Moments in My Week

Autumn colours and Autumn light

filtering through the trees

"When Autumn leaves start to fall"

makes me think of the beautiful song by

Nat King Cole.

(I tried to insert musical notes here, to no avail. 

If you know how to do this could you please let me know)!

Morning Glory is everywhere - climbing banks, trees and

anything else it can find.

On Thursday our embroidery group met at Rose's home

which meant a drive from Auckland to Hamilton.

As always we had such an enjoyable time

catching up on each others news.

Rose made a delicious chocolate cake topped with

Red Kiwifruit and strawberries and we

had whipped cream on the side!

I hope you've all had an enjoyable week too!

I'm joining 

Amy for Five on Friday

Tanya for Willy Nilly Friday

Mimi for Five Star Frou Frou

Susanne for Friday's Fave Five

Nancy for Random 5 Friday

Cath for Fun Friday Favourites

Thank you all for your visits!

Take care and

be kind to one another

à bientôt

Shane

Moments in my Week

Autumn flowers - Japanese Anenomes

A drive to the Waterfront on Sunday
is a regular occurence 
when one is married to a Yachtie!

We also enjoyed a walk along

Milford beach 

Autumn blooms of Pierre de Ronsard
I think she's called
The Eden Rose in the US and maybe Canada too!
Whatever the name she is lovely!

I was also invited to a baby shower!




I'm joining
Mimi for Five Star Frou Frou
Amy for Five on Friday
Susanne for Friday's Fave Five
Nancy for Random 5 Friday
Tanya for Willy Nilly Friday
and
Cath for Fun Friday Favourites

Thank you ladies for hosting!

Take care and
be kind to one another

à bientôt



Shane

Moments in My Week

On my trip to the Waikato on Wednesday,
the client I visited told me to look out for cows
in Morrinsville!

I expected to see real cows but this is what she was
talking about!
Isn't this one gorgeous. 
We discovered a small herd of 8-10
life sized cows throughout the main street!

The last roses of Summer on my archway.
This is Pierre de Ronsard which I've shown you many times.
Such a worthwhile rose to have in the garden.
It is at it's best in Spring, but continues flowering through Summer
and as you can see above, well into Autumn too.
My only regret is it's lack of fragrance.

Dawn in my neck of the woods.
I'm up at 5am on my work days and 
I captured this exquisite sky before I drove out the driveway.
I love photographing skies - what about you?

The May issue of New Zealand House & Garden

magazine arrived in my letterbox this week.

Usually the May issue focuses on Mothers Day

and spoiling our mothers, baking etc

but this one only gives a cursory nod to mothers.

Change - it is happening everywhere!

Someone who never changes is the Queen
and what an example she is to all of us!
Celebrating her 90th birthday and
63 years as the Monarch of Great Britain
and the Commonwealth.

New Zealand was a founding member of the Commonwealth
family in 1931 and we remain loyal to the Queen.
Congratulations Your Majesty!

Some days as I head off to work 
I ask myself "why am I doing this at my age"
and I'm only in my seventies!!!

Last night we watched a wonderful BBC documentary 
of the Queen's life.
The Queen "works" almost every day of the year.
The only days she doesn't have to read
the Parliamentary 'red box'
are her birthday and Christmas Day.
Now that is real dedication to duty.
God Bless the Queen.

Today I'm joining these parties
Mimi for Five Star Frou-Frou
Susanne for Friday's Fave Five
Amy for Five on Friday
Nancy for Random 5 Friday
Tanya for Willy Nilly Friday
Cath for Fun Friday Favourites


Thank you all for your visits

Take care and
be kind to one another.

à bientôt




Shane

Moments in My Week

The winding country road with a few Autumn leaves.
In the weeks ahead our deciduous trees
will be shedding their leaves.

I've started filling the bird feeders
with wild bird seeds so they don't go hungry.
The weather is still mild but each morning
when I wake up and look out the window
there is a large flock of various birds
sitting on the brick wall
and in the trees waiting for me!

Toiletries make lovely birthday gifts!

A family of Pukeko at the garden centre.
Pukeko is the Maori name for them
you may know them as Swamp Hens.

All across New Zealand children are learning

about the life sycle of the Monarch butterfly.

They lay their eggs on Swan plants

then feed on their host until they form a

chrysalis and emerge as a butterfly.

Because of the high demand

garden centres often run out of Swan plants.

A collection of books on one of my bookshelves.

I'm joining 

Mimi for Five Star Frou Frou
Susanne for Friday's Fave Five

Amy for Five on Friday

Nancy for Random 5 Friday

Tanya for Willy Nilly Friday

Cath for Fun Friday Favourites

and

Bernideen for BTTCG


Take care and
be kind to one another

à bientôt



Shane

Moments in my Week

I think this must be Cotton Tail - don't you?!
Spotted through a fence on the way to
Sandspit at the weekend.

I'm at my happiest in the countryside
I'm not at all a city girl
in spite of living in the city
for my entire married life - 46 years
(on Monday 11th April)!

Our embroidery group met yesterday,

this is always a very relaxing day.

The picture above is a hint of Rose's next project

(Rose is the creative one in our little group).

These beautiful threads and silk ribbon will be used

to embroider a paisley design for a cushion!

I'll give you an update once she gets started!

We met at Thelma's
and she made us a delicious salmon salad for lunch with
fresh grainy bread - all very healthy.

For afternoon tea we had Madelines and
Apple Roses - both extremely yummy!
If you would like the recipe and 'easy peasy' technique
for making these Apple Roses
let me know and I'll email it to you
(don't forget your email address if I haven't got it already).

I subscribe to an email newsletter called
Bonjour Paris.
The latest issue arrived at my computer this week
One of the articles was about the
restoration of the Royal apartments at
Palace of Versailles.

Guerlain are taking orders for their
limited edition perfume called
Le Bouquet de la Reine.
The price will be... 550,00 € tax incl.
($921 in New Zealand dollars)
...just a tad over my budget
how about you?

I'm joining Mimi for Five Star Frou-Frou
Amy for Five on Friday
Nancy for Random 5 Friday
Tanya for Willy Nilly Friday
Cath for Fun Friday Favourites
and
Bernideen for BTTCG


Thank you everyone for popping in
I love reading your comments!

Take care and
be kind to one another

à bientôt




Shane

Thank you ladies for hosting your link-ups!

Five moments in my week

This week an exciting parcel arrived from 

our family in France

it included a box of very yummy

cherry liquor chocolates.

One of my work colleagues is being

married tomorrow.

The reception is in a marquee

set up on the tennis court 

at her parents lifestyle block.

Last night I picked a huge bucket of

hydrangeas which will decorate the

entrance to the marquee.

Originally one of these bushes

was white and the other blue

but we are in late summer/early autumn now

and I love the way their colour changes

reflecting the season.

March 1st is the beginning of our

Bluff oyster season.

We had our first taste at the weekend

I served them au naturale on fresh grain bread

they were so yummy.

Are you an oyster lover like me?

My dear friend Jennie and her two children

Annie the labradoodle and Mollie her rescue cat

are moving out of Auckland to live in

another seaside city - Tauranga.

She stayed with us the night before she left.

As you can see by the photo above

Annie entertained us as she watched

Animal Planet!

She is hilarious and almost tries to get

inside the tv set!

I will miss the three of them so much.

My first Autumn/Winter plant catalogue

arrived in the mailbox last week.

One of the bulbs I wanted to order this year

is Muscari Peppermint, however I went on to

the website today only to find this one

is already sold out - I'm so disappointed.

I'll phone some nurseries over the

weekend and see if they have them available

fingers crossed I'll be in luck!

I'm joining Amy for Five on Friday

Mimi for Five Star Frou Frou

Tanya for Willy Nilly Friday

and

Cath for Friday Favourites

Thank you ladies for hosting!

Thank you my friends for your visits and comments during the week.

Take care and

be kind to one another

à bientôt

Shane

Five moments in my week

During the week I re-did my pots and baskets
for Autumn.
There were so many choices at the garden centre
it's hard to decide - I wanted it all!

A quick batch of cup cakes to enjoy with a cup
of tea or coffee. 

Beautiful beetroot, earthy tones and earthy taste.
We're having friends for dinner tomorrow
and I'm cooking a leg of lamb
with a medley of roast vegetables,
beetroot, parsnip and baby red onions!
If the dessert turns out well I'll show
you photos next week!

My chives have gone to seed

hence these pretty purple flowers

Last weekend we visited this little beach near Maraetai.

It was a perfect spot for a relaxed walk

and as usual I picked up bits and bobs along the way

shells, stones and leaves.

I’m linking to

Mimi for Five Star FrouFrou

Amy for Five on Friday

Many thank yous for visiting and leaving me a comment!

Take care and

be kind to one another

à bientôt

Shane