This is when the lupins bloom, and I’m highly allergic. I get itchy mouth, nose, eyes. I get brain fog, tiredness, blurry vision. Last year I discovered the benefits of a steroid injection to make this time of year tolerable. Done for this year too!
Micro.Blog at 4 feet! I love such happenstance Timeline juxtapositions.
45 min doco every Kiwi should watch: NZ Wars: Stories of Waitara. Another Mihingarangi Forbes tour de force.
oral histories, state of the art animations, re-enactments bring to life narratives of Te Ātiawa in their epic battle against the military might of the British Empire.
It’s nearly time for the Council to monitor the river at the footbridge for E.Coli, as they do each summer. I wondered why my bookmark kept failing. In the last 12 months Manawatu became Manawatū (see the macron?). They updated the url: …explore-data/manawatū-whanganui-region/….
A gorgeous morning at the beach. Kāpiti Island to the southwest under a clear blue sky; a dead snapper (I think); recently planted Spinifex are thriving.
Snapper begin life as females. In 3rd and 4th years, about half change sex, balancing adult pop. between male and female.
🤣 “Batwoman” Keeps Getting Gayer and Queering Superhero Tropes - Autostraddle
This week she meets Batwoman for the first time. To keep her identity safe, Kate uses a voice-modulator to make her sound like an Australian doing an American accent in a slightly more husky way.
Me too!: 1/3 of NZers eliminate or cut down on eating meat - research:
survey of more than 1000 people: 31% … limiting meat intake over past year, further 3%: vegetarian or vegan.
Health … most common reason for cutting down, then concern for environment, animal welfare.
Hah, this 7.5 minute video by Tom Scott is very interesting: This Video Is Sponsored By ███ VPN. Perhaps you don’t need that VPN after all.
There was a bit of a westerly breeze as we went onto the beach this morning. Sasha and Oshi headed off, while I stopped a moment to catch the sand blowing. See how it catches on any plants and starts forming a dune. 🐶 🌬
Strathnaver Labour Weekend 2019 BBQ was a hit
[Oops — I posted this to the wrong blog, but will leave it here as well. It was supposed to be over at [lovewaikawabeach.nz](https://lovewaikawabeach.nz) .]
We had about 65 say they'd turn up and I believe well over 50 actually did attend the Strathnaver BBQ on the Sunday afternoon of Labour Day weekend 2019. I know a couple of people were sick on the day. Another dozen or so would have liked to come along but had other commitments.
The weather even managed to be OK — a little breezy, but not too bad and a large toitoi gave good shelter.
Some of the feedback:
A big thank you for a well run arvo much appreciated a great turnout again thanks for the effort I know folk enjoyed.
Thank you and the team for a really enjoyable afternoon yesterday! So well organised, yummy food/salads etc and a great way to get to know/keep in touch with others. ☀🏖
Just wondering if anyone may have mentioned if it could be an annual occasion - but all BYO to make it easy on everyone! People may be interested in this?
it was great to meet up with a few new people. Thanks so much for organising it, such a lovely idea!
I didn't realise it would be a feast!
Having
vegan optionson the flier is what made me attend. If that hadn't been on there I probably would have ignored it.
I would personally like to thank all those who helped make the BBQ a great success. It was great to be part of a team:
- Sophie, who organised a great deal on sausages, and who took charge of the menu and did some food prep, as well as offering moral support. The salads were much appreciated. Thanks too to Maurice for assistance with setup and whatnot.
- Helen and Peter who helped get the idea together in the first place, offered moral support, helped with food prep, organised the BBQing and cooked sausages superbly.
- Daniel of Woody's Farm for the superb sausages at a price that allowed for every meat eater to enjoy a couple of sausages. I really liked being able to support a local grower who raises pigs ethically.
- Clive for bringing a BBQ and cooking sausages so willingly and superbly.
- Debra and Stephen Betts for bringing some extra food and handy things and a bin for recycling, for help with carting stuff around and for general assistance.
- Pam and Ian Hoggard for allowing us to use their grassy lake area, and specially Ian for mowing the grass and even filling rabbit holes!
- My partner Deb for moral support and listening to me being endlessly anxious about it all, as well as helping with some food prep and carting stuff around.
- The Horowhenua District Council for the Events grant of $250 that allowed us to break the ice amongst all the neighbours. Everyone I spoke to said such good things about being able to meet everyone. I hope it will lead to folks connecting more with the people around them.
Given that Strathnaver is about 100 properties, spread out along some 4 Km of road, having a gathering is a good way for people to be able to say Hello and have a chat.
We spent only $20 more than the grant allowed, but had a few things left over. I gave apples and juice to John Hewitson as a donation to the Levin Uniting Church's Sunday night dinner. People who go to that dinner can pay $2 per plate, or nothing if even that is beyond them.
I also gave the paper plates and cups, serviettes etc and water to John Hewitson to be used at the Waikawa Beach Ratepayers Association's summer events for the whole community.
Thank you everyone, and of course, all those who turned up on the day and met the neighbours.
Photos from the BBQ — don't necessarily include everyone who attended.
I believe these to be juvenile Black-backed Gulls, especially as they breed on Kāpiti Island only ~20 Km away.
At #16 I’m still enjoying the Miss Fortune Series by Jana DeLeon. Swamp Santa:
A Christmas gala, caroling, and a sleigh ride are on the agenda. Murder is not. But when someone bumps off Santa, Fortune is aware a killer is lurking among the holiday cheer.
Still fun, interesting!
Whew. 😅 The community BBQ a small group of us organised went off really well. 65 said they’d come and at least 50 turned up. There was enough food, and people were really pleased to meet their neighbours. The weather even turned out OK at the time. Now I can relax!
Wild rabbits are a pest in New Zealand, but they’re also very cute. Especially tiny Spring baby bunnies just outside the front door. So cute! 🐇 // @hollyhoneychurch @jeannie
A small group of us are organising a BBQ for our neighbourhood this Labour Weekend. ~60 are attending! Another ~15 gave apologies. Council gave a grant for the food and soft drink. Today I need to go shopping. ‼️ I’ll be glad when it’s all over. Organising food is my nightmare.
Dogs, eh! 🐶 Sasha flops, Oshi looks cute.
In October 2007 I was lucky to attend a release of 130 juvenile tuatara into Zealandia Sanctuary in Wellington. They had come from Stephens Island. It was an amazing opportunity to get up very close.
survivors of an order of reptiles that thrived in the age of the dinosaurs.
will digitise 25 years worth of te reo Māori archives. … create a te reo digital dataset large enough to be used for machine learning to create chat bots, online education, games, transcription of archival material, and real-time captioning in te reo Māori.
