The last day of spring

It's the first day of summer tomorrow, although seeing the weather today, you wouldn't really know it. It was a very wet morning, and although the afternoon has been dry, it is rather cool. Over the past week we have had enough rain to keep us going for the next two or three weeks, so even though it has been wet and cooler, it has been ideal for growth, especially if you are a farmer.

I decided this afternoon that I was going to walk down the road and take some photos of some wild daisies along the side of the road. I walked out the back door and noticed this beautiful Tui in our bottle brush tree. Our tree is rather large, and the Tui didn't seem to mind me following it round and round the tree as it darted from flower to flower sucking out the nectar.

The colours on this Tui are amazing. The birds look black from a distance, but in good light Tui have blue, green and bronze iridescent sheen, and very distinctive white feathered throat tufts. They are also very vocal, with a lovely strong whistle.

I made my Christmas cake today, in fact I have just taken it out of the oven, and poured brandy all over it. The smell is fantastic!