I've enjoyed this author's murder mysteries, but this time there's no murder. The hunt is on for a book and a family member. An unusual read, with a tinge of My Fair Lady about it in the friendship between Griff and Lina. The Mystery of the Missing Book (The Antique Shop Mysteries Book 1) by Judith Cutler. 📚
Lina is finding her feet in the antiques trade, working alongside her eccentric mentor Griff. Attending a bustling local fair, Lina makes a thrilling discovery: a single page from a rare medieval manuscript.
Our new landscaping is almost done. The guys add final touches today.
Today I incorporated an approx 13 Km bike ride into my trip to the gym. Port Marsden Road (SH15) was OK, apart from the backwash from the dozen or so mainly logging trucks that roared past relatively close.
Next time I'll try avoiding SH15 by going along One Tree Point Road and McEwan Road.
Old bike: AHHH SHIIIINGGGLE ROADDDD!
New bike: Shingle, what shingle? 🚵🏻♀️ 😁
Hello to the new family member: Gepida Berig. Sadly, my beloved Gepida Reptila was excellent for tarseal and concrete but the new Berig gravel bike will give me a better ride on the many very rough shingle and potholey paths around here and further afield. 🚵🏽♀️
Big day: at least one of the two baby white-faced Herons will fly today. Calisthenics have been underway. 🐦
There's a mysterious little lake (or two) on the corner between McEwan Road and the intersection where Port Marsden Highway meets Point Marsden Road. (Who came up with these confusing names!?)
There was a black swan pair with two young on the grass. 🐦
Moody Mt Manaia.
Hah, I got Royal We-ed: “Would we like anything else?”
I found Sappho Farms by Alex Washoe interesting and a positive read, with a view into aspects of life (trans and ADHD) I'm not very familiar with. 📚
MC Molina is a rising star in PR, living in a sleek Seattle townhouse with her brilliant, comic-obsessed wife, Elsa. But when MC’s career crashes and she inherits her grandfather’s crumbling farm … she’s ready to trade deadlines for dirt.
🤯 Well, fellow females, today I've learned about the (historical) Bourdaloue:
a boat-shaped vessel with a raised lip at one end and handle at the other, a bit like a gravy boat and the maid would be expected to carry this for her mistress and likewise empty it after use. If you didn’t have a maid then you dealt with this yourself. Apparently, it was designed to be used standing up …
I was looking back at previous blog entries and found it's exactly 12 months since we signed the contract on this new house. It's also 3 months since we moved in.
And we're loving living here!
I'm sitting here on a warm Saturday morning listening to frogs croak, birds call, and a random distant dog.
I've been expecting the White-faced Heron babies to launch themselves from the tree any minute, but zooming in, I can see there's still a bit of fluff on the top of the head. The parents are leaving the babies alone for longer and longer now. 🐦
Yesterday while chatting outside in full sun with our landscape designer I noticed the ground beside me kind of shimmering. I looked up to see a very large flock of birds (perhaps godwits?) flying directly overhead, casting shimmering shadows.
That was delightfully, splendidly weird! 🐦
Our new garden features 3 2 large rocks. Manoeuvering them into place takes finesse. Here are two.
These are lava flow rocks from the Hikurangi area. They were blessed before they left the collection site — they are of 'unknown' origin and could have been at one time near burial places.
The landscapers worked hard yesterday putting the 'bones' of our garden in place. Today the plants arrive, along with a couple of big rocks, about 1.2 metres tall. They need a different digger to handle that weight.
Dr Geoff Lindsey does a very interesting experiment at the end of this 27 minute video. The results really interested me — What if Gary Stevenson and Jimmy the Giant spoke British Received Pronunciation? :
YouTubers Gary Stevenson and Jimmy the Giant say their working-class accents make it harder for some people to take them seriously. In this video I look at accents and class, why “RP” causes so much confusion, and I explore their claim by giving them AI-generated “middle-class” voices. What effect, if any, does this have on how you perceive them?
At Ruakākā — For the Pacific Wave Appreciation Society. 🌊
Through a window on a dreary morning, but although I often hear the pheasant, today I actually saw it. 🐦
The transformation of our 'lawn' is underway. This will be a path through various sections of mainly native plants.
