END OF DECEMBER UPDATE

•  First of all new flowers in the garden.  We often buy plants at the Growers' Market and couldn't resist these dwarf sunflowers

the same with this lovely poppy

These yellow "daisies" whose name escapes me were from a neighbour sorry for the blurred photo.

and in the vegetable garden This buttercup? squash came up in the garden from one we had last year

I was late planting tomatoes so we have a while to wait yet.  There are five at this stage and five younger ones.

The second lot of beans are just coming on 

We have also got cucumbers and courgettes and this shows three of the six bunches of bananas 

Christmas morning was spent at Granddaughter's farm and we enjoyed spending time with the family especially four of the five great-granddaughters.  Since then the first local great-grandson has been born and I have celebrated another year on the planet.  Doug suggested we go out for a meal but as everywhere is busy with holidaymakers I opted to stay home and we bought some delicious gurnard which we had for lunch followed by the last of the trifle.

Just before Christmas a couple from the walking group gave us some lamb (well hogget actually) and asked if Doug would care for some Monarch caterpillars as they were going away so we have a whole lot of "new blood" in the Monarch family. The cage they are kept in now has lots of chrysalises.

CHRISTMAS DAY

A bit cooler today with a slight drizzle which is pleasant so we were indoors at grand-daughter's for the present opening.  It is lovely to see all the great-grandchildren playing together. 

Then home for lunch of scallops with new potatoes and vegies followed by trifle.  We were to be joined by two daughters but both were feeling exhausted. It is the busiest time of year for youngest daughter who is a Rural Delivery Driver..

We were spoilt with presents including the annual pewter from Amos Pewters in Nova Scotia 

A description comes with each ornament : 

"Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together." Vesta M. Kelly. 

Each snowflake has its own unique and delicate beauty. Alone, its existence is fleeting but, united with other snowflakes, individual fragility is transformed into a frozen tapestry of collective strength. So too with people. The uniqueness within each of us is to be celebrated and appreciated. Yet there is also great value in coming together in a common purpose, giving us the power to hold strong, anchored in our shared beliefs and values.

If you look closely the snowflake is made up of six anchors.

Time to go for a walk.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2026

 The Christmas card we sent to the few people who still get cards. Mainly those who do not use the internet.  The card is Doug's painting of the local Whangarei Falls.

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

We finally got our Christmas decorations up earlier in the week, the latest I can remember.  I find Christmas in the summer does not work well.  There is all the extra work in the garden and daily watering as well as the usual Christmas functions and the heat.

Last year we gave the majority of our decorations to an Op Shop (Charity shop) and just have the lovely pewter ornaments from Halifax in Nova Scotia that my cousin from north of Toronto has been sending me for years. (there is another one waiting to be opened on Christmas Day).

THE DECEMBER GARDEN

A few photos of plants in the garden.  Some from today and some from a week or so ago.  Our hairdresser (the lady who introduced us) comes every five weeks and last week commented on our garden always being colourful with different colours each time she comes.

We are watering daily at present and this little fella kept me company this evening.

  

A while till our first tomatoes ripen and we also have plants that I grew from seed that have only just gone in the ground.

We have been picking cucumber, courgettes, and beans with the main bean crop yet to come.

It is good to be appreciated.

 It is a long time since I last blogged.  I have occasionally taken photos of what is new in the garden but then ran out of day and oomph and not done a post.  Life has been busy.  On top of all the usual day to day things last week we had two loads of firewood delivered which we then had to move and stack.  The man we buy it from is retiring and selling off the last of everything so we wanted to be certain of plenty of wood for the winter.  

On Friday we went out for a delicious lunch with Parkinson's N.Z.  They shout us the meal as volunteers.  We also won one of the raffle prizes and ended up with a pair of Queen size sheets something I was going to buy for when a cousin and his wife visit early next year.  

It has been hot 28 or 29 degrees but we had a very pleasant walk today and then instead of going to someone's house for our pre Christmas get-together we went to a cafe in a park and sat under a verandah looking at the trees which was very pleasant.  We still have one more walk before Christmas.  

Doug went to the car before me and when I arrived there was a parcel waiting.  It was from one of the walkers and contained a delicious gluten free Lemon, coconut, Almond cake and a lovely card.

THE GARDEN

I love this time of year in the garden with new plants flowering every day.  

A pale cineraria under the lemon tree

                                                                      The front garden 

I can't remember the name of this yellow flower but the bees and butterflies love it.

There are now several foxgloves in flower from white through to this pink.

Another foxglove in the back garden

The vegetable beds are turning into flower beds as self-sown plants pop up.

This bed of poppies was filled with spinach and Swiss chard over winter.

Another cineraria with the lovely yellow abutilon

We have been trying to get rid of algae in the fish pond so Doug made this container and we bought some watercress plants at the Market yesterday.  It looks happy.

Vegie gardening getting off to a slow start.  Cheating.  A punnet of Blue Lake Runner beans planted a few weeks ago and one of stringless scarlet runner bean purchased yesterday.  I must  sow some more beans in the next few days.

Some of the Amaryllis a neighbour gave us when she moved to Western Australia.

 

ALIGNERS

As I age my jaw is shrinking and I have had trouble with crooked teeth that have been catching on parts of my mouth and causing ulcers so I recently went to an Orthodontist.  She assured me this can be fixed and, last week, I was fitted with my first aligners.

In days gone by I would have had a cast made of my mouth/teeth but a "magic wand" was run around my teeth and gradually a three dimension model of my teeth appeared on screen.  I wear these first ones for a fortnight and then go back and have some attachments put on my teeth and will be fitted with the next set and given four more sets to change at 2 - 3 week intervals.  

I am only allowed to drink cold water while wearing them and they should be worn for 22 hours a day.  I am still finding them  hard to remove although it is easy to put them back in but it is quite time consuming cleaning both them and my teeth beforehand.  

I have changed my routine and my early morning honey and cider vinegar drink is now left until breakfast time and at night I am having my meal slightly later and then clean my teeth straight away before putting the aligners back in.

I can remember as a child having braces fitted and them being tightened and complaining of the pain. My mother just took them off and that was the end of it.  I had no idea that I would have problems later on and there was no discussion.

I am the oldest patient to have them at this Orthodontist although she told me she had several ladies in their 70's.

Meanwhile, in the garden, the foxgloves and clivias are beginning to bloom