I'VE HAD ANOTHER MOVEMENT!

 Yes, I'm back where I started. It takes too much mental energy to figure out what Wordpress is up to these days! (And I suspect that my mental energy tank is draining faster than I like!)

But I think I'll pootle along here and see how we manage.

For a winter's day we are having some fabulous sunshine. The Man's brother scored a bagful of orchids when a house site was being cleared. He just politely asked the chap on the bulldozer if he could have the orchids. Obliging 'dozer man switched off his engine and said: "Go for it!"

Several have flower spikes so who knows what will appear!

Not a lot to tell you so I'll get the laundry in and think about tonight's supper...

MY SINGULAR FOXGLOVE

 

This is my only foxglove...but I'm hoping to have more next year! In the in-between times, pop across and drool over our mutual friend's offerings. sigh...even if they are behaving badly!

https://inexplicabledevice.blogspot.com/2026/07/foxgloves-behaving-badly.html

Mr J. Frost has paid us a couple of visits, just to remind us that we are no longer in the tropics!And not a problem to the giant Magnolia towering high above the spa!

    Nor the old lemon stalwart...

Today I bought some Maori  potatoes; the Big Store didn't have a full range of the varieties, but these should do us nicely
                                         
                                                    

These have purple-y skins and creamy flesh; good for roasting, according to the label. And while I was there, I also bought a gro-bag, which should be easier on my elderly muscles when it comes time to harvest the spuds! 

                                             

So that was the morning's outing. Hopefully Ol' Jack will be headed well north by August so we might have Christmas spuds!

And that's about it for now. 

TURNING THE CLOCK BACK TO YE OLDEN DAYS...

 One of the blogs I read is often a fascinating delve into the early records of London's East End.

 https://spitalfieldslife.com/2026/05/22/in-a-well-in-spitalfields-iii/

What amazes me is that some of these old artifacts didn't simply rot away completely! Oh, and just before I sat down to write this, we heard the garbage truck, emptying our street's offerings: glass, metal and plastic, for the most part! Not the same as chucking a cracked wooden platter down a well...

Lazy old baggage that I am, I still have not taken the bigger camera to capture some of the autumn glory. But today's weather promises to stay sunny, so...watch this space!

New neighbours, just across the lane, apparently have a BIG dog, judging by the deep bark we hear whenever someone walks or cycles down the lane. 

The cherry tree has been rather artistic with its leaves!

And a spot of colour....

The fuschia "Flirtation Waltz."

TRYING TO MAKE UP FOR MY ABSENCE...

 While sifting through old stuff, I found this. It was taken when we were building our house. 

   

The python was a premiere "rodent exterminator."

But that was years ago...

Some of my spring bulbs have produced leaves, but I'm not sure which is which as a very whirly wind blew the name tags all over the place! But that's OK. Once they've flowered, I'll lift them and replant them along the back fence next year. 

I snapped off several flowering stems of Salvia leucantha when the wind threatened to decapitate them; They are still holding-up, along with a few camellias.

Salvia and camellia

                                                 

   Pink camellia

                                                         

The very hungry caterpillar (now ex-caterpillar!)

                                                  

Un-named Pelargonium;a beautiful, glowing red. Yes, there will definitely be cuttings taken!

                                           
I call him/her "Mittens." Lives two doors down, but seems to be the boss of the street.

And that's it for now. I seem to have picked up a bug and my nose wants to drip all over the keyboard...

STILL NOT KEEPING UP WITH THE REST OF YOU!

Yes, I'm easily distracted! Also, inclined to laziness. And, to add to that mix, I'm having problems with a camera.

A last, stubborn Magnolia.

But I'll see if I can find something to entertain you. We had a whirly day of wind rushing around the yard, first blowing yellow peach leaves into a golden carpet under the clothes-line. Then, on a wind whim, blowing them all back across the yard and around the wall onto our terrace. Then a brief-but-heavy shower.

 

The blackbirds have been a nuisance amongst my pots of bulbs. Some now have mesh covers, which helps, but I'll need to get some more twigs, I think.

And a caterpillar has, until this morning, evaded me...but I'm sure a blackbird was happy when I tossed the little green blighter in his direction...

One more spot of garden colour before I brave the elements...a gorgeous bright red geranium

You've probably noticed a change in my page background? Well, my eyes were finding the colour and layout, which looked lovely in a trial elsewhere, were too glaring and I couldn't be fagged trying to make it less-so!

So, I'll post this and if anyone finds it awkward to read, please let me know.

 LOOKING AHEAD...

Yes, indeed...today, I bought "a few" bulbs for Spring colour and perfume. I did search on-line for some old favourites, but I think I was a little tardy and all the nurseries I checked were "out of stock."

Ah, well, maybe I'll be lucky next year. What's that?  You want to know what I couldn't find? Freesia "Burtonii." Not so easy to find (although I'd bet the house-keeping budget that canny gardeners  have been growing these treasures for generations!) 

I shan't whinge, but it's a great loss to many that they are so hard to find, having been pushed out by newer colours with longer, straighter stems.

But today I bought (for starters) Hyacinths, 2 of each in white, yellow and blue. And bag of mixed double daffodils. And, because I still had a few shekels and my eye had said "buy!" I also got an Angelonia in a glorious dark purple.

Angelonia

Mixed daffs

Hyacinths

These pictures are from the Web, obviously! But I do hope I'll have some stunning images to show you in a few months!

We drove across the highway to do some other shopping this morning and I made a mental note to take a camera next time, as most trees are beginning to show the season's colour change.. The oaks across the lane from our house are yellowing and I think I saw a liquidamber this morning. And the giant magnolias still have big cream flowers, but I notice a lot are seeding.Might need to wear a pith helmet...

                       

                                          Again, from the web.

                                               Liquiamber

And one day last week we took a ferry ride across the Waitemata Harbour to Hobsonville to visit The Man's cousin. What a fabulous catch-up! We swapped old stories and laughed a lot and agreed that we must keep in touch. So, lunch at ours next time.

And that's about all I have time for. 

         

BACK IN THE SADDLE....

 ...  or,as Ms Minnelli would have it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPBIYCN_4WY&list=RDMM&index=6

We've been out and about, getting used to riding buses and trains. The traffic here is mind-boggling!

But we'll skip that bit and get on with the story...

An old school friend in Taupo had suggested we head down there for a Memory Lane Trip.

He booked us a hotel (right on the lake front!) and the next day drove us over to the places we'd lived as children. That unleashed a veritable avalanche of memories!

Still some stands of old native bush.

Mangakino Stream, which ran into the Waikato River which, in early 1950s, became Lake Maraetai...

And this is the lake today. Gone is the old fenced-off swimming lagoon and gone, too, the Speed Boat club house. The town had a very strong following of racing boaters and throughout summers races were often held here. To the right (not in shot) is the golf course.

This taken and sent to me by a friend in 2023. It's drone shot, looking West to the township. The golf course is on the left.

Last week, we did a trial run to the City by train. Easy-peasy! So we repeated it two days later and met friends from England who'd arrived on a cruise ship and were staying ashore for a week before flying back to England. Via Doha!!

Bob, Dinah and Peter

               Kathy, Dinah and Peter

And back at home again we've made a start on revamping the garden. We might still get some mini tomatoes, but most of the salad leaves have bolted and will be replaced when I manage to get some seedlings. !And that nursery trip will also include bulbs for Spring flowers-YAY!

At lunchtime I came in from the garden looking like a kangaroo...my sweater's pouch-pocket was bulging with, not joeys, but feijoa windfalls. Yummy! 

We've managed to rescue one edible peach which looked and tasted like a Golden Queen and an apple tree has a reasonable crop, but they need to be a bit bigger and I suspect the birds might beat me to them!

But I'm loving having a garden in "easy" soil after long years of struggle.

left to right: basil,parsley,nasturtiums and angelonia- and- sweet- peas.