Eleanor G
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zaichishka.bsky.social
Eleanor G
@zaichishka.bsky.social
1.8K followers 1.4K following 5.6K posts
Welsh-Kiwi Japanese translator, chanoyu practitioner & host to a timeshare cat. Memorial Device ANT
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zaichishka.bsky.social
We had a chatty visitor to our deck 😻 replied when I meowed back, though wasn't inclined to make my acquaintance at closer quarters 😁
Short-haired, slightly surprised-looking tabby at the bottom of our front steps
December 7, 2025 at 7:42 AM
zaichishka.bsky.social
Oprah car meme: You get thrown under a bus! And you get thrown under a bus! Everybody gets thrown under the bus!
December 6, 2025 at 10:22 PM
zaichishka.bsky.social
New Zealand mentioned meme (anime character wearing a hat with a silver fern design, and holding a Big Ben pie in one hand and a bottle of Speight's beer in the other)
December 5, 2025 at 8:07 PM
zaichishka.bsky.social
Exhibit 2
Still photo of kererū with a surprisingly large loquat in its beak
December 5, 2025 at 4:53 AM
zaichishka.bsky.social
Kererū love a loquat!
December 5, 2025 at 4:51 AM
zaichishka.bsky.social
🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀
The crabs
They destroyed their packages
Yes
YES
The crabs are out
🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀
Screenshot of tweet showing photo of large red-orange crabs escaped from polystyrene trays covered in plastic wrap in a supermarket counter, with the message, "The crabs break out of the plastic wrap. We'll sort it out if you let us know."
December 4, 2025 at 5:21 AM
zaichishka.bsky.social
I endorse these messages from staff at North Shore Hospital
Picture of mistletoe with red berries hanging in a ward. Caption reads "Deck the halls with proper staffing" Poster reading "You can't candy coat the health crisis"
December 2, 2025 at 12:53 AM
zaichishka.bsky.social
Chemo session no.3 today - hoping this will be the halfway mark ❤️
December 1, 2025 at 8:44 PM
zaichishka.bsky.social
One for @laura-elseplace.bsky.social
Picture shows a man wearing a yellow protective coat and trousers, with a cello on his back and a head lamp illuminating the ground in front of him. He's vacuuming the floor and the caption reads "Orchestral man hoovers in the dark"
December 1, 2025 at 8:58 AM
zaichishka.bsky.social
While I don't have any tattoos, and I have a different form of lymphoma, these findings mean I won't be making plans to get a tattoo if/when I'm cured. I don't want to raise my risk of any kind of recurrence.
A 2024 Swedish study of almost 12,000 people found tattooed individuals had a 21% higher risk of malignant lymphoma than those without ink, with the strongest associations appearing in the first two years after getting a tattoo and again more than a decade later. The elevated risk spanned major lymphoma types, both aggressive forms such as diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and slower-growing ones like follicular lymphoma.
November 30, 2025 at 7:34 PM
zaichishka.bsky.social
The weather was better a week ago, but the tree you can see through the centre of the ring wasn't fully in bloom yet. Another one at the side of the reserve was, though.
Sculpture like a silver and blue inflatable ring, with a pohutukawa starting to bloom seen in the background. The sky is blue with fewer white clouds than today, and the grass is very verdant. Close-up of the ring, forming an arch framing the pohutukawa tree Scarlet blooms of a pohutukawa tree
November 28, 2025 at 6:27 AM
zaichishka.bsky.social
I went to commune with the pohutukawa today at Oruamo Reserve in Glenfield. The sculpture is Soft Focus … Summer’s Day by David McCracken

www.aucklandpublicart.com/artworks/4189
Me in front of a sculpture like a silver and blue inflatable ring, with a pohutukawa in bloom seen in the background Sculpture like a silver and blue inflatable ring, with a pohutukawa in bloom seen in the background Sculpture like a silver and blue inflatable ring, with a pohutukawa in bloom seen in the background
November 28, 2025 at 6:27 AM
zaichishka.bsky.social
There is nothing new under the sun (1993 cartoon by Peter Brookes for the Times)
Cartoon depicting a TV screen showing a programme titled "Civilisation presented by the other Kenneth Clarke. Episode One: Pre-history". Image shows then-chancellor Kenneth Clarke pointing at what appears to be a classical statue of Margaret Thatcher stabbing her chancellors Nigel Lawson and Geoffrey Howe in the back while they stab her in the front.
November 25, 2025 at 9:57 PM
zaichishka.bsky.social
A movie that takes place where you're from?
Poster for the Swansea-set (well, Port Talbot, really, but bits are in Swansea itself) film Twin Town
November 23, 2025 at 9:09 PM
zaichishka.bsky.social
Also, this is really good - not too sweet
Barkers Cordial Lemon, Lime, Cucumber & Mint
November 23, 2025 at 9:00 AM
zaichishka.bsky.social
New addiction just dropped
Graze Skinny Dipped Mango Passion Dusted Yoghurt Almonds
November 23, 2025 at 8:58 AM
zaichishka.bsky.social
A very tiny quibble, but at the time of the promotion, Dyson wasn't a presence in the vacuum market - as I recall, Japanese brands like Panasonic and Hitachi were a bigger threat to Hoover, following inward investment into the UK (especially Wales) in the 80s.
In the early 1990s, the British division of Hoover had a challenge. The recession had cut their sales, and new rivals like Dyson were gaining ground.
November 21, 2025 at 9:36 AM
zaichishka.bsky.social
Eyewitness report from my bestie on the state of Beaujolais Day in Swansea
I’ve just driven back through the uplands and it’s carnage. High heels sparkly dresses, stopping traffic to rescue a suited and booted gentleman lain prone across the small central reservation. Police and paddy waggon parked up the road with what appeared to be an excellent conga going around it. Distinct lack of understanding of the difference between pavement and road was in full effect.
November 20, 2025 at 8:22 PM
zaichishka.bsky.social
Oooh, that's my happy place, too!
Snow on the raked gravel garden at Ginkakuji, Kyoto. Photo taken New Year's Day, 2006.
November 19, 2025 at 7:29 AM
zaichishka.bsky.social
I'm assuming "a firm repost" was meant to be "a firm riposte"; at the very least, "in abstentia" must be a typo for "in absentia".

Is this AI journaslop or just SOP at the Guardian?
November 17, 2025 at 9:15 AM
zaichishka.bsky.social
Sculpture on the Shore is open Tuesday through to next Sunday and is raising funds for Women's Refuge NZ.
Black mosaic figure of a woman's torso decorated with yellow kōwhai flowers. Either side is a piece of black plastic bunting. One says "She rises by lifting others" and the other "Your story isn't over yet" Wooden sculpture of a magnificent peacock Bronze sculpture of some kind of robot-like thing on a sea mine with a cormorant Same sculpture from a different angle
November 16, 2025 at 7:29 AM
zaichishka.bsky.social
The pohutukawa were bringing summertime vibes
Steel sculpture of an origami bird Me seated between some goddess-like figures Red pohutukawa blossom behind the sparkly sequinned fabric shapes of a piece called Lambs to the Slaughter Another view of Lambs to the Slaughter with the pohutukawa in the background
November 16, 2025 at 7:29 AM
zaichishka.bsky.social
I'm so glad I got to go this year - I wasn't sure it would be possible after getting sick.
Huge wooden carving of a traditional Māori fishing hook Me on a bench, petting the ear of a bronze sculpture of a dog proffering a bunch of flowers Cast bronze sculpture of two huia birds, like two lovers White stone carving of a tiki with the Hauraki Gulf in the background
November 16, 2025 at 7:29 AM
zaichishka.bsky.social
Love the Rangitoto photo bombs, too.
Rangitoto seen through a circle of pink, blue, and white ceramic objects Rangitoto seen through a bronze sculpture of concentric circles set at differing angles Dima and me beside the inaugural Women’s Refuge NZ Sculpture of Strength, Whakaruruhau by Taranaki artist Daniel McKerrow, a 3m-high wahine cloaked in a flowing copper kākahu. Rangitoto is in the background Sculpture of a whale painted with designs reminiscent of sailors' tattoos. Rangitoto seen in the background
November 16, 2025 at 7:29 AM
zaichishka.bsky.social
We were so lucky with the weather - sunny, but not too hot. Fluffy white clouds and lush green grass set off the sculptures beautifully.

The plump rabbit is called Bacchus, apparently.
White stone carving - like a donut with a segment cut out, with a blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds above Green stone carving like a half donut, balanced on another piece of stone Iron? sculpture of a big elephant and baby elephant Bronze sculpture of a plump, slightly stern-looking rabbit
November 16, 2025 at 7:29 AM