Yesterday we took the red car through the touch-free carwash in Palmerston North.

Windscreen covered in mainly white or grey soapy foam, seen from inside the car.Multicoloured foam on the windcsreen, seen from inside the car.

Yesterday I visited the Wildbase Recovery in Palmerston North and saw this Kākā. The facility is amazing, helping wild birds recover and recuperate until they can be released. 🐦

Large brown parrot type bird in an aviary. Large brown bird preening. Large brown bird in an aviary.

These ducklings in the gardens in Palmerston North were very bold. 🐦

Two dycklings approach the camera.

The hunt in the next door paddock. Rabbit on the left eats grass. Wild ginger cat on the right lies in wait. 🐇 🐈

The dash for safety … was successful.

Paddock with rabbit being stalked by a ginger cat. The rabbit runs, the cat springs, but with no luck.

Our favourite dog pal Willow is visiting for the day. 🐶

Small white curly haired dog curled up in a dog bed.

Milk.

Bottles of milk on a suprmarket shelf.

Hey @macgenie all good with you? Haven’t seen you on Micro.Blog for a few days… Just checking in…

Another superb Aussie movie: Ride Like a Girl 🎬:

Michelle Payne … became the first woman to ride the winner of the Melbourne Cup in 2015.

Features Kiwi actor Sam Neill.

There were some fraught moments…

Ride Like a Girl screenshot.

Tonight, Jupiter And Saturn Will Appear Closer Than They've Been in 800 Years:

Jupiter and Saturn …between 16-25 December they'll be separated by only 1/5 the diameter of a full moon.

I wish my photo were better. Taken on the 17th it might be my only one thanks to cloud! ✨☁️

Crescent moon and two bright ‘stars’.

In a hilarious rabbit hole today I learned about Ruffles and flourishes 📯🥁and how Hail to the Chief came to be. Loved this:

[President] Polk was not an impressive figure, so some announcement was necessary to avoid the embarrassment of his entering a crowded room unnoticed.

We came home near sunset last night. Just before driving into the village we spotted this lit up Christmas tree in a paddock. Well done that farmer!

Large tree covered with lights, alone in a paddock.

Somehow we organised two meals out on one day. For the first time ever I had beignets. Delicious. At Quarter Acre restaurant in Manakau about 7Km from home.

Brunch with 10 longtime friends at Field & Green in Wellington. I had a very delicious Smashed peas & avocado, with lemon, Parmesan, poached egg, toast.

Plate with Smashed peas & avocado, lemon, Parmesan, poached egg, toast.

Found this illegal fire on the beach this morning. Presumably still burning after last night. I covered it with sand as best I could.

We enjoyed watching The Prom. Music, dancing, feel good, lesbians, happy ending. There are worse ways to spend a couple of hours. It was also a smidge deeper than it seemed.

Prom screenshot.

OK, fellow Star Trek (Original Series) fans, give this a try: Star Force: Sci-Fisolation. LOL 🖖🏼

Read up about it at Star Force: the surprise smash webseries is The Mighty Boosh for Trekkies

Some good laughs there.

Dog close to camera with text Loud Alien Roar.

… Writing the monthly-ish community newsletter. But first I have to make sure the community blog posts are up-to-date so the newsletter can refer to them. A blurt of blog posts…

Ages ago I used to have a bank account with ASB / Bank Direct. Today they called and said they needed to pay me $11.94 for incorrectly taken account fees. (I’ll bet that was some legal finding.) I opted for them to direct it to their charity aimed at low income households.

Oh dear, Fiji — Severe Cyclone Yasa (Cat5) expected to make landfall in Fiji late today

one of the most powerful [cyclones] on record in the South Pacific and certainly one for the history books – and this is before it’s even reached Fiji properly.

Map showing the centre of the cyclone above one of Fiji’s islands.

If you wondered about that red car stuck on our beach (Sometimes people drive along the beach), read how things worked out at A bit of an odyssey. Includes photos and movies.

Wreck of a red car by the entrance to the beach.