The sun will come out....today!

When I got up today it was very cool but the sky was blue and the sun was shining.  I did not think it would last as it was predicted that we would have rain off and on all day.  But what a surprise!  It was a beautiful day ALL DAY LONG!  I went out for a walk and had a nice time.  People were out and about.  School holidays ended Monday and all the kids were back in class on Tuesday.  It seemed that many moms were just like moms in the US.  The day after school starts the moms are out shopping with just the babies in arms and they all had smiles on their faces.  Even now at 5 p.m. it is still warm and clear which means it will cool off tonight but then we are predicted to have two more days of sunshine.  Hopefully we will be able to get out into it.

Maybe this tree is too dark for you to see but they are all over the islands.  They are Norfolk pines.  But they are huge, unlike the little ones that come in pots at Christmas time.  This one is nice but some of they are so perfect they almost do not look real.  They look like the cell towers that are built across the states.  The needles grow straight up towards the sky as well.  I'll get a better picture soon for you to see.  

No Shoes, No Shirt, No Worries

It is amazing to me to see these Kiwis walking around without shoes or shirts.  I can understand it with those just coming off of the water on the bay but we see people without shoes all the time.  It can be raining and little kids are bare footed...mum and dad have their feet but not the kids.  And then you can see entire families at the store without shoes....sometimes the men will be without shirts as well.  Just their board shorts, tatoos and a smile!  Guess that tells you what kind of wimps we are....Not only are we fully dressed, including a smile, but we are layered and have on some sort of coat.  Must be the cultural shock of going from summer to winter in less than 24 hours!  August is supposed to be the coldest month here.  We will see.

Kalanchoe

I thought for awhile that the kalanchoe plant must be native to New Zealand as it is EVERYWHERE!  If you pass a restaurant all the tables will have a kalanchoe plant.  The florists shops have them on tables outside their stores.  They are on balconies and in homes everywhere.  I have found that they are not native to NZ but they really like them because they are hardy.  I think they live year around here in Auckland and come be inside or outside.   We have two inside our flat but I assume I can put them outside and they would live.  Ours are yellow and white.  I first became familiar with this plant back in 1976 when one was given to me.  I have always liked them.  It is interesting to note that they grown from the very inside and push the other leaves to the side.  So where a plant like an aloe will grow from the center this one will grow from underneath.  Some even develop small knobs on the ends of the leaves that drop off and grow a whole new plant.  I really like them.

Frosty Mornings!

I know that I have posted several things today.  Guess that tells you that I have been incredibly organized in my work and have gotten it all done in record time!  So, I wanted to post one more thing.  The weather here is weird.  How can the temperature be 37 degrees and there be frost on the lawns?  I have not figured that one out.  I know that the dew point can be higher etc but this was FROST.  I will even show you!

See what I mean?  Lovely days though.  No wind!  Blue sky!  What more would one want?

Ebb tide

Last night when we were walking I was amazed at how wide the beaches were. The last time we were there the beach was very narrow and there were places where we could not walk because of the water. Then today we went at lunch and strolled down the same place and the beach is very narrow and the water very high.  So I checked out the tides on google.  I have a link here for the tidespy of Takapuna Beach.  It is amazing.  There is only 6 hours between high and low tide and there is a difference of over 3 meters between the two.  That is about 10 feet. I did not have the camera and since I did not have photos that I took just to show.  I would have needed a specific photo to show what I meant.  Hopefully you will enjoy looking at this chart.  Interesting stuff.  I am getting sooooo educated!

http://tidespy.com/OnePlace.php?p=3147

An Oyster Catcher

While we were walking I saw this bird that was so intent on getting at whatever it was that was just outside his reach.  He just kept pecking and pecking the rock.  I thought he was so interesing that I took and photo and then I wanted to know more about it.  Below is the information that I found.  I thought it was really cool looking.

Oyster Catchers Are Stocky Birds With Bright Eye-rings And Long Colourful Colorful Bills. Their Diet Is Much More Varied Than Their Name Implies. There Are Three Species In New Zealand. Also Known As The Black Oyster Catcher; It Varies From Black And White To Pure Black; Which Is More Common Further South. It Has A Red Bill And Red-orange Eye-ring; And Pink Legs. Larger Than The Pied Oyster Catcher; It Measures 48 Centimeters And Weighs 725 Grams. 

Ripples in the sand

During our walk last night we came upon a section of beach that was different than all the rest.  The tide was very low and the beach was very wide.  And it was wet.  We only walked through just a bit of dry sand so the walking was very easy.  These ripples were like walking on concrete and it was just this one section.  So I looked it up and found that they are caused by winds, waves and currents.  I have added the infromation that I learned below if you are intereted in becoming and expert on the subject.  It was such a fun thing to see....

Ripple marks are one of the most common bedforms found in the intertidal zone of the beach. They are also a very common feature in ancient rocks. Ripple marks form any place where there are the right kind of winds, waves and currents. They form on the dunes, the beach, on the shoreface, or way offshore on the continental shelf. In fact they can form anywhere in the oceans. These low ridges of sand line up in a repetitive pattern perpendicular to the direction of the water current or wind that created them. They look like miniature dunes and can cover very large areas. Ripple marks are formed in the sand by wind or water moving over the surface at a high enough velocity to move sand. Because ripple marks are found in ancient rocks they have been studied of in detail over the years in the hope of using them to determine the geologic history of rocks. We’ll only scratch the surface of ripple marks.

Of the numerous varieties of ripple marks that exist, many beaches frequently have both long-crested or wave ripples, and irregular short-crested or current ripples.

Although wave ripples can be nearly symmetric, the fact that waves are directional means the ripples are moving forward, so they are usually slightly asymmetric in their cross section. Each individual ripple is like a wave in its geometry with a crest and trough. The crests of adjacent ripples may be straight or gently curved (sinuous), but are semi-parallel, and the ripple has one side that is gently sloping while the other side is steep. The steep side faces in the direction that the current is moving. To observe this type asymmetry, you may have to get down close to the beach surface or look at the beach from different angles to catch the light and shadow effect to determine the ripple symmetry. In some wave ripple sets the parallel crests occasionally converge to form zigzag junctures.

Walking School Bus

We had a long walk on the beach last night.  It was great.  After we had walked in one direction for a long time....about an hour....we went up to the main street to get our bearings.  We saw a great painitng of a sidewalk.

So then I went online to see if I could find out what it means.  It is pretty neat.  Below is a link that will tell you all about it but basically it is a way for the kids to safely walk to school in the morning and I assume in the afternoons.

http://auckland.yellowlocal.co.nz/takapuna/blog/community/walking-school-bus

A trundler park

I think one of the best places to get ideas to write about that might seem a bit strange to each of us is at the market....or grocery store.  The latest is:  What do you call that thing that you put your groceries in while shopping?  We call them shopping carts, or just carts, trollies, or........

And what did my little eyes spy?

We were out shopping on Monday which is our preparation day tryiing to find this place called Craftworld.  It is one store with all the things that local craftsmen who do things in wood, on canvas, or whatever. We had been told that they had some paintings that have been done by a local members.  His name is David Sotogi.  He has a very wide and diverse portfolio.  You can check him out at desotogi.co.nz.  Anyway, we pulled up into the parking lot and this is what we saw.   Funny things we see all the time.  They were gone when we finished.  Maybe home to the family or who knows?  We really did have a fun time while we were there. I am sure I could have spent a great deal more time there but Dad took his one phone call and then looked at the Sotogi things and we were done.  I think I will try to go back again before I come to the States. Who knows....I might find a fun thing or two for Christmas!

Another "funny"

I picked up a copy of the other ward that uses the same chapel as we do.  On the back was a recipe for white chocolate and raspberry cupcakes.  It looks like a fun recipe but some of the directions were maybe more fun.  In the directions it says:  Fold through milk, melted chocilate and then raspberries.  Spoon mixture into 12 hole muffin tray lined with patty cases.  Cook for 20-25 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.  It is often more fun to red the directions than to ever make the item.

Happy Independence Day!

It is always a bit strange to have a major holiday that one is used to celebrating not even be recognized where one is living.  We were first exposed to it when we were in Singapore but there at least, at the American Club, all of the major ones were celebrated.  Yesterday, Tuesday, we had devotional at the church office building.  They do devotional every Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. and I think each main department is assigned a month.  They have announcements, opening hymn, prayer, thought or message, closing song and prayer.  Takes less than a half hour.  Yesterday Albert was  conducting.  He said:  Since the "presy" (meaning the area presidency) are all out of town and since it is a holiday tomorrow in America, there will be no work but a holiday."  Then in the afternoon there was an email that went out to all on the email list at the office building.  It said:

This morning I made reference to tomorrow being the  4^th of July, which is America’s Independence Day and as such this special day is a observed as a public Holiday in the US and not in New Zealand as I had mentioned in jest. I apologize if this has caused some premature planning for some on what to do tomorrow, let me put your minds at ease by confirming it will be a normal working day at the office.

All of the senior missionaries will have an independence day dinner on Saturday at the office were we will eat KFC and have a sing-a-long with the Motab.....Enjoy the holiday!  

The Birds

In 1963 Alfred Hitchcock directed the movie The Birds.  It is about an unexplained series of bird attacks in a small town in California.

If you have not seen it you could watch it on an evening when there is absolutely nothing else in the world to watch....maybe the night of election returns while the world is on pins and needles.  Keep your mind otherwise occupied.

Yesterday morning we had a similar situation out our window.

I think it was because it had rained the night before and all the worms and bugs were up close to the surface but there were hundreds of them.  I tried to get a picture of them in flight but that did not work very well.  For some reason it seemed like there were lots more.  When we were at the office it got very windy, I mean really windy.  It would have blown any of the children away.  It was pretty funny to watch the birds trying to fly from one bulding to another.  I was impressed by those that were really able to do it.

Did you know that 87 % of the birds that are here in New Zealand are only here in New Zealand?

Our flat....

OK, I have been asked about our flat.  Where I am standing to take this picture is the door to our place. To the right is our "dining room" and right ahead is the living room.  We have a recliner and a love seat.  At the end, to the left is our little TV.

This is our kitchen.  It is to the left of the dining room and right inside the door.  To the left of the fridge is my ceramic cook top.  Sink is still very small.  But I really like it.  It is a great one-person room.  We do not share in the tasks in the kitchen.

This is the office that I do not use but that my companion uses.  It usually has much more light.  He likes it!

This is my office.  Yes, it is really that small.  The best part about it is that there is that little window that looks out into the living room.  I have made the observation that the reason I have been given that sweet little room with the window is because I will need to keep it straight and neat.  But it is really very comfortable and I can do everything that I need to do.  I have added a painting on the wall that I will send a picture of later....with a story of course.

This is our bedroom.  It is really just big enough for the bed.  There is a dress off to the left of where I am standing and that is all.  It have a lovely view from the window.

The only things that are left to show are the bathrooms but I think I will leave them be.  They are 3/4 baths with a shower but no tub.  Oh, the laundry closet is in one of the bathrooms along with a closet for the water heater.

And that is our flat.  We really like it!

I thought it would be interesting to show you my washer and drier.  I feel very fortunate to have the two separate units!  In our first apartment I had only one machine although it performed both functions.  It would wash the clothes and then it would dry them....or it was suppose to.  The best it would so was wash shirts...four....at a time.  It took at least two hours to wash them and then they would dry for 45 minutes.  Then I would hang them up and they would finish drying and then I would press them.  I can wash the shirts, again only 4, and then put them in the drier.  After 25 minutes drying I hang them up and although they are still damp they are not wrinkled to the point that I need to press them.  It is a real improvement.  I do the bottom sheet and two pillow cases in one load and the other sheet and cases in another load.  It does take a bit of time to get it all done but it is so nice!  I still use my chinese laundry drier but not nearly as much!