Turns out sleeping in smoke filled sheets is a terrible idea. I have a sore throat now and am awake way too early. These sheets will be washed again and dried in the dryer today. 😷
Today started clear, sunny and splendid. With 3 days of rain forecast I washed all my bedding and hung it out to dry, anticipating that gorgeous fresh clean sheets smell. Then the wind changed, and the neighbour’s big and extremely smokey garden fire made my sheets stink. 😒
When they were puppies Sasha and Oshi used to play chasing every day. It usually involved Sasha staying in one place and Oshi hooning. Now at almost 13 they don’t so often play, but freshly cut grass inspired them I guess. 🐶
That radiosonde I found last week — I have more info:
That balloon was released from Hobart Airport on the 27th December, 2018 … Andrew Winchester | A/Observing Network Support, National Observing Operations, Data and Digital Group
Ugh:
…expectant parents … can pay $140 to take a course about “informed consent” and “natural immunity,” run by … Authentic Resistance … a vehicle for the spread of myths around vaccination safety that specifically target new parents.
Paying to be fed dangerous lies!
I wondered what the dogs were looking at, in the dark, in the dog yard, so investigated. It turned out to be a hedgehog. There aren’t very many around in these parts, that I’m aware of. In New Zealand they’re pests, posing a significant threat to native weta, skinks, and birds.
Sometimes in the early morning when the sand is fresh and undisturbed you can see that wildlife has been enjoying the beach overnight. I’m not sure exactly what made these tracks — perhaps a crab, a hedgehog or weasel, and probably a rabbit.
A person involved in a single-vehicle crash is understood to have left the vehicle, and has been hit by another vehicle.
Initial reports suggest the woman is in a serious condition.
Ugh. This is the crash we passed. Explains why we saw only 1 damaged car.
The dogs had to wait in the car while we ate with our friends. So afterwards we took the dogs for an extremely brief comfort stop on the Wellington waterfront outside Te Papa. It was a gorgeous day. Second photo shows Mt Victoria, where we used to live.
Our drive back from our friend Helen D’s birthday brunch in Wellington was 2 hours instead of 1.5. So glad we got to crawl past 2 accidents rather than being the accident ourselves. The more serious one closed the southbound lane on the expressway, where the rescue helicopter had landed.
This month’s most unusual beach find: an Australian Bureau of Meteorology Radiosonde. Serial number: N4610489. Approx GPS: -40.697469, 175.136803
Update: That balloon was released from Hobart Airport on 27 December 2018.
Thanks @smokey for pointing to this post by @vasta. Loved it! Beacons of virtual proximity:
When I look at that list of green dots in Slack… I see the beacons of people who care …telling each other that we are not alone, and we are here together, close while far away.
New Zealand isn’t very dog friendly and dogs aren’t allowed in cafes. I was delighted to see this one come into the cafe where I was eating breakfast. It didn’t want to say Hello though. 😥
I was weeding today, at our rental property in Ōtaki, when this worm came along. It scrunched itself up when it saw me. Even so, it was about the length of my middle finger. Most of the other worms I saw, and I’m glad to say there were plenty, were much smaller.
This 12 minute video is very interesting and thought-provoking: Our Food System is Rigged
The way we eat is unsustainable for the climate. …We need to convert more of our diet to plant-based foods, and away from red meat. …How can something so necessary be so hard?
The stone monument at Ōtaki Beach, shaped like a bow of a ship…commemorates two significant shipwrecks along the Ōtaki coastline..
October 13, 1878 the barque Felixstowe
October 22, 1878 the full-rigged immigrant ship, City of Auckland
Total: 4 dead.
We used to live at the top of Mt Victoria in Wellington. There was a toilet block and scruffy bit of grass nearby. A photo from 2014 shows this empty space. Today we visited and it’s been transformed, with interactive sculpture and even a slide and native plants. It’s splendid!
Getting excited about a trip “Up North" next month, which will include Te Rerenga Wairua / Cape Reinga. I’ve visited once before, in August 2004. Three photos from that trip. Luckily I generally take better photos these days.
We enjoyed Blinded by the Light very much. It’s a 2-hour British feel-good movie based on a true story.
… the coming-of-age story of Javed, a British-Pakistani Muslim teenager whose life is changed after he discovers the music of Springsteen.
