Booty, Swag or What you Will

The weather is about to change. I needed sunshine this morning and so on the spur of the moment, we took off for a drive. I didn't want to fall into sad reflection about Dad, so we went for an expedition. We ended up in a small town to the north, about 40 minutes drive away.

Here are a few photos from shops we drifted into, views on our return, and the lovely bits and pieces we bought along the way.

The Fairy Empress Tree

I have just found the first flower from the Empress Tree on the ground next to our garage. This tree must be around 25 feet high, but it is only 9 years old! All the vegetation grows quickly here, but this tree is scarily huge. It is not a native to NZ. In fact it is considered rather a pest tree internationally. The way it spread so quickly is because the Chinese used to pack their export porcelain in tea chests filled with the seeds of this tree to keep the porcelain safe. Talk about bio disaster.

Anyhow, I love it because of the flowers and the scent. Here is the fairy blossom that looks for all the world like a nymph wearing her outdoor hat and cloak.

The failure to be a cat, Part 1

We inherited our oldest cat (almost 14) from our former next door neighbour. He came as a "package deal" with his much more intelligent calico sister. Sadly she passed away 5 years ago. He was distraught, so we provided him a week later with a tiny bundle of ginger fur to love. After the initial terror (his, not the kitten's), he fell in love with the little scrap, and they have been best buds every since. Our third cat, a tabby, was purchased from the SPCA, with a view to apprenticing him to our loveable elder statesman. Twas not to be. He is loathed by Ms Ginger and ignored by our eldest, largely because he has no sense of decorum. Nose butting the old guy at 40km an hour, or stealing food or ramrodding awake a slumbering OAP is not the stuff of endearment.

In the last 24 hours I have seen ridiculous behaviour with Mr OAP and Ms Ginger. The latter managed to be oblivious to a large rabbit on the driveway yesterday. She was happily skipping towards the house with a rabbit in myopic hot pursuit. The bun swerved off onto the lawn before she was alerted to him. This morning Elderly Gent was to be seen sniffing the grass and sauntering around the lawn, surrounded by at least a dozen ground feeding birds.

At least our lonely tabby knows how to be a decent cat. Last night was the first night since the beginning of autumn that he has brought a live rodent into the bedroom. Husband slept through me charging around the bed with the large preserving jar until I'd cornered the wee thing behind his bedside table. It was duly evicted through an open front door and over the verandah. In the dark, I saw Mr OAP having a nocturnal saunter. I thought to myself, somewhat bleary brained "I hope that darn cat doesn't re-catch the mouse" I had noted its leg had been bitten so it may not be able to run fast.

This morning when I went into the kitchen I caught the shadow of a dead mouse in the corner of the living room, and a pleased large 14 year old cat parked close by.

Bless him, he thought I would like a nice mouse with my cornflakes, recaught with only three legs!

Feathers at dawn

This morning I drove my husband to the railway station before 7am. There is only one train a day to the city, so you have to get there on time, or no worky!

Where we live, there is a fast running stream with a good solid over-bridge. This morning as we approached the bridge (newly painted), I was reminded of a comment I made to the council workers who refreshed the white paint work a few weeks ago. I had slowed down as I approached the bridge, wound down the window and said to the painter "Beware of the killer ducks". He laughed - I was serious!

This morning in the middle of the bridge there was a stand-off between one of the white ducks and a pheasant, who wasn't sure whether to run or take on the indignant mass of fluffed up white feathers guarding its territory. We had to edge slowly forward, as neither side looked like it was going to back down. Fortunately, there was just enough room to drive between them. Looking in the rear view mirror seconds later I could see this argument was continuing and showed no sign of being over soon.

The things you see!

Bursting blossoms

The plum trees are attracting finch from all over the neighbourhood, greenfinch, chaffinch and goldfinch. I think my neighbour's bees were responsible for the hum as I took the photos. So that bit of the garden was high volume and high activity. The rosemary has also started to bloom. The flowers are really exquisite.

This afternoon as I trimmed the edges of the lawn I came across a large clump of violets having a good old gossip in the borders. This really brought a smile, as they were the flowers I was regretting leaving behind in our previous garden.

Des Res

This morning I washed the front of the house. It's exhausting work. One side done, three to go. I had just packed away the mop and bucket and was standing back admiring the bright white woodwork, when who should start sweeping around on the veranda but the two welcome swallows from last year. Advance warning of a lot of muck and mess as they build their nest. However, this is a small price to pay for being host the them and their adorable rowdy progeny.

The tuis have produced a carpet of pink flowers on our driveway as they have pecked at them for the nectar. I gives all the trunks a pink skirt swirling at base and is rather charming.

So, the diary of spring starts. I will keep a record of the bird nests and varieties this year. Welcome to the desirable residence.

Love is in the air

The birds at Coneysthorpe are going crazy, so spring and LOVE must be in the air. At great risk to life and feather, our welcome swallow was collecting twigs on our long driveway and doing a bit of sunbathing as well. She obviously hadn't seen our cats rolling around enjoying the sunshine at the opposite end

Many of the native trees are producing flowers, which I'm still trying to identify,

Thankfully, the plant which arrived as a gift with two lovely friends who visited this week is easily recognisable. I love cyclamen, and will probably plant it in the garden, in the hope that it spreads and multiplies

Wishing you a flower filled week, wherever you are.