Wednesday ...

... was a beautiful Winter's day with lots of sun and little wind. I headed out in the afternoon and, for once, remembered to take the camera with me. First up we're looking south-east from the top of the driveway.


I walked up the road to the top and crossed over the next road. Here is the view, looking over to the west and the suburb of Karori.


Down the hill (the road that curves up on the right) to the bus-stop. While I waited I watched the building activity across the way. The little house on the lower left had been moved forward on the section so another dwelling could be built behind it - the horrible "in-fill" housing. Above and behind a house built in the 1920/30s is being renovated. The living space is being moved from the front to the back of the house where the best sun is.

Once in town I walked over to the supermarket. To get there I have to go through our Parliament Grounds. Nothing new to me as I used to walk through them to get to High School.


A little hard to tell as the light wind chose to disappear, but flags on all Govt buildings were flying at halfmast as it was the day of the funeral of a New Zealand soldier who had been killed on active service in Afghanistan.




Now it is Saturday evening and the rain is pouring down while the wind blows. Zebby has hunkered down under his "quilt" leaving me free to knit. These days his interference has moved from swinging on the knitting needles to patting me on the thigh, claws extended. My darling menace!

Ah, August

The days are getting a little longer and new growth is appearing in my wilderness - like the arum lily that has self-sewn itself in the middle of the parsley patch!


The first flowers are opening on the grape hyacinths. They will deepen to an almost purple-blue.



And the lawn-mowing service has just visited so "His Rotundity" has to hunt more to find long grass to munch upon.



Determined hunting activity (moving forward by one foot) delivers a tasty treat. You've got to have your greens.



Back inside Zebby can work off the excess energy on his new scratching board. This board is way more fun than clawing at the curtains - and His human doesn't yell at him either.


Mind you, she's still not keen on the Zebster "poke her in the face" wake-up method!

Help with the Courgette/Zucchini/Summer Squash Glut

Some Northern Hemisphere bloggers are facing the "how do I deal with all these vegetables" issue as their zucchini plants produce a bountiful harvest - daily! A couple of years ago I posted a Zucchini Paste recipe. Here it is again, only with pictures that I took back in March especially for this time of the NH summer.

For 1 kilo (about 2.2 pounds) of Summer Squash heat three to four tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. This is a good opportunity to use a beautiful EVOO or another specialty oil you love. I like to use avocado oil. While the oil is heating grate those Squash/Zucchs/Courgettes.



Add the grated vege to your heated oil, mix well and turn the heat down a bit. Heaps of juices will come out of the vege - that is okay. The idea is to keep the mixture simmering away so all the water evaporates. This can take up to half an hour - please do stir the mixture every now and then. I don't add any seasonings at this stage.



Once the water has simmered away you will be left with the lovely mixture pictured above. Now is the time to season with salt and pepper, to suit your taste.

The paste is beautiful on fresh bread, bruschetta, as a dip - on its own or mixed with other ingredients like sour cream or feta, or what ever you like. Use it as the basis for a soup or freeze it for later.



I especially like it on a home made pizza. I spread a thin layer of dijon mustard over the dough then top with the paste, and in this case fresh oregano leaves from the garden. Add any other toppings you like and bake.


Then happily eat, reminding yourself of all the veggie goodness on your plate.

P.S. - the feline house/flat/room mates wont want to share (they're worse than sproglets about eating veggies) but any canine house/flat/room mates just might enjoy a taste or two.

Middle of Winter

Last week was cold, windy and very wet, with a nasty southerly blast from the Antarctic delivering horizontal sleet showers right at our home. And the downpipe from the next flat's guttering had become disconnected. This, combined with the same flat's header tank overflowing all the time, meant Mickle and Zebby received an impromptu shower every time we stepped out our front door.

Happiness returned when the owner of the next flat fixed the downpipe connection on Sunday. This was combined with a day of cold sunshine.

We still have sunshine due for most of this week, but with no wind and clear night skies we get frosty time too. Never mind - the sun gets to shine onto "our" bed in the afternoon and Zeb can be seen above his battered quilt/blankey more often!

Okay, so I took this shot earlier in the year,
but you get the idea of a half-awake Zebster out in the natural light!

The lad has worked out that his own unique need for daily food (multiple times a day)
is greater than any pleasant dreams of hibernation.

Besides, it is really good fun to snuggle up to Your human for an hour or two,
and then whallop her in the face to wake her up!!!
(even when you have ample food, water and clean litter supplies available).

Yes, way more fun than just walking over her sleeping body and demanding the best spot on "your" beddy-bise! (Although, performed infrequently, this gets its own rewards from her too).

Purple Potatoes

These are a heritage variety, with the Maori named of Urenika

Their flesh is purple all the way through. After boiling in water they cook up to a pale purple
with a very floury flesh - purfect for mashing

I mixed the leftovers with eggs, spring onions (scallions/green onions), grated parmesan and
a little besan (chickpea flour) and baking powder to make little fritters

It is hard to tell but the fritters looked kind of blue inside. Eaten and enjoyed with a fresh salad* and a glass of Boysencider - a drink made from Apple Cider and Boysenberry Wine. A delicious supper on American Independence Day.


* and a yummy salad dressing of equal parts of Dijon Mustard, Maple Syrup and Balsemic Vinegar well mixed (super thanks Daharja)

First of July - A Zebby Cat Posting

A Grand Night for Zebbycat Snoozling.


For the first time this winter he allowed His human to roam around their wee flat while Zeb permitted himself two whole hours of full-on sleepy snoozling in front of the new heater.

His human even remembered to check, clean and refill his water and dry food bowls!

Food Flavours that Divide Us

As the comments to my previous post show, folks either love or loathe anchovies. A couple more like/hate foods that I like are blue cheese and olives. An absolute divider is fresh coriander which I admit to utterly loathing (and it repeats on me so I retaste it).

Here are some more of my "loathe" foods:

Caraway Seeds

Watermelon

Peaches

all offal except black pudding

shellfish

Whiskey*

Which foods and flavours do you go out of your way to avoid?



(*Both my parents have the whiskey gene, unfortunately they only passed it on to my sister. I missed it completely!)