Enjoying 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…
DetailsClearview Lodge Autumn Harvest The Grapes Autumn has been a busy time at Clearview Lodge this season. In April, after a marvellous sunny warm summer, we harvested our Pinot Noir. We are currently drinking our 2011 and 2012 Pinot Noirs and for something a little special, our 2010 Pinot Noir Port which has proven very…
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Greetings from Te Anau. We are well through winter and while we have had some severe conditions at times,on the whole we look out at clear blue skies, a calm lake and snow topped mountains. Although these are definitely the quiet months we are heartened by a steady flow of visitors to the town and…
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,…
DetailsBed of Roses is experiencing a wonderful spring. The garden looks lush and already has miniature blue agapanthus flowering as well as the topiaried limes looking prolific and startling with their abundance of beautiful golden yellow fruit. The forecast for the season is very warm. We are already experiencing temperatures of 18 degrees. Most of the…
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