Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Got off lightly

It is still raining heavily with strong winds but I got off lightly.  I just heard on the news that the number of properties without power has increased.

This morning I spent about an hour outside cutting up pieces of lasiandra.  This is always very brittle and I lost some in the last storm a few weeks ago.  The other casualties were half my tamarillo tree and a jacaranda that had worked loose and was blowing around in circles.  Doug arrived just after I finished cutting up the lasiandra and tamarillo and he cut the top off the jacaranda and we will see whether it survives.

After some soup for lunch we went to visit Max and happened to arrive just as the National Party candidate, Dr. Shane Reti, was setting up.  We were very impressed with him.  He spoke about his life and aspirations and then, in Maori tradition,
sang.

We then went for a short drive to see the Whangarei Falls after all the rain.

Half of the top of the tamarillo tree has broken off.  I hope it will heal and regrow.


                                             It doesn't look very big lying on the ground.


                     It was hard to get a photo of the pieces that had broken off the lasiandra.

This is the pile of lasiandra ready to be cut up.  The leafy pieces were cut up for compost and the wheelie bin while the woody parts are cut up to dry for kindling.

Looking down from the top of the falls.  The walkway across the river at the top of the falls had been closed.






                             This is a photo of the falls from below taken last December


13 comments:

  1. Susan, so glad you are safe, it seems that your area was hit very badly. Hope the power stayed on. Cheers,Jean, p.s. I, too, have a lasiandra, and it has a top part that needs trimming right off, but it's in such a sheltered spot from any wind thankfully.

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    1. I am relatively sheltered here. Rain and wind still going strong.

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  2. Glad you are well and only a bit of pruning to do. Those photos of the falls are amazing.

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    1. Roads flooded all over the region and power still out to many. I am really lucky to just have a few small branches to deal with and still have power.

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  3. And this morning it is still pretty nasty out there. Hope there is no more damage to your plants - it is always a shame when that happens.

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    1. At least it was minor damage - the lasiandra are always a problem in any wind. Yes, it is still nasty. Hope you still have power and are able to keep dry.

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  4. I am sure that your plants will recover - cum the spring and they will all put out new growth for you.
    Hope that the weather has calmed down now and gone on its way.

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    1. Yes, the lasiandra will be fine and I hope the tamarillo will as well - this year was the first I got fruit from it.

      Weather has not calmed down and lots of flooding around. I am lucky as there is a gulley behind me that all the rain drains into.

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  5. A singing politician? Our two big local rivers go a horrible brown colour after heavy rain; not nice.

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    1. It is still raining and forecast to go on for another 24 - 48 hours. Doug visited the falls on his way here at lunch time and said you can't see the little bridge just above the falls now as the water is so high. I read earlier that people are calling for sandbags.


      The singing politician was very good.

      How are you faring weatherwise - you mentioned on Monday that your weather is the same as ours.

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  6. Lots of rain to make the waterways swell so much. Stay safe.

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  7. Thinking of you all up north - what a dreadful time you've all had.
    I feel very sorry of the people without power, including cowsheds so the farmers can't milk their cows....
    Take care
    Shane

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  8. Gosh, you have had some bad weather, Susan. Glad the damage isn't worse. As Rosemary said, plants are resilient and may recover very well.

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