07 September 2009

Fathers’ Day 06-09-09

This year fathers’ day lasted all weekend! Yesterday Harry & his parents came to visit and as it was such a beautiful day we all took a trip out to Kiwi Valley Farm Park in Henderson. A great time was had by all and yes even grumpy old Poppa (he’s recently given up smoking) managed a smile or two!

First up was this cheeky talking Lorikeet who wasn’t too sure what this was on the man’s arm!

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And he was really interested with whatever it was he found in Poppa’s beard! Sorry about the closeup dear….

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Cute bunnies.

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Mmmm I wonder……….

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Yawnnn, no Mum this pony is too small.

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That’s better Mum, the big horse, I’m a big boy now.

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The tractor ride, see Poppa it’s fun aye?

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Ernie the Emu.

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Feeding the goats.

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Harry’s first driving lesson!

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Look Nana….

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Oops…..I guess I should be watching the road!

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Today Harry came to visit again, this time with Aunty Justine.

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Another lovely day although cold out of the sun. Late afternoon we walked to our granddaughters’ place where the two of them (aged 9 & 12) cooked us a lovely Fathers’ Day dinner. Thanks girls it was yummy, Lasagne & Salad and Berry Pastry Dessert with a glass of wine.

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fathers-day5 Twinkles soaking up the late afternoon sun!

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Nice one Becky, what’s with the squinty eyes!

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That was our Fathers’ Day weekend, wonderful weather and great company. Love you all.

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I wonder what weather this week will bring, lots more sun I hope so I can do some walking and try to get fit again!

06 September 2009

Spring has sprung….

It’s been a long cold winter but now that Spring has arrived I’m ready to be out and about once more.

On Friday DH had to go to the doctor to get a steroid injection for his ‘trigger finger’ complaint (a nasty condition where the tendon that controls the finger spasms & locks the finger) and as it was a lovely spring day we caught the bus there. On the way home we stopped off at Olympic Park in New Lynn which is alongside the Avondale Stream. It has lovely walkways, playgrounds, Maori carvings and other pieces of art as well as an eco-system house and a spider sanctuary for the Avondale spider (species Delena cancerides) made famous as the eight legged 'killer spider' in Steven Spielberg's Arachnophobia.

These are a few photos I took along the way.

The first one is a Vireya Rhododendron in my garden that I gaze out on every day from my kitchen, this is just one branch of flowers.

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Spring blossoms & flowers in abundance.

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The first flowers of the Kowhai tree.

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Maori Carving. spring4

Hinaki Sculpture (Eel Trap).

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The bridge over the stream with the power lines overhead.

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From there we walked home via the Manawa Wetlands in Margan Street where they had recently been planting a new area to commemorate the babies born in Waitakere City last year.

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Today was an even lovelier day weatherwise so we were out again with grandson Harry and his parents to visit Kiwi Valley, more on that tomorrow.