Bukbukbukbuk. Why are the pheasants doing their earthquake warning? … shake shake. Oh.
The sea was fairly calm this morning, but still quite noisy. This video is not too long after sunrise, looking southwest to Kāpiti Island. Volume up a bit!
Today was quail moving day. Flop obliged with a photo. 🐦
Today we went with friends to Foxton Estuary, where, unlike last time, there were few birds. A white-faced heron came very close though (cropped iPhone shot). And a huge flock of maybe 100 Canada Geese arrived (volume UP).
Came home after dinner out having left the bathroom window open and a light on in the house. Found this large insect on the wall. From the tip of one extremity to the other she was as long as my middle finger from tip to knuckle.
Thanks to @odd who identified it as a Tipuloidea or Cranefly.
Good grief! I just sent out our Waikawa Beach Ratepayers Association monthly Newsletter by Buttondown for the first time (switched from Mailchimp, thanks to recommendations here). It was so easy. Thank you to all those who discussed it.
Whew. Second day in a row where I’ve been sitting in the midday sun listening to a podcast and woken up when it finished. 💤💤💤
The diggers next door have moved to behind our house. They’re now ~140 metres away. Our house shakes several times an hour while they work. Maybe that’s because of the 6 metre piles that support our house? I don’t notice it as much sitting as when I was in bed, thank goodness.
Well, that woke me up!
Light earthquake occurred 15 km north-west of Levin: www.geonet.org.nz/earthquak…
I found a trailer that would actually play. Looks great! Star Trek: Picard - Official Teaser. Not long to wait. 🖖🏼
The Te Waiohua people, who gave Auckland its original name of Tāmaki Makaurau, settled there about 1100 AD. Moa still roamed scrublands and Rangitoto hadn’t erupted to dominate Auckland Harbour. The area … contains New Zealand’s oldest stone-walled field systems, windbreaks, heat-conservation areas for tropical crops, burial caves, and the foundations of whare.
Ihumātao eviction: Planned Auckland development reignites anger of the land wars
Today there were 2 black swans and only 4 cygnets. One has disappeared. 😒
It’s been a very weird day. My partner was shocked to learn she has an older half-brother who just ‘found’ her. And also that some family members died a few years back. Families can be very complicated, eh.
Our bathroom is tiny. When the house was built 5 years ago they used the wrong kind of paint and now there are water streaks from condensation, and a few flaking parts. Yesterday the painter started repainting with acrylic, which stinks. Here’s the ‘before’, ready to be painted.
Who knew Kiwis had so many guns?! Obviously, quite a few have more than 1.
Police said 2143 people handed in 3275 firearms, and 7827 parts and accessories since the first collection event in Christchurch a week ago.
Pleased to see so many being handed in.
My cat Ares is 17.5 now and fading. He’s lost some or all of his sight or gone a bit doolally recently, losing his way and bumping into things. He’s lost weight and a challenge is to get him to eat. He only licks at wet food. Today’s supermarket selection aims to tempt him. 🐈
We thought one of ‘our’ black swans from the lake had been killed — a neighbour saw a dead swan on the beach and one of ‘our’ pair was missing. I now suspect she was just being a diligent mum. Today we have a pair of adults and 5 little grey cygnets.
In March 2017 we bought a plastic tunnel house. It’s about 8 square metres and is working well for us. Now in mid-winter we’re starting to think about what to plant this coming year. My first job though was to clean the plastic. Half way through and you can see the difference!
Ugh:
the size of the global dairy herd hasn’t changed much over the years. But every year for the past 15 years 21,803 dairy farmers close down. … roughly 50 dairy farmers with 50 cows each are being replaced by 1 farm with 2500 cows.
I thought I spotted a dog emerging from the dunes. But No! It was the first seal pup of the season. I scrambled to leash the dogs and get the camera out, but the pup took its time. I hadn't known they went all the way up to the dunes.
