Ode to the Fallen - ANZAC Day

Kiwifruit harvest time - again

We have been out at the orchard working under the vines. Picking will be in about 4 weeks time so we are thinning out the reject fruit. If our reject rate goes above a certain percentage we are charged a penalty by the packhouse, so it is worth our while to pull off any imperfect fruit.

Fruit can be rejected for a number of reason - signs of disease, misshapen fruit, small fruit etc. In the first photo you can see all the thinned fruit lying on the ground. It is a crime to waste so much fruit, much of it is perfectly good, just with minor flaws. I dislike wasting fruit at any time, so thinning is not a pleasant task.(Apart from that I get a sore neck, shoulders and arms!)




These are just a few photos of the vines. And one of some reject kiwifruit that you will never ever see in the shops!

The changing season

The weather has the air of inevitable change about it. Hot summer days now have a chill to them. The cicada's song is less strident.


The japanese anenomes are in full bloom with their beautiful simplicity in pinks and white.

The summer hydrangea flowers are changing to their autumn colours - what were a deep blue are now a burgundy colour, and the pure white hydrangeas have turned a strange speckled pink and white.

And family changes are happening also. Our eldest grand daughter has lost her front baby teeth and the youngest grand daughter is starting to think about crawling. And the twins start school in three weeks time. A niece was married last weekend. Its a season of change.

Mostly for the better, but there are some changes here that are not so good. Sad ones.

Life goes on regardless.

A year ago

It is a year ago tomorrow that the world changed forever for many Christchurch people.

Follow this link to see a very well done series of photos showing before and after the quake.

'Jaws' on the prowl near Tauranga coast

A great white shark could be circling the Bay of Plenty.

Just over a week after two fisherman reported a "huge" great white near the Tauranga Harbour entrance, a surfer has said one cruised "very close by" while he was surfing with several others near Mt Maunganui.

"This shark was larger than a 12ft surfboard and had huge pectoral fins with a very large girth - and cruising water as shallow as 1.5m. Its demeanour seemed rather inquisitive and docile.

"I was left in awe at seeing such a magnificent creature so close to land and in its natural environment."

New Zealand Herald 5:30 AM Tuesday Feb 21, 2012

Another Quilt Finished

Last year we went on a holiday to the Cook Islands. While there I discovered a wonderful fabric shop and purchased some typical island prints to make this fish quilt.





Today my quilt hung with others on display at a garden party at a friend's quilt shop situated on their avocado orchard. A beautiful setting on a lovely summers day.

More Tomatoes

This is the last tomato post I promise you! Among our bumper crop this year is this one which takes the prize at 640 grams which is one pound six ounces.

Summer harvest

This summer has been great for growing vegetables. We have had so much rain and although we have been away for several weeks this month, the garden has kept right on growing and producing.

The photo is of some of my tomatoes. I was given some plants and have no idea what type of tomatoes they are, but one of the larger ones in the photo weighed around 480 grams which is just under half a kilo! The smaller tomatoes are the regular size ones.

Now is the Hour - Po ata rau.

Continuing my delving into the past. But this is a recent version of Now is The Hour (Po ata Rau)sung by Hayley Westenra at the conclusion of the Rugby World Cup last year(which was won by NZ- just).

Years ago, when I left NZ for my big OE(in 1968), a friend and I traveled to Canada by boat. In those days air travel was extremely expensive and there were still scheduled passenger routes by ship so we took the cheaper option and went on the 'Oriana' from Auckland to Vancouver stopping at Fiji and Hawaii on the way. The voyage took two weeks.

At Auckland when it was time for the ship to sail, we all stood on the deck and threw streamers to our families standing on the wharf. The ship's horn went and over the loud speakers they played 'Now is the Hour' as the ship slowly moved out and all the streamers broke. There were few dry eyes.

It was a very emotional moment and in my mind I could imagine the troop ships leaving our shores loaded with soldiers off to fight in distant lands. My father had left this very wharf 29 years earlier and had described the scene to me many times. He had asked his family not to come and see him off. He said his goodbyes back at home on the farm where they had a big family gathering to farewell him as he visited home on his final leave. He was one of the lucky ones who returned in one piece. His only scars were the ones that don't show - the loss of many friends and a lifetime of nightmares.

E Papa Waiari - Stick game

I quite like this version - mistakes and all!