Why picture taking is so much harder than snapping
The point has come where I need a little more formal practice to improve my photography. That is to say I photograph things rather than snap at them. But this is easier said than done. But never one to give up easily I took the opportunity during one of our basset walks to request a natural light portrait session. Or rather I yelled, hang on a minute this is a perfect spot for a few nice pictures. Just look how everyone hung on my every word!
Whole food that really is naughty and nice
When a recipe calls for wholefood it reminds me of my mum who went through a phase of being a bit of a wholefood nut. Wholesome, nourishing food that looks brown and had the texture of sawdust. Obviously things in food have come a long way over the years and this is a recipe for Date and Orange Muffins you can take whole food to a new level. Hold onto your apron because you are going to use a whole orange in this recipe. Actually, it's two whole oranges. This is my kind of cooking. A true gather, whizz and mix ...
How munching your harvest can give hope
As I stepped into the kitchen garden this weekend it was like being transported to a different world. A place of minor miracles everywhere you look. I still can't get my head around the fact that I can grow food. Food we eat and enjoy. Food that started by me fumbling with packets of seeds and crossing my fingers that my efforts would not be in vain. I munched my way around the beds pulling out the occasional weed but otherwise marvelling at what nature has produced for us to eat.
Refreshing fresh lemon squash
When you're toiling away outside there is nothing more refreshing that a lemon squash drink break. Brought up on Robinson's Lemon Barley I didn't think anything could take it's place. That is until I tasted Lavendersgreen lemon cordial made just over the hill in Featherstone. This marvellous juice is mighty pricey though so I decided we should try and make our own. Although we don't grow lemons yet I have plans for cistrus crops when my dream for a glasshouse comes true. I used the Lemon Squash recipe from the River Cottage Handbook on preserves. It takes a bit of time ...
A few days at the beach
It's been a wonderful few days at the beach. Just what the doctored ordered and as luck would have it summer arrived at the same time. We booked a bach (a beach summer house) and the most energetic thing we did was chase the bassets around the beach. Riversdale is a small settlement about 2 hours from where we live. There is nothing there but beach houses, a beach and miles of space. It's a surfers paradise but also a brilliant place to wander, paddle and explore rock pools. We were lone figures on the beach almost all of the time. ...
Blue views: a photostudy
The views from Petone Beach on Saturday were true blue. There were just a few wispy clouds in the sky but otherwise I was surrounded pretty much by blue. It made such a change from the gray blue we've been living with for a week or so. Since I was heading south I decided to make a quick photo stop at the beach and take a walk along the Wharf. Last time I took my camera to Petone it was also a beautiful day. It's not a pretty beach but it's a wonderful place to see all of Wellington harbour. You ...
A whole new outlook
I rest my case with Little Basset. He has been eyeing up the new garden bed every since the landscapers arrived. For a dog that loves soft sand and soil it's like his birthday and Christmas has arrived all on one day. The fact that the bed is raised and he can think he is above all of us on higher ground just reinforces his small dog syndrome and his ambitions to be top dog around here. As the one and only leader of the pack, I'm pretty chuffed with the new arrangements out front too. Rather like we might be ...
Culinary growth and learning
I didn't know it the time but the line of sight to the kitchen garden from the bedroom window is perfect. It's the first thing that I see when I first open the curtains in the morning and the last thing I see when I close them at night. Every day I look down and think how marvellous it is that you can grow food right there outside your bedroom window. There are many other things that also cross my mind like must tie up tomatoes, plant swede seeds. Order cloche frame. It's a pressure cooker of things to do. Between you ...
Rhubarb & strawberry shortcake glory
The first thing I was taught to cook at school was Shortbread. I remember how mine made a wonderful frizzbee when it was finished it was so hard but beautifully shaped. That experience has always made me slightly reluctant to repeat the experience. I tend to skip over recipes that say shortbread or shortcake as they bring those memories of domestic science disasters crashing back. But with a growing patch of rhubarb and one last punnet of strawberries in the fridge this was the perfect recipe to try. Even if the mention of "short" in the title did make my palms ...
Cycling: the hard way
When I think of cycle racing it's not the Tour de France that sticks in my mind. Not that I don't turn into a cycling freak for three weeks a year. No, my favourite memories of cycling are watching the Milk Race cyclists zooming over Cheney Hill, Nr Newport, Shropshire a short ride from home on my own two wheeler. These were the days of chopper bikes, and a time when kids were free to roam the lanes of the village to watch the cyclists on racing bikes go through our village. It was like a step back in time at ...
What happens when you have 1001 things to say!
Being a stranger in a foreign land can be a lonely place. I started this blog to share what our new life was like with family and friends. Little did I know then that I'd have 1001 things to say. But indeed I have. This is my 1001 Domestic Executive post and it feels like quite a milestone. My first 1000 posts have been about hopes and dreams, reflections of the past and quite a lot of bragging about new and exciting things. I've moaned a great deal about the weather, strange kiwi ways, the trials about building a house and ...
Summer in a jar
Being a fully fledged Domestic Executive requires a full portfolio of home cooking talents but there are areas of culinary functions I've shied away from perfecting. Fear of failure you might think. And, you'd be right. There is nothing more depressing than for things not to turn out as they should. In the spirit of full disclosure, my first attempts at preserving looked good but tasted, let's just say hot and a little too spicy for large volumes to be consumed. I am comforted knowing about Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 rule but fear it's going to be a long road to earning ...
- Big w/end: off to listen to Simon Schama tonight; Harry Connick on Sunday. 2 hrs ago
- Have been booked in for 4 (!) trips to dentist.....much pain & suffering ahead. 2 days ago
- Wellington 3 Newcastle 1, amidst scenes of tumult and delirium. 4 days ago
- Listening to Phil Archer's funeral. A good send off - the church packed, a good spread afterwards at the Bull. 4 days ago
- Perturbed to discover the chickens being fed couscous (with dates, parsley & thyme). 4 days ago
- Football 2: warming up Her Ladyship to idea of nipping back to UK for a weekend at the end of May. 4 days ago
- Football 1: big game today, Welly vs Newcastle, A league play off. 35k sell out crowd. 4 days ago
- More updates...
Photoblogging
Why picture taking is so much harder than snapping
The point has come where I need a little more formal practice to improve my photography. That is to say I photograph things rather than snap at them. But this is easier said than done. But never one to give up easily I took the opportunity during one of our basset walks to request a natural light portrait session. Or rather I yelled, hang on a minute this is a perfect spot for a few nice pictures. ... [Read more.....]
Final golden wave
I was propelled back into the house tonight to fetch my camera – the last of the sunlight glowing on Goat Rock was simply stunning. I love the spotlight effect on the hills. It’s like a last wave goodnight before the sun disappears for another day. This pictures is quite grainy though – camera noise. I bumped up the ISO to the highest level on my camera to let as much light... [Read more.....]
Garden thief
Living with basset hounds isn’t as predictable as you might think. Big basset has now turned vegetarian which places my kitchen garden at risk. This “butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth” basset snuck off with a courgette I’d picked and scoffed the lot. Adding insult to injury he stole this one too but after a little chat I agreed to trust him just to guard it for me... [Read more.....]
And this one makes four
It was as if the sun was pouring gold into the garden this morning. It caught the Crab Apple tree like a spotlight and I noticed for the first time that we had a small but perfectly formed fruit growing. It’s only one but the tree is a a tiny specimen so I think it’s done pretty well to produce this one. It’s good to know that we can add this to the to the last count making... [Read more.....]
A green haven in the city
One of the things I did like about working in London was the ability to find a green haven somewhere close by. Parks and gardens that oxygenate the city and provide a cool haven for workers at lunchtime. I was struck today how little green space there actually is in central Wellington. One of my favourite spots is the gardens in front of Parliament. I only had ten minutes to enjoy it but the... [Read more.....]
A basset who loves his master
With MT away in Sydney living it up at a conference, Fortnum is at home whistling at doorways looking for his master. An impromptu portrait session on a walk on Sunday was the perfect opportunity for Big Basset to be right up front. Little basset was a little less co-operative and to be frank refused to play along. His loss! Read More →
The edge of things
Even for a flexible home worker like me getting back to work is always a shock to the system, especially when I break a cardinal rule of working in the City on a Monday. Hot foot back from my intensive session with a whiteboard I wasd rather taken with this word installation for the International Arts Festival that’s just underway here in the Capital. I thought this summed up the spirit of... [Read more.....]
A lotto value view
I may be shifting mulch for the trees and lugging 100s of kilos of sheep poo pellets but to be able to look up and see the view it feels like I’ve won the lotto. It was enough reason for me to down tools and head in to quench my thirst with some of my refreshing lemon squash. I keep thinking of the day when I can just sit on the veranda and admire the view all day. In the meantime there... [Read more.....]
