A quick round up.

Last Saturday we flew out of Dunedin to Auckland on the first leg of our trip to see the family in Australia. Our youngest grand daughter and her husband took us to the airport and sat and had a coffee with us while we waited. It was a nice time.

 Aaron and Sofi met us in Auckland and we had a nice relaxed evening catching up on the news. On Sunday we all attended the church Aaron is pastoring. The congregation is small but welcoming and consists mostly of pacific islanders. Below is a picture of a tapa cloth on the wall. Tapa cloth is highly valued in the pacific communities and traditionally represented a woman's wealth. It is made from beaten bark.

After church we went out to Maraetai Beach for the afternoon. It was a really pleasant day and we enjoyed being able to sit there in the sun and watch everyone enjoying themselves, swimming no less. 

We had hot chips for a snack with a hot cuppa. 

And just as we thought we were going home Sofi thought it would be nice to show us Sylvia Park Mall, which is the largest one in the country. So we strolled around there for an hour or so and some of us spent money and some of us didn't :) It was a long day.

On Monday we did a trip down to Cambridge to visit our grandson who has a 'retro and collectibles' shop there. AMPERSAND is what he calls it. It wasn't open but he took us in to have a look...

...after which we all went for lunch and then strolled down to the local museum for a browse.

Below is a mosaic on the footpath. 

Cambridge is the main horse racing stud area of New Zealand. This is one of the horses, 'Mainbrace', very famous in its day.

Next day was a rest day :) it had been very busy then on Wednesday we flew to Aussie. Below is Bob coming out of the chair lift from the plane at our final destination - Mackay.

I'll leave you there until next time. 

Have a lovely week,

Keep well and enjoy yourselves,

Diana

Looking back on the week

 We had a day in town this week mainly because I had to take my phone in to be looked at. It's been going very slow and even telling me I had no internet connection when I was sitting in my own house. Anyway I'm hoping it's fixed now but to be honest I'm not sure. And the young fellow in the shop was not very forthcoming. I found out more when Bob went into another shop, we're with different companies, and I may change over when I have to update my phone one day.

Still it was good to have a wander and buy one or two things we need to take away on holiday with us. After we'd finished we went to our favourite cafe for lunch. Arrived just before the rush, by the time we left it was full. 

 We catch the bus in these days, it saves trying to get a park somewhere, the parking buildings are often already full. And it's amazing what you see from the bus, being higher up, that you miss when sitting in the car.

I've been in the shop as well but it has been very slow lately. I think in part because of the weather, it's been very cold and miserable, but also because of the economy. People are not buying a lot of books these days, we do great sales in greeting cards though :) But today it was a little different, I had two authors ring and enquire how their books were going. Quite exciting having a little chat to them.

I mentioned how cold it's been, again, and the picture above is what we woke to this morning. Thick fog which turned into freezing rain about midday. A lot of flights were delayed today, the airport is a few kilometres further down the plain than us. I just hope it doesn't happen on Saturday when we're due to fly out. Youngest grand daughter is taking us to the airport.

And a montage of my great grands with the quilts my sister made them and sent over from Aussie. Amazingly they all arrived on the same day and there were some excited little people ripping open parcels. She personalized them to what the three older kids are into and made up a lovely colorful one for the toddler.

And just because I can.

I was using a public rest room when I spotted these unusual tiles on the walls. I found them quite fascinating. Some of the chemical elements on the periodic table. I would have taken more photos but people were starting to look at me funny :)

Top left S 16 - sulfur.

Bottom right Sc 21 - scandium.

And that's it from me. 

Next time I post I'll be in Auckland or Mackay. See you then. 

Diana

Cool nights and sunny days.

The nights have been cold, sometimes dropping to -5C or below and it usually means we have lovely sunny, if chilly, days. But it's usually lunch time before the sun is coming  through our sitting room windows and we can turn the heat pump off.

It hasn't stopped the jonquils from putting on a beautiful, cheery display along the front of the house though.

The afternoons are fairly warm(ish) up to 12C sometimes and one afternoon last week I went out to a very enjoyable Aglow meeting. The board had gone to the trouble of creating some small vignettes around the room relating to the theme of the afternoon.

We finished off with afternoon tea before we headed home again. It was cooling down again by then.

 You'll have to forgive me for going on about the weather. I don't like the cold. Daughter in law Sofi, says down south everyone talks about the weather - in Auckland everyone talks about the traffic. I'm down south 😄

But in just over a week we're heading to Auckland, where I won't talk about the traffic because I won't be driving in it, and then we're heading to Mackay in north Queensland. Looking forward to some warmer weather in both places.

I'll leave you there.

Keep well and keep warm.

Until next time, 

Diana

Sandwich time

 

Sandwich Time

Welcome once again to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.

Sandwiches are a lunch time favorite.  

In the 1930s two favorite sandwiches were ham, pickles and mustard and tuna with rice, capers, pepper and paprika.  I think it probably needed mayo!

Sandwiches can be a  simple peanut butter and jelly or a classy Monte Cristo.

1. What is your favorite sandwich and how do you make it?

I'm not a very exciting sandwich maker and we tend to only have them in the summer. I like a tomato, lettuce, ham and cheese usually on white bread but not always. A little mayo on the lettuce as well. Otherwise lettuce and marmite or cheese and marmite. Marmite is a yeast based breakfast spread not to be confused with vegemite which is more common in Australia. Toasted sandwiches are always good too but not with lettuce.

 

2.  What is the best bread for making toast?  How about for making sandwiches?

We like Couplands Super thick toast bread for sandwiches and toast. It stays lovely and fresh longer than other bread we've found.

3.  If you go out to eat for lunch are you more likely to stay with a safe choice or be more adventurous?

No I'm not a very adventurous sandwich eater when out. Usually I look for an egg 

sandwich made with chopped chives and some mayo. I don't keep eggs at home as we don't eat them very often so enjoy a plain old egg sandwich if I'm out for lunch.

4. Dagwood, hoagie, submarine, Po boy, grinder. Whatever they are called where you are, do you like them and if so what do you want on it?

Pardon? I'm guessing, but don't know, that these are either filled rolls or similar to a subway. On the odd occasion when we go to Subway we tend to still go for the salad ingredients with cold meat but have occasionally become quite daring and tried some of the other ingredients. Usually in a toasted grain bread.

Have a good week.

blessings,

Diana

A trip down memory lane

 

Punakaiki River Valley

 by K John Toomer.

 I was visiting a friend in a rest home when  this painting on the wall in the foyer caught my eye. I thought I recognized the area, it's the Punakaiki River on the West Coast of the South Island, NZ. As a child I spent a lot of summer weekends in this area as my uncle was building a batch on the river and he frequently took a carload of cousins, aunties and uncles out there for the day and, after the batch was completed, for the weekend.

The batch has long been sold now but here is a photo of Aunty, Mum, middle sis and me standing outside it when we visited it a few years ago when sis and I took Mum and  my eldest grand daughter over for a holiday. And this, below, is where we all rushed through the bush to the river to play and swim. No gates, fences or paths in those days though, just tracks we made of our own accord.

We played in the bush and swam in the river and at some stage there was a canoe we took turns in and just generally had a lot of fun. The boys went eeling under the bridge and uncle went whitebaiting. It was a great whitebait river and there were several people there in the season. Uncle, and others, would also go surf casting in the sea but I can't remember that we ever ate any fish. We must have.

Grand daughter just down river from the 'eeling' bridge.

The pancake rocks were just a couple of kilometres further up the road and on occasion everyone would go up for a look and see if the blow holes were blowing. The sea had to be fairly rough for that and an incoming tide but it was a great spectacle. We'd have a great time clambering over the rocks with the mothers shouting at us not to fall in because they weren't jumping in to get us :). 

That was in the days before it became a tourist spot and fences and paths were built. It all seems very tame now when I go back and remember what we got up to and I'd rather remember it the way it was. Maybe we were a bit foolhardy but it was a lot of fun and we survived. We only ever got into trouble the one time some of us went up by ourselves and didn't tell anyone until we got home to the batch.

One of the paths around the blowholes and pancake rocks.

Although I do remember the boys taking a couple of kitchen knives and going AWOL into the bush for the day. Pig hunting they said when they got back. Needless to say they never saw a pig, which was probably just as well and they got a sound telling off when they arrived back. I think they were probably about 10 or 11.

I hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane, I have.

The photos are all more recent  but still give an idea of how things were.

**************

My prayers and thoughts are with the people in the Marlborough, Nelson, Tasman area.

Keep well and keep dry.

Diana

Swede, bulbs and jigsaws

 It's been so cold this winter we haven't done much except hunker down at home and go out when we've had to. It's been wet and cold and sunny and cold and night time temps below freezing at times. That means it's cold when we get up but the living area is warm as we set the heat pump to come on about an hour before we rise. 

I've finished one jigsaw and got another on the go but I don't know how far I'll get with it. DIL Sofi gave it to me, it was one they were discarding  at work, and I've already had one shot at it. I didn't finish it that first time and I seem to be doing even worse this time around. I've got the border finished and a few pieces in and about 840 pieces that don't fit anywhere at all :) Never mind, I'll plug away and see how I go. I'm not promising I'll finish it this time either. 

Jacqui arrived in for a chat and a cuppa yesterday bearing gifts. Half a swede, that will be nice in some vege soup, she'd got three from a roadside stall, and a boot full of spring bulbs. She's going to sort the bulbs out and bring some back for me. They'll look nice out the front when the jonquils die off - daffodils, gladioli and pink and white hyacinths. 

Just for something to do we went in to the Warehouse and had a wander. We came home with a new toaster, which we needed and a new blouse for me. I decided I needed a light long sleeved top for when we go over to Aussie next month. Their temps have been a lot cooler up north than  normal this year. Sometimes down in single figures.

I've also worked a few extra days in the shop as well and last week I had a wee fellow come in with his mother. They wandered around and picked out what they wanted and then while Mum was still browsing he came up to the counter and put his sticker  book on the counter and said "Now you pay for this." I smiled and said "No, I haven't got any money." With that Mum arrived at the counter and paid and he was happy. He was only three and knew when you went to the counter someone paid. I guess he thought it was me, because he didn't have any money :) His Mum and I had a wee giggle about it.

And with that I'll finish.

Keep well, keep warm - or cool - and I'll see you next time.

Diana

ps. Texas you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Hello there

 I've just been for a stroll down to the Silverstream to have a look and it is almost back to normal levels but running swiftly. A new path has been built up to the flood bank which is great, it'll save walking through the. grass and getting wet feet after it's been raining. People and their dogs and kids on bikes are using it again on this lovely, warm (for winter), sunny day. An enjoyable walk really.

My GKB Bob has had another birthday, he's reached the grand old age of 83. We had cream buns with chocolate icing to celebrate, he didn't want to go out, and the girls came over for the afternoon. He had phone calls and messages from other members of the family as well and I think he quite enjoyed a nice relaxed day. The girls pandered to his sweet tooth, giving him ice cream, fudge and chocolates, which he is being very good with and only eating a couple of pieces a day. And yes, he is sharing :) Though we haven't tried the ice cream yet. Maybe tonight :)

Apart from that there is not a lot going on. I am working 3 shifts a week at the moment as one of the volunteers is away, but I'll have my turn in August when we head to Aussie to visit my sisters. So we're looking forward to that. 

Until next time, keep well and enjoy life.

Diana