Spring WELCOME to Spring in New Zealand. The changeable landscape is changing again and we are inspired by this Haiku composed by Lynne Hopkinson, Mount Hope, Ontario (Canada). Lynne explored NZ in springtime 2012 and has graciously shared her Haiku with her hosts and now with all of you. winter slowly passed the land of…
DetailsEnjoying our Town Jeanne and I are just back from a leisurely walk down to the waterfront for a coffee, then along the Queen Charlotte Sound foreshore. Picton Winter weather has been very kind to us, with the firewood shed still over half full. The first few days of the Spring season have given us…
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Spring Tomorrow The weather recently has been stunning, more like summer than winter. Our ground temperature is currently 12.1 deg C, over 2 deg higher than this time last year. So Iris planted 3 rows of potatoes over a week ago, and today planted carrots, parsnips and radishes. Iris’s diar tells us she is about…
DetailsGrey Warblers Grey Warblers are quite common around the village and on Ulva, but for me at least very hard to find. They are enthusiastic songsters, but visually drab secretive little birds who never seem to sit still and also prefer the higher canopy. So enormously difficult to photograph. Around the village where we don’t…
DetailsJust Winter Things Winter can be a depressing time of year, short days, colder, and often extended grey bleak periods. But we do also get those wonderful clear calm sunny days that make such a difference. And one of the really neat things winter gives us is marvellous sunrises. Well we get great sunrises throughout…
DetailsAnnual Winter Garden Bird Counts Each year Iris does a count of the birds in our garden over a 1 hour period. This “snapshot” is part of a national survey by Landcare Research, Forest & Bird Society, The Ornithological Society & Fairfax Media. Birds Recorded from Sails Ashore:- Bellbird …
DetailsAway from the Island In late April our daughter Anne went overseas to attend two conferences, with a trip to Spain in between. Rather than put Eddie …. her Border Terrier ….. into kennels she sent him down to us. Eddie is a well travelled little dog, having visited us with Anne several times before,…
DetailsGreetings from McCormick House in Picton. Our little town is getting ready for the homecoming of our local Olympic rowing hero, Joseph Sullivan. It has been great watching TV for the past couple of weeks, as our local sporting heros excell on the world stage. It does wonders to highlight Picton New Zealand as a…
DetailsCabin fever was starting to set in and thankfully we had the Olympic Games to enjoy over the past 2 weeks of downpours. The ground so soggy and small lakes everywhere. Alas… we woke to the pristine snow capped mountain vista of Kaikoura. It was absolutely idyllic. We drove our Russian guests to the water…
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