Then the sun came up.

The sun has risen above misty paddocks.

I love these misty autumn mornings. Such beautiful colours in the greenery. Can't decide which of the exposures I like better.

The paddocks in the foreground are a bit brighter.
The paddocks in the foreground are a bit darker.

Aphra rarely allows me to catch her or pick her up, but tonight she let her guard down. 🐈

Me cuddling a black cat.

A gorgeous dog walk at the beach this morning.

Sand patterns.
Sand patterns.

Kawau, Pied Shags: ready, set, go go go.

4 Kawau pied shags lined up beside the river as though for a race.
4 Kawau pied shags taking off across the river, their wings and feet kicking up water.
4 Kawau pied shags in flight just above the surface of the river.

Now the dog yard is secure, though unfinished, I need to start beautifying it. Step 1: replant and mulch one of the small trees that had to be moved. This could be a long job.

Part of a fenced yard with new planting.

Small white dog tucked inside a dog cave.

Oshi in his new $8 dog cave (on the dog bed, on the rug, on the carpet, on the floor…).

Come on, Apple, give us Kiwis a choice

New Zealand has at least two official languages: English and Māori. The English we speak and write isn't *exactly* the same as Australian or British, Canadian or US Englishes. Māori has some resemblances, I believe to Hawai'ian, but it isn't the same.

Our placenames are mostly English or Māori, or even both. I live at a place called Waikawa Beach. The Beach part is English. Waikawa translated from Māori to English is 'bitter water'.

These days I’m helping a Māori organisation with their newsletter, or Pānui, and I’m learning Te Reo for myself.

And, I’m going crazy.

Autocorrect, which I usually find fairly helpful, transforms words like ‘pai’ to ‘paint’. All the time. Every single Māori word gets corrected. On my Mac, my iPhone and my iPad. Talk about hōhā!

It makes it almost impossible to take notes.

Spellcheck woes.

I don't want to turn off autocorrect. I don't want to have to teach my devices hundreds or thousands of Māori words and names.

Mac dictionaries, no New Zealand option.

I've been using Macs for nearly 20 years now. How hard is it for Apple to make a New Zealand option under Keyboards and spellcheck etc?

And I’m no linguist, but I feel that a New Zealand option like that should handle both Māori and English language words.

Come on, Apple. Make a job for someone and give nearly 5 million Kiwis a better option.

The dogs are very happy in their new playground. 🐶

Two small dogs playing chasing in a fenced grassy area.

Something is wrong. I heard it rain in the night. The ground is wet. But the rain gauge shows no rain.

Screenshot from the rain gauge.

Noooo. Yesterday I missed my Activity ring by 8 points simply because I forgot to check before I went to bed. Darn it.

Screenshot of almost closed ring.

The dog yard is sufficiently complete to put it to the test. Refinements will come (gates, handrail on the ramp, properly blocking up known gaps). It worked. 😀 🐶

Two dogs stand on the water tank looking at the fence around their yard.
Two dogs explore the boundary of their yard.
Small white dog by the fence.
Ramp down from the deck to the dog yard.

Fish heads on the beach.

Fish skeleton beside human foot for scale — about the same size.
Fish skeleton from another angle.
New fence around an area of the yard.

The dog yard has a way to go yet, but it’s definitely getting there. The deck on the house needs some rails and a step. There will be gates.

Progress on the dog yard.

Looking down on the dog yard to a partially completed fence.
Fencing lumber across two saw horses.
Partially completed fence from the other side.

Buddies: Sasha and Ares. Hard to believe Sasha (and her brother Oshi) used to chase Ares every single time she could when we lived in Wellington. 🐶 🐈

Dog and cat side by side.

The dog yard now has most of its posts. Still to come: rails and 2 gates. 🐶

Posts in place around some empty ground.
A wider view of the area surrounded by posts.
From another angle, a wider view of the area surrounded by posts.

The secure dog yard is underway. 🐶

Man using tools and walking along the path a fence will take.

At last, tomorrow the fencing guy comes to build a secure dog yard to keep these two scallywags from running away. Hooray! 🐶

two small dogs on the back seat of a car.

A benefit of a sudden unexpected trip to Wellington was a few moments with this harbour view. Sick partner now safely home and in bed.

View across Wellington Harbrour to hills on the other side.

Nearly missed the whole of a gorgeous sunset. Luckily I caught the tail end.

Heavy cloud with pink highlights above dark ground.