Stormy Weather

We battened down the hatches on the weekend ready for the weather bomb that was meant to hit us with 130k winds. We located the candles, torches & gas cooker, but fortunately we were spared the worst. Some parts of the country suffered badly & are still without power. Bunny, Lucy & I went down to Tirohanga Beach to check out the huge rollers. The beach was littered with debris, & we lost count of the huhu bugs. Enough for a good feed, but we opted for ice creams from the store instead. We didn't know at the time that a Sanford fishing boat had earlier got into difficulties at Hauhere, at Opape I think, with the result that two of the crew were lost. We were woken early in the morning with the sound of planes & helicopters, & wondered if they were searching for someone. There's now the problem of salvaging the boat & dealing with diesel.

Birds in our Bush

Today I spotted this Morepork during a walk in our bush. Don't like the blue font & underline, but I can't get rid of it.

Lucy's new brolly withstood the first test today

Leigh London Bound

Leigh & Lucy being brave at a very wet Whakatane Airport. Leigh is on her way to meet up with Maurie in the UK. She should be boarding her flight to London right now, in a much more comfortable plane than the one below.

Cooking Demo - No Pigeon on the Menu

Yesterday we drove down to Hicks Bay with the car laden with cooking utensils & ingredients for my Thai Cooking demo there. Kerry had asked me to show some of the local members of the Maori Womens Welfare League a selection of Thai recipes. I hadn't any idea of the facilities there, but it was lovely working in a spacious kitchen in a lovely set up at Wharekahika. Everyone enjoyed the food, & I enjoyed meeting up with some familiar faces & meeting the new ones. They're a great bunch of women doing wonderful things for their Whanau. Here's a pic of the "farewell committee" We've noticed the Kereru around more frequently, & today I got a pic of one on a tree just outside our front door. I had to get down on my knees to get it, because of the angle, so its not a very good shot. I was hoping to get closer, but Tama decided to bark at it & it didn't happen. A few days ago one of Tama's fans from Holland sent me this fab pic of their champion Icelandic Shepherds. I'm sure Inge won't mind me posting it here.