Monarch

Once again I enjoyed a very leisurely breakfast. The sun was out but oh boy! - the temperatures have dropped. There's a real autumnal feel in the air and whilst I know it won't last too long it was a bit of a shock.

An old friend Tony dropped in to say 'Hi' during the morning. He emigrated to Australia about 12 or more years ago and is back for a short visit. He's cycle touring on a massive motorbike and is about to head over to Golden Bay then down the West Coast. When he 'appeared' seemingly out of nowhere, decked out in full body suit and full face helmet my heart flipped, reminding me of a time many years ago when I similarly clad total stranger walked into my house late one night. It turned out he was being pursued by the cops so ducked into 'somewhere' to try to get away from them. The somewhere was my house. Fortunately Tony said his name very quickly - maybe he'd seen the fearful look on my face!

Anyway, it was nice to spend an hour sitting in the sun and catching up. It hardly felt like any time at all had passed since he left all those years ago!

Managed a little gardening in the afternoon and, most importantly, mowed the lawns. That alone makes such a h-u-g-e difference to the way the garden looks and the way I feel. I'll have to do a bit more weeding and tidying after work each day to get the garden looking the way it deserves to look. It'll be good to spend even just half an hour out there each day.

Whilst I was in the garden I noticed that there seemed to be so many monarchs fluttering around , I just had to chase one down with the camera. This is definitley worth a look large - the texture of his wings is incredible.

Back to work tomorrow.

PS: No monarch was hurt in the taking of this image! He simply sat and posed for me :)

Back blips from last few days here if you're interested:

French Pass

Hitchhiker's guide to the Sounds

If you go own to the woods today . . . .

Tahuna sunset