Autumn Amendment

In an earlier post I commented that there was no more glorious autumn offering than feijoas. I have had a week or two to reflect on this, while still enjoying those delicious wee delights. I would like to amend and broaden the list of tasty treats that one re-visits in this autumn season - it's a tied finish.

Buttercup pumpkin - dry and flavousome. No other pumpkin is worth the bother.

Persimmons - allowed to truly ripen until they are a mushy goo in consistency.

Feijoas - why are we the only country that seems to appreciate these?

Taylors Gold - the king of pears.

Fresh walnuts - long enough off the tree to be dry, but no longer.

Supermarket Pondering

The one thing I didn't like when I moved to Petone was the local supermarket. It is the same chain as I used in the Hutt, but the layout was different and it just didn't feel right. I have stuck with it because shopping local makes sense, but have always felt a little cheated and that life would be much simpler if every supermarket was required to have identical layouts and product placements. Today I visited a friend and as I needed to get a few bits and pieces on the way home I ceased upon the opportunity to shop in the old place. It was ghastly. The once familiar was foreign. I will not venture there again. My conversion to the Petone lifestyle is complete.

Changes

Getting the fire surround for the dining room, while very pleasing, made the lack of one in the living room all the more noticeable. The previous owner had used the chimney breast there as a temple to electronics - shelves for various players, multiboxes to power them, channels for every conceivable cabling configurement and then for good measure slapped on a wall mounting for the television to be attached to. This was the focus of the room, but no more. With the help of great friends, the latest TradeMe purchase was collected last night - this was no mean feat as the hearth was exceeedingly heavy. I am very happy with the new look. The television has been banished to a corner and no longer dominates the room. The room is looking very cosy as the rimu glows in the afternoon light. Another deeply satisfying project.

ANZAC Day, 2012

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
Lest we forget,
We will remember them

The Winter Look - It's a Fine Line

The weather is staying delightfully fine and mild, but when the inevitable turn to chilly days arrives I am ready.
Last year's boots have been re-heeled (new ones drooled over but not in the budget) and tights purchased. But then comes the trick of co-ordinating the rest of the look.  I see a lot of people in the malls who imagine they look like this ...

... but actually remind me more of this ...

... or this.

Such is the great melting pot that is a Westfield mall.

Well Said, Dorothy

Nothing better illustrates the truth in the statement that magically took Dorothy home in The Wizard of Oz than calling in to a few open homes.

After a pleasant lunch in the sun at Go Bang and a stroll around Jackson Street, a series of open homes presented themselves on the homeward journey. As anyone who knows me can attest, I'm seriously into things retro and kitsch. But there is retro-cool and retro-ohmygod. At one house, the combination of brown, wall to wall shag-pile carpet and the pervasive smell of damp mould was head spinning. I can almost understand living with renovation nightmares from the 70s and 80s (although when these are crimes against old villas the perpetrators should be shot) but how do people live in a musty atmosphere on a daily basis? One sniff and my head starts aching. Getting home was literally a breath of fresh air - be it ever so humble, there really is no place like home.

On another note, the short-lived Cupcakery has been replaced by a french-style crepe place. Looked and smelled good in passing. Like the name!

Product Perfection

I have long wanted one of these apple peeler/corer/slicer machines and earlier in the week I hit 'Buy Now' and eagerly tracked the progress on-line as my purchase moved through the courier system from Christchurch. This has to be the most brilliant invention ever. It looks great and it works way better than I had hoped. I have a penchant for pork (free-range 'Freedom Farms') but find the accompanying stewed apple tedious to prepare. This brilliant machine has it all done in under 30 seconds. Look at the tidy core, the spiral of peel and the perfection of the slicing - this is more than a kitchen gadget, it is a work of art.