New Zealand Local Weather Forum
General Category => Members Lounge => NZLW Forum Blogs => Topic started by: Babs on December 26, 2016, 03:11:09 PM
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I have read a lot in English magazines and on the Daily Mail site about Quality Street sweets, so I thought while we were in the Warehouse today, and who wasn't, that I would buy some as they were on special and do a tasting this afternoon.
Now I have a particularly sweet tooth as do most Taureans I believe, so I opened the box, unwrapped the sweets and chomped on a few. I don't know what the fuss is about or the outrageous cost, 25 dollars for a large tin and that was before the mark down.
I don't mean to offend any of our UK visitors or weather members but give me Macintosh toffee's any day. At least I can get my teeth into those.
Oh and have you tried freezing pineapple lumps or Toffee Pops, to die for, as not only do they taste better but they last longer.
We came home with quite a haul of marked down imported sweets which intrepid will probably hide around the house although he does feed me chunks of chocolate each night on the grounds that it makes me sleep better, the last three night disproved that theory, painkillers at bedtime proved to be tastier than chocolate, now ice cream well that's a different story.
It's turned out a fine sun filled afternoon. The house is free of cats and grandchildren till the weekend when we might have a pizza evening, until later when my brain slips a cog or to and our hilltop gets a bit more interesting...
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Ah, so much for imported sweets! Now tell me, what is the story with no cats...or has Gareth Morgan been nearby and the cats are being hidden as well as the candies?
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My question is; why is Intrepid hiding all these lollies. Is it because you eat them all to fast or is he stashing them away for himself?
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Ahhhh the cats, no Gareth Morgan just a warm sunfilled day which meant ours and the neighbourhood cats were asleep somewhere.
When we first moved to the hilltop there were no neighboring cats just a dog that for a few months we didn't know existed.
After a few months we got to meet our neighbours when they came over to retrieve a very odd looking dog. Maxine Rose was the dog's name the oldest looking Red Setter you have seen, her coat looked like a Rastafarian hearth rug, she trembled if she stood still, was stone deaf but if you pointed at her to go home she gave a heavy sigh and went back home through the hole in the fence. It's not to say she was neglected as she was well loved but sadly Maxine Rose had reached the end of her days and went to the big bone yard in the sky.
Several months later two little kittens appeared on our back lawn one was ginger the other a fluffy tortoishell. I kept taking them back next door they kept coming back to our house. They had been bought for the young daughters of the house to replace Maxine Rose.
Half the time I don't think the kittens knew which was their home as we found them on our roof, on our bed, in our bed, in the kitchen and asleep in the lounge, rolling in my t-shirt and chewing holes in them (that got them banned for a few weeks, I mean do I smell like a dead mouse!) . In the finish I gave up taking them back home and left them to their own devices. They have grown into lovely cats who have now figured out that we are for visiting and that home is really next door.
I wish the remainder of the neighbourhood cats were just as polite as there are several who steal our cat's food and think our gardens were made just for them to use as a toilet. We have tried all sorts to deter them I suggested a bazooka until it was pointed out I would not only take out the cats and half the neighbourhood but I didn't have the strength to pick up a bazooka let alone fire one!
So that's the cat's tale. We do have on our hilltop Kitten Inn who do a wonderful job with excess kittens and strays, but I am staying away from there as I know what would happen if I saw a armful of cute cats!
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'So do you still want to do it?' he said
'Why not' she replied
'It's still dark ' he said
' Will soon be daylight' she answered
So he leaned over and turned on the bedside lamp. 'there we can see what we are doing' he said as she reached for her clothes...
And that is why at 5.15am this morning I was getting dressed ready to go into the city to sit on Oriental Parade to watch the Emerald Princess berth on a cool overcast very windy Wellington morning.
Years ago we used get up early during summer cruise season to watch the big cruise liners come through the Heads to be met by the harbour tugs and the Pilot boat. We saw the QE2 (the original one) on her farewell visit to Wellington, the Queen Mary 2 on her maiden voyage to this part of the world and the latest of the Queens, Queen Victoria. This year we have new cruise liners to watch arrive in Port that's if the body and spirit is willing...
We have only met one lot of friends off any of these ships or liners and were able, in the time allowed, show them different parts of Wellington on a lovely warm day.
Afterwards we went for a very welcome warm breakfast followed by a wake up coffee and then off to visit shops and family.
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Sounds like a great day out!
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Just for your info . . .
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Now that I would have definitely dragged my butt outa bed for :)
She carries 6500 passengers and crew I read.
Babs if you have photos please get Intrepid to upload for us.
What a lovely morning you two had :)
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Here's what the Emerald Princess looked like entering Wellington Harbour yesterday morning
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Now, that is impressive! 8)
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Potted gardens..
I used to be a great gardener, digging, weeding, mowing lawns, pruning trees not a problem then my body started to crap out but I thought no way am I giving up growing vegetables, herbs and flowers so several years ago I started growing the forsaid plants in pots of various sizes.
Our dining room and kitchen both open onto different parts of a big deck and it's great to just walk out and grab a handful of lettuce for a salad, herbs for a pasta, beans to steam as a side dish and strawberries as a dessert.
I have two large plastic rubbish bins with clip on lids full of rotting comfrey and seaweed used for liquid manure on the plant. Evidentially they stink but seeing I have lost my sense of smell it doesn't affect me but drives the cat nuts as she loves the taste of the liquid but it's toxic to animals and makes her sick.
This year we are growing pots of strawberries, lettuce, rocket, spring onions (a tip, when you buy spring onions from the supermarket just push the roots into a pot of potting mix and hey presto at least several cutting of onions), two olive trees, a bay tree, sweet peas, lobelia, 8 pots of various sizes of lavenders, straw flowers, courgettes, Californian poppies, dwarf beans (another tip, when planting the dwarf beans in round containers use the base of a hanging basket minus the liner and the hanging chains over the top of the pot as it stops cats from digging the seeds up plus as the beans grow it acts as a support) and runner beans called Painted Ladies a relation to the old Scarlett Runners and each year they re-grow from a bulb that they form, chives and thyme, two large pots of Calendulas and a very large container of wild flowers as an experiment to see if they will grow in pots plus the bees love them.
I think that's about all hopefully I will be able to add some photos to this post.
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Runner beans and straw flowers
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Pots on the deck
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More beans
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These definitely look good enough to eat...yummy and fresh!
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Gosh look how green your lawn is. Ours is brown and dying/dead after 2 months of precious little rainfall.
Plants and vegies look great :)
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In past years there have been times when our lawn have looked like straw but for the last several years they have been green and lush due probably to the amount of rain we have had....
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Green and lush is the way to go...nice spot there, Babs.
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Thanks Tom living on a hilltop is very interesting especially with the bird life we get up here. The Bell bird is still singing his wee heart out I think he has scared the Tui's away. We get wood pigeons too lumbering their way through the trees.
It can be, on very windy day, quite scary up here. We only feel the magnitude 5 and over earthquakes as we are on the other side of the fault line plus we are on bed rock.
All in all quite a pleasant place to live and very popular houses up here sell very quickly.
Enjoy your day.
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On the nights when I can't sleep due to pain, and there have been a few of them lately, I think of all the things I could write about in a blog on here. Like the tortoishell cat next door called Miss Daisy. She is one of a pair of the kittens I mentioned in an earlier blog, her brother is called Macavity.
Miss Daisy's owner have gone on holiday for a few days and asked another neighbour to feed the cats. He came knocking on our back door several days ago frantic as he couldn't find Miss Daisy anywhere and neither could we.
Ross looked out the small bedroom( the one we use as an office) window before bed that night and there was Miss Daisy all tucked up and sound asleep in a patch of long grass that is growing through our hop plant so we were able to text the cat's owners that she was safe. Now Miss Daisy has been there for three days and nights so either she is stoned from sleeping in the hop plant as it does have relaxing properties or she just likes it there.
Last night I dropped a handful of cat biscuits out of the window which the cat quickly gobbled up and this morning took her a bowl of cat food and persuaded her to come out from her hiding place for a walk up our back lawn to bring the washing in, she decided that was enough socialising and has vanished again but we now know where she goes.
I could also tell you about our 9 year old granddaughter who is coming to stay for a day and a night in the New Year, this is the same granddaughter who decided I needed to learn to be a Ninja and ended up calling me Ninja Granny but that I will save for another time when the visit has taken place as she is a very entertaining child and a drama queen to boot....
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Miss Daisy in an upside-down mood
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Grandkids, age 9, both a pleasant experience.
Enjoy,
Paul
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Happy New Year everyone may all your dreams come true this year
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Yes, Happy New Year and welcome to 2017! And what it may bring- and don't get me started on politics LOL.
You were talking about living on a hilltop- it is good to have the aspect that some height gives. Sometimes the views can be "borrowed" and look like part of ones own garden.
I live on what I was told is an old sea cliff, though the sea is now around 800 metres away from its base. More wind, of course but the aspect is worth it.
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Happy New Year Babs
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Ovation of the Seas entering Wellington Harbour on a glorious sunfilled morning. She is due to berth at 12.15pm, well worth coming into the city to see.
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so when do you move in Babs ;)
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Would be nice Martin but we have to win Lotto first!
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We picked up the 9 year old granddaughter this morning she is starting to entertain us. At the moment she is wearing a Zebra onsie and texting her friends, yes she has a phone. Later on we are going to watch the Minions movie this is after lunch and the handful of chocolates have gone down.
I kept her amused earlier with a scrapbook and an lots of craft stuff so she made a beautiful picture for us that we will frame.
More later......
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Our granddaughter the Zebra..
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Cute - great to have young ones around. It will provide fun and variety. Keep smiling!
Graeme
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She has gone home now the granddaughter has but is coming back in two weeks time for a big stay of two nights and two days. She made us laugh, amused us, ate heaps of food, behaved herself and was generally a delight to have plus she didn't want to go home. . While she was here two little grandson's from another part of the family arrived for a few hours and the oldest one age two and a half didn't want to go home either cos he was having to much fun. His 9 month old baby brother was to young to realise that grandparents can be fun.
There are two tired people on our hilltop who are looking forward to an early night and will possibly be in bed before the grandchildren.....
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In the bush at Kaitoke Regional Park north of Upper Hutt, you don't have to go far in this country to find a nice patch of native bush to take photos of
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That's a nice looking scene, Babs.
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Thanks Tom it's a lovely part of Wellington, we have been there after a severe frost and all the trees were covered in spangles of ice, it's snows there too in winter when the snow level drops. We even camped there one Labour weekend as it has a large Doc camping ground that is well supervised by the Ranger.
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Yes, I must get up there, one day and take a look.
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Sure is a nice protected scene - thanks for sharing Babs!
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Looks nice and green Babs smashing
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Clouds over Wellington taken from Days Bay Eastbourne, a really pretty part of the Hutt Valley
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Lovely looking spot, as well. Went on a local ferry across the harbour a few years ago. Does it call in at Days Bay?
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Yep it's called the East by West ferry and runs a commuter service daily. It's very popular. The wharf got damaged slightly in the big earthquake and they are looking at doing a lot of repairs. Very popular in the summertime when tourists come over to Days Bay from the city on the ferry. The only time it doesn't run is when we have one of Wellington's storms. There are three cafes and a large restaurant within walking distance of the wharf plus a well patronised beach. The ferry even goes to Soames Island.
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That's the one we must have gone on, as it went by Soames Island. A good trip.
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Talking about bugs and other critters here's one that known to drag unwary visitors off to its lair. I found it snoozing on top of the couch this morning I think it's called Araneae Babalis
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Update on the potted garden, planted a big trough full of lettuce seedlings plus two large pots full of the same and four medium pots of Mesculum seeds this morning . The Rocket had lived up to its name and rocketed to seed and got turfed out to become compost. So the deck is getting very full of pots of vegetables. The dwarf beans are covered in baby beans won't be long before we will be eating them. We had so many salads using the rocket and different lettuces that it was a relief to eat something different in the way of green stuff the other night.
Something peculiar has happened to the courgettes I grew from seeds in big pots the leaves are turning yellow so either they don't like growing in pots or the growing medium is lacking in something even though we have added a special form of fertilizers for pot grown vegetables.
Will add photos when my sore back allows me to stand upright. Really sux at times not being able to do all the gardening and lawn mowing I used to but thems the break I guess, I just have to compensate in other ways.
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Straw flowers, marigolds and courgettes
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We also have a Monarch visiting our lone Swan plant you can sit quite close to the butterfly
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The deck is filling up much more and we won't be able to get out the back door
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It is looking great- all those plants.
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Thanks Tom. Here's a photo of the new lettuce seedlings and the pots with seeds in them
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Seems a shame to cut the lawns when they are covered in yellow dandelions but they will get mowed hopefully next week
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I cant believe how green everything looks. Ours is dead and brown after 2 and a half months of precious little rain. I am hosing everything daily at present. Thankfully we have heaps of water unlike Gisborne who always ends up with water restrictions in the Summer months.
Your garden is lovely Babs :)
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Yes it is looking good.
8)
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I was flicking through an old garden magazine when I came across an article about growing your own kumara and thought I can do that. I am always after something new to grow so I thought I'll give kumara a go.
Firstly you need a kumara so I choose one of the big orange ones and found a nice looking jar, filled it with water and stuck the kumara end first in it and put it on the kitchen window sill. The second kumara I put in an empty ice cream container full of river sand, dampened it and put that one in the hot water cupboard
I remembered my mother doing the same thing when we lived in Auckland, she had them growing in the kitchen on the window sill and the plant was like a triffid as it took off and she had to attach it to the window surrounds with tacks.
So I waited and waited for sprouts to appear and finally a tiny green leaf appeared upon the window sill one after that more and more appeared, meantime the one in the hotwater cupboard just sulked and did nothing so I though right you are going outside into the big world of plants where it got rained on half drowned and froze and much to my surprise has finally thrown up some leaves.
I know it's far to cold here on our hilltop to grow kumara as they need a warm growing area but it has been fun trying.
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Hey, that's cool, Babs.
Might be worthwhile trying an experiment and seeing if you can great one to produce, if you have a very sunny aspect.
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Would be worth a try Tom but it would be weather dependent as I think they like very warm summers but I could give it a try.... Will have to do some more reading up on how to grow them from the sprouting bits..
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Random Acts of Kindness, Paying it Forward or just being thoughtful but last September I started up something for Ross's workmates.
I thought Monday's are generally not a good day back at work especially if you have had a good weekend so we found a recipe for buttermilk scones and I made a big batch of them on Sunday afternoon , found a suitable container and Ross took them to work for morning tea.
I also had the thought that happy workers are productive workers just look at the bees. The scones have been a resounding success with Olivani spread and plum jam supplied. As I only bake about 20 of them there is a frantic rush when the In-house email goes out that the scones are available.
I have had some nice feedback from Ross's workmates with most of them saying that it gives them something to look forward to on Monday mornings.
The only time I was unable to supply the scones was during the 7.8 earthquake and another time I was laid low with a cold bug thing. So Sunday afternoons you will find me in the kitchen up to my elbows in scone dough with my faithful scone taster waiting for the first batch to come out of the oven.
The attached photo was taken of the first batch of buttermilk scones.
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Thanks for the lovely story Babs! Heart warming indeed! And yummy, hmmm haha! Well done!
Graeme
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Hey, that was a great story to read about! And the photo says, "very yummy!"
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Thanks guys it's nice to do kind things for people and make their working week a bit happier and brighter
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The blogging part of my brain has been having a rest but will be back with you soon. Anyone mind if I put one or two of my blogs from 2009 or there abouts up on here, some of you will remember them from a previous forum some of you will have never read them before. I would just use them as a fill in till my brain wakes up..
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Good one- you go for it, Babs!
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In My Grandmother’s House
In my grandmother’s house there were 4 bedrooms. The back bedroom had a large double bed with slatted head and footboard, it also had a feather mattress. When I was a little girl many of my holidays before starting school and after were spent at my grandparents.
On several occasions I had my best friend to stay with me at my grandparents and we were put to bed each night in the feather-mattressed bed. We would giggle and chatter and finally fall asleep listening to the sound of rain on the tin roof. Each morning we would wake unable to see each other as during the nightm, we had sunk into the feather mattress. Not a very healthy option these days but heavenly for a peaceful sleep.
Also in my grandmother’s house there was toast cooked over a trivet on a solid stove element, porridge cooked very slowly until thick and creamy and midday lunch where the smell of roast vegetables wafted through the house.
No TV of an evening just listening to the radio while my grandmother knitted and my grandfather smoked his pipe while reading the evening newspaper.
In my grandmother’s house was a dark hallway part of which was draped with a blood red curtain and hanging from it was a scary ceramic owl. Going to the loo in the middle of the night in my grandmother’s house was a terrifying experience as the light switches were out of reach for a young child and you didn’t dare wake the grandparents up as loving and forgiving as they were. And you just knew the scary owl was going to get you when you were back in your bed trying to sleep, so you hung on till morning.
Staying in my grandmother’s house was a fascinating experience where love abounded, owls were banished during the daylight hours and feather beds were to die for.
At my other grandmother’s house there was homemade bread and the tallest gum tree in the world and where I went to sleep in my father’s old bedroom.
It was also a place where sea-washed coal and driftwood made open fires that danced with colour. Where Daphne bushes and Lily of the Valley scented the house, where the garden leading to the outside loo could have graced the cover of any cottage garden book. In my other grandmother’s house cuddles were often, there were no scary owls and a Morepork way up in the gum tree cooed me to sleep each night.
In both my grandmother’s houses were women who helped to shape my young life, who gave me memories that I have carried with me to this day and who gave me a childhood to be envied.
My grandmothers’ houses were a lot more than feather beds.
With memories
Babs
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Our grandson Harri is coming to stay for a day and a night at Waitangi weekend. Harri is 14 and the big brother of the granddaughter we have had spending the occasional weekend with us.
We were quite taken back that a teenager wanted to come and spend a day and a night with us so we must be doing something right.
Let me tell you a bit about Harri. Harri doesn't quite see the world like the rest of us do and wears cochlear implants, they don't stop him from enjoying life and he is a warm loving boy always the first for a hug.
Two years ago I experienced Harri's warmth and love. I was with him with his parents and sisters at Queensgate going shopping in the Warehouse so Harri could spend his birthday money. As we were going to do a lot of walking around the mall my daughter put me in a wheelchair. The children had fun pushing me around though at times I shut my eyes so I couldn't see where we were heading.
So shopping all done we went downstairs to the supermarket so I could get a few groceries. While I was waiting at the checkout Harri came up and gave me a bunch of pink roses, he had used his leftover birthday money to buy them. I sat there stunned with tears running down my face as Harri told me they were to make me happy and so I would never forget him.
I will never forget Harri for his thoughtfulness and love... I saved the roses by drying them between sheets of tissue paper so the memory of that day remains.
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The roses that Harri gave me
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Babs you are a blessing... and blessed!
Paul
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Why thank you Paul
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Thanks for the memories
06 November 2009
I read a delightful article on Coast radio’s web site called ‘Remember When’, and it was so refreshing to take time out for a short time and recall my own ‘Remember When’s’ while reading it.
I remember when excitement at Christmas time over ruled the commercial gimmick it has now turned into.
I remember how excited my Dad was getting his first big car and how excited we children were at waving to our friends from the back seat.
I remember when the sun seemed to shine all summer, when the four seasons ran as they were supposed to.
I remember when freshly picked beans from the garden were so delicious to eat. When sitting with my Gran in the sun shelling peas was far more exciting than watching TV.
I remember when I could do cartwheels with no-one hovering near by with a first aid kit in case I hurt myself.
I remember when we only had one bathroom and seven children and two adults seemed to do just fine.
I remember when milk came in glass bottles.
Lastly I remember when we actually did family things on the weekends.
I remember so much more but won't bore you with my memories.
Baby Boomers, Silver Surfer (is an ancient dude or dudette who likes the internet. For ancient read somebody over 50.), O.A.P’s (Old Age Pensioners) all of you take a bow, we have survived this far and will go further still. Our aging dollar is becoming more important each day, our knowledge (yes they have discovered that we aren’t all gaga just yet) is being asked for, so thanks for the memories………..
Babs
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Thunderbolt and Lightning very, very frightening…
‘It’s only God moving the furniture around’, an explanation from my mother to a very timid and frightened 7-year-old little girl during a loud and nasty thunderstorm in Auckland. Having 3 baby brothers had already worried the little girl enough and now she had moved into the realms of nature giving her a bigger fright.
We can’t understand at that age what nature is up to and God moving furniture was scarier than the actual storm. I mean to say what was God doing up there, and how big was the furniture; I was scared enough without worrying about some old dude with a long white beard chucking tables and chairs around and by chance dropping one of them on my head.
My very brave mother stood at the window watching the storm, not once flinching once when the thunder pealed overhead and the lightning lit up the sky. Years later when her and I were watching lightning out at sea off the Gold Coast in Queensland, she admitted to me that she had been terrified of thunder and lightning all her life and had been trying to be brave in front of me.
Now that is something I didn’t do in front of my children, at the first clap of thunder I was either under the bed, trying to get into the wardrobe or in a heap on the floor covered by a blanket. My children grew up with a mother who went into shock every time thunder crashed and lightning flashed. Oddly enough none of them are afraid of storms and they will happily stand at windows for hours watching the skies light up. Good luck to them, I prefer my thunderstorms on the Discovery Channel!
To this day my children text me when there is a thunderstorm due in Wellington, sending me messages full of encouragement like ‘time 2 get under da bed Ma’, charming children they are.
What is it with guys though, they seem to love thunderstorms and revel in all hell breaking loose in the skies. One explanation I have been told is that they find it all so amazing and it’s nature with a capital ‘N’ at work, which is really nice and I am pleased for them, but just let me crawl somewhere safe when all this banging and crashing is going on.
Freddy Mercury got it right in Bohemian Rhapsody ‘Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very frightening’.
Back under the blanket…
Babs
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A Blogger
And what do you do?
I have been asked this question so many times over the years and have formulated in my mind what I would like to answer.
Do I work, yes I do, what do you do? lots of things. I dread sometimes that I will come out with some answer that will embarrass me or the person that asked the question.
At one gathering years ago, a politicians wife asked me and ‘what do you do’, I was on the verge of saying that I was a spy and would have to kill her if she asked me any more daft questions like that, but fortunately the person I was with knew I was getting rattled and stepped in and changed the subject.
I guess the question is what do I do?. I have been and still am a mother, a grandmother of many, a housewife, a gardener, a housekeeper, a cook, a child minder (although I gave that up years ago when the children left home) etc.
One old lady thought she had cracked it once by asking me if I worked or was I once of them, meaning of course that I was a home-maker. Poor lady she did her best but I still struggle as to what I do.
I will be at a birthday party tomorrow night for people that I have never met so the same questions will arise.
Him Indoors sometimes answers for me and says that I have worked all my life and am having a break.
For a while I was telling people I was a Domestic goddess but that caused some head-shaking.
I have decided that if I am asked from now on I will say I am a Blogger, which is partly true, I do blog when the brain cells allow it. Or I could be a designer, or a landscaper or a kitchen wench, but I think I will stick to being a Blogger that covers a multitude of what I am and what I do.
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Interesting reads here, Babs. Thanks. :)
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aww Freddy always my hero:) I still miss him and I still listen to his tracks.
"Although critical reaction was initially mixed, "Bohemian Rhapsody" remains one of Queen's most popular songs and is frequently placed on modern lists of the greatest songs of all time.
Written by Freddy, it is a six-minute suite, consisting of several sections without a chorus: an intro, a ballad segment, an operatic passage, a hard rock part and a reflective coda. It was reportedly the most expensive single ever made at the time of its release, though the exact cost of production cannot be determined."
I doubt there is anyone else with the same vocal range who could equal Freddy's original version. His death was such a waste.