We have some splendid Kāhu Swamp harrier around us. They soar past our lounge window, wings spread and sometimes sit on fence posts. Today I glanced out and saw one on a nearby post. I grabbed a couple of photos through the window, but when I opened the door it flew away. 😒 🐦
Ambivalent about Pineapple Lies: (Pineapple Port Mysteries 1) by Amy Vansant. 📚 The mystery solving seems to involve mainly having some random notion and declaring someone ‘the killer’. There’s a lot of (hetero) romance too. I may try book 2. It was light, and amusing enough.
Deb and I have been really enjoying (re)watching Scott & Bailey, a British police procedural series. The three lead characters are compelling, and the dynamics complex and textured. Above all though there is hope and redemption, along with human fallibility. pic 1, pic 2
The best kind of little free community library: The Good Dog Library at the dog park in Levin. 🐶 Love it!
I’m enjoying this author’s books, including The Girl Who Was Forgotten: (The Shee McQueen Mystery Thriller Series Book 2) by Amy Vansant. 📚
No more in that series so I’ve moved on to a different series by the same author.
Hooray, just got confirmation after an online booking request: my first Pfizer Covid shot is scheduled for Monday 21 June. 😎 Deb had her second shot today. Meanwhile, apparently, anti-vaxers in Levin are graffitiing pharmacy windows. 😒
The excellent 2 hour Indian movie Skater Girl brought tears to my eyes several times. The lead character, teenaged Prerna, finds freedom on a skateboard but her social environment keeps trying to restrict and limit her. There is controversy about the movie though. 🎬
Ugh. We sold a laptop with a troubled history — described as accurately as we could. We believed it was working fine. 3 weeks after purchase the buyer is disputing, claiming the Touch Bar doesn’t work. Breaking my brain considering what is right and proper and how to resolve.
This 2-minute video is about the stars of Māori New Year, Matariki, which happens at this time of year. ✨
How to find the Matariki star cluster
Māhutonga : Southern Cross
Hinetakurua : Sirius
Tautoru : Orion’s Belt
Puanga : Rigel
Te Matakāheru : Taurus
Matariki : Pleiades
The new bike rack arrived and I put it on my car. I checked a few videos about how to do it as the manual helpfully only had pictures without words. Grrr. Got my bike on then tried to add Deb’s bike. I was interrupted before figuring out the best arrangement of pedals etc. 🚴🏼
Global Extinction of Languages Is Threatening … Human Knowledge:
Among 12,495 medicinal uses for plants in indigenous communities … over 75% of those plants are each tied to just 1 local language. If these unique words trickle out of use, so too may the knowledge they contain.
Brunched with a friend at Rosetta Cafe in Raumati South. The Big Brekkie (1/2 size) meal was superb: sourdough toast, roasted tomato, pan-fried spinach and mushrooms, polenta fries. With green tea. I opted out of the chilli bean mix because I don’t eat onions.
When we drove to Levin in the rain today we were delayed by yet another accident near Ōhau. Fortunately this was a simple nose-to-tail so emergency services cleared it quickly and it seems no one was injured. Makes a change from the many recent fatalities on that stretch.
This was a darn good read: The Girl Who Wants: (The Shee McQueen Mystery Thriller Series Book 1) by Amy Vansant. 📚
Shee’s quest to recover the life and loves she’s lost brings a depth of emotion rare in such page-turning suspense.
Now for book 2.
This week’s International Breakfast was a risky experiment we won’t repeat. The recipe was more of a memory aid for the writer and we didn’t have Cascaval cheese. So, Moldovan peasant food, Mămăligă, was generally weird. We added scrambled eggs and smoky cheese. Very yellow.
Today we went to Paraparaumu for a Line-dancing social. The songs in red were Beginner level (that’s us). There were about 60 people there, including our teacher and a bunch of folks from other groups in the region. It was fun. Our teacher, Tania, is third from left in the photo.
Hmmm, I enjoyed Mousse and Murder (An Alaskan Diner Mystery Book 1) by Elizabeth Logan. 📚 It strained my credulity a bit though. There seemed excessive attention to the cat. I’m not sure what exactly didn’t sit quite right, but I’m dithering about reading the next in series.
We had to call on Reggie, our local water guy, to fill our drinking water tank today. I couldn’t tell whether we had one week’s water left or a bit more. Now I can relax. The last time we bought water was March 2020.
Took my car through the carwash for what may be the first time in the 5 or 6 years I’ve owned it. The carwash and blow dry led me to the interesting discovery that one of the rear windows doesn’t go all the way up. The button will lower it but not raise it at all. 😒
Researchers explored Māori storytelling in spoken word, weaving and carving and found:
Polynesian narratives … include voyaging into Antarctic waters by Hui Te Rangiora … and his crew on the vessel Te Ivi o Atea, likely in the early seventh century