On 14th February 2009 Leang and I were “spicing up” our Valentines night by attending a concert in Chiang Mai, Thailand which was billed as “Romantic Italian and Spanish classical guitar serenades”.
However, when parking the family truck at the concert hall, we suddenly both looked at each other, as across the road from us there appeared to be a “gantry” being set up on the University entrance drive-way. In unison we said, “That must be a start/finish line for a race event.”
St Valentine's widow spider
In honour of Valentine’s Day this post will look at the wonderful world of courtship in the spider genus Latrodectus, more commonly known as the widow spiders. Readers of my previous post will recall this genus includes species such as the American black widow (Latrodectus mactans), the Australian redback (L. hasseltii) and the New Zealand katipo (L. katipo), all
Margaret Stoddart, Roses, 1920s
In Europe during the 1300s February 14th was thought to be the day when birds paired off to mate. This date was originally an ancient Greco-Roman pagan festival, and was later called St Valentines Day Feast by the Church. Since the 1300s, on February 14th each year, roses (and flowers in general), have been widely accepted as gifts and Saint Valentines Day is now
5-8 June 2025 This tour offers an insight into the role of the church and the early settlement of the Waikato region. Led by Sir David Moxon; a former Archbishop […]
Chris McKeown is an avid astrophotographer who spends long nights around Wellington, Taranaki, Queenstown, and Lake Tekapo chasing the stillness of the night sky. By day, he’s a seasoned energy […]
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What are we to make of the Ascension? In the creed every Sunday we say that Jesus ‘ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the […]
