The Lovely Rusko

 The granpup Rusko is getting to be a big boy now and he loves coming to stay at his Nan-nans.  It might just be all the treats he gets and the pool he can swim in.

So here is a lot of Rusko love from a number of months

A Cross Stitch Swap

Last year I participated in  my first swap for a long time and it was held here within New Zealand.  The swap was a cross stitch Christmas ornament swap and below is what I received from my partner.  The tin of shortbread was so yummy.

This is what I sent to my partner.  I have not cross stitched for so long and this sort of got my mojo back slightly and hubby even bought me a kit for Christmas as he had seen me to this one

 

2023 Mother Nature Loves New Zealand

Hi everyone

At the end of last year I finally splashed out and got my self a new laptop but haven't really used it till the last few weeks, so I thought as it does not take forever to boot I really should focus on my blog again as I won't be screaming blue murder every few minutes. 

So what is happening so far for 2023?

Well what can I say Mother Nature sure loves New Zealand

Three weeks ago I headed up to the Coromandel again to Cooks Beach, however what I posted in my last post from last year, it was nothing like it this time.  We got cabin fever and headed home early as the weather was horrendous. It was the same weekend Auckland got hit hard.

I thought then this was the worse weather I had ever seen, but it was nothing compared to the last week where Cyclone Gabrielle wreaked havoc on us.  

The devastation is awful.  We were hit had up here on the East Coast loosing power, all communications, no eftpos, petrol restrictions (well unless you had cash you couldn't pay anyway) and now on a serious water restrictions, but what the Hawkes Bay has suffered is even more devastating.  There is just no words for it.  

Here at my place in Gisborne we didn't flood, but the night of the worse weather was not a good sleep, and then the worry for other family members or letting family members know you were ok as we had no communication, made for more sleepless nights.  Starlink was the savior for many, as power here in town came on pretty fast for most, so we could all huddle for a few minutes at the council and let people know we were fine.  I up until then had a massive stress headache and drunk so much coffee thinking caffeine will help but did not.  It was the knowing everyone you knew was ok that lessened it.

These photos are from the Wairoa to Napier road.  We will not be travelling down there for many many months to come.

If you go onto Facebook, Shelly Evans Photography has posted these, and hundreds more she has collated and acknowledged the original owners

https://www.facebook.com/shellieevansphotography