Winter Time

I wish I could say I had chosen the right time of year to stay inside and recover.
To an extent I have, it is winter after all, a little frightful outside at times.
But on the other hand we are having a really nice winter with brilliant blue skys

and then the occassional morning of fog

However the warm temperatures are making it really nice to be outside during the day which in turn is reeking havoc with the plants!
Ok so June 1 was officially the start of Winter and Sept 1 is officially start of Spring, so that makes us slap bang in the middle of winter......so why do I have daffodils already in flower??

the white plant is ornamental kale

Which means the vegetable garden is going crazy

and I finally have my first 2 limes on my tree

but on the other hand we have all the mystery of winter happening in the garden with the spiders leaving cute little webs all over the grass each morning

I don't do cold very well but I am loving being at home this winter.

Finally...

After 6 weeks of nothing, and most of New Zealand declaring 'drought' status we have

RAIN

and I don't think there is anyone in New Zealand who is currently complaining or getting annoyed at this change in weather!
We have been very lucky to have had some gorgeous days these last 6 weeks and some lovely temperatures, we have just sadly been missing some wet stuff to help everything stay green and well supplied.
We may not get much, and we definitely do not want it too quickly but the little that we are getting is having a small effect and filling water tanks a little and giving some of the ground a welcoming splash.

Now where did I put that umbrella??

Longest or Shortest

Depending on which website you look at, which you choose to believe or what your old encyclopaedia tells you, then we are slap bang in the middle of what I know as Summer Solstice.
To you and me that means either the longest day (Northern Hemisphere) or the shortest day (Southern Hemisphere) not that we would really notice anything special but for a second or 2 the sun was at its highest or lowest for more than the day before or the day after.

Of course in England everyone is descending on Stone Henge. The 1 place they seem to think it all happens, the one place that is magical to all involved.
I have been there but never for summer solstice (I'm not that mental)

Here down under in the green land of middle earth, which we like to call New Zealand, it is of course the shortest day of the year. We are in winter after all, well we are officially in winter now as the shortest day has just past and that is what it signifies.
But with having the shortest day means that we have had the longest night.
Yes, we have got an advert on the tv at present telling us about the joys of having the longest night and what we could get up to in that long night.
Would you believe the advert is by Durex, yes that Durex company.
Their latest advertising campaign has been about promoting the longest night of the year and the fun and joy you can have, obviously with their products in mind.

It just amazed me that someone thought about this whole thing and then managed to switch it from being about the shortest day to being about the longest night.
Great advertising, well thought up and it sure did bring a smile to my face watching their ad going on about the longest night.
Although it might lead to a baby boom next March/April time!

For all you in the northern hemisphere who think you might have missed something.....don't worry your longest night appears on Dec 21, just before Christmas. Have fun.

Here comes Winter

Yes that time of year has arrived here in New Zealand.
Yes I know that the weather is getting nicer for some of you in the northern hemisphere but please enjoy because it will soon go away when it wings its way back down under to us!
So it has come to the time of year when the heater is set everyday for the time we want it to come on.
The washing is rarely dried on the line outside or even in the garage as it is now too damp, so that means the washing rack has crept back into the family room by the heater.
1 layer is no longer suitable to wear and suddenly a snuggly sweater is very appealing.
No one wants to get up in the morning because it is dark and cold.

Soccer has commenced and even though the sun is shining whilst their games are being played the wind that whips around manages to find just the right place in your ear to hurt, so the woolly hats and scarfs have appeared.

I do love this time of year as well, the colours all around are beautiful, lovely browns, greens, oranges and red.
When the sun does shine everyone is out in the crisp air having fun and it re boosts your energy for when the days are cold and wet.
I do love coming home at night and slipping into snuggly sweats and sweaters and curling up on the couch with a blanket catching a show.
The crockpot is used much more and the aroma in the house is all warm and cosy. And I don't mind the oven being on making some nice hot dinner for us all to enjoy.

So to all you northern hemisphere friends, enjoy your spring and summer, enjoy your water play and outings to the beach, enjoy your BBQ's. Have fun watching the washing blowing in the summer wind drying nicely but just remember it will all go soon and then you will be in your winter but then having said that enjoy your cold dark nights with the houses lit up as you head towards Christmas, the pretty lights twinkling in the dark..

On second thoughts...I better stop now or I will have to move north back to what I remember!!

Did I Tell You.....

About the wee little bit of rain we have had during the summer holiday so far?

Sure I did, but just in case you forgot......here are some pictures to show you just what it was like.
All I can say is just keep watching the water on the driveway...!

I was sat in the gazebo at the caravan at the time of this downpour and it lasted for all of about 5 minutes.
It then took about another 30 mins before all the water had drained away from the driveway!

Real News

Last October I mentioned the fact that the ‘lovely’ large cargo ship “The Rena” had run a ground just off the coast of Tauranga.

Tauranga is just under 2 hours drive away from us, plus we don’t have any coastline in Hamilton so not effected by it. However we do have coastline at the caravan.

When the first containers went overboard they stayed around the Tauranga area and went a little south, luckily they never went north. Our caravan is by the beach north of Tauranga (60kms), probably about 20-30 mins by water (it takes us 40 mins to drive)

The Rena has been slowly breaking up over the last 4 months, they in turn have been slowly removing all the remaining oil and also attempting to remove some of the 1200 containers before they go overboard. They have placed transponders on all the remaining containers, so if they go over they can be locate them, as some have been sinking.

This weekend, after all the horrid weather we have been having over the last 2 weeks, The Rena has broken in 2 and containers that are remaining on her are falling into the water, and they have made it north this time!

So yesterday we drove to the beach and showed the boys the mess. They could see 3 or 4 containers bobbing out in the sea, they could see the bags of milk powder that were littering the beach from where one of the containers has broken and they also got to see the 5 containers that had actually washed up on the beach.

Ben discussed the Rena at school last year, so knows all about disaster and how it can effect lives, but not living near it had no idea what was involved, now that has changed. We were able to show them what was happening and also discuss how this affected everyone. What it means now the beach is closed and how long it may be before it opens.

So we have managed to show them real news up close and personal and discuss how this effects everyone, which I think is really important because you see so much on the news and sometimes it is very difficult to explain it all to them and get them to understand the seriousness of it and the consequences.

Spring and Summer

I love spring and summer. I love the feeling of relaxation, the lift in spirit and the endless days of warmth and sunshine.

I love the flowers and colours of this time, the start of life and coming together of friends to sit around and enjoy.

I love the cool colourful clothes people wear, not afraid to just throw on a shirt and shorts with flip flops, grab the sunnies and you are ready for the sun.

The lounging by the water, splashing and cooling in the endless summer days.

The colours at this time are glorious, the flowers are out, the trees are blooming and the vibrant pinks, yellows and whites are everywhere.

Wait a little while longer and you gain the darker pinks of summer, the greens and blues, some reds and oranges mixed in too.

Although come to think about it I love all the colours of the seasons, they all have their magical power on you setting the mood for the time of year you are currently in.

Spring and summer to me is open doors and windows, long cool drinks and laundry blowing on the line.

In the winter the laundry has to dry in the house or in the drier, you feel like you are living under a laundry cloud! Everywhere you turn you fall over washing racks, things drying in the warm air of the heating or sending the electricity bill sky high when you need to get the smalls dried in the drier.

At this time of year the laundry finally gets relegated to the garage, where it can hang on the inside line (husband kindly put a line up in the roof of the garage) and dry in the natural heat of the room from the sun, or blow on the line in the gentle breeze with sun shinning. Clothes feel and smell fresh from the air, you can dry things in hours and it is especially nice when you have a 6 year old who is no longer wearing night time nappies but has the odd accident. Sheets and protector washed first thing and dry by lunch ready to go back on the bed, all smelling fresh and warm from the sun.

So summer does it for me, I am a spring summer person and I love to feel warm and relaxed.

Heat Wave

Yes, just like everyone else I am going to blog about the heat!

Yes it is hot,
Yes it has been a while since we had this.
Yes we would all like it to be slightly cooler.
But then we all complain it is not hot enough, so we can't win really.

But then our friends up in the Northern Hemisphere are wondering if their winter is ever going to be over with the cold snap that keeps on coming through. Would love to have a cold snap of snow like them, but not at the moment I am enjoying my summer way too much.

Although the heat is reaking havoc with other areas of our life. I am finding at present that I have to go to the supermarket everyday.
Now I try hard to budget, we do a weekly shop every Saturday and then usually I can get away with going to the supermarket for fresh bread, milk and veg 2 more times during the week. Sophie Gray, Destitute Gourmet, says you should try to make it last for the week otherwise you spend even more money, when you go to the shop. Now I am on the whole pretty good when going in mid week for the basics, although going in everyday has been a huge challenge.

It is mainly bread that I am going in for. I am finding that the bread is just not lasting more than 24hrs (and no it is not due to us having none left!) the bread is going dry and even mouldy very very quickly. Usually I will buy 2 loafs and this will see us through at least 2 days if not even into the 3rd, then it is time to go back to the shop. Sadly at present I am not making it past the 24 hr mark and so I am back to the shop after work everyday. Man it is a struggle to not walk out with the odd packet of nice biscuits as a treat, the odd little medium bag of lollies or even the latest special on meat.

So as much as I am loving, to an extent, this heat wave I will be glad when it chills just a scrap so food lasts a little longer and I don't have to enter the cool fresh air conditioned supermarket everyday!

Weird Thoughts

It is 9pm and I have been in bed the same amount of time as the boys! We all went up at 7.30pm.

I have a stinking cold and bed was the best place to be, ok so I am sat here with the Laptop, but at least I am comfortable and warm.
I am listening to the rain outside ever thankful that we are in a 2 storey house and the chance of us getting flooded is zero!
Not that it is raining that much, but with the floods in the lower North Island, the earthquake in the South Island and the major floods in Aussie, it is a thought that has crossed my mind!

But then I do not have to fear because there is a 1m difference between the land at the front of the property and the back.
We also have the Waikato river running up the centre of Hamilton, now ok we live, give or take a street about 500m away from the river but it is about 20m below our land level, the street we live in also has a difference of at least 5m between the top end and the bottom.
So when it comes to water levels, then I think we are pretty safe, plenty of areas for the water to run before it gets anywhere near our house.

Although if an earthquake strikes then we are probable screwed as we are in a 2 storey house. The roof could fly, the car could get locked in the garage and knowing our luck things would all fall down, although the middle of the street would be our safest place as we have no tall buildings around us and would not get hit by falling objects just there.

So here I continue to sit and check Facebook, blowing my nose and having weird and wonderful thoughts about what would happen if....?

Oh and I also got the emergency boxes out this evening and gave them a check over. A few things out of date but otherwise not too bad. A little supplying needed but maybe I will discuss that in another post later on one day.

Storms

We are getting some wicked heat during the day at the moment and this in turn is leading to wicked lightening storms at night.
From about 7pm onwards the skies get really dark and we have the joy of lightening all over the sky for several hours.
Yesterday it started at 7pm and finished about 11pm.
The sky was a light all evening with a spectacular electric storm but hardly any rain or thunder.
They say that there was about 1700 strikes of lightening last night across the Waikato area in just under 3 hours.

The whole sky just rumbles a low growl for several hours, luckily not enough to upset or worry the boys.

The only thing is that it manages to keep the heat until the rain comes down about 10pm, then you get wind and rain and it goes quite chilly for an hour.

Warning

The day started ok, until my girlfriend's came over and told me that we would fit in their car?! A little bemused I asked why I needed to fit into their cars?

Turns out there had been a Tsunami in Samoa and it was threatening the East Coast of New Zealand.
No problem except that our caravan is on the East Coast of New Zealand and that is where we are currently located. With no car as Steve is over in Hamilton working whilst I am here with the boys for school holidays.

So on went the limited radio reception that we had and quick phone calls to our husbands who would maybe be able to give us more up to date info from home.
The general consenses was that yes they were advising us to move to higher ground for a few hours as there was threat of 1-2m high waves arriving on the beaches.

So 4 adults and 8 children piled into 2 cars and spent and hour or so up a hill watching the sea roll on by with no sign of any weird activity what so ever!

So a little excitment to make the holiday go by nicely but no real threat to us at anytime.

Sunshine

Isn't it amazing what a little sunshine can do for everyones spirits after so much winter cloud and rain!

The radio told us yesterday that, hopefully, this weekend will be dry.

The first dry one in 13 weeks!

Yes, we have been having the odd nice day during the weeks of winter, but come the weekend and all it can do is rain!

Today is a beautiful sunny day, with the odd cloud and the whole step of the city seems to be brighter and chirpier.

I love the effect the sun can have on people's moods.

With spring officially only a couple of days away, hopefully soon we will start to have some more days like today.

Rotorua

Rotorua, as many of you now know, is just over an hours drive from where we live.
As all my family are there then we go that way often, not as often as I would like, but it is easy to go when we have to.
The drive is very pleasant through the Waikato countryside and like any road in New Zealand through the countryside we are not talking of dual carriageways and straight roads. These roads go straight through farming land and so bend at every possible moment.
This can make the trip interesting but also very annoying when you get stuck behind a huge truck with double trailer that is travelling at 50ks an hour!

To get the Rotorua, you have to cross the Mamaku Ranges. Nice big hill with huge sweeping canyon to the side, and of course the road is as close to the edge, apart from the trees as they can get it.
The weather is also very unpredictable crossing the ranges because you go so high. It can be lovely in Hamilton and then you hit low cloud on the ranges.

Yesterday we went to Rotorua for Harvey's 4th Birthday party. It was foggy when we left Hamilton but in fact the ranges were ok.
Had a great time with all the relatives, even got to watch some of the Targa Rally, another story.

As we left, it started to rain and I knew we would be in for a slow ride home.
You may remember me talking about how I got stuck in Rotorua due to floods last month, and the fact I didn't want to drive home at night on my own in rain and fog, too spooky.

Well as we left last night I had that same feeling, although I knew we were fine as Steve was driving.
Visability was quite poor, the rain lashed at the windscreen and we drove at a rather slow speed, just like everyone else, or at least most people.
When we were down from the ranges and through the first town we pass then everything cleared and it was fine driving.
I am just grateful to Steve who drove very carefully and too the conditions and got us all home safely. It makes me feel safe to know he is there caring for us all.

Dress Update

On Tuesday I drove to Rotorua with the boys so I could go to a wedding dress meeting and then we could go to my cousin Lucy's 21st Birthday.

It rained all the way to Rotorua and the visibility coming over the Mamaku Ranges was really bad, like drop down to 50k, windscreen wipers going full blast and hope you can remember the road type of bad!

Rotorua itself was wet, wet and more wet for the whole day we were there.

The dress meeting went very well. I meet with the lady who is going to make my dress and showed her the patterns I had and also the pictures od dresses I ahd tried on and also liked the shape of. She was great, feels she knows exactly what I want and feels she can make it from the 2 patterns I gave her.

Now I have to find some material I like for her to make it with. Have decided on Satin and will be either cream or ivory, depends on what I find.

On the drive back to my brother's house in the afternoon the rain was still falling really fast and all the roads were flooding. Fairy Springs Road, the main road into Rotorua was so flooded we were driving on the centre median as our lane was a wash with water and mud running off of the banks.

I very quickly made the decision that we were staying the night in Rotorua and driving back to Hamilton the next morning.

Now Hamilton is only an hour away but the Mamaku Ranges road is dark and spooky, add to this the boys would have been asleep and I was driving on my own and with such poor visibility from the continuous rain and threat of mud slides from all the water I made a sensible decision to stay put.

The next day driving home I am glad I did stay the night, the residue of mud on the roads from water and mud running over the road was very clear to see and I am glad I drove it during the day and not in the dark.