Another Golden Tree

Last week, I posted about a golden tree sculpture for Thematic Photographic's Trees and Branches theme.

Today, June 1st, is the first day of winter in this part of the world. 

I went to school to write student reports, and saw this Ginkgo absolutely glowing in the low sun:

Gilded sculpture or Ginkgo?

Real tree wins, hands down!

Sunday Snapshots

It's late autumn - a beautiful clear blue windless day, so I just had to take Manu out to the beach. 

To heck with the schoolwork, and the housework, and the catching-uppery...

Driving through the "village", the beach shopping centre, I saw that this cool little shop was closed - a good opportunity to stop and take a photo:

The Secret Garden

 We walked part of the way around the Estuary, but the tide was way out:

 There wasn't much going on, except the mangroves growing...

 So we went across the sand dunes, crossed the road, and walked along the ocean beach instead:

 There was a little more happening there -

 

It's Mother's Day in this country. If you're a mother, I hope you're having a splendid day!

Winter is Coming...

Yesterday was the 1st of March, and in these parts that is considered to be the first day of autumn.

This time last year, we were in the middle of a 5-month drought, with a succession of 

long hot days behind and ahead of us.

This year, it has already felt autumnal for some time; the nights are cool and the 

mornings chilly, and some trees are already turning.

Although there are still ripening tomatoes in the garden, the plants have already signed out:

We have eaten the last of our beautifully sweet corn cobs:

And the normally red leaves of one of my favourite trees, Cercis "Forest Pansy", 

have deepened to a glowing ruby:

Winter is coming, and it makes me sad. I miss the warmth of the sun.

The only positive is that at least all of my Northern Hemisphere friends 

will be looking forward to their coming spring. 

Enjoy!

"He that is giddy thinks the world turns round"

Shakespeare ~ The Taming of the Shrew

He that is giddy thinks the world turns round.
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He that is giddy thinks the world turns round.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/williamsha137444.html#ZuBSB9iVooSd3KDs.99

He that is giddy thinks the world turns round.
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Sunday Snapshot

Thirty kilometres south of where I live is the small town of Katikati (the Maori name means to nibble or shear). It is popular with tourists for the murals which are painted on almost every wall or building. Many of them feature scenes or figures from the town's history, others are whimsical or simply decorative. I have posted about Katikati here.

 

Last autumn I went to try to photograph all or most of the murals. 

Some of them were difficult to capture, and it wasn't a very good day in terms of light, 

but here are two.

This is probably my favourite. It's a whole wall showing an original homestead near the town:

Here's a section in close-up:

And I like the details in this one, especially the cat and the hens:

I hope you have a particularly happy Sunday!

Sunday Snapshots

Last Sunday a friend and I went on a Garden Tour. It was hot, and by the time we had walked around the last amazing garden, I was footsore and weary. 

But it was a great day, and we saw lots of beautiful gardens and noted many interesting ideas. 

I didn't take heaps of photos - my friend, who is a forthright Lancashire woman, disapproves of people who spend all of their time peering through a viewfinder instead of enjoying the view.

My favourite garden was stunning, sweeping down a hillside from this 1970's wooden house:

The property was filled with rhododendrons, roses, maples, azaleas - but there were many unusual 

and rare plants which made it a work of art.

I was very envious of the views from one house, although I didn't like the garden (or the house):

Sunday Snapshot: Walls

Today's hitherto unposted shots are some I took of a few of the large, mostly building-height painted or tiled installations that we have around the outside walls of our school.

Click to embiggen.

This one, which is painted, includes a number of native birds:

 

On a central block which has the washrooms and locker rooms, etc, 

there are large tiled "signs" for the female side:

 

and the male side (the phoenix is our school emblem):

All along the outside of one building there are depictions of
various aspects of college life.
Here are some of them:

Finally, an enormous painted mural right along the side of the art block was done
a couple of years ago by some Year 10 (15 yrs old) students.
These are some samples of the work:

Happy Sunday!

Spring Forward, Fall Back

Today is the last day of March, and it's nearly the end of Daylight Saving in this country. (Thanks Kiwi Nomad)

I always feel sad at the thought of longer nights, dark evenings and mornings, cold and rain... 

In those foreboding words from Game of Thrones: "Winter is coming!"

This morning the dog and I walked around my college's horticulture and farm unit; 

we found clear evidence of the fact that we've already had a month of autumn.

All of the apple trees had rotting fruit under them -

The kiwifruit look almost ready to pick, although in fact they will 

hang under the vines for at least another month.

The weather needs to get a lot cooler, to bring up the sugar 

levels in the fruit, before they're harvested.

Looks like a good crop this year!

I hope you all have a lovely Easter Sunday.

Sunday Snapshot

Last night we had a beautiful sunset. 

There was an odd moment at the end of it, when a column of light shone upwards. 

This shot doesn't do justice to what was an amazing sight.

Spring, continued...

In the garden today:

a lovely pink rhododendron

 a pretty pink-and-white weigela

old roses on an old fence

 

 and an iris of a delicate apricot shade

Have a sunny Sunday, everyone!

Sunday Snapshots

For this week's "hitherto-neglected-shots" post, I have some more photos from the marina 

(see Colours of Autumn).

What stopped me as I drove past that day were the grey threatening sky, and how calm the water was, which produced lots of lovely reflections.

Sunday Snapshots

Spring forward... Today is the first day of summer daylight saving - so good! 

And, wonder of wonders, the weather is beautiful - sunny and warm.

Sofie and Manu LeGrand actually sought out a cool spot, instead of lying in the sun:

The bees are busy in the clematis:

There's plenty of choice.... 

 I really like the delicate flower on this clematis - it's not so showy, less floriferous, but still lovely: