June 2017

June was that sort of month that slipped quietly by. The weather was still uncertain with rain and hot days intermingled.

The photography has suffered a bit with the rain and the end of the breeding season. I have been out a few times to check on the Bee-eaters. As noted before when the chicks get bigger the provided food gets bigger…we go from bees to large dragonflies…..some appear to be almost as big as the captor. Sometimes the cargo is so tempting the chick misses out.

On the photographic results front I have had some wins. In a recent Australian Photographic Society-run nature open and mammal competition…I won both sections as well as second in the mammals…albeit with older images. 
The Photographic Society of America publishes a Who’s Who in World photography each June. It was based on total acceptances but now there are so many salons they apply some formulae to get an acceptance per entry ratio….that is weighted in a mysterious way There is a certain number of salons that have to be entered however. Previously I have topped the Nature Print section for several years but only managed second in the slide/digital section. I have given up prints but this year I managed to greet the judge in the digital images. I have already tapered off these entries this year as I sense there is a strong odour of commercialism  prevailing.

The two winning images

We have also greeted the judge several times in the pub quiz during the month. We have had a diminished team for several weeks but managed 4^th, 2^nd, 1^st and 1^st. We also got several chunks of money in the Jackpot questions……..enough for us to go to dinner on.

We have had a steady month with BnB guests as well as bookings for July. We also have visits coming up from John Gray (from Pharmacy college) and David and Lyn.

This month Nikki has been in Japan and Dani has had BBC chasing after her for program on woman sports coaches.

Around home our resident orchid pushed out another flower…..it is now firmly attached to a tree so is living it’s preferred life as an epiphyte. Indoors, production of bread and Baileys continues along with Kefir and the new addition…Mango Kombucha. One of the female residents is crazy on Bailey's and will stand on my shoulder and tight-rope walk up my arm to get her tongue in my glass.

It has been a good month for NZ sport with the return of the America’s Cup and a win in the first test against the touring Lions.

I am planning a few weeks in Darwin and Kakadu in October/November this year with two buddies from Singapore. I booked flights via Expedia on Malaysian Airlines. A day later they decided they were dropping Darwin as a destination and suggested I fly to Singapore instead…….I am still battling to get a refund. They blame a computer glitch.

The flight saga took a bizarre turn when I was offered the following;

It was like booking to go to London and being re-rooted to Syria. You will also note the suggested return flights do not connect in time. When I objected.  I got the following note

I have had my own computer glitches. My desktop computer was 7 years old and has been repaired twice. This time the screen went….was patched and went again a week later. My older laptop died earlier in the year. I purchased a new 15 inch MacBook plus and have connected it to a 27 inch Dell Screen. It has taken a few weeks to add programs and connectors which add to the basic cost of the computer.

 Helen and I completed 28 years of marriage during the month. I still owe a dinner but FB reminded me of our 25th Anniversary in Singapore

May 2017

May seemed like a month set-aside for birthdays. Nikki had hers on the 8^th and then Helen had her 60^th birthday on the 17^th. Even Coco got in the act turning 5 during the month.

Helen’s sister and husband Gerry came for the big birthday and stayed for two plus weeks. Dani and Greg also arrived for the birthday….it was meant to be a surprise but some prying eyes had seen a diary entry. We celebrated the birthday in the morning with champagne and pancakes and went to Ferringhi Gardens Restaurant in the evening. 

Later for three nights all six of us went to a resort in Phuket to further celebrate. It was longer by vehicle from the airport to the accommodation that the turbo-jet flight on Firefly from Penang. The resort was relatively new on a hillside behind Karon Beach. Phuket consists of several beaches……………..Patong being the best known ….mainly for sleaze. Karon was a bit ‘less developed’. The resort chalets were around a complex of pools or elsewhere with a bit of a view. One nice afternoon by the pool was rather upstaged by several young, extremely loud (and empty-headed) young American women talking loud nonsense. Obviously Trump voters. We swam, read and snacked by the pool and enjoyed the thrills on the beach. Gerry found a bar where he could watch his beloved Celtic in their final league match for the year….they remained unbeaten.

The Thai boy that comes aboard and guides the kite is not secured at any time during the flight relying on bravado and luck.

We spent one afternoon at Patong Beach….it was rather wet but the rain parted to allow the golf match between Scotland and the Rest of the world….well it was mini golf on a rooftop. Scotland finished in their familiar rugby position. Ann did get most holes-in one though.

Dani and Greg left for Singapore from Phuket and we later returned home.

Helen showed Ann and Gerry the sights of Penang and joined in the pub quiz three times. We had to split the team as only 6 are allowed per team…the ‘Celts Abroad’ won a round or so but the Stratocasters had two wins and a third. 

We had earlier won the Yearly Irish Quiz including the Jackpot which was donated to charity.

Gerry by this time was a high roller at Healy Macs such that the boss allowed him exclusive coverage of Gerry found a bar where he could watch his  Celtic team in the Scottish FA Cup against Aberdeen. Celtic won late in the game.

Gerry would often volunteer to take Coco for a walk. I don't know where they went but now when you are walking the Curly little lady the brakes go on adjacent to Healy Macs

The photography has been curtailed during May with the inclement weather and the car being used to show our guests around. Fruit-eating seemed to be the order of the day. First we had one of our tree fruiting and then a large tree in the Botanic Gardens was attracting main Broad-billed Green Pigeons.

There is a pair of Collared Kingfisher along our end of the walkway that appear in prime condition and I spent a few hours to see if they were nesting (no current evidence for that)

I was surprised when visiting Penanti that one Kingfisher chick had survived and was being fed by Dad. A subsequent visit revealed that Dad was again solo and feeding himself. There are currently about 40-50 Blue-throated Bee-eaters feeding nests or preparing to do so.