Friday 22 December 2017

Pre-Christmas bits and pieces

One of my favourite things about living in Taranaki (and let's face it, there are MANY), is how it rains overnight and the day dawns clear.  It happens all the time.

It's been hot and dry recently, as we have previously discussed, and last night we had one of those big refreshing downpours.  This morning the place positively sparkled, all washed clean.  I had both girls in the car strapped in when I turned around and saw these cobwebs strung with raindrops.  Of course me being me I had to get out of the car and unlock the house so I could take some photos.

Totally worth it.





I swear the lawn has already grown since B mowed it yesterday.  It grows at a phenomenal rate here.  That is one thing that can become a little tiresome, while we're talking pros and cons.  The grass is beautifully green because it never stops growing.

Unlike the grass, we're all in that end-of-the-year winding down mode.

B is now on holiday until early January.  J's last day of kindy for the year is today.  And I have a solid list of jobs to tick off while B is home to help with the toddler wrangling.


Ah, J and her books.  She does this kind of thing often - finds herself a suitable spot, chooses a book and plops down to read.  Last night when I went to tuck her in before I went to bed, I discovered her fast asleep with a book next to her.  She must have got up after I'd said goodnight and had a quiet little read to herself before going to sleep.  Bless her adorable little heart.


Look at the vegetable garden!  I went on a weeding rampage during naptime the other day.  So satisfying.  As I said to B when I came inside literally dripping with sweat, if this is what I can do in an hour imagine what I could do with a whole day.  Soon, my friends, soon.

And yes I did weed too vigorously and half-kill that zucchini plant in the foreground.  Whoops. Luckily it's rallied itself and is making a comeback.


Obligatory Christmas baking is done and distributed.  I even hung about at the front gate pretending to pull weeds so I could catch the rubbish truck man and give him the traditional six-pack and shortbread.  B scoffed at me but the driver was very nice, so there.  People like to be appreciated.


Here's my pensive girl again.  Who is this child?  She turns three in a couple of months and I'm certain she has not prepared me at all for the terrible twos that A will inflict on us.

A's walking has so far taken a backseat to her determination to master the English language.  Although apparently she's now happy with he vocabulary because her laser-like focus has been turned to standing and walking.  The progress she makes in a day is incredible.  She's certainly strong enough, she's just got to coordinate those heavenly fat legs and she'll be away.  One of our friends suggested "first steps by Christmas?" and I wouldn't be at all surprised.


Oh, look at my dinner the other night.  Mmmmmm.  Clearly I was pretty impressed with myself because I took not one but two photos of it so you could get both angles.  It was needless to say delicious.


Well that about wraps it up around here for now.  I'll be back again I'm sure before the end of the year to wrap things up and ponder the year that was.

Have a very wonderful secular end-of-year festival, or a Merry Christmas if that's your bag.









Wednesday 13 December 2017

Miscellaneous greenery, with added sandflies

It's been hot.  

I never thought I would say that when the maximum is usually 26C (so that's about 78F) but it has been really hot.  Laugh at me if you must, Aussies, but listen.  I'm from Adelaide.  I've lived in outback Queensland and spent the last five years in Perth.  I know hot weather.

The difference here is that it's humid heat.  Oh and NZ bears the brunt of the hole in the ozone layer.  Oh and there is no air conditioning.  So trust me when I tell you it's hot.

Being so hot, it's usually much nicer outside than in.  Or it would be if it wasn't for my personal nemesis and the one reason I may pack up and move back to Australia in a huff: the sand fly.  They love me.  I can't go outside at all without being attacked so I am constantly slapping myself in a slightly deranged manner.  The bites hurt, and then they itch for ever more.  Like three weeks later you will still be scratching.  I still have every sandfly bite I've ever had since we got here and at this point I'm just waiting for someone to ask if they can photograph me for a medical journal.

The worst part, other than the actual bites of course, is that literally no one else seems to be bothered by them.  I keep saying to people "My god these sandflies" as I slap myself around the knees, and the other person is usually like "Oh really?  I never get bitten".  Why jeebus why.

Anyway, since I have vented my spleen non-stop since the start of this post, let's move onto more positive topics.  


As we have observed it is high summer (see: heat, and sand flies).  The garden is going off its head.  I can't keep up with the produce, which the chickens are 100% ok with.  Currently the vegetable garden is planted out as follows (don't worry I don't expect you to be interested, this is for my own record-keeping purposes): rhubarb, thyme, peas, parsley, sage, potatoes, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, silverbeet, kale, sunflowers, snow peas, beans, baby spinach, pumpkin, corn, carrots.  I think that's it.  Lucky it's so massive.

I would share photos but it's infested with weeds and grass and distinctly un-photogenic right now.  So here is a photo of a kale and silverbeet tart I made also with eggs from our very own chickens.  So rewarding.  And delicious.


We started a Christmas tradition a couple of years ago of getting a photo of the kids (or, back then, kid) with Father Christmas.  That first year went great, J kept a beady eye on me to make sure I wasn't going to slip out but she was very keen for Santa cuddles.  Last year we also had A who lay in Father Christmas' arms like a sack of potatoes and J who was still keen but needed me to be in the photo as well.

Yesterday I took the girls into Centre City for the annual photo because the Santa there is AMAZING and as far as I'm concerned is the real Santa.  Unfortunately J, while very excited in the lead up, found it all a bit overwhelming and clung to me for dear life, and couldn't even bring herself to look at Santa to begin with.  I guess it was like her version of seeing Kim Kardashian in the flesh.  She eventually warmed up to a very shy wave but the photo was a definite no this year.  My sweet timid little girl.

Would you look at these two curly-tops?  The old biddies go berserk, trust me

J's kindy is run along Steiner/Waldorf principles, and has the most amazing rambling garden.  They have a big stand of sweet peas which are all in full flower.  The other day J picked a couple to bring home for Daddy (be still my big mushy heart).  They smell so lovely on the dining table that I've planted some of our own.  Hopefully they'll grow equally as well and we'll have the scent wafting in the windows.


In my efforts to weed the entire property during nap times, I uncovered this very sad little fern, bone dry and forgotten in amongst the weeds.  Now re-potted and brought inside from some TLC, it seems to be making a comeback.  One thing this place is missing is some indoor plants, I've decided, which I'll be rectifying immediately.  I wonder if I could sneak a macrame plant hanger in without B commenting...



Check out the orchard!  It's all looking very productive.  Even if the birds get stuck in there should still be plenty for all of us.  We've got a couple of rams grazing in the orchard paddock permanently now.  I do like the cows but my heart lies with sheep for some reason.  I love the smell of lanolin, I love seeing their woolly bulk out my kitchen window, I love how they keep the grass to lawn smoothness (well not yet, they have a LOT to get through).  And they taste DELICIOUS.



The feijoa is looking very festive with its fluffy little red flowers, kind of puts you in mind of a eucalyptus flower doesn't it?


And check out this patch of hydrangeas, just flowering like crazy in the most electric blue, out the back of the orchard where I can't even see them from the house.  As soon as they die back next winter I'll be moving them to a better location.  Hopefully they still flower like this.


So all in all, midsummer in Taranaki is a very happy place. 

Sandflies notwithstanding.


Tuesday 5 December 2017

Weaner calves, pasta, and crayfish

Weird title.  Sounds like a recipe.

Anyway.

This week we've weaned our cute fat little calves and the bellowing is. driving. me. insane.  The only upside is that we're weaning them from powdered milk, not their mothers.  So although I may be unable to go outside right now without setting off the most unholy cacophony, at least my heart is not breaking listening to them yell for their mothers.

As an amusing aside, did you know that the calf milk feeder is called a CALFETERIA?  How good is that!!  And the cereal feed we're weaning them onto is called MOOSLI?!  I am beside myself with these puntastic names.

In totally unrelated news, it's crayfish season.  I'm totally underwhelmed at the thought because I don't actually like crayfish that much.  So.... moving on I guess.  Next topic!


Hey, remember that Christmas decoration I ordered off eBay with great trepidation?  Well IT'S AWESOME.  Look!


Come closer!  Sorry I don't know why these photos are so dingy.  Clearly I was too excited at the excellence of my ornament to actually check the camera settings.  You'll have to squint a bit.




Amazing right?!  I love it.  I switch it on every night, even after the kids are in bed I just love to look at it.  And needless to say J is obsessed.

 


Here's another hopelessly dingy photo of the Christmas tree all lit up.  Confession time: I un-decorated it.  I was yelling about it every day, plus A was eating a LOT of glitter, J kept smashing the baubles together and crumpling them in her fists... they both kept trying to unwrap the little gift-shaped decorations... and the last straw was when I found A (part baby part goat apparently) eating polystyrene from inside a gift decoration that she had successfully unwrapped.

So now we just have tinsel and lights!


B has been away for work a bit recently which means pasta for dinner every night!  My most favourite effort the other week is pictured above.  I rolled two massive bowlfuls without any trouble.  It's basically slow roasted carrot, sweet potato (sorry, kumara), and zucchini, plus some crispy fried bacon, all tossed together at the end with a big dollop of my number one kitchen staple: tomato paste.

Delicious, I tell you.  Make it tonight!

Last of all,  I'm proud to say that I've been very industrious in the evenings recently.  Normally once the kids go to bed I flop on the couch with The Good Wife.  I'm only on season two but I'm really enjoying it.  I just wish they wouldn't yell "OJBECTION!" eighty-five times every episode.

What was I talking about again?  Oh yeah.  Other than an epic amount of gardening work getting done recently, I even pulled out the old sewing machine last night and made some fabric gift wrapping bags.  This is a project I've had on my to-do list for about, oh, four years.  And it took me less than half an hour.  Boom, as they say.

It was so easy - I made nine gift bags and two santa sacks in, as I said, less than half an hour.  I even had time for sips of wine in between.

Who's up for a sewing tutorial?  No one?  Perfect!

First you cut your fabric into a long skinny-ish rectangle, or whatever shape you choose.  I made a few different sizes and shapes.  It can be wonky and slapdash!  It's just gift-wrapping!


I used the selvage edges at the top of my bags wherever possible because: less sewing.  So you fold your rectangle so that one edge overhangs the other as in the photo above.  Wow these explanations are so clear.  A craft blogger I am not.


Like this.  That overhang is going to be the "flap" of the envelope that you fold in to close the bag.  If you know what I mean.  Let's carry on.



Then you sew all around the edges of your bag and across any raw edges so they don't fray.  I did the whole lot in a big zigzag stitch which meant I had to reload my bobbin about three times.


Can you see that?  It was getting dark as I was taking these photos.  I should just rename this post "dingy photos of stuff".


And... that's it!  Done!  That last photo shows how the flap tucks into the bag.  No more mountains of gift wrap going to landfill to keep you up at night.

Or is that just me?


Have a good week, friends!