What a great day to be alive!
Hah, well this is interesting. I own various shares through Sharesies. The other day I received a glorious $3 or so in an Apple dividend.
Now I see I have a dividend coming from Smart Global Aggregate Bond ETF. It's for less than 1¢ NZD
. So how will that happen I wonder? 🤣
Interesting snippet about Ruakākā solar energy development:
Harapaki Wind Farm and the Ruakākā battery energy storage system (BESS) are now operational, while construction continues on the Ruakākā and Te Rāhui solar farms.
Ruakākā is on schedule for first power in November
Meridian lifts first-half profit to $227m – EVs & Beyond:
The battery energy storage system is a couple of Km north of us and the quickly developing solar farm is even closer — I pass it on the way to the gym.
I love that this Pied Stilt at the estuary is on a lean. 🐦
Princes Street also has a lovely bunch of subtropical trees (and the rocks that are so characteristic round here).
I used the magic retouch tool in Photos to remove a couple of inconvenient power lines.
About a 4.6 Km bike ride away is Princes Street, by the estuary (I have to bike north, cross the river, then south again). From the bottom of the road comes a splendid view of Taranga (Hen Island).
This island is what's left of a volcano that erupted four million years ago.
Although I've enjoyed other series by this author, the books in this series are pretty lightweight and I might not read any more — Dark Sky Jeopardy (The Rán Hollander Mystery Series Book 3) by Lakota Grace. 📚
A mega-lottery winner is killed and Rán's sister’s becomes a prime suspect.
I so appreciate people who take the time to make videos like this — Mazda CX-3 Smart Key Fob Battery Replacement (2016 - 2019).
At the moment the area behind our house is carpeted with scraggy grass and interesting bushes well used by pukeko, white-faced herons and other birds. In the coming months though there will be earthworks to transform it into (bleak and boring) lots available for sale.
I made a video to record it.
We bought our house at the early stages of a new subdivision, so we knew building would happen over the next few years. Our place is Lot 3 and Lot 2 had already been built.
Today ground work has begun on Lot 1, and Lot 5 will start before long. Noisy.
Existing houses are marked with pink.
This was such a lovely 18 minute movie. Do watch! Butter Tea - New Tibetan Short Film (Losar 2026) - YouTube:
In a small Tibetan cafe in Queens, a cup of butter tea becomes a bridge between generations.
A couple of great photos of the giant wind turbine parts on their way across the motu — Kaiwaikawe wind farm convoys begin: First giant parts leave Northport - NZ Herald:
The first convoy of windfarm parts leaves Northport for the Kaiwaikawe project site, 12 kms north of Dargaville. Photo / Robyn Anderson
Look how huge they are:
Massive components for the Kaiwaikawe Wind Farm await specialist delivery on the wharf at Northport.
Today's mystery: a low flying helicopter dangling a shiny cylindrical object below, flying in odd patterns nearby.
I wouldn't have thought they'd mount a camera or other sensor like this rather than affixed to the structure of the helicopter, but who knows…
One of my favourite series continues — Death by the Dozen by D.B. Borton: 📚
When a local historian begs Cat to find the villain who stole her beloved pig — Gertie, a cupcake-loving micro-mini with a mischievous streak — Cat figures it’s a simple petnapping. Sorry, pignapping. Until the trail leads to a dead human body.
Can't wait for the Thirteen book.
We visited Harbour Keys Cafe at One Tree Point where I ate quite a bit of a huge plate of honey roasted oats with fruit and greek yoghurt.
For unknown reasons I'd thought it'd be porridge …
Now every time I see a heron within cooee of our place I wonder if it's one of 'our' herons. In this case it was at the beach close to our house. 🐦
After yesterday's dog minding our friends took us to Ainga, beside the Ruakākā Tavern, for Japanese Western Fusion food. Ruakaka Tavern and Ainga.
I ordered
Roasted plum Duck
Roast duck in plum sauce, bok choy, shitake mushroom, cinnamon, cashew nuts
which was delicious, though I suspect I anticipate enjoying duck more than I actually do enjoy it.
The others all enjoyed their meals too.
Today's mid-summer supermarket craziness: $6 per head for iceberg lettuce.
Perhaps, to be fair, lettuces are mainly grown in the places covered by the 8 weather-related States of Emergency declared in Aotearoa so far in 2026. Severe weather States of Emergency in 2026 already match last year.
I love learning about the science of tea — The Hidden Half of L-Theanine NOBODY Talks About | NEW (2026) Science Reveals What It ACTUALLY Does (18 minute video):
In this video:
- The science of ammonium toxicity and how tea plants "detox" using theanine.
- How L-theanine acts as a high-speed nitrogen storage molecule.
- Plant Stress Defense: Why insects and temperature change your tea’s chemistry, and how L-theanine stands at the center of it all.
- Tea Processing Secrets: Why green tea and yellow tea have the highest theanine levels compared to oolong, black, or white teas.
We have Boo visiting today, so took her for a walk past the paddocks beside the racecourse as far as the beach. 🐶
With an offshore wind the waves were very calm.
For the Pacific Wave Appreciation Society. 🌊