Western Springs lake

Western Springs, my favourite place in Auckland.Can you spot that little bird?


http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/




http://www.kissess4u.com/2012/04/water-world-wednesday_10.htmlhttp://www.kissess4u.com/2012/04/water-world-wednesday_10.html

http://nfmemes.blogspot.co.nz/

http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Red Camellia fruits, camellias are known as cháhuā (茶花) in Chinese, "tea flower"

 In February, I was visiting my friend at Sandringham when I spotted this  tree laden with red fruits.. I was amazed that nobody plucked the fruits. I asked my friend, he said, it is inedible, not even the birds come for them. These are the beautiful fruits of the Camellia tree.

Here in Auckland, we have lots and lots of Camellias of different colours. This soft pink Camellia is the first of the season right now in my garden. You can press the seed to get a few drops of tea flavored oil for cooking or to soften your skin.
Camellia, the camellias, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalaya east to Japan and Indonesia. There are 100–250 described species, with some controversy over the exact number. The genus was named by Linnaeus after the Jesuit botanist Georg Joseph Kamel from Brno, who worked in the Philippines, though he never described a camellia. This genus is famous throughout East Asia; camellias are known as cháhuā (茶花) in Chinese, "flowering tea",

The most famous member – though often not recognized as a camellia – is certainly the tea plant (C. sinensis). Among the ornamental species, the Japanese Camellia (C. japonica) (which despite its name is also found in Korea and Eastern China) and C. sasanqua are perhaps the most widely known, though most camellias grown for their flowers are cultivars or hybrids.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camellia

My friend Sarawakianna posted this famous tea tree that was in her ancestor home. CY, I did this for you.

http://sarawakianaii.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/tea-flower-camelia-sinesis.html
http://rubytuesday2.blogspot.co.nz






http://www.suelovescherries.blogspot.com/

Auckland City bridge

Auckland Sky Tower from another angle at night, you see the Mechanical Downtown bridge in the dark.

http://bayphoto.blogspot.com/

http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/

The right choice

http://www.godvine.com/Mother-s-Inspiring-Video-About-her-Blind-Baby-Boy-1484.html

More than 1,270,616 people have read her story and like it. I want to add my two pence or two cents, because I can identify with her.

Mother's Inspiring Video About her Blind Baby Boy

People ask her why she didn't choose to abort her boy. They stare at both of them. They talk behind their back. But none of that matters because this mother knows that her boy is beautiful just the way he is. What a great video.

For those without children, it's hard to understand a mother's love. As Christians, we try to walk in other people's shoes and not judge them. But if you were to see this mother and child, you wouldn't judge them harshly.

This wonderful woman didn't abort her child when others thought she should and she brought her baby boy into the world. Although he is blind, that doesn't mean he isn't beautiful and his life isn't filled with joy. You need to see this video!

My new friend, Amanda Whitehead, a fellow and  new bereaved  mother I met at Sands linked this video on her Facebook. As I watched it, there was no dialogue, only a young woman holding her baby with his back facing the camera. She used  simple hand written school note book paper as flash cards to tell her story. The songs she chose were the ones I would have chosen myself. , "Give me Jesus"and"The Splendor of the King."

Lacey Buchanan details in a flash-card style self-video posted on “GodTube” — the Christian version of YouTube — how her son Christian came to be, the whispers she endures because of his appearance, and how she ultimately overcame it. At the end of the video, she holds up Christian and turns him around to show the whole wide world what a beautiful baby he is.

 As I watched the video, I can empathise with Lacey.  I went through such emotions thrice. The first time, I didn't know Andrew was inflicted with such a horrible syndrome that he was going to die the day he was born. People had asked me if it would have been better to abort him. I told them, I didn't know like Lacey did. But by bringing him to full term, I had 55 days with him before he became an angel.

7 years later, I was faced with the same dilemma. I had unexpectedly got pregnant. I went through a battery of tests. God had been faithful he gave me a rainbow son. What would I have done if if wasn't perfect? 

Here, for Lacey, I chose a succulent plant. Succulents are tough and resilient. God bless you.

http://tinaspicstory.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/weekend-flowers-45.html
http://blueberrycraftandhobbytime.blogspot.com/p/join-my-photo-challenge-flowers-on.html




http://floralfridayfoto.blogspot.co.nz/

• • • 

      Iochroma. It's an evergreen shrub originating in South America. In NZ they don't usually bloom this late in the year except in warmer regions. 

      
      

      Plant lovers are among the nicest people on earth. I know, I grew up with my grandpa and parents with dirt under their nails. My best friends when I was in Singapore loved growing things. Now, in the cyber world, many bloggers are extremely helpful and help me ID plants and flowers that I do not know. It makes blogging a much more interesting thing to do.

      
      

      Recently, i went to a new friends house, and as I was leaving, I saw this plant hanging over the fence. I sent a photo via Facebook to Louise, She texted her neighbour, but the didn't know. By chance, I thought of our GardenNZ, and they came back very quickly. They even was going to send it out to other readers to double check.

      
      

      Ka Pai.

      
      

      https://www.facebook.com/GardenNZ

      
      
    • • 
        

        Garden-NZ.co.nz Hi Ann. What I think you have there is Iochroma. It's an evergreen shrub originating in South America. In NZ they don't usually bloom this late in the year except in warmer regions. Please check our Plant of the Week Section next week... we'll put together a longer piece about this for you & send out the challenge to other readers (just in case we're on the wrong track).
        
        
        

        
        

        
        

        

        
        http://tinaspicstory.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/weekend-flowers-45.html
        http://blueberrycraftandhobbytime.blogspot.com/p/join-my-photo-challenge-flowers-on.html
        
        
        
        
        http://floralfridayfoto.blogspot.co.nz/
        
        
        

Auckland Sky Tower by night.

http://skyley.blogspot.com/

watery wednesday:: Western Springs Auckland

My favourite place in Auckland, and your have free entry to Western Springs Auckland. Every time you visit, there is something different. On this visit, a shag, a fishing bid greeted me and let me photograph her. She did not however, spread her wings. May be she says, come back again.

I took my friend J. She was my classmate when I was 16. She left, and I saw her again only once, about 10 years ago.

http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/




http://www.kissess4u.com/2012/04/water-world-wednesday_10.htmlhttp://www.kissess4u.com/2012/04/water-world-wednesday_10.html

http://nfmemes.blogspot.co.nz/