After having fun taking way too many fungi photos I decided to join http://www.inaturalist.org to identify some of them. When I posted this photo, which I think you have already seen, I found myself chosen as photo of the day for this worldwide website which has thousands of uploads a day. Posted on their website, Instagram and Twitter we are now famous for these lovely green mushies. Random but kinda cool 😎
I have been trying to get down to Christchurch to see mum for a while but Covid and losing friends and health surprises kept getting in the way. I knew mum was starting to forget things when I was down last and she is 89 but this time I am shocked at how much short term memory is gone. It’s upsetting and difficult for her because in every other way she is fine and with it. Day one she forgot what day it was and took her medication twice. By day 3 we realised she can never manage her own meds again but getting reliable 7 days a week help is incredibly difficult. Food has become a real issue as she forgets what she bought and buys it again and forgets she ate and forgets she has diabetes and buys a huge can of V forgetting she has AF and heart issues. So my trip has extended. The house is very cold in winter but double glazing is out of the question as is a heat pump so I have been clambering over furniture and boxes to install the insulation film and line the curtains. Zipping around in Mums wee car till last night I noticed the warrant was 3 months out of date. Lined up in the rain this morning to get one, it only took 2.5 hrs so just enough time to get to the airport for my flight back. I am exhausted and worried about how she will cope. Everyone here is still working full time and live out of town so it’s a challenge. I think I will be back sooner than I think. Hopefully next time I will have a few moments to catch my breath and spend a wee bit of time enjoying Chch maybe catch up with some old friends.
Linde passed away on Feb 22nd in Seattle. She was a very special friend to me, someone I could talk to for hours and never run out of things to talk about. Irreverent with an awesome sense of humour. A friend of the heart who welcomed me into her family. Everyone called her Supernana and she was a Supernana in every sense of the word, a supercarer of everyone she loved, a tiny powerhouse who was always on the move taking care of everyone who needed her. With heavy oxygen bottle in tow she would never let anything slow her down. Linde your legacy lives on in all our hearts and memories. I wish I could have come back to see you but you knew I was thinking of you. ❤️❤️❤️
In between rain storms and cyclones I took a trip to Mokaihaha Ecological Reserve about an hour out of Rotorua. Stunning huge moss covered trees and ferns, the path leads down a very steep muddy path to a lake of perfect reflections and back up paths made of tree roots and steep clay banks. This is one of a few places you can find the blue mushrooms that grace our $50 bill. Like a treasure hunt it’s so much fun to look for them and find some perfect specimens. The torrential rain has destroyed most of them but we love in hope that a few weeks of fine weather will bring out more.
The last storm, Cyclone Gabrielle, that came through last night did so much damage to the forests around Rotorua with dangerous sodden trees still coming down. I think it will be a few weeks till I venture back. We are lucky we are so much further inland here and the wind and rain was so much less.
I am slowly getting back to normal, whatever normal is, but my fitness took a hit. Bike will get dusted off as soon and the roads dry out and the mud level goes down a bit.
So I finish the antivirals (yuk) and find I have gastritis .. probably from the antivirals. Got worse and worse and they tell me it may be up to three weeks to improve, then this morning feel even worse and flu like so I test …. Bloody positive again. WTF. I feel like I have spent the whole of 2023 in bed. Weather has been awful so I haven’t missed much but I have read 1.3m books and the news is not worth reading. I need to escape soon! I have booked and cancelled my trip to Christchurch again – it’s the whole Hotel California thing again – you can check out any time you like but you can never leave.
What a start to the year… and just when I thought it might finally stop raining I get COVID – I am day 7 and still wiped out and testing positive so it’s going to take longer than anticipated to get back to normal. I feel like I have slept almost all of 2023 so far.
But then tonight, still feeling grumpy and tired I looked outside and saw a wee secret rainbow pop out and then disappear. Maybe something is telling me to stop looking at the dark grey clouds and see the rainbows of possibilities inside them.
Wishing everyone every happiness and peace for 2023. It’s been a very hard Christmas losing a good friend and going into the New Year with helping plan a funeral. Unfortunately there are no florists open in Rotorua till Jan 9th and all the suppliers are closed so the closest flower farm is in Auckland but no couriers so my job on Tuesday is to drive to Auckland and pick up the flowers in time for the funeral Wednesday. Only 3 hours each way with the new motorway, so long as I miss the traffic. At 93 Pauline deserves an abundance of flowers at her funeral and I am determined to make it happen. Smart as a whip and a glorious sense of humour she will be missed.
It’s been so wet It’s almost like living back on the west coast. One day of sunshine this week and back into the endless rain. At least it’s not as bad as the poor Aussies whose swimming pools are now full of tadpoles and frogs. My poor garden has been challenged and somehow the plants I don’t want have flourished while the rest have drowned.
It’s that time of year that I wish I had grandkids to have a reason to get out and enjoy the festivities rather than avoid them. I would borrow some if I could and head to the beach. However I am headed for the other end of the spectrum with planning Christmas get togethers with my orphaned over 90s.
Yaap is a local celebrity, emigrated to NZ from holland in 1949 and worked at forestry research institute here. He has a huge native bush project along a stream and springs that flow into lake Rotorua that he has been working on for last 30 years reclaiming it from invasive blackberry, barberry and gorse. Now over 90 he is an inspiration and font of knowledge for others. Kor and Hettie are also Dutch and in their late 80s, Kor is a UN specialist on carnivorous and air plants, just two doors down from us they are also going to join us for lunch. I have never cooked a Dutch meal before so it’s going to be fun and challenging.
Luckily I am feeling better and have had almost a week back to normal, fingers crossed Zebo is finally gone. I think I lost most of 2022, I have read a whole library of books but really done very little. I hope next year is much more active, I am looking forward to getting back on the bike and heading back to Christchurch to catch up with family.
Zebo had been watching too many terminator movies and came back, now he is just hanging around and leaping out when I least expect it. But little by little he is being beaten back and I am holding out hope to eventually banish him permanently.
It’s been non-stop wet and wild weather which has devastated the garden. First the late frost that wiped out all the plum and nectarine blossom so no crops this year. The spuds have sort of recovered but the nonstop rain has stunted their growth and for my other veges what isn’t struggling is bolting. The lawn just died completely and is now mud and random weeds. At least some of the weeds are flowering. Hopefully the rain will stop in a week or two and I can start complaining about the drought.
The azaleas and Rhodies have been hammered but I did get some photos in before they disappeared.
OMG I couldn’t believe it when the path of the hurricane was straight into Fort Myers. My heart goes out to my dear friends who have had their home devastated. I am stunned, I must admit I was hoping that Buccaneer estates would be spared. I just look,at this and wish I could be there to help with the rebuild. ❤️
The Traveling Kiwi 