Autumn colour already.

9yr old grandson has taken up Futsal. Daughter reported:’Update: first game won 6-0, their coach is now explaining to them that they need to be respectful and when they hit 5-0 they need to pull back and just play defensively’. Competitive but mannered school!

newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/25/m... So Lake Onslow is on again, two and something years after it was cancelled. Privately owned this time.

Just took some mince out of the freezer. Mindful of my privilege. When we were students we used to buy cheap mince at 3lb for 99c. I think I boasted 9 - or was it 12? - different recipes. Never expected mince, mutton flaps, oxtail and knucklebones would become expensive foods.

Do I recall correctly that a few months ago, Seymour was hinting that he may retire and hand over to Brooke VV? Has she cut him off on that one?

Opened up my phone over lunch to very good news for once. Bye bye Brooke VBV.

Sydney daughter has solar going in asap. $A13k for 18 panels and a large battery, enough to be self sufficient, she says. I am moving more slowly but reaching out for quotes for a more complicated installation here.

The man is certainly full of surprises but this one beggars belief.

Trump and Netanyahu launch illegal war of aggression, killing thousands of civilians. Rocket Lab: how can we help? www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/rocket-la...

Sigh. Invitation to a conference in Alicante sent to trash. They do hold them in places I would like to go to. Mostly sthn Europe locations because I think nthn Europeans fancy a jaunt southwards come April each year.

Turns out my self diagnosis of plantar fasciitis in my foot was wrong. Xray today showed an old war wound over 30 years ago that was put down to a sprained ankle, albeit a bad one that needed extended physio, was in fact multiple cracks in my ankle bone that never healed cleanly. Dammit.

We are somewhat of the Hello Sailor generation. Watching the news item about Homegrown with Hello Sailor appearing, Him Here sniffed and said, "How? By seance? "

There I was thinking that rice, by its very nature, is plant-based.

Our baby kereru in the wisteria must be around 4 weeks old now, maybe 31 days and it does at least resemble a kereru now rather than a very small dinosaur.

Increasing talk here that Methanex will leave. Hip hip hooray. They use c45% of gas supply, pay almost no tax in this country, are a blight on the landscape, work to 1980s environmental standards - all for just 150 local jobs. www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

FFS. And if the third enquiry fails to satisfy the anti vax conspiracists, what then?

My contempt for Tama Potaka knows no bounds. He can fuck right off with a report he has clearly not even read.

From the School of Kreatif Spelling, I give you Ztanlee as reported in the Waikato Times.

Still chuckling at Canberra daughter discussing corned beef I served on their recent visit and why it was so much nicer than their childhood memories. "Of course it is ARTISAN CORNED BEEF," she said. I laughed. She pointed out it was small batch homekill so by definition, artisan.

At the beach.

If Luxon goes, what are the chances that he will take the following down with him? a) Willis b) Simeon (because Health is A Mess) c) Goldsmith (Luxon’s dismal Mr Fix-it who fixes nothing) Cheerful thoughts.

I don't usually post about cute kids, but the vid I was sent of my 2 year old granddaughter making a story up on the spot and using different voices for herself and Santa is about as wholesome and innocent as the world can be. Especially as it is about broccoli.

Slightly disturbing that the unprepossessing Chris Bishop, former tobacco lobbyist, decidedly economical with the truth (“I am a tenant so I know what it is like”) is looking like a better option with each passing day.

I may have uncharitably described Dubai as the arse-end of Earth, myself.

Spot bloody well on. www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

The bulbs of February on the cusp of autumn in today 's #garden post. jury.co.nz/2026/03/01/f...

Dear F’ing Seymour, where are the private enterprises offering a viable, competitive alternative service to AirNZ to New Plymouth???? Even an expensive service is better than none.

Why does this make me think of Simon Bridges? And this man defending petrochem waste. www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-dai...

Well look at that! A paramongia from Peru and Bolivia that has sat here without flowering for years stretching in decades. I was a bit stunned that Mark could dredge its species from the depths of his memory banks, never having flowered it.

Ralph would like it known that it was not him who attacked the cyclist just interviewed on RNZ, who was attacked and bitten on the small road that forms our bottom boundary. He has not been impounded, is not a staffy x German pointer and would never dream of biting passing cyclists.

This twat must be one of the most arrogant and stupid men I have seen.

I don't understand why the low NZ dollar is not getting more attention. I feel like if we had a left wing govt, they would be getting hammered. Has it not yet hit at the petrol pump (genuine question - I drive electric)?

Today I learned from the dreaded Facebook that Jacinda Adern, amongst her many other crimes against humanity, had close ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Well who'd 've thunk it? Maybe the same people blaming Tamatha Paul for Wellington's poocalypse.

Slightly tempted by the Temu cabbage blanket

Today's new garden post is not about plants but about our baby kereru. jury.co.nz/2026/02/22/b...

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! There is none so blind as he who will not see.

Is there a particular age and stage in life when people start to gift you decorative teatowels? It used to be limited to English visitors wanting to give a small gift. Now it seems to be so common I have enough to equip my house several times over.

Morning coffee - made by him here - is pretty much double-double strength today. We drink strong coffee - one cup a a day - but this is more akin to a 3 day hit.

The first autopsy my father carried out (late 1930s?) was on a man who died from an infected hangnail or whitlow. I was raised with a very healthy respect for antibiotics.

That piece on how little USA billionaires actually give to charity made me wonder on their definition of charity. Do they conflate charity with lobby money? Pretty sure that happens here.

Bébé kereru in our wisteria. Most of those twigs are the plant. I think the parent just tossed a few twigs on to and thought that'll do.

Let there be flowers for this low-key wedding here. The bride is composing her own bouquet

It seems we can improvise to seat 12 for dinner. But dinner is getting later with delayed flights.

Struggling with Waka Kotahi's road planner. What is the difference between roadworks and area warnings? It seems the route the Frenchies are coming has just one roadworks and 3 area warnings. But yesterday's arrival on same route said about 12 lots of roadworks.

My granddaughter is on her way here via Raglan with her French papa, oncle et grands-parents (her mama flies in tomorrow) for their low-key wedding here on Sunday.

Must be a big fire at the Bell Block beach. We are a good 20km away with very smoky, diffuse light and opaque middle distance. 2 choppers with monsoon buckets trying to contain it, I believe.

Northern accessway into Taranaki totally closed again. Sigh. A major rockfall in the gorge this time. Gee but the provincial toading network looks increasingly fragile.

EXACTLY THIS! Especially when it is big business benefiting.

About 45% of gas produced in this country goes to Methanex, the Canadian multinational. Fonterra is another significant gas user. Just in case you are wondering who stands to benefit most from the planned LNG plant which is to be paid for by me, thee and every other individual user of power.

About to take Dudley dog to the vet which will be less traumatic than vet-phobic Ralph but with worse diagnosis. He is 15, deaf, has bad feet, a heart condition, bad cough and did only knows what else. The feet are the immediate problem.