I don’t often use cash, but today’s bonus was to receive an Armistice Day centennial coin in change. Photos: New Zealand 50 cent piece with coloured poppy in the centre; diagram showing coin’s features.
Oshi and Sasha had a great run on the beach this morning. Photos: Oshi running; Sasha running.
Today I made a new veggie patch and planted self-sown tomatoes and celery. Emptied and moved 2 compost bins to fill an old large crate. Old tires around the edge to deter cats and rabbits. 🤞 Photos: crate garden, with tire ‘wall’, compost bins.
In truth, sleeping dogs: Oshi and Sasha.
Yellowhammer: “The colourful yellowhammer is a common inhabitant of open country throughout much of New Zealand. Introduced from Britain by Acclimatisation Societies between 1865 and 1879”.
Cabbage trees, tī kōuka.
This morning‘s haul of 5 strawberries from the tunnel house.
From the iPhone 7, a delicate fungus I spotted in the garden this morning.
Interesting: in that big earthquake last week the P waves arrived first, with the S waves later.
“This computer simulation shows how the seismic waves of the Oct 30th 2018 magnitude 6.2 earthquake were propagated across New Zealand.”
Who knew … apparently there’s a town in France, Le Quesnoy, that the Kiwis liberated near the end of World War 1. They remember and celebrate us, even naming various streets after things & people in NZ (eg Helen Clark Street). Approx 13 minutes in at Kawekōrero.
I don’t fuss about regular folks writing ‘poorly’, but professionals is another matter. Radio NZ and the misplaced ‘tomorrow ‘: “The Wellington City Council will remove a tree that fell over in last night’s storm tomorrow.” Sigh.
Urgh, this wind is a definite incentive to stay in bed. 💨
On my Micro.blog site styling the photos also affected my avatar at the top of the page. This CSS fixed that:
img#avatar {margin-top:0; padding-top:0;}
On my Micro.blog site I didn’t like my photos being smooshed together. This CSS has helped:
img {margin-top:1.5em; background-color: #ffffff; box-shadow: 5px 5px 5px gray;}
It adds space and a drop-shadow. See miraz.me for how it looks.
The map mystery
Whenever a Kiwi spots a world map in the background of some News broadcast, our eye is inevitably drawn to the space where New Zealand should be. All too often we're not there! Which is why this 3 minute video is so important. 😎
NZ where the bloody hell are you?
Includes a starring role for our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern.
I was wondering how much CO2 I save by making hyperlocal trips on my bike. This handy CO2 calculator is useful: The approximate CO2 per litre of … petrol … is … 2.31kg.
We all need to cut back where we can.
On strong role models in film and tv — we need more
Here's an excellent research-based 7 minute video from BrainCraft about how important role models are: How Dana Scully Changed Science —
…we take a look at the Scully Effect, … It's had the largest impact on women in STEM, but strong role models in film and tv have an impact on *everyone's* career choices and changing the public perception of scientists.
Sunset, and I glanced up at the now cloud-free Tararuas to see snow on the peaks. No wonder it’s so chilly outside. Photos: pink sunset colours on snowy peaks.
That scary rain on the roof sound
It's common in New Zealand for houses to have a tin
roof. In our case that's long-run Colorsteel. So when it rains heavily it can get quite noisy.
This morning we had a sudden rush of almost 15mm per hour. The noise level rocketed up from 40dB to 80dB and two small nervous dogs rocketed up onto the bed.
14.9mm per hour rainfall.
Heavy rain noise.
Sasha and Oshi on the bed while heavy rain is scary.
Pictures: screenshot of rainfall rate; screenshot of decibel level; two small dogs on the bed looking alarmed.