Interesting Texture

This is an old redwood. It's the first large tree seen in the Queens Gardens, when you enter from Hardy Street. I think the texture of this tree bark is very interesting and has a powerful living feel. As in the LOTR, the old tree has a soul.

New Zealand Citizens

Ben's workplace parking lot, around 5.10PM last Friday. And yes, those white bits you see at the very top of the hill are New Zealand baa baas.

And he won't tell you, but it's Ben's birthday today; considerably younger than 50, mind.

Blue

Another fine day! The car park sign at the Collingwood street entrance of the Buxton Car Park.

Fasion Island Complex

From the Hardy Street side of complex. There are still some construction going but most of shops are open the business. The building façade was preserved from old "New Man Building", but the inside is completely new. (relate post here and here) and other side taken on December last year.

Shade

This is bit of funny season, some day its hot and some day it really cool. The day I took this is cool wind and hot ray from sun. It's good to have a bench under the tree like this. The bench is looking at the river and there were ducks and if you are lucky you can see swan as well.

PS. According to the count on blogger this is post no.600.

Mr K's Onions

We had a chance to take a quick tour of Trish's father's veggie garden on Sunday.

I've been wanting to revamp 1/3 of our garden to enlarge the veggie patch, but after the tour, Ben came up with a better idea. We'll be moving all his roses to the easier, flatter part of our hilly section, and create a whole new veggie area in middle part where it's sunnier.

We're criminally negligent when it comes to normal weeding and gardening, but are, if I may say so myself, pretty efficient when it comes to huge changes. It's going to be a great winter of honest work.

Back to the Future

Some people in New Zealand think coal is the answer to our potential power shortage. We have lots of them, especially on the South Island's West Coast, except they are not "clean" so we have to either import Australian coal, or have then cleaned. I've not read up on this so I don't know how that works.

In a recent pole reported by Radio New Zealand Kiwis prefer wind and solar power, but there is a sizable support for nuclear power generation now. In New Zealand. Good grief.

This was shot by the Information Center Monday morning; the man in orange just parked his car and had nothing to do with the protest, but there was a small number of young people milling around the signs.

Kite Surfing Area

Ben loves to watch and photograph kite surfers, but I prefer dogs and kids and sand and beach junk.

I found this sign at one of the back parking area we don't use when I was investigating the erosion on the the southwestern part of the beach. (The pink area.) The yellow area is designated as the "bathing area"; now, I' not sure if this means one can or can't surf there, but there is a lot of them who do. And I have seen a few in the pink zone, too. I'm just reporting.

Nelson Born and Bred

Trish came back from Wellington for the weekend for my birthday, and this morning we had coffee at the Saltwater Cafe before we took her to the airport. We hadn't noticed until she pointed out that where there was a simple wall in front of the cafe are these beautiful plaques listing names of boats, arrival dates, and passenger lists of immigrants who arrived at Nelson. I wanted to photograph the line pertinent to her family, but ummm... a bird had pooed on that line. Look!

It makes Trish a fifth- or sixth- generation Nelsonian on one side of the family. Glorious.

Officially Autumn

Daylight Savings ends at 2AM Sunday morning (tonight) in New Zealand. It's officially autumn.

Dinosaur?

Some of you might be thinking, "I could have told you so", I'm sure. But I'm happy to report that 50 years 1 day hasn't made me feel like a dinosaur buried in volcanic ash; in fact, my cold is much better, so I am feeling more energetic than yesterday, thanks.

Half a Century

We're not big on our own birthdays, but Ben got me a Gavin Hitchings brooch. Well, we got it a few days before Christmas, but then Beloved made me a wooden case out of an old loom part, so it's been sitting in the case ever since.

See how Gavin included a small shuttle in the design? I love that. And this one is a touch smaller than his usual because I'm so short. Gavin's work appeared on Day 2 of NDP here.

I'm sick today, so I'm spending the day taking it easy, but a few friends and we are going out for pizza Saturday night, and I will wear my brooch for the first time then. Life is good. Thank you, everyone.

Water: Runner Up

This one is found at Queens Gardens in central City. I took this in mid March but couldn't decided to be a colour or B&W until now.

April 2008 Theme Day: Water

This fountain is found in the green belt between the Auckland Point School and the Rutherford Park. The plaque indicate it was presented in August, 1940.

PS. I was really thinking about reposting this but it's too soon for doing so.

Theme Day Contributors:

theme day id=13

Adelaide, Australia by Gordon, Albuquerque (NM), USA by Helen, American Fork (UT), USA by Annie, Anderson (SC), USA by Lessie, Ararat, Australia by Digger, Arradon, France by Alice, Ashton under Lyne, UK by Pennine, Athens, Greece by Debbie, Auckland, New Zealand by Lachezar, Austin (TX), USA by LB, Bandung, Indonesia by Guntur Purwanto, Barton (VT), USA by Andree, Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro by Paja, Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro by Bibi, Bellefonte (PA), USA by Barb-n-PA, Bicheno, Australia by Greg, Bogor, Indonesia by Gagah, Boston (MA), USA by Sarah, Whit, & Leyre, Boston (MA), USA by Cluelessinboston, Boston (MA), USA by Fenix - Bostonscapes, Brighton, UK by Harvey, Brookville (OH), USA by Abraham, Budapest, Hungary by Isadora, Budapest, Hungary by Zannnie and Zsolt, Canterbury, UK by Rose, Cape Town, South Africa by Kerry-Anne, Chandler (AZ), USA by Melindaduff, Chateaubriant, France by Bergson, Cheltenham, UK by Marley, Chicago (IL), USA by b.c., Christchurch, New Zealand by Michelle, Clearwater (FL), USA by Smaridge01, Clearwater Beach (FL), USA by Smaridge01, Cleveland (OH), USA by iBlowfish, Coral Gables (FL), USA by Jnstropic, Cypress (TX), USA by Riniroo, Dallas/Fort Worth (TX), USA by A Wandering Soul, Dunedin (FL), USA by Smaridge01, Durban, South Africa by CrazyCow, East Gwillimbury, Canada by Your EG Tour Guide, Evry, France by Olivier, Glasgow, Scotland by Jackie, Greenville (SC), USA by Denton, Grenoble, France by Bleeding Orange, Guelph, Canada by Pat, Gun Barrel City (TX), USA by Lake Lady, Hamilton, New Zealand by Sakiwi, Hampton (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Haninge, Sweden by Steffe, Helsinki, Finland by Kaa, Hobart, Australia by Greg, Hyde, UK by Old Hyde, Inverness (IL), USA by Neva, Jackson (MS), USA by Halcyon, Jakarta, Indonesia by Santy, Jefferson City (MO), USA by Chinamom2005, Jogjakarta, Indonesia by Jogja Portrait, Joplin (MO), USA by Victoria, Juneau (AK), USA by Gwyn, Katonah (NY), USA by Inkster1, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by Edwin, Kyoto, Japan by Tadamine, Lake Forest Park (WA), USA by Azure, Larchmont (NY), USA by Marie-Noyale, Las Vegas (NV), USA by Mo, Lisbon, Portugal by Sailor Girl, Lisbon, Portugal by Maria João, Lodz, Poland by ritalounge, London, UK by Ham, London, UK by Mo, Mainz, Germany by JB, Maple Ridge, Canada by Susan, Marseille, France by Alex, Mazatlan, Mexico by Kate, Melbourne, Australia by John, Melbourne, Australia by Mblamo, Memphis (TN), USA by SouthernHeart, Menton, France by Jilly, Mexico City, Mexico by Carraol, Mexico City, Mexico by Poly, Minneapolis (MN), USA by Mitch, Minneapolis (MN), USA by Greg, Minsk, Belarus by Olga, Monrovia (CA), USA by Keith, Monte Carlo, Monaco by Jilly, Montego Bay, Jamaica by Ann, Monterrey, Mexico by rafa, Moscow, Russia by Irina, Mumbai, India by Magiceye, Mumbai, India by MumbaiiteAnu, Mumbai, India by Kunalbhatia, Nancy, France by yoshi, Naples (FL), USA by Isabella, Nashville (TN), USA by Chris, Nelson, New Zealand by Meg and Ben, New Orleans (LA), USA by steve buser, New York City (NY), USA by Ming the Merciless, Niamey, Niger by Dinabee, Norfolk (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Norman (OK), USA by Chad & LaCresha, Norwich, UK by Goddess888, Nottingham, UK by Gail's Man, Odense, Denmark by ania odense, Omsk, Russia by Nataly, Orlando (FL), USA by OrlFla, Oslo, Norway by Lothiane, Paderborn, Germany by Soemchen, Paris, France by Gordio, Paris, France by Eric, Pasadena (CA), USA by Can8ianben, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia by Murphy_jay, Pilisvörösvár, Hungary by Elise, Pont-à-Mousson, France by Tintin-j, Port Angeles (WA), USA by Jelvistar, Port Elizabeth, South Africa by Sam, Port Townsend (WA), USA by raf, Port Vila, Vanuatu by Mblamo, Portland (OR), USA by NWgal, Portland (ME), USA by Corey, Portsmouth (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Prague, Czech Republic by Honza03, Quincy (MA), USA by Cluelessinboston, Riga, Latvia by Prokur, Rotterdam, Netherlands by Ineke, Saarbrücken, Germany by LadyDemeter, Saigon, Vietnam by Simon, Saint Louis (MO), USA by 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Lezard, Tokyo, Japan by Tadamine, Toruń, Poland by Torun Observer, Toulouse, France by Julia, Turin, Italy by Livio, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina by Jazzy, Twin Cities (MN), USA by Slinger, Victoria, Canada by Benjamin Madison, Vienna, Austria by G_mirage2, Virginia Beach (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Wailea (HI), USA by Kuanyin, Washington (DC), USA by Rachel, Wassenaar, Netherlands by Rich, Wellington, New Zealand by Jeremyb, West Paris (ME), USA by crittoria, West Sacramento (CA), USA by Barbara, Weston (FL), USA by WestonDailyPhoto, Williamsburg (VA), USA by ptowngirl, Willits (CA), USA by Elaine, Yardley (PA), USA by Mrlynn,