MORE WEATHER

This was the sky first thing this morning.  I know the colours are never as bright in photos and just pushed my phone through the venetian blinds but it shows the idea.  We have a severe thunderstorm watch from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. so short and sharp.  The centre of the country (Wellington area and the north of the South Island) had severe thunderstorms last night with many power cuts.

 I have just walked down to the pharmacist to pick up a repeat prescription.  It is just 750 metres away so a pleasant 20 minute walk there and back.  I wanted to make sure I got home before the rain hits. We have had a few heavy showers but, luckily it was dry for my walk.

At least it looks as though we are in for a good week weatherwise after this storm.

I cancelled this week's Parkinson walk, the heavy rain hadn't started but with the strong wind and light rain it was most unpleasant.  Luckily it looks as though we will have a good day this coming Monday so I have scheduled a bush walk.  It is a few weeks since I started going to an Exercise Class on Thursdays and am starting to enjoy it.  It is quite full on and much more energetic than I had expected but I feel good for it.

MAINLY YELLOW

It is the official start of winter tomorrow and the main colour in our garden is yellow which is nice and cheerful.

Not yellow but a splash of colour.  I can't remember the name of this plant.

There are still a few roses in flower.

These salvias have small flowers but the bees just love them.

There are a couple of these yellow abutilons

and the lemons are starting to ripen

Things will change tomorrow with a heavy rain warning.

SOLAR POWER

Four weeks ago we got a quote for the installation of solar panels and decided to go ahead with it.  For the first three weeks there seemed to be a lot of virtual paperwork between our installers and our power company but not much else was happening.

That changed last Tuesday when we got a phone call to ask if the following day would be suitable for the installation.   At 7.30 a.m. on the 6th three workman arrived - two to install the panels and an electrician.  

They worked hard all day and finally left just after 5 p.m. telling us that an Inspector would be here on Friday morning at 7.30 a.m.  Actually, there were three men - the electrician who had done the work, the Inspector and someone from our power company.  

We were wondering how long it would be before it was up and running but it was "all go" before they left.  Of course with sod's law the weather has been pretty cloudy ever since.  

I am still coming to terms with the website that gives me lots of information and am yet to download the app which, I think, will give me more information and we will receive an "Owners' Manual" in the mail in a few days. 

This was all one could see of the work on the day.

  

This tells me that, in spite of the weather, our dependence on the grid is 65%.

p.s. I hope people were able to play the video and hear the Tui sing on my previous post.

AUTUMN COLOUR & A TUI IN OUR GARDEN

It was a beautiful autumn day for our walk to the Raumanga Falls yesterday.

This morning the Tui was singing at the bottom of  our garden.  It is hard to catch his song which is mostly towards the end of the video.

Tūī are known for their incredibly complex and varied songs, which include clicks, whirrs, creaks, and melodies. Because they have a massive vocal range, they often produce sounds that are at such a high frequency—sometimes bordering on ultrasonic—that they are beyond the range of human hearing. This is why there appear to be gaps in their song.

STRESSFUL WEEKEND

Yesterday afternoon Blue was nowhere to be seen when it came time to feed him and we realised we had not seen him since breakfast. He often curls up somewhere snug so we had not really noticed he was not about.  

We checked around our section many times and contacted a few neighbours and were really worried as it not like him to miss a meal.

This morning there was still no sign of him so I found this photo taken a few weeks ago, edited out the grandson he was sitting next to,  and put it up on Facebook as well as making a flyer.  I then visited a few of our neighbours as we thought he must be locked in somewhere.    I nearly didn't go to a house a couple down from us as they don't have a shed or garage but went anyway.  He hadn't seen Blue but while we were talking we heard a plaintiff meow.  Blue was under the wooden deck.  We searched for a way into the space and decided a plank would have to be removed. I went to get Doug to come and remove it but by the time we got back it was already removed. We could see Blue in the distance.  It took a few minutes before he came out and then he just shot off home.  

He was hungry and thirsty as he must have been in there for about 24 hours and is staying close to home.

What a relief.

AUTUMN

We are, finally, getting some lovely autumn weather.  I hope it continues.  There were just eleven of us for yesterday's walk from Vinegar Hill Road to the park and back but the weather was fine if a little chilly.

There are several of this  yellow Justicia in the bed by the drive and we look out at them  from our kitchen window.  We also have the white and pink although they have finished flowering for the moment.

I picked these chrysanthemums before the last storm.  They are plants we bought last winter. The plants are quite tall and tend to fall over but are lovely in a vase on our dining table.

This Salvia isn't very showy but the bees love it.

MONDAY'S WALK

 On Monday the forecast was not the best but, luckily the weather held for our walk at Beach Road in Onerahi.  We often see small boats and yachts going past but, just as we were setting out a larger boat appeared. It was the Allankay, a Sea Shepherd boat.

We ended up having an enjoyable walk followed by coffee at Flames.