SID 28 A Feast of Monarchs

Ten years ago today I was preparing to get ready to leave my New Zealand life for my annual 6 months in Scotland. Before that, though, I had a visit to make to Pauline in Northland. We stayed with a friend of hers near Warkworth. I had posted about Monarch Butterflies on my New Zealand blog many times but what I saw on that visit was special. In these trying times the beauty of nature looms large in my thoughts.

Thankful Thursday Back in Eagleton

For those of you who also follow A Hebridean in New Zealand this post might be a real case of déjà vu because I've also posted this on that blog.

I cannot believe that it's now 9 sleeps (and within an hour I'll be starting my tenth) since I arrived back in Scotland.  I had a few days near Glasgow before I came up to Lewis last Sunday and since I got back it's been absolutely non-stop from dawn (sunrise is just after 5am!) until bedtime.  I thought that I was going to have a quiet catch-up week but heck no.  I think, too, that I've spent far more time explaining why I've not done any posts than I would have spent had I actually done some.  So I shall try to do better from here on in.  I shall be over here for the next 6 months or so with the occasional post on my other blog as and when something takes my fancy.

I'm hoping that I will have lots of posts with interesting photos over the period because I've got lots of places to go and things to do over the summer.

In the meantime the views at around 5am on Monday morning - the first spent back on the Island -  were all that a soul could desire:

So today I am thankful to be back safe and sound in my 'other' home after my little travel scare and thankful for my dear friends who have looked after my home here whilst I have been away.  What would I do without you Pat and Dave?

I've Decided, and Acted.

I wondered a while ago what to do about my New Zealand Blog: A Hebridean in New Zealand.  I decided yesterday to amalgamate both the blogs into the blog I used last year and continue just as one blog.  I'm not really sure why I started a new one last year anyway.  I've also altered the format a bit so that I can use large photos if I want to.  I have to be conscious though of the fact that some people are unable to get broadband (especially in rural areas of New Zealand).  I cannot get terrestrial broadband at The Cottage and have to use a NZ Telecom Mobile connection which is quite expensive and limited to 1Gb a month.  After that the cost soars even higher.  So I hope that you will continue to keep in touch when I traverse the globe later this week.

There is a link at the side of this blog but if you want to go and have a peek now then it's here: A Hebridean in New Zealand.

A Taste of New Zealand

Heather suggested that if I had not posted this picture before then perhaps I should. Well it seems unlikely that I will ever get the opportunity in Soaring Through the World in Pictures 'cos Glaciers is not likely to be a topic most of us have the opportunity to photograph.  It just so happens that New Zealand has some wonderful glaciers and I've been fortunate enough to hike on one of them.  It was, however, long before I blogged.  But it has given me the idea that when I resume A Hebridean in New Zealand I might show some of the older photos of my time there.  Some are more interesting and exciting than those I am able to take on the croquet lawns!  The Franz Josef Glacier might well be an early contender.   

Hiking on the Franz Josef Glacier, South Island, New Zealand

I'm In a Quandary

I never seem to be able to get myself into a position whereby I have enough items upon which to blog and then when I do have the items and the time I seem to just do them all at the same time instead of scheduling them.  Hence as I was having dinner tonight I was wondering to myself what I could find to blog upon which was quick and easy and interesting enough to have at least the first paragraph read.  I had plenty of ideas for blogs but nothing quick.  It has to be quick because I have a load of emails to reply to and arrangements to be made in New Zealand.  The time difference means that I have to make my calls early morning my time to get people in the evening or in my evening if I need to speak to them during the day.  

Anyway I needed some information for a decision on a Croquet Tournament when I get back to New Zealand.  So I went to my Hebridean in New Zealand blog.  As I was reading what I wanted to know I realised that I had 20 followers.  Now I knew that when I left New Zealand and stopped that blog I only had 12 followers and apart from a couple of my new Blogger pals they were people I already knew.  So why the increase I wondered.  Anyway it made me think.  I return to New Zealand soon and need to think about my new blog.

Questions:  Do I simply alter my old blog and use it for this year too and just alter the title a bit?  Do I amalgamate my existing two blogs (one for each of the last two visits) and continue?  Or do I start a new blog for this time in New Zealand? Decisions.  Decisions.  I'll just have to work out which is the easiest for my readers and for me.  The second option I suspect will win the day.