Rahui - Alert level 3, day 7

A week ago New Zealand went down one alert level, to level 3. Basically level 4 but with take out, which I read somewhere 😝 it made me laugh. It was a little bit more than that of course, some work places were able to return to work, as long as they were able to practice safe distancing etc as advised by the government.Some schools reopened allowing children of parents who were able to return to work but had no other child care available to them. It also meant you could travel up to 40kms for exercise. Not really sure how I feel about that, far too many thinking that it was all over and decided to hold parties etc, the NZ police page wrote "Under Alert Level 3 (as at 6pm (30 April) yesterday), there have been 281 breaches of the Civil Defence Emergency Management and Health acts, with 77 prosecutions, 180 warnings and 24 youth referrals.
I only have one thing to say about that, f*cking idiots!!

Anyway moving on, this level meant we could use the car to take the dogs to the beach, it's less than 5 mins drive.

Joe got home from work earlier than usual on Thursday,

 it was a glorious day so we went to the beach.

During the past week there was a fire on this cliff, it burned quite a long way along the stretch you can see in the photo

 It looks deserted but there were a number of people on the beach, 

all in their own bubbles and enjoying the sun

At home the dogs have been sunbathing on the deck

I made more feijoa relish and passionfruit syrup

That's me done with the preserving for now, I've used all the jars

I tried this

Nice but very sweet

Level 3 meant a start was made on connecting us to Ultra fast Fibre

Not sure how long we'll need to wait for connection

After I just said I was done with preserving, I found these photos

Lemon honey/curd, but made with Seville oranges that were still on the tree back at the farm, it worked ok but it's a little bitter. In case you don't know, Seville oranges are marmalade oranges, high pectin content, very sharp and not suitable as eating oranges.

I made an attempt at Lemon meringue pie, even though it looks okay I'm going to try a different recipe next time, and I'm  not good at making pastry

Saturday we were back at the beach, bright and early this time, 7am to be exact, the aim was to avoid lots of people s we could let the dogs off the lead

Warning! Loud whistling in the first video!! Turn the volume down, I might deafen you!

The obligatory dogs posing on rock photo

Level 3 means fishing from the beach is  now allowed

In a week we find out if we are able to drop another level. I hope we do but only if our Covid 19 cases remain low, or as was the case today, '0' new cases.

Not sure it will continue like that, I hope it does, it really depends on the behaviour of others and whether they stick to the rules or not. 

I'm not a lover of rules but if I break the rules of lock down, my actions could affect someone else, and that's not acceptable. So even though I could venture further afield outside of my bubble, the question is, should I?

So stay home where possible, stay safe.

We've almost beaten this thing.

October 2019 round up

I've lots to share so I'll get on with it 😉👍

The weekend after my last post we drove out to Tamahere Artisan market, there was a good mix of arts, crafts and toiletries.

I could have bought so much more but I was restrained,  Joe was with me 😉

We bought a selection of soaps and a body butter, made with booze! Just had to....

The weather is definitely improving and the garden is starting to look great, the dogs have been enjoying the sunny days

We were lucky enough to have use of the Karakaraki Christian camp for three days of crafting. 

I've been crocheting too, I finished the scrappy big granny square and sewed in all the ends. Earlier in the year I finished the cross stitch tulip rug, there was loads of yarn left, so I used it to make a wall hanging, the rug will be hung too.

Sue brought over a crochet magazine with a couple of really nice projects, I bought some brights colours and made a start, it's still a work in progress, just the flowers to do. I had intended to make it longer to fit on my chair, I didn't like the dimensions of it as a throw, but when I worked on another square I thought sod it! and I left it as it was. It's bright and makes me eyeballs ache! 😋

Our house is built into a slope, which makes some areas rather interesting. Outside our front door there is a tiered garden, it's in the shade from mid morning on-wards. It's had numerous things planted there, but how it is how I like it best. We have hellebore's and hosta's, and a few ferns that come up, they get huge so we cut them back regularly.

More of the rose arbour, each morning I am treated to more blooms on the Dublin Bay rose, the lavender is covered in bees. My limes have gone past the lime colour stage but are perfectly fine in a gin and tonic

One g&t coming right up!

I re-organised the pantry and gave the booze pride of place, all ready for summer drinking in the garden

I've been making good use of the new bread maker, lunch times are good

Spring always sends people into spring cleaning mode, not me! However we did have a trailer load of stuff to go to the dump, and while Joe was unloading it all I was in the dump shop looking for more crap to bring home! I found an old trolley calling out for a revamp, at $30 it was coming home with me. I may start it next weekend, I already have some chalk paint and some antique wax

Last weekend saw England playing the All Blacks, New Zealand, in the rugby world cup semi final. It would be an understatement to say we were happy with the result!

Michael was extremely happy, he'd been getting a lot of stick before the game. It's always good to beat the All Blacks. And while Michael sang his heart out there were some very quite Kiwis!!

 

The 27th was our 29th wedding anniversary, we took Michael and Natasha out for dinner at the Furnace in the city centre, my dinner, photographed, was delicious

There were a couple of scary moments with a Lime scooter, I thought me life was over people!

 

Last Wednesday I went with Sue who is a  member of Hamilton Gardens, to a preview of a new garden opening this coming Monday. It's called the Picturesque garden, I didn't take any photos because I shall go back when there are less people and better light. After our walk through, we had wine, ham off the bone in rolls with salad and chicken kebabs, there were also fruit kebabs. We all were invited into the Pavilion where Dame Malvina Major talked of her career and of the opera Magic Flute by Mozart. The Picturesque garden walks you through the story of the opera.
Needless to say neither of us lasted more than 10 minute of the rather poor movie of it!
I did take photos of my fave gardens though....

At that point I shall leave you there 

and go pour myself another glass of bubbles, 

have a great weekend xx