Winter has so arrived.

After days on end of rain, well continual rain, with thunder and lightening at night more than one night, we finally have sunshine. BUT it is farkin COLD!!  I think our overnight low was ZERO.  Now I know you readers in the Northern Hemisphere will think zero is nothing, but to us down here, it is plenty cold enough.  I will forgive the low temps if the sun continues to shine.

A good week has flown by so I will give you a bit of a catch up.

Last Friday (not today) was a SuesDay out and Sue W made it in to town really early as her car was booked in for a service.  This all meant we got around heaps of our favourite places.  Above is my selection of buys.  Black things are difficult to photograph, the one on the right had it's original price tag of $499 still on it??  Who pays that much, never wears it then gets rid?? The bright dress and the pink tights I wore today (this Friday).

The weather was cold so strategic layers got worn, all very earthy and animal!  We had a lovely lunch bought by Sue W.  We have this new deal, the driver gets lunch shouted, so we do it about turn.

On Saturday TOF and I drove to Otorohanga a small town about an hours drive south of Hamilton.  Our mission was the Spares rugby. A cold but sunny day, and a good first half of the game we watched.  One of the Spares team mates dislocated his elbow at the end of the first half.  He couldn't be moved from the field and there was an hour long wait for an Ambulance so the game was called off and announced as a draw.  On our way home we stopped at Kihikihi for a very late lunch and I had to take a photo of the blackboard outside.

While we were out a friend dropped off some cat food for Mr Big, Biggie McBiggles.  How smug does he look on the right, thanks Auntie Vicki xxx.

The wet weather made a variety of Mushrooms grow in all sorts of places in the garden.  Pretty sure none of them are edible. 

You have to know your mushrooms if you intend to eat them or you will trip the light fantastic, get sick or die.  Not keen to try any of the above, I will stick to the ones I know I can eat.

But they sure are all up for having their photo taken!!

Big has been getting to know the great outdoors and is totally loving it.  He is enjoying the neighbours place immensely, it is empty, quiet, and has NO DOGS!

He likes to sit on the fence in between our properties and he has even checked out the roof of our house. TOF got a ladder out to rescue him, but I said, "if he got up there, he can get down" which he did without the need for a ladder and TOF.  

I am happy to discover I do indeed have colour in my garden.  Some is flowering weeds but if they bring colour to the garden they can stay.

My clay Chimmenia is surrounded by ladder fern and Ivy is growing up the bricks, I quite like the look, overgrown and free!

Even the garden rubbish on our trailer is growing, the Nasturtiums I pulled out have seeded and nearly ready to flower. We will have the best looking rubbish when we get this to the dump.  Apparently our trailer offends my mother who has noticed it as she has driven past our house and commented to others.  I think it looks rather good.

On Tuesday the kittens got de sexed so I said goodbye to Tom, the cute ball of fluff and whiskers.  Jerry I picked up and tried my very best to keep calm and resting.  Not a bloody chance.  She climbed, she ran, she rolled, she flipped, she flopped!!

On Thursday I took her to the SPCA as she was more than ready to move on to her forever home.  I intended on having the weekend kitten free but they still have kittens, mothers and kittens, and even pregnant cats arriving.

So I returned home with batch number 3.  A couple of brothers that just need fattening up so not that small.

Meet George and Allan.  George Grey (the grey one) and Allan Black (the black one).  They were a little hissy on the first day but settling into the mayhem of living with us.

Oranges and Lemons!!  I wear the Orange and the Lemons are cropping well on our tree.  Perfect for hot lemon and honey drinks for Winter.

Today while I was out getting tyres on my car, getting things we had forgotten to buy when doing our weekly shop, I called in on a couple of op shops that were on my travel route. This is my little haul for today, scarves, frocks and a brand new glass tea pot.  With some delicious Sushi for my lunch I then drove on out to visit Dawn.

The Beehive Bird Feeders are finished and looking gorgeous.

 Then there is the Cat Bird Feeder.

OMG, and then there are the Forest Goblins.

I think the Forest Goblins might just be my new favourites.

Her kiln was full of other new things being cooked to perfection so I might need to get back out there to take photos of the other delights that are going to come out of it tomorrow.

I am such a nut.  I did take some photos of what I wore today and then promptly deleted them in error.  But believe me the Pink textured tights looked wicked with my Orange boots, and both worked well with the multi coloured frock.

Oscar is getting on well with Big, or should I say has respect.  After a couple of wacks to the face with cat claws he now knows where the line in the sand is.  Sheba on the other hand is still seeing how far she can push the boundary with Big.  Hopefully she will get introduced to the claws soon so life will get quieter and calmer around here with the pets.  Not that Sheba will ever be Calm, I an sure she is ADD, if there is such a thing in dogs!!

This weekend is a long one for us in New Zealand as on Monday we are celebrating Queen Elizabeth's Birthday by having a holiday.  Her real birthday was a month or so ago and she clocked up her 90th. 

"Happy belated 90th Birthday Lizzie

from all of us

down here in NZ"