At dawn this morning there were 3 Royal Spoonbills in the ponded area of the beach where the Pied Stilts like to hang out. I was delighted, as I thought the spoonbills had abandoned us. 🐦
I came across the weirdest thing on the beach this morning. It was about 2 metres long and to my eye looked like an octopus (or squid maybe) and a shark had got into a fight and drowned together.
In one photo below you can easily see a tentacle wrapped around the fish.
There was another hard frost this morning, so when I visited the beach at dawn the sand was white at the base of the dunes.
There was an intriguing cloud over Kāpiti Island — like a poorly balanced see-saw.
This was free with a newsletter signup — The Opposite of Dark (Casey Holland Mysteries Book 1) by Debra Purdy Kong. 📚
The more I read the more complicated and convoluted the story became, until eventually it just seemed like a soap opera.
I didn't love it.
So cool to see tech being used for good — Drones Are Whizzing Lifesaving Supplies Across the 'Last Mile':
By land, it would take about four hours to reach this region of the mountainous country. Instead, the journey took just 18 minutes. A drone dropped a red box, containing a blood product that supports coagulation, with a white paper parachute outside the medical center.
I was meant to have a third intro session with a trainer at the gym this afternoon but I begged off. Yesterday I had a covid jab so my left arm's ever so slightly sore. Today I had routine blood draws in my right arm and I'm not sure gym would be a good follow-on.
Home with a cuppa instead.
Today is poop day. 😆
I've done my bit for the National Bowel Screening programme. It's easy and painless and could save me a lot of anguish.
A friend of a friend had a problem picked up this way, and after some surgery is now fit and well.
Heh, The Brokenwood Mysteries has 'storylines so good' people believe the characters are real | RNZ News:
Police officer and fan of the show Bryan Ward … [said] … Probably one of the great strengths of that show is the storylines are that good, that people actually believe the characters are real.
It's one of those days where one weather system is taking up most of our bit of the globe.
Why has it taken me so many years to realise I can add useful notes to a Kindle book. Like this one:
Now I don't need to continue reading when I see weeks later this book is unfinished … 📚
Deb and I are very much enjoying the light-hearted Frankie Drake Mysteries on Acorn:
In Roaring Twenties Toronto, crime has never had it better, and cases have never been more unconventional. This new era calls for a new kind of detective, and Frankie Drake fits the bill. She leads the first female detective agency with her partner, Trudy, as they take on investigations that the police can't and that other agencies won't.
This mystery Bea has to solve pretty much on her own, her usual helpers being otherwise occupied. She still comes up trumps though. A False Alarm (The Bea Abbot Agency Mysteries Book 7) by Veronica Heley 📚:
Someone set a tripwire across the top of the staircase in Sir Lucas’s apartment block causing him to fall head-long and break his arm. A malicious prank … or something much worse?
A slightly odd one in the series, but still enjoyable. Furtive Prey (The Jessica Anderson K-9 Mysteries) by D. L. Keur 📚:
a crisis of national security proportions pits Sheriff Landon Reid against the Department of Homeland Security … after a very advanced organoid intelligence … is stolen from the DARPA lab out of Idaho Falls, Idaho
Sometimes these winter days are perfect: glorious sun out of a clear blue sky. 20C, no wind. I can hear the birds. Just gorgeous.
Flaxes beside the garage trimmed back.
Now I can try to tidy (and weedeat) the area between the garage and the fence.
Got myself out in the garden earlier to do some needed weed eating. Hauled out the weedeater, only to find that when I put it away 3 weeks ago I hadn't noticed the spool and cover had fallen off where I stopped.
I ended up cutting back some overgrown flaxes, but no, the items weren't there. Sigh.
Cold enough this morning that we had a decent frost. The snow on the top of the mountain was no surprise.
There was even frost on the beach. A bird had made its way through one frosty patch of sand.
I didn't get to the beach today, as I was too busy with other things. Yesterday though there was a very cold and blowy southerly.
All up, power was only out for 20 or 30 minutes. Phew! No need to test out my new Portable Power Station.
I bought the 8 book set for less than $2, but was glad to reach the end of the first book. Some great turns of phrase but just not a terribly enjoyable story. The Miss Pink Mysteries Books 1–8 by Gwen Moffat. 📚
