A few weekends ago there was a festival of tall ships in Auckland harbour and as I am a great fan of tall ships we ventured forth leaving our car at our daughters in Mt Eden and catching the bus with our gold cards right down to the waterfront and there they were inall their wonderful glory. What a sight of those tall masts of 3 ships in a row.
This is the oldest one but Ive forgotten its birthdate. Very early 1900s. I am always amazed at the thoughts of families travelling the seven seas on their way to new lands and new lives. So many months couped up in close quarters with barely the basic necessities. True pioneers.
This is the very stylish younger ship from Australia. We were allowed to go on board and look around but the queues were so long we flagged it.
This little gem was taking people out for small excursions. What fun but we had a date with an old friend.
Past this whale of a work of art on the wharf made out of rubbish, along a floating boardwalk
and we were able to go aboard the R Tucker Thompson. Yes we ave had the delightful pleasure of sailing on her up in the Bay of Islands many years ago and she is still sailing up there and around the pacific islands during our winters.
It was such a wonderful day we had . Setting sail from Russell and glidings serenely around the scattered islands, stopping at one island for lunch and a swim in the crystal clear waters.
We were all encouraged to take a part in the crewing activities and I took the wheel for some of the return trip which was an unforgettable treat.
we headed back to the Cloud just in time to catch this band playing. They played sea shanties and irish songs and reminded me of the old skiffle bands, do you remember. The base player had a half of a 40 gallon drum with his stick and string and had such a grand style I wish I could have caught better.
They were true characters and we thoroughly enjoyed this wind up to a great outing. Of course there was the food too. Bacon and egg rolls for brunch, then the must have Mr Whippy ice-cream and then back to Mt Eden and a coffee at Ironique
Where we shared our muffin with the sparrows. I'll take you there again one day soon for a better look around at this unique cafe.
Back home to the garden and I'm afraid I lost some of my photos during transfer from my phone to laptop so I've changed the focus a bit. Here are the last few blossoms on the cherry tree where I have been clearing the surrounding weedy ground cover and it has been covered with a blanket of mulch home made from tree trimmings that are put through our shredder.
Now this is supposed to be my stumpery, but so far it is just a beautiful earthy stump with no adornment and I'm not sure where to start or indeed whether its worth it as it may be in the way of DHs new shed he hopes to build next year.
The stump is from a Poplar that I planted along with several others when we first moved out here in 1994.
See these twigs coming out of the stump, well that is what I stuck in the ground. They were cut off the tree at pour old home and as they grow quickly from cuttings I thought it would be a good plan to get some trees growing quick and quick they were. Eventually over reaching their limit for our garden and causing problems so they were destined for firewood.
Here is one that has been pruned and ready for felling
Timber!!!
then a big cleanup. At least done in winter there were no leaves to worry about.
So now you see the stumps in the distance and the cleared ground waiting for the mulch.
I rather like this view of the garden with the cinerarias still flowering.
I did plant some roses and with the onset of a storm I thought I should pick the few flowers and enjoy them inside. They are Austins and I just love them.
Next to a special purchase I made of this glorious birdcage. Of course there wont be any live birds in it. I plan to hang a string of pretty fabric birds when I get around to making them
I kept one for my tidy pretty corner of my dressing table along with my latest special op shop find.
another lace basket of the same kind as my other find. They are Italian and so pretty. Just needed a good clean with janola and a old toothbrush.
I'll finish with another drool of my roses. Theres Abraham Darby and Golden Celebration and another I cant remember .
Thankyou for visiting and I hope all is rosy in your part of the world. Blessings, Trills
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