A Gorgeous Sunset in red fire

Nothing beats a brilliant sunset in early summer. We've had so much rain over the last few weeks. But I won't be complaining at all about the weather. Forecast is for a dry January and February so we'll be making the most of the rain

Pheasants from the Kaipara farms album

A lovely lady I know has a great love of bird life and raised these beautiful Indian Ring-necked Pheasants by hand. I have quite a few hiding in the long grass near my own garden. Bird life on the Kaipara is diverse. Pheasants are commonly found in the area. I have a male cock pheasant that displays every afternoon in the same place. Lovely bird to say the least.

Saturday

A much to do about nothing day other than the weather deciding again to be unpredictable. I was looking into the history of an old hotel in Dargaville. It's named the Central Hotel. After a big of digging into the digitised newspapers I came across the year when it was burned to the ground then rebuilt to the design of prominent Auckland Architect John Currie. He had designed a large number of commercial buildings including many hotels in Northland. I love architecture it has always been one my interests over the years. The Kaipara has a lot of interesting history. It's funny how I moved from the south end of the great harbour up to the north eastern end of its shores. It's an amazing area which I am still discovering.

Friday 12.49 am

It's 12.37 a.m. at the time of writing. Summer is starting it was so warm I couldn't sleep so I decided to add a little more to this blog of mine. I'm thinking about perhaps the day to come. The forecast is predicted for fine weather. At last perhaps I can get outside and do something more than just get frustrated because of the high winds stopping me from getting the blackberry around the farm sprayed. I'm quietly planning my landscaping working out where things could go. The biggest problem was the drainage around the house with water sitting around all of the time it was becoming a serious problem. So I dug a huge drain it took me a couple of days with a spade and just me as the digger. But it's now done and if the weather holds then I can spray all of the long grass and start doing a bit more with the area. I've had too many worries on my mind of late. Family health issues and a close friend going through a very difficult time, and in a very public way much of that has been on my thoughts. I was starting to realise perhaps that I was feeling the pressure too much. A couple of days ago I got my hair cut and it's made me feel better about myself already. With an election coming up there's the worry of what that might bring. There's a proposal by the current government to make things harder for mothers like me who have ended up through no fault of their own raising a family by themselves. My husband of nearly 18 years, left me when my two youngest children were less than two years old. With a 4 month old baby and a 19 month old, being in my late thirties, it was a hard one to face having to bring a family without a partner to help and support. So here I am over 12 years later sitting at a computer writing about it. We'll see what things bring after the election. I'm enjoying my girls and them growing up into wonderful young women. I suppose I'm now having to think of my own future and where to next.

Thursday

Getting up this morning the rain was falling lightly. I was thinking perhaps about what the weekend would bring weather wise. It's been a wet spring and mostly colder weather hasn't been much help for the grass growth. I needed somewhere to write quietly other than my main blog. Just somewhere to put down my thoughts and talk about life just as it comes along. I went into town and got some impatients to plant in my slowly developing garden. Slow because the weather has been hopelessly against any plans to get rid of the ever increasing army of weeds I can't seem to get on top of right now. Currently reading a book by a local writer Rae Roadley called Love down at the end of the road (Penguin Books 2011 r.r.p NZ$40 ). It's a nice book written in the first person. Normally first person isn't my cup of tea so to speak, but this is an honest good old fashioned down to earth read. Lots of pictures and history about the Roadley family and the big old grand house on the shores of the Kaipara Harbour that Rae and her husband Rex have so lovingly restored over the years. Rae has even included the family trees of the Masefield, Roadley and Colbeck families. Batley is an isolated spot on the northern east side of the vast Kaipara Harbour with a lot of history attached to it. It's a great book definitely one to put your feet up with a nice cuppa and a relaxing read.