Mischa's birthday weekend

Started Friday night with an after work walk up to abandoned battlements on Miramar pensinsula. It's a large complex of concrete bunkers, in various states of broken and open, constructed to guard the entrance to the harbour early in the twentieth century.

This is the view from there, over Scorching Bay and out into Cook Strait.

 

And looking back across a hill of purple daisies and weeds, to Seaview and Eastbourne.

Saturday we were booked to go to Kapiti Island for the day, but the swell at the island was too big for the skipper and he cancelled the trip. So we went to the city and had a lovely day. Started at the Botanic Gardens with a walk and a coffee stop. Mish had to get rid of those rose thrips while we waited for a couple of nice little lattes.

One of the sculptures in the gardens.

Then we walked down to Lambton Quay from the Botanic Gardens, and checked out mid city shops for a new teapot. Nothing we liked enough, so back up to the top of the gardens in the cable car, and on to a bit of shopping and Mish scored a new camera. She's pretty happy with that too.

On to lunch at Lyall Bay and the cool cafe Spruce Goose. Leaving there, we saw a beat up chrome stool in a second hand shop, which, to cut a long afternoon-evening story short, is going to work tomorrow, reincarnated in gleaming chrome with a beautiful reupholstered seat.

Sunday at the Johnsonville fruit and veg markets, always good. Went to an open home that is three shipping containers, stacked on top of each other, on an inch of land against a cliff, with its own waterfall. Very metal arty, made with cleverness and industrial offcuts, and with a surprising amount of light. So arty it's been on an NZ stamp.

And then the food market on the waterfront. Blustery blowy, so not so pleasant today - still, those mussel fritters...yummy. More shopping and a pitstop at the library - today she scored an easel, which is almost assembled in the living room, if we could only figure out the last bit. Why are people so useless at writing decent instructions? I ask myself.

So, that's the birthday weekend. Mish had a legit day off!