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Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
Wow what can I say.....I was fortunate to be invited to a free Ethno concert at the local Marae yesterday evening...It was amazing, full of really talented young musicians from different countries,Sweden, Estonia, Austria, France, England, Ireland, Australia, South America, and Hawaii... (even had our home grown musician performing ...he's a local a gardener )
Unfortunately I had run out of memory on my phone ,so I couldn't take any videos of the wonderful music they played...
They are holding another concert this evening at the local Artworks theatre...
A couple of young children had a close encounter with a pair of Orcas whilst snorkelling at Enclosure Bay yesterday ...My friend's father who was out kayaking had to rescue them...Not that they were really in any danger ...But still it must have gave them a real fright seeing two fins heading towards then...
Orca are often seen outside the reef this time of year, so its possible stingrays had come into the bay and the orcas were hunting them..
When my children were young I would often take them to that bay for a swim ...
Due to the unusually warmer than usual water swimmers have been warned to keep a lookout for stingrays, there has been two stingray attacks this month where swimmer have got too close and the rays feeling threatened lash out with their barbed stingers...
This is for @DairyLama (I know how much you like dolphins and orcas)
This is one of the videos from the link above...It happened last Wednesday ...
Amazing experience to witness...but not so for the terrified children in the water at the time
I took this photo a couple of days ago with the tide out...The orcas came close to the shore in high tide...
Here in Aotearoa (NZ) it's Waitangi Day which is a public holiday which also coincides with the late great Bob Marley's birthday ....it is also celebrated by many here
If @Bunks friend visits the island she is in for wet weather, the forecast is rain rain and more rain, which for us locals means plenty of water in our tanks, so we're happy, but for the poor visitors it will be cafes and vineyards and not so much the beaches...Still it's a beautiful place to visit regardless of the weather...
@Shoshin said:
If @Bunks friend visits the island she is in for wet weather, the forecast is rain rain and more rain, which for us locals means plenty of water in our tanks, so we're happy, but for the poor visitors it will be cafes and vineyards and not so much the beaches...Still it's a beautiful place to visit regardless of the weather...
Don't worry, she's from Melbourne. She'll be used to rain!
Well Cyclone Gita is on her way to Aotearoa full steam ahead, some coastal areas are to expect 7 metre swells....I went for a swim on Sunday and it was already quite rough with high dumper waves ....It's already made its presence felt in some of the South pacific islands bring a wave of destruction to Tonga...
Cyclone Gita's here...And at the moment plenty of rain but no high winds...Some good news, the tank guy has just installed another water tank ( he finished around an hour ago) so we should have plenty of water in the tanks...However as I write this the rain has eased off a little... But knowing Mother nature's unpredictable nature, Gita could be saving her best for last....
still hot on the pursuit of the garuda ... meanwhile ...
... heard three of these lesser speckled woodpeckers but saw only two, this is one of the two ...
Wonderful birds.
The last time I saw a woodpecker was when I took my two eldest children over to the UK and we stayed for a while at my brother's place in Kent, one could hear and see the woodpecker pecking away at the trunk of a tree ...He also had foxes and squirrels visit his garden on a regular bases, which he fed, however this used to annoy his neighbours
I'm also reminded of the Woody Woodpecker cartoon
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Things seem to be going a bit awry... we're still in the grip of a harsh wintery blast, here. The spring-bulb flowers should be poking their heads well above ground 'fluttering and dancing in the breeze', as Wordsworth was wont to say; instead, they are literally frozen in their tracks, in suspended animation, patiently sitting it out, silently, while we humans moan, groan complain and make an iceberg out of an icicle.....
0
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
edited March 2018
Happy Holi Day, Happy Holi Day,
While the coloured hues keep flying
May your ev'ry wish come true,
Happy Holi Day, happy Holi Day
May the calendar keep bringing
Happy Holi days to you!
(Bing is spinning in his grave!)
What You Will Need to Make Holi Powder
1 cup flour
1/2 cup water (give or take)
Food coloring
Instructions
Mix the flour and water in a large bowl until it forms a thick paste.
Add your favorite food coloring to the paste and mix it in with your hands. (You may want to wear gloves!) Make several batches like this, all with different colours. You'll need to add quite a bit of dye, for the intensity of the colours.
Scoop the paste from the bowl and form it into a ball with your hands.
Use a rolling pin to flatten the ball into a disc that is no more than around a 1/4 inch thick.
Let the disc sit over night, until it has completely dried. (Putting the discs in the airing cupboard or near a radiator works too.)
Use a coffee grinder or a pestle and mortar, to crumble the disc back into powder. You can also put the pieces into a sturdy plastic bag, and crush gently with a rolling pin.
put the different powders into ziplock bags, and use when the big day comes!
On my way to a Op Shop sale, I spied this Kereru having a feed...
BTW I overcome craving and didn't buy anything, in fact I didn't even go into the hall...Now this is really saying something for a op shop junky like my self...
1
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
All the letters denote the initials to things which are all quintessentially 'British'.
For example,
C is Cricket, E is Egg-and-bacon breakfast, P is a pillarbox, Q is...queue (a word in which 80% of the letters are totally redundant!) and Y is a Yeoman of the Guard.
My husband says we should collect as many as we need to spell out a well-known quotation.
I suggested "The love of money is the root of all evil".
Here is a small bird I photographed yesterday a common brimstone ...
... well it may be a butterfly. Eco friendly buildings ... mmm ... seems like a healthy plan ...
0
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
One of the saddest things I saw was the death of a kingfisher which did exactly that; flew bang hard, right into the window of the Reception office, of the campsite I was overseeing, when I lived in France.
I hadn't realized how large they were; less sparrow, more blackbird. Or how truly wondrous its plumage was.
It was quite dead, but still warm as I cradled it in my hand, and took it to a wooded hedgerow, leaving it hidden under twigs and leaves. I left its small body to Mother Nature, to do with as she wished. Doubtless something good...
I took a Mensa IQ test today! It's one of those things I always had in the back of my mind to do so I did it. Should get the results around next weekend when I'll also be climbing Snowden!
0
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
A guy I went to school with coaches an Aussie Rules football team in FNQ (Far North Queensland).
Needless to say they’ve had a bit of rain recently.
They posted this photo from the ground on Facebook!
Funnily enough their name is “The Crocs”!
1
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Give the nature of Aussie Rules Football, and the propensity for some games to include what might ordinarily be perceived as life-threatening injuries (but which to the players themselves are 'just a small scratch'), I would offer the opinion that they have an excellent recruit there....
@ThePensum said:
Speaking of Australian sport ... and an Aussie in HK here, dare I bring up the ball tampering scandal. Or maybe it already has been brought up
Really? Haven’t heard anything about it.....
0
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
Well, @Bunks, have you got a decade? This might take a while.....
I've just been for a skinny dip ...It was nice and sunny earlier, but now it's started to cloud over, plus , the water's not as warm as last Wednesday...not that I'm complaining...Just making the most of the warm weather before the Northern Hemisphere steals it away
I reckon we have got around 6 weeks before the weather turns into an English summer
1
federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
I'll tell you what, if the current trend is anything to go by, if the Northern Hemisphere is gonna nick it, the thief don't come from round here! Brrrrr! Snow in parts of the UK, with temperatures down to the minuses!
Pretty soon some parts of the Northern and Southern hemispheres will experience similar temperatures as one becomes cooler and the other warmer...I remember going over to the UK in October and the temperature in London was similar to the temperature in Auckland when I left....
Autumn & Spring seems to bring similar temperatures ....
In Spring hundreds of flowers- In Summer refreshing breeze In Autumn the moon Free your mind from idle thoughts and for you everyday is a good day!
Comments
Wow what can I say.....I was fortunate to be invited to a free Ethno concert at the local Marae yesterday evening...It was amazing, full of really talented young musicians from different countries,Sweden, Estonia, Austria, France, England, Ireland, Australia, South America, and Hawaii... (even had our home grown musician performing ...he's a local a gardener )
Unfortunately I had run out of memory on my phone ,so I couldn't take any videos of the wonderful music they played...
They are holding another concert this evening at the local Artworks theatre...
Rainbows and egrets photographed yesterday. Saw three kingfishers. The 60x zoom on my new bridge camera and auto steadying, working well ...
A couple of young children had a close encounter with a pair of Orcas whilst snorkelling at Enclosure Bay yesterday ...My friend's father who was out kayaking had to rescue them...Not that they were really in any danger ...But still it must have gave them a real fright seeing two fins heading towards then...
Orca are often seen outside the reef this time of year, so its possible stingrays had come into the bay and the orcas were hunting them..
When my children were young I would often take them to that bay for a swim ...
Due to the unusually warmer than usual water swimmers have been warned to keep a lookout for stingrays, there has been two stingray attacks this month where swimmer have got too close and the rays feeling threatened lash out with their barbed stingers...
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/video-week-moment-pair-orca-glide-past-terrified-kids-swimming-off-aucklands-waiheke-island
This is for @DairyLama (I know how much you like dolphins and orcas)
This is one of the videos from the link above...It happened last Wednesday ...
Amazing experience to witness...but not so for the terrified children in the water at the time
I took this photo a couple of days ago with the tide out...The orcas came close to the shore in high tide...
Here in Aotearoa (NZ) it's Waitangi Day which is a public holiday which also coincides with the late great Bob Marley's birthday ....it is also celebrated by many here
Went on my first proper date since marriage separation last night. Had a lovely night with a lovely lady. We'll definitely go out again....
Actually @Shoshin, she is flying to Auckland tomorrow night for a few days and told me she's visiting Waiheke while there....you might bump in to her
@Bunks PM me with details and if I'm free I can give her a tour...I'm working Thursday Friday and Saturday morning until 12 noon
S'orl right fer some....!
If @Bunks friend visits the island she is in for wet weather, the forecast is rain rain and more rain, which for us locals means plenty of water in our tanks, so we're happy, but for the poor visitors it will be cafes and vineyards and not so much the beaches...Still it's a beautiful place to visit regardless of the weather...
Don't worry, she's from Melbourne. She'll be used to rain!
I'm off to the Monastery for the weekend tonight.
Much metta meditation this weekend for myself and some folk I am in conflict with.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings find peace.
May all beings be loved.
Metta to you all.....love thy neighbour!
May you have an enlightened experience @Bunks
Yesterday morning after meditation a Rosella popped by to say Kia Ora
Acceptable. There's a lot of orange in that bird.
Well Cyclone Gita is on her way to Aotearoa full steam ahead, some coastal areas are to expect 7 metre swells....I went for a swim on Sunday and it was already quite rough with high dumper waves ....It's already made its presence felt in some of the South pacific islands bring a wave of destruction to Tonga...
Stay safe @Shoshin . ??
Thanks @Socair ...However I'm more concerned for my niece who over from the UK and is about to walk the Milford Track in the South Island ...
Cyclone Gita's here...And at the moment plenty of rain but no high winds...Some good news, the tank guy has just installed another water tank ( he finished around an hour ago) so we should have plenty of water in the tanks...However as I write this the rain has eased off a little... But knowing Mother nature's unpredictable nature, Gita could be saving her best for last....
What cyclone ??? (An hour later)
Women, eh....?
The New Lunar Year of the Dog dawned with the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple bedecked in orchids...
This is the way the temple looked on February 16:
Phalaenopsis. Love them.
Stunning! Thanks @DhammaDragon
still hot on the pursuit of the garuda ... meanwhile ...
... heard three of these lesser speckled woodpeckers but saw only two, this is one of the two ...
Wonderful birds.
The last time I saw a woodpecker was when I took my two eldest children over to the UK and we stayed for a while at my brother's place in Kent, one could hear and see the woodpecker pecking away at the trunk of a tree ...He also had foxes and squirrels visit his garden on a regular bases, which he fed, however this used to annoy his neighbours
I'm also reminded of the Woody Woodpecker cartoon
Well yesterday was the beginning of Autumn ....
Things seem to be going a bit awry... we're still in the grip of a harsh wintery blast, here. The spring-bulb flowers should be poking their heads well above ground 'fluttering and dancing in the breeze', as Wordsworth was wont to say; instead, they are literally frozen in their tracks, in suspended animation, patiently sitting it out, silently, while we humans moan, groan complain and make an iceberg out of an icicle.....
Happy Holi Day, Happy Holi Day,
While the coloured hues keep flying
May your ev'ry wish come true,
Happy Holi Day, happy Holi Day
May the calendar keep bringing
Happy Holi days to you!
(Bing is spinning in his grave!)
What You Will Need to Make Holi Powder
1 cup flour
1/2 cup water (give or take)
Food coloring
Instructions
Mix the flour and water in a large bowl until it forms a thick paste.
Add your favorite food coloring to the paste and mix it in with your hands. (You may want to wear gloves!) Make several batches like this, all with different colours. You'll need to add quite a bit of dye, for the intensity of the colours.
Scoop the paste from the bowl and form it into a ball with your hands.
Use a rolling pin to flatten the ball into a disc that is no more than around a 1/4 inch thick.
Let the disc sit over night, until it has completely dried. (Putting the discs in the airing cupboard or near a radiator works too.)
Use a coffee grinder or a pestle and mortar, to crumble the disc back into powder. You can also put the pieces into a sturdy plastic bag, and crush gently with a rolling pin.
put the different powders into ziplock bags, and use when the big day comes!
On my way to a Op Shop sale, I spied this Kereru having a feed...
BTW I overcome craving and didn't buy anything, in fact I didn't even go into the hall...Now this is really saying something for a op shop junky like my self...
The UK is just about to launch a new 10-pence coin with 26 different images, one for each letter of the alphabet.
A = 'Angel of the North'
Z = Zebra crossing
All the letters denote the initials to things which are all quintessentially 'British'.
For example,
C is Cricket, E is Egg-and-bacon breakfast, P is a pillarbox, Q is...queue (a word in which 80% of the letters are totally redundant!) and Y is a Yeoman of the Guard.
My husband says we should collect as many as we need to spell out a well-known quotation.
I suggested "The love of money is the root of all evil".
This might take a while.....
Good news is worth reporting
Saw this about making buildings bird friendly, people friendly would be good too.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/stories-43407634/how-to-stop-birds-smashing-into-windows
Here is a small bird I photographed yesterday a common brimstone ...
... well it may be a butterfly. Eco friendly buildings ... mmm ... seems like a healthy plan ...
One of the saddest things I saw was the death of a kingfisher which did exactly that; flew bang hard, right into the window of the Reception office, of the campsite I was overseeing, when I lived in France.
I hadn't realized how large they were; less sparrow, more blackbird. Or how truly wondrous its plumage was.
It was quite dead, but still warm as I cradled it in my hand, and took it to a wooded hedgerow, leaving it hidden under twigs and leaves. I left its small body to Mother Nature, to do with as she wished. Doubtless something good...
I took a Mensa IQ test today! It's one of those things I always had in the back of my mind to do so I did it. Should get the results around next weekend when I'll also be climbing Snowden!
(Snowdon).
Haha yes that one! Snowden is in the states somewhere.
I was fortunate enough to witness the ordination of two female dhamma friends of mine at the Monastery yesterday. It was really lovely!
They are disciples of Ajahn Brahm who (controversially) re-introduced the ordination of Bhikkhunis around a decade ago.
https://sujato.wordpress.com/2009/11/07/ajahn-brahm-on-why-he-was-excommunicated/
Some pics below
Just booked on to my first ever yoga session for this Thursday!
A guy I went to school with coaches an Aussie Rules football team in FNQ (Far North Queensland).
Needless to say they’ve had a bit of rain recently.
They posted this photo from the ground on Facebook!
Funnily enough their name is “The Crocs”!
Give the nature of Aussie Rules Football, and the propensity for some games to include what might ordinarily be perceived as life-threatening injuries (but which to the players themselves are 'just a small scratch'), I would offer the opinion that they have an excellent recruit there....
Speaking of Australian sport ... and an Aussie in HK here, dare I bring up the ball tampering scandal. Or maybe it already has been brought up
Really? Haven’t heard anything about it.....
Well, @Bunks, have you got a decade? This might take a while.....
I've just been for a skinny dip ...It was nice and sunny earlier, but now it's started to cloud over, plus , the water's not as warm as last Wednesday...not that I'm complaining...Just making the most of the warm weather before the Northern Hemisphere steals it away
I reckon we have got around 6 weeks before the weather turns into an English summer
I'll tell you what, if the current trend is anything to go by, if the Northern Hemisphere is gonna nick it, the thief don't come from round here! Brrrrr! Snow in parts of the UK, with temperatures down to the minuses!
Good on you @Shoshin - I saw some people swimming at the beach this morning too. About 15 degrees at the time I reckon.....a little chilly for mine!
I saw we are due to hit 17-18 degrees next weekend, that’s not bad for April. Last year we had those kind of temperatures in July.
@Bunks when I went for a swim yesterday morning (around 9am) it was in the low 20s (around 22-23 degrees) and got warmer as the day progressed ...
However ...At the moment it's around 18 degrees on the Island, it's a lot cooler this morning...
@Kerome
Pretty soon some parts of the Northern and Southern hemispheres will experience similar temperatures as one becomes cooler and the other warmer...I remember going over to the UK in October and the temperature in London was similar to the temperature in Auckland when I left....
Autumn & Spring seems to bring similar temperatures ....
In Spring hundreds of flowers-
In Summer refreshing breeze
In Autumn the moon
Free your mind from idle thoughts and for you everyday is a good day!