Does your giftee like cats? There's 15% off Kat's Nip and Fluffy Balls til the end of the month! Home-grown, hand-made. katsnip.nz #nzpets

It's just hot air without targeted funding available to more than just DOC. Pest control is expensive if you're self-funding. Not to mention the investment in research. Generally, this government isn't investing in the science, people, tools, or communities required to make this remotely realistic.

Hey there Aotearoa Bluesky fam. I can replace a collar on your fave, worn out shirt. Usually this is friends & family only but it's *such* a good "person who has everything" Christmas gift and I can fit 2-3 in before then if you mail em in. I've got navy, black & white linen.

Dear #SecretSantaAoNZ. I would be delighted with home-made, second-hand, and eco-conscious gifting of all kinds. I've been answering @witchnwords.bsky.social questions, so they're not far to scroll if you want any of those answers. My website might have clues too. It's linked in my bio.

Did you decide you couldn’t play #SecretSantaAoNZ this year because you just didn’t have the spoons and/or the finances to manage this year? We know it’s been a tough one and secret Santa is about spreading joy, so if you would like to receive a gift, get in touch with an elf today!

Oh! I just got my giftee and I am actually excited about doing something nice for them! Yay! #SecretSantaAoNZ

Ah, don't send me live bees, cassava, or kiwifruit, I'm allergic 😅 Turns out my body doesn't process sugar too well, so perhaps keep that in mind. I can eat little bits occasionally, but I'd classify that as a restriction these days. #SecretSantaAoNZ

It's too hot, and too bright, and I need the shade of a tree. Good thing I planted this one in 2019 then.

TL;DR: we're paying $45 million more to get smaller boats. Also, the regime isn't funding as much landside stuff, leaving it for a future government to pay for www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

In gardening jobs, I got the paprika planted in the garden and covered today. Looks like I'll need to practice my darning on the bug net though!! Next job must be bed prep for the spuds

I found fresh sweetcorn at New World today and purchased one. $2.99ea, but at this time of year the price doesn't matter as much as the fact that CORN IS BACK!

I bake; garden (though is it a hobby when you're paid to do it?); read (see StoryGraph user 'katjnz'); and needle felt. I suppose we could also count my pest-trapping in our bush block, and the tracks I'm cutting (weed control) there. I enjoy spending time there. #SecretSantaAoNZ

Hey authors! Check to see if Anthropic stole your book to train their slop generator on. You’re entitled to $1500 per stolen Work. Look up your work, and if you’re in the database, file a claim secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup/

Update: mail thief has the balls. He is currently rolling on them. @kats-garden.nz

I send my catnip with a warning sticker because this isn't the first time. But it is amongst the most impressive stories I've heard 😆

A reminder that sign-ups close tomorrow for #SecretSantaAoNZ You've still got time to be part of the joy. We know this year is a lot, and we want to remind everyone that it's the thought that counts far more than the $$.

Managed to:— 🥜 sow the peanuts and protect them from chickens 🍓 harvest and weed the strawberry bed 🌱 weed the next bed to be planted before the rain 🌧 rolled in 💪 And now I am gonna make a sandwich and dive into a book for a couple of hours.

I wear earrings, rings, and (long) necklaces, no sensitivities. I have my ears pierced. I rarely wear pins. I have a sensory thing with stuff around my wrist and ankle, or too tight around my neck. I like simple, but a bit quirky. Fruit/veggie theme would be delightful. #SecretSantaAoNZ

Ah dangit. Both the pheasant chicks died last night 😢

Plants (obvs), all kinds. Books—particularly books about plants. Cookbooks for using large quantities of things like fruit and eggs. Showa 305 gardening gloves in size M (I have a lot of them, and I am always happy with a new pair). Abandoned animals, but probably don't send one of those please.

I have distributed 3 strings of white lights on the pine nut tree and will have absolutely no idea how well I did until the sun goes down. I got pretty high, but not right to the top. It took 90 minutes and I think there's around 90-100m of lights on it. Still a coloured string to throw on later.

Starting to think about shopping small and local for presents? I make all my products myself, mostly from fabrics I've designed myself. You can find my homewares at birdandbeach.co.nz, which is the business I run with my husband. (You can also follow us here at @birdandbeach.bsky.social.)

Car has achieved its Warrant for another year without going over budget, and I am very happy about that.

We talking about shopping small? I am small. I also donate a portion of my art product sales to conservation efforts, so my best to reduce waste and produce locally, and make good art that people seem to like 💜💜💜

Bless my mechanic. "This is a panel beater job. We can remove it entirely and it'll pass the WOF, but it'll look ugly." Me: "look at it, it's already ugly, I just want the pass" 😆

Three days left to sign up for #SecretSantaAoNZ Playing or not, I always enjoy the random kindness and joy that it brings to the timeline. Kindess and community matter so much at the moment. So if you've been meaning to, get on it at secretsanta.nz

Tahetoka Limited (my very small business) is expanding. Our team is now offering Bookkeeping services with a focus on Māori Pakihi and Charitable Trusts. Ensuring we get mahi done quickly with pricing that works for you. Interested? Let us know. tahetoka.nz/bookkeeping

The baby pheasants are eating worms! This bodes well!! (We feed them in the sink so they can't run off and any mess is contained. Syringe feeding is messier than worms 😅)

AoNZ folks, do you have any advice on dog transport to AoNZ? Husb & youngest kid & I are looking at spending a year-ish (at least) there in 2027 & I hear we should start looking early. One dog is brachycephalic (flat-faced), which makes things more complicated.

The chicks are out, and Hine came to say 'hey'.

I just finished this survey for Ayesha Verrall, List MP - Wellington Issues Survey. I'm not one to miss an opportunity to give my thoughts, if they're daft enough to ask for them... Check it out! mp.org.nz/survey/OSWV

Golden yellow like a sunflower. Green, but especially in the olive-type shades. #SecretSantaAoNZ

GST, income tax, the actual cost to produce the product, Shopify fees, AfterPay fees if you use AfterPay, packaging costs, advertising costs, etc. It’s a lot.

Might try to put some Christmas lights on the pinenut tree today. It was already taller than the ladder last year so in some ways I'm a bit dreading it this time round, but I've already spent $70 on new lights at Bunnings so I guess I'm committed...

Earlier today, R flushed a mama pheasant with the ride on mower. Long story short, there are two baby pheasants tweeting in my hoodie pocket.

I never do sales, but I'm doing a big Christmas sale this year! Shop #kikorangi local, support an artist, and give unique gifts that always hit with their recipient! Get in and snag bundle deals, marked down tees, and restocked items that were previously sold out: pepperraccoon.com/collections/...

Cannot tell you how long R and I stood in Bunnings trying to figure out the difference between two differently-priced but identically-speced door knobs before we realised they were a slightly different shape. The more expensive one was slightly flatter 🙄

Not quite sure whats happening in your garden want a good overview and some solid advice www.growfromhere.co.nz/garden-consu...

Does anyone want peppermint plants or herbs makes a great tea or room freshener. Grows well recommend planting in pots. Collect or provide postage

Love a good espresso-grind coffee. Almonds and cashews are fab too. Appreciating a nice dark chocolate more these days. I'm trying to minimise high total carbohydrate snacks (>20g/serve) for health reasons though. #SecretSantaAoNZ

We have 2 dogs (Roxy and Hine), 3 cats (Samurai, Sabre, and Patu), 9 chickens, 1 rooster, and 5 cows. I make cat toys, so they're good. The dogs are spoiled. The cows are hard to shop for. But I do have trouble keeping the chooks out of the garden! 😅

Moved my Kiwisaver to a defensive fund. Now digging through my funds in Sharesies to see if they're invested in AI. Interesting to see that the "Global Responsibility Fund" lists Nvidia, Alphabet, Apple, and Microsoft at the top of the list, so it's getting yeeted today. I'll take 120% return.

Baby Christmas tree has been a bloody marathon. Two failed attempts, and this one is taking forever, but it's finally starting to look like a Christmas tree. Each one of those leaves takes about 20 minutes.

Setting up the mara kūmara today. Making a custom frame for the garden bed out of invasive Taiwan cherry to keep the chooks off.

**PRICE DROP ON BUTTER!!!** It's $7.90/500g at Woolworths. $7.89/500g at New World.

One. But if we substitute "Blockbuster" for "United Video", then zero.

New candles acquired 🙃

If you aren't seeing skeets from some of your fave people, they might have been labeled "Rude" by bsky mods. Idk what they are thinking, I don't need a mommy to tell me who to be buddies with. Anyway, go into Settings > moderation > bluesky moderation (advanced) and turn Rude off.

Holy shit. Second time in a week, whole of the Far North is out.

Cool cool. Another power cut, but at dinner time, just as everything is ready to be cooked in the electric appliances 🤬