A friend has requested digital postcards of my holiday. The real thing is becoming impractical as people increasingly communicate digitally and postal services are cut.
Here’s the first, taken as I walked along the lakefront today.
Digital postcard
On holiday
Uploading images is proving problematic as I try to post from Wānaka on my phone or iPad. I will try shorter posts with one image – micro blogging. Here’s the view from my door here…no, that didn’t work. Imagine grass, trees and lake! I have sent a request for more storage on the site. Sorry to disappoint.
Whisked away
I have been whisked away by my brother and sister-in-law to Wānaka for a week, while my sister and family look after Mum.
I shared the back seat with Stuart the Minion and endured – oops, enjoyed – my brother’s playlist.
We had lunch at Woodbury and there was a classic car meet at the domain. I particularly liked a blue Chrysler with a dickie seat.
I paid my respects to relatives in the nearby cemetery.
Now we have arrived to the Central Otago scent of warm summer grass and tussock – and a rabbit on the lawn.
Birdbath in business
A blackbird had a lovely long bath on Sunday. I was sitting in the egg chair reading on my ipad and was able to switch to camera and catch the action.
Sometimes insects such as bees and wasps settle on the edge of the water for a drink. Today, I saw a reason why the blackbird may have been so cautious before taking a dip.
Phew! My mojo is back.
Yesterday I was concerned by my lack of energy. It was a dull day which often seems to mean my ‘solar panels’ aren’t charging. Today I realised my energy was back when I began to visualise doing the gardening I’d been waiting to do when I had the energy. It was a warm, sunny day.
I made a list and completed it, except for washing the deck.
I have been transplanting worn-out plants from pots and hanging baskets into the front berm. Because of all the rain we’ve had, the soil is not like concrete as it was last summer when I planted lavender – only two of the six plants survived. This summer, a pink geranium which was looking very tired in its hanging basket is looking much healthier in the ground. A transplanted cineraria is also thriving. These plants add colour and variety to the garden strip between the fence and the grass berm. Today I transplanted snapdragons and pansies, digging out some of the over-abundant lemon balm to make room.
I tell myself that I can’t be on the go all the time and need some time to rest, ready for the next effort in the garden or whatever, but it has always worried me when I have no energy – is it creeping old age? Yet I remember in my twenties asking a friend to calculate my bio-rhythms on her phone app (did we have those then?) when I felt lacklustre or out of sorts. “That explains it!” I’d say.
Happy Birthday, Mum, Grandma, Great-Grandma!
My brother, sister-in-law and I took Mum out for lunch at Untouched World Kitchen today. It is Mum’s 96th birthday. Here she is, still on her first course while we’re onto coffee.
Mum and I were both wearing Untouched World merino-mink jumpers. In the showroom beyond the cafe, we were intrigued to see a window has been cut in the wall so you can see where the jumpers are made.
The sun came out in the afternoon, perfect for a happy birthday, and too hot for those jumpers!
We had an early birthday dinner last week with my sister and brother-in-law and nephews before their West Coast holiday. Here is the beautifully decorated cake my sister made. The flowers are from their garden.
Felix does yoga
This is what I call Felix’s snail pose. He does it often when he’s settling down to sleep as he did this morning.
This afternoon he is back in his favourite sleeping spot on the woollen throw on Mum’s bed – in a more cat-like pose this time.
I disturbed him taking photos and distracted him with blue bunny.
He was destroying blue bunny, so I took it off him. He began washing himself in playing-the-cello pose.
Hello groovers!
That was the greeting at the top of an email from Groovy Glasses this week. This morning my sister and brother-in-law called in with a pair of sunglasses they thought gave my new ones a run for their money. They go perfectly with Mum’s outfit today.
A pretty cool groover, Mum will be 96 on Monday.
Runner beans are go!
This evening I picked the first of this season’s runner beans for dinner. I was afraid that I’d left them too long, but there were no strings and they were delicious.
Cocktail hour
After a successful but tiring couple of hours shopping for birthdays I felt in need of sustenance before the 30 minute walk home. It was our usual cheese and crackers (and sometimes a cocktail) hour and the cafes were closing, so I stepped into a bar I pass on my way.
I like this old building and I’m so pleased that Te Pae is built around it and that it wasn’t demolished in the post-earthquake ‘knock ’em over’ frenzy.
I sat on a tall stool looking out at Victoria Square and enjoyed a refreshing Charlie Chaplin.
Anne-O-tations 