"Our house is a very, very, very fine house."

Click on the link below. When the song ends, or at any point when you get tired of it, click on the 'back' arrow at the top left corner of the screen and you'll come back to this post. I'll explain the choice of music shortly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq2X60XP5cM   (Did you make it all the way through?)

Today, Jeanne and I spent 4 hours discovering two new sea caves on the southern end of Bethell's. We had sun, 30 mph on-shore winds, thunderous surf, land and seascapes of awe and delight, and peace. When I got home, I smoked a cigar in the back yard and had a glass of hard apple cider. For dinner tonight, we are having spicy chicken wings, corn muffins and broccoli slaw.   

There are days when life can get hard. When a bit of the evil that is loose in the world comes to our door and we have to do battle and suffer.  

But there are days too, when we are given the opportunity to rest, to enjoy this world, and to build strength against future trials. Today was such a day.

I will be showing you pictures of our day at Bethell's soon. I have so many shots that I could do a dozen posts, but today I wanted to show you our house. You've seen bits of it many times, but this time, I want to take you around the outside and show you what it looks like today, May, 9th, 2015.  It won't look exactly the same tomorrow or next week.

Our House is a song by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, from their album, Deja Vu. It made such an impression on me when I heard it about 1972, that when we bought our home on 551 in Wilson in '88, I had a sign, OUR HOUSE, made up and hung it at the end of our drive way.  

I felt a unique sort of peace as I rested and refreshed in a lawn chair, on the grass, next to the orange tree today.  This is our house. I felt I ought to share it.

Standing on Harvest Drive

Looking over the gate, to the right of the garage.

Inside the gate now. Money plants along the house, mint and wisteria along the fence.

The back yard at about 4:45 pm. Shadows are growing.

A few oranges on the far left.  Allie just cut the grass and is drying it on the deck for the guinea pigs; 'makin' hay.'  Rosemary, oregano and lavender in front of the deck, then broccoli. The white trays leaning against the little fence have been recycled from Sokol's Market. Jeanne is going to use 5 of them to form a guinea pig fun house, 'The Cube.'

Seen from the lower end of the yard.  Slinky Malinky is visiting today. Jeanne is holding a 'pig,' Popcorn, I think. Above her and to the left is our passion fruit vine. Close-ups of broccoli and trays.

The swings on the tea tree, unused this week.

Along the fence at the lower edge of the yard.  Cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers and garlic chives. Swiss chard and parsley in the fenced area, with ferns, another tea tree (kanuka) and cana lillies. 

Our peach-less peach tree left of center, the garden house, orange tree and feijoa. Above the orange tree, if you look closely, you can see my fig tree standing about a meter high now.  

Everybody's taste in music is different I know. Maybe you liked Our House, and maybe not. I know it's very old. Try just one more of my favorites today.  

When I first heard this one, I knew nothing about the sea; still don't know much. But today, I stood at the edge of the Tasman and was pounded by wind and surf so loud that a helicopter flying over head was barely noticed. This song then found it's way again into my head and I've been listening to it all evening.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=540bI_wN-b0

For the Our House song, I chose the link that provides the song from the album. There are lots of live performances I could have selected that would have been more entertaining to watch, but they all differ slightly from that one I know best.

For Southern Cross, I chose the link with the lyrics, because at first I didn't understand all the words and I thought you might like to read them.              -djf