Christchurch Earthquake - I'm okay

Wellington is on a different Island so Zebby and Mickle are fine.

11.14pm - have just learnt that my Uncle and Aunt down in Christchurch are okay - a huge relief!

23 Feb - for news coverage check out www.tvnz.co.nz and www.stuff.co.nz.
Thank you so very much for your care and concern.

Pickles by Mickle (about time!) ...

... with a ginger beer bug lurking on the right!




These pickles contain apple cucumber (home grown), onions, multi-coloured peppers (capsicums) fresh corn and chopped fresh chilli, and are delicious with cheese. I'm now on my 5th ginger beer bug/starter having consumed the results of the first 3. Batch 4 has been bottled and is maturing for a barbeque at a friend's home on Sunday.

Summer continues ...

.... and here it is currently 19C in temperature and 100% in humidity. No wonder Zebby and Mickle are wide awake at 4.20am.

Wellington doesn't do the super hot weather, but she is darned good at lowering the clouds down below the level of our wee home (about 600 feet above sea level), then leaving the clouds there for a day or two while they dispense drizzle and light, soggy rain.

Stop moaning Mickle - think of the incredible amounts of snow, and of the ice storms that have attacked much of the U.S., and that super-nasty tropical cyclone that has well and truely whalloped parts of Northern Queensland over in Aussie.

I will stop complaining about the weather here and try to convince Zebby to be understanding for my Aussie and Northern Hemisphere friends (wasted hope, Mickle - he's a Cat!)

Take care and stay safe, wherever you may be,

Mickle and Zebby

What's been happening?

Not a lot to report:

Another birthday has been and gone. My amazing parents gave me a new fridge. Liz and Pete (my sister and her partner) gave me this wonderful mug.



The garden continued with the beans and started producing cucumbers too. The green Lebanese cuke is utterly delicious so I will grow more of them next summer. The zukes have given up.



And we've had some beautiful sunsets:

Garden Bounty

Today's harvest:

Yes, I made fried green tomatoes for dinner. I'm getting a good handful of beans each day however the zucchinis are reluctant (these below were picked over a week ago - nowt ready to harvest since).

How about this for a little gem squash - it was utterly delicious.

And I don't have to share with Zebby Cat!

He is a complete carnivore and, when fed to his requirements
(dry cat food, wet cat food and a little fresh meat daily),
is happy snoozing away the day on his battered, beloved quilt

(the battering by feline teeth is all his own work - I'm so proud!)

Postscript: Our Tuesday, the 18th of January, has been horribly hot, humid and overcast. The temperature got to 29C which is a heatwave for Wellington - a Summer's day is usually between 20 and 23C at the most with many back at 18 or 19C. Still my darling chose to sleep beneath his battered quilt.

At almost 2.00am on Wednesday it is still 20C here with 98% humidity - furry-clad Zebby is back under his quilty comforter, snoozling away, while I'm still wilting with the weather, no way ready for sleep with the hot and humid conditions - it is even too hot and muggy for knitting!

Zebby Cat Appreciates Good Music!

I have the radio on our Public Broadcasting Station, Radio New Zealand National. They just played Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher", and Zeb started purring LOUDLY as soon as the song started!

Zebby Cat Purring continued right through the song; now he has moved to sleepy snoring again.

My rescued feline Lad has good taste!!! (and he hasn't even seen "The Blues Brothers")

Happy New Year

A wonderful sight in the New Zealand Summer is the flowering of the Pohutukawa tree.

Known as "the New Zealand Christmas tree", the bright red flowers appear in December
and continue in January.

The trees have multiple trunks which makes them great to climb ...

but don't try it while they flower as Pohutukawa pollen is very itchy!

It is always lovely to see the patches of red amongst the usual greenery.