332: for paper chains

Even when you have been teaching as long as I have, you still get ideas from all over the place. Another teacher's four year old daughter at day care brought home a poem with 25 paper chains attached, made out of Christmas gift wrap paper, to count down the December days until Christmas. Soooo, today we have been learning all kinds of things about 25, to help us count the 25 paper chains we will make tomorrow. And here is the Christmas gift wrap paper we will make them with...

331: Himatangi Beach

This was the first really fine day we have had for ages and the beach was calling. The tide was really high, and I ended up with really wet trousers, but the water was surprisingly warm. Loved the walk. And it was especially good to have a day that provided an inkling that summer might truly be just around the corner- because most of November the weather has not been so good...

330: peaceful spot

A peaceful spot beside the stream, along the Turitea Walkway. 

I'd been walking just over two hours before I arrived here, and this was a great spot to have a drink of water and an orange, before climbing back up the hill to where my car was parked.

329: celebration

There was a celebration this evening- for some young teachers and some retiring teachers. 

328: river high

The rain stopped and the sunshine finally returned this afternoon- but the river is running fast and high...
and hrmmmmphhh the forecast is for gale force winds tomorrow.

327: here comes the rain again...

Here comes the rain again..... November has been like that. Sigh. At least the wind doesn't seem to be quite as strong as it was a few days ago  -not yet anyhow...

326: another spiderweb

I used to think that I could only capture a photo of a spiderweb on a wet day when it was outlined with raindrops. But I have discovered recently that late in the day, when the sun's angle is low, spiderwebs hidden amongst the leaves of trees or shrubs might reflect back some of the sunlight that is falling on them...

325: garden ornament

reflection in a garden ornament

324: another grey day

It was yet another grey day in Palmy- quite the greyest November I can remember-  and also often quite wet. But hey, everything is lush, as you can see, and I still had a wonderful three hour walk on the walkways on the edge of town...

323: something's coming...

I wandered downtown for a walk at lunchtime today, and saw the local MP, Iain Lees-Galloway, electioneering in the Square. Not long to go now. This time next Saturday I will probably already have voted...

322: flax breakdown

section of one of the older leaves on the large flax bush in my backyard, breaking down

321: comfortable possie

I don't have a cat, so the neighbourhood cats make themselves at home in my backyard. They have even reached some kind of 'agreement' amongst themselves so that they can share it most of the time. They have an unerring sense of the most 'comfortable' place to be. Today there is a strong wind and the deck is not immune to it, so this cat has found itself a cosy place near trees that is completely sheltered. And he dozes on, cosy in his own ball of fluff...

320: washing line

This morning the rain was absolutely hosing down. This afternoon I arrived home to see a pond of water in the backyard, and the clothesline was reflected in it...

319: busy bumblebees

The bumblebees are all busy at present on this flowering bush in the garden.

317: more baby coots

Down at the Lagoon today I saw more baby coots. This is a newer group, hatched not so long ago. The ones I have seen previously have grown bigger, and have now lost most of the yellow and red colouring on their heads.

Ups and Downs

This time in five months, I am going to be in Singapore for a day, en route to Paris, before I head on to Cluny, where I will begin walking. Five months has a definite kind of 'urgent' ring about it, in terms of 'It is well past time to get fitter and I will be walking tomorrow rain or shine!' Thank goodness it was drizzling, rather than all out raining when I woke this morning...

I've been reliably informed- by someone who has already walked the routes, that the route from Cluny to  Le Puy is much hillier than what I encountered further south from Le Puy to Santiago last time. So, hills it is. I live in a city that is very flat, on a flood plain- but a major fault line lies not far to the east, so there are hills and ranges right on the eastern edge of the city. And there are walkways straddling a major hill near the university, and it is there that I intend to do a lot of uphill and downhill walking in the coming months.

 This morning I parked on a side road from where I could join the Turitea Walkway halfway along. The first bit of the track climbs through some lovely bush.

 Before very long the track emerges out onto farmland, where the view today was of a drizzly haze over the hills. I am sure the Irish must have a word for this gentle, barely-there kind of rain.

 The sun wasn't out, but even on a dull day you could see shadows on the pond, and so many different kinds of plants seemed to be in this pond. There used to be a pair of ducks that hung out here- I wonder where they have gone. The pond looked oddly empty without them.

It's funny, even when you have walked a track a few times, there are always new things that jump out at your eyes. I had never noticed the orange bits on some of the broom flowers before.

And another surprise was the amount of fungi I saw today. I really only expect to see them like this in autumn.

I'll be back on these tracks a lot in the coming months, so you might get to see more photos from here...

316: fungus surprise

I was walking blithely down a set of stairs on a walking track this morning, when I realised there were quite a few fungi around. Fungi are something I associate more with autumn, so I was a little surprised...
(There are a few other photos from this walk on my Kiwi Nomad blog.)

315: spiderweb

I don't know enough about spiders to know what kind of spider makes this kind of web. But I do know I will feel guilty about destroying a whole well-developed ecosystem when I finally get around to tidying up my garden...

313: shell collection

... a little collection of shells in the spare bedroom for visitors....
(Yes, another indoor shot. It's been grey outside for too many days!)

312: kitchen still life

I love noticing details in kitchens- not in the neat, tidy, ultra-modern kitchens where everything is hidden away- but in the kitchens with 'personality' where things spill out all over. This photo was taken in my kitchen, which tends to be a bit chaotic at times(!).

311: early roses

The roses have started to bloom at school. It always feels like summer has arrived when that happens- even though it was cloudy and overcast here most of the day...

310: eucalyptus trunk

I was out walking again today, on the walkways near Summerhill Drive, getting my hill practice in. Was planning on a three hour trek, but in the end with the drizzle I settled for two- and it feels like I had a good workout. There is a lot of hill walking needed before I leave town next April!

306: chooks

Two of the trio of school chooks, free-ranging in the garden. It wasn't one of these two that had an egg go kersplatt yesterday!