Clocking Out

 I have been neglecting this blog for some months. I think perhaps I should face facts and accept that it is indeed time to retire this blog (started nearly twenty years ago ...) and concentrate solely on my other blog - my website blog.  

It is with no small regret that I close shop. However, it does tie in with the stage of life I now find myself in where downsizing is the name of the game. We have moved into a smaller space (our small, separate apartment downstairs) and will refurbish our larger upstairs space ready for our son's eventual return from Germany, accompanied by his German partner and their children. They will need somewhere to live, which means that over the last few years all of our three sons in turn have been able to take advantage of our custom-built, double-spaced living arrangements. And that is exactly why we had the flat built downstairs in the first place.

For any of you who wish to remain in touch, please use THIS LINK to keep in touch through my website.

P.S. I will be returning here to the links on my side bar in order to keep reading your entries.

 

Beached

Start as you mean to go on ... a country girl in the city is often how I see myself ... I notice the one foot standing firm, the other looking like I want to leave. Divided I stand.

On New Year's Eve we set off for a week's holiday in Kakanui - a small beachside town where our son and daughter in law and their small daughter now live. 

The beach there is interesting for what the ocean throws up on to the sand. All the more interesting this time because of flood detritus that had been tipped into the sea at the river mouth, ending up on the shore.

This log however, has been beached for some time. It looked to us as though an insect of some description has been using the smoothed, weather-bleached bark to draw on.

An interesting arrangement of wrack.

No, not a UFO ...

Just down the road from Kakanui, is Moeraki beach, famous for its boulders. They are a geological phenomenon where spherical stones are formed inside clay, a bit like a pearl inside an oyster.

And then just up the road, there is the Totara Estate, a historical site showcasing the farm where in the late 1800's, New Zealand's first frozen meat shipments were planned, organised, managed, produced and launched. From here, frozen mutton (some pork, some beef) was shipped to England, heading for the London markets and providing a welcome financial injection for New Zealand farming industry at that time.

Totara Estate provides a fascinating history and peek into times past, with the added novelty of a jocular, knowledgeable tour guide, and waiting staff  dressed in 19th century costumes, ready to take us on a tour and if we so desired, serve us tea and scones.

Because of Covid, it was very quiet. Usually the place would be bustling with tourists. We saw 'what the tourists see' - something that has been made more readily available to us kiwis since Covid has closed our borders to visitors.

Shepherd's delight. 

A sunset to mark the end of one decade and the beginning of another. Hoping for more delights rather than warnings through 2021. 

We can only hope. 

The last photo on my camera for 2020. I thought it appropriate. A symbol for 2020, when we all ducked for cover from Covid.