I was at my local garden center last week buying some Lavender plants to put around my chicken coops (as they apparently prevent mites) and I spotted this seat in the shape of lips. Not sure I would have it in my garden but considering it was a very overcast Spring day, the colour stood out, it is pretty cool though and unusual.
And the 1st of September is our first day of Spring – yay!
Linking up with Tuesday Treasures and Happy Tuesdays.
This clock tower in Hokitika honours 130 men from the Westland region who fought in the Second Boer War and the coronation of King Edward VII. The foundation stone was laid in 1902 and it was officially opened in 1903. In this photo my mother in posing in front of it.
Well, this week we’ve been forecasted for the typical Spring rain that we get at this time of year, it always happens around the annual Whitebait fishing season. In the next couple of weeks we will see a flurry of people out along the Grey River with their nets in the water trying to catch some because when they sell them, you can make good money. Many restaurants will buy the whitebait.
It’s also time after 10 years to renew my driver’s license so I had to go into the local AA center and pay for another 10 years, unfortunately I failed the eye test so I now have an appointment with a local optometrist to get a letter verifying I’m ok to drive. Luckily I only have trouble reading closeup words not signs etc. Such a rigmarole of a process…
Linking up with Weekend Reflections and The Weekend Roundup.
Here in New Zealand fish and chips are kind of like a staple, it’s hard to find a shop that sells good crispy fresh takeaways. Apparently the Wellington Sea Market won the award for serving the best fish and chips in 2025 so next time we are up that way we may have to try it.
Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom’s Signs.
Meet the newest member of the family. My daughter bought home a baby white rabbit that a co-worker was giving away – his name is Lucifer (I didn’t have any say in his name) but he’s about 6 weeks old and is currently living inside as it’s too cold and rainy outside for a creature his size.
We did have one semi-fine day though so I let the chickens out to roam around the backyard. Tovi is on the right watching them, usually my cats are all scared of them.
And we discovered a new takeaway shop in town. Greymouth is not known for having decent takeaways. New Zealander’s love fish and chips but sadly there was nowhere here that made nice food. Someone recommended the local Turkish Kebab shop so we tried it and ordered online. I got a variety of Lamb, Beef and Chicken as well as hummus, couscous, coleslaw, chips and gravy all for $21. It ended up being such a huge meal that I had to go halves with my daughter. It was so yummy that we will definitely be going back then again at some point.
Linking up with Tuesday Treasures and Happy Tuesdays.
Many people in New Zealand put electric blankets on their beds in Winter. In the old days, technology safety wise wasn’t the best with these but nowadays there are high standards involved when making them. We put ours on the bed usually in Autumn when it starts to get chilly and take it off in Spring. Also we have a comforter and a thick blanket on too which work well but the blanket is so heavy and king sized that it doesn’t fit in our washing machine so I usually take it to one of the local laundromat’s to wash in their giant machines each Spring.
This photo was one of the display windows off an Appliance shop in town.
Linking up with Weekend Reflections and The Weekend Roundup.
It’s that time of year again – it feels a lot like Spring here. We are getting more sunny warmer days. Last week I snapped this photo of the wooden Daffodils that get put on display each year outside the local council building in honour of remembering Daffodil day in which the Cancer Society of New Zealand ask people throughout the country to make donations to their cause. It’s a good cause too.
Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom’s Signs.
Some of my Daffodil bulbs have started flowering in my front garden outside my bedroom window, I love this bright cheery yellow colour, the little fairy house and the red mushroom ornaments.
This week I went both into a local garden centre and the local warehouse store in search of a Camellia that I needed to fill in a gap near my front fence. They have red flowers that bloom over Winter and the trees will only get to about 2 metres high and 1 metre wide, so enough to give us some privacy between the property and the road but not too big to block out the sun. I also have been looking for Lavender but only the garden centre seemed to have a small amount, so I purchased 2 small plants and the rest I managed to find online at great prices. I’ve been planting the Lavender around the chicken coops as apparently it helps to prevent mites.
Linking up with Tuesday Treasures and Happy Tuesdays.
I spotted this mural along Daldy Street in Auckland City when we were there in June. Named “Mai i nga maunga ki te moana” (from the mountains to the sea) it was painted by artists Janine and Charles Williams and is 12 metres high 16 metres wide wrapping around Watercare pump station.
It celebrates New Zealand’s native Maori birds and our roles as guardians of the environment.
Linking up with Mural Monday.
Most roads around New Zealand have these green lanes with an image on them, usually the lane is for cyclists or buses but many people in their cars use this lane and get fined for it. This one is in Auckland City down a side road off Fanshawe Street.
Linking up with Weekend Reflections, Shadow Shot Sunday and The Weekend Roundup.
As soon as I saw this in Auckland at Westhaven Marina I loved it. Sea Cleaners operate a non profit organization which cleans up New Zealand’s coastlines and educates people about how to properly dispose of rubbish including recycling.
They have a team of volunteers and the business has been going since 2022. From September 18th to the 27th of this year, “clean up week” is being held across New Zealand so we will try and get to one of our local beaches with rubbish bags to take part in it.
Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom’s Signs.