A Year in a Life 2022: Sea and Flowers and Snow

A Day in the Life... A Spring Outing

So how's life treating everyone?  Good, I hope. As for me it's pretty much the usual walking, gardening and the occasional outing...

8.00 am

 

And it's an early start to the day as we're off out for the day.  No time for a morning cuppa so we're taking a thermos filled with hot tea and our mugs with us. 

9.00 am

 

A super quick photo op on the side of the road.  It may be spring but some of the trees are still showing there autumn colours. 

10.00 am or a little after

 

And we're in South Dunedin.  Enjoying the view before we take the car in for it's free service, tyre rotation and balance.

11.30 ish

 

Out of the 'city' and visiting Tunnel Beach.  The views are lovely but it's a pretty steep hike down to the bottom.

About half an hour later...

Finally at the bottom and the beach is actually pretty small.  Oh well a quick look and then it's the hike back up.  I'm definitely feeling like I'm going to need a cuppa after this.

This is the tunnel at the bottom that you have to go through and yes it is very steep and very slippery and narrow.

1.00 pm

 

And a cup of tea with a view as we have a stop in the middle of nowhere on our way back home.

2.00 pm

 

Photo op time as we do another stop just outside of Milton.  A pretty field filled with daffodils.

Up close and personal

And an even more up close shot.  This time of bunny. The field was filled with them but sadly they all hopped away the moment I tried to take a photo of them.  Still I managed to get this one as it paused in it's bunny getaway.

4.30 pm.

Home and look at all the loot I got from the Op Shops in Dunedin and Milton.  Super happy with my purchases and I only spent $21.  Now that's my idea of a bargain.

A few minutes later...

A quick check on all the things I'm currently growing in our conservatory and as you can see the strawberry plants seem to be doing well.  Hopefully this year we'll get lots of strawberries.

And corn too.

5.30 pm

A cup of fruity tea in my pretty new-to-me cup and saucer which I got for $5 from a local op shop.  While I'm relaxing Other Half is making us a quick tea of scrambled eggs on rye toast.  Super yum

6.30 pm... ish

And another gorgeous sunset to end the day on.  Weirdly this was more super bright pink in the sky.  Why my camera turned it to orange I have no idea.  Still really pretty though.

A Day in the Life... A Summer's Day

If it seems like ages since I've done one of these well that's because it is.

Still I'm here now with more slightly wonky photos and a day in the life of me.  This time round it's summer and I'm actually doing something more than gardening, reading and jigsawing.  Shock, horror I know.

8.00am

 

Awake wide and up early for a change and it's gorgeous blue skies outside.  Time to get up and do some early morning gardening before it gets too hot. 

 

A few minutes later...

... a hot cup of blueberry fruity tea to start the day and it's in my pretty new mug that one of my super lovely friends gave to me for Christmas.  Seems appropriate considering all the gardening I've been doing.

9.00am

Lettuces are doing well...

... as are the carrots...

 

Just ignore all the weeds which as always are a constant battle.

10.00am

Harvest of carrots, lettuce, tomatoes and radishes picked and ready for dinner and snacks latter on tonight. 

11.00am

 

Freshly showered and dressed and on the road for a summer's day outing and not another person to be seen for miles.

Mid-day-ish

 

A walk through the fields atop a hill and this is the view you get near Fortrose.  The beach on the other side looks amazing.  Sadly it's impossible to get to.

1.00pm

 

Back on the road again and a quick stop for a photo op of fields of gold.  So pretty.

2.00pm

 

Another photo op and a walk along Colac Bay.

3.00pm

 

Further along the coast at the bottom of the South Island.

4.00pm

 

Monkey Island. Why it's called that I have no idea. Still it's nice to walk out to it before the tide comes in and cuts it (and us) off from the mainland.

6.00pm

Back home and salad for dinner, courtesy of our garden and some free range hens.

7.00pm

A cup of tea and one Coupland Bakery yummy chewy gooey soft chocolate chip cookies to round out the day.  So yum that I just might have another one.

8.00pm

 

Horizontal on the couch and watching season 2 of The Witcher.  Swoony feels and touch of sword fighting.  Perfection.

A Year in a Life: 2021... Sunrises, Sunsets, Socks and Snow Plus One Very Ginger Cat

Nova Scotia: A Magical Misty Wonderland

And here we are.  Finally a post about Nova Scotia.  Land of rocks and more rocks and really pretty houses.

Like seriously pretty.  All in pretty colours and looking like something out of Little Women or a Gothic romance novel.

Halifax, the main town, turned out to be a pretty drab which was a bit surprising and kind of disappointing but luckily we spent most of our time out of Halifax sightseeing.

Once again hiring a car for a few days turned out to be one of the best decisions we made as we were able to visit some of the lovely little villages and coves that are scattered along the coastline.  Without a car we would have been stuck in our hotel room, watching endless rounds of Love It Or List It and eating Tim Horton's cookies.

Luckily we managed to avoid this fate and the rainy mist helped to make our travels even more magical. 

From misty magic to rocky shores, one of the best places we visited was Peggy's Cove.  It's a big tourist attraction and can get really crowded but as we were there in the off season it was lovely and quiet.  Absolutely perfect for us.

Much walking and taking of photos was once again involved before we rewarded ourselves  with a hot chocolate (for me) and a lobster roll (for him).

Because yes yummy food and drink are always the best way to round out a day's outing.

With such lovely houses everywhere I even played around bit practicing my photography skills.  Something I desperately need to do more often.

Even with my rather haphazard approach to taking pics i.e. point and shoot I'm pretty happy with the results.

Now I just wish i could have a little house like the one below.

Peace and quiet, beautiful scenery and colourful houses - what more could you ask for.