Fellow Driver

"Say, that's a cute little car you kids got..." he thought, as he rushed home to his wife and four kids...

Power Distribuition Facility

There is a power distribution facility just the left side of this image and this. I love the cloud formation and distance mountain range.

Polite Customer

A dirty pair of boots were taken off at the entrance of Page & Blackmore bookseller, our only privately-owned bookshop. Your mama taught you well.

Forestry (Iindustry)

Forestry is one the major industries in Nelson along side fishery. The picture shows a hill after logging. New trees will be planted shortly. (Panorama view)

Vintage

This is one of the vintage car collection from WOW museum. They bring one for the Twilight Market.

Weekend in Nelson

Last Sunday, while we were having a leisurely breakfast at the Saltwater Café, I spotted a tiny woman walking with purpose with two large paint buckets. For a moment, I thought she was going to dump rubbish into the sea.

I retract that; she was just out for a nice summer day.

Tim's Having a Ball

The latest public art by Motueka sculptor Tim Wraight went up early in November. Tim has to go oil it once a month, but knowing him, I wouldn't be surprised if the cracking was part of the design, or the process. Detail of the work can be seen here.

Very Old Car!

This is the one. The replica of the first production automotive from 1800's. I can't remember exact year the original was, but surly it's very old.
This is at the demonstration run, and you can ride as a passenger for few minuets with small donation.

One of the pilot kites, the red one, belonged to Myrray Neill (I hope that's his real name) who had a camera attached to the kite. Here are some of the photos taken from the sky.

My Favourite Kite

This one was my favourite on that day. Also if you noticed the very old, odd shaped car in the field. That is the first production automotive is 1800's. (No, not the tractor.)

OK, we promise this is the last item relating to Sir Ed; a song written on the evening of Sir Ed's death, rapper Jay somebody wrote this instead of going to a gig, apparently. Meg likes the lyrics.

Celebration of Life

Today at 11AM, Sir Edmund Hillary's State Funeral will be held in Auckland. If you're keen, TV One will broadcast it from their web site from 10:30AM NZ time.

Poet Hone Tuwhare will be buried next to his mother in Kaikohe also.

The blue square kite at top right, I learned, are called pilots. They are the first kites to go up on a (please excuse my utter ignorance of kite-speak) series of kites tied to the same string (??). You see a blue, an orange and a while pilot kites in yesterday's post. They help pull up the larger kites, I think. (And that's all I learned on Sunday, folks.)

Tired Teddy

Yesterday the 17th annual Kite Festival, hosted by Nelson Kite Club, was held at Neale Park. Even for laid-back Nelson, this was an extremely relaxed affair because we were dependent on the wind. In the hour-plus we were there, the wind came and went but tentative at best, which was not a bad thing as we got to see these giant kites go up and come down, and the skills with which, for example, the fliers untangled kites by just tugging on the "strings". These were giant kites, (can't even begin to guess at the detentions) and were weighted down by vans and trucks at the ground end.

Neale park is a huge park, and to the left and behind us were more fields were members of the public could fly their own kites.

As we were approaching the park, the giant octopus was way up high, making us wonder if there was a new construction going on on the hills to the left.

As you can see in this link, Neale Park is right by the sea with only the highway in between and no power lines in sight. The Club said it's one of the best places in the world to fly kites.

Shortly after I shot this, Ben said, "Ahhhh, dead teddy..." I'm glad there were no kiddies within earshot. Naughty Benny!

Summer Day

It is around the 6PM and hot in the sun. Those flower baskets gets cool treatment (splay of water).

Twilight Market

Finished my second and last gig last night; I can finally start my 2008 work. Details here.

Orange Carpet

This is yesterday's sunset.

Sir Ed, Again

State Funeral is on Tuesday 22 January, in Auckland.

Because of his advanced age, the mood has quickly turned from grief to celebration of his life and achievements. To commemorate him more permanently, instead of a statue which he would not have appreciated, there are calls for a national Hilary Day, and more support for his charity work in Nepal.

Another tree fell yesterday; Hone Tuwhare, a much-admired poet who is said to have written Maori sentiments in English, passed away at age 85 yesterday.

Tahunanui Beach

It's the same beach we've posted over and over again. But look at this cloud! I just love it.

La Nina

It's been terribly hot and humid this summer; in Nelson the high has been consistently around 26C (78F) or hotter, except for a day or two last week. Though we usually get a few days of highs around 30C (86F) every year, we normally have rather pleasant summers with highs around 23C (73F) and lows of 15C (59F) and usually we don't keep our windows open all night; some years we even need the service of an electric blanket once or twice.

As well, one thing that's counter-intuitive to us born in the northern hemisphere is this: you'd think our north (closer to the equator) is hotter than our south, and this is pretty true in the winter, but in the summer, not so. In fact, places like Ashburton (south of Christchurch), Alexandra and, from memory, Arrowtown (near Queenstown!) sometimes get the nation's highest temperatures of the day, as well as the lowest in the winter.

Anyhoo, it's going to be another hot one, I hear. Otherwise, I wouldn't be tempted to have a Popsicle right after breakfast, would I.

End of the Holiday

We had a much longer break than usual this year, but Ben's gone back to work today and so must I. This was a little after 9PM last night, and I exaggerated the saturation slightly.

Heaven and Earth

This morning, while watching a much-anticipated doco on Professor Lloyd Geering, a New Zealand theologian and most famously (or infamously) tried by the Presbyterian Church for heresy ("doctrinal error" and disruption of peace within the church) in 1967. I was relaxed on the hammock but looked up to try to take in the last few sentences, and saw these clouds.

I can't remember ever seeing clouds in these contrasting shades; to the naked eye the darker clouds are much darker gray. Earlier, during the doco, I felt like I was in a Renaissance painting, or somewhere way up high in the mountains.

Ben goes back to work tomorrow; I really must come back down to earth, too.

A Sad Day

We lament the passing of the biggest, humblest Kiwi, Sir Ed Hillary yesterday. There have been news of his ill health for a few months, but it's still very sad.

This radio broadcast is probably the best summary of Sir Ed's life; if interested, here are some more audio files from the National Radio. Googling will give you a few more options. TVNZ has some video footage. And if you ever come across "A View from the Top", a documentary by author/playwright/cartoonist and friend Tom Scott, it gives you the flavor of this wonderful man.

Rest in peace.

Recycled Dreams

One of my many New Year's Resolutions is to dig into a room full of project material I've accumulated in the last "few" years and to use them. I have an impressive range of patterns, fabrics, embroidery projects, buttons and beads; some were even "inherited" from my mother, who ran out of room to store her future projects. And I need to do this so I can use the room as a proper work-yarn stash space and design room.

I picked three projects to begin with; one is this series of five cotton shopping bags (to replace the plastic jobs) with simple decorations, and I decided the button arrangement. I'm pleased how a digital camera can "work" in keeping records and plans, in addition to letting me photograph for pleasure.

Oh, another resolution is to take more/better pics for NDP, so I won't have to post blurry, after-midnight shots here.

How are you doing with your 2008 resolutions so far?

Coexistence

I insisted Ben take a photo of the building on the left yesterday; I was too hot and bothered I couldn't even get out of the car.

We're not sure what the new building is going to be, but for years it was a gang headquarter, with high fences and barbed wire. And it coexisted in relative peace with its neighbour, the Nelson Contact Bridge Club. The irony of this situation was pointed out by our friend Trish a few years ago; me, I was too afraid I never went near this street until I noticed taxi drivers use this road as a shortcut. It's only a few blocks from the center of the town.

I'm not sure where the new HQ is; they may even have disbanded. Thank goodness we don't have that a serious gang problem in Nelson.

Rothko

Many of you may have long been back to your normal lives, but Ben has this week off so we're having a soft-landing from our holiday. Today, I finally hung the enigmatic Rothko calendar, and am pleased with my choice, but even with the shades closed, I cannot get a shot without reflection.

I can't imagine standing in front of a real Rothko: the emotional impact, surface texture, details. In 2003, probably the only opportunity in my life to do so, I avoided Tate Modern simply because I hated Rothko. Oh well, live and learn.

This piece is "Green and Maroon" (1953), if you want to look for more accurate photographs. The colors on the calendar are a wee bit more rusty compared to what I'm seeing on my screen.

Rain

We came back last night from a lovely short holiday in Whangarei in Northland of the North Island. We had a great time kayaking, horseback riding and flying kites with my sister, hubby and her two boys. We stayed in cabins on a camp ground, a first for all of us, and that was an enormously happy experience.

The younger nephew gets car-sick easily, so we had to cancel sailing and parasailing, which would have taken 90 minutes to and from, and a scenic flight on two helicopters, (can you imagine, they were going to fly to for us at the same time, with three pax on each!) but it leaves activities to look forward to on their next trip. I know it sounds like a flash trip, but we found Northland so much less expensive compared to Nelson, so I really wanted to cram all these things I'd love to do in our short trip, because we'd really hesitate to do these here.

The older nephew hates eating out, and it was almost shocking how much that helped to make this an inexpensive trip also!

The one thing Ben and I looked forward to was low humidity in Nelson, but wouldn't you know we're having a much-awaited rain! You can tell it was beautiful and dry while we were away - most of my pots and some in the flowerbed are dead.

Nice to be home, though.

Theme Day: Best of 2007

We selected this on 29th August, "Once in an Orange Moon". We had quite good condition for this spectacular event as well as Comet McNaught in January. We had a great photographic journey in 2007 and look forward for more to come in 2008. Inspiring shots from the every one of CDBP community help us keep going like this. So, thanks all, and we wish a very happy new year to you.

Paris, France - London, England - Hyde, UK - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Grenoble, France - Stockholm, Sweden - Riga, Latvia - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Manila, Philippines - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Weston (FL), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - New Orleans (LA), USA - Wichita (KS), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - San Francisco (CA), USA - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Greenville (SC), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Mainz, Germany - Melbourne, Australia - Portland (OR), USA - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Toulouse, France - Naples (FL), USA - Jakarta, Indonesia - Brussels, Belgium - Stayton (OR), USA - Selma (AL), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Toruń, Poland - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - Budapest, Hungary - Baziège, France - Nashville (TN), USA - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Chicago (IL), USA - Prescott (AZ), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Nottingham, UK - Moscow, Russia - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Evry, France - Trujillo, Peru - Arlington (VA), USA - Denpasar, Indonesia - American Fork (UT), USA - Seattle (WA), USA - Chandler (AZ), USA - Coral Gables (FL), USA - Montpellier, France - Joplin (MO), USA - Pilisvörösvár, Hungary - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Boston (MA), USA - Torun, Poland - New York City (NY), USA - Dunedin (FL), USA - Quincy (MA), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Chateaubriant, France - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Jackson (MS), USA - Wailea (HI), USA - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Budapest, Hungary - Austin (TX), USA - Montréal (QC), Canada - Cypress (TX), USA - Bicheno, Australia - Wrocław, Poland - Brookville (OH), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Nelson, New Zealand - Cheltenham, UK - Wellington, New Zealand - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Mumbai (Maharashtra), India - London, UK - Haninge, Sweden - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Arradon, France - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Orlando (FL), USA - Mumbai, India - Terrell (TX), USA - Bogor, Indonesia - Delta (CO), USA - Radonvilliers, France - Saigon, Vietnam - San Diego (CA), USA - Adelaide (SA), Australia - Belgrade, Serbia - Auckland, New Zealand - Seguin (TX), USA - Inverness (IL), USA - Oslo, Norway - Singapore, Singapore - Las Vegas (NV), USA - New York City (NY), USA - Anderson (SC), USA - Torino, Italy - Susanville (CA), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Sharon (CT), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Memphis (Tennessee), USA