A week ago I published a post about the outbreak of Spring in our garden – heralded by the first shoot appearing on our grapevine. Well, a week is a long time in spring, as the photos show.
The inevitable drive towards summer is gaining momentum.
Last weekend the family travelled to Nelson for a family birthday. Bella had her first flight while Poppie clocked up a few more miles for her frequent flyer account.
Moving the four of us is a military operation involving 2 suitcases, 2 dog cages, 2 cabin bags and, of course, us.
As always Nelson was warm and sunny – most of the time – and inviting. The birthday boy was turning 3 so Saturday was spent in the company of other 3 year olds of all ages. Vast amounts of sugar were consumed in a short space of time with the resulting laughter, tears, fun and chaos of a kids party.
By the end of the day the house resembled a toy shop with a strong “Cars” influence.
We arrived back home Monday afternoon with two tired dogs who immediately fell asleep on the bed. The humans weren’t far behind them.
Aotearoa on the water – photo courtesy of Chris Cameron/Emirates Team New Zealand
For the last few weeks the entire country has been in the grip of “Cup Fever”. And in true America’s Cup fashion, every day’s racing is full of drama. A few days ago the Kiwi’s were ahead by 6 races and were making a place on the trophy shelf for the “Auld Mug”, only to have Oracle fight back and make this a real competition.
Whatever has been said about the new catamaran class the AC72’s, they make for spectacular racing and real heart in the mouth tension from the start – or pre-start as we all now know – to the finish.
As I write this the Kiwi’s require 2 wins to win the cup and the Amercians require 8. It sounds like a done deal but the last few races have been evenly split with Oracle improving each time they are on the water.
With 2 races tomorrow it might be all over – but don’t bank on it.
For the last 5 months Bella’s life has been a mix of eating, running, jumping, playing and sleeping. The worst thing that happened to her was occasionally getting under our feet which meant a yelp, a cuddle and then back to eating, running, jumping, playing and sleeping.
Yesterday that changed. Bella went to the vet for that little operation that puppies have to ensure that more puppies don’t mysteriously start to appear.
Since then, all Bella has wanted to do is yelp, lick her wounds and be held – by Jean or I, whoever is closest. On the ground she spins in circles trying to get to the wound which is obviously irritating her and yelping, before we pick her up for another cuddle.
As I write this she is curled up on my knee making little moaning sounds. To call her a “sad sack” would be an understatement.
What she doesn’t know is that by Monday her life will be back to normal – eating, running, jumping, playing and sleeping. We can’t wait.
Sad Bella after “that op” lying on my knee – photo credited Jean.
For the last week or so I’ve been keeping an eye on our grapevine. When I say “our grapevine”, I mean the one we share with our neighbours and which now runs almost the entire length of the fence between our houses.
In summer it’s covered in leaves. In early autumn it’s covered in grapes but for the last 3 months it’s been bare, doing it’s best impersonation of a dead plant.
Our first clue that spring is on the way and that summer is around the corner is the appearance of the first shoot from those seemingly dead sticks.
And today that first shoot appeared. Summer is coming.
Our little puppy who used to fit in the palm of our hands is now a gangly 18 week old teenager with a mind of her own.
We’ve had a dog trainer come in and help us to wrangle her into line. She’s much better behaved but still has those moments of total abandon when she laps the couch repeatedly at full speed with no regard for anything in her way – whether it be me or Poppie or any piece of furniture that she runs into as her turning circle increases.
In the last couple of weeks she has worked out how to jump up on our bed and Poppie’s last haven of peace and quiet is now gone. But Bella seems to know that the bed is not a place to misbehave and it’s not unusual to find them both side by side, surrounded by their toys, sound asleep.
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It’s been a few days of shake, rattle and roll in Wellington. And that goes for the ground as well as people’s nerves. Around 40 kilometres south of Wellington and about 20 kilometres down, the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates … Continue reading
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Since April 2011 there have been 299 posts to this blog so this one is officially number 300. Over the last 2 and a bit years we’ve covered our trip to Europe – which was the reason for starting this … Continue reading
As Bella grows she is starting to copy Poppie. Whatever Poppie does, Bella does. When Poppie spends time on the back of the couch watching the world go by, so does Bella.
To Poppie it’s a distraction, to Bella it’s just being friends.
One of the things that our dear old dog Daisy used to enjoy was standing on the arm of our couch, looking out the lounge window to the street, and barking at everyone that walked past.
She taught Poppie and now, it seems, Poppie is passing it on to the next generation.
On Friday I photographed Poppie and her barking apprentice Bella, on the arm of the couch, waiting for a new victim to come into view.
It reminded me of a similar photo from 2005. The only difference is 8 years and a new couch.
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Following the storm last week I did another photo trip around Wellington’s southern coast. Everywhere there were remnants of the storm – rooves covered in tarpaulins rather than tiles, sea walls partially demolished and road edges undermined and collapsing. Even … Continue reading
Today the rain has stopped so it’s clean up day at our place – which will consist of sweeping up some leaves and branches, cleaning some windows and cutting up our fallen olive tree.
But we got off lightly following the storm last week.
Parts of Wellington’s south coast – where I was taking photographs just a few days ago (click here and here to see the photos) – have been hit hard and the clean up work will take weeks. I’ve included some photos that show what south coast locals have to deal with. As one wise local said “if the sea wants something, it will simply take it”. There’s not much more to say really.
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As promised (or threatened depending on your point of view) some more shots taken around Wellington’s south coast. These were taken a little further around the road from Lyall Bay driving west – at the point where, in the distance, … Continue reading
Wellingtonians are hardened to winter wind. Wind that anywhere else would be called a gale is referred to as a strong breeze in Wellington. Any wind that doesn’t physically blow you over is a mere zephyr. It takes something exceptional to get the attention of Wellingtonians.
Last night the weather had our full attention. A storm that originated at the South Pole has been sweeping up the country over the last 24 hours. For everywhere other than Wellington it meant snow but for us it meant rain -with accompanying gale force winds up to 140km/h.
At one point 25,000 people were without power partly due to trees being blown over and taking power lines with them. House rooves started to lift and outdoor signage took to the air.
Our place took to shuddering as each gust of wind arrived and the curtains bowed out from the windows as the wind found new ways to sneak into the house. The garden took on the look of a bomb site as leaves and branches and rubbish bins and patio chairs blew around settling far from where we last left them. Both Poppie and Bella simply refused to go outside and everyone decided the best place to be was in bed.
This morning the full extent of the damage became apparent. One of the olive trees we planted about 8 years ago had succumbed to the wind and lay parallel to the ground. We had talked about removing this tree over summer but couldn’t bring ourselves to do the deed – to wield the saw. It’s ironic that mother nature has done it for us.
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For 2 days I hadn’t left the house. I had no meetings and being winter the weather had been bad. As a result, I became a recluse. By the afternoon of the second day I was going stir-crazy. I had to … Continue reading
La dolce far niente 