Auckland Museum

My f.i.l's note .....

Cape Town to PIHA

This was my favourite beach in NZ, Piha. The soil is rich in iron content, so it is really black. It borders the Tasman Sea ... and the water moves really fast.

Take nothing but memories,

leave nothing but footprints...

The Panga tree is native to NZ, the top part is fern - like, the trunk is palm - like.

It is so encouraging to be in a country where they are so concerned about their enviroment!!

and that was Piha ....

Hong Kong Never Sleeps!

We stopped over in HK for 3 days en route to New Zealand. What an experience! The streets are buzzing till midnight with night shoppers, markets and restaurants. It is so alive! We visited Lantou Island to see the Great Budha, so large in appearance yet it pales in comparision to God, who though unseen is reflected in creation all around us!

There is something about Tai O fishing village that captures you as you walk about the streets and market ....

and then we finished off the day watching the Festival of Lights and a walk around Ladies Market!

Random

Keelan's little critter .... isn't she just the cutest?

Drying homegrown chillies......

Bottling them .....

reflections

17 this month ....

13 this year

this is such a cool friend of KD ....

always the jester ....

seeds from Italy ...

and the jester again .. isn't this pic just hilarious

New shoots ...

Isa 61:11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Easy Strawberry Jam

I haven't made jam since we left the plot .... but this recipe looked so easy and worked so well ....

4 cups strawberries (I was lucky enough to pick from our patch)
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

That's it .. place in the pot and simmer till it's jam!

Another year goes by ....

And so we say goodbye to 2010 ....   The year of the infuriating vuvuzelas ... the year we were proudly South African ... and the year my eldest turned sweet 16! 

This month we spent a few days at Witsand ...like we do each year ....

KM getting bloodworm ...

Here he got one.. great bait!

 Boys pumping prawn .... well supposed to be ....

 The quaintest cottage in Witsand ....

and when the wind blew ... and boy does it blow there, I caught up on my granny squares ....

We came home to loads of veg from the garden, especially marrows.  The perfect opportunity to make some of  Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Glutony.

Recipe:

1kg overgrown courgettes, unpeeled but cut into dice no bigger than 1cm (discard seeds from really large marrows)

1kg plums roughly chopped
1kg cooking apples peeled and diced

500g onions, peeled and diced

500g sultanas or raisins

500g light brown sugar

750ml white wine or cider vinegar, made up to 1 litre with water

1 tsp salt

1 chilli deseeded

for the spice bag

1 thumb-sized nugget of fresh or dried ginger, roughly chopped

12 cloves

12 black peppercorns

1 generous tsp coriander seeds

some grated nutmeg

Put the vegetables and fruit in a large, heavy-based pan with the sultanas or raisins, sugar, vinegar and water, chilli flakes and salt.

Make up the spice bag by tying all the spices in a square of muslin or cotton. Add the spice bag to the pan, pushing it into the middle.

Heat the mixture gently, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar, and bring slowly to the boil. Simmer for 2–3 hours, uncovered, stirring regularly to ensure it does not burn on the bottom of the pan. The chutney is ready when it is rich, thick and reduced, and parts to reveal the base of the pan when a wooden spoon is dragged through it. If it starts to dry out before this stage is reached, add a little boiling water.

Pot up the chutney while still warm in sterilised jars with plastic-coated screw-top lids (essential to stop the vinegar interacting with the metal). Leave to mature for at least 2 weeks – ideally 2 months – before serving.

With all the cocktail tomatoes I made jamie Oliver's tomato sauce ... I love the orange colour of the tomato sauce as opposed to the more common red ... last year I made a batch with green tomatoes ... hmmmm very yummy.  This year I did not sieve it and the taste is much more intense.  If you don't like coriander then definitely sieve it! 

I had these 2 old frames lying around that M was threatening to throw out.  I made one into a notice board ... just glued cork on with wood glue and the covered with some material I had in my stash ...

 The other I made into a chalkboard .... KM left me a little message .... boy am I blessed!!!