Latest culinary discovery

For a little over 2 years now we've been making most of our own daily bread in a breadmaker.  But I was still buying what Peter calls 'fancy bread' from the markets (sourdough loaves) to go with our soups and other situations where a nice crusty loaf would be best.  A bit over a month ago I saw a book on the shelves at the library called 'Artisan bread in five minutes a day', so I decided to borrow it and see what it was like.  And since then I've been baking this bread reasonably frequently, making bread rolls, small loaves, brioche and foccacia style breads.

It works on the principle of having a bulk batch of dough that you mix up and then store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks in which time you can pull out a lump of any size to bake, and leave the remainder in the fridge.  This means making last minute loaves and being able to bake a batch of rolls when I have time is easier than the breadmaker which takes over 2.5hrs as you have to start the whole process from the beginning.  With this 'fridge dough' method there is only a 40min prove and then bake!  You do need to have the space in the fridge for a 5L container to live (which we do, just), so it might not suit you if you have a small fridge and don't already have spare space.

(here's their website if you want to have a look)

Tent Number X-1

We have also managed to finally get rid of one of our older tents!  The Invert 6 mentioned just before was intended to replace our old Coleman tent that we'd bought in Australia about 5 years ago (for $99) and only ended up using a handful of times.  We sold it on TradeMe over the weekend for.... NZ$242!  Prices for tents appear to have gone up a bit, but still, that's a LOT more than we thought it would go for.
Now, where's that other tent that we need to sell...

Tent Number X+1

We have yet another tent... well, not quite.  On our South Island trip earlier this year, our tent had leaked a couple of times when the rain had been really heavy - through the floor.  We'd been meaning to get around to doing something about it, but hadn't.  Until last week.  I checked with the store what we should do, and they said to just bring it in and they'd have a look and work out whether to repair it or replace the floor or whatever needed doing.  When Mel went and dropped it off, they couldn't find a record of when we'd bought it (which was supposed to be on their computer system), and for some reason that we can't quite understand (but don't mind), gave us a brand new tent instead.  Same make and model, just the slightly newer version.  Here it is:

There are slight differences from the previous model (pictured here)... the ones we've noticed:

1. Biggest difference is the extra pole at the back (left-hand side of the picture above).  Previously the back room was quite slopey (imagine the roof going from the edge of the blue part straight towards the ground), which was fine for us - that was where the kids slept and it was perfectly big enough.  The extra pole makes that room substantially roomier.
2. Because of the extra pole, the windows on that room are a lot bigger - square rather than triangular.  Good thing for ventilation.
3. The poles are different - they're now slightly skinnier in the middle apparently, which makes the walls slightly steeper.
4. The main room is slightly taller.  We think.
5. Two poles for propping up the front door are now included.

None of the changes are a bad thing, none are really big changes.  We liked the original design (hence why we bought it!), and the new one still looks like it's good!

Angry Fruit!

For our advent calendar, the kids are getting bits and pieces from the Angry Birds game over the month... and so far, all they've got is blocks.  So, in the absence of birds and pigs, we decided to try out a game of Angry Fruit instead - with a piglet instead of pigs.

The setup:

Shot #1: Angry apple

Shot #2: Angry pear

Shot #3: Angry strawberry

Christmas advent is just around the corner

I got the calendar prepared and hung for another year. A couple of changes this year...
- for the Bible readings we are using the 'Christmas unpacked' issue of Table talk/XTB
- for the gift/treat they r getting a combined gift consisting of individual parts of the Angry Birds boardgame so they have to wait the whole 25 days to have all the pieces to be able to play. (along with the usual days of special activities eg. Ice creams, movie afternoons)

Roast toast

Occasionally when I go to the Asian supermarket I indulge in buying some of the Asian bakery items (we developed a taste for them during our time in China and Singapore). Today I tried a new one 'roast toast' it's basically a slice of Chinese style bread that has been buttered and sugared and then baked until totally dry (like a rusk).

Kiwi kids

Here is Ben and Joanna walking home without shoes...a common scene with kiwi kids.
(it its not unusual for kids to go to school with no shoes at all - and it's nothing to do with economics)

Big girl Naomi

It was Naomi's 3rd birthday today... and just so happens to be Labour Day here in NZ as well, so she got a public holiday for her birthday!

After breakfast we opened her presents and then started cooking up a feast - she wanted curry, so I cooked an Indian lunch (curry, naan and onion bhajis).  And that was followed by a very large frozen cheesecake (seen as Naomi loves cheese and chocolate!).

Brisbane festival laser light show

This is the 2nd year we've gone. I thought they'd improved on last year as far as quality, but Ben thought it was too short. There was also lots more people this year which made it harder for the kids to see, but that might have been because we didn't go during school holidays last year.

Biltong!!!

We bought a food dehydrator a couple of months ago... and we hadn't managed to do much with it yet other than some dried bananas. I was keen to try some biltong... And this is the result.
A 458g pack of casserole meat has been turned into about 200g of decidedly tasty biltong! (The scales are showing after I'd had a couple of taste tests!)


(Recipe here)

Magnificent Mt Ruapehu (again!)

It's that time of year again - time for Mel and the kids to go to Brisbane, and me to go up a mountain!  Last year I had a fantastic trip up Mt Ruapehu, camping up near the top.  I enjoyed it so much that I went and did it again... so here's the report.

We left Hamilton nice and early, intending to get to the chairlifts shortly after they opened.  Once up at Knoll Ridge (~2000m asl), we headed up towards the Pinnacle Ridge for a slightly more technical and hopefully more spectacular route up to the Plateau.  On the way up, I thought it would be good to cut up on top of the ridge early... which wasn't a good idea.  I ended up slipping and sliding down the ice for about 30m before my ice axe finally gripped and stopped me.  I did manage to lose a bit of skin on my elbows and left hand though.

Once we got higher up, the clouds started rolling in and swallowed us up before we'd managed to find the Tukino-Te Heu Heu saddle that we were aiming for.  We kept on going up and managed to find it without falling off the cliffs on the other side. We popped up on to Tukino Peak, seeing absolutely nothing in the clouds, and then descended down the ridge towards the plateau.  There were a couple of other groups there - one in a tent, the other attempted (rather unsuccessfully) to dig a snow cave.  We set our tents up and got some hot food going, before going to bed with the plateau still enveloped in cloud.  It was certainly cold, but probably not quite as cold as last year (so maybe only -10C or something!).  There was a bit of a breeze blowing during the night, but when I poked my head out before dawn, it was perfectly clear, so I hopped out and went for a walk around, taking photos.
After breakfast and packing up, I pulled out the cricket set, just for a bit of craziness!  One of the snow-cavers couldn't believe his eyes but absolutely loved the idea.  After that, Sebastian and I popped back up to Tukino Peak to see the views that we'd missed out on the day before in the cloud (wow!), before we headed back down to Knoll Ridge via the relatively easy Restful Ridge.
Another fantastic weekend - the perfect morning made up for the cloudy afternoon/evening.
(Some more photos are here, not all of them are uploaded yet!)

Travelling pharmacy

Went to the Dr this morning.  Now the female side of the family all have a round of antibotics and prednisone to take on holidays with us!  As the Dr said, hopefully we won't have to use it, but it brings some peace of mind and reduces the logistical nightmare (and expense) if we do need to use it.

Tasty cabbage

My memories of cooked cabbage growing up aren't too favourable.  I remember much preferring to eat it raw than cooked and I most disliked cooked shredded cabbage as a side dish/vegetable.  As an adult, I have come to appreciated cabbage cooked into dishes such as pork dumplings or other asian meat dishes, but have still avoided cooking/serving cooked cabbage by itself.  But after my adventure last night I think I might be cooking cabbage as a side vegetable more often!

I'd been given a cabbage at bible study and while cooking dinner last night, realised we needed some vegetable to go with it.  So I went in search of a recipe for braised cabbage with flavour (I'd seen braised cabbage done on MasterChef a couple of time and was willing to give it a try).  The recipe I decided on was Cabbage with sesame, cumin and fennel seeds (looked quick, easy and I had all the ingredients in the cupboard).  It was really, really good - lots of yummy flavour.  The kids even both commented that it was favourite part of dinner!  I think I will be taking more advantage of the cabbages that are currently in season (and hence at the farmer's markets) around here at the moment (and I might try growing some of my own next autumn/winter).

Joanna's 5th birthday

Was a few weeks ago now... and since then, we've had at least someone in the house sick.  Ben was first, then Joanna, then Mel, then Naomi, then Joanna again, then... well, today it's Joanna's turn to be home sick.
Anyway, we haven't got around to uploading details of her party and other birthday celebrations (which, thankfully, was before the merry-go-round of sickness).  First up, on the Friday before her birthday, she had her "kindy birthday", where they get to sit up the front and everyone gets to see pictures from their time at kindy and play a game and sing happy birthday.  Looking through the photos, Joanna really has changed in that time!

Then, on Saturday, she had her party.  It was a "chef" party, with all the kids getting to cook their own lunch (pizzas and salad) and decorate cupcakes.  They all had lots of fun and enjoyed wearing their aprons and playing with the play kitchen as well as the real cooking.

Sunday, her actual birthday, was a calmer day, going to church in the morning, then opening presents in the afternoon before special birthday dinner - she chose to have chicken, mashed potato and peas.

Flu

I have the flu,
I'm feeling blue.
All through the night
My body has put up a fight.
Fevers, chills, aches are not a thrill.
Drugs are my friend
I hope it soon ends.

Passing of a season

I've been consciously aware recently that I am out of the baby season of life. Two are now at school and Naomi is gaining independence in leaps and bounds (she will be hopefully starting Kindy soon). We have sold/given away must of our baby clothes/gear. Certain activities are easier- meal times, getting ready in the morning, shopping... I also have no great desire to watch the new show on TV about new mums.

I did enjoy the baby stage. I quite liked being pregnant, holding a small beautiful baby, watching them grow and develop. But I won't deny the hard parts- broken sleep, constant tiredness, juggling multiple children's needs...

I also admit that although I may think the baby stage has ended, God may have other plans (as a couple at church have just discovered) and I'm trusting that God's plans are best.

I am also able to look back and thank God for all the wisdom, strength, energy, protection and support he has provided me with through this season of life. And have faith that he will continue to provide all my needs and continue to teach and rebuke me in this next season I am now in and God willing, the many more seasons to come, so that in all things God may be glorified.

I also will not refuse an opportunity to hold someone elses baby and help them to navigate this season of their life.

Sick, sick, sick...

I have been looking after sick kids all week. Ben has had tonsillitis since Monday and both girls have had a random virus that has kept them home most the week too... AND now I have got it!
Right now I'm really enjoying the peace and quiet (and rest) after a week of being house bound with kids (peter has taken them all to church).

Snow time...

Last weekend (well, the one before, this post has taken a while to get up!) we went on our annual snow holiday - the last two years we've had absolutely perfect sunny weather and plenty of snow.  So we were due to have some bad weather sometime!  We stayed in the same cabin as last year, except we had the van Gemst family accompanying us in the cabin next door.  We drove down on Sunday morning and headed straight up the mountain for some toboggan action - it was cloudy and relatively warm - not ideal conditions for the snow, which was rather soft and slushy.  The toboggan run was slow as a result, so we didn't have all that many runs.  I took the older kids up onto the rocks for a bit of exploring and playing - something I did last year and they really enjoyed.
Monday morning was similar - cloudy, but at least not windy at all.  We had a really good morning tobogganing - the run had been groomed, so it was nice and smooth.  The kids were begging to go back up onto the rocks to play up there, so after lunch we went up again, making a snowman and having a snowball fight!
Tuesday morning was cloudy and rainy, so we had a look at the weather forecast, only to find that Mt Tongariro (about 20km away) had erupted overnight!  Fortunately the wind was blowing in the right direction and it was a small eruption, so it didn't affect us at all.  The weather wasn't particularly good though, so we decided to just pack up and head to the AC Baths in Taupo for a swim.  Being a school day, the hydroslides weren't running, which was sad, but we still had lots of fun in the warm water.

"The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21b ESV)

Today is touched with sadness.  Our niece, Hannah Ruth Nygaard died this morning, she was 8 weeks and 4 days old.

She was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (for more on the condition and her story, my sister has blogged about it).  And although some may think such a short struggling life is just a burden/pointless/discouraging...there are so many ways which God has used this life to his glory.  For me personally I have been challenged and learnt a great deal about prayer (when I live on the other side of the world to my sister, there wasn't much else I could do) and about dependence on God to supply all my sister's needs as I all I can do is limited skyping (none of the things that I would naturally do like cooking meals, looking after my nephew, hugs...).  Today I'm also challenged to appreciate the 3 children God has entrusted to me and the blessing that they are, as well as to not waste this time he has given me with them to bring them up in the ways of the Lord.

Hot water pastry Recipe

For those of you who are interested in the Hot water pastry Recipe that Peter mentioned in his Pasties post yesterday...here it is:

Hot water pastry

150g butter, chopped
2/3 cup (160ml) water
2 1/2 cups (375g) plain flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes

Place the butter and water in a saucepan over high heat and bring to the boil.  Remove from the heat.  Add the flour and salt and stir until a smooth dough forms.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (usually takes only a few minutes).

Recipe from Donna Hay magazine, Issue 57, p150


Then just roll it out to desired thickness (not too thin) and filling and enclose.  Bake until crisp and golden.

(one batch of dough makes about 6 large pasties)


If you've every made cooked playdough before you will find this pastry recipe a very similar process (and the end result is a fairly similar consistency).

Pastie time

It was my turn to cook dinner tonight... Pasties are nice and easy. Hot water pastry really is dead easy to make. Throw in some veggies and some meat and bake. Voila, yummy dinner.

Rugby time...

I took Ben and Joanna to the Chiefs game against the Crusaders last weekend - haven't got around to posing any pictures or anything yet.  The game was a sellout, so the crowd was large and loud, which always makes it more fun. Between the three of us, we had the Chiefs colours covered, but after the game Ben declared that he was a Crusaders supporter - mostly because he knows more of the Crusaders players (Richie McCaw and Dan Carter etc).  Oh well, we'll see if he changes his allegiance one day...

New playhouse!

Last weekend I pruned a few more branches from some of our trees.  One of them is an evergreen, so it still had lots of leaves.  The result is a big pile of leafy branches, which we couldn't do much with other than pile next to the fence.  The chickens were really excited by the new vegetation and spent a few hours climbing through it and over it and in it.

My new exercise toy

I got this so I can get up early in the morning to exercise without freezing my butt off outside (with all those sub zero mornings we've been having!)

God's winter brightener

I love how daffodils flower in the middle of winter here. It's nice to have some nice bright yellow to brighten up the house on cold, grey, cloudy days.

22 days

Of frost that is. we've had that many days when the temperature has gone below zero this year so far. Last year we just so happened to have a total of 22 subzero days all year. I think this is going to be a colder winter...

Ventilation system installed

Now, hopefully our condensation issues will lessen.

Lost another

Ben just lost his 2nd top front tooth.

Back update

I haven't posted about my back for a while and a bit has happened so I thought I should give an update.  Unfortunately I still can't post that it is totally back to normal (although the physio does assure me that this day will come).  My back has improved a lot and the physio thinks we have narrowed it down to just being a  sacro-illiac joint (SIJ) problem now (very severe ligament strain).  Unfortunately this joint isn't the easiest to treat and when she sent me for an x-ray they identified a minor spondylolisthesis of one my lumbar vertebra and exercises to treat the SIJ problem can aggravate the spondylolisthesis and visa versa.  So I have been doing a combination of exercises and treatment to deal with both of these, but in the past couple of weeks my recovery has plateaued (again!).  So they physio suggested we try acupuncture to try and relax the muscles and reduce any inflamation etc in my SIJ - my first treatment was last Wednesday and I'm having my 2nd today (the physio says that it can take up to 3 treatments before an effect is seen).

Personal Best

We trapped 2 mice in 2 minutes only 20 minutes after setting the traps!

We are hoping this means that we have killed all the mice in the house and not that there is a large family currently inhabiting the house (there is no evidence to suggest there is more - we hadn't actually noticed any mice activity until tonight and I've been on the lookout with the cold weather we have been having).

BBQ time

It was a sunny afternoon, so I decided to throw the sausages on the barbecue instead of in the frying pan. 8C was warm enough!

Like Father like Son

Peter and Ben having fun making electrical circuits at Ben's energy elective class sharing afternoon.

Ben really enjoyed this elective learning about different types of energy (renewable and non-renewable), static electricity, basic circuit diagrams and building circuits. Peter has enjoyed playing around with some basic circuits with the bits and pieces he has at home.

Birthday dinner...

With my birthday being tomorrow, we did the birthday thing this evening instead... so Mel made us yummy roast pork, potatoes, kumara bake and peas, washed down with a yummy Martinborough Pinot Noir.  Followed by a really good cheesecake.  Anyway, here's the photos:

Disco time...

2009, 2010, 2011, 2012.  This was the fourth year of going to to Hukanui Kindy Disco.  It was another fun night - the kids were really looking forward to it and had lots of fun dancing around.  I spent most of the evening selling the mystery bottles (of which our family bought a few - we ended up with one bottle of wine, one jar of gherkins, one bottle of shampoo and a pair of oils (olive oil and avocado oil)).  Some photos of the action:

Lunch in the sun

It's been cold the last few days...frosty in the mornings, followed by mostly sunny days (except for friday, which stayed cloudy and hence freezing cold!). At the disco on friday evening, the kids got bottles of olive oil and avocado oil as mystery bottles, so we decided to have fancy lunch (bread and dukkah and oil etc) outside in the sun - it was very pleasant, even though it was only 9C!

Cheats coffee ice cream

I need some coffee flavoured ice cream for a recipe I'm planning to make.  I looked at the supermarket yesterday and couldn't find any...even in the really expensive brands.  I have made coffee gelato from scratch before, but I don't have the time or an ice cream machine to make it at the moment.  But I thought of another way I could make my own (inspired by the 2nd last episode of the current season of MasterChef NZ):
1. Make 1 double shot of espresso and place in fridge to cool.
2. Take 1 litre of vanilla ice cream and soften.
3. Place ice cream in mixer and beat until soft enough to mix stuff into.
4. Add cooled shot of espresso and beat until just combined.
5. Place in container and freeze until needed.

I tasted the softened version and it has a nice coffee flavour.

I have surrendered

After a 10 year standoff, I have finally played my first ever game of risk! I enjoyed the game but after playing for 2.5 hours nobody was anywhere near achieving their mission - which confirmed my original assessment of the game 10 years ago that it involves sitting around for ages getting nowhere.

Crackled chocolate cookies

Tried making these today. They are really good...taste and texture of a choc-fudge brownie in biscuit form!
Highly recommend if you really like the edges of brownies.

(recipe out of the may 2012 issue of cuisine magazine)

Morning ride

This weekend is a long weekend for us, and the weather forecast for sunday and monday wasn't particularly good. So we decided to go out on saturday morning instead. Only trouble was, saturday morning was rather cold and foggy, which meant it stayed cold. By the time we got to the lake it had managed to get above freezing, but only just - probably 1 or 2 C. We'd brought bikes/scooter for everyone (I'd actually ridden because all the bikes plus me don't fit in our car) and rode round to the Innes common side. Three hot air balloons were just inflating, which made naomi's day! The kids had a bit of a play there before we carried on round the lake. A fun morning, just a bit cold to start with!

Beware the jalapenos!

On Monday evening I cooked up a batch of apple chilli relish, using some of our jalapeno chillis that we have stacks of in the freezer.  In an attempt to make it kid-friendly, I halved the quantity of chillis that the recipe called for... but didn't count on the potency of those jalapenos.  I had a taste after it had cooked for a little while, and it nearly knocked my socks off.  So I doubled the quantity of apple.  And we've still ended up with a relish that has a decidedly large kick to it.  Definitely not kid-friendly.  I guess I'll have to try with some less potent chillis...

This is the season for

SOUP!

I made my first soup for soup season last week.  It was spicy sweet potato and chickpea soup.  Now I will need to try hard to not overload the weekly menu with soups (I find them so quick and easy).

PYO Raspberries

We got given some raspberry canes in autumn last year.  We had been wanting to grow raspberries for a while, but at $15 per plant it was going to be expensive to get enough.  Anyway, I didn't expect to get any raspberries until next summer as they only fruit on the new canes which grew the year before.  So I have been surprised that this autumn some of the canes have been fruiting!  Only a couple so it means only 6 or so raspberries are ripe at any one time, but it is nice to be able to go out and munch on a few, when fresh raspberries are no longer available at the markets.

OUCH!

I hurt my back packing the car to go camping at Easter...After living in pain for a few weeks, I finally got around to going to the physio a couple of weeks ago.  My pain/back is better than it was, but it still isn't back to normal.  As a result I'm not allowed to do any back flexion exercise/movements...so I basically can't do any lower body weights, and vege gardening is virtually a no go zone.  Any high impact exercise also increases the pain, so I currently can't run or do anything except the lowest intensity in step class.  The physio got me to do a 5min test run on the weekend to see how my back would cope...I didn't sleep much after 3am as my back was so painful and the getting ready routine this morning was also done in much pain.  The physio has peeled away the layers of pain/injury so that it now seems to be a sacro-illiac joint issue.  I've been given more stretching exercises to do for the next few days and I have to go for another 'test run' on Thursday so I can tell the physio what the pain is like when I see her on Friday!  (At this stage I'm not looking forward to that, if the pain is going to be like it is after the last 'test run')

Going out... just because!

After church today, Mel commented that it would be nice to eat outside - it was a beautiful sunny day.  The trouble was, our outdoor table was still inside from the games night on Friday, and Mel was wanting to do some stuff on it this afternoon, so we didn't have a table to sit at, so we had to go somewhere else.  So, we got fish and chips and ate down by the river instead.

Games games games...

We had a games night at our house on Friday night - we'd been meaning to do something like that for a long time, and finally got around to it.  So a game of RISK and a game of Settlers of Catan were played - lots of fun, except I won RISK.  Which meant I, as the host, was destroying our guests.  Ooops.

Canning

That's what we've spent the past couple of evenings doing.  Friend from church rent a house on a fruit orchard and we were out there for lunch on Sunday and got to pick a stack of fruit.  Mainly apples, but some pears and  feijoas too.  So we've been learning the art of canning to preserve the fruit without having to freeze it.  And it will help us have a supply of fruit over the cooler months when there isn't as much fresh fruit around.

Just re-organised my freezer

Not much in the way of unidentified objects or stuff that needed throwing out, but just tidying up so everything fits a bit more nicely and all the meat is together etc.  Now I can fit in the fundraiser pies that were delivered today!

Curry according to Dad

I cooked a decidedly yummy curry this evening, which due to lack of ingredients didn't really correspond at all to the recipe I originally looked at.  So, in the interests of possibly one day recreating this dish, here's the recipe:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 onions
• 3 cloves garlic
• 4 bay leaves
• 6 cloves
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp cardamom
• 1 Tbsp paprika
• 1 can tomatoes
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1/2 cup milk (because I didn't really have enough yogurt...)
• 4 chicken thigh cutlets
• a splash of salt

That's all that I remember putting in anyway!  Cook in the usual way:  fry the onion and garlic in the butter, add the spices.  Cook for a few minutes.  Brown the chicken in the spices.  Add the tomatoes, yogurt, milk, 1 cup water.  Cook for an hour or two (or if, like me, you're pressed for time, the pressure cooker works well!).  And there you have it.  Curry according to Dad.

Meatballs...

What are they?  Mine always turn out as meat triangular prisms!

Orb #4

In the past couple of years, we've gradually been getting each of the kids sleeping bags, so they could come on tramping trips with me, or so we could actually go camping again.  Originally, we had a Winnie-the-Pooh, big, not-particularly-warm (although cute) sleeping bag that was given to Ben, which is what Ben used once he'd graduated from baby sleeping bags.  Then, we got Joanna a Kathmandu Pipsqueak bag - it was cheap and good enough for summer camping in the Waikato.  When I was planning on going up to the Pinnacles with Ben last year though, we decided that something a little warmer would be good, so we bought a Kathmandu Orb for him.  Planning for our South Island holiday this year, meant Naomi would need a sleeping bag, and we decided Orb#2 for her would be appropriate - it's a warmer bag than the Pipsqueak, and we were expecting it to be quite cool at Nelson Lakes in particular.  On the way to Abel Tasman though, our roofbox got broken into, and Orb#1 was stolen.  So we bought Orb#3.  Nelson Lakes, as expected was quite cold: 2C in our tent wasn't exactly what we would consider summery weather!  Joanna slept OK, but only just.  So, we've now bought Orb#4 to replace Joanna's Pipsqueak - hopefully it will keep her warm enough for a few years to come and be suitable for more than just mid-summer in the Waikato!  Although it's unlikely to be warm enough for snow-camping... (I think that's a few years away for the kids!)

Refresh

If you usually look at our blog via the RSS feed, you might not have noticed that the template has changed a little... there's a new banner image up the top, and a new family snap on the right... just for fun, seen as the old ones were 6 months and a bit over 12 months old!
Both from our South Island adventure...

It's flying out the door

On the weekend I decided I needed to keep a closer eye on my personal calories in/calories out equation.  So I've started using a food diary again and trying to include a bit more physical activity in my days.  And as an objective measure of results, I weighed myself and took measurements.  Anyway, I stood on the scales again this evening and according to them I've lost 3kg in 3 days!  Not sure whether to believe them or not (Peter just gave me a new set of scales as a late wedding anniversary present, so we will see what they say in a weeks time).

Clean and tidy

That's what our garage currently looks like after a day of tossing, tidying and TradeMe-ing.  We are afraid about how short lived the new state will last.

And in the process we converted our old 30cm bike into a balance bike. (It was no use to anybody as a normal bike as the chain was stretched and kept jamming and the plastic tyres are too worn to use as a normal bike)

School's back

Ben had his first experience of 'Elective day' at school yesterday and he really enjoyed it!  He's chosen to do a science based elective on 'Energy', so each Tuesday he goes to the classroom of the teacher who is running that elective (along with all the other year 2 students who have chosen to do the same elective).  Yesterday afternoon and evening we were treated to really excited discussions and 'tid bits' about what they'd done and learnt about Energy.  After only 1 day of electives we anticipate many more great discussions about energy to come and how amazing is God the creator and sustainer of energy.

Jobs jobs jobs

A public holiday today meant a good day to try and get the garage tidied out, and a whole lot of little jobs done at the same time.  So, we filled up 3 and a half black garbage bags of rubbish, re-discovered a few long-lost things, and I did a bit of a tidy up of my tools/workbench as well.  I now, for the first time since we moved in, have a clear workbench!  I've also put up more rails to hang tools up out of the way.  And put some 3-way spot lights up in the garage that I had lying around for the last 18 months, intending to be put up.  And now I'm ready for a break and a snooze I think.

Playing catch-up in the holidays

After the non-scheduled sickness of week 1 of the holidays, I'm spending this week trying to get at least some of my holiday jobs done.  I'm not going to get as much done as I would like, as this week is the week that I've booked in a few catch-ups with friends (my friends and the kids friends).
What I've done:

1.  Cleared 2 of our 4 garden beds ready for planting some seedlings for winter crops (still not confident that they will be ready to eat before spring, so I might still be relying heavily on what is available at the farmer's market).  
2. Made a dent in our budget tracking for the past 4 months.  

What I still need to do:

1. Some baking to have supplies on hand for morning teas when school goes back.
2. More weeding and planting winter veggies.
3. Take Ben to do some shopping we had planned to do in the holidays (get a stand for his bike)
4. Sew a storage bag for our camping sleeping mats

Now I've written it all down, it doesn't look like too much...maybe I will get through it all.

Angelus Hut

As I mentioned in the previous post, Mel and I went up into the mountains for a night while my parents could look after the kids.  This was actually a first for Mel:

• first overnight walk without kids, since having kids (Abel Tasman had been the first overnight walk of any sort since kids!)
• first NZ hut
• highest altitude walk ever (the track gets just above 1800m).  Mt Barney at 1359m was the previous record...

After our rushed packing job, we started at the Mt Robert carpark, at about 800m altitude (~200m above the level of the lake).  From there, we zig-zagged up the slopes of Mt Robert on the Pinchgut Track.  From the bushline, it gets slightly less steep as we followed the Robert Ridge route - gently climbing as we took in the stunning views.  The snow from the day before had mostly melted, but there was enough there to make the mountains look extra special and give me enough to make a snowman!  The ridge is reasonably long, and Mel said she'd had enough of the views!  We eventually got to the final saddle overlooking Lake Angelus, the hut perched next to it and Mt Angelus in the background - a magnificent view.  We dropped down to the hut for a rest before I had a look around, taking some more photos.

The evening was perfect - hardly a breath of wind and beautiful sunshine.  I was expecting it to be cold in the morning with those conditions, but it wasn't particularly cold when I got up for sunrise - certainly above zero anyway!  The dawn was superb, with cloud hanging in the valley below us and mist rolling over the gap next to Mt Angelus.

After our perfect day up on the ridge the day before, we decided to go down via the Cascade Track as an alternative.  It was another fantastic day, with beautiful mountains, streams and forest all around us.  We emerged at Coldwater Hut for lunch, expecting to have another 3 hours of walking to get round to the other side of the lake, but there was a family there with their boat having lunch who offered us a lift instead, so we got a 5 minute ride to the other side!

Most definitely one of the most spectacular places I've been to, helped by having absolutely perfect conditions!  Check out the full set of photos at flickr.