A REASONABLY FINE WALK

According to this morning's paper there was 126 mm of rain in the 24 hours to 2 p.m. yesterday so no wonder our lawn was under water.

There was a heavy downpour early this morning but the sun was attempting to shine while we had breakfast.  I had chosen a walk on the Shared Pathway from Kamo  with a concrete path.  Twelve of us had an enjoyable walk.  There were a couple of light showers but I think we were all pleased to get out in the fresh air followed by  a caffeine fix at a central cafe.

We now have another Heavy Rain Watch for tomorrow.

With the heavy rain forecast I have just picked some of the Chrysanthemums from two of the plants I bought at the Market earlier.  They both had stems that went off at right angles as they must have been lying down so it was good to pick them and leave the upright stems to keep flowering.  You can see the bent stems

AND MORE RAIN

We had a heavy rain and thunderstorm watch for today.  I haven't heard any thunder or seen any lightening (not yet anyway) but it rained heavily in the night and through the day.  

I had planned to take a photo of  this larger bush of Justica which gives a lovely show of cheer.  I ended up taking this photo through the window while Doug went out to unblock the drain pipe that goes under the garden to let the water flow down to the road.  The lawn is still very wet but the small lake has now disappeared.

In spite of all this rain a couple of days ago I came across this lovely Monarch Butterfly.

ANZAC DAY

Today is ANZAC Day, a day we remember those who have fought and died in the various wars.

I have been thinking of the various members of my family and husbands' families who fought in the First and Second World Wars.

My mother's eldest brother died in the First World War and her youngest brother who was only a baby when his elder brother died was a Prisoner of War in the Second World War.  I understand that the family thought he had been killed.

Doug's uncle (one of his mother's brothers) fought in the Maori Battalion and was killed in Crete.  We recently had his duplicate Medals and a cousin collected them yesterday for today's ceremonies.

My late husband Max's uncle Everard (his mother's only brother) set sail on 18th November 1917 on the S.S. Tahiti bound for the U.K. He left behind his wife and young baby.  I have been reading the letter (more of a diary) that he sent to his wife.  It describes his trip through the Panama Canal in great detail.  I found this particularly interesting as I came through the Panama Canal roughly 50 years later.  They then sailed through the Caribbean Sea past Jamaica, and Cuba then to Newport where they went ashore.  They were at sea again on Christmas Day.   He was working as a cook and included the Christmas Day menu for both the Officers  and Troops.

Officers

Huitres Nature

Cons a la Imperial

Vol au vent - sweet bread

Timbles Blue Cod

Roast Sirloin of Beef

Roast Forequarter of Lamb

Roast Gosling, seasoning

Boiled Turkey

Asparagus a la Piencontaise

Green Peas

White vegetable

Queen Olives

Potage a la American

Pigeon a la Egyptienne

Ice Homard

Yorkshire Pudding

Mint sauce

Apple sauce

Oyster Sauce

and for desert

Christmas pudding

macedoine fruit

Swiss trifle

French Pastry

Crutes a la Indienne

Grape Nuts

Hard Sauce

Brandy Sauce

Mince pies

Almond Rock

I am copying from a copy that was typed out many years ago from Everard's handwritten letter so am not sure about some of these dishes/words but that gives a good idea of the Officers' Christmas meal.

Whereas the Troops were served

Roast pork, seasoning

Boiled potatoes

cabbage

followed by

Christmas pudding and Macedoinne Fruit.

Everard commented that he wanted to compare them and added that, of course, he had what he liked (being a cook) but there was too much distinction made.

They then sailed to Halifax in Nova Scotia where there had just been a major explosion after two ships collided and caught fire blowing, as he said, to atoms and causing a tsunami. He said he would not live in Halifax for a fortune and it was so bitterly cold with a foot of ice on our decks and all the water pipes burst.  He said the ink would freeze in a fountain pen in ones pocket and burst the pen.

From there they were escorted to England.  The letter is 4 x A4 typed pages plus the menu so I have only put some of it here.

After all that they arrived in Liverpool on January 7th 1918 he then contracted Measles and was admitted to the Military Hospital in Tidworth on the Dangerously Ill list and died on the 18th February, 1918.

His wife later re-married and we only discovered his daughter in, I think, the 1990's . She lived between us and Auckland and, we always visited her whenever we went to Auckland.  She was a lovely lady, a lot like Max' mother.

UPDATE

The strong winds and heavy rain have eased but it is still showery although I have managed to get some washing done and just finished in the dryer.  Cyclone Tam has been causing problems in N.S.W. and people have drowned in the rough waters. It seems that they didn't get the cyclone just the heavy seas.

We went to the Growers' Market bright and early yesterday and it was nice and quiet.  It would have been very busy later as, in spite of the weather it seems as though lots of people have headed north for the Long Weekend.  Youngest daughter came for lunch yesterday.  She went to the dump on the way here but the queue was so long that she brought her rubbish with her and went to the dump again on the way back.  Apparently it was chaos in the supermarkets.

We had a couple more large shrubs that got damaged in the storm and had to be cut down but generally got off very lightly.  

We bought another Chrysanthemum at the market and I also saw a plant I didn't know the name of so took a photo of its label.  

They make a stunning display.  Below are two of our yellow ones and we also have a pink and a white.  

I hope everyone is having a Happy Easter.

CYCLONE TAM

 It is hard to believe that just a few short weeks ago we were in drought.  Since then we had a storm last week and have had this storm (cyclone Tam)  since yesterday morning.

When I went down the drive to get the newspapers this morning I did some tidying up and cleared a pipe under a garden to let water flow out from our lawn.  I was drenched to the skin when I got in.  Doug is out now.  One of our N.S.W. Waratahs has blown against a fence but it is damaged at the base and he is going to cut it down. We will miss it as we looked out at it from our kitchen and dining windows. It is the one the Tui loved as in this photo for our 2023 Christmas card.

A lot of power outages.  Hope ours stays on. We keep intending to get a generator - must get around to it.  Thunderstorms forecast as well.

GWYNNETH

Gwynneth 2 of the tubs the kumara came out of have been planted today with the chrysanthemums we 
bought at the Market yesterday.  They are a bit (overstatement) lanky and one must have been laying on its side but they will come right.  Once the flowers come out I will pick them and leave the lower buds to flower.  They have plenty of room to spread. We used to buy our kumara from a lad at the Market and I think we will go back to that although we may well plant one or two.  It was a lot of work.

Apart from that I have made a large pot of lentil and vegetable soup using the smaller kumara and baked an apple and feijoa crumble which we had for our dessert.

It is a miserable day, drizzly and cool so the fire is going.

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY

 Yesterday morning (Friday) I walked down to the Pharmacy (750 metres) to pick up a script for Doug.  We used to get them from a pharmacy in the next suburb (Kamo) but changed a few months ago and find it much easier now to pick up scripts.  While I was there I popped into the butcher and bought a pack of shin on the bone to make some soup this weekend and a pack of Hot Cross Buns from one of the bakers.  Doug tells me they are the very best buns.

While I was away (not long) Doug started to harvest the Kumara (sweet potatoe) from 4 half barrels, we had already harvested one earlier.  When I got back I was greeted by Blue waiting for me on the fence

I then helped Doug harvest the Kumara.  It was quite hard work emptying the barrels then finding the kumara, moving the barrels to a new site and refilling.  Anyway, it is all done now and just one more plant in the ground left to harvest.

It was much more pleasant going to the Market today with Daylight Savings having ended.  Not exactly daylight when we got up at 6 a.m. but not pitch dark and daylight when we got to the market.  Apart from fish, fruit and vegetables we bought two more chrysanthemum plants still in bud, as well as a bargain bunch of chrysanths for $5.00 enough to fill two vases.  

It has been a lovely sunny day with enough breeze to dry my washing quickly.

WHAT A DAY

Very dark this morning at 6 a.m. and we both turned over and didn't wake again till 7 a.m. so a bit later than usual at the Growers' Market.  First stop was to get some more chrysanthemums but she only had one so we bought that.  She will have more in a fortnight's time. The crew from Seven Sharp a New Zealand current affairs programme were at the market filming.  

I bought the usual eggs, local bananas, tomatoes, watercress, plus some heirloom apples that we have yet to try, feijoas  and some John Dory fillets.  We often meet up with Doug's eldest daughter at the Market but today it was his youngest grand-daughter.  

Then it was off to two supermarkets as our usual one was out of stock of some items.  Then home and packing everything away always takes a while and I did a couple of loads of washing and put it on the line.  In the meantime we had breakfast.  Yesterday we had phoned the Pharmacy to book our flu vaccinations and had an appointment for 11.30.  I had a third load of washing in the machine by then and put it out when we returned.

I also went across the road to see the daughter of our 92 year old neighbour who is going to live with her daughter in Western Australia next week.  The mother is in a Rest Home for a couple of weeks while the daughter gets things sorted.  I wanted to make sure that we had their contact details.

It turned out that someone was supposed to be coming from Auckland to collect their Hippeastrums but had to cancel so would we like them.  We ended up with about four wheelbarrow loads of pots plus a wheelbarrow and the shelving some of the plants were on.  I have always admired her Hippeastrums so was pleased.  I will share them with another neighbour if she wants them.  We also brought home a young plant that has both pink and white flowers on it (not sure of the name) and Doug got that planted in the afternoon.  

I think it was about 2 o'clock when I finally got around to cooking the John Dory for lunch and then cooked a pot of mince as I had got carried away at the supermarket and bought mince as well as a leg of lamb for tomorrow when Doug's youngest daughter is coming to lunch as it was her birthday on Friday.

The mince cooked I got the various loads of washing in and folded and did the dishes while Doug did the planting.

Tonight the clocks go back with the end of Daylight Savings thank goodness so it will be a bit lighter next week for the Market.

Some of the fruit from the Market plus both red and gold kiwifruit from the supermarket. The rest of the apples are in the fridge.

I will get a photo of the pink and white flowered bush tomorrow.  Getting late now.

There are twenty pots altogether most of them alstroemeria.

This is the pink and white bush.  A bit past its best at the moment.

RAIN

We have had a lovely, gentle rain today and yesterday afternoon.  More, possibly heavier, is forecast for tonight and tomorrow.  I am not sure if it will  enough to break the drought but it is good that we don't have to water the garden for a few days at least.  

Prior to that I had been looking for some chrysanthemum plants.  I finally saw some advertised at Mitre 10 as well as some Romanesco cauliflower so we went in with the intention of buying both.  When we got there the chrysanthemums were dwarf and sad looking plants so we left them.  We did, however come across some dahlias and came home with 4 dahlia plants, one zinnia and some veg seedlings.  

Then at Saturday's market Doug saw a chrysanthemum plant.   It was pot bound and a bit lanky but we bought it and I have already used the flowers in a couple of vases (one for us and the other for a neighbour).  Everything is now planted and enjoying the rain.

            

  The lovely chrysanthemum flowers

The dahlias before planting. 

There should be more chrysanthemums at Saturday's Market.