Dusk walk

 Yes, we did see the planets..but only just. We have had clouds coming in just at the wrong time, a cloudy day all day....then last night, we had a dramatic sunset..and we just saw the planets as a small gap opened in the evening cloud and they were there, peeking out under a strip of cloud. No, not a car...we worked out that the road is further to the left!!

So we can say that we did see them..just!

Cards sent, mostly...this is why I never put happy Christmas!! Seasons Greetings...(.not all my friends are Christians anyway.) So they are ok whenever they arrive!!

Cold weather now, the grass didn't defrost atall today...good thing we didn't need to lift any leeks or beetroot. A bike ride had been planned today, but we decided against the risk of coming a cropper!

It is just after 9.30 pm but feels much later... when you think that it has been far for five hours that isn't surprising.

So for those who celebrate it, Happy Christmas, Nadolig Llawen or even Nollaig Shona!!

Otherwise, Blessings Be...the light returns..gradually!!

Good Morning!

I've been trying to find the translation for Te Aroha....and looking at the Maori online dictionary I found this....

• aroha

  1. (verb) (-tia,-ina) to love, feel pity, feel concern for, feel compassion, empathise.
  Aroha ana ngā tangi a ō mātou wāhine (HM 4/2009:1). / The crying of our women was heart-rending.
  2. (noun) affection, sympathy, charity, compassion, love, empathy.
  Tērā tātau e rongo kei te tuwha haere a Henare i ana hipi, i ana kau ki a Ngāti Porou, hei kaihaukai māna ki tōna iwi, he nui nō tōna aroha! (TP 7/1900:8). / We have heard that, because of his charity, Henare is distributing his sheep and cows to Ngāti Porou as feasts for his people. See also aroha nui.

• aroha mai

  (verb) sorry, I'm sorry, my apologies - a modern usage.

• aroha nui

  much love, with deep affection - often used in signing off letters to friends. See also aroha, nui.

• arohanui

  (noun) with deep affection - often used in signing off letters to friends. More correctly, it should be written as two words, aroha nui.
  
  
  Te is the equivalent of The.
  
  
  It is the name of the mountain,  and also the town founded in the gold rush, about 1830.
  
  edited to add- thanks to Susan Heather (see comments) I now know that Te Aroha is the Mountain of Love.