Early This Morning.

 After heavy rain in the night I thought the high tide  ( 2.1 m ) might be up on our bottom lawn.( that's quite a distance from the house )I took my phone and went walking down there and back. It was high but not the highest tide I've seen here.

 The water is right to the top boards on our jetty.

 Up on the lawn a bit here.

 Then back up one set of steps towards the house.

 Past Grandson's bunch of bananas that are nearly ready.

 Then between the pears.

 2 pear trees with fruit getting larger.

 Up onto the middle lawn and from here  You can see the new area of garden I have changed. ( pulled more agapanthus and made a space for 2 new roses and a dahlia and annuals.)

 Hope you didn't get your feet wet.

Plums Galore and a Puzzle.

 

 R and I picked this lot on Monday.

 Grandsons picked nearly as many yesterday, a lot by climbing the tree.

We have distributed all those to family and friends.

There are more to ripen yet. The ones we have eaten are sweet and juicy (  the dark red  juice stains you clothes ) so eat carefully.

Encouraged by a certain blogger I got out a jigsaw I had been saving. Only 300 pieces and no sky or sea in it!  Entitled "The Quilt Shop ,"  how could a not buy it when I saw it for $4 at the used book sale, a while ago.

 Finished in less than 24 hours.  ( click to enlarge )

 Happy New Year Everyone.

Not an Easy or Quick Job.

 This morning I decide I better see to the fridge because things were coming out "wet."   ( possibly overfull )  or something sticking to a side wall. In order to get at the power point to turn it off, this fridge, has to be pulled from it's alcove. As I suspected the drain hole was blocked and the fridge had been incontinent on the floor . Clean that up then tackle pulling the drain tank off the back ( on top of the motor ) Clean that all up plus the cobwebs and muck.

It  looks so clean now!  Turn the power back on push it back in and 

 then wash and dry  every single shelf and  the inside shell of the fridge. 

 Go through the entire contents and throw out only 3 items.

 Put it all back in and wow it looks so good and spacious !

 Job well done even if I say so myself.

 ( we also have a separate freezer and drink fridge which do not need cleaning currently !  )

*****

 The first Billington plums.

 I'm off to pick more as ducks ( from the estuary )  are eating any wind or rainfall ones on the ground  and birds are pecking others still on the tree. ( the 4 on the left are damaged so look ripest.)

***

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.