I spent this afternoon touring the "Red Zone" of Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ, with two friends. One of them works for Corrections and with his "clients" they've so far planted more than 90,000(!) native trees in this area of the city. Many more are to come. They're still baby trees now but a whole forest is on it's way!

For non-locals, the Red Zone was created after the disastrous Christchurch earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 wrecked the housing in this eastern area of the city. Most of it was reclaimed wetland and the ground didn't hold up to a serious quake. The city decided not to re-house it.

The houses have since been removed although many of the home garden trees were retained. The area is now being re-landscaped for nature, recreation, and floodwater retention.

#Christchurch#Ōtautahi#NZ #restoration #nature

I spent this afternoon touring the "Red Zone" of Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ, with two friends. One of them works for Corrections and with his "clients" they've so far planted more than 90,000(!) native trees in this area of the city. Many more are to come. They're still baby trees now but a whole forest is on it's way!

For non-locals, the Red Zone was created after the disastrous Christchurch earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 wrecked the housing in this eastern area of the city. Most of it was reclaimed wetland and the ground didn't hold up to a serious quake. The city decided not to re-house it.

The houses have since been removed although many of the home garden trees were retained. The area is now being re-landscaped for nature, recreation, and floodwater retention.

#Christchurch#Ōtautahi#NZ #restoration #nature

"From Kyiv to the Suwałki Gap, bogs return as Europe’s defensive shield"

"Some European governments are now wondering if reviving ailing bogs can solve several problems at once. Finland and Poland told POLITICO they were actively exploring bog restoration as a multipurpose measure to defend their borders and fight climate change."

https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-defense-kyiv-ukraine-nato-eu-bogs-poland-war-germany/

#wetlands #restoration #defence

Here are four wetland birds I've photographed on my bike commute to work this week, between Ōtautahi-Chirstchurch and Lincoln, New Zealand. Together they're a testament to how much wetland bird life has been returning to the wider city, as the city has been restoring native wetland habitats.

I've been counting birds on my bike commute to Lincoln since 2003. While I saw pied oystercatchers in 2003, the first ever pied stilt I counted wasn't until August 2017, the first grey teal I counted was in July 2019, and the first coot I counted was in June 2024.

Bring back the wetlands and the birds return.

Poaka · Australian Pied stilt: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/306208255

Tete · Grey teal: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/306208254

Tōrea · South Island Pied Oystercatcher: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/306208266

Australasian Coot: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/306208248

#birds #nz #wetland #restoration#Ōtautahi#Christchurch

Vintage sewing machine with 116 years of grime mostly removed. Didn't remove the patina, but I suspect some of the funk on this piece is vintage cigarette smoke from back when everyone in the US was a smoker. #sewingmachine#ReduceRepairReuseRecycle #sewing #restoration

Long-lost Charlie Chaplin film meticulously restored after 100 years

The original 1925 version of ‘The Gold Rush’ is now available in 4K.

By Andrew Paul

https://www.popsci.com/technology/charlie-chaplin-the-gold-rush-4k/

Movie books at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf/49

#Movies#Restoration

Long-lost Charlie Chaplin film meticulously restored after 100 years

The original 1925 version of ‘The Gold Rush’ is now available in 4K.

By Andrew Paul

https://www.popsci.com/technology/charlie-chaplin-the-gold-rush-4k/

Movie books at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf/49

#Movies#Restoration

Just spent an hour oiling things. The "MAINTENANCE oiling" instructions were insufficient for identifying everything that needed to be oiled to have it start working. Maybe these are the spots that need oiling most, but there are dozens (dozens) of metal upon metal contact points where there is movement, and I had to hit every one to have things start moving again... this machine had NO trace of any sewing oil, so I suspect it did not get oiled per the manual.

Montgomery Ward Model 1980B. No idea when it was actually made. (don't think 1980 corresponds to the year... but who knows!) #sewing #sewingmachine #restoration #repair

Inside the top lid. I thought this was all plastic, but after some better light this entire machine's innards are metal! #sewingmachine #restoration