A blog about life in Wellington, New Zealand
Here we are, Monday again and well into the second half of the year. You can feel the days gradually getting a little longer, and while we still need our sweaters and padded coats, there are days where our coats are open and scarves moved to our bags.
After last Saturday’s stormy and very wet weather, which had me at one point running out to move some pots that were flooded with water (and getting soaked in the process which took 5 minutes), the weather has calmed down again, and yesterday and today we have been treated to winter sun. Daytime temperatures hover around 14C, which for someone who grew up in Northern Europe is fine for winter (the locals shiver….).
If we were having coffee…or even a cup of tea…we would, of course, talk about the weather. About flooding in…
ting here on Sunday afternoon, staring out at a damp (but not nearly as bad as yesterday) and grey world. The news is awful just now which ever way you turn, and conversation seems to only be about when we will get our vaccines and how we would love to travel to see loved ones. But then I stop and reconsider the world outside my window – everything is green, the bulbs are coming up, the clouds are clearing a bit (it did rain later), the kākā are calling raucously and there is a shepherd’s pie ready to go into the oven for dinner. Maybe things are not so bad after all.
“The shortest day has passed, and whatever nastiness of weather we may look forward to in January and February, at least we notice that the days are getting longer. Minute by minute they lengthen out. It takes some weeks before we become aware of the change. It is imperceptible even as the growth of a child, as you watch it day by day, until the moment comes when with a start of delighted surprise we realize that we can stay out of doors in a twilight lasting for another quarter of a precious hour.” Vita Sackville-West
Every now and again it is good to do something a little different. On Saturday, as the Matariki firework display was taking place at the waterfront here in Wellington, we went to Nikau Café’s asado night.
There are some weeks that are full of small pleasures, there are some where you have to look for them.…
June 2021 was the hottest on record here in New Zealand. The average temperature for the month was 2C above…
Nothing is better than the small of baking filling the air on a winter’s day. With the excuse that it…
This week began cold and wet, and ended sunny and bright – still chilly, but the sort of weather a…
Thistles and Kiwis 