A DAY OF REST

Everything seems to be coming on well.  Doug has finished installing the window in the spare bedroom.  I must now sort out some curtains.  The pond has 6 goldfish, a stairs for critters to escape and will shortly have a pump for aeration.  

We prefer to buy locally but the pump was just under $190 including freight from Auckland bought on-line and $240 bought locally.  $50 difference on something that price was a bit too much.  We ordered the pump yesterday afternoon and it was dispatched then so, hopefully, may arrive today.  

Yesterday, Doug called in to a local electrician and asked them to fit a new plug outside for the pump and that was done this morning.  

A couple of days ago I phoned the local pharmacy to arrange Covid and flu vaccinations but got no reply so phoned our G.P. and found they only do Flu vaccinations now so booked us in for Monday.  Yesterday, I managed to get through to the pharmacy and we had our Covid vaccinations yesterday afternoon. I was interested to see that this is a different vaccine to the previous ones and also the fact that this was our fifth dose.

I am of two minds about whether to have had them together or separately.  Neither of us has felt unwell since having the jab but we both feel lethargic hence the day of rest.  Hopefully, we will feel brighter by Monday when we have the Flu vaccinations.

The garden is coming on well and we have some more of the Italian Precoce broccoli that did so well last year on order as well as some red spring onions and a four bundle flower combination.  Unfortunately, we also have another heavy rain and strong wind watch .  

I am now going to put my feet up and read a book and hope that the weather is not too bad for the Growers' Market in the morning 

SATURDAY MORNING

 We got to the Market just before 7 a.m. and the car park was nearly full.  I went straight to the stall where we buy the delicious tomatoes, capsicum and aubergine while Doug went to the stall with pineapples and bananas.  There was a queue for the tomatoes etc. but they seemed to have some left but Doug said he got the second to last pineapple, (they threw in the smaller one).  There were barely any bananas left.  The three in the photo are local bananas but we actually bought them in the supermarket later.

We bought spinach, watercress, lettuce, capsicum, avocados, spring onions, tomatoes, pineapples and three very nice beetroot that I missed in the photo.  Everything is locally grown and very fresh.

The banana flowers are opening.  I love the look of them.

Off to do 100 rows on the rowing machine and then roast the beetroot, aubergine, capsicum and some kumara.  We will have some with cauliflower mash (something we only discovered last year), spinach  and venison casserole.  

Later: the roast vegetables

PROGRESS

As I mentioned last Friday we bought a window for the spare bedroom.  It is much more difficult to put a window into an existing wall than when building from scratch but yesterday Doug cut a hole in the wall ready for the window.  The two photos below are after the hole had been cut but the timber framing was still in place.

Doug also cut out the timber and covered the window for the night.

While Doug was working on the window I cut back the tops and then dug some kumara. We had planted the shoots very late after harvesting our potatoes and were not sure whether we would get any kumara so are pleased with the result.

Today between showers Doug has finished the woodwork, which was very fiddly as he had to fill in between the timber that was in place in the wall.  He managed to get the window in just before this afternoon's heavy rain.  There is still a lot more work to do before the job is finished but we are pleased with the progress so far and the spare bedroom is now a lot lighter.

Today, while Doug was working on the window I did some general household jobs and made the first of the cakes from the mixes I was given by Bakels.  This is their gluten free chocolate cake with their icing mix.  It was delicious with a cup of tea when we finished work at 3 p.m.  A good couple of day's work.

BANANA UPDATE

 This is the bunch of bananas we noticed earlier in the summer.  Last year we covered the bunches with blue plastic bags but then didn't realise that they had ripened and lost some so this year we are trying without the protection of the bags.

A couple of days ago we noticed a new bunch forming at the back of the clump.

and then noticed the two flower buds below so, all going well, we should have a good supply.  Fingers and toes crossed.

ANOTHER PAINTING

Doug has just finished his latest painting.  As he told me it needs to be viewed from a distance.  I think he is getting better all the time.

I wonder what his next subject will be.

THE GROWERS' MARKET

Over summer we did not need to go to the Growers' Market but started a few weeks ago when we started changing the garden from summer to winter crops.

I have particular stalls that I frequent.  Today I knew that one from Broadwood where I buy spring onions and leeks wasn't going to be there so I went straight to a stall that has capsicums, aubergines and Lebanese cucumbers and last week had delicious tomatoes.  We got to the market before 7 a.m. and I was glad I had gone straight to that stall as there was a long queue and stock was getting low.  This couple used to go to the Kaitaia market many years ago so I must have been buying from them for over 15 years possibly a lot longer.

I was very happy with the produce I bought which will keep us going for a week.  A cauliflower, watercress, orange kumara, aubergine, tomatoes, Reed avocados, some capsicums and carrots.

THIS WEEK

Even though it was a holiday Monday was still Parkinson walk day as usual.  We visited the Quarry Gardens after Doug and I had checked it out the previous week to make sure it would be suitable after Cyclone Gabrielle.

We were pleased to see that a lot of work had been done on the slip near the entrance, still a lot more to do but it was good to see the progress.  Eleven of us had a lovely walk around the gardens followed by our refreshments and Easter eggs at picnic tables under the trees. 

On Tuesday Doug didn't go to his painting class as we had visitors coming for lunch. His 2nd cousin, Jenny from Kaitaia and her brother, Doug, who has been living in Eastern France for about 20 years and is back on a short holiday.  We had met Jenny before but not her brother.  Their aunt Gwen also came (her sister was married to Doug's cousin).

Anyway, last week I made a batch of gf chocolate brownies from a packet mix and as they were so good decided to make some more to have with a cuppa after lunch.  I don't usually use packet mixes as I prefer cooking from scratch.

What a disaster.  I made the mixture exactly as I had previously but ended with a runny, lumpy mess.  Doug went out and bought a cake.  Once I had given up on the Brownies I turned the oven heat up and did a mixture of roast vegetables - Purple, white and orange fleshed kumara (sweet potato), aubergine, orange capsicum and some mushrooms.

We also had lettuce, watercress, tomatoes, cucumber, Camembert and sliced ham and home made bread.   After the disaster with the brownies it was a complete success.  Gwen had to leave straight after lunch as she had an appointment but Jennie and Doug didn't leave till 5.30 and would have stayed longer if they had not had a 2 hour trip home.  It was a wonderful afternoon of catching up, family history and lots of laughter.

Wednesday was quieter, catching up on washing etc. Yesterday, we headed to town.  The spare bedroom is quite dark now we have a solid roof on the deck so we went to Demolition Warehouse to buy a window.  Doug found one but only in black.  Luckily I had seen the same thing in white so we bought it.  As we left (presumably the boss) saw us and commented that we had bought the last one.  The window will go on the wall below and should make a big difference.

We also went to a pet shop and bought some pond plants and 3 goldfish.  The pond is still a work in progress.

Anyway, back to the disaster of the gf chocolate brownie.  I phoned the manufacturer Bakels at the time but was not happy with the response of "dump it" so emailed a photo which clearly showed the pale lumps and runny cake.  Today I got a phone call which was completely different, thanking me for emailing them.  The outcome is that I will get it  and a second packet I had bought replaced plus a variety of their gluten free baking products to try.  I was also asked to let them know what I think of them.  

DOUG'S PAINTINGS

Doug is really enjoying his painting.  I thought I should post his last two paintings.

This was his second painting

and this is the last one complete with the frame he made.

As I type he is busy working on another completely different painting.  I find it fascinating watching him as he just paints without any preparation or drawing .  He said that his tutor wishes she could do that.  

The main thing is that he is enjoying it.

QUARRY GARDENS AFTER CYCLONE GABRIELLE

On Sunday we went to the Quarry Gardens to see the damage and also to check if enough is open for us to go there on Monday for our Parkinson walk.

The sculpture above used to be to the right of the photo below.  

 

There was also a bridge going across to it seen in this photo from 2022 after a previous storm.  The bridge has completely gone after Gabrielle

Halfway up this landslide used to be the arid garden and we were told it is not likely to be able to be re-instated. 

Looking across the lake still looks the same although I think the "beach" on the far side is a little larger

Below is part of the new shelter built recently in the arid garden and washed down a level.

Once one has gone past the slips the garden is looking good.

This poor tree (a Ficus Dammaropsis) is over half buried

A lovely tropical azalea in bloom.

If you type Quarry Gardens in the search at the top you will see "before" photos.  

WATER LILIES

 When Doug moved here at the end of 2008 he brought some water lilies and they have been sitting (languishing) in tubs behind his workshop ever since.  

They finally flowered this year so we decided it was time to have a pond for them before they gave up the ghost.

Doug set to building a pond.  It was made from 8" x 2" timber and weighed a lot.

He dug a hole, the land is sloping so it needed to be deepish at one end.  The next step was to get the pond into the hole which needed some working out but we managed it between us.  (both sets of neighbours were away).

The liner was put in and the pond was filled from our rainwater tank (there was just enough to fill it).

The poor water lilies look so much happier in their new home.  We are pleased with the end result.

Now we are waiting for some much needed rain both for the garden and to refill the water tank.