We didn't get Summer ......

INSTALLING SUMMER
in
New Zealand

.....
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44% DONE.

Installation failed. 404 error: Season not found.

Please try again next year.

A Summer would have been nice. I gave up on growing my usual summer veg as all attempts did incredibly poorly.

The exception: the nadine potatoes that sprouted madly before I got to cook them. I planted them out in December and seem to have had results - the tops flourished and have yellowed so I chopped them off a few days ago. I will harvest any spuds lurking under the soil next week ...... and keep you posted on the results.

What I've been doing ......

... when not blogging is a bit of knitting.

Here is one of a pair of socks I made for my sister. The colourway is named InkPinkStink from Vintage Purls here in New Zealand. The yarn is a sock weight 75% merino wool and 25% nylon.


My mother told me she wanted a red scarf. From the same site I found this cranberry coloured german sock yarn - the colours are brighter in real life.


And 2011 was my "year of the shawl". After a trial run making one for me I then made this with a matching hat for my sister. The top part of the shawl is in garter stitcth followed by feather and fan pattern. The yarn is an 80% lambswool/20% nylon sock weight from Stashable yarns (their website is currently unwell), another NZ site for hand dyed yarn, in colourway Rusalka.




Here is a close up of the lacy feather and fan pattern. These woollies arrived in England just in time for the super cold snap they have had this winter.


The trial run was in colourway Dried Roses from the same company. This one is mine!





Special thanks to my dear Mum for letting me take over her sewing room during the Christmas break as I don't have the space to block knitting here - the large bed is usually occupied by one Zebby Cat. Mind you Mum wasn't doing any sewing at the time as her right arm was in plaster!

Mum is now free from plaster and arm splints but still has to go carefully.

And here is Zebby with his new scratch board and his much adored (and battered) cat nip plant. Zeb does like to be in physical contact with his belongings - yes, including me!



Click to enlarge and you'll see a pink object under Zebby's tail - it is one of his brushes, upside down. He does so like to be touching His belongings, bless the rescued lad.

(P.S. I've just realised that in the top right of the third photo you can see lots more of my knitting lined up on the ironing board waiting to be photographed. Cor - I made quite a lot over 2011)

Happy New Year

We celebrated the New Year with a lovely dinner on the first. This was the best roast dinner yet that I've cooked. I'm sorry that there are no close-ups only we were too busy eating!

The new year started with heavy rain but luckily I got these shots from my Folks' garden a few days earlier. We start with a frangipani (thanks Diane - now I know how to spell it) in flower. The flower looks waxy but is actually quite delicate.

Bromeliads growing at the front of their home. The colours are glorious and these
require very little maintenance.

Gladioli is bloom. Their true colour is bolder than shown in the photo.

Massive amounts of fresh mint.

And a very determined carpet rose that has defied all attempts to remove it!

I'm back home in Wellington where the weather could be better. Yesterday it was only 13C (55F) with gale force wind and horizontal rain - so much for Summer!

We hunkered down and spent the day cosily inside. So you know where Zebby Cat was .......

The Great Potato Dig

One of the Christmas traditions here for many families is to have new potatoes as part of Christmas dinner.



Dad grew some that he harvested on Christmas Eve.



Under supervision.......



........because, as can you see, my right-handed Mother was unable to help. Two and a half weeks ago she cracked both the bones in her right forearm just above her wrist while gardening ( the plant she was pulling on suddenly gave way and so did Mum). She will be in plaster until about the 20th of January - very frustrating for Mum as she is an avid patchwork quilter and can't use her sewing machine.

It is just as well that I am here for another week to help the Folks out!

Our Christmas

This year our Christmas day was very relaxed (and yes, that is Zebby Cat in the photo to the right under the tree). The morning was cloudy but the sun came out to play during the afternoon. I was very relieved that it wasn't a hot day, and the "gladdies" were flowering prettily in my dear parent's garden.

Dinner was an easy cook for me this year - marinated, boned out and butterflied leg of NZ (of course) lamb that I put into the marinade the night before. I cooked it in the hooded barbeque (gas grill) to keep the heat down in the kitchen!

It was accompanied by new potatoes, peas and green beans all grown in Dad's garden, plus a red wine laced gravy and mint jelly. We drank a very pleasant Shiraz wine.


I made a Summer Pudding for our dessert that I accompanied with a citrus custard - I made up the custard recipe and it worked!



Here is a shot showing the inside of this berry ladden pudding. Instead of bread I used pannetone and we all agreed it was the best one I'd ever made.

The day, and the next, were filled with phonecalls to and from dear family and friends both here and overseas. We finished the day with wine and mince pies (made by me) with the Christmas tree lights in the background.

I hope your Christmas Day was as happy and joyful as ours was here in Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.

Grumpy Old Zeb

Zebby Cat must have seen this photo from the Icanhascheezbuger site, as he was an absolute menace overnight with his frequent paw whacks, mad purring and
washing attempts on my face.

Perhaps he senses he is off to his Vets' cattery tomorrow!

December Fun in Wellington

On Saturday evening we had an earthquake - a 5.7! - which went on for 20 seconds. I hastily moved away from the full bowl of hot soup I'd just put on the table and moved to a doorway. Afterwards I checked on Zebby. He lifted his head from his snoozling to see what I wanted, then demanded some kittycat treats. So much for animals sensing that an earthquake is coming!!!

No damage here and only very little everywhere else the quake was felt.

Zebby would like you all to know that His human stupidly drownded another keyboard on Sunday. It was her latest after previous spills and this keyboard was supposedly spill resistant but proved other wise (what a waste of homemade ginger beer). The human bought another keyboard today and is keeping the plastic bag it came in over it for protection from herself.

So that was our Weekend.

That human had to go out today, right across town, for a medical check up with her wonderful surgeon. Just the 1 bus from here to there but I used 3 on the way back as I bought that keyboard, other boring human stuff and then groceries including Whiskas Tempatations cat treats. It rained the whole time and was especially heavy every time I had to walk somewhere. Thank goodness I was home, all safe and sound, at 5.30 pm when it became like a tropical monsoon - a deluge just in time for folks leaving work for the day!

Mickle would like you all to know that Zebby adores his catnip plant. Zeb lays down on his red bathmat (like in the photo above) and buries his nose in the plant, pulling it over and towards him. This is interspersed with His human brushing his furrs over and over in both directions(!) which Zeb so so enjoys now it is moulting season (maybe better called summer's extra-moulting season as Zeb moults all year around). There is much Zebby Cat puRRRRRRRumbling, at high volume, for a long, long time - and this is happening every evening.

And so that was our* soggy yet happy Tuesday, December the 6th 2011; how was yours?



*okay, Mickle's soggy day as Zeb spent nearly all day and evening on His bed that he permits me to share each night, bless him