Happiness for a 4 year old is a splash in a warm rock pool in the tropical Pacific. Granddad was happy to be there to witness it.

Those sparkling eyes hide the mischief-planning that is going on behind them.

18:00 FST 11 Oct 2013

This was our view from the front porch for nearly 18 years. It's still not bad!

There's nothing quite so nice as the unexpected cuddle from a two year old grand daughter. It had been a year since I had seen her, and she was understandably reserved, so I kept my distance and sat down with good read, until a little face interposed itself betwixt me and the book. 

Melt the heart of a wooden god.

Seems strange to be more than 2,000 kilometres away from my recently ridged spuds. One of the first things we see in the garden is not quite as colourful as our New Zealand pigeon, but beautiful, nonetheless.

Known locally as the barking pigeon, Wikipedia calls it the Barking Imperial Pigeon. They're endemic to Fiji, and are quite often heard in the still air of the morning for quite surprising distances.

A mild and sunny spring morning is a marvelous tonic for the soul, and one hardly needs prodding to get out and ridge the spuds.

The 400 mm netting hanging on the fence will eventually go around the garden to keep Brer Rabbit and his buddies out. I was unaware until I went to purchase 'rabbit netting' at the local hardware store that rabbits won't jump over 400 mm. I've taken their word for it for now, but the jury is still out, in my mind.

The two gardens are a total of 1,320 square feet, or 123 square metres, which allows for plenty of exercise keeping the weeds down and the rows ridged. We have peas under the bird-netting, which are purely for munching from the vine, potatoes (Swift, Red King, Purple Heart and Waiporoporo - a Maori spud) and what we in New Zealand call 'yams' but are actually a starchy South American tuber called 'Oca' (Oxalis tuberosa) that are a favourite in the roasting dish. 

From here, we can sit with a beer and watch them all grow.

George and Mildred McDuck deigned to show off the remaining four of their original six ducklings today. They raised nine out of nine last year. The eels must be a bit hungrier this year. Hopefully these ones are now large enough to be a bit too big for eel tucker.

Paradise Shelduck and young.

By popular request (see comment in previous post) I have visited Louie and persuaded him to appear again on the blog. He was bit reluctant at first, as he was being inspected by the boarders, who wondered what he was. 

 "Hi, kids. I hope you don't mind if I scratch my butt on this plow."

 "Can you believe that this thing doesn't know I'm a sheep! Get out of the road, buster, or get run over!"

"Look at me! All four feet off the ground!"

"Can I come into your place and eat the roses? Pleease?" 

"Louie, you're a skite!"