Central Plateau, North Island

Central Plateau, North Island
View from a friend's farm

Thursday 22 November 2018

A girl, some flowers, and morning skies.


We have flowers in the garden, a girl to make friends with, and those gorgeous morning skies.

Pinks, Alstromeria, red roses, and some snap dragons all add to a colourful display.

More pink flowers


red Alstromeria and pink roses



Deep purple Snap Dragons

Then there is a small rose bush with red blooms, and hidden down low, the tiniest bird’s nest.  We think she might be a sparrow, with 3 babies. But she is so fast to fly off, and I do not want to frighten her, a true identification will have to wait. Progress will be followed, we are all fascinated.


Bird nest in the rose bush


The morning skies have been stunning, and with a clear view to the Ruahine Range in the distance,  no houses in between,  I have crept out to get some shots.


Morning  sky  looking to the Ruahine Range #1



Morning  sky  looking to the Ruahine Range #2


Morning  sky  looking to the Ruahine Range #3

Then there is a new friend, well there are two, but one has a name “ Panda”. They are about 7-8months old., and are  a Hereford Dairy Cow Cross.

    “Panda, “ is her name ,with those distinctive eyes, and a rip in her  ear where she got the tag caught.


Panda, 8 months old  Hereford Dairy Cross girl.

The other girl needs a name, the other day she stretched under the hot wire and had the sticky seeds from the forget-me-not flowers all over her face.  Maybe she can be  Brownie, as sometimes those biscuits have seeds in them???


The Two Girls

We are in Limbo, move in day is the 7th December, and then the fun starts with a truck load arriving on the 10th, next one on  the 12th, ( the truck is not massive ) and some trailer loads of outdoor plants in pots. This will be the sewing and quilting room, ample space, good lighting with big windows, some cupboards and shelves might have to be made fitted into the wall behind that open doorway.


23 Cuba street 2nd lounge with fireplace

23 Cuba street 2nd lounge from hallway

Thank you  so much for asking how we are, when we move,  and all other messages, I am so thankful for all my friends everywhere who care.

My internet is limited, I am using  data from  my smart phone, the man in the Vodafone store assured me that 3GB would be ample!!! I had doubts, so am looking carefully each day to check that some data is still left.

Quotation of the day,author unknown

“Life is like a quilt, sometimes cut into pieces

and sewn together with care  and love “

Greetings from Jean.

Friday 9 November 2018

The smart phone is now a Hot Spot!!!

The wonderful man in  the Vodafone store this morning set up my  phone as a hot spot. Hooray, I now have internet at home, our temporary home. It is limited, with just a small amount of data, so my time and comments might be short, but sweet.

Thank you all SO much for your loving and thoughtful words.  Your comments have boosted me so much, we went from a freezing night to a heat wave, and in between, some gale winds. Tootled off to have morning tea with the new family in our previous home, what a delightful morning, and next time I hope to have a photo of Lady Raisin of Graestone, the tiniest loveliest little puppy of all. A miniature schnauzer, and she skipped round so happily.

Our new home is waiting, the Bernina is packed away. No photos here yet, but there are two little girl calves in the front paddock waiting  for their turn to pose.

Meantime, some more archive photos.

Here is the Midnight Mystery quilt, waiting for the Gammill long arm!!

IMG_2704

Night sky in November

#3 Night sky in November

A baby Finch in the red bird bath

Baby bird in the bird bath

Just in case, here is our new home.The garden is waiting.

23 Cuba Street front view

Quotation of the day , ( I would add ,friends near and far) from Marcus Tullius  Cicero,

“ If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need”

Greetings from Jean.

Monday 5 November 2018

The Temporary Home away from Home

We have moved, and the new family at our previous home are so happy.The lawn was mown, bearded Iris were in flower, the Clematis was flowering high in the trees, and all was well.

The first night, it was so cold,  and ice  on the windscreens the Friday morning. Felicity has settled into the caravan as though she lived there all her life, we get to see the Eastern sky as the sun rises over the Ruahine ranges, photos to come later on.

There is no internet access where we  are, so the local public library is so handy for now.

Meantime, here are a few photos again from the archives.

The Ruahine Ranges with a topping of  snow.

Snow on the Ruahine Range






The mauve bearded  Iris



Mauve Bearded Iris 2015

Felicity, June 2018

Felicity June 2018

Basil, July 2018

Basil on the couch July 2018

Quotation of the day, author unknown, and this has been so true over the last few months or so.

“True friends are like diamonds, precious and rare”

Greetings from Jean