FRIDAY WALK

Another lovely day although a bit cooler first thing.  We decided to do the circular walk from home again.

Last night I got a half leg of lamb out of the freezer so we peeled some potatoe, kumara (sweet potatoe) and Buttercup Squash and put it all in the oven at about 160 degrees. 

The stream as one enters the bush doesn't have a lot of water.

I happened to look across the stream above  and realised the view is up the hill to the spot I took the following photo on a previous walk.  The colours are not as good looking from the shade but if one looks closely one can see the house in both photos.  A wonderful property going right down to the river. 

When we get to the waterfall this is the first set of steps taking us to the top of the falls.

As we got home there were two Monarch Butterflies on this daisy.  We have the Monarchs everywhere.

The walk took us about 80 minutes and, when I checked, the lamb was cooked so I removed it to rest and turned the oven up to brown the vegetables.  Went out to the garden and picked some silver beet (chard) and in no time we had a delicious meal.  Nothing flash but very tasty.

OAK TABLE

This oak table came from my late husband's parents when they downsized in the 1970's.  I don't know how old it is but they most likely had it in their bach or holiday home.  I am not sure why the left leg has had some stain put on it but it is a useful table, the right height for our small television.  

It has always seemed a waste of space under the drawer so this morning I asked Doug if he could make some shelves for magazines out of some leftover ply.  This is the result.  More practical and looks better.

WICKEN BONHUNT

Reading the post by John from "By Stargoose And Hanglands" made me think of Wicken Bonhunt which I knew had nearby windmills.  I looked it up on google and came across not a windmill but a pub.

The Coach and Horses

Only one publican was mentioned a Thomas Nash in 1851.  Thomas was my great, great grandfather.  His daughter, Lucy, embroidered this sampler two years later and I have it on my bedroom wall.   She was 13 at the time.

JACINDA ARDERN

Australia is going to the polls later this month and a survey has just revealed that  Australia's most trusted politician is New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. Surprise, surprise.

A FOGGY START TO THE DAY

We had a slightly later start than usual for a Saturday morning but I was surprised on opening the curtains to find a heavy fog. 

As usual we went to the Growers Market  followed by walking Sophie at the Town Basin.

Then we did our weekly supermarket shop and by the time we returned home the fog had lifted and it was a lovely sunny day.,

WALK TO THE FALLS

I see it is 9 days since we did the circular walk from home down to the river then up to the Whangarei Falls and back home.  We finally found time to do it again.  The forecast for today was rain but, although we had some showers overnight, it has been fine.

It is a walk we enjoy as the scenery varies.  It is about one and a half hours which is a good length and includes both walking on the flat and some hill.

Even though it was just nine days since we last did this walk there seemed to be a lot more fallen leaves this time.

Who would have planted a tree in the middle of the access to the bridge.  Seriously though it is great that the tree was left there and not removed.  I think I can see someone hiding behind it.

It was a bit cloudy so I took my small folding umbrella which acted as insurance against the rain.  A very pleasant walk.

TUESDAY

I thought it was going to be a quiet day today.  Several general tasks needed to be done, the mundane sheet changing and washing, cooking a batch of food for Sophie and making some soup as well as a visit to the Osteopath in the afternoon.

Doug's eldest Grand daughter has just taken a transfer here to Whangarei and we had a message this morning that her hubby and just turned 4 daughter, Kowhai, were coming up for a couple of days and going to call in here.  It was great to catch up with them and we were able to give a  book to Kowhai that we purchased at the recent Arts Trail. 

They are staying out at the beach in a friend's bach (holiday home).  We had a cuppa and some scones, cakes and sausage rolls before heading to the beach.  Doug and I  then had some leftover lamb for lunch and headed into town. 

I have only just started adding beetroot to vegetable soup.  I use the usual vegetables, garlic, onion, kumara (sweet potatoe), carrot, buttercup squash and a beetroot with some red lentils and a little grated ginger.  To speed the process I grated the vegetables and, after cooking them in some stock I used the best tool I have ever bought - my stick mixer.  The soup ends up a lovely deep colour which varies depending on the quantities of each vegetable.  We had this for our evening meal.

I added a little cream to my bowl.