My four-day weekends are a lot more productive and it's great to see actual progress happening on the section despite the soggy conditions. The winter storm that brought flooding to many parts of Aotearoa whipped over Rakiura on Wednesday night and although we've had about 10mm rain most days for a week or so, it's far less than New Plymouth (96mm yesterday) and Whanganui with 88mm. Kia kaha to all those affected by the flooding and I hope the sun shines soon for you.
It was also interesting comparing sunrise/sunset times (found on the MetService website) for the shortest day...
Auckland: sunrise 7.34am, sunset 5.12pm
New Plymouth: sunrise 7.42am, sunset 5.08pm
Wellington: sunrise 7.45am, sunset 5.01pm
Christchurch: sunrise 8.02am, sunset 5.01pm
Invercargill: sunrise 8.31am, sunset 5.06pm
...I thought both sunrise and sunset times would be affected but looks like we just miss out on an hour of light in the morning!
I was on firewood duty again this weekend; I sawed, stacked and moved a heap of branches and also put a roof on the lean-to and made a couple of covered drying areas out of pallets and tarpaulins.
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| Tools of the trade for cutting up the branches |
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| New roof on the lean-to plus a drying area for kindling |
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| Pallets come in really useful for makeshift woodsheds |
I hadn't intended clearing this area behind the woodshed but I could have a load of soil being delivered so needed to move it out of the way...
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| This heap has now gone - most of it to the large woodpile on the drive |
Of course, working with wet and rotting wood means that there are photo opportunities too!
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| Hedgehog jelly, Pseudohydnum gelatinosum |
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| Yellow slime mould with 'wriggler' and pink collembola |
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| Unusual fungi - haven't worked out what this one is yet |
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| Bright yellow fungi - looks like sulphur |
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| My little friend checking out the sawhorse |
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A watery sun hiding behind the rimu trees at 10.30am - it doesn't rise in
the sky very much at this time of year |
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A native weevil - identified by Stephen on NatureWatch as a species
of Psepholax or Pit weevil |
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| Noticeable ginger facial 'hair' |
