this showy spring gorgeous is literally just outside the door

and these delightful discoveries are just 7 steps off the beaten track

September is such a strange time here in Taranaki.

August days are filled with sunshine, bare feet & delight so it is a total shock that in September the temperature plummets, the wind is hell strong & very cold & it rains for days & days & days.

The birds get on with their birdie business, there are spring flowers everywhere and i give in to inertia.
​
Hours slide by as i gaze out the window watching the rain & contemplating baking shortbread, before finally acknowledging the rising damp and the low light levels are just too much & let that be the motivation to light the fire & switch on the light.

​i'll try again tomorrow . . . 

there are quite a few places now where we can't see anywhere else except here

as if our perimeter is secure 

on a slow wandering sunday i discovering a spot
tucked in behind one of our first plantings
where, if i sit right down & look up
I can see Taranaki in the distance
with only our native trees in the foreground

​as if the whenua is cloaked

1. Yarrow - this rogue pink one is my favourite. 
2. Sun orchid - apparently 'common'. Every year it's a delight to see them. I remember when we only had 1!
3. Lesser stitchwort - my favourite dainty little star like flower. Stellaria graminea is her botanical name

They are all common. Some regard them as weeds.  I love them.