Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Merry Christmas, Blossoms

Paul Campbell

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 22:23:00 +1300

And a belated new year from almost the last place on earth to get it – may your's be more stable than last year

BenWilson

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:42:06 +1300

Happy New Year, everyone.

Lucy Stewart

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 10:41:53 +1300

Pohutukawa is apparently causing trouble in California and South Africa!

When I landed in San Francisco in August 2010 – my first time in America – I could not believe how many pohutukawa there were. It was a bit weird, like New Zealand had unexpectedly followed me overseas.

Lilith __

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 23:39:54 +1300

Is this a good place to plug Project Crimson? A charitable trust that promotes the conservation and planting of pohutukawa and rata.

As their factsheet states, the natural range of the pohutukawa is the north of the North Island (North from New Plymouth in the west and Gisborne in the…

JacksonP

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:29:27 +1300

We spent a relaxing hour down there watching the gannets diving for fish.

Missed this earlier. Great capture.

JacksonP

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:28:06 +1300

Jaysus in a sock

Isn't that Max Headroom?

"Bob hope's the Pope."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmWZseVWxN4

Russell Brown

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:07:48 +1300

What lovely pohutukawa you have m’dear.

Not my doing, of course :-)

Amazingly, the blooms are more than 50% gone up here now. The Christmas window slams shut pretty quickly.

Hebe

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:03:54 +1300

What lovely pohutukawa you have m'dear.

Hebe

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:01:50 +1300

Jaysus in a sock http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8978914/Woman-sees-face-of-Jesus-in-sock.html

nzlemming

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 20:05:31 +1300

We go up to Otaki once a month-ish to the regional organiser's farm. She has 3 of her own and has been known to foster or board up to 4 more at any one time. She also has a set of paddocks we can run the dogs in. They have…

Sacha

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:22:06 +1300

Mt Eden?

Jackie Clark

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:20:02 +1300

Where do you take her to run? Or is she over all that?

nzlemming

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:19:55 +1300

Indeed. Total sooks ;-) We got ours through Greyhounds As Pets, which finds home for dogs coming out of the racing industry. Perfect pet for a sloth like me :-D

Jackie Clark

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:58:30 +1300

I love greyhounds. Beautiful gentle animals, they are.

John Farrell

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 16:47:08 +1300

The pohutakawas at St Clair (yes, we do have them down here) were showing a bit of blossom last week. I haven't been to check them recently...

Carol Green

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 22:17:30 +1300

Truly.
This was taken at Leigh Harbour on Christmas Day. We spent a relaxing hour down there watching the gannets diving for fish.
Hoping my image upload works...

nzlemming

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 20:55:28 +1300

I have a better photo......

Ah, I was misled by the pointy nose. ;-)

Here's my Chloe, a retired athlete!

JacksonP

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 19:57:10 +1300

Yes, I am mildly obsessed.

It's fully contagious.

Russell Brown

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 17:49:28 +1300

Oh, what the heck, another one. Yes, I am mildly obsessed.

Russell Brown

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:48:39 +1300

And again, down at Pt Chev beach today.

It's an HDR pic, and the tree must have moved, because it's gone a bit wacky at the top left. I quite like the effect.

Russell Brown

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:46:28 +1300

Some more pohutukawa ...

Jackie Clark

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 09:43:59 +1300

I suspect so, too, Sof. And the whippet thing as well. Look at us taking everything back to our girls......

Sofie Bribiesca

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 09:32:43 +1300

She does look ridgy,pointy. Same as Stella but she is part whippet and a bit pitty. Great on sand dunes. Come to think of it Jackie. Ruby could have a touch of the pitty too.

Jackie Clark

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 09:19:00 +1300

That's Mum's dog, Ollie, Ian. And yes, he does look a lot like Snowy (ou Milou, comme vous disez.)

Ian Dalziel

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 09:16:51 +1300

And here’s one I prepared earlier.
Looks like you are gonna have a Snowy'* Christmas...

...enjoy, one and all...
drain the Loch!

*ok Milou for the French
fans in the milieu

Jackie Clark

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 09:13:26 +1300

No, that's my Ruby! The pound thought she may have been lab/staffy/mastiff, but she's definitely Ridgeback, and something hunty/pointy, and something fast. I have a better photo......

nzlemming

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 08:58:09 +1300

Is that a greyhound in your profile pic?

Sofie Bribiesca

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 08:01:50 +1300

lots of dogs.
This one says merry Xmas to you. She is keen to get on the road. I am having coffee first. Will catch up after the trip. Merry hols to all.

Fooman

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 06:53:49 +1300

Won't someone think of the poor South Islanders and inland North Islanders who can't enjoy pohutukawa in full bloom?

But they do get to enjoy the crimson bloom of the rata, both Northen and Southern.

Jackie Clark

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 06:50:54 +1300

We don’t have any pohutukawa up here on Mum’s property – but there are going to be lots of dogs. 3 to be exact. Which will be interesting since they’re all very young, and very rambunctious. And here’s one I prepared earlier.

WH

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 06:49:20 +1300

Merry Christmas. You've made something quite special at Public Address. I like the idea of making the world a better place one person at a time.

I've got tickets for the upcoming Above and Beyond's event at the Brixton Academy – lucky because they are all sold out now. It's…

rjal

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 21:56:34 +1300

Pohutukawa at Waikaraka Cemetery. I took this today. It was lovely down there, quite a few people tending the graves. (Hope this works, can’t see the pic in the preview).

Merry Christmas everyone.

Rob Stowell

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 18:25:36 +1300

Waiting for Santa...

Rob Stowell

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 18:23:25 +1300

Merry Christmas all!

Sacha

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:04:59 +1300

oh oh oh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJmXglVotxo

JacksonP

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 14:18:53 +1300

a game of
noughts and cross-eyes...

Take me to your Breeders...
Oh
Last flight
Get lost in the moss
Oh, oh
Fall in the neon mine
Push me down
Push me down
Push me down

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97tqMeNBx8w

Ian Dalziel

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 13:10:59 +1300

glazed ham...
oh oh oh!
or a drunkenly lurching OI OI OI
( in slab serif caps of course!)

or if they're a bit angry,
it could be a game of
noughts and cross-eyes...

JacksonP

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 12:58:40 +1300

Oh oh oh!

In the background is our currently budding Kermadec Pohutukawa, which will probably flower again in late Jan early Feb.

Merry Christmas one and all.

Sacha

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 12:29:31 +1300

In another ten thousand years, I expect all of this will still be true, perhaps the beach will be slightly sandier.

..and a bit further up the hill

Hebe

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 12:28:25 +1300

Feijoa's better — you can eat them as well as look at the flowers.

Hebe

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 12:25:58 +1300

More and more pohutukawa are being planted along the coast down here, and there has always been a a few big trees in Sumer that flower every year (the one I particularly liked was by a cliff at the bottom of Clifton Hill — haven't checked its condition lately). They…

BenWilson

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 11:46:34 +1300

A very Merry Christmas to all readers and writers on PAS alike.

I will spend a week on Waiheke after Christmas, doing my best to think of nothing whatsoever beyond my whanau and relaxation.

The giant pohutukawa that now obscures much of their sea view also attracts tuis and wood…

Raymond A Francis

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 10:10:20 +1300

Yes we poor old South Islanders are on the hind tit again
And although I have spent several Summers up North I don't remember see the Pohutukawa in full flower, Rata,Feijoa yes but not the same
New Year resolution coming on early

On the plus side we do have our…

Russell Brown

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 09:29:34 +1300

Merry Christmas on Banks Peninsula

Oh wow! So there are a few of those big red trees down your way!

Hebe

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 07:54:31 +1300

Merry Christmas on Banks Peninsula

Sofie Bribiesca

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 06:39:07 +1300

'salright , we got a lovely subdued seasonal Feijoa in flower...

That is lovely and for those who miss the native mistletoe.... ('cept barnaclebarnes who may spot the pine cones), have a glimpse of the Waitemata as well.

Congrats on your new arrival Danielle. All my life I got Merry…

Ian Dalziel

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 21:28:31 +1300

Won't someone think of the poor South Islanders and inland North Islanders who can't enjoy pohutukawa in full bloom?
'salright , we got a lovely subdued seasonal
Feijoa in flower...

Yamis

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:41:02 +1300

will turn into the largest Pohutukawa you've ever seen and your new house will suffer. That or religiously prune it every year and place a caveat on the title to that effect so each new homeowner has to do the same.

Sorry to be grinch like, but trees grow. Big.…

3410

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:59:33 +1300

I'm with barnaclebarnes.
Unfortunately, Pohutukawas do nothing for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wda9GrH4eXQ

Deborah

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:42:02 +1300

Congratulations, Danielle. I'm so pleased for you. I'm at my parents' place, where they don't have wireless, and the computer is very old, so internetaccess is creaky at best. I spnet all yesterday thinking, I guess Danielle's baby must have arrived by now... And he has! Lovely news for Christmas.…

Julie Cross

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:11:11 +1300

Won't someone think of the poor South Islanders and inland North Islanders who can't enjoy pohutukawa in full bloom?

Robyn, we expats feel the pain too. This is the best I could find here in small town Oz... a saturnalian celebration for my homesickness.

I'm more Pogues than Rudolf this…

Sacha

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:31:09 +1300

I'd never thought of that. May you have a relaxing (and high-contrast) break, sir.

barnaclebarnes

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:25:33 +1300

Of course if you are red/green colourblind then those amazing Pohutakawa trees all look a deep shade of green when you're driving past them on the motorway :-(. On the plus side I'm off to the beach and the trees and house are standing still which gives the eyes a…

Steve Barnes

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:01:37 +1300

Merry celebration of baby cheeses to you all and here's a thing about crows and traffic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5_DuZ8WuMM&feature=related

Paul Campbell

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:30:54 +1300

This is my second North American Christmas, and if it doesn't turn up snowing in the next forty-eight hours, the North American Jetstream and I are going to have words. If I have to be cold and twelve thousand miles from home it should at least be a white Christmas.…

Sacha

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:20:55 +1300

it's what the kitsch Ak Council logo is for :)

nzlemming

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:17:59 +1300

Congratulations! Sorry about the food, though...

Russell, thanks for PA and PAS (not the same thing at all), for the reboot this year which has enabled lots of goodies, and for running the best excuse for not working that I have found.

Have a good whatever-you-celebrate!

Rob Stowell

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:10:06 +1300

Merry Christmas folks. I don't know many of you, but yay! for this forum, and its Saintly, Gouty, Gracious Host :)
Hope everyone gets everything they are wishing for, and a few surprises, too.

Christopher Dempsey

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:07:52 +1300

I'd like to wish all a very merry christmas, but more importantly, happy summer solstice! And if you feel like celebrating with the odd bonfire or two, I won't mind.

Have a lovely and safe time all.

Robyn Gallagher

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:03:05 +1300

It is a matter of serendipity that the pohutukawa tree throws out a blossom apparently perfectly timed and styled for for a religious and cultural festival that developed on the far side of the globe.

When I was a kid, I always associated pohutukawa with family holidays at the beach,…

Christopher Dempsey

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:02:52 +1300

The smallish Pohutakawa I planted out the front of our new house at the start of the year will turn into the largest Pohutukawa you've ever seen and your new house will suffer. That or religiously prune it every year and place a caveat on the title to that effect…

Lucy Stewart

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:00:14 +1300

Here I am stuck (with my family) in North America for a month – it's cold(ish), gets dark early, there are xmas lights everywhere, a definite buzz, feels just a bit like xmas ....

This is my second North American Christmas, and if it doesn't turn up snowing in the…

Robyn Gallagher

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:54:36 +1300

I'm spending Christmas Day in hospital with my present: the newest member of our family, born yesterday.

Excellent news! And rather a good day to be born on, if I do say so myself.

Jackie Clark

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:30:29 +1300

Yay! I was so worried about you all day yesterday and I expressed that to Jackson. I wanted to hurry home to see if there was news, but lo and behold, the iphone was whipped out, and miracle of miracles, you had already twittered. I loved technology at that point,…

JacksonP

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:27:46 +1300

Merry Chrimble Danielle, and congrats again.
So thank you, Russell. Thank you to everyone I've met in this wonderful community.
+1

It has been a journey I never really expected to take, but am so glad I did.
I very much look forward to riding over to convene with you…

Jackie Clark

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:27:38 +1300

It's okay, love. You've had a very busy few weeks, what with one thing and t'other. Roll on January.

Russell Brown

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:15:11 +1300

I'm spending Christmas Day in hospital with my present: the newest member of our family, born yesterday. I await the Auckland hospital version of Xmas dinner with some trepidation!

I expect a detailed report on that.

And like I said yesterday, congratulations. So glad you're well and happy and have…

Russell Brown

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:13:26 +1300

To wit, this was the conversation last night: "I'm going to the pub" "Who are you going with?" "Sacha and Jackson and Sofie" "Remind me?" "Public Address friends" "Ah, yes" and so it goes.

I meant to get there, I really did. But Wednesday night had been ... large.

I…

Gareth Ward

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:09:25 +1300

I've never been one for saying, as people seem to now, "happy holidays".
Jack Donaghy's Christmas Card:
Outer: Happy Holidays....
Inner: ... is what terrorists say

I'll just run with "thanks a bunch"...

Nat

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:05:53 +1300

I'm spending Christmas Day in hospital with my present: the newest member of our family, born yesterday. I await the Auckland hospital version of Xmas dinner with some trepidation!

Congratulations! My daughter was my Christmas present four years ago today. I hope your family can bring you in some yummy…

Martin Lindberg

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:03:36 +1300

I await the Auckland hospital version of Xmas dinner with some trepidation!

Congratulations on the addition to your family! And commiserations on the food. I have experienced it myself (not the Xmas dinner, though).

Danielle

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:53:49 +1300

I'm spending Christmas Day in hospital with my present: the newest member of our family, born yesterday. I await the Auckland hospital version of Xmas dinner with some trepidation!

Happy Chrimble, as the Beatles used to say on their seasonal fan club records.

James Butler

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:39:21 +1300

I've never been one for saying, as people seem to now, "happy holidays".

It doesn't really work in a country where "holiday" is just a synonym for "vacation". Merry Christmas! Put the Ēostre back in Easter!

Jackie Clark

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:39:00 +1300

Merry Christmas to you, you dear man. I would just like, once again, to tell you in particular, and this community at large, how very important you have all become to me. It's become a habit in my house, when I am going out (and I have a notoriously stay-at-home…

Paul Campbell

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:34:50 +1300

Here I am stuck (with my family) in North America for a month – it's cold(ish), gets dark early, there are xmas lights everywhere, a definite buzz, feels just a bit like xmas ....

I offer the following xmas tidbits: walking directions from the Shire to Mordor

And Tim Michin's banned…

Yamis

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:31:09 +1300

Oh and Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you fooled santa once again ;)

Yamis

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:28:15 +1300

The smallish Pohutakawa I planted out the front of our new house at the start of the year just started flowering about 3 or 4 days ago and should have most of it's flowers out by Christmas Day. The botanic gardens have a pretty awesome row of them down the…

Public Address

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:28:15 +1300

Discussion from blog post.