January 19th Power To The People

We received our latest power bill for the month of December 2014. Of course over this month is when our power usage is assumed to be high, due to Xmas lights lighting up our little piece of earth - which I am sure can be seen from the moon at a sideways glance and reversing ten paces.

The Power company very kindly give you a comparison of your usage going back over a twelve month period. So it was an interesting comparison for us as last year we had no lighting display.

Here I give you the printed proof on paper. Xmas Lighting Power usage vs Non Xmas Lighting Power usage

Interesting isn't it? And a good plug (pardon the pun) for LED lighting.

January 16th to 18th - The Unexpected and Spontaneous Weekend

Friday January 16th started off with the expectation that we would have a quiet weekend at home. Just the two of us, just unpacking elephants (I still haven't started on that one after they have been away for Xmas), just gardening. I thought this was going to be my photo of the day

This was taken where I had the best Thai massage ever that wasn't in Thailand. A local business has set up and she really went to work on me, with her elbows and all.  After that effort I made my way home late afternoon, to discover an unexpected invite to head over to Whitianga for the weekend, and a spot of game fishing. Those that know me are fully aware that I don't fish. But who is going to turn down the chance of heading out on the deep blue yonder - and it doesn't mean I personally have to wield a fishing rod does it?

Whitianga is a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive away. I had to find out if there was room at the inn for Minnie (that is at her doggy motel), I had to pack, oops better ask George if he is up to a weekend away that involved a day's fishing. That is like asking the Pope if he wants to wear his funny hat, if a bear wants to do his business in the woods, and did a certain President have sex with that woman?

So it was all very rushed, but it came together and off we set. Guided by the rays of wisdom

A no brainer which way to turn here - left it was and to Coromandel Peninsula we go

This was dessert - Who stole the chocolates? Who? Who? Oops that was a song about dogs wasn't it?

Serenaded into the night by the Piper of Pipes

Saturday 17th January - Up with the larks as this fishing business is serious and you have to head out early. Coffee is a must to start the day and it was enjoyed along with this beautiful sunrise

There was a bit of cloud cover as we sailed out. I had enough sense to not start singing out loud:

 "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man,

 I'm Popeye the Sailor Man,

 I can't abide Spinach,

 but will eat it to the finish,

 I'm Popeye the Sailor Man"

A bit of low cloud as we headed out, but as we set out for sea the cloud cover was all on land

What was the highlight of our day fishing. To be followed by a pod of Dolphins, which almost seemed like a nursery. There were baby dolphins in there. It was amazing. Impossible to catch a photo however as they are so fast. I wanted to enjoy the moment as opposed to try and catch a snap of them.  However I did catch this visual sight

That black mass around that boat is a huge flock of birds!  I have never seen anything like this. They appeared calm and weren't in a frenzy.  Alfred Hitchock would have loved this bird scene

Sunday 18th January Time to wind down and stop and smell the fresh air when we awoke

Then with a lurch back to reality, driving home we were reminded what traffic was

And of totally no relevance here is a cute little Bus Stop across the road from our Ice Cream stop

January 15th Memories of Jumbo The Elephant, who was renamed Mila and Killed her Keeper

In local news I see the Big Top has risen, and the Circus is in town.  Fortunately this circus does not have an elephant in its show - and is entirely animal free.

There used to be a Circus touring NZ and they had the one elephant named Jumbo, an African elephant, and Jumbo was in its show for over thirty years. It used to upset me as when they were in town, this poor elephant was tethered to a post, by her leg, and would just rock back and forth continually. No matter what time of day I would drive past, this poor elephant was just swaying. I could not avoid that route either as I needed to get my mail.That was so upsetting.

Eventually I was pleased to hear that Jumbo was retired and her care was initially taken over by the SPCA and then she was transferred to a small zoo in 2012, and renamed Mila. There she learnt to do what should have been natural elephant behaviour and life was going well.

Unfortunately tragedy decided to cast it's gloomy cloud again, when Mila crushed her keeper to death at the zoo.  The assumption was made that because Mila had been trained in her circus life to assume the sitting position, that that is what she had done in her enclosure, with tragic consequences for the keeper.

Funds were raised and Mila was relocated once again at the beginning of 2014. She is now in a much more natural environment and overseas at San Diego Zoo, where they care for aging elephants. Mila is now 41 years old and it took her nearly all of her lifetime to meet another elephant.

Isn't the above facts enough proof that animals do not belong in a circus?

January 14th Wacky and Wild

We have an aspiring Giver of Inspirational Messages, often seen on a local church''s notice board - and often they are more wacky then inspirational. Here is the latest offering

Sorry folks! I have tried praying to God for a better body and it hasn't worked.

Now the following flower is an absolute pest. We hate them and successfully managed to rid a large portion of our garden of them. They are now in full bloom everywhere, and this time of year is when their bloom is at its prettiest. I guess the Agapanthus is like the murderer who is smiling as they wield a knife?

 

January 13th Paws and Smell the Power Poles

Greetings to you all my loyal fans. Yes, it is I, Minnie. I have been slightly remiss at making this blog what it should be, ie all about me. Well today I have my chance as I can just tell She is just totally not motivated. What is wrong with her? There are so many sights, so many smells. I could fill a blog every day, actually I could add to this blog three times a day! When you add food in to the mix of sights and sounds. Oh and yesterday, one of those dastardly furry creatures called Cats had the gall to enter our yard. I soon sorted that one out. These little upstarts think they can come in to my territory. Who do they think they are? This is my home, my yard and I will not have any other four legged creatures crossing these boundaries. Unless they are other canines of course and visiting only. I don't want She and He having to share the love around. God intended I be the sole recipient of their affections.

Back to the Blog. We are in the middle of a gorgeous summer and the days are hot and balmy. Don't you think I am extremely descriptive? That is especially important for a blog writer to hold your interest. Back to the weather.. hot, hot and hot.  The other day we were walking and I got a quarter of the way up our driveway and couldn't budge. I stopped, as it was so, so hot. I made her carry me the rest of the way up. Ha that was a sight to behold.  The last couple of day's temperatures have increased even more, so we set out in the mornings now for our walks. This sign has always got me on our walks and I really can't understand it?

Do you mean some dogs have to pay to run in their own homes?  I can tell you now if they ever started charging me to run in my own home and within my own boundaries, I would be out of there so fast you would think my name was ''SuperDog - from the Planet of Krypton''  

As I said it is hot. This was me at 5:00pm - it was hot and fortunately the house is lovely and cool with breezes gently wafting through. Time to put the paws up for my late afternoon siesta, which followed my afternoon siesta, which followed my after lunch siesta, which followed the late morning, after walk siesta. You get my drift.

Hasta La Vista fans, a big woof woof and remember in life, you must 'Paws and Smell the Power Poles'

January 12th Feeling Deflated?

Is life getting you down? Summertime blues hit you, when you look outside and the sun is shining, the sky is at it's bluest, and you have to work? Or maybe you are in another part of the world and Winter is wearing you down (I am not going to go there with descriptions as Winter will be upon us once again, as surely as the world turns).

Spare a thought for the humble road cone.  Stuck outside all the time in all weathers. Kicked and  hit by cars. You are even too big to disguise yourself as a Witches hat.  It obviously got all too much for these two fellows. I wonder if there are Road Cone Counselling Classes?

January 10th and 11th Another Weekend Bites The Dust

A quiet Weekend on the Western Front here. George went off to play Fisherman on Saturday, so I was left to hold the fort and it was a day like any other.  On the up side it was a glorious Summer's Day and the weather was stunning. You know it is Summertime when beautiful South Island Cherries are in abundance

And you know it is a tad hot when you get home from your walk, and for the first time ever a quarter way up the driveway to our home, Minnie stops and assumes statue position. She would not budge or move an inch. Which meant I had the honours of carrying her up. I am so glad she didn't decide to take this stance earlier on our walk!

Saturday finished off with our evening meal at the Night Market. I may change my food choices when we visit, but one thing I always am consistent with purchasing is my Bubblee Tea. Papaya and Double Bubbles are my request.

This was the temperature at 7:30pm

Onwards and Forwards to Sunday.  I was about to relax in the garden. The umbrella went up for a spot of shade and we found we had a nest of visitors. I don't mind visitors, but these ones I am allergic to. Here we have the start of a Wasp Nest - horrible blighters. They were sprayed and sent to Wasp Hell immediately.

Time to enjoy basking in the beautiful outdoor weather, with George's wonderful home made Cider

Dinner of course was fresh fish fillets, BBQ'd with a Moroccan Rub. Extremely tasty. Accompanied by Garlic Green Beans (for a non bean lover - ie myself - to eat these, means the recipe is worth salivating over) and a lovely salad reflecting the colours of Italy

January 9th Dusk on the West Coast

Tonight we headed out to Raglan to have dinner and catch up with family. The Chicken Pox scare has lifted with the Grandies and we were well overdue for some quality time and hugs.

First up dinner - and if you are going to have a Fish n Chips Dinner when in Raglan, then down at the wharf is the best place to buy them. Fresh Fish Fresh off the Boat (try saying that tongue twister twenty times!) We had heart palpitations when we first saw this sign but all ended well

That was dinner sorted. We were then treated to a show by Havana and Samara. And of course being proud grandparents we thought it was the best dancing we have ever seen and certainly beat any shows we had to pay exorbitant admittance prices to.

Time to finish the evening off with pastoral views of Mt Karioi

Then the clock tolled and we thought we had better head back to the busy metropolis of Hamilton City (which is not really busy and only a 30 to 40 minute drive away).  Waiting to cross the one way vehicle bridge that has been in Raglan forever.

Yes that is Black Sand. The West Coast of NZ (in this part of the North Island) is predominantly black sand. However I am not sure it is as Black as it used to be when I was a child and I put this down to the amount of Iron Ore Mining happening further down the coast here.

January 8th Are They Having An Affair??

Walking Minnie, I am used to seeing odd sights. The one that always gets me however is when two cars are parked next to each other in a fairly secluded carpark on a weekday, and one car is empty and a man and woman are in the other car.The naughty part of me feels like running up and saying "Ha ha, I know what you're up to. Confess all"

So what do you think? Is my mind working overtime or are they doing the nudge nudge, wink wink on the blink? To protect what may well be a perfectly innocent liaison, I took the photo from a distance. Plus I didn't want one male species chasing me down the road, demanding my phone! I think I can wipe the career aspirations to be a Paparazzi off the checklist.

January 7th Waiting, Waiting and Waiting.......

Well today was a day of great excitement. A new baby in the family? No!  A major lottery win? - No! Well not that I am aware of as I have unchecked tickets and may well be the winner of the big draw last night (Apologies. I just had to stop typing there for a minute as I saw, out the window, a pink pig flying daintily by).

The cause of our excitement is a Cactus. This cactus to be exact

The Cactus I am referring to is the tall long skinny one in the centre of the photo. There is a story to this cactus. We planted this cutting when it was about 3 foot high (approx 90cm). The cutting came from the mother plant, which when originally purchased and planted in my previous home's garden, was only 6 inches high. That 6 inch cactus is now taller then the roof of the house and has so many offshoots. The trunk is huge.  A limb was taken off and had been lying on the ground for a long time, and we took it - our 3 foot one - and brought it home and planted it. This would have been maybe 5 years ago?

I have seen flowers on the mother plant at its original home, but ours has always stood upright and never, ever shown any hint of flowering. Until now that is

These flowers will be the size of a dinner plate. And we are eagerly anticipating their opening. I am not going anywhere because they only last around 24 hours and then drop off.  Watch this space people for more photos when the deed happens!!

January 6th Hair Today - Gone Tomorrow

A visit to the hairdressers was on the cards today (Hot Magenta anyone?). Actually what I do like about this particular salon is the little sleeves they provide for your glasses, While you are sitting there reading, or playing games on your smartphone, you aren't getting any pesky hair colour on your glasses.

But wait there's more! What do you think is the most embarrassing thing about your hairdresser being located in a shopping mall? Oh yes - having to go to the bathroom. You know you have at least another hour of sitting in that chair and you are fair close to bursting. Then TLC come over the loudspeaker singing ''Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls'' In the background they are rinsing another customer's hair and that water is gently, just gently running through their hair for what seems like forever. You know you have no option but just have to go.

They can take off the black cape fortunately. Why on earth do they only come in black? Also as one size fits all but with no shape to them, you resemble the Michelin man who became a Micheline woman!. So you can take off the cape, but there is no way of disguising the hot pink colour that is one massive wet blob in your hair. Fortunately I didn't have any squares of foil in my hair - people would think I was trying to counteract harmful space rays. I could just imagine them calling Security - ''There's a Mad Woman on the loose in the Mall'

Believe me, it is not a good look to have whilst walking through a shopping mall. Eyes down and hope I don't bump into anyone that knows me. Please don't let anyone see me. Please let me dissolve into a shroud of invisibleness as I negotiate the mall, wearing my glasses, complete with their little blue sleeves.

January 5th Feeling Boxed In?

We very nearly thought our dinner was going to have to be purchased. This is the 'smaller' part of our Xmas decoration treasure trove. It did tend to take over a lot of kitchen space. For a wee, wee while there I felt like I was on one of those television reality shows where they film inside the house of a hoarder.

However all of this got put away and dinner was made. Later it was time to settle down for what looks like the start of some spectacular sunsets coming up. We are fortunately placed for some wonderful views at sunset

Then it was time to head to the Land of Snores. Well that is what I thought until for some reason the dreaded insomnia decided to strike. Could I blame George snoring?  Absolutely not, because I am the resident culprit of that crime. Could I blame Minnie taking over the whole bed and deciding she wanted to lay in the space reserved for my body? Absolutely not, because with a push and shove she is easily relocated - at least tonight she was, but I confess some nights I lose the battle with that furry four legged wonder.  Could I blame copious amounts of caffeine? Absolutely not, because I worked my rotund bottom off and was too busy to indulge in caffeine fixes. So there was nothing to blame but being unable to sleep for some unexplicable reason. Then I spotted this in a window. So for all the packing we had done, all the Xmas decorations we had removed, why did this large window adornment escape my beady eyes until well after the Witching Hour? It happens every year without fail. After everything is sealed and packed there will be one find. One ornament remains on the Xmas tree. One Xmas bauble will be loose. Then we have the dilemma of what to do with the one solitary remaining item for the next eleven months!!!

January 3rd and 4th Welcome To My Weekend

This past weekend was like any other. Saturday had a fair bit of wackiness. Firstly with this sighting as I was leaving the supermarket

Yes that is a grown man. In what looks like a toy car that wasn't a toy car, complete with a bright orange pendant on the back.  The vehicle wasn't there when I walked in. Is this the new age of mobile scooters?

Then on our walk, Minnie and I came upon this in the gutter

Now I know socks are prone to heading off on mysterious solo journeys. But a shoe? This could be the start of a new movement!

Finally Saturday finished with an extremely late night visitor.  This poor fella was really off the tracks

Then it was the Dawning Of The Sunday. Nothing really exciting apart from receiving inspiration whilst out on our walk. I am used to seeing inspirational messages on my Facebook timeline, but not whilst out enjoying sunshine

Time to go home and this dropped in unexpectedly, literally out of the blue

And you know the Xmas lights have all gone from outside when an old friend awakens and returns from his Summer holiday. Welcome Back Hugo!

January 2nd The Toys Are On The Move and the Missing Underpants

After a day of laziness yesterday, today was destined to be a day to move it, move it, move it. Well in reality to start to move it, move it, move it.  That is to start unplugging and putting Xmas decorations away.  Two little elves decided to have a last play on the drive way, whilst in the background Santa was still up his tree looking on

The North Pole Express had a last safety check for no damp spots and Santa waved his farewell

And the Three Bears (not to be confused with those associated with Goldilocks) stood aimlessly around wondering where they should go and why they weren't wearing any underpants!

December 31st / January 1st Out With The Old and In With The New...

I have never been a person to make New Year's Resolutions - most probably because I know in all probability they won't be kept. However if I make a resolution during the year then that is something I will stick to.

So it was time to farewell 2014. Not a bad year in retrospect. My health decided to behave itself relatively well this year. We have wonderful family and friends in our lives, some overseas and some nice and close here in NZ and others a bit further away. We travelled to Perth and the Margaret River region in WA, which was a great experience.

We farewelled 2014 and welcomed 2015 with close friends. Not without a bit of silliness and merriment - after all this is us we are talking about.

And I was advised not long after the clock struck 12, that it was time to get up our new calendar. I broke with tradition this year as the calendar in the ''You Know Where Room'' has always been one of elephants. But as the ''You Know Where Room'' is now a homage to the VW Beetle and Combi, we decided a new type of calendar was necessary. (Make sure if ever you visit us, that you do ask to use the toilet - or Bathroom if you are American!)

How did we spend our NY Day?  I finally tumbled into bed at 02:30am - which nowadays is a "Holy Moly Did I Stay Up That Late" occasion for myself. And an even more a "Holy Moly Did I Sleep In That Late" morning when we got out of bed at 11:00am.  So for these two old farts the day was spent as a 'Slob and Blob' day - watching movies (a total of five), eating nibbles and a feet up type of day.

  Welcome to 2015!