Category: Life

Earthworks

by russellclarkenz, posted in Cool, Life, Technology

We had some land cleared over the weekend, using a Bobcat with a mulching attachment. The land was mostly bramble, with a few fallen pines. Very steep, very unusable.

Here’s an idea of what it does (not our video, but similarly cool).

The Jaws of Doom

And here’s the result. Now we need to do something with it before the weeds grow back again. The kittens have already been for a sniff and a frolic on it. Pretty sure the pukekos are annoyed that we’ve cleared their house too.

The guys were so skilled with this Spinning Maw of Death that they managed to keep the fruit trees that we were only vaguely aware of. So we have quince, limes, more lemons, guava and ice cream bean (Inga edulis). Happy days!

Star Trails

by russellclarkenz, posted in Cool, Life

Another cool feature of my Nikon P1000 – it can take long exposure timelapses and stitch them together.

In this example I woke up early (or was woken up early by a certain ginger Princess) so got up to make coffee at about 5am and decided to stick the camera outside for a while.

The process takes 25-second exposures for a total of 150 minutes and then automatically stitches them, so you get the stars showing their gradual movement (well, it’s Earth’s movement, but you know what I mean) through the sky.

If I had the patience, and if the sun wasn’t about to come up, I would have let it go for longer. But I think this pic is still quite nice.

Near And Far

by russellclarkenz, posted in Felines, Life

Lord Viking was busy doing his own thing on the far side of the paddock. Meanwhile Princess Wandacakes was being her best relaxo-self in our bedroom.

It’s interesting (to us at least) how different their personalities are. Viking spends most of his time outdoors, patrolling the borders to keep up safe. Meanwhile Wanda spends most of her time inside, sitting with us.

As the seasons change we find them both spending more time outdoors though. Soon they will disappear from our laps in the evening, preferring to spend the warm nights sniffing, lurking and pouncing.

I do enjoy Summers, but I miss their company more.