March 15 [2019] taught me how to read the world:
I invite people to consider one thing: that violence rarely appears without warning. It whispers first – in speeches, in comment sections, in policies that quietly divide people into “us” and “them”. When we ignore it long enough, it shouts. …
remembrance is not only about looking backward. It is about learning how to see the present clearly – everywhere. It is recognising the sound of hatred before it grows loud enough to become another memorial– whether it arises here, or elsewhere.
- Sara Qasem
It's been a long while since the previous book in this series I enjoy, and I suspect this is the last — Something Prowling in Paradise Park (The Accidental Detective Book 7) by Kris Bock. 📚
It was a quick but enjoyable read.
three cases—all brought by friends—fall into [Kate's] lap. Squatters in a snowbird’s house, local pedigree dogs disappearing, and smash and grab burglaries at local pot shops.
The view from The Anchorage (retirement village) cafe is very enjoyable.
Covid booster jab achieved. 👍
Next up: breakfast at The Anchorage almost next door. I love living here.
I popped down to the beach on a muggy evening. It was cooler and moody down there.
I saw someone on a jet ski speed past.
I hadn't realised when I started watching The Closer on Netflix that I was using a VPN that put me in the US.
Today Netflix noticed that and declined to let me watch any more. 😫
Luckily NZ Neon has Major Crimes, the spinoff, which was also excellent. Rewatching …
Half way through The Antique Store Detective (A Bella Winter Mystery Book 1) by Clare Chase I decided to skip to the end — something I don't usually do. 📚
finding eccentric local historian Professor Oliver Barton dead in the ruins of Raven Hall is a bigger problem than she could have anticipated!
Glowing reviews abounded when I picked up this free book, but I found it not specially interesting and rather formulaic. It was as though the author had followed a set of rules for cozy mysteries.
I watched The Closer when it was first on TV a couple of decades ago and am rewatching on Netflix. 📺
The Closer is an American police procedural television series starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief. A CIA-trained interrogator originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Brenda has a reputation as a closer—an interrogator who not only solves a case, but also obtains confessions that lead to convictions, thus "closing" the case.
I'd forgotten how excellent the series is and how amazing Sedgwick's performances are. Really enjoying the rewatch.
This news item inspired me to book a Covid jab for Saturday — As Covid hits again, New Zealand confronts its pandemic past | RNZ News:
Another wave of Covid-19 is circulating again through New Zealand communities … in a single week, 50 hospitalisations and 19 deaths linked to the virus have been reported
That's a lot of deaths.
Just learned about this, bird lovers — Kākāpō Cam: Rakiura the kākāpō – 2026 nest 🐦.
A hidden world revealed: We’re live from the nest site of female kākāpō Rakiura on the remote, predator-free island of Whenua Hou/Codfish Island in Aotearoa, New Zealand.
This view, on a clear day, normally shows Mt Manaia behind all the yachts. Today we have drizzle.
Whew, 3.5 hours later the power's back. Now for that hot drink (water as it's too late for tea).
The power went off 2 hours ago so of course I’m desperate for a cup of tea. 😆
It's encouraging to see notices like this one up by Rainbow Falls in Kerikeri. 🐦
A huge amount of work is restoring native birds to a few areasof the New Zealand landscape.
Interesting:
Only 16% of US dairy farms are pasture-based, although some estimates put the figure at 5%. In New Zealand the dairy cows tasked with supplying milk to Fonterra are 96% pasture-fed. The yellow colour of our butter comes from the beta-carotene in grass.
Via: — Burtfield’s & Co’s salted butter is cheap, but is it any good?.
I enjoyed this set of books, even though some cases were highly complex. Detective Winter Meadows Books 1-6 by Cheryl Rees-Price. 📚
In the shadow of the Black Mountains, the quiet village of Bryn Melyn harbours secrets that refuse to stay buried. Detective Inspector Winter Meadows, a thoughtful and unorthodox investigator, returns to his roots in rural Wales seeking calm — but finds himself confronting the dark corners of a community still healing from old wounds.
Today's 3Km walk started at the east end of Rama Road, 600 metres away from the actual beach. I walked north along the beach to some kind of outfall, then returned via the Pipeline Track, starting at Mair Road.
There was a lot of soft sand to deal with.
While in Kerikeri I tried to visit Wharepuke Falls but may have simply walked through the Peacock Gardens Reserve and caught the tiniest glimpse of the falls. It was all a bit confusing.
However, the greenery was very green and there was an interesting low rock wall, whose purpose was a mystery.
While Deb watched powerlifting in Kerikeri I visited Rainbow Falls.
It was a very pleasant walk and the falls were lovely.
There were some impressive rocks on the way down. Pareidolia much?
Here was another impressive vehicle from the Car Show in Kerikeri yesterday.
At the Domain were hundreds of other vehicles, including trucks and motorbikes. One bike was handbuilt with wood for the chassis (no photo).