Trash Palace

After dropping in on my not-quite-relatives just out of Wellington, we headed north up to Porirua to visit Trash Palace.



Trash Palace is quite the fanciest municipal dump that I have ever seen - and I've seen about four. The Palace endeavours to recycle as much waste as possible and sells re-useable items to the community at a very reasonable rate. We bought a basket (for all the pine cones that I keep collecting from around the paddock), a large old woven mat (to cover the compost heap), some Crown Lynn pottery and half a dozen books - all for about $30!



I was also really quite inspired by the junk sculpture surrounding the shop. Will be hoarding my recycling from now on...

Foraging in Foxton

Foxton had very little to offer apart from an enormous, overpriced junk shop.

We found a lovely pineapple shaped sugar bowl to add to the collection of fruit and vegetable shaped pottery that we've started. Look out for a photo of the sugar bowl installed in our kitchen...

Time Travel

We're off on a road trip and as everyone says that New Zealand is about 40 years behind the western world, we're going to be looking out for glimpses of the 1960s.

We had a good start to our mission with this motel in Taupo.



I have to confess though that I insisted that we stayed in the more modern accommodation next door.

Quiet Time

Not much going on this week due to exams. However, you can admire the huge, harmless insects that we've been seeing over at Tales of Jo.

Here's a taster...

Easy Yoghurt

After my success with the breadmaker, I've moved on to yoghurt. At the moment, I'm using sachets and my (NZ made) EasiYo flask but I'm hoping to progress to making the next batch from the final spoonful of the last batch.


A bowl of yoghurt and manuka honey each morning is doing wonders for my concentration - thank you, Anastasia, for introducing me to this delicious combination.

Up, up and away

Roadrunners

I've been keeping an eye on the SPCA website for a little while now and when I saw two huge rabbits needing to be rescued, we high-tailed it down to South Auckland to meet them.

In the rabbitry, we were introduced to Jemima (NZ white) and Jasper (Flemish giant). We were told that both of them had been rescued from the side of the road in different parts of Auckland and then bonded by the SCPA when they ran out of hutches.

The two of them hardly fitted into the catboxes used for adoptees and had a rather cramped journey home.



So we set up their temporary indoor hutch as quickly as possible and introduced Jasper first.



Jemima wasn't too far behind.



They quickly settled in and, frustratingly, made themselves comfortable in their litter tray.



The excitement of the day was too much by the evening and Jasper and Jemima fell fast asleep...

Baby Bunny II

Since I last posted a picture of a baby bunny, the next litter seems to have arrived. Here are some shots of one of the little rascals munching away on the lawn yesterday...

Ageing Hydrangea

Over the last few months, our hydrangeas have changed from lavender petals to speckles of rich pink.

I think I actually prefer them in their decayed state.

Hot Harvest

We purchased these two chilli plants at a local market back in October. The tip from the stallholder - not to water until the pot is light to handle - has served us well and the plants are going from strength to strength.

Sprouts

I quite often grew sprouts in London but found them rather bitter and unappetising. I'm trying again but keeping them out of direct sunshine this time and watering more vigorously.


Check back for an update on the mung beans, snow peas and spicy salad mix in a few days....

Looking at Lino

Our quote has come back a little over budget and so we're exploring our options. Including lino rather than tiles. Fortunately, we were intending to go for a 1960s feel to our 1960s house so lino should fit right in.



As anyone in the trade will tell you, lino has come a long way in recent years. We're not tempted by any of the more realistic wood or slate options - too disappointing for people when they step on to warm, sticky lino rather than cool, smooth tiles - but we did quite like the bamboo print above.




And these mosaic tiles could suit a bathroom or two...




And we couldn't resist this cork pattern for the pantry - the heart of our winemaking activities. Unfortunately, it was far and away the most expensive of all our potential choices and so we may be looking for an offcut...

A Snap of a Snapper

Tonight's fish looked so morose that I figured he deserved a picture too...



Although the snapper have come into the harbour to spawn now, we only went as far as Pak N'Save to catch this one.

Heeling Hands

Now that I've started baking my own bread (or rather using my breadmaker to do it), I need to find a way of using up the crusty ends or heels of each loaf.

The Eat Drink Talk cookery school newsletter came to the rescue this week with an excellent recipe for skordalia - a kind of Mediterranean bread sauce.



Soak the bread in water and add red wine vinegar, garlic, oil and salt and pepper and you have a tasty accompaniement for grilled fish. We're going to eat ours tonight with some snapper.

My only tip is to keep your fingers away from the bread-knife. If you don't manage to do that, at least try to keep the plaster dry when wringing out the soaked bread and don't drip blood into the pestle and mortar alongside the red wine vinegar. Or get vinegar in your wound. An eventful afternoon of cookery.

Seedhead

A seedhead in the back paddock. Not sure what type of grass it is but it's very tough and the seeds have an intriguing serrated edge.