HOT colours in the garden at the moment

Hehe, if you click on the purple rose you can see all the aphids lining the stems.

The rose is named Charlotte Kemp. It was named after my Great Great Great Grandmother who came to New Zealand in 1818 as the wife of a missionary. It was released in 1985 and named after early NZ pioneers. It is similar to Velichenblau.

The Weta

On the subject of insects (the bee episode is still fresh in my mind) we have an insect in new Zealand that I just love to bits. Truly. It is the weta.

Sorry I don't have any pics as yet. However there are some good pics at this site:

http://www.kcc.org.nz/animals/weta/treeweta.asp

Some people are scared of them, some find them ugly and I guess they are a bit. But they have character and really, if you don't try to cuddle them, they don't hurt you. They can get a little agressive if you try to pick them up.

There are lots of different varieties, Tree weta, ground weta, giant weta and cave weta are a few. The most common one we find around here is the tree weta.

They like dark places and before putting on our gumboots it always pays to shake them first in case a weta has taken up residence.

Some weta facts:

• The weta is only found in New Zealand.
• Weta are large by insect standards but some of the giant weta are ENORMOUS and are amongst the heaviest insects in the world
• The weta is sometimes known as the dinosaur of the insect world
• The weta is more primitive than the tuatara

• The weta has changed very little in the past 100 million years.

Go to:

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/video_popup_flash_skin/1382032

to view a fascinating cave weta video. My brother had an old gold mine on his property and there were lots of cave wetas in there. I have to admit they are a little scary, I don't like the way they can jump on you if you disturb them.

Chinese Lanterns

These are Abutilon (Chinese lantern) plants like I bought at the market in the weekend.

The market is a great place to buy plants, sometimes there are plants grown in the back yard by hobby growers that you never see in the more upmarket garden centres - and at a fraction of the cost also.

I also bought a pink hydrangea, black and green basil plants, two Roma (pear shaped acid free) tomatoes, a Sweet 100 tomato plant (the little ones - cocktail tomatoes), two lavender plants, and a dwarf bouganvillea (to plant in a hanging basket and attach to the fence).

Blog friend Forever Award

I have just been awarded this by Chrissy from Life On Manitoulin, one of my blogging friends, in fact my first blogging friend! And this is my first award. And very glittery and magnificent it looks too.

I will pass it on to Candy at I Can Fly, Just Not Up.

Thank you both - I really do appreciate your comments on my blog.

Bee Update

As quickly as they arrived, the bees upped stakes and departed this afternoon.

I had called our orchard bee keeper and arranged for someone to contact us this evening to remove them but the bees had other ideas - no doubt they have found another home somewhere in the neighbourhood.

When the bee keepers handle the swarms they use smoke to subdue them, then scoop the swarm, which includes a queen, into a sack. They then reestablish them into another hive.

Although I am not frightened by bees, or any insect for that matter, I have a healthy respect for them! Especially en masse. They were intent on following the queen though and were not interested in me.

My Adrenaline Rush for the day

Today is going to be one of those random days when I will need to expect the unexpected.

I was just about to hang out the washing when I heard a very loud humming noise and over the roof of the house came a huge swarm of bees. I was quickly surrounded by them and dived inside - literally - and shut all windows and doors. The first photo was taken from inside the window.

The swarm buzzed around the plum tree and have settled around their queen on one of the branches. They have quietened down now and hopefully will stay put.

I will call the bee keeper who supplies the hives to our orchard and see if he wants to come this evening and remove the swarm. The bees are more docile in the evenings.

Window reflections

We have been at our 'bach' the weekend. A bach, pronounced 'batch', is New Zealand slang for beach house or a modest holiday home.

Our bach is a little three bedroomed house with a wooden interior and just a few hundred metres from a beautiful surf beach.

Lately we have been doing some additions - firstly a few years ago we put up a garage - at last a place to store our old bicycles, deck chairs and surfboards etc. Previously everything had to be put on the floor in the lounge before leaving. The garage, with its own services, means that extra guests can sleep out there in the summer.

Now we are adding a deck. The builders are currently on site and it will be finished soon.

I am not really sure why I have put these two pics in - I was just surprised to see how strongly the windows reflected the garden shrubs.

Garden Friends

Before I ever had a garden I always vowed that never never would I have garden ornaments like little old ladies had in their gardens. Usually in those days the ornaments were gnomes.

Well....... I eat my words. However I do draw the line at gnomes, never will a gnome cross my garden path.

My garden friends are loved and admired, mostly by visiting children.

So far the ornaments haven't shown a tendency to walk away so they must be quite happy here. They are not visible to passers by either and that helps!

The mosaic green fern frond stone I made myself. I must make some more creations now I have some spare rocks around.

Rocks

Tools of the trade. Note the sunscreen lotion.





























































Two days ago I went off to 'The Rock Shop' to view their bins of rocks. We had a garden with mulch that badly needed an edging as the birds kept getting amongst the bark and doing what birds love to do - scratching around for worms. Consequently the mulch was being spread all over the lawn.

I paced out the edging and worked out that I would need around 150 largish rocks, more than my little Subaru could be expected to carry in the boot(trunk). The men assured me that one scoop of their front end loader would be about 150 so they duly delivered them very early yesterday morning, waking up the neighbours as the rocks thudded onto the lawn.

So my task yesterday and today has been to lay them along the edge of the top garden. I am rather pleased with the result but it has been hard work.

The cold Bundaberg Ginger Beer was my reward!

Hamilton

I have been away for a few days, visiting family in Hamilton and attending a school reunion in Ngaruawahia, my home town.

The above picture is the mighty Waikato river which flows through Hamilton. Its source is Lake Taupo and it heads north through many many miles of beautiful farmland until it reaches the sea near Auckland at Port Waikato.

In early times it was the main waterway providing the access into the interior and there were many settlements along the banks. Hamilton has grown into a major city servicing the Waikato region.

Kauri furniture

Here is a pic of our piece of furniture, doesn't really show off the wood grain terribly well. However it is an example of early colonial furniture around 100+ years old.

NZ Kauri

In my last post I mentioned that the The Elms mission house was made of kauri. The mighty Kauri has been an important tree to us in our history. These photos are of the tree we have in our back yard. The tree is about 30 years old and maybe around 30 feet high. It regularly bears cones.

Agathis australis (Kauri) is a coniferous tree native to the subtropical northern section of the North Island of New Zealand and is the biggest but not tallest species of tree in the country, with trunk diameters that rival Sequoias. They attain heights of 40-50 meters and have smooth bark and small oval leaves.

Young plants grow straight upwards and have the form of a narrow cone with branches going out along the length of the trunk. However, as they gain in height, the lowest branches are shed to prevent epiphytes from climbing. By maturity, the top branches form an imposing crown that stand out over all other native trees, dominating the heights of the forest.

In the early days of colonization the kauri was logged extensively, almost clearing out the forests. The wood was used for building houses, furniture and was prized for boat building.

The gum from buried ancient kauri forests was dug up and sold for use as a varnish in the furniture trade. It sold for high prices. The far North of the country was the site of the gumfields, many Croatian and Dalmation immigrant workers were gumdiggers. It was a hard and lonely life.

The white streaks on the trunk of the tree shown in the picture is gum.

Today we are not able to fell kauri trees and the wood is hard to obtain. When old buildings are demolished the wood is reused, usually for furniture. It is a beautiful blonde colour with a translucence which makes it appear almost 3D.

I have a very very old piece of furniture made of kauri that has been passed down in my family. I will post a pic of it soon.

The Elms

These photos are taken at 'The Elms' which is the site of the oldest European settlement in our area - a mission station formerly called Te Papa.

The first settlers in our area were Maori, traditional history puts their first arrivals at 1250.

In the mid 1830's there were only two Europeans living in this area, the flax traders Faulkner and Farrow. The Missionaries began their station here in 1835 but it was abandoned due to tribal unrest
until 1838 when it was reopened.

It operated until 1873. It was then purchased by the minister who had been there all those years, Archdeacon Brown, and he renamed the site 'The Elms'.

The top picture is the old library. It was built first as the missionaries brought many books with them and they needed to be stored in a warm dry place. Rev Brown also used it as an office where he complied his reports to be sent back to the Church Missionary Society in London.

The second photo is the house. It took about eight years to build, was finished in 1847, and was built entirely on the site. The kauri logs were logged in the Coromandel and towed down by sea and into the Tauranga harbour where they were dragged up the cliff and pit sawn on what is now the front lawn. Before the house was built the missionary families lived in raupo (bullrush) houses.

The third photo is looking down the path towards the chapel. The bell and belfry can be seen on the right. The chapel is not the original building, it was a replica built in the early 1960's. It is a popular place for weddings and the occasional funeral.

We are very lucky that Archdeacon Brown's descendants who lived there until 1996 never threw away anything of historical value and saw it as their duty to preserve the site, buildings and contents in the original state as much as possible. When the site was purchased by The Elms Foundation a treasure trove of artifacts was discovered. Up in the attic were trunks and trunks of old gowns, baby wear etc, many dating back to the mid 1800's.

My Great Great Grandmother was married there by Archdeacon Brown in 1843. She was the sister of a missionary whose wife had died leaving four little children and had been told it was her duty to come out from England to look after the children. I imagine she had very little say about the matter!


The Elms is a popular stop for tour buses especially in the cruise ship season over the summer when we have many ships arriving at the port.

Florence and Ponte Vecchio bridge

I must have a gold obsession today - two more opulent images - this time from Florence.

The Ponte Vecchio bridge has lots of little jewelers shops all with amazing displays in the windows.

The bottom picture is one of the famous church doors.

The picture of the locks is also taken on the Ponte Vecchio bridge. The tourists (of which there are many) seem to have a custom of writing a message on gold coloured padlocks and bolting them together. The huge bundles of locks disappear overnight and a new bunch is started the next day.

We were in Florence as tourists but also to meet up with Italian friends. The city was very crowded with sightseers and our most memorable day was spent out in the countryside traveling around some of the smaller villages, visiting wineries and sampling the local produce.

Dubai Gold Souk

Aren't these amazing! I took these pics when we were in Dubai last year.

We went for a walk around the Gold Souk. Some of the gold pieces were amazing. Needless to say I wasn't buying anything!

However it is fun to photograph them.

Shock Horror - we lost!!!

Its all very sad - our national rugby team, the All Blacks, lost to France in a semi final game played at Cardiff this morning.

The Rugby World Cup has slipped from our grasp.

Oh well, its just a game.

I have to admit I am not an avid supporter but when you live with menfolk who are mad about the game, then some of it rubs off.

My husband played the game when he was younger, as did my Father and brothers. One of our sons played as a youngster for a season but didn't follow through to the next year. However all support the All Blacks.

Rugby World Cup

This is what it is like around here with the Rugby World Cup beginning to get to the final stages! And a Formula One Grand Prix in the weekend.
I am resisting the urge to uplug the TV with great difficulty.