And there was even a Mermaid.

My dog ate my homework, I was drunk, I got lost,.........pick one because I don't know why I haven't blogged of late.  Hang on maybe it's those bloody kittens fault, yeah lets blame the kittens. (WARNING: lots of photos, plenty of waffle, so continue at your own risk probably with a cuppa or something stronger)

You cannot  blame kittens when they look chocolate box, biscuit tin cute can you now.  They have been in our house for about a month and they are consuming plenty of my time, in a good way of course and I am loving every minute of it.

 Even old Oscar has fallen in love with them all.

Autumn (Fall) is well and truly here now and most days have been cool at the beginning and the end and gorgeous in the middle.  We have had days with skies full of what me and Sue W like to call Toy Story clouds.

Every afternoon I try to get the trifecta of fluffiness outside in the garden run for a good hour or two.  They love it as much as the rest of us that hang outside do and it is so good for them.

My garden is changing daily at the moment, some things are slowly fading away as others burst into life like the Nasturtiums.

 

A lot of thinking and planning goes on while I faff outside, but to tell the truth not much gets put into action.  I like to find a spot in the sun and just blank everything out and relax, in fact I am so good at it, that is the art of doing nothing, that I could run courses in it and become obscenely rich!! My mind is rich but my bank tells another story, not that I mind.  Rich mind with plenty of time.

My garden delivers me regular doses of richness giving me endless colours and textures to feed and satisfy my eyes and mind. There is a good quote that says:

 "To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow".

Still warm enough for my jandles.

Oh I believe in Tomorrow and worship Mother Nature.

Do you wear Jeans?

I have never been a huge fan of jeans as I find some of them uncomfortable. Even when I had a jeans wearing sized body I didn't think they were the most comfortable choice of pants.

But with Rugby games to attend to I needed something comfortable, warm and rugby viewing appropriate so I went looking.  Much to my sister H's amusement and I think horror I came home with pull on ones.

But look, they are slim legged like leggings and they have SPOTS!!!

Of course I wear a dress on the top not a sweat shirt, I will wear them my way.

Oh did I mention Stretch!

TOF and I drove out to Raglan the other weekend to watch the sun set, have a take away dinner and catch up with some good friends.

By the time we had our dinner the sun had more than set, it had completely #@%*ed off to the other side of the world.

So we set up our Fish and Chips on a picnic table by the sea, got out our tea pot, tomato sauce etc and enjoyed dining coastal in the moonlight that had turned up.

It was so nice and quiet and the evening was very mild.  We called in for chats and hot cuppas with our friends and then drove home. NICE!!

With cooler mornings the strategic art of layering has made a come back.  I had a black and white kind of day.

I have made my way around a few of the local op shops lately and even took a drive over to Cambridge to visit TOF's sister.  Her and her hubby have moved there so it was a good opportunity to catch up with her and visit the op shops.  The two black underskirts and the Indian necklace came from Cambridge, the other bits I picked up here in the Tron.

The babies love the little basket I found, in fact two of them are squashed up together asleep in it right now.

I took a drive out in the Country to visit Sue W the other day.

Cows stopped to look at me, with their big cow eyes looking at them, and yes it is quite possible they were not cows but bulls.

Then there were these two delightful miniature horses that I always see but don't stop.  So I decided it was time to be sociable and say "Hi horsies".  Who knew babies horses had blue eyes? I didn't, maybe all baby animals get baby blues.  The mother on the left took a dump right in front of me when taking photos, timing, it's all about the timing.  I think I need a miniature horse now.

The countryside is beautiful, I am lucky to know people that live in the country so I can get my country fix every now and again.

The old barn still stands but for how much longer I do wonder every time I drive past it.  I don't think anything ever gets stored in it anymore, well I have never seen anything in it.  Probably just a home for field mice and rabbits.

Sepia gives a picture such a cool look, I can imagine a horse drawn carriage driving past that pile of tree trunks any minute.

 Good bye Karakariki, until my next visit!

Why Hello Pink shoes with white spots!  A very good buy indeed from Trade Me, $20 for brand new never worn dam fine expensive brand shoes and perfect fit, thank you very much!

More little finds in my local op shops, except for my burner, that was bargain basement sale price and perfect for my Vanilla melts.

 Oscar being Oscar.

"How do I get out!!"

 Sheba being Sheba.

 

Tell me how I will say goodbye to Toby extra Toes?  Look at him lying in the Heirs arms looking up at him lovingly.  NO, they have to go back and find loving homes, so I can continue to be a good Foster Mother, well that is what TOF and the SPCA say to me.  And you all know I ALWAYS do as I am told!!!

Today while TOF was busy in his garden I went to Hamilton Gardens.  My reason was to go to an Aquatic thingy that was on in the Pavilion there. 

As I arrived I could hear a Tui singing, when I looked up it was perched high in a tree by the path I was walking on.

It like me was enjoying the sunshine and the outdoors.

So were hordes of other people and their dogs.

Not that you can tell from this picture.  Bark in the Park was on down at the gardens today and loads of people and their pooches were there, big, small and in between.  But I was there for the Aquatic thing remember!!

The tiny and totally amazing Sea Horses were my absolute favourite.  Can you see one in the photo on the left? Apart from loads of tropical fish of all sizes and colours there were Reptiles, Turtles, which I guess are reptiles too, a Butterfly thing, some Rainbow coloured finches and all sorts of Aquatic paraphernalia on display and for sale.

Not sure how I feel about the Walking Fish, but they were pretty different.

Oh, and there was even a real live MERMAID!!! All this for a gold coin donation.  I  had told TOF that a Mermaid was going to be there but he declined the offer on attending.  Maybe because the last time we went together to the gardens to the Hispanic Festival I enticed him along with the mention of scantily clad dancing girls. (There were none, oooops, my bad.)

I'm pretty sure you all know how much I enjoy going to the Gardens so if there is something on there, I quite like to go check it out.  I am not interested in having an Aquarium, that is just another job, but I really enjoyed just wandering about seeing all the wonderfully colourful fish.  I could be tempted into owning a Turtle tho'.  Anyway, the gardens were glorious as always.

The trees are all starting to change colour, why would I not want to go get amongst it all? Parks and these gardens are FREE, they only take up your time.

Tonight when putting out some recycling I found a Praying Mantis.  Normally I wouldn't bother but with that Macro lens of mine I found myself snapping away at Mr or is that Ms Mantis.

 And there is probably another gazillion of these in the garden.

This is how the kittens must see Sheba.

 

 I heard a Tui's song,

how about you?

 So true.

"Good night all."