Pastoral scenes New Zealand

I snapped these pics on a recent road trip
as we drove along the highway
hence the lack of detail. 

New Zealand is green most of the year.

On our trip to Ireland last year
I noticed the similarities in the landscape.
True there were not as many sheep in Ireland
but the rolling hills were a familiar sight

I'm joining Eileen for Saturday Critters

Thank you all for your visits.

Take care and
be kind to one another

à bientôt




Shane

New Zealand Summer Farm Fences

We've had a few trips away this Summer

and I take photos out of the car window

as we speed along the country roads!

If we stopped every time I see a photo opportunity

we would never arrive at our destination!!

On this particular pre-Christmas excursion

there was a lot of hay making going on.

Farmers were cutting hay, baling and wrapping it

quickly and efficiently while the weather was fine

just in case the weather changed.

Have you noticed that farmers talk a lot about the weather?

That doesn't surprise me as the weather determines

all activities on the farm.

I'm joining Tex for Good Fences

and

Eileen for Saturday Critters

Thank you all for your visits

I'm hoping to visit you all this weekend,

however it is my birthday on Saturday so there could be other plans afoot!

Take care and

be kind to one another

à bientôt

Shane

Cornwall Park farm walk

One of my favourite places to walk in my area is

Cornwall Park.

It is a working farm with a herd of

Swiss Simmental cows.

They are in general a docile breed

apart from the mothers who are

very protective of their new born calves.

Many people walk or run in the park

with their dogs, which should be to be on a leash.

The cows are not happy when unleashed dogs

approach them in their paddocks and are

quick to display their feelings.....

The dogs learn very quickly to stay

on the right side of the fence!

I'm joining Tex for Good Fences

and

Eileen for Saturdays Critters

Thank you both for hosting.

I've read some lovely comments from you

over the last couple of days on my tribute post

for Smiling Sally of Blue Monday

Thank you my dear friends. 

Take care and

be kind to one another

à bientôt

Shane

Highlights of my Week

Flowers from my late summer garden

it has been a long dry, hot summer

with very little rain.

However three days ago the Heavens opened

I wanted to race outside and do a little dance!!!

Yea!

This is Red beach on the
Whangaparoa Peninsula 
about an hour north of Auckland.
I took this photo on the edge of the cliff
where one of my friends has a beach house.

Summer means BBQ's
and one of the best things is Sweetcorn on the barbie!

My favourite summer tea is
Twinings New Zealand Earl Grey.
I drink my tea without milk or sugar
so I like it weak and this blend is perfect for me.

I've been wanting this dog for as long as I can remember
well not this particular one....
but a wire haired terrier.
I met him while I was walking through the park
however his mother had a tight hold on his lead
otherwise
I'm sure I could have persuaded him to come home with me!
NO - honestly I'm not a dog snatcher!
but all the same I would loved to have picked him up and run home with him.
A piece of advice - lock up your dogs!!!


I'm joining Amy for Five on Friday
Congratulations Amy on "Fives" first birthday!
and
Eileen for Saturday's Critters

Thank you so much for your visits

Take care and
be kind to one another


à bientôt


Shane

Gobble, Gobble, Quack, Quack, Fences!

My daughter's village in France is

surrounded by farm land

mainly wheat fields, a few sun flower fields

and this farm with a yard full of hungry birds.

My youngest granddaughter

was always keen to walk down the hill

to feed the chooks, ducks, geese and turkeys.

I'm joining Tex for Good Fences

and

Eileen for Saturday's Critters

Thank you ladies for hosting.

Thank you all for popping in!

Take care and

be kind to one another

à bientôt

Shane

To market, to market, to buy....

To market, to market
to buy a fat pig delicious home grown goodies....
Home again, home again
Jiggety jig!!!

When my dear friend Carol was out from the UK
in May last year
we visited the Matakana Market
which is an hours drive north of Auckland.

It was late Autumn so the pumpkins and other earthy vegetables
were at their best.

Are you aware that most people in the UK and France
think of pumpkins only as animal fodder?
 Kiwis on the other hand can't imagine
the quintessential Sunday roast of
lamb, beef or chicken without roasted pumpkin and potatoes!

Are you a pumpkin eater like me?
I know my North American friends are pumpkin lovers!
If you have a favourite pumpkin recipe
would you like to share it with me?
You can tell me here when you comment and
then email the recipe and I will send
you one of my favourites in return!

The crepes here are delicious
but the queue was far too long for us to wait
so we headed off to the coffee stall!

Some enterprising girls have set up a
dog minding stall
so visitors can do their shopping in peace.

It's a marvellous idea, as the day we were there
the market was unbelievably crowded
 wall to wall people
and I'm sure the dogs enjoyed their time out
(I wished I had been a doggy that day 
as I don't like crowds or queues)!

Their are some interesting shops to peruse in the village too
and naturally I spent a while in the bookshop.
Oh and there's a really good shoe shop too!

This week I'm joining

Eileen for Saturday Critters

and

Karen for Sunlit Sunday
please pop over and visit Karen's blog.
Karen is a volunteer for her local cat rescue group
and she is currently caring for the beautiful Purl
whom you'll meet when reading her blog!

I'm also joining
Judith for Mosaic Monday

thank you ladies for hosting your lovely memes.

Take care and
be kind to one another

à bientôt



Shane

Goats in Moulin en Tan France

More pics from our afternoon with the girls at

Moulin en Tan.

The day was hot - the temperature was in the high 30's.

The goats seemed quite happy lazing in the sunshine

showing no interest in climbing posts this day!

The two white doves showed more sense

resting in the shade of the tree.

I'm joining 

Theresa for Good Fences

Eileen for Saturday Critters

Mersad for Through My Lens

and

Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy & Jennifer

for

Our World Tuesday

Thank you all for hosting your great Memes!

Take care and

be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane

Parc Moulin en Tan - France

Another excursion in France was a family visit to

Parc Moulin en Tan,

it is a real favourite for the girls

as there is so much to see.

This time I'm sharing photos of some of the bird life on the

 River Vanne which runs through the 15 hectares

of park land.

It was an extremely hot day

so we enjoyed staying under the shade of the trees

to try and keep cool!

I'm joining 
Eileen for Saturday Critters
Gemma for Scenic Weekends 
and Shadow Shot Sunday
Natasha for Sundays Down Under
 Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy & Jennifer for
Our World Tuesday
Kim for Water World Wednesday
and
Gemma for Wednesday Waters

please join us or just pop in and see what others

are posting.

Thank you ladies for hosting your weekly memes.

Take care and

be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane

Hyacinths on my window sill

I walked into my kitchen this morning

and found the sunshine spilling on to my window sill!

I grabbed my camera and snapped a couple of quick photos

as the weather has been dull and rainy the last few days.

My dear friend Jennie popped in for a cup of tea on Friday

and she had her lovely spoodle Annie with her.

We heard a noise and Annie had been sick on the carpet...

Jennie was very upset - I wasn't worried as our carpet has

seen better days and we will be replacing it later this year.

( Two days later the stain is still on the carpet, I remember hearing somewhere to put 

a couple of drops of glycerine on a stain and then polish it off

using a cloth with a little white vinegar on it)

If anyone has a good remedy I would be grateful 

it's a fairly large brown mark with an orange tinge - from her food presumably)

Jen rang me on Saturday to say she was popping in!

When she arrived she gave me this heavenly pink Hyacinth...

She said Annie had asked her to pop into the garden centre

and buy it for me, to make up for her oopsie on Friday!!!

Snowball Update

Dear Snowball has arrived safely in Australia.
As you know I was very anxious about her travelling
so far on her own.
My friends told me about an iPhone app called Flight Radar.
I typed in her flight number and miraculously
her aeroplane appeared on the screen,
she was flying across Bass Strait at the bottom of Australia.
Now I felt she was no longer on her own!

At the same time my son was driving to Melbourne
from the country area where he lives.
I was able to keep him informed as to her progress!

He arrived at the airport moments after Snowball's
plane touched down. Customs took a couple of hours
to process everything and once she was released
she was on the back seat of the car
purring her little heart out!

He has sent me photos via Whatsapp
but I'm having difficulty transferring them to my PC.
All's well that ends well!

   !!!

I'm joining Karen for Sunlit Sunday

Thank you Karen - I've enjoyed taking part over the

last three months and I'm sorry this is the last for a while!

I'm also joining Judith for Mosaic Monday

and 

Jess for The Art of Homemaking Monday

Stephanie for Roses of Inspiration

Eileen for Saturday Critters

Thank you ladies for hosting your interesting parties.

Thank you for your sweet comments on my Snowball posts!

Take care and

be kind to one another

Merci à bientôt

Shane