... Linking up with  Weekend Reflections   and the  Weekend Roundup .

  Photo taken in Mount Maunganui 5 years ago Our skies here in Greymouth seem to be never ending grey at the moment. Winter officially begins on 1st June and out of the last 2 weeks, we have probably had 1 partly sunny day. I've started taking my winter gloves to work and last week our new neighbour (who works at a sawmill) gave us a trailer load of large logs for the fire - very grateful for our neighbours. Linking up with  Skywatch Friday   and  Tom's signs .

  Photo taken near the beach access to Hokitika Beach. This morning my daughter R and I drove down to Hokitika to do some op shopping, While we were there we met up with one of my cousins for coffee and brunch. It's nearly Winter here but it was quite mild temperature wise and the sun was just starting to get out so it felt quite warm. Linking up with  Through my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world ,  Wordless Wednesday .

  Photo taken near the Auckland Art Gallery - November 2024. Linking up with  Weekend Reflections   and the  Weekend Roundup .

  One thing about Winter is that there are always a few people who like to still wear short sleeves like it's still warm. Linking up with  Skywatch Friday  and  Tom's signs .

  Photos taken at the edge of the town square in Greymouth with the Left Bank Art Gallery in the building on the left. And this one of the main road through the square which leads into the rest of town. Some nice colours around at the moment... Linking up with  Through my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world ,  Wordless Wednesday .

  Today is my oldest son's 30th birthday. He lives in Auckland with his wife and my grand daughter. So after talking to him on the phone this morning, I decided to take my daughter R and her dog Bug to Greymouth Beach after the rain stopped. B and I had been meaning to attend another street racing event held just up the road from us but I was feeling a bit shattered from a busy week at work. While we were out I looked out over the water and realized how much I missed the rest of my family who all live in the north island. Hopefully one day we will get back there...

  Photo taken at one of my favourite cafes in town. I meet up with friends usually on Wednesdays every 2 to 3 weeks to catch up with them. This is a popular place with good food and nice staff. Most cafes here have small sachets of sugar on the tables for people to use. Linking up with  Weekend Reflections ,  S hadow Shot Sunday   and the  Weekend Roundup .

  One of my impromptu photos taken in town outside the railway station which picks up and drops off passengers from the Tranz Alpine, the Speights restaurant is across the road. So, our new neighbour has moved into the house next door which was for sale and he's been tidying up the backyard including pruning trees. Perfecting timing really since it's Autumn. He asked me if I wanted the 3 rose bushes in the backyard otherwise he would be throwing them out so B and I went over there and dug them out. They look like they have been there for a few years so I replanted them against one of the fences in the full sun and gave them a good pruning. Hopefully they will flower nicely come Spring. Linking up with  Skywatch Friday , All seasons  and  Tom's signs .

  I do like taking photos of war memorials throughout New Zealand on our travels. This one is in Burwood, Christchurch and it says "In memory of the Burwood boys who fell in the great war of 1914 - 1918" and nearer the bottom also says "In memory of the Burwood boys who laid down their lives in World War II 1938 - 1945".  This memorial was unveiled by Colonel R. Young on 5th September 1921. Yesterday was Mother's day so I had a chat to my mum who lives up in the upper north island. My oldest flicked me a text and the other 2 bought me a chocolate brownie. I do think it's just another day though, if you can't appreciate people throughout the year whats the point? Linking up with  Through my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world ,  Wordless Wednesday .

  Last Summer we were visiting Reefton. As usual wherever I go I take photos of pretty much everything. I watched this man on his cellphone dodging traffic as he crossed the road. As for the cafe, I think we need to try their food next time we are there. Linking up with  Weekend Reflections ,  S hadow Shot Sunday   and the  Weekend Roundup .

We visited a friend so that Bug would have a playdate with her dog and this is the scenery we saw along the way through Sillwater, Ngahere and Nelson Creek. We are near the coast so we don't get as vivid red colours as other part of the country gets. Most trees in New Zealand are evergreen so they stay green throughout the year but there are still portions of trees that are deciduous and do lose their leaves. This photo above is up the road from us, not my house but one of the neighbours.   Linking up with  Skywatch Friday  and  Tom's signs .

  This photo from Find a grave. About a year ago in late Autumn B and I visited an area about 15 minutes out of town. Notown Cemetery once was a part of Notown - a town that was once a flourishing gold mining place but literally turned into a ghost town. We drove about 15 minutes along a gravel road to get to it and as you can see it's surrounded by bush and mountains. As you can see alot of the resting places are unmarked mounds of earth or covered by rocks. There are alot of these places on the West Coast of New Zealand because many people came here in the Victorian area for gold mining which was popular back then. People still do gold mining here but not to the same extent. Notown School surrounded by bush and gorse. It was once a busy little town that included hotels, a church and houses but the cemetery is all that remains. Last 2 photos courtesy of West Coast Recollect. Linking up with  Through my lens ,  Tuesday Treasures ,  My corner of the world ,  Word...

  I took this photo across the road from where an old quarry use to be opposite the Grey River. These 2 have to be tourists as I don't that locals would be biking through this area for obvious reasons. Linking up with  the  Weekend Roundup .

  This photo above is taken looking down my street and the rest are photos taken here and there between Ngahere and Stillwater. This photo taken while we were waiting at roadworks of the Grey River with mist over the mountains just outside of Dobson, about 10 minutes from home. This one was taken from the side of the road about 15 minutes from home near Ngahere (this is not where my house is, we are nearer into town).  Other news: we have a new neighbour. A blue house on one side of us had been on the market for about a month. The previous elderly owner was a blind lady who went into a care home, her family spent a couple of weeks tidying up her property. The new owner is a middle aged man by himself and so far he has been pretty quiet which is nice, no parties. I gave him some fresh eggs from my chickens after we introduced ourselves. Linking up with  Skywatch Friday ,  All Seasons  and  Tom's signs .