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.(Click on the picture to enlarge)

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Lone Paper Wasp

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This little guy/gal has been conciensiously building this nest on its own for weeks on the sun-facing wall of our house.

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I photographed it a while ago when it first started the job, and am surprised that it is still going. The nest doesn't appear to be increasing in size, so perhaps it is tending to young? I don't know. .

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Though these little creatures will threaten and no doubt can inflict a painful sting if threatened, to me they appear harmless enough. They are actually beneficial as they eat garden pests such as white butterfly caterpillars. I have some photos of one last year doing just that on my broccolis.

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This little one tonight looks very thin, as if it hasn't eaten for some time. Perhaps its life purpose is nearly complete. I feel sad for it as Jill and I have been keeping an eye on it frequently and will probably miss it when it has gone.

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Albino Deer

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I received these photos from a friend via e-mail today and thought that they were worth showing here. The photographer or originator of the e-mail is unknown, but I thought the photos were beautiful.

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The following explanation came with the e-mail:

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"Behind the Gray Rock Cafe in Grayling, Michigan Tim Gillette made the deer feeder with the 'Browning' logo. These twin albinos have been coming into the back of Gray Rock Cafe since they were fawns in 2006. We have been trying to capture a digital pic of them for awhile, but they arrive at dusk or even later and the pics don't turn out. On Friday about 10 am they arrived. It was a beautiful morning and they came for their photo op. "

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Hamilton's Heart - Garden Place by night

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These two photos depict the centre of Hamilton City, Garden Place, which is a green area covering probably about 100 metres by 100 metres square. Most of it has big trees and is grass-covered, which is kept mowed and tidy and is used by workers for their lunch breaks, and shoppers for rest and relaxation.

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Along with the multistory Hamilton City Council Administration building this area can be used as a landmark in the hub of town. The white building to the left of the top picture is a block of business offices near the library.

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The lower picture is of two university students having fun practicing tightrope walking. They willingly posed for this shot. Fortunately, as my flash wasn't set to operate, there was enough residual light to enable them to be seen.

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There is a kind of magic one feels when walking around the heart of the city at night.
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Boxing Day

Well, that’s Christmas over for 2008.

Our family had a very enjoyable day eating, sitting chatting, or playing darts in the garage.

Jill prepared most of the meal which consisted of turkey rolls, ham, and hot vegetables, concluding with Jill's pavlova, and chocolate log which our daughter Sandra brought. Son John brought the wine. The food, as usual, was lovely and encouraged second helpings from our son and grandson.

A lot of fun was had, and the boys managed to beat the girls 3 from 3 games of darts. We played “around the clock.”

Jill also prepared tea which consisted of a light meal with salads and some left-over food from Christmas dinner. Today, Boxing Day, Jill and I are still eating the left-overs. Nice.

We hope that you all had a nice Christmas Day.

I forgot to get photos of the food, but here are some of our darts games.

Car security

Better than nothing? Maybe...

Aww...

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I borrowed this picture from

http://humor-in-photos-and-pictures.blogspot.com/

I thought it was cute.

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This site is worth a visit.

Hamilton Central Library building

This photo was taken at night in Garden Place in the centre of town. It is the facade of the Hamilton Central Library, owned by the Hamilton City Council.

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The meandering dotted line represents the Waikato river which winds through the city. The bright orange colour represents a baggage label used for travelling, and has the library 'motto' - "Send your mind somewhere."

As well as this Central Library, there are five suburban libraries which are open five days a week and Saturday mornings. The Central Library is also open Saturday afternoons till 4.00pm, and Sundays noon till 3.30pm.

We really do get an excellent service from the librarys and library staff. Books, videos or CDs can be ordered on the internet from any of the branches and can be collected at our own library branch a couple of days later if it is available.

Jill has even requested they purchase recent books if they do not have them and they will get them and let her know when they are in.

Christmas memories

When I was a kid I always became excited at Christmas time.

As Dad was my only parent he always made every effort to ensure that I enjoyed the day. As long as I can remember I used to have a pillowcase at the end of my bed on Christmas Eve and always woke early, probably about 6 o’clock on Christmas Day and excitedly began opening my presents.

Though Dad must hardly have been able to afford it he always ensured that my presents were fun and varied. Many of them I am not able to recall now, but a couple I can. There were always sweets, and always an out-of-tune mouthorgan.

I must have had a musical ear because this toy used to drive me crazy! I always made sure later when I had kids and gave them anything musical that they were in tune.

I had two friends about my age who lived nearby, but neither of them received such good, or as many presents as I did. This shows the effort that my Dad went to for me for Christmas.

I remember at about the age of nine I was persuaded that Santa didn’t exist and I asked my Dad. He was adamant that this wasn’t true, Santa did exist. A few days later I received a fancy letter through the post from Santa. It was typed with nice words and was covered in colourful stickers. I was convinced and my belief was restored. I treasured that letter for some time afterwards.

Christmas is a very special time of year. It was for me because my Dad made it special, and I’m sure that because of this it was also a special day for him.

My Dad is now gone, but for this I will still say, “Thanks Dad.”

http://www.cathedralcatholic.org/academics/homework/johnson/ABLHW.htm

Christmas time

Why is Christmas so special? I think because there is no other time of year quite like it in the Christian world.

No matter how our society has changed throughout the centuries, Christmas has always been a very special time.

In the northern hemisphere I think Christmas is important because it occurs in the middle of winter and everyone makes every effort to make the day particularly special because it helps to cheer people up when the weather is perhaps at its worst.

In the southern hemisphere our work year ends just before Christmas day and, being summer most people are off on holiday either to the beach or elsewhere for at least two weeks.

For both reasons this celebration makes people feel better, and anticipation heightens this feeling.

But for Christians and many non-Christians the build up to Christmas with carols and Christmas music adds to the excitement felt by both children and adults. Santa represents fun and symbolically cheers up people of all ages, and the anticipation of families getting together, gift-giving and sharing the Christmas meal cements this excitement.

But what of Jesus? Surely the most significant part of this whole time is to celebrate his birth? Yes it is, and many of the Christmas carols and music reminds us of this, as do models of the baby Jesus in the manger, with Mary and Joseph and cattle, and three wise men nearby. Many Christians attend church at this time to remember this.

As fun as this special season is, we must not forget that the reason for Christmas is to celebrate Jesus’ birth.

Wishing all readers a very Joyful Christmas and a Happy New Year, from Jill and me.

Winter in Alaska

Here are some more photos recently taken in Alaska, near Anchorage, by my friend Jim, who is happy for me to use them.

For those of you in the northern hemisphere who are hoping for, but may not get a white Christmas, maybe these photos might substitute?

Though the cold of Alaska is not for me, I love the snow scenes, so clean and white.

Thanks Jim.

Hamilton’s big Christmas tree

This year Hamilton has a large Christmas tree placed in a prominent position in Garden Place in the centre of the city.

The tree is 25 metres high and has thousands of colourful lights and a big light-star on the top.

Last night Jill and I went to see it and took the pictures above. If you look closely at some of the pictures people can be seen near the foot of the tree, which gives an indication of its size.

Each night at twilight live entertainment also takes place nearby. Unfortunately as there had been a lot of rain prior to our visit the evening’s entertainment was cancelled. But the tree really was something and was really impressive to see up close.

Young people

An article I did recently entitled ‘Old People’ was well received so this time I am giving my thoughts on young people.

Our children and those of other people can sometimes cause us to raise our eyebrows, because of their words, opinions and actions. Children of all ages can bless our lives, and in some cases make them difficult. The older we get, sometimes the less tolerant we can become towards these young people, but not me. You see, I love children from one year of age up to 17. Yes, I also love teenagers. Why from one year? Because babies are of no fascination to me because they are too young to intelligently interact with.

Babies are a mother’s pride and joy. When ours were babies I fed them, bathed them, changed nappies and did all the things a father should do, but the fun really began after the age of one year.

I find children are interesting human beings who are responsive when they know me and are always honest in the way they think and the things they say, even though their opinions are often those of their parents, as they understand them.

Having been a Cub and Scout leader as well as a soccer coach in my younger days I have enjoyed associating and interacting with older children and teenagers, and find that with a reasonable approach most problems can be sorted out.

Kids of all ages like fun and activities and with a little imagination those who are youth leaders can provide absorbing interests that the young people can enjoy. But the activities need to include everyone in the group and be continuous during a group activity otherwise some may begin to become unruly and disrupt the group.

Though teenagers can sometimes be sullen and appear unresponsive, I have found that treating them as equals can have good outcomes.

Children are just tiny maturing adults. I love ‘em all.

Computer Mouse is 40 years old

Last week the internet hummed with the 40th birthday of the innovation and introduction of the computer mouse. (See above.) This means that it was developed in 1968 when I was just a young man.

Wow, I can’t believe that computers have been around that long, considering my first experience using one was in about 1988 while working for an electricity company. I was told to get data off the main computer to tell us how many electric water heaters were in a long street in Hastings, NZ. At that time I had never used a computer before and although I was excited to do this exercise I was all at sea and never had a clue what I was doing. Anyway, with help from our computer specialist the data was extracted successfully, no thanks to my skills! I bought my first computer about 1996 as they were just beginning to gain popularity. But I digress.

The computer mouse helped make computers of those days easier to manipulate, and still do today for those who may have never used a computer before. Though many of the functions can be, and are done using only the keyboard by skilled typists, many actions can be more easily carried out with a click of the mouse.

For example:
You can locate your cursor to where you want to type or make changes.
Text may be selected for editing or deleting purposes.
Pictures can be selected to save or delete them.
Actions can be carried out by clicking on drop-down instructions from the Task Bars.

So it is thanks to the staff at Stanford University for developing this tool with the funny name. It has made our lives with computers easier, and has made personal computers more desirable and accessible to the common person.

The name ‘mouse’ was given to the device when it was developed, and no one has ever tried to change it.

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For more information see:
http://interactivemaster.com/blog--computer--mouse--past--to--present.html -

This page shows a basic explanation then funny pictures of strange mouse designs.

More photos at the Hamilton Lake.

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Jill feeding the ducks

A chestnut tree in flower

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Mr Whippy

What a fine looking bird

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A lot of quackers!

A bird with attitude!

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More photos from yesterday at the Hamilton Lake.

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Jill and I only spent about an hour at the lake as we went up just to feed the ducks.

I took the camera because there can be much to take photos of there, especially at this time of year.

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Jill fed the ducks while I took photos. At one stage she was so surrounded by ducks that they were even walking on her feet.

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At the moment many birds are feeding young so are very hungry themselves. The ducks don't have any fear of people as can be seen here.

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Hamilton City Council gardens at the Hamilton Lake

An impatien garden, looking towards the rose garden

Another impatien garden with a parsley border

A zinnia garden with white perfumed allysum border

Orange rose - name unknown

Spotted thrush with worms for its babies

A beautiful Peace rose

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Hamilton City Council gardens at the Hamilton Lake

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We went to the Hamilton Lake yesterday to feed the ducks as we had some extra bread. These photos were taken near the entrance to the lake where I saw the gardens and thought that they were a real credit to the garden planners and garden maintenance staff.

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I spoke with a lady gardeners who was working on one of the gardens and told her how great their gardens looked. She thanked me for the compliment.

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More photos tomorrow.

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http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/image/s

A bigger, brighter moon

On December 12 (tomorrow NZ time) the full moon will be the biggest and brightest it has been this year, a whole 14% bigger than usual according to a NASA internet newsletter which I received today. This website will explain it all, hopefully in simple terms.

This means that when one is outside, and if the sky is clear, the light from the moon will be unusually bright, almost blinding to look at.

The heavens have been particularly fascinating this month when we include the close location of Venus, Jupiter and the crescent moon in the same sector of night sky earlier – see my picture here.

For those who are enthusiasts of astronomy you can download this free software, Stellarium, set it up to your location and you will be able to use it to accurately see the movement of the stars and moon at any time, as well as information about stars and other astronomical features in the sky.

But don’t forget to watch for the full moon on Friday.

Old People

Though I am 68 years of age, compared to senior members of my U3A group I am just a pup.

Most of our members ages range from around 75 to 85 years, and most are active in other organisations as well as our U3A.

Many belong to Probus groups, U3A, SeniorNet, indoor or outdoor bowling clubs, and card clubs as well as service clubs like Rotary, Lions, Jaycees, choirs and drama groups. Retired senior people, men or women, join these organisations for fellowship, activities and inspiration, because once one retires one can stagnate unless there are activities that commit seniors to regular attendance.

Often an aged person may choose instead to join a voluntary organisation and commit themselves to voluntary part-time work that affords them mental challenge as well as a social environment, to meet other people.

A great many may find enjoyment in internet friendships. Computers are a wonderful friend to an aged person, especially one living alone.

When a relative retires younger people imagine that they now have nothing to do and therefore lead quiet and boring lives - but this is not so. Many retirees are now busier than they have ever been in their lives before, all of it finally doing things that they enjoy and get great challenge and pleasure from.

Though family are important for support, in both directions, and for love and comradeship, the active retiree will most likely have other commitments and their time should not always be taken for granted by their adult children, who should ask about this before committing them to a frivolous activity.

Health of an aged person can also be variable and many will prefer to ‘suffer in silence’ and not fuss. Younger adults need to be aware of this and treat the older person as they would another of their own younger age. Always ask before committing that senior person to something that may become an uncomfortable effort for them.

A senior person is to be treasured, for their experience, knowledge and understanding of life. Enjoy them by talking to them, listening to them and learning from them. Because they are gold.

Peck

Today I would like to introduce Peck Hassler who lives in Hope, Alaska, USA. Peck is involved in gold mining and gets seeded dirt and demonstrates gold panning for tourists.

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These photos were sent to me by my friend Jim who lives in Anchorage but has an association with Hope. He assures me that Peck will be happy for me to show these photos of him. He says that Peck is one of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet.

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I am showing these photos because pictures of people are always interesting and I wish I had the courage to take more myself. I think that Peck's personality shows through here.

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So here's to you Peck! Thanks for being a part of my blogs.

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www.bagofnothing.com

Love

Today I read the following words near the end of the very first Harry Potter book, “The Philosopher’s Stone” written by J.K.Rowling:

“….to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us has gone, will give us protection for ever. It is in your very skin.”

These words set the theme for my blog today; for I feel that for one to be happy, productive and successful in life one must at some time have experienced a deep and meaningful love.

As an observer of people and animals I think one can tell which are loved and which are not.
A child or animal which is not loved has little or no interest in things around them, in other people or creatures, except maybe to fight, or for their own self-interest. Their faces are dull or without personality or happiness and they lack inspiration. For love, happiness and inspiration go together.

I feel sad for a cat or dog that lives in a home where it is never shown love, just as I feel sorry for a sad child existing in a loveless home.

Imagine a loveless marriage. How sad for the couple who’s love has failed? How they must feel valueless in the world. One who is loved is positive in life, happy and successful, thinking positive thoughts each day.

To receive love is critical to our wellbeing and success in life. To give love is also rewarding and successful and happy relationships grow out of that love.

The Bible New Testament quotes St Paul writing to the church at Corinth, saying: “….if I have not love, I am nothing. Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful, it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things and endures all things. Love never ends”

Victoria Bridge from walking path

Closer view of the Victoria Bridge

Plaque on the Victoria Bridge


Steps up to the Victoria Bridge from access below

Fallen tree that is still growing. See leaves on the branches.

Small storm water pipe with running water.

Hamilton Central Roman Catholic Church

More River walk photos

Today we feature the Victoria Bridge which is located near the original very first bridge across the Waikato River to join Hamilton Central and Hamilton East. Of course, this was removed long ago.

The first bridge structure was built using timber and when the time came to replace it for a better bridge this steel structure was built in 1910. It was prefabricated by the Cleveland Bridge Company, England, and installed by G.M.Fraser, Builder. The Engineer was J.E.Fulton of Wellington and the Contractor was W.T.Johnson. These details are on the plaque attached to the bridge and shown here. The name given to the bridge was after Queen Victoria of England. The Waikato river now has six bridges that cross within the city and two just outside the city boundary.

The stone stairway leads up to the bridge.

The fallen tree caught my attention as I walked and looks better if this shot could be enlaged, as could the pipe with water running out. Unfortunately these can't.

The last photo is of the recently refurbished Roman Catholic Church in Hamilton East. The traffic heads towards the church directly from the Victoria Bridge eastern side, then immediately in front of the church is a 'T' junction controlled by traffic lights which control the traffic movement either for left turn or right turn.

I think this church is very attractive and is a real thing of beauty in our city. This photo was taken by zooming the camera in from my location on the foopath on top of the Victoria bridge.

This concludes these photos.