What a day. Typed a message and forgot to publish it so now get to redo it.
Slept half the day. Woke with a blinding headache. Ate breakfast and went back to bed. Woke up and went sight seeing and to stores for things I wanted. Found a pashens but couldn't find another I liked. That was a craft store. At home a craft store would have oil paints, beads and what not. Next to the chemists (drug store). Couldn't get my medicine without a prescription. Which I didn't have. Have to wait for my daughter (Crissy or Janis) to mail me some. Then to a cheese store. Ronnie (my husband) would love that. Large wheels of cheese of different kinds and you could taste them. Then to a furniture store. Not your regular furniture store. Hand made things. Found a vase I liked. The man said its bamboo. You cut off the roots and the stem. What is left is a pot bellied vase. Laquered and stained, I supposed. It was a lovely shade of red like cherrywood.
Finally got so ill feeling I had to ask to go home. Took a pain pill and slept for awhile and woke feeling better. Thank goodness.
Also found earrings for Marilee. Will for more later as I'm not sure these are what she wants.
I love everyone. Yes, even you Jean.
Monday, December 11, 2006
A little sightseeing
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v499/bjcotton/New%20Zealand/
I added some photos yesterday after our sightseeing trip. In the middle of Auckland are some extinct volcanos. Our trip included a journey to the top of one where as you turned 360 degrees you were still seeing parts of Auckland. Although it is a city of 1 million people it is quite spread out and extends over many miles/kilometers. It's kind of like the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, "water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink." As we drove through neighborhoods, there were many magnificient homes, truly huge and expensive. You were as apt to see an insignificant home cheek by jowl next to it. Shane, Carol and I drove through the country and he pointed out some newly constructed homes that were large and obviously cost lots of $. As in town, there is liable to be what could be considered a shanty on the next lot.
As Shane and I strolled around the property here, he would point out a plant and say it was a noxious weed, tell me what it was and I would say, we put those in pots and grow them as a house plant...Wandering Jew was one of them; another that we plant in our flower gardens was Oxalis [probably spelled that wrong]. I asked him what these cute birds were that are literally all over the place and he said they were Myna birds and a nuisance. Another pretty bird here I wanted a picture of was a Magpie and another nuisance. The have another lovely bird that is an irridescent dark blue, a Paka..something or other [a Swamp Hen] that is about as big as a chicken and I asked him if they were good to eat. He said, "Oh yes, you put them is a large pot, put some stones in the bottom, put the hen in, cover it with water and boil/simmer for an hour or so, throw the hen away and eat the rocks!" If you like eels, there are plenty in the stream that runs through the property. It's a really lovely country and the place here is quite soothing.
While I've been trying to complete this blog entry, first Carol came and started yammering, then Dale came in to join in. I am the type of person that cannot study if music is playing, can't think and type if someone is talking, etc. So, I said, "Why don't you two go into the office and talk while I finish this." Dale said, "Did you just tell me to bugger off?" I said that I had. They have been gone about 2 minutes and I'm done!
See you later.
I added some photos yesterday after our sightseeing trip. In the middle of Auckland are some extinct volcanos. Our trip included a journey to the top of one where as you turned 360 degrees you were still seeing parts of Auckland. Although it is a city of 1 million people it is quite spread out and extends over many miles/kilometers. It's kind of like the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, "water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink." As we drove through neighborhoods, there were many magnificient homes, truly huge and expensive. You were as apt to see an insignificant home cheek by jowl next to it. Shane, Carol and I drove through the country and he pointed out some newly constructed homes that were large and obviously cost lots of $. As in town, there is liable to be what could be considered a shanty on the next lot.
As Shane and I strolled around the property here, he would point out a plant and say it was a noxious weed, tell me what it was and I would say, we put those in pots and grow them as a house plant...Wandering Jew was one of them; another that we plant in our flower gardens was Oxalis [probably spelled that wrong]. I asked him what these cute birds were that are literally all over the place and he said they were Myna birds and a nuisance. Another pretty bird here I wanted a picture of was a Magpie and another nuisance. The have another lovely bird that is an irridescent dark blue, a Paka..something or other [a Swamp Hen] that is about as big as a chicken and I asked him if they were good to eat. He said, "Oh yes, you put them is a large pot, put some stones in the bottom, put the hen in, cover it with water and boil/simmer for an hour or so, throw the hen away and eat the rocks!" If you like eels, there are plenty in the stream that runs through the property. It's a really lovely country and the place here is quite soothing.
While I've been trying to complete this blog entry, first Carol came and started yammering, then Dale came in to join in. I am the type of person that cannot study if music is playing, can't think and type if someone is talking, etc. So, I said, "Why don't you two go into the office and talk while I finish this." Dale said, "Did you just tell me to bugger off?" I said that I had. They have been gone about 2 minutes and I'm done!
See you later.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Yesterday..a day of rest
I wasn't feeling tip top yesterday so we more or less sat around nattering about this and that. Just stories about our lives.
When I first got here and took a shower, I used a shampoo that was already in the area. I have used it everyday and yesterday discovered little red bumps on my face and neck that itch like crazy...look kind of like pre-zit bumps. Since my head, face and neck are the only places the shampoo gets to sit for a few moment I figured that was the culprit. It is the only thing I use that is different from my usual. So, I used MY shampoo today and we'll see what happens.
Oh yes, we had NZ pizza for supper last night. Different from ours, not as spicy, but still good.
I am going to upload my pictures to Photobucket and post a link here. I think that will be easier than posting them individually to this site. Be back when I get them uploaded.
Here is the URL: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v499/bjcotton/New%20Zealand/
When I first got here and took a shower, I used a shampoo that was already in the area. I have used it everyday and yesterday discovered little red bumps on my face and neck that itch like crazy...look kind of like pre-zit bumps. Since my head, face and neck are the only places the shampoo gets to sit for a few moment I figured that was the culprit. It is the only thing I use that is different from my usual. So, I used MY shampoo today and we'll see what happens.
Oh yes, we had NZ pizza for supper last night. Different from ours, not as spicy, but still good.
I am going to upload my pictures to Photobucket and post a link here. I think that will be easier than posting them individually to this site. Be back when I get them uploaded.
Here is the URL: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v499/bjcotton/New%20Zealand/
Saturday, December 9, 2006
Just a short one....
I don't know if the short one is Carol, me or Dale :D
Our supper last night consisted of bite size chunks of chicken in a seasoned white sauce with a crispy crust on top like a layer of buttered panko or something. We also had roasted veggies, parsnips, yams/kumara, pumpkin and another type of sweet potatoes/kumara; potatoes duchess, steamed asparagus and rolls. For dessert we had Pavlova...if you've never had that, I would advise you to get the recipe and make it. It's kind of like the consistency of the inside of a marshmallow on its inside with a crispy crust. Glennis and Doug [Dale and Shanes friends of 27 years] kept saying, "Eat up, there's plenty." They had fresh strawberries to serve with the Pavlova, but I'm allergic and Carol won't eat them after years of picking them. So as a consession to us Glennis pealed and sliced some kiwi fruit to go with it for us. The tart sweet/sourness of the kiwi really set off the Pavlova.
Carol casually mentioned the Crema de Balsamico we found at the local liquor story, but didn't go into it. This stuff is THICK and you have to squeeze the bottle to get a drop out. A really good balsamic vinegar has a certain sweetness to it, but nothing like this. I ate it on my french fries [crisps according to Shane] and on my ham steak which he breaded and cooked on a griddle along with roma tomatoes that had one end cut off and then placed on the griddle next to the ham steaks...it was all yummy. It's really too bad all of you weren't here to share it with us, but I'm kinda of glad you weren't or I'd of had to share!
Our supper last night consisted of bite size chunks of chicken in a seasoned white sauce with a crispy crust on top like a layer of buttered panko or something. We also had roasted veggies, parsnips, yams/kumara, pumpkin and another type of sweet potatoes/kumara; potatoes duchess, steamed asparagus and rolls. For dessert we had Pavlova...if you've never had that, I would advise you to get the recipe and make it. It's kind of like the consistency of the inside of a marshmallow on its inside with a crispy crust. Glennis and Doug [Dale and Shanes friends of 27 years] kept saying, "Eat up, there's plenty." They had fresh strawberries to serve with the Pavlova, but I'm allergic and Carol won't eat them after years of picking them. So as a consession to us Glennis pealed and sliced some kiwi fruit to go with it for us. The tart sweet/sourness of the kiwi really set off the Pavlova.
Carol casually mentioned the Crema de Balsamico we found at the local liquor story, but didn't go into it. This stuff is THICK and you have to squeeze the bottle to get a drop out. A really good balsamic vinegar has a certain sweetness to it, but nothing like this. I ate it on my french fries [crisps according to Shane] and on my ham steak which he breaded and cooked on a griddle along with roma tomatoes that had one end cut off and then placed on the griddle next to the ham steaks...it was all yummy. It's really too bad all of you weren't here to share it with us, but I'm kinda of glad you weren't or I'd of had to share!
Carol
WHAT A HOOT!
I love these people. They certainly give directions like I do. Wave your arms around and get confused. Yourself and everyone else.
Met Doug and Glynnis last. Very nice people. Had a great dinner with lots of laughter.
Doug was impressed that I can hunt and shoot. talked hunting and shooting awhile.
Chris, you would love this place and I know Shane and Dale would love you. Such nice and fun people.
I have my xmas nails done. Look very nice and red with gold feathery stripes on them.
Shane is such a good cook, I've been eating to much. Have to quit.
Oh, you should see the ferns. They're trees. Really tall. Everything is lush and green. It is so pretty. Some of the flowers blooming here Shane says they are a pain, they grow everywhere. I told him we buy them to plant in our flower gardens. He couldn't believe it.
Had a good sleep after a glass of
Dougs wine last night.
Will close and go have breky.
Love you all.
I love these people. They certainly give directions like I do. Wave your arms around and get confused. Yourself and everyone else.
Met Doug and Glynnis last. Very nice people. Had a great dinner with lots of laughter.
Doug was impressed that I can hunt and shoot. talked hunting and shooting awhile.
Chris, you would love this place and I know Shane and Dale would love you. Such nice and fun people.
I have my xmas nails done. Look very nice and red with gold feathery stripes on them.
Shane is such a good cook, I've been eating to much. Have to quit.
Oh, you should see the ferns. They're trees. Really tall. Everything is lush and green. It is so pretty. Some of the flowers blooming here Shane says they are a pain, they grow everywhere. I told him we buy them to plant in our flower gardens. He couldn't believe it.
Had a good sleep after a glass of
Dougs wine last night.
Will close and go have breky.
Love you all.
What the hell is that and where are we?
If you find a few letters or words that don't fit into the sentence, just ignore them. I'll be typing along and my cursor will disappear..it has gone somewhere else and placed part of what I typed there. Quite confusing.
It is so much fun here. Janis, a natter is a chat. I've discovered that the cars here are much the same kinds as in the States, just different models. Shand has a BMW that he said I could drive any time I wished..my reply was, "You have to be kidding!" I would do just fine on the straightaways, but they have roundabouts everywhere and at most intersections in town. I'd come to one of those and have to stop to figure out what direction I was supposed to go and who had the right-of-way. I think a good bought of hysterics at each one would be my mode of operation.
Yesterday Shane took Carol and I into town [one of them anyway, there are so many and each with an unpronounceable name] to get some stamps. We got those and wandered about some. This is the wrong time of year to find some sweats and [for me] too cold to wear shorts. Carol wanted to have her nails done so we asked this salesclerk at the cosmetics counter where she could do this..where we could find a manicurist. The clerk proceeded to tell us where to find all the products, but not the manicurist. Shane finally rather bluntly asked her for a manicurist, not the products. She proceeded to wave her hand toward the back of the store and said, "Oh there's one on the "road" back there! It's quite a ways, just keep going." After much puzzlement at her directions Shane finally got the name of the street. We went back "there" and the shop was about a block away. We made an appointment and had about 2 1/2 hours to kill, so we went driving around in the country...trying to find the address for Shane to deliver a package. Want to talk about having a hard time. In the States, one side of the street/road has the even numbered addresses and the other side has the odd....it's like that here too, except on one side it might be #600 and immediately across the street might be 231. Time to get Carol back for her appointment...we didn't know where the hell we were...exactly. Managed to get her back with 3 minutes to spare. Pick her up in 2 1/2 hours. Shane and I launched out again to find this address. We finally found addresses all around it, but couldn't find the right one. We saw this man and boy walking in a field beside the road and stopped to ask. Shane said, "Do you know someone named Toby Lange and where he lives?" The man replied, "Who wants to know?" Shane explained that we had a package for him. The man says, "Oh, I'm Toby Lange!" Next, Shane wanted to take me to Hunuea Falls and asked the man how to get there. He proceeds to wave his arms around saying you turn here and turn there and go here and go there..a bit confusing to say the least. We finally found it after a harrowing journey. Walked to a viewpoint and there was this lovely fall about 200 feet high. I gazed at it a while and commented, "Oh, a magic waterfall!" Shane, of course, looks at me like my marbles are rolling around on the floor. I told him, of course it's magic. See how the water comes over the top all brown and muddy? About half way down where it strikes the rocks it turns pure white looking...magic! He kind of rolls his eyes like, what a goofball. It is really fun to tease and talk with him. Now, it's time to go get Carol. We come out of the park to Hunuea Road and can't remember which was we came in. I said we made a right turn to get into the park so we should make a left to get out. That sounded reasonable so off we went. A few kilometers down the road I told him I think we made a mistake...it's hard to find where you are on the maps...we turned around and sped off again. Finally found out we'd come in a different way on a different road. Well, who'd a thunk? Finally find where we are and arrive to pick up Carol. She'd been standing outside and half an hour. The manicurist had thought she wanted a pedicure also...how he came by that I'll never know because it wasn't mentioned. Then we were off for home because we were going to a friends for supper. More later, I need coffee and my feet are cold!
It is so much fun here. Janis, a natter is a chat. I've discovered that the cars here are much the same kinds as in the States, just different models. Shand has a BMW that he said I could drive any time I wished..my reply was, "You have to be kidding!" I would do just fine on the straightaways, but they have roundabouts everywhere and at most intersections in town. I'd come to one of those and have to stop to figure out what direction I was supposed to go and who had the right-of-way. I think a good bought of hysterics at each one would be my mode of operation.
Yesterday Shane took Carol and I into town [one of them anyway, there are so many and each with an unpronounceable name] to get some stamps. We got those and wandered about some. This is the wrong time of year to find some sweats and [for me] too cold to wear shorts. Carol wanted to have her nails done so we asked this salesclerk at the cosmetics counter where she could do this..where we could find a manicurist. The clerk proceeded to tell us where to find all the products, but not the manicurist. Shane finally rather bluntly asked her for a manicurist, not the products. She proceeded to wave her hand toward the back of the store and said, "Oh there's one on the "road" back there! It's quite a ways, just keep going." After much puzzlement at her directions Shane finally got the name of the street. We went back "there" and the shop was about a block away. We made an appointment and had about 2 1/2 hours to kill, so we went driving around in the country...trying to find the address for Shane to deliver a package. Want to talk about having a hard time. In the States, one side of the street/road has the even numbered addresses and the other side has the odd....it's like that here too, except on one side it might be #600 and immediately across the street might be 231. Time to get Carol back for her appointment...we didn't know where the hell we were...exactly. Managed to get her back with 3 minutes to spare. Pick her up in 2 1/2 hours. Shane and I launched out again to find this address. We finally found addresses all around it, but couldn't find the right one. We saw this man and boy walking in a field beside the road and stopped to ask. Shane said, "Do you know someone named Toby Lange and where he lives?" The man replied, "Who wants to know?" Shane explained that we had a package for him. The man says, "Oh, I'm Toby Lange!" Next, Shane wanted to take me to Hunuea Falls and asked the man how to get there. He proceeds to wave his arms around saying you turn here and turn there and go here and go there..a bit confusing to say the least. We finally found it after a harrowing journey. Walked to a viewpoint and there was this lovely fall about 200 feet high. I gazed at it a while and commented, "Oh, a magic waterfall!" Shane, of course, looks at me like my marbles are rolling around on the floor. I told him, of course it's magic. See how the water comes over the top all brown and muddy? About half way down where it strikes the rocks it turns pure white looking...magic! He kind of rolls his eyes like, what a goofball. It is really fun to tease and talk with him. Now, it's time to go get Carol. We come out of the park to Hunuea Road and can't remember which was we came in. I said we made a right turn to get into the park so we should make a left to get out. That sounded reasonable so off we went. A few kilometers down the road I told him I think we made a mistake...it's hard to find where you are on the maps...we turned around and sped off again. Finally found out we'd come in a different way on a different road. Well, who'd a thunk? Finally find where we are and arrive to pick up Carol. She'd been standing outside and half an hour. The manicurist had thought she wanted a pedicure also...how he came by that I'll never know because it wasn't mentioned. Then we were off for home because we were going to a friends for supper. More later, I need coffee and my feet are cold!
Friday, December 8, 2006
It's my birthday and .....
I don't give a damn :D We are talking about things to do while we're here. I'm not much of a zoo, water park, museum type thing goer, but Carol wants to go to them so I will tag along. I'd much rather wander along the streets, in and out of stores, look at the people, visit with the clerks, paw through and check out all the goods, etc. While Shane and I were out yesterday we passed an Espresso place that had some pastries and things that made your teeth hurt just looking at them. Maybe I could get a lower set of dentures to match the uppers and then they wouldn't mind so much.
One thing I've noticed is that things like the window screens Carol mentioned are just not used here and even with the cool weather all the windows remain open. Things that we take for granted like a Mr. Coffee pot are unknown here. I use a French Press every morning to make coffee and we all know it makes excellent coffee. I just mentioned to Shane we needed to get more coffee and apparently it doesn't come ground in cans like I'm used to. He said a kilo of good coffee costs about $30NZ [~$20USD], so we're going to get some.
The cream here is pasturized, not the Ultra stuff and quite thick. As you use it [for coffee of course] it clots around the rim of the bottle. We buy our milk by the gallon at home and I don't remember seeing gallon jugs of it in the store, but 1 liter jugs. Heck, with cereal I'd use a liter in two mornings. You ought to see the kumara [yams/sweet potatoes] in the store, 3 or 4 different kinds/colors and bins of them. There was one item that looked kind of like an acorn squash and I asked Shane what it was...he gave one of my smart ass answers back to me..."it's a green one." I love these people and it is so much fun to talk and be with them.
Well, I am off to have a natter with Dale, see you later.
One thing I've noticed is that things like the window screens Carol mentioned are just not used here and even with the cool weather all the windows remain open. Things that we take for granted like a Mr. Coffee pot are unknown here. I use a French Press every morning to make coffee and we all know it makes excellent coffee. I just mentioned to Shane we needed to get more coffee and apparently it doesn't come ground in cans like I'm used to. He said a kilo of good coffee costs about $30NZ [~$20USD], so we're going to get some.
The cream here is pasturized, not the Ultra stuff and quite thick. As you use it [for coffee of course] it clots around the rim of the bottle. We buy our milk by the gallon at home and I don't remember seeing gallon jugs of it in the store, but 1 liter jugs. Heck, with cereal I'd use a liter in two mornings. You ought to see the kumara [yams/sweet potatoes] in the store, 3 or 4 different kinds/colors and bins of them. There was one item that looked kind of like an acorn squash and I asked Shane what it was...he gave one of my smart ass answers back to me..."it's a green one." I love these people and it is so much fun to talk and be with them.
Well, I am off to have a natter with Dale, see you later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
