Sunday 20 February 2011

Jessica Hart hits NZ (sort of)

Aha!  So I CAN upload an image from my new Mac ... it's only taken me a frustrating hour to try and work out how to do it, and of course, I'm now not sure how it actually happened!  But I'd better post it now, in case I never manage it again. 


This picture comes all the way from New Zealand, so many thanks to Louise for taking the photo and proving that Juggling Briefcase & Baby has been over the Equator!  I'm very impressed to see my cover on a Kindle.  I haven't got round to tackling an e-reader yet, but everybody seems to be talking about them at the moment, and I suspect they're going to be like PCs or mobile phones, that I come round to just as everyone else moves on to something new.


I should have asked what these wonderful flowers are: you certainly don't get anything as spectacular in my York garden, and certainly not in winter, so for me it's a fabulous glimpse of another, exotic world where it's summer right now!  There were a couple of days last week when it felt as if Spring might not be an impossible dream, but we've been right back to winter this weekend, so the flowers have really cheered me up.  Thanks, Louise!


Meanwhile, I've started my new book and have done the first page ... hurrah!



8 comments:

  1. Hi Jessica,

    That flower is native to New Zealand named "Pohutukawa" I think, the NZ christmas flower.

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  2. That's a fantastic photo! Truly gorgeous! I don't have a Kindle either. I'm concerned my eyes will fall out of my head if I spend any longer staring at the screen than I already do...

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  3. Pohutukawa ... what a beautiful name! Thanks for that, Nas.

    And I agree, Lacey - a paper page is much easier on the eye. I can see an e-reader would be great for long journeys though. I am always laden down with books whenever I get on a plane, and a Kindle would make my cabin baggage lighter. But given the choice of reading at home, I'd go for a real book every time.

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  4. Correction! I've just heard from Louise, and apparently the plant in the picture isn't actually a pohutuakawa ... but we don't know what it is other than that it was in the Begonia House in Wellington Botanical Gardens. Any Kiwis out there who can tell us what it is????

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  5. So sorry, I googled it as well and the flower showed up the same.
    I was not very sure thats why I said "I think" ...

    An earthquake has just hit Christchurch NZ. Natalie Anderson lives in Christchurch. But she was on twitter and she told everyone she's fine.

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  6. At least you had more idea than me, Nas!

    It's terrible news about Christchurch. My brother and his family live there but we've heard they're OK, although it sounds as if there is a lot of damage, and much worse than last time. I feel so sorry for everybody there. What a dreadful shock, and so soon after the last earthquake.

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  7. OK, the flower is apparently Scadoxus multiflorus (Amaryllidaceae), and known locally as the Christmas Lily - so you were right, Nas!

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  8. So appearently, I was right on one count! By saying its a christmas flower. I remembered it flowered around December.

    I have lived in NZ for five years but life was too busy there for me to pay much attention to the incredible flora and fauna they have.

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