This 11 minute video explains how dishwashers work, and how to load them. Are you loading your dishwasher wrong?:
We dug into the science of dishwashers to finally put an end to all your dishwasher debates.
Definitely worth watching.
Yesterday's beach trip revealed lots of driftwood 'mulch' near the river mouth. In it were many five-armed starfish.
I also saw my first ever Hermit Crab, in quite a big shell.
When I touched the shell the crab retreated.
BEV update. We've had our MG 4 Essence 64 for 8 months now and the nights are getting cold. It's currently 0C outside and Deb's on her way to work.
With the cold Deb's seeing higher power use every day.
Today the battery charge indicator is being erratic, showing 78% where it should by now be 70%. 🚗
I love the challenge of the The Guardian Cryptic Crosswords; they're so hard.
On first pass I may get one or two answers at most, then I worry away at it, sometimes exclaiming Of course!
when I see how an answer works.
Anagrams are my secret power, so those clues are sometimes the easiest.
This morning's tea is Bagua Shan Dong Pian. Perfect!
Dong Pian is a special Taiwanese tea. It is harvested in the Winter Solstice when the weather is unseasonably warm which tricks the plants into thinking Spring has arrived, so they produce new leaf buds. The warm days and cool nights imbue a unique flavour into the leaves as they grow.
I very much enjoyed The Fells (Detectives Donovan & Young Book 1) by Cath Staincliffe. 📚
I found intriguing that it's written in the present tense, by an all-seeing author, which gave the effect of a TV show or movie where the camera shows us the scene with immediacy.
I'll definitely read more.
I do all my book reading on a Kindle. Today I upgraded from a Kindle Paperwhite to a Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition. It feels much snappier, the text feels sharper and it charges wirelessly on my iPhone charger or can use a USB-C cable.
I'm looking forward to seeing if I enjoy it more.
There's a blue marker post on the beach that (theoretically — it's almost invisible behind beach grass) shows where one of the pedestrian tracks to exit the beach is.
This morning I took a photo of it, noting it's now half buried in sand.
Here it was on 15 July 2020 for comparison.
Ours isn't the kind of beach that has seaweed. Except today it does, and a lot of it.
If you're into dogs at all this 11 minute video is a must-watch. So interesting! The Canine Rainbow and How Dogs See the World 🐶 :
The first episode of Howtown from Adam Cole & Joss Fong is all about dog vision
I've subbed to the Howtown videos too. Looks like a nice series.
Detective Chief Superintendent Fran Harman works on a frustrating case of stalking in Do No Harm (Detective Fran Harman Mysteries Book 2) by Judith Cutler while another team looks into an unpleasant serial flasher. 📚
I found this very readable and am looking forward to the next in series.
Whangārei city and environs
Whangārei lies about 165 Km north of Auckland and about 260 Km south of Te Rerenga Wairua | Cape Reinga, at -35.5515, 174.3414.
Nestled in a broad valley between hills to its west and east, the city lies on a long inlet of Whangārei Harbour on Northland’s east coast. Initially a service centre for the surrounding district, it has developed through its proximity to some of the country’s deepest harbour waters, and through the north’s expanding tourism.
The cows in the paddocks next door have been yelling a lot the last couple of days. This morning they're too busy eating. 😁
Different day, same (presumably) kōtuku white heron.
I was so pleased to discover iCab allows AppleScript. This script in TextExpander allows me to grab the Title and URL of the front tab and copy it as a Markdown link.
tell application "iCab"
set theName to name of current tab of front window
set theURL to url of current tab of front window
return "[" & theName & "](" & theURL & ")"
end tell
It's been a whole week since I spotted an unusual visitor to Waikawa Beach and I assumed it had left. But today I again spotted the kōtuku white heron by the river and was able to get quite close. Such beautiful birds. 🐦
Yesterday afternoon I lit the fire early — there was a cold wind. This morning we have our first snow on the mountain tops.
After a supermarket trip this morning I’m treating myself to breakfast at Salt and Pepper in Ōhau. Avocado and salmon smash for me.
Each month I post on Waikawa News that I've sent out a Newsletter. Now I can duplicate the previous post as my starting point, thanks to the update in MarsEdit 5.2.
And more space for Alt Text!
