Month: January 2019

Bee happy

/ Su Leslie / 50 Comments

Increasingly, one of my greatest pleasures while travelling is discovering new public gardens.

Today it was Victoria Esplanade, in Palmerston North. I arrived a little late to explore much of the park, but was very happy wandering around the gardens near the cafe, watching bees feasting on the abundant flowers.

Attempting Mrs Oberon’s Cock-a-Hoop Honey Cake

/ Su Leslie / 38 Comments

One of my son’s favourite childhood books was Margaret Mahy’s A Busy Day for a Good Grandmother.

The good grandmother is Mrs Oberon, summoned by her son Scrimshaw to deliver one of her cock-a-hoop blue borage honey cakes — the only thing that will pacify his crying, teething baby son.

Her journey — by trailbike, plane, raft and skateboard — involves navigating rapids, and fighting off hungry vultures and alligators.

Arriving to find Scrimshaw at the end of his tether, she not only calms the baby but teaches her son to make his own honey cake.

I was reminded of the book recently by Amanda at Silkannthreades, and began wondering what a cock-a-hoop blue borage honey cake might look (and taste) like.

I did find a recipe, but not only was it missing blue borage honey, but seemed to lack the ingredients one might expect in a teething remedy.

This is my first attempt. It’s flavoured with blue borage honey (naturally), as well as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and chamomile — to soothe.

It’s ok. The texture is good, but none of the flavours emerge strongly enough and it looks disconcertingly like gingerbread.

Definitely not a six-word post this week — but bookended thus.

So, back to the drawing board.

Posted to Debbie’s Six Word Saturday

The Changing Seasons: January 2019

/ Su Leslie / 68 Comments
all done with a chainsawStihl more to do. Image: Su Leslie 2019

There are worse metaphors for my month than the Big T’s chainsaw.

There have been days when I’ve effortlessly cut through “the big stuff”, and others when it’s felt like my plans and good intentions have been chopped off at the knees.

But overall, we managed to tackle some jobs that have been over-long in the “too hard” basket, and reward ourselves with a few escapes from our normal landscape.

I’ve already posted shots from most of these trips, (very poor planning) so here are a some from a long-delayed visit to The Lighthouse (see below), an exploration of the walk and cycleway under Mangere Bridge (we weren’t even sure it existed), a visit to the beautiful Northland beach at Whananaki where T and I once camped, and a few days in Rotorua.

A highlight of that trip was the Redwoods Tree Walk; 28 connected suspension bridges, up to 20 metres off the ground in the midst of the redwood forest. I hate heights — but it was fabulous. It is open until 11pm, and the forest is lit up at night, but there were massive queues the evening we considered it, while we had the daytime walk almost to ourselves.

The Lighthouse, and The Cloud; downtown Auckland. Image: Su Leslie 2019
The Lighthouse, public sculpture on Queens Wharf, Auckland. Artist: Michael Parakowhai. Image: Su Leslie 2019
The Lighthouse, a sculpture by Michael Parakowhai. Image: Su Leslie 2019
The chainsaw maestro. Image: Su Leslie 2019
Image; Su Leslie 2019
Walkway, Mangere Bridge, Auckland. Image: Su Leslie 2019
Walkway, Mangere Bridge, Auckland. Image: Su Leslie 2019
Manukau Harbour, from the walkway on Mangere Bridge, Auckland. Image: Su Leslie 2019
Redwoods Tree Walk, Rotorua — with the Big T. Image: Su Leslie 2019
Redwoods Tree Walk, Rotorua. Image; Su Leslie 2019
Redwoods Tree Walk, Rotorua. Image; Su Leslie 2019
Redwoods Tree Walk, Rotorua. Image; Su Leslie 2019
Redwoods Tree Walk, Rotorua. Image; Su Leslie 2019
Whananaki footbridge. Image: Su Leslie 2019
Whananaki Beach, Northland. Image: Su Leslie 2019
Before …. Image: Su Leslie 2019
Experimenting with a new tote design. Holds two bottles of wine (just not for long). Image: Su Leslie 2019
… and after. Image: Su Leslie 2019

It hasn’t felt like a particularly creative month. I messed around with a design for a tote to hold a couple of bottles of wine, on the basis that this (suitably filled) would make a good gift. The design is good, but I’m struggling with execution.

In the kitchen, my sourdough obsession has produced a few attempts at pizza / pizza bread. I’m definitely getting there, and T is happy for me to keep experimenting!!

About The Changing Seasons

The Changing Seasons is a monthly challenge where bloggers around the world share what’s been happening in their month.

If you would like to join in, here are the guidelines:

The Changing Seasons Version One (photographic):

  • Each month, post 5-20 photos in a gallery that you feel represent your month
  • Don’t use photos from your archive. Only new shots.
  • Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so that others can find them

The Changing Seasons Version Two (you choose the format):

  • Each month, post a photo, recipe, painting, drawing, video, whatever that you feel says something about your month
  • Don’t use archive stuff. Only new material!
  • Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so others can find them.

If you do a ping-back to this post, I can update it with links to all of yours.

Update

Ladyleemanila

Tracy at Reflections of an Untidy Mind

Marilyn at Serendipity — Seeking Intelligent Life on Earth

Tish at Writer on the Edge

The Covert Novelist

Joanne at My Life Lived Full

Deb at The Widow Badass

Ju-Lyn at All Things Bright and Beautiful

Jude at Living on the Edge

Little Pieces of Me

Pauline at Living in Paradise

Ruth at Ruth’s Arc

Sarah at Art Expedition

Yvette at Priorhouse blog

 

 

The Lighthouse is a work of public art by NZ sculptor Michael Parakowhai. It’s sited at the very end of Queen’s Wharf in the CBD and from the outside, is a 1:1 scale replica of a New Zealand “state house” of the 1950s. The interior is completely open and contains clustered neon lights and a large scale statue of Captain Cook (there is an identical sculpture in the New South Wales Art Gallery).

It’s an interesting work — with the interior defying expectations. I didn’t manage to capture any particularly good interior shots, but there is one in this article. And uou can read more about it here.