Tuesday 31 March 2015

March 30th For Whom The Clock Ticks

Well the majority of clocks don't tick anymore do they, or tock for that matter. Also this photo technically wasn't taken on March 30th.

Twas the middle of the night, well into the witching hour and I wasn't asleep. As you do when you aren't asleep and counting backwards from 300 doesn't work, I started thinking about upcoming events, what would  be a cool wedding present for close friends; the personal email I didn't reply to yesterday, the work that I did - that I had crossed T's and dotted I's. I was almost at the stage of getting up and working as I knew a busy day lay ahead. Common sense won the day against that argument.

In amongst all of that frantic brain activity, I realised I had not taken one snap shot, one solitary photo during the day. The majority of the day had been spent desk bound. So how bad am I? I looked at the clock in our room - the only technology allowed and saw the time. I decided to hop up, go into the kitchen where my phone charges overnight and take a photo. 

Mission accomplished!  Back to bed for another bout of frantic brain activity before finally falling into blissful sleep for all of 20 minutes before the alarm went off.


Monday 30 March 2015

March 28th - 29th What An Exciting Weekend - Or Was It!!

Just a normal humdrum weekend in the Life of Irene. It is funny as I read an article/blog this week written by a woman and she was saying how people commended her (graciously so) on her picture perfect life and family. She wrote how a photo can appear to capture a picture perfect moment when children and pets look absolutely adorable, but photos do not capture the moments before or after when there are tantrums or total chaos abounds.

My photos are similar. Sometimes I manage to capture a picture perfect moment in my day, and other times, especially with posting a photo a day, there are no picture perfect moments. I am not a photographer by any means, and I capture a certain point in time, a person or a moment in my daily routine, with my Phone Camera.

Life is full of mundane, routine days for everyone that is part of the usual normal human hoy polloy. My weekend?  I have bouts of insomnia and every now and then to compensate for total lack of sleep and to try and lose the suitcases under my eyes, I pop a little blue pill that isn't Viagra to have a full nights sleep. Friday night was one of my pill popping nights, and I didn't emerge out of bed until 10:00am. I then had some work to complete and finally made my way to the supermarket and pushed my trolley along with hordes of others and then joined the long queues, along with hordes of others. George was off replenishing our fish supplies and had a bountiful day once again I am pleased to report. Sunday my outing was to walk Minnie and fluff around the house. George was up to his usual manly hi jinx and replaced a fence, mowed some lawns and in a fit of hyper activity decided the garage needed cleaning and sorting.  That man exhausts me.

So here are photos from my perfectly normal, perfectly mundane, perfectly usual weekend.

Fresh Fish for our Dinner - a Persian Rub and on to the BBQ

A spectacular Sunset as we were setting down for a night of TV


I think it must be Autumn

Saturday 28 March 2015

March 27th The Balloons Cometh Over My House

Well only two and none of the animal balloons featuring in this year's festival. But I did have a perfect view of two balloons from my kitchen window and from outside



You know this has to be taken from my house when there is an elephant in the view




Taken from the Kitchen window - something is crystal clear
Now it's a Crystal clear balloon

Friday 27 March 2015

March 26th Where's The Balloons?

Our City is lucky to be the recipient of an annual International balloon festival. I mean balloons as in all shapes and sizes and big, very big. Most years we are fortunate as our house is below the flight path and I just have to pop out the door and can take photos from underneath them as they fly over, to the side, to the front and watch them coming.

This year I haven't been so fortunate, although we do have a couple of days to go. They seem to have selected different flight paths, although today I did see some in the distance - but going another way! So no photos of balloons for you sorry, but there was a pretty awesome cloudy sky this morning. So I will present photos of clouds to you instead





Thursday 26 March 2015

March 25th Are We In A Bad Neighbourhood?

I am starting to worry about our neighbourhood. There seems to be a bad element creeping in. I hope a Bikie gang isn't moving in and this is a sign of things to come!


Wednesday 25 March 2015

March 24th The Therapy of Lasagne

I love making Lasagne from scratch. I don't know if I was an Italian in a past life, but when it comes to all things Italy, I am in love - or should I say 'That's Amore' 

Today it was time for Lasagne. The chopping of the vegetables and making the sauce with lots of fresh vegetables, garlic and passata. There is absolutely no need to buy ready made/packet sauces, as the finest can be made in your own kitchen quite easily, and far surpass anything store bought. Then making a wonderful, creamy Bechamel sauce. Today I used Pecorino Cheese instead of Parmesan - adding to the aroma. Finally assembling your Lasagne. It is all a wonderful therapeutic feeling.This all must be accompanied by a glass of Red in the hand for the duration, of course.




And just like myself (pardon the tongue in cheek comment here), with age a good Lasagne gets better. I think the tastes are even better as the days go on.

Tuesday 24 March 2015

March 23rd To Bee Or Not To Bee

I have a dilemma which is giving me a buzz. You can just call me Honey on this one. Here we go...

To the entrance of the front of our house are steps with large garden to one side and a small garden to to the other. Framed by elephants of course. That part goes without saying. We do have a back gate but that is rarely used. So to come and go to access the car or go for a walk or to greet people, the front entrance is the most commonly used.

I can hear you wondering where the heck I am going with this. Remember I mentioned gardens. Well in the large garden we have planted a large Rosemary that resembles a very small tree now. In the small garden a different variety of Rosemary, that is hanging. Both are currently in prolific flower.

Did you know that Bees love the colours blue and purple, and I am not sure if you are aware of the colour of the Rosemary flower but it is between the two hues. Bees are becoming endangered due to mankind's love of chemicals and so it is great to hear the buzz of the bees on our rosemary. They are everywhere and on both sides of the path. It is a welcome sight to see that it is Bees visiting and not the nasty wasp.

However in life there are always buts. I am allergic to bee stings. So every day when I walk down this path I take a deep breath, stay calm and make my way through the buzz. Which brings me to the question. To Bee Or Not To Bee? I think in this instance and for the sake of the earth, it has to be To Bee. Don't you?


Pardon the weeds. With all the bees in residence during the day, there is no way I am going near here to pull out weeds!

Monday 23 March 2015

March 21st and 22nd - Something Fishy and A Little Bit of Green

Another weekend means another Saturday and Sunday.  George being fully aware that we are truly into Autumn, decided it was time to head to the high seas for a spot of fishing. With Winter around the corner, there won't be as many opportunities. I am pleased to report that his day out was worthwhile



That was Saturday's effort Sunday was Minnie's day. She obviously had a craving for the green stuff. She gets these urges every now and then. Her search was obviously worthwhile as she eventually came inside and forgot to remove all of the evidence


Saturday 21 March 2015

March 20th By Jiminy

Strange things are happening in this house. A couple of days ago Tweety Bird went missing and I found him hanging by a thread (refer to my March 18 Blog). Today I found Jiminy Cricket in very sad circumstances. Yes he was dead. There were no clues as to his demise, and one can only hope it was a peaceful passing


It seemed fitting to end the day basking in the late afternoon sun - with the compulsory glass of wine of course. I am not sure if you can spot the small green dot in the centre of the photo and half way down? I think that is Jiminy's soul leaving this earthly plane.



Friday 20 March 2015

March 19th Sightseeing

Well not really sightseeing today. We headed out to Raglan again. I can't divulge all at this stage but Raglan was our destination of choice. Not only to see family of course, but for artistic reasons which will be revealed at a later date.

I have been wanting to get this photo for a long time, but we normally whizz by when passing through Te Uku to our destination. Here is the old Te Uku Post Office which has  evolved into the Te Uku Roast Office


Finally in Raglan, and we found this street art in a back alley


Wednesday 18 March 2015

March 18th I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat

Today there was much consternation in our household! Tweety had disappeared. Tweety immigrated from Thailand to New Zealand in 2013. Fortunately Tweety picked our place of abode to reside in (well he had no choice really as we brought him here). To keep Tweety comfortable I let him reside in the bathroom on the window sill, as I thought the hot, steamy environment would suit Tweety and stop him from being homesick for Thailand.

All has been well for nearly two years now. Until today I noticed Tweety was gone! As in disappeared. He wasn't under the bath. He was just gone. Disappeared into thin air. When George arrived home from work, a search party went out. No joy. Then the second convoy made it's way out.

It was with much joy that I can report that Tweety was found - upside down and slightly worse for the experience - wouldn't you be if you had been hanging for god knows how many hours in a bush, with only Fuschia smells to keep you company?

Tweety is now back in his normal environment.



ps No animals were harmed in the taking of this photo. Birds - do not try this at home and we recommend you only do so under strict adult supervision.

Tuesday 17 March 2015

March 17th Happy St Patrick's Day

Be Gosh, Begorrah, Be whatever the word
Today is the day of St Patrick and anything absurd
A day to celebrate St Patrick banishing the snakes
I guess you could say he had what it takes
So to celebrate today, March Seventeen
I bring you photos of all that is green!

A Green Forest

The Green, Green Grass of Home

A Green Corridor

The Green Beast That Refuses to Die

A Green Kaffir Lime - As Green As It Gets

A Green Beetle

We have to have a Green Elephant

A little bit of Green all the way from Ireland

Sponge Bob is Green with Envy - Why Is There No St Sponge Bob Day?










March 16th The Attack Of The Killer Blue Screen

Not a nice thing to start the day with. The Attack of the Killer Blue Screen. However I forced a shutdown, restarted and nothing further happened. What always intrigues me with these messages, is the technical information error number. It is so long! Try writing down the correct number of Zeros. I find a photo much easier



Monday 16 March 2015

March 14th - 15th. A Food, Friends and Family Weekend

It was a fairly full on weekend for us. Family visited from Auckland on Saturday, and then we headed up to Auckland on Sunday for a Fine Travel work get together.

Saturday, I Just needed an afternoon tea, and decided to prepare some Puff Pastry Parcels - I have no idea what else to call them. Usually I make these with Feta, but not everyone likes Feta, so the smaller basket's parcels were filled with Salami and Cheese.


Moving on to Sunday and it was up to Devonport for a work get together as mentioned. Instead of the usual BBQ etc, we opted for a Mobile Teppanyaki service. I can thoroughly recommend this. The entire Teppanyaki is brought to your location of choice, you sit under a Gazebo, and not only is food provided and prepared, but also the chairs, crockery, cutlery and glasses are supplied. Even the dirty dishes are taken away.

Here is a small selection of photos from the day

The Starter - Salad and Edamame Beans

Scallops - with Roes intact thank goodness!

Who doesn't like Salmon!

We had to have Sake of course - and now I know what to ask for at the Liquor Shop

A final note from our Chef, left on the hotplate
And it wasn't all about the food. It was great to catch up with colleagues. As we all work from our own home offices, we don't see each other that often (would you Skype with video on!!)

You may well wonder about the following photo? Here we were on Sunday in Devonport, Auckland and just down and around the corner is the Naval Base. Guess where George is heading for a job (postponed until Tuesday now). Yes down around the corner is HMS Wellington. I definitely wanted to see it and to get a photo of the ship that George will be working on board this week.


My eyes then turned across the Harbour, and here is Auckland City with a visiting Cruise Liner in town (the Sun Princess I think?)


Saturday 14 March 2015

March 13th Cloudy With No Sign of Meatballs

I was reading today someone's comment that photography on a fine day, always looks better when there are clouds present. The commentator's thoughts were that if there were no clouds, the photo can look bland. However throw some clouds into the mix (and I am not talking photoshop) and it can add extra dimensions to a photo.

When walking today, the article that I read immediately came to mind. Clouds can add to a photo with their different formations and substance, and then within you spot that wonderful, wonderful blue.


Friday 13 March 2015

March 12th Catching The Grandies

It's been a while since we have seen the most two adorable Grandies in the world. So time for a visit out to the coastline to Raglan to say hello. But not before first stopping down at the Wharf, for the best Fish in the world for all of us. I can't say the best chips actually. They have decided to change their chips to a home made, hippy looking alternative that two of us didn't like and the other two did. So maybe they are nice, but not to my taste.

And if you are out at Raglan, it means your photos just have to be sea related. Plus the day ended with a fairly spectacular rainbow, but no pot of gold.






Thursday 12 March 2015

March 11th For Sale

One HP 6380 All In One Printer. Decided to throw a hissy fit and refuses to work wirelessly every now and then. Not that that happens all the time, but occasionally this HP Printer will throw a menopausal fit and not work. No hot flushes, no red cheeks, just a refusal to work. However stick a wire up its bum and it's fine. Although if I had a wire stuck up my nether regions, I would most probably run well too.

Look at all the consumables that go with it. Anyone interested. Offers?????


Wednesday 11 March 2015

March 10th Dead Passion

I have a confession to make and I am very disgruntled. I love Passionfruit. We have tried growing it and with no success. However on my walks with Minnie, I spotted a vine which was conveniently hanging over a wall in a public place. Each time I would look and there were about 10 fruit hanging on the public side of the fence, but they were still very green. All they needed was maybe a week or so. My beady little eyes kept watching and waiting, and my mouth kept salivating.

Then our holiday beckoned and all thoughts of my prize hanging on that fence were forgotten. Until our return to normality this week and our daily walk. Today this is what confronted me


Obviously this was no Yellow brick road


Tuesday 10 March 2015

March 9th It's My Moon Shine

Twas a moonlit night
and all in the world was right
or so she thought
until she did get caught

You see she has had problems with her choppers
Crowns are fallin' out like the cloppers
And in the dark of the moonlight a scream rang out
When her loved one saw her, complete with teeth without!






Monday 9 March 2015

March 8th A Competition and Beans

Question: I don't know if you can identify what this photo actually is?



Answer: Will post at the end of this blog. I don't want to make it too easy for you! My other photo of today is easily identifiable.


I have always had an aversion to Green Beans, and Yellow Beans, and Flat Beans. Really unless they were in a tin and had preservatives added to them and were in a red sauce, I would not eat them. I then decided there had to be recipes that made them more palatable. I went beavering away, and there was. This year, Green Beans have become a regular fixture on the menu, and tonight was no exception. It's amazing what adding a few extra ingredients can do. Now as for Celery - no way. No beavering to find out ways to make it palatable will be undertaken, and Celery can be stuck where the sun does not extend it's rays to!

As for the first photo and what it was.  That is the windscreen of the car, sitting in the car wash and looking outside from within. You can just spot the glimpse of blue sky outside. There are prizes for the first correct guess, as follows:

First Prize:      A Big, big, big pat on the back
Second Prize:  A Big, big pat on the back
Third Prize:      A Big pat on the back

Terms and Conditions Apply. This competition closes ASAP. The prizes are only as specified, and any extra costs, ie travel costs and incidentals will need to be met by the prize winner themselves.