The business of being busy.

The ripples in the pond create the MOST amazing reflections  ... just love it!

Busyness is a CHOICE.

Yes.

I choose to be busy.

Both “lively and meaningless” busy and 

“serious and with intent” busy.

It stops the mind from wandering into territories unfruitful.

It creates conundrums though that are difficult to solve.

There are after all ONLY 24 hours in a day.

Prioritising has become the new norm.

Whilst rambling hasn’t ceased

cataloging and editing all the photos I snap has.

Briefly.

With the return of a colleague from long leave next week,

I’m anticipating that cataloguing can begin again in earnest.

Just in time for the summer markets,

of which there are many.

I LOVE the markets.

Having a little kerfuffle with Fern in the waves
and yes .... "kerfuffle" is a REAL word.

As daylight saving kicks in, so has the sunshiny weather.

Blue skies, cotton wool clouds and sunshine!

A vitamin D overload.

I’m not complaining.

A happy hound and a happy snapper go hand in hand.

Despite the hours we’re working we’ve rambled far and wide.

The Tamaki Estuary 

Panmure Basin 

Churchill Park

Point England Reserve

 and my very favourite beach!

Variety is the spice of life they say.

I think the hound agrees.

I said
"Do NOT go in the water"
She said
"What water?"
I said
"THAT water"
She said
"Ohhhh .... THAT water ..... ooops."

I’ve needed these fun and fabulous rambles.

I’ve needed to soak up the sunshine and reflections

and bask in the beauty of the unexpected.

Like this Shag this week..

Everything was perfect

It was a light, camera, action moment.

He popped out of the waves to grace me with the most magnificent shot.

All I had to do was press the shutter.

Perfection in an imperfect world.

“This is what I like about photographs.  

They’re proof that once, 

even if just for a heartbeat, 

everything was perfect.”

~ Jodi Piccoult

This week's super moon was AMAZING. 

Dance. Smile. Laugh.

Browns Island in the early morning sunlight

Abraham Lincoln once said 

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, 

or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”

I want to think like that EVERYDAY.

The power of the mind is a marvelous tool.  We are WHAT we think and have the ability within ourselves to change our lives .... IF we choose to.

Dance. Smile. Laugh. 

Marvel at the ABSURDITIES of life. 

Of which there are many!

The home we’re currently in shares a property with 2 other units.  They’re all inter-linked but very private.  One of the units is currently undergoing renovation but said renovation is causing much mischief!

In order to renovate the unit scaffolding had to be erected in OUR driveway ... which is VERY narrow. The unit being renovated doesn’t use the driveway to access their garages, but both us and the other unit do.  In order to support the weight of the scaffolding they wanted to put a support pole in front of our garage doors.

Understandably we wouldn’t let them as the renovation is be on-going until the end of February.  As an alternative, they’ve erected support scaffolding in the garden of the next door neighbour.  That’s where the fun begins. 

The Shag Tree ... and nest!

Next-door neighbour, despite having agreed to it, is a tad aggrieved at the size and quantity of scaffolding in his garden.  He’s also frustrated at the noise and dust emanating from the renovation

 ... as are we.

A breeding pair of Pied Shags.

He wrongly assumed it was us doing the renovations and took his frustration out on the plant material which is growing under the scaffolding but over the dividing wall.  Years and years of growth get lopped off and dropped onto our driveway.

We couldn’t even OPEN the garage door.

One phone call or knock on the door would have cleared up any misunderstanding but instead we had a driveway FULL of plant debris to clear up.

Remembering to view roses as thorn bushes with flowers made me smile.  

Even our taciturn neighbour MUST have some good qualities!

Odin, a 5month old Golden Lab we met ... this is what Sam must have looked like when he was younger.

Life is very much an art form with artists from all walks of life  adding to the canvas that it IS.  

Be in love with your life however imperfect it might be!

Nico's been practising his rugby in secret!

“Keep looking up ... that’s the secret of life ...”  

so says Snoopy

Art is DEFINITELY in the eye of the beholder.

Mother Nature blows my mind.

It’s been the first weekend in I don’t know how many months that I haven’t been working or participating in a market or fair.  I’ve slept late, rambled longer, had numerous caffiene fixes and tasted temptation at a newly discovered coffee haunt.

Temptation of the Donut kind.

I’m in love with weekends like this.  

So is the hound.

I’ve watched a Tui have breakfast, a Pied Shag fishing in the waves and a Sparrow plucking seeds from a Sunflower.

Simple moments .... but beautiful.

Everyday kind of moments

My kind of moments.

.

Today I’ve seen colourful blooms in abundance, in every variation of colour, shape and size.  When Mother Nature opens her petals to the world, she does it in style. Summer is the BEST time to witness this floral proliferation of  Mother Nature so a visit to the Botanic Gardens was in order.

It was an educational visit in a way too as the Significant Other hasn’t been there before.

Time to broaden his horizons.

The hound’s been there frequently so she knew EXACTLY what to expect.

What I didn’t expect was for her to SWIM in the fountain.  

She’d already had a swim in the pond in the off-leash area of the gardens 

so was nice and cool as we ambled back up through the rose gardens.  

Obviously NOT cool enough though.

Swimming in the fountain aside, it was a magical morning.  

The Sculpture in the Gardens Exhibition is on at the moment 

with some weird and wonderful pieces.  

Art is DEFINITELY in the eye of the beholder as some of the sculptures left me baffled.

One of my favourites would have to be the steel parasols suspended between two trees

 ... seven of them.  

So fragile and dainty to look at but made of rusted steel!

Mother Nature even came to play in the exhibit titled

 “Regeneration: Oak Garden Fork and Oak Garden Spade” 

Is it neglectful gardening or magical realism?  

Whatever it is, it depicts an inability to stop Mother Nature unless we work in harmony with her laws. It’s a playful look at the false notion we have that man dominates the world. 

So clever.

Days like this .... MOMENTS like this ... are just SO necessary.

No GOMS, no Dog Wardens, no Traffic Wardens.

My kind of heaven.

“Whatever’s good for your soul ... do that.” 

~ unknown