Stand up comics might be a rare breed out in the country but that doesn’t stop us from wanting local entertainment. Admittedly this might mean making friends with out comic neighbours but when they are cute and cuddly I can live with that. I was delighted to see an alpaca has moved in on a local farm and luckily I had my camera to hand for a quick portrait session. The alpaca was a good distance away so I was reliant on my zoom lens to take me up close.
Switching from a girlie weekend of shopping to a personal retreat seemed at the time to be an amusing distraction. Something new to try and an experience that would further cement a friendship of over 20 years standing. It was only as we pulled up to Te Moata that I realised what a big step this weekend really was for me. I’d never been on a retreat before and I was suddenly overcome with sheer terror that I would be in over my head in as far as spirituality was concerned.
But since 2010 is the year where I said I was going to go for growth and strength signing up for a weekend designed to help you live your life passionately seemed like an interesting adventure.
The pace of life here at Domestic Executive HQ has reached a leisurely stride of a long weekend. Enough time for chores but even more time for fun and a rest. As a special treat we headed to Paekakariki Beach which is one of our favourite places and a regular jaunt when we have time on our hands. Although the skies were overcast and you could see the weather fronts rolling in we didn’t let us stop our stroll along the beach.
As usual this was a sedate pace for the bassets to sniff every grain of sand, chase every seagull and say hello to every passer by. Not to mention my frequent stops to take photographs. All round it was a wonderful breath of sea air.
The colours of the day were more blue, green and grey than the usual sandy yellows and blues we’ve come to expect. I kind of like the change of view. It wasn’t cold or windy just bathed in a cloak of cloud. It made Kapiti Island look quite menacing.
On the beach as well there was plenty of man made and natural creative endeavour to show.
Not to mention the seagulls which were a constant tease to the hounds who still have designs on catching them. Almost as much as my efforts to snap them with my camera.
All in all it was a great way to spend an Easter Sunday. You can’t beat killing time and kicking sand at the beach.
The day after I arrived in Wellington I comforted myself by buying a book and was captivated by the story of Julie and Julia. It was this book that started me on the road to reading blogs and then to starting my own. Since then this book has been made into a movie which I saw when I was in the UK and blogged about it at the time.
Although not that interested in French food I was captivated by the character of Julia Child played by Meryll Streep in the movie. I had no idea at the time whether she was anything like the real Julia Child but I was still intrigued and vowed to myself I’d read the book about Julia Child’s life in France.
My abiding memory of beetroot as a child was pickled or baked in a white sauce. Neither of which I was that thrilled with. Over the years I’ve acquired the taste of beetroot in a wide range of forms which is just as well since it grows easily and has become a regular at our table. I’m almost at the point of trying to pickle some again or make a beetroot relish which does make a great addition to a cheese sarnie.
But first I wanted to test out whether beetroot would be a welcome ingredient to our afternoon tea ritual. By way of the suggestion of The Butcher and Baker I ventured to make Beetroot and Chocolate Brownies last weekend. There is no doubt that this culinary combination will make your taste buds flutter.
Imagine how tedious it gets following the same route every day. It’s much the same for the bassets who fall in and out of love of their various walks. There is nothing worse in the world than a disgruntled basset. They are prone to sulks, dragging of paws and false sniffing as a strategy for showing one’s displeasure.
As a result we have a miscellany of walks to keep things varied and allows for a range of weather conditions. The walks immediately around home are the ones that get thoroughly explored so I’ve tended to take Fortnum and Mason out further afield. It’s a mental health requirement. My mental health that is.
It’s clear that the seasons are changing. The signs are all around. Never more so in the hedgerows where there are fewer flowers and only the die hard cow parsley prevails. We’ll have to change our routines for dog walking and photography soon. I’ll also need to make a pilgrimage to Kathmandu to acquire a new fleece for the chilly times yet to come.
There is nothing better than being able to chat with a like minded friend. Someone who won’t roll their eyes when you start moaning about your tomatoes and will get equally excited when you tell them the number of eggs the chickens are laying. Comparing notes about what’s growing in our respective veggie plots was a comforting experience. To know that another novice grower is also wondering how big your pumpkin plants should be growing or whether you’ve spawned a triffid.
We were both as clueless about when the potatoes should be lifted. The rule of thumb as I understand it is after they’ve finished flowering. But what if they don’t seem to have flowered or the flowers blew away in a freak gale. A couple of weeks ago common sense prevailed and I checked my veggie calendar where I’d written down when I could expect the spuds to be ready. I admit to feeling just a little dumb to realise that I was already a week late. My Granddad in law will be tutting at me if he read this blog!
Don’t you think it’s a wonderful feeling when things go right. Having set myself a goal to bake my way through the NZ Treasury of Baking as a way to improve my baking prowess I’m chuffed that so far everything I’ve attempted has been a winner. The fact that I’ve also been able to scoff our way through a mountain of rhubarb in the garden is an added bonus.
If you tried the Rhubarb and Strawberry Shortcake and liked what you got this is a similar recipe but it takes baking with rhubarb to a whole new level. A much loved combination of Rhubarb and custard but in cake form. It’s my idea of dessert heaven.
It’s hardly surprising that the prolific growth of courgettes in the world has spawned creative ideas for cooking them. I was delighted to see in my Treasury of New Zealand Baking book that like carrots there is a place for courgettes in cakes. I was slightly cynical that the rather moist vegetable could muster a decent cake but how wrong I was.
This is definitely on the do again list and with so many courgettes sprouting every day we won’t be running out any day soon. The only disappointment with this cake is that I couldn’t lay my hands on any fresh New Zealand walnuts but instead had to resort to those pre-packed in supermarket the baking aisle. Now that would really have made this a truly kiwi cake.
