I’ve been attending a useful yoga class. Although the instructor gives clear explanations of what to do, I’m finding the Yoga Journal to be a helpful reference with more detail.

I’m a little peeved that the BatWoman episode of Crisis on Infinite Earths was very light on BatWoman and heavy on all kinds of men — Arrow, Superman, Lex Luthor, Monitor, male Legends. Blimey!

If you’re a 👩🏽 and watching Crisis on Infinite Earths then you may enjoy the Autostraddle recaps as much as I do. Great fun. I guess non-👩🏽 may enjoy them too…

This bunch of weeds is supposed to be a shingle driveway leading from the house to the garage. It was very still this morning with a hot day forecast so I kitted up early in protective gear and turned to the poison spray. Before long these weeds should be dead.

Shingle driveway with weeds.

Today’s Bird On The Flax is the humble Sparrow. 🐦

House sparrows were introduced to NZ first in the mid 1860s. They soon became abundant and were said to be combating plagues of agricultural pests. By the 1880s, however, they were regarded as pests.

Photos through a window.

Sparrow sitting on a flax flower. Sparrow sitting on a flax flower, turned away from the camera. Sparrow sitting on a flax flower, facing the camera.

At last! For the longest time I’ve been annoyed by Safari Reader using white text on a dark background. Today, finally, I searched. Click the tiny AA at the right end of the URL bar then choose preferred settings. Select colours, font size and font family. Whew!

Screenshot showing Safari Reader preferences.

Whakaari, aka White Island, erupted yesterday: 5 dead , 34 injured, 8 missing. There is no hope the missing have survived.

”2 groups on the island - those who were able to be evacuated and those who were close to the eruption."

… from Australia, US, UK, China, Malaysia, NZ.

Map showing a 400Km distance from my home to Whakaari.

Yup, that’s New Zealand: if we’re not having earthquakes or breathing Australian bushfire smoke, then maybe we’re having a volcanic Eruption at Whakaari / White Island. The bad news is at least 20 people have been injured, 7 critically.

Fortunately it was easy to get my refund from the Levin Stihl shop. I asked for the guy I dealt with last time. He saw the problem and the $120 refund was immediate. They’d charged me for a whole reel of line instead of the 1 metre they put on after repairing the head.

About 10 days ago I had our weedeater repaired and serviced. The cost was eye-watering, but I was busy, stressed or unwell or something and didn’t challenge it. Today I was about to throw out the receipt when I saw it included an expensive item I didn’t buy. Off to get a refund…

Thanks for the latest Trek podcast @macgenie . As a non-American I had absolutely no idea about the LA Gangs stuff. My only knowledge of LA gangs is from various crime shows. As a non-US white person I was also woefully ignorant about the Latin American character stuff too.

Now that lupin season is almost finished, thank goodness, it’s Tui on the flax flowers season. This Tui appeared after today’s 25mm of rain stopped. 🐦 I’m so glad I planted flaxes right by the front door.

Bluish and brownish bird on a flax spear.

Deb made Mary Berry’s scones today and they were wonderful. Very light. She had to use quail eggs as we didn’t have any hen eggs.

A tray of scones.

Our friend Willow came to visit for a few hours today. 🐶 Meanwhile, everyone was looking at me, including Oshi and Sasha.

Small white dog on a blue rug and looking at the camera. Small pale cooured dog on a grey rug and looking at the camera. Small black dog on the floor and looking at the camera.

Interesting note about growing older:

researchers found big shifts occurred in the readings of multiple proteins around age 34, age 60 and age 78.

Of 1,379 proteins found to change with age, 895 were significantly more predictive for one sex compared with the other.

A photo on my watch reminded me that in the first part of December 2008 I was in Hawai’i to teach some WordPress courses. I loved the zoo. Photos: Me at the top of Mauna Kea. Komodo Dragon. Secretary Bird and Crowned Cranes. Giant Galapagos Tortoise.

Me at the top of Mauna Kea. Komodo Dragon. Secretary bird and Crowned Cranes. Giant Galapagos Tortoise.

This morning I woke from an unpleasant dream feeling slightly bewildered and anxious. I know dreams are just the brain sorting and assessing, but I was concerned this one may be predictive. A cup of tea and a bit of gardening has brought reality back into perspective.

Today I visited Sian in Porirua for my kirituhi. We chatted, then Sian drew a beautiful work in felt pen. I approved and she went ahead with inking. The negative space represents water, the feathers represent birds and the ‘cabbage tree’ is for plants. I’m thrilled with it.

A slender tattoo in black ink on my left forearm. A slender tattoo in black ink on my left forearm.

Down in Porirua some of the pohutukawa are starting to flower. A sign that Christmas is close.

Large tree with red blooms.

Thanks to @bix for the pointer to this interesting article. I was specially caught by this sentence:

The ability to disregard the opinions from the group that is being disadvantaged, the ability to escape accountability for actions, and the ability to benefit from others’ oppression are at the heart of why blackfishing is so damaging.

And substitute any number of other practises for ‘blackfishing’.

White Instagram Influencers Have Created a New Form of Blackface