Farewell 2023

Wishing Blippers everywhere joy, laughter, friendship, happiness, love and a safe, healthy and productive 2024.

We did our usual Sunday morning walk down to the Farmers’ Market but didn’t need much today.  We bought onions, apricots and a rather unusual succulent.  It was a beautiful sunny morning, but as we walked back up the hill we could tell that the weather was changing.  Sure enough, not long before 4pm the sky darkened, the rain started and there was even some hail.  Just after 4.30pm we drove down to the Harbour Precinct to meet friends for a drink and to listen to some music at Craftworks Brewery.  I stuck to ginger beer, as I was driving, but MrMacD enjoyed a couple of beers while we chatted to our friends.  It was raining steadily when we left just before 7pm and we’ve had rain, thunder and lightning all night. We decided that we would hunker down at home, as it would be miserable in the rain at the outdoor venues and the one indoor venue would be crowded.  We were not happy about being indoors in a crowd as Covid is rife in Oamaru at the moment.  So we had supper, ate cherries and chocolate, did Quordle, had a glass of wine, ate more cherries, watched “A Pack of Lies”, opened a bottle of bubbles and welcomed in the New Year by trying to watch the fireworks at Sky Tower in Auckland.  Unfortunately, the website crashed, so we’ll have to watch it on catch up later.

Main blip: fireworks from Sky Tower in Auckland (photo from a friend)
Extra 1: A lovely couple dressed in Victorian gear.  When I asked if they always walked around dressed like that they said it keeps the moths at by
Extra 2: MrMacD’s first dahlia flowering
Extra 3: A cornflower planted by MrMacD; and a lily that popped up unexpectedly 
Extra 4: Blue sky and white clouds this morning; dark clouds and rain this afternoon