Season's Greeting to All.

 

 Wishing all my Readers an enjoyable Festive time.

***

 While I was looking for something else in old pictures I have, I found this Gif that still works.

I don't know who the clever person was who made it ...but  Thanks it still works.

Drizzly Rain.

 I hope the weather moves on to sunny for Christmas day.

 We have just been out to a casual lunch at the 2nd closest place ( as the traffic is SO bad we decided to not go far ) . Today is our 58th Wedding Anniversary. It would be too easy to not note it at all. Since we got married at 12noon back then lunch always seems a good time of the day  for a quick celebration.  Life has become so busy these days and everyone seems to flood into Tauranga and the Mt. Journeys anywhere  can be a lottery timewise. ( try and Stay Home! )🎄

Out and About Near Me.

 

After going out to lunch with my very compatible 4 sewing group friends, I stopped to do some shopping at Bethlehem town Centre. ( that's Bethlehem near Tauranga , NZ ) before coming home. Here are some of the decorations on display. ( the same as last year I think ).

A small tree on one round about.

 Santa's mail box outside paper Plus shop.

 A large tree at another round about.

 A sleigh on a corner ( someone is in it I see. )

 I always find the book shop a great place to shop, but my recommendation for a lovely shop to visit is Chalk and Charcoal at Te Puna Village.....my nearest place to shop.( parking may be a problem as it  has become such a busy area now with doctor, dentist, pharmacy, hair dresser,  cafe etc,)

 Traffic around Tauranga can still be chaotic though and deciding how long to allow for a journey is anyone's guess.!.

*****

 Yesterday and today we have had 2 sudden short storms come rushing through, trashing plants in the garden ( when they were just looking nice of course. )  The sweetcorn needs more protection and tying up but for my new dahlia that was looking bright I decided to pick it as it was in danger of splitting open with the weight of the flowers.

 Here before and now.

 Dahlia Mambo NL an anemone type. ( I haven't grown one like this before . Its very attractive. )

Rapid Progress in the Garden.

 Lately we have been putting a lot of time an effort into the garden. Both vegetables  and flowers.

This was yesterday's harvest.

It looked and tasted yummy. One of my favourites.

 The blueberries, asparagus, courgettes and strawberries  need checking daily. The peas are only days away.

 Colourful spots everywhere .

 Yesterday Today and Tomorrow have seeded all around. They go with yellow and white and pink and are aptly nicknamed..

 I'm thrilled with my new Attention Seeker rose.

 Planted in front of it are a row of bedding dianthus.

The birdbath with clean water. It gets very warm and grows red algae if it's  left ( and I want the birds to have a clean wash - tho some leave droppings in it ) The piece if metal is to allow bees to climb out if they topple in.

 Other garden visitors are not all welcome. This fellow ate poison. 

 He looks very healthy ( altho dead. ) It  has had a diet of avocados, compost bin scraps , citrus fruit and who knows what else. Luckily a neighbour sets lots of traps around the area or we would be over run because of our  proximity to water and lots of vegetative cover.

I put poison bait  down one of its many holes and tunnels under a cherry tree. Another got caught in a trap R set then  it dragged it away under a bush.  Several days later I found it by smell....I have a very good nose. I  also got one baby rat.

****

 Yesterday I spent the morning with my very dear friends in our little sewing group. We are so happy together and hand stitch and talk and eat and drink and laugh a lot. My therapy. We take turns at hosting. We do lunch out  quite often if there are birthdays or some other reason. I really really value their friendship.

 My hand sewing is slowly progressing.

 

Books and Reading.

 Last weekend we went to the Lions' Used Book Sale at the race course. It is always well attended but not too crowded by the time we got there. There was as usual an extensive selection of books; puzzles;  sheet music; tapes and  CDs.  I only looked at books for myself and the 2 grandsons and jigsaws. R looked for his own books. We came home with this haul.

On our  old bookshelf we have reference books and keepers. Among them is my ( about ) 66 year old copy of Companion to English Literature. My Mum bought it for me when I was in the 3rd form. I used it a lot then and at Teacher's College and occasionally ever since.

The book  I am currently enjoying is in large print ( never had that before and don't need large print )is Emma - A modern Retelling, by Alexander McCall Smith. I enjoy his writing. Before I started this I refreshed my memory of the original Emma by Jane Austen using my old Companion.

This new retelling uses all the same or similar characters. Direct quotes are in bold. I'd recommend this for a light, satirical read.

Now it's Fruit Tree Flowers.

 

 Feijoa Flowers. ( related to NZ pohtukawa tree )

 Lemon tree. All citrus looks like this ( mandarins; oranges; grapefruit and Tangelo )

apple tree

strawberry( sorry a bit blurred ).

Avocado.

persimmon( Buds only just forming but stay green like this.)

 and passionfruit

  Not today as   this one is plum but it has already set fruit so have the pears.

Today it's Flower Photos.

 

 Gazanias near the clothes line.

 Philadelphus that has great fragrance.

 Graham Thomas rose.

 A new rose called Attention Seeker from a local grower Rob Somerfield.

 

 A mixed planting under a cherry tree with dark maroon snapdragon flowers.

 

A fabulous coloured Sweet pea. (   I will be saving seed off this one )

 The same bright colour on the banana. This plant belongs to elder grandson. He planted here beside our ones.