Drought breaker

Now don't give up on me ....It's been a dramatic month ...First my computer died , followed shortly after by my dear old mother .A lovely woman ,but 99yrs old and quite ready to go .So I have been up to Auckland and Katikati for a beautiful funeral .R.I.P.
The positive side of any death is to remind one of ones mortality ,and never to waste a day ,so I try not to .
    The computer is another matter ,us oldies like to use them but we customize them for our own needs and when the gremlins change things about ,we are thrown .So at the moment I am trying to find my way around a new "box' and set it all up again ,quite a challenge for me ,I need a 12yr old to arrive and help me ,but I'll make it .
         On the home front things couldn't be better ,we had 5-6 weeks of VERY hot weather ,it was beautiful ,I spent a lot of time watering the trees but now they are looking great .It finally rained hard 29[pts] over the last couple of days so we are now ready to coast into autumn .I don't think that I have conquired photos yet .

         All's well on the family front ...Young Eulalia is walking now .  Cheers   Bob

OK ....We start again .....I packed a hissy-fit with blog spot back in Nov because they changed all the format on the site and it was taking too long to download .Now I'm not an impatient guy ,and this world is incredibly fast ,but there are still limits to my patience ,so I am giving it another chance tonight and hoping that I can get back onto a frequent basis .
          The summer has been brilliant ,all weathers from snow to 30 degrees above ,and just when we needed rain it came by the bucketful, most of my trees have done well and right at this moment they look a picture ,I've had a steady stream of fabulous visitors and even been swimming a few times ! Cam is up in Auckland where the streets are paved with gold ,Manu ,Cass and Eulalia are happily ensconsed in Hamilton Bay where last I heard Eulalia could stand on her own two feet ,couldn't go anywhere ,but could stand ! My dear Mother is still hanging in there ,7 mths to go to hit the ton .Jack turned 70 last week and had a very successful retirement party ...."go for it Jacko"

              Right I'll only put a couple of photos tonight to see if it works ..lots of love ...Bob

Late spring -early summer

Evening all ....as always I'm sorry that these posts are so infrequent ,but during the day I just want to be outside ,and during the night I've exhausted my little brain !!! However the spring has been just fantastic ,It's more than two months since the snowdrops were flowering and now the bluebells are just finishing .We still have the "may" or hawthorn in full flower and I see that the lupins are about to start ,but they are really summer flowers .The trees were magnificent until last Sat. week when we had 2 inches of snow !! and a couple of hard frosts to follow which burnt off the new leaves and will take a couple of weeks to recoup.All par for the course in this little corner of the world .The duck hatched out 13 ducklings ,12 of which are left ,and the chook has a couple of cute little chickens ,hopefully we will get a few more before the summer is over .
    On the family scene  Cam is home for a few weeks ,Manu has just opened a new little studio in Port Chalmers ,Eulalia and Cass are still best friends ,and I am just enjoying all of them !!! 
                Big hugs to you all ....give a few away !!!.....Bob 

 PS ;I can't download any photos ! bloody technology  ! so I will publish this so that you know that I am still alive ,and get my resident expert to help me tomorrow ...Cheers 

Sprin cleaning

No baby photos tonight ,promise .But there is one of my youngest boy clearing out his bedroom after four years away ,and accumulating four years of stuff ,who said a square peg doesn't fit in a round hole ! but it's lovely to have him home for a couple of weeks ,and the nicest weeks of spring to boot .

  The daffodils are nearly over and the bluebells are just starting ,so it should be a great display by Labour w/e,let's hope that the weather keeps fine ..Thinking of you all .

WARNING : Baby photos following !

Sorry folks but it was Eulalia Bellbird Berrys first visit to Cambrian so I felt that it called for a photo opportunity ,after all what is Cambrian for if it's not for the next generations !!!

   On a completely different note ...If you are even the slightest bit interested in China ,and you ought to be a LOT,then I can't recommend this book enough ..."When a Billion Chinese Jump" by Jonathon White ,it's quite big ,but very readable ,and although it's China the lessons apply equally to all of us ,check it out, it's only 2yrs old . ...happy spring ...

Middle Spring .

Evening All ...such a glorious day in Cambrian today , the sun rose about 6.45 so I staggered out of bed whilst the ground was still wet and had a big burn-off before breakfast .Bottled a batch of beer and made another in readiness for the summer days ahead .Fanally transplanted lots of little rose campion plants from the back door to the road junction ,here and there ,all in all a productive day ,I don't think that I spoke with anyone today ,but the chooks did lay me three eggs and the duck is sitting quietly on a clutch behind the hawthorn tree .Certainly can't complain about life !!
I think that I must have got the worlds smallest chook egg today ,to go along with the worlds smallest birds nest and some tiny daffodils .

   The snowdrops are all gone and the daffodils are  all out ,yet the bluebells haven't started ,I hope that some of them are out by next w/e as it will be Eulalias first visit to Cambrian ,I'm quite excited !

Erratic spring

"Evening all"....Well it's truly spring at the moment ,last week we had lots of rain and a mini flood ,yesterday a light brushing of snow and today you could sunbathe[if one still did such a thing],but the plants are loving it all,the snowdrops are gone ,taken over by the daffodils ,grape hyacinths ,fritalarias and a few other small plants .It might be a couple of weeks before the bluebells take over ,but they can't be too far away .First WWOOFers arriving next week ,not before time .Family are all well, Sister Rae is at the halfway point of the Spanish Camino                                         .......cheers Bob