Pairings

Something rather lovely happened to me on my birthday week, but rather than repeat myself, I want to point you (by clicking anywhere here) to the latest post on my website, which describes among other things a gift of gemstones given to me by a fellow blogger and gemstone-enthusiast. 

Below, is a photo taken in the summer (being the middle of winter in my fair land, summer seems a particularly long stretch at the moment).

Dunedin's Botanical Gardens

Summer is also when the ferns are looking particularly green and alive, unlike their more amberly-umberly aspect at the moment.

I was at the Gardens recently with family, my two-year-old granddaughter running around this (very safe) fountain in the newly completed Mediterranean Garden.

Strange, in a kind of wonderfully weird way, to be there having a picnic in the middle of winter in a (manufactured) European setting. A pleasant whiling away of a winter's late afternoon. We finished up drinking mulled wine at a cafe in town - one with a fireplace.

While there, and as my granddaughter ran around under this tree, I took my eyes off her for a minute - hard to achieve with such magnetic little personalities as grandchildren - and spotted a couple of survivors. Ripe for an Enid-Blytonesque tale of either love, faithfulness, hope - or all three combined. 

Another winter pair. I saw these two on playing fields adjacent to the west-side of the Gardens, North-East Valley. Paradise ducks. Putangitangi. (Shelduck). Endemic to Aotearoa.

I will end this post with a photo of rowan tree branches taken at my mother-in-law's home, Queenstown. 

'The Rowan tree has a long, 

sacred history. Since ancient times people have been planting a Rowan beside their home as in Celtic mythology it's known as the Tree of Life and symbolises courage, wisdom and protection'.

My mother-in-law is personal testament to the above.

Taking A Walk On The Mild Side

The mild winter that we are experiencing has everyone remarking. I put out sugar water for the birds, but so far it has only attracted wasps - most unusual in June. The little waxeyes (pihipihi) have as yet to come seeking food.

The other day was another mild day in a run of mild days, but grey. Not that I mind grey days (as long as there aren't too many of them in a row).

in celebration of grey

A blank canvas,
an empty page,
a backdrop, a screen
of grey,
so all the colours
can have their say.
Red, orange,
yellow and blue. Pink
and purple and green.
All in the limelight
when placed against, or upon,
grey.