Tag: flowers
Wordless Wednesday: Nature Photos 4
Wordless Wednesday: Nature Photos 2
NZ Day 6: Auckland Botanic Gardens & Melanie’s Other Garden
I’ve seen so many flowers today I think I have flower fatigue. (I know I have people fatigue – I’m snappy – and need some quiet time with my BFFs: me, myself, and I.) I tried to keep the pictures interesting and hope you enjoy them. I have my favorites but will leave you to pick your own.
Auckland Botanic Garden
Melanie’s Other Garden
NZ Day 5: J Chillin
My oldest son & his girlfriend arrived today and we planned, shopped for, and prepared a big American-style BBQ, so I stayed back to help with some of that. The other group went for dim sum and then to One Tree Hill, and a beach. Taking advantage of this time, late in the afternoon after I made cole slaw, my contribution to dinner, I wandered around Melanie’s garden and took these pictures. The iPhone 7’s experimental portrait mode (with depth effect) isn’t just for human subjects. 
NZ Days 3 & 4: The Boat
We left Auckland Harbour and headed out for an island with property owned by our hosts Bill’s friend, who was also with us along with his wife. So on the boat we the four of us (Ky & I, Ethan, Henry), Bill, Bobby & Regan & Ronald (Bill & Melanie’s sons), 4 of Bobby’s friends, Bill’s friend & his wife.
I only have these pictures from the 1st day of fishing (day 4 of our trip) because I tried to keep pace drinking wine with Bill and his friend over dinner. I’m not supposed to drink on the medicine that I take, so the next day didn’t go well for me at all. I spent most of the day between the bed and the toilet on the boat (3 bedrooms, 2 toilets, a small kitchen-table-lounge area, then the upstairs with the controls & a lounge area). I do know that at one point Ky caught a small shark and someone has a picture of him with it, but other than that the fishing wasn’t that great. When we headed back to Auckland, the seas got really rough. So rough that I could no longer lay on the bed without worrying about hitting it hard enough to feel the platform beneath it. I dragged myself to the table, had some toast, and tried to keep it together for the 2 hour trip back to Auckland. Today, the day after, I still kind of feel like I’m on a rocking boat when I close my eyes. Lesson learned: don’t drink too much when you’re out on a boat with no other way back to land.
The 4th, General Update, Trip/Garden Pictures
Happy Independence Day my fellows Americans! Today’s going to be a low-key day for me since I’ve already been to the requisite cook out (yesterday), have seen plenty of fireworks (Disney World fireworks have ruined me for all others), and it’s supposed to rain here. For some flag-waving variety, here’s the flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 that inspired Francis Scott Key to write our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner. More info about the flag at the Smithsonian, which has the flag in its collection.
I’ve been plugging away on my two knitting WIPs and making steady progress. I finished the Hourglass Cowl Scarf over the weekend. We drove up to New Jersey (central NJ, near New Brunswick) to spend time with my in-laws, so I finished it at my sister-in-law’s house. I need to weave in the ends and maybe add fringe (or maybe not), and wash and block it, so I’m not posting pictures of the FO just yet.
My Old Town Cardigan (aka Future Favorite Two) is at a really ugly looking stage: I’ve put the body on stitch holders (scrap yarn) and am knitting the sleeves 2 at a time in the round. It looks like a mess, like I’m knitting a Thneed from Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax, but I made lots of progress on the sleeves in the 3 hour car ride to NJ, at my SIL’s, and during the ride home. The pattern doesn’t have decreases in the sleeve and I don’t think I put decreases in my first Old Town, but I may need to with this one. My gauge is a little bit larger than what the pattern calls for and I think I’d rather not have two giant sacks hanging off the body. I need to poke around in other people’s project notes on Ravelry to see if anyone else has added decreases and/or just add my own.
When I wasn’t knitting, I was taking pictures. I posted most of these to Instagram also. While I have the Instagram widget set up on my blog, I suspect most of you read it the way I read blogs – through WordPress, email, BlogLovin, and various other readers that don’t load the whole WP page. I know I could force everyone to read it that way, but I really hate it when I’m on a mobile device and someone has done that. So. Here are the pictures in mostly the order I took them – my apologies if you’re seeing them twice (or just uninterested). Also, all of them are presented as-shot, with no filters or adjustments, and all were taken with Camera+ on my iPhone 6.
