Winter Sun

The weather continues to be gracious here in the North, and whilst it has been chilly - four frosts to date this winter - the days have been mostly sunny and bright. With the help of my friend Brian, we were able to get two tonnes of gravel down on the driveway which hadn't seen much maintenance in the past three years what with one thing and another. Brian drove, Dave and I shovelled as he went, great upper body workout! Come lunchtime I cooked up some fabulous Pokeno pure pork sausages with onions and we ate them greedily, wrapped in slices of wholemeal bread and oozing tomato sauce.... heavenly. The simple things are so often the best!

The cows have learnt a new and naughty trick - how to cross the stream. This means they pop up in the house paddock when they ought to be on the river flats at the front of the farm.... and vice versa. We have the Mangere River running down the southern boundary of the property, and a stream (the one they are now dicing with) flows through our farm and joins up with the bigger river. We also have a small creek that runs dry in summer, but at other times flows into the aforementioned stream. All these waterways make for an attractive property and certainly boost our stocks of wildlife BUT they can be tricky too - fencing is possible but costly. We have fenced several stretches off where it's practical to do so but some other areas are either too remote (from the electric) or would cost an arm and a leg due to the distance involved. However I suspect I may have to bite the bullet to put an end to this latest play. Arrrgh!

The Greenfinches have become a daily fixture in the garden and now are numbering about half a dozen. I removed one from the Jaws of Death (Ally's) last week and after a bit of nurturing it did fly off - thankfully. Ally is now sporting beautiful lime green neckware in the form of a collar with not one but TWO bells.... she is not happy and has managed to take it off once already (but I found it! heh!). The rosy chested, smaller chaffinches sometimes join in but are generally chased away. I guess big IS sometimes better! I think they are competing for the grape pips that would be left over from the summer, where they would have ended up after waterblasting the terrace. In the past few weeks the Shining Cuckoo has been piping his call frequently too - hard to spot, but I was treated to a full ten minutes of viewing when one perched in my now nude rose bushes in the kitchen garden a while back.

We managed to get a day at Ocean Beach on Saturday - the sun was shining, water sparkling with a fresh easterly wind whipping up white horses. We set off to the north and walked for about 7kms, and then of course had to walk the same amount back. It was great to be by the sea - so calming and refreshing. What a blow out. Recommended to all who need to clear their heads or just relax. Whangarei Heads is a splendid area with many great beaches - the drive out alongside the harbour is as picturesque as it gets. There are a couple of good eateries along the way - Parua Bay Tavern and The Deck as you climb over the hill from McLeod's Bay toward Reotahi. We got takeaways (fish and chips) from the latter and ate alfresco by the water. Magic!

So come on - the water might not be warm, but it makes a great backdrop for a winter's walk.

Greenfinch in my Garden