The past week.

The past week has involved food to quite an extent. It's been quite a busy week and it doesn't seem like it was only a week ago we were lunching with our daughters at Kades Restaurant. It was Bob's birthday and we had a lovely meal and chat with the girls.

Then later in the week I was cooking for Friday Light, the local Anglican church's outreach. 

But before that I managed to get the cake baked for the GF dessert I was making for Saturday night's dinner. Once the F.L meal was cooked and down at the church I started assembling the dessert. I thought it would be nicer if it could sit in the fridge overnight but I left the cream until just before we left home. I hadn't made one, a banoffee trifle, for quite a while and wasn't sure how it would turn out, but it was good. And none leftover on the night.

The hall looked really nice with decorated tables and fairy lights strung up. And a little Christmas tree by the door. The food was plentiful and delicious. It was a lovely dinner and a great crowd, over 70 people arrived, but there was enough food to feed an army :) The place was buzzing.

We'd had a red weather alert not long before we left and the rain started as we were leaving home for the dinner and it stopped about 2 hours ago. So it poured for about 42 hours. We weren't affected apart from a little surface flooding but others weren't so lucky. There were evacuations overnight as properties flooded and to make matters worse a valve failed at the waste treatment station and sewage leaked out into the floodwaters. And needless to say the Silverstream is in flood but hasn't breached the flood banks. Once upon a time I would have walked down to take a photo but you'll have to take my word for it this time :) Florida, you could have some of our rain if you wish.

Our storage box is floating and I'm not sure the lid is fully closed but I'll check that when the weather improves. Too late now anyway :)

*****

And just because I can, daughter Jacqui's cat, Sooty, letting the world know what he thinks:)

 

That's all from me today.

Stay safe and well.

blessings,

Diana

Fluffybum aka Mischief

Back in 2014 I did a post about the wee kittens that a wild mama had been bringing to a neighbours house to be fed. All of them were finally rehoused except the mama and this wee one at the back. I called him Fluffybum. He was a cutie. This year we finally managed to trap the mama, and both of her litters, and she has been desexed, inoculated and is back in the neighbours yard. The kittens are in the process of being rehoused.

Fluffybum, now known as Mischief, is still about. He has been adopted by the neighbours and now only has three legs after being hit by a car while playing on the road. He is quite timid still, but you wouldn't think so he way he is staring me down in this next photo.

A nice late afternoon snap, I thought.

Randomness

I haven't been up to posting for a few weeks as my Little Mother hasn't been at all well and I have been seeing to her needs.  

I have been looking in on you though and catching up on what you are all doing but I'm sorry I haven't had the energy to comment. 

It's relaxing just to read sometimes.

But I was looking through my photos and found some 

I've taken over the last few weeks that I could use to take part

 in Five on Friday with Amy and her lovely friends.

So number one: A shot taken one day while I was walking along the Silverstream. That is a cabbage tree (cordyline australis) on the bank. It is over the back fence from where a friend of mine used to live. The cabbage tree was given to her and her husband as a gift but she didn't think it went with her garden so she planted it on the floodbank instead. This way we all get to enjoy it. A lot of people think they are ugly but I like them. They are New Zealand natives and native birds find their berries very tasty.

Number two:  Do you remember a few months ago I told you that my friend's cat had departed to where all cats eventually go? Well shortly afterwards  she was offered this little lady. She is a real character and a lot of fun. She loves playing in the box and is a real blessing to my friend who missed her ginger boy dearly. But the thing that really struck us was that her lovely ginger boy was already named Leo when he arrived on the scene and when this little lady came along she was already named Cleo! I'd say it was meant to be, wouldn't you?

Number three: The Children's Marathon challenge. Out walking around the town one day I was passed by these kids out on a run. I see in the paper that a lot of the schools in the area are taking part in a  marathon of sorts. For the past 6 weeks they have been running around courses at the schools until they have clocked up almost  40 k's.  The final section of the run is then done at Logan Park on a running track and when it is over a ballot is taken to see who gets the donated prizes of sports shoes. A good prize for the lucky ones, only 10 to give out I believe.

Number four: My reading challenge books for a couple of months. I'd had the Joyce  Meyer one, Look Good, Feel Great, for quite a long time and had read a couple of chapters but no further. So I decided now was a good time to finish it. Easy reading, common sense stuff, but something to give you a prod into taking a little bit of action as well. That was the August read completed. :) 

The September book is going to remain unread I'm afraid. Too cynical, hard, and brittle for me. Nothing relaxing about it or even, for me, entertaining. So after persevering for six chapters I've given it the heave and shall probably be putting it in a bin for a book sale instead. What was it? The Best Awful by Carrie Fisher. 

Someone else may enjoy it.

And finally to Number five: These beautiful daffodils are growing at the boundry fence between our house and the neighbour's. They are the only true daffys I have and so I am reluctant to pick them. But the bonus is that I can see them from my kitchen window and can enjoy them anyway. They are a real promise of better days to come. We have had a few stormy days, snow and hail lately so it is lovely to see this splash of colour along with the jonquils all along the front of my house. See the header picture for a look at a small section of them.

No room on the knee

We have had an enforced week or so at home because of colds so decided today it was time for a foray into the outside world.

After lunch we went for a visit with eldest daughter and were  greeted at the gate by grand daughter's dog guarding the property.

This is Mack. He is staying with our daughter while

 his folk are away for a few days in Auckland.

Mack decided the best place to sit on a cool winter's day

 was my lap. Not to be left out Sooty also decided

 the best place to sit on a cool winter's day was my lap. 

Sooty has never sat on my lap in all the years

 I have known him, about seven!

There's a first time for everything I guess :)

Mack also usually sits on my GKB's knee, a privilege

 for my GKB as Mack has a bit of an aversion to men.

So don't ask me what was different today. 

I don't know. Jealousy perhaps?

It meant I couldn't move until it was time to go.

 Well I could have but I didn't.

And this was Mack as we left, all wrapped up in

 a blanket because his paws and ears were cold.

Have a good week,

Diana

Busy, busy, busy...

...that's the way my life has been for the past fortnight and so I'm sorry, I haven't had time to just sit and write about my road trip yet. But I will get around to it eventually. Tomorrow I head south again for an overnight stay about an hours drive from home, with a group of girlfriends. Then I just want to hibernate at home for a week and catch up with my GKB :)

So without further ado here is my little collection of miscellany

 for Five on Friday over at Amy's blog.

1) The top two pictures are gifts I received from 

my girls for Mother's Day. Loved them.

2) It must be winter, I have started this jigsaw, 

all shades of pink and peach :)

3) Last Saturday evening Sis took Little Mother, my daughter and me to the ballet. She was the only one who had ever attended before, but we all enjoyed it. I have to admit though that I kept waiting for them to burst into song - I'm a fan of musicals. The ballet was The Wizard of Oz.

4) Feijoas - there is an abundant crop on the tree and even just picking up the windfalls we are getting a medium 

sized bowlful daily. I have been giving them away 

as well as eating them, I haven't had the time to cook

 any in any way but hope to be able to at least stew 

some next week. The tree belongs to the neighbour

 and overhangs our driveway. In the summer it is full 

of waxeyes darting about looking for insects.

5) And finally Leo. Leo is my friends' cat who I've written 

a couple of posts about in the past. Leo walked over 

the rainbow bridge yesterday afternoon and will be sadly

 missed by everyone who met him. He was a real character. 

RIP my little ewok.

Introducing 'Her'

Do you remember 'Missy the Manx minx'?

We looked after her for a couple of weeks at Christmas

 a year or two back, just after she came to live with our daughter.

Well she is now a mama herself and below is one of her offspring.

Meet 'Her', one of three kittens.

She has a lovely long tail.

Her brother has half a tail and her sister has no tail!

We can only assume the daddy was not a Manx, 

which means Missy is still a little minx :)

cats... and even more cats...



Claude

 I seem to have acquired some additional furry friends in recent weeks. Well actually Claude seems to have invited some of his mates around to sunbathe at our place. In the summer we have the occasional feline use the passage between our front door and the back door to make its way from one side of the property to the other but I have not seen them just socialising as they have been this month.

I went out the front door a couple of weeks ago and was confronted by a large black and white cat curled up, very comfortably thankyou, in the GKB's deck chair on the front steps  - Claude was stretched out on the concrete just in front of him, both making the most of the warm winter sun. They both just looked at me rather lazily as if I was in the wrong place - and don't disturb us please! So I retreated and left them to it.

A couple of days later I went out to hang washing on the line and there, on top of the wheelie bin, was a large grey persian soaking up the
sun. Not a silly place to be, lovely fine day, warm plastic lid on the bin, and I'm alright jack. He just dared me to move him as well, but I didn't blame him for making the most of a good thing, if I was a cat I'd probably have done the same.

And that same day a wee calico/tabby cat was around in my pebble garden, lying on the stones, out of the breeze and just enjoying the warmth of the day. Oh for the life of a cat (just occasionally), they eat and  drink when they want, come and go when they want and please themselves about anything they do.

So even though we have had a volcanic ash cloud overhead from the south American eruption for much of  that time it is obviously not blocking out as much heat as I would have thought.