No church on Sunday

Until my back improves and I can sit for longer I will be having a bit of a blogging holiday.  So there's no church to visit this Sunday.

Instead I just have a few photos I took Friday afternoon on my way home from work.  Just south of Whangarei is a small picnic area and lookout, with a lovely view down Whangarei Harbour.  Usually I just drive past but on Friday I felt the need to stop and takes a few deep breaths.  I'd been rushing around a bit at work and felt a bit wound up so I pulled over, thinking I'd walk around to ease my back a bit.  But no sooner had I stopped than it started to rain so I just sat in the car.  (It's not the sitting that hurts my back, it's the getting back on to my feet after sitting!)

I hadn't been there long when another car pulled up, a man got out of the passenger seat with a jar in his hand, walked over to the grass and scattered bird feed  around, calling loudly, "Here, chook, chook, chook."  And immediately the hens and roosters that live in the wild around the picnic area, emerged from the bushes. 

He told me he buys a bag of chook meal every week and stops to feed the fowls every time he comes to town.  Because it was raining he didn't linger but I benefitted from his visit.

One cheeky sparrow joined his much bigger cousins but was quickly chased away. 

The rest of his mates sat on a flax bush and looked and waited.