Spring

The fruit trees are blossoming & the birds are busy. Here is the elusive Grey Warbler. I spotted it from my kitchen a couple of days ago. It was taking away nesting material from an old nest in the cherry tree. The Kereru have been very active lately, & I managed to get this shot today while one was perched above our drive. Note the blue sky. We've had the first sunny weekend for weeks.

Soccer trip

The 1st 11 left for Taupo this afternoon for their 4 day soccer tournament. After weeks of fund raising they were ready to head off. The van was crammed with girls, gear & FOOD. Ali liked the look of this cake.

Update

There hasn't been much to report lately. Blame it on the weather. Lucy's birthday was pretty low key mainly because the parents were absent again. Here's a pic of our Lake Hanaia on the day of the birthday. Lucy had a better time at her second family's place the next evening, where Tina made her some of the Armstong's famous fudge. Last week I caught up with Paul & granddaughter Becca from US. Nice to catch up with him after so long, & also to meet Donna's lovely daughter.
Last Saturday all of the Kiwi based group from this year's trip to Greece were able to come to our place for lunch & a catch up. So many photos! There wasn't enough time to to look at them all in depth, but afterwards I felt like I could do the trip again. I could kick myself that I forgot to take a pic of the gang while they were here. Here is one of them on their way in May.This week we've had a good spell of dry weather, but wouldn't you know it, it's going to be another wet weekend. I ventured down to the bog area a couple of days ago & got this pic of our creek. Then the same day I noticed the Plum tree blossoming.Spring is around the corner. Check out the Picasa link on the right for more pics.

Waiting for the Aeroplane

Drove to Whakatane this evening for Lucy's flight to Wellington. We were lucky that there was no rain or wind for the first time for days. The plane was late arriving so it meant a bit of a wait at the airport, but the Country Folks entertained the crowds. Lucy was surprised to see Caitlin arriving from Auckland, & had a bit of a catch up with her, & Jim Bennett was on Lucy's flight.

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