Miraz Jordan

I really enjoyed listening to @macgenie and Brianna Wu discuss Voyager’s Equinox double episode on 3 You Can’t Underestimate Seven.

In fact, I’m enjoying the thoughtful commentary in all the episodes. And who knew homework could be fun too!

Two little Tauhou or Silvereye turned up on the flax this morning.

The silvereye colonised New Zealand from Australia in the 1850s … Length: 12 cm, Weight: 13 grams.

Such cute wee birds! I’m so glad they visit our garden. Planting flax bushes near the front door was smart.

This 14 minute video is very interesting: Why Do We Get Columbine So Wrong? Hard to believe it’s been 20 years since that Columbine school shooting. Apparently almost everything we ‘know’ about the shooters is incorrect.

I’m really enjoying In the Dark on The CW.

An irreverent blind woman … Murphy drifts through life in a drunken haze. …she stumbles upon a corpse that must be [her friend] Tyson’s, but it disappears … She resolves to solve the murder herself

My friend Jan and I played Scrabble tonight. She’s very hard to beat, and played “amaze” for a high score. I added an ‘s’ as part of “quest” on a double letter for ‘q’ and a double word for 67 points. I won the game. Her long run of only vowels helped…

One job for this month is to tidy and rearrange the garage. Meanwhile, I re-stained the tops of two deck tables and applied stain all over my new raw pine Adirondack chair. I think it’ll need another coat tomorrow. I was advised to use a rag not a brush, so did that.

Today I planted the kowhai tree Sophora Dragon’s Gold beside Aphra’s grave. I dug a hole in the sand, filled it with good compost and water, a fertiliser tab underneath, then mulched with pine shavings. Then I added 4 stakes, plastic netting and wind cloth to protect the tree.

Such a glorious day! I was sitting on the deck in the sun, thinking how uncomfortable my chair was. I’ve been pondering for ages buying an Adirondack chair. Turns out today was the day. Raw pine Tomorrow I’ll stain it.

Thanks Happy Moose, that was a nice surprise.

Nature at risk: Damning report warns NZ environment in serious trouble

A bleak picture of the state of New Zealand’s environment has been painted by the government’s official report, Environment Aotearoa 2019.

My Netatmo wind gauge was on top of a regular fence post. That worked well until yesterday when the neighbour’s landscapers planted flax bushes beside it. Pretty soon the flaxes will block the wind. The landscapers added another post about 1.5 metres taller for me. 😀

Sunrise, from my favourite chair in the lounge.

Thank you! So many people have sent me well wishes after the sudden and unexpected passing of my sweet little cat Aphra. I really appreciate the connections and thoughts everyone.

In 2002 my sweet little cat Aphra was less than a year old. She and her brother Ares shone in the sunlight while sitting on our TV set. She’s in front. Six weeks ago she looked gorgeous in the garden. Late this afternoon she collapsed and was euthanased. My little sweetie!

Liked, whakataukī:

Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei — Seek the treasure that you value most dearly, if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain.

Refuse to let obstacles get in your way while striving to reach your goals.

Quail update: Glee is now 7 weeks old and has brown markings on her back. Yesterday was quail moving day — they hate being moved, but love having new digs. A neighbour gave me rosemary cuttings. Can you see the stripy girl hiding behind the branches?

I’ve just finished re-reading Anniversary Day Saga by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. She’s such a superb writer, I enjoyed it even more the second time around.

4 years ago, a bomb destroyed part of the dome protecting Armstrong, the largest city on the Moon. Now a larger threat looms

Today I discovered that 07:01 on a Sunday morning is a fantastic time to go to the supermarket. There was no traffic on State Highway 1, and pretty much no other shoppers in the supermarket. So easy and delightful. There and back in 75 minutes and half of that was driving.

I enjoyed the movie Red Joan, starring Dame Judi Dench. Interesting story based on real life. And no, science and politics can’t be divorced.

Ah, my domain registrar’s Support team have worked some magic and it appears forwarding from my old email address to the new address are working at last. Hope I haven’t missed too much in the meantime.

My domain registrar is trying to figure out why my old email address is failing to successfully forward to my new. I’ve missed about 5 days worth of emails now. Even the Support guy commented on how much spam that old address gets. I’ve had it over 20 years…

Busy reading a jargon-filled (appropriately) geomorphological assessment of our river and shoreline, making notes and ‘translating’ into plain language. On Saturday our Ratepayers Committee will be considering the report as presented by Horizons Regional Council.

I’ve changed my main email address and it sure is quiet while the forwarder from the old address isn’t working. 🧐 Currently trying to get Support to see what’s happening. I’ve used the old address for at least a couple of decades… Not missing the spam one bit though.

The dogs visited the vet in Ōtaki today for their annual checkup and shots (all good). We took the opportunity to walk a bit along the Ōtaki riverbank at the mouth. Photos: looking east, west towards the sea, and across the wetland.

Why kiwi and moa became flightless

Researchers discovered new evidence of what made some of NZ’s iconic birds, such as the kiwi and extinct moa, flightless. … change in the regulation of protein genes, rather than proteins themselves is … responsible for the loss-of-flight.