ANZAC Day 25th April 2017

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch: be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

by John McCrae (1872-1918)

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Cleaning up after Cyclone Cook

It is nearly midday day here in Hastings, New Zealand.  I am very late today.  I had a good reason.  Our power was out for over 13 hours.  It cut out last night around 9.30 PM, so I just went to bed.  What else is there to do.  So this morning I woke up very early.  And the power was still out.  So no coffee, no hot breakfast.  Just cold water and a cold hot cross bun.  Then the sound of the chain saw started up next door.  And this first image is why.  A tree blown over last night.

Actually the rain started about 10.30 yesterday morning.  That wasn’t so bad.  But towards the early evening, about 7 PM the winds started as the cyclone hit landfall.  It was rather hairy.  The trees were rocking a lot.  The trouble is that there was still a lot of leaves on the branches, so that when they got wet, the trees started getting top heavy.  At one point I heard a bang and the ground shook.  Now I know what that was – this tree falling.

I then went for a walk over in the park – there is a lot of cleaning up to do.

It was strange to wake up to clear blue skies and warm temperatures, with only a little wind after the fury last night.

So we are all ok.  Just a lot of cleaning up to do.  It was funny meeting all the neighbours in our pjs inspecting the damage though.

Thanks for all your concern.

Waitangi Day 2016

Waitangi Day (named after Waitangi, where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed) commemorates a significant day in the history of New Zealand. It is observed as a public holiday each year on 6 February to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document, on that date in 1840. In recent legislation, if 6 February falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the Monday that immediately follows becomes a public holiday.^[1]

Waitangi Day

Christmas Greetings to All

Wishing everyone a safe and happy time.

Raewyn

The Big One – Earthquake Update

Just to let everyone know that I am safe.

Around midnight New Zealand time we had an earthquake, magnitude 7.5 which was felt around most of our country, in both North and South Island.  We were all woken up to find everything shaking, and moving from side to side.  It seemed to last a long time.

My family are all safe.  Thank goodness.  My daughter was alone when it struck which was very stressful – it was a lot worse in Wellington than where I live in Hastings.  She is now with her friends which is a relief.    Her shop, where she works, is closed as it is in the CBD.  She had to go down to check it out, though.  She told me that there is little or no damage.    There are a lot of after shocks, I have just felt another one.

My son didn’t get much sleep and is  also stressed.

So take care my New Zealand blogging friends.  I am thinking of you all.

 

Winter Solstice Sun-up

Thanks for visiting

Mother’s Day: 2016

Just wishing every mother a wonderful day today.

And here are my two wonderful children, both just about to go out to parties.  I am so proud of them.

Thanks for visiting.

 

ANZAC Day 2016

For The Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England’s foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

Robert Laurence Binyon

WWI (1914–1918)

WWI (1939–1945)

The Korean War (1950–1953)

The Vietnam War (1964–1973)

The Gulf War (1990–1991)

The War in Afghanistan (2001–present)

 

Friday’s Florals: Lest We Forget

Thanks for visiting

 

Poppy Day 2016