Change of name by statutory declaration

#13 Cycle 'around' New Zealand
Still haven't heard from Transit but checking Wikipedia has give me an article which has a list. I'm going to use the total of State Highway 1 including the current A and B routes. At the moment that total is 2097.4

Sniffles of boredom

#97 'Run' from home to my home town
I've done a couple before work runs this week. Nothing too major - only 20-30mins but every little bit counts right? It's a bit of a struggle. I definitely need to do more running than walking. Plus I need to get new shoes so I don't get blisters which slow me down and give me an excuse (which I don't need and don't want) to stop.

Getting warmer by degrees

#35 Cook through the Edmonds cookbook
Off to a farewell function for a work colleague today. We have to take a plate so I thought I would make sponge drops and take them. What a disaster. They looked lovely in the oven but as soon as I took them out into our unheated house they flattened like paper. Also they stuck to the baking paper and I had to scrape them off. They were yummy (like the edges of a sponge cake) but you'd really need to make them when the kitchen is warm. (As an example - I had a banana that was sitting out on the bench - it felt like it had been in the fridge.)
I really wanted to make carrot cake so I was doubly ticked when the sponge drops didn't come out.

Flee the exploding house

Ooh! Pictures from Duder ARC park.

The indie dudes could not have been nicer

#86 A-Z reading challenge - authors

Harrison, Kim "For a few demons more"

About a witch who specialises in supernatural bounty hunting only this one is more about demons, her flatties (a pixy and a living vampire) and a personal vendetta with an elf. Number 5 in the series.

What did I think?

Well, I really enjoyed the first one. And the second. I think it all started going wrong for me about the third. You know what it's like - you're reading a series that you've enjoyed and then you strike one which doesn't quite do it for you but you keep the faith and try the next one, then as if you can't quite believe your eyes you read the next one too hoping against hope that it will all sort itself out... That's happened to me with a few series. It's not necessarily that the series goes bad (although Anita Blake baby - I'll make an exception for you) just that it loses what you liked about the first book and then you find another 'first book' which contains the things you've liked and since it's all shiny and new you forget about the original series. I get that the author has to advance the character for interest but I'm not sure that sliding her into doing things that she was vehemently against at the beginning of the series is actually developing the character. In this book particularly the main character seems very, not nice, and the supporting characters are just caricatures of who they were in the beginning. Plus there's an incident when someone dies and that doesn't get resolved. (At least, I don't remember it getting resolved but by that stage I may have just been reading to finish the book.) I will probably read the next one to see if the character is redeemed or actually learns anything (and makes changes because of it) from her experiences. I'm not going to hold my breath though.

N.B. I will add a little disclaimer here and just say that I read a lot of these types of books so I may have got them all mixed up with each other. :)

Ice-cream is a food group

#66 Attend some festival events - arts, literature, movies etc

I went to my first festival event! Matariki Breakfast at the Stardome Observatory. Matariki is the celebration of Maori New Year - when the Matariki constellation rises above the horizon before dawn. This constellation is also known as the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters. Apparently every culture in the world has a story about the constellation. It is also visible in the evening during summer - so I might have more success in seeing it in summer then than I did in the morning.

First I was up really early (4am) to drive into town. Of course without any other cars on the road (although I must say I was surprised at the number that were on the road that early on a Saturday morning) it took me half the time that I was expecting it to take so I was super early. Second, when I got to the Stardome I actually pulled into a different parking spot first, blinding two men with the car's high-beams because I thought that they were part of the group but it turns out that they were not, in fact, part of the group but two pissed off citizens of South Auckland doing a deal. (I don't know if that's true but that's what I decided they were as they squinted at me through the windscreen.) Third, the sky had been clear when I checked at 4am but the clouds and wind had got up during my drive in. So after the walk up to the top of One Tree Hill all we could see was cloud and haze along the horizon where Matariki was supposed to be. It was blowing a gale up there! Fourth, our guide did her best - pointing out other stars like the Chief (he stands alone) and Reigel (Puanga) and some other constellations but we didn't have any luck. The clouds covered where Matariki should have been and then when the clouds had gone...the sun was coming up so it was too light. (I was well wrapped up against the cold but I think some others were freezing by the end.)

We did get to go back down to a fantastic, delicious breakfast (not enough coffee for that hour of the morning) plus a zip through what the stars should have looked like in the Stardome theater. Well worth the experience. There's something really elementary about looking at the stars and wanting to know what they are. You can feel a real connection with the ancestors as those were the same stars they were looking at. they bought more coffee out after the shows - but took away the sugar and milk. :)

Most embarassing moment - (LoM would say it was realising that the person walking behind us down the hill could hear every word of our conversation but...) when I went into the stardome the second time and it was dark and I didn't wait to let me eyes adjust so a) I tried to walk up the side of the chairs where there wasn't actually any space and b) eventually walked very quickly into the side of a chair.

#7 Visit all Auckland Regional parks

Also on Saturday LoM and I visited Ambury regional park. It's a cute little farm in the lee of Mangere Mountain. ARC uses it as an educational camping park so there are fun signs on the paddocks with animal picture and names like 'Timmy' (the turkey) and 'Freida' (the pig). We wandered around the animal pens before coming back to see the cows being milked (Amber and Fresia) and pet the calves (not named yet).

It was pretty windy out on the exposed farmland but since I was wearing polypro (whoever invented that stuff deserves a medal, it's brilliant) and a rain jacket I was warm as just popped toast. We ambled round the perimeter track and then took a little side trip toward the bird hide in the Watercare land that is right next to the park. Didn't actually make it to the bird hide as there were some words like 'quiet' and 'move slowly'. There looked to be some really interesting walks out to the stone fields so that might be something for another day.

Funniest moment - watching a brown sheep stalk a pukeko. The pukeko would nibble some grass. The sheep would sneak up behind it without actually looking at it. It would stand there. It would lower its head but not eat any grass. The pukeko would walk away. It would nibble some grass. The sheep would sneak up behind it etc etc. Hai-lari-oos.

Drove over to check out Mangere Mountain but since we'd have to get out of the car to walk to the top (in the wind) flagged it, went home, got changed then went to a couple of cafes. This is something on LoM's list. We managed to get to 2 so that was pretty good.

I got to recite "The Jabberwocky" which of course is poem one for #20 Learn 10 poems by heart. I am onto learning poem number two which is going to be "For the Fallen" by Laurence Binyon. Stanza four is used in military rememberance ceremonies so it is quite an emotional poem because of that.

To top off the day we joined up with some friends and went to see Lobby Hero at Silo. it was excellent. The audience was fairly quiet but warmed up after the interval. It took a little while for the actors to settle into their accents. No problems once they had and we were drawn into the story. Highly recommended. (Great set design too plus good direction.) It doesn't count as #43 See a performance that doesn't include anyone I know since I do know someone in it.

#35 Cook through the Edmonds cookbook

No baking this weekend which I got stick for at work today.

Now's not the time Munro

#54 Write a book for my niece
Apparently she had made her decision before clicking on the link.

#13 Cycle 'around' New Zealand
Added another 20km on the windtrainer. It's amazing how much better it goes when the tyres are pumped up correctly... Thinking about doing Round Taupo later in the year which will add on a few k's and also prepare me for #96 Do the Round Taranaki cycle early next year. I didn't have that great a time last time I did Taupo though so still thinking.

Hard day's night

#54 Write a book for my niece
Next installment is up. There was a bit of confusion - I thought the comment would come through on the TFAW_you _choose blog but they've come through on the other one. Plus I had done something weird with the comments so TFAW had to use another aunties sign up and then get her own. Oh well. She may as well become computer literate now right? I'm not that crash hot as an author - I've just noticed two continuity errors in two posts. Dearie me. I've made it trickier by setting a limit of 300 words for each story post. 300 words exactly as Word counts it. It's harder than it sounds. I've just spent an hour trying to delete 9 words while stuffing in the whole end arc!

The press have jumped the gun

#35 Cook through the Edmonds cookbook
On Sunday I made English muffins for breakfast, honey oat, hokey pokey and chocolate chip cookies, bread and Russian fudge (which is not like chocolate fudge at all except that it is just as delicious.) Most of the day was baking in fact. Baking, cooking or laundry.

#87 A-Z reading challenge - titles
"Getting things done : the art of stress-free productivity" by David Allen
How to structure your working and home environment effectively so that you feel 1. in control and 2. on top of things and 3. you are working effectively and efficiently

What did I think?
There's a lot of really great stuff in here that I will use in the future. I'm doing okay with keeping on top of things at the moment so I'm not going to implement some of the suggestions. Plus I already do a version of some of them so there's no point in changing something that works. (This title is another great example of a 'worldview' thing - it's come up lots of times on various blogs that I read.) Some of the reviews I read say that it is 'amazing' and 'totally changed my life'. One of the more balanced said exactly what I have just said - there's some great things etc etc

"Hot springs of New Zealand" Sally Jackson
Lists hotsprings around New Zealand including location and a description including personal observations.

What did I think?
This also links to #65 Go to a natural hotspring. In fact I got it so I could find one and plan a trip. Unfortunately my original version of a hot spring - not man-made - has turned out to be quite scarce so I'm going to revise. There are natural hot springs e.g. hot water beach but you don't get much of a soak and that's what I'm after. There are also private pools that you can go to but I'd rather not bother someone. So now the version will be water that is heated naturally in a natural as possible surrounding. I'm still looking. The book itself is very well done and seems to be quite comprehensive. Only annoying thing is the descriptions of springs that you can't go to any more! e.g. the one on the Tongariro crossing.

#1 Tramp a Great Walk

I'm investigating Waikaremoana for this. LoM and I were going to get to it several years agao and just never made it. She has done the walk before and has generously agreed to go again. I've been looking at maps and visitnig websites. We will probably aim for early next year. Since I'm not much of a tramper that should give us enough time to do some practice over-nighters in the big ARC parks.

not mr right now even eow

Busy weekend.

#40 Share a meal with friends or family every two months
When I put this on the list we'd just finished a round of hanging out with friends and family and I could see a vast stretch of time without anything planned. I was afraid that if I didn't give myself a kick I might just lapse into a stay-at-home-tv-watching-isolate. However it has turned out to be no issue at all because something always comes up. for e.g. Friday - dinner with friends; Saturday - dinner with friends; Sunday - dinner with a friend. So this one is going pretty well.

#7 Visit all Auckland Regional parks
Two more parks off the list. I'm feeling a bit, uncomfortable, at my attitude re just getting the parks done and marked off. I'm enjoying wandering around but feel that I shouldn't just be focused on marking it off. Having said that I do want to go back to a couple of the parks and do some of the walks that we didn't get to do so I guess that once again it isn't really an issue.

On Saturday LoM and I went to Omana and Duder parks. They are at the southern end of Auckland. I'd often cycled past them on training rides but didn't realise it until now.

Omana is a pretty little park with views out to the islands. They feel very close - almost close enough to swim to. Or maybe kayak to. It's interesting to see the islands from the 'other side' as it were. We walked the perimeter - round past the pa site and the goats (Dixie, Trixie and Pixie), through the manuka and kanuka (soft like cashmere), past the mangroves and up over the top to the lookout. Although I think of that area as being in the country it is actually quite built up. There was a sports ground quite close and a busy road that you could hear all over the park so it didn't feel like you were away from it all. Maybe at a different time of the day? A good park to go to with the kids - there were pigs, rabbits, chickens, dinner, I mean guinea pigs, and sheep. Plus the -ixies. It's fairly small in terms of land mass and has quite diverse eco-systems to look at.

Duder is just down the road and around a few corners. They have the best board out of all the parks we've visited so far. (Oh, and theirs and Omana's pamphlet boxes are well stocked too.) They also have orienteering maps to take out with way markers to hunt out. We were on a timeline but we did as many as were on our route. By golly the wind was cold! The walk started off along a flat bit. Nice, well gravelled road. I spotted a plastic bag in the bush with a clue - maybe an orienteering clue? The frame was supposed to be in this area but damned if either of us could find it. Lots of sheep in the paddocks as we started up the hill. We went out to the pa. Amazing views out into the bay. Once again the islands looked close enough to swim out to. Now it was quite warm - get out of the wind and it was very warm! More sheep and some large Herefords which I'm afraid to say I freaked out a bit at. One of them on the way back (while we were waiting for the hang glider man to do his thing) ambled over to say "hi" and crept closer and closer while it was munching on grass. I was ready to run and leap for the fence even though LoM said they were harmless.
This is probably the park where we saw the most people. Even though it's out in the middle of nowhere it was well patronised. People were even arriving as we were leaving at 3pm. The weather was fantastic so I guess that bought lots of people (like us) out.

Nibbled to death by...cats...

#86 A-Z reading challenge - authors

Godin, Seth "All marketers are liars: the power of telling authentic stories in a low-trust world"
"Successful marketers don't talk about features or eve benefits. Instead they tell a story, a story we want to believe." (from blurb)

What did I think?
I got a bit lost in a couple places where what I think the author was trying to prove didn't actually match up with what I thought he was saying. Most interesting bit was where he talked about worldview and how individuals will interpret events, situations, stories according to how much it matches their worldview. If it doesn't match then they dismiss it. Previously to this I was thinking how much this matched a couple of other books I've read c.f. after that I thought that it wasn't surprising that it serendipitously fell into the same category as I probably got all the titles from the same place which reinforces my worldview. (Because, yes, I think stories are incredibly important, both ficition and non-fiction, because of the way they help or encourage us to interpret events and represent ourselves.) It reminded me of the story about how the Aborigines of Australia ignored the first sailing ships that cruised along the coast becuase they didn't fit into their worldview and therefore didn't actually exist. (Is this a story or actually true? Who knows? It's a good one.)


Higson, Charlie "Double or die"
A young Bond book about a young James Bond. This is the third title in the series and in this one Bond gets his first taste of codes and ciphers.

What did I think?
That I need a lie down after reading that book. Wow! Mr Higson certainly packs a lot into a book. He is very clever and should be commended for these additions to the Bond canon. Young Bond differs from Alex Rider (I recommend the audio version) in that he doesn't do these things alone. There are usually other young people (even girls) helping him out. He does have to rely on himself and grit his teeth to manfully soldier on etc etc and he really is alone in terms of family but he does have a good circle of friends to call on. Excellent, rollercoaster, edge-of-the-seat read. Bring on the next one.

NZ bee compound

#42 Send a snail mail postcard to nieces
All posted. Yay!

Bizarre!

Now I know what the fuss was all about

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4093641a11.html

c.f.

Top rated show

#35 Cook through the Edmonds cookbook
Made Apple crumble for pudding last night. I tweaked the recipe a bit to a serving for two rather than six. Boyfriend liked it, I wasn't so fussed. I think the like/not like thing is more to do with who cooks that anything else. If I cook he loves it; if he cooks I love it. He made a delicious omelet last night full of herbs he's been growing and fresh veges. Yum!

In other news, I've been putting actions into my diary for the future e.g. #36 Spend a night on Tiritiri Matangi Island - August - "book cabin". This way I feel as if I'm making progress on things without trying to cram them all into the first six months of this thing. Seems to be working. I'm not so concerned about the ones that I've got actions for since I know they are taken care of...or will be taken care of in the future. The idea for this has come fon "Getting things done" by David Allen which I am STILL trying to get through. (Main problem is that I'm also reading a G author book becuase I wasnt to finish a H author book that I'd started and then realised the author started with H so I should wait until I've finished the G author.)

LoM wants to go shopping for some new clothes. I'm hoping that she will let me come with so I can #99 Go shopping for a day and don't buy anything.

Summering on the cape

#97 'Run' from home to my home town

Clocked up a few more kms this evening. To be honest I was all keen at work then I found I didn't have any socks, so decided to flag it and cycle instead but then I came home and saw a couple policemen parking their cars and getting out their stab-proof vests so I thought I'd run past only to discover that the stab-proof vests were probably bullet-proof vests and the police ment were standing behind the treeline next to the pavement and they were still there when I got back only there were two! police! men! with! big! guns! instead! of! one! which meant they were there for a couple hours at least. Not sure what it was all about - I was trying to look cool on my way past, y'klnow, like I wasn't a bit interested when really I was gawking like a little kid. No shame.



#74 Cook risotto from scratch

I thought there was a recipe in the Edmonds but it turns out the recipe is something like 'Start with a packet of pre-prepared chicken risotto...' which is absolutely useless for my needs. I thinks there's one in the Jamie book.

NB. I think Boyfriend and I are in a bit of a competition over who can cook the best chicken. i did one last night which he loved and tonight he did one that I loved... Maybe it's not really a competition but just using up what's in the cupboard because there isn't any food left in the house.



#42 Send a snail mail postcard to nieces

I'm starting this one tonight and will hopefully get the postcards off tomorrow. I was going to use the cute slightly bug-eyed kiwi but I sounded a bit manic on it so I chopped it up and used a yellow heart instead. I'm not entirely sure of the address for the australian lot so it might take longer than I'm hoping it will.



Update #100 Send Power company the key to the house

You may remember this as a particular challenge of mine. Well, the meter reader turned up on Saturday sans key. He hasn't received it yet. He was very cheerful about the whole thing and said that he used to have our estimated meter reading filled out before he even drove past our house. :)

clean green air

#72 Spend a whole day in p.j.s.
I did this one on Sunday since I wasn't going into Devonport. You know, I thought it would be more fun than it was. Maybe it was because it was wet and windy outside (finally! Welcome winter!) or maybe it's that I was lying on the couch watching DVDs and reading which is what I do on the weekend normally. It was kinda fun padding around in slippers all snug and warm. Nothing special though. The only funny thing about the day was that I didn't eat properly - had corn fritters from the Edmonds for brekky (yum, needed more corn though - I only had a little can and it needed a big one), cheese on toast for lunch and a couple poached eggs on toast for dinner. Plus LOTS of cups of tea and slices of chocolate nut slice and afghans. I'm not really a biscuit eater normally so this is havnig a really detrimental effect!

Sailing awaay

I've just finished going through all the posts and adding labels. They are listed down the side under the archive. So, if you want to know about the progress on a particular number you can look it up and see all the posts relating to that number. They sort in a funny way - e.g. 100, 101, 13, 2 - so if you're after one you'll need to imagine that you're reading the number number by number rather than as actual counting numbers. Clear as mud?

I wish I'd started this from the beginning!

Goodbye Dr Burke - does a clue lie in his name?

Images from yesterday's jaunt to Muriwai. As follows...

The sign at Muriwai beach. See the warnings on the sign? There were more on the sign where we had lunch! The beach is notorious for sweeping fisherpeople off the rocks into the ocean never to be seen again. From the cliffs we could see a couple of large rips in the water. All praise to the the lifeguards who risk their lives watching over others.


Looking up at the cliffs surrounding the carpark. The cliffs round those parts are quite sheer. When we were driving up around the town we came to the end of a cul-de-sac. There was a driveway going into a property that didn't have a fence which looked over the edge of the cliff. The effect was like you get on an infinity pool - the end of the driveway and then nothing but space. Even from the road it looked spectacular. Hopefully quite safe...

From the carpark to gannet rock. Muriwai is known for nesting gannets. The little 'island' with the chomp out of it is where they nest. (Can't remember if it is actually an island.) There are lots of sightseers when the gannets are nesting.





(I can't quite believe I've taken a picture of this but... ) The grass roofed toilets at gannet beach. You can just see them at the bottom of the cliff. They looked pretty cool and blended well with the landscape.

Oh, and the food...

Here's the first installment of #54 Write a book for my niece. The link on the end will take you to another blog listing the consequences of the decision.

Incident of blackbirds

I made progress on the following things without even trying today...

#7 Visit all Auckland Regional parks
Boyfriend and I went out for a picnic lunch today. We drove out to a lookout then decided we'd pop over to Muriwai since the view from the lookout wasn't that spectacular. Turns out that Muriwai beach is an ARC park. We drove up and around for a bit before coming back down to the Takapu reserve. The weather wasn't that great though so we didn't do a lot of walking and had our picnic in the van.

#35 Cook through the Edmonds cookbook
Muffins for the picnic (which we ate at home before we left); afghan biscuits with chocolate icing; chocolate nut bar with melted chocolate icing (which I'm a bit worried about, I don't think it's going to set) ; roast chicken with mixed herb stuffing and gravy. Feels like heaps...would have baked more but have run out of butter!
While I love baking, I do think I need to start concentrating on the savoury dishes a bit more. Trouble is, I can't very well take a roast lamb into work for everyone now can I?

#95 Buy some bonus bonds
I hope to get this one marked off within the next couple months. My sister and I have agreed to suspend payments into our joint account. I'll use the money that I'd usually pay to buy some bonus bonds. (Originally I thought I'd use it to pay for shoes but that's not really appropriate is it?)

#43 See a performance that doesn't include anyone I know
Tickets are booked to King Lear on Wednesday 22 August 2007 at 7pm. Circle T30-32. Perhaps I should have read this review first? Probably would have gone anyway. Although I've heard of the lead I don't know him personally so it counts towards this. Now it's just a waiting game.

#54 Write a book for my niece
Have discovered I suck at this. I can't even get past 150 words! Boyfriend is all "haha you're terrible Muriel" because he is up to something like 30,000 words. It does not bode well for #6 Write a novel .

It's raining it's pouring

# 92 Comment on blogs if I have something nice to say
I'm going to mark this one off. I've been commenting fairly regularly on blogs I've been reading and the whole motive behind this one was to start commenting and interacting. I'm much more confident about doing this now so feel it can be marked off.
One of the blog authors posted about the weirdness of friends in an online environment and how she has people who ask to be her 'friend' even though she has no idea who they are. I guess it's like people in NZ calling actors by their screen name (Claire from Shorty, I'm talking about you!) and feeling as though they know everything about them. I don't think I've commented on her blog even though it is one I check everyday. (It's a blog for work but is well written and fun to read.) Now I'm not sure that I will.
Of course this doesn't mean I'm can stop commenting on other blogs!

Chains are required

#35 Cook through the Edmonds cookbook
I made scones last night to bring to work today for morning tea. The mixture started off quite sticky but baked into lovely light fluffy scones. They were well received and the highlight of a particularly progress-free meeting.


#86 A-Z reading challenge - authors
Forsyth, Frederick "Day of the Jackal"
About the search for a man possibly hired to kill the president of France.

What did I think?
I've read this before but my memories of the book did not match with this second reading. I was under the impression that it ended with the man getting away after shooting something by the letterbox of a long driveway of which he was hiding in the forest at the other end of*. This does not happen in the book. Or maybe it does? I'm not going to tell you anything except "read it". A good example of a spy/adventure/thriller book which holds up today. I can understand why I went through the rest of his titles when I was a teen.

*My apologies for that ridiculous sentence.

Talking bout a revolution

#88 Watch the sunrise from the beach
Funny really. I thought this would be either the result of camping on the beach somewhere and waking up early to huddle in a blanket OR going down to the beach after a long night out to watch the sunrise before going to bed. I didn't think it would be as mundane as stopping off at the local Wild Bean to pick up a flat white and some breakfast then parking just before my turnoff, running across the road and walking down some steps to the beach. I was well rugged up in a winter jacket and a beanie. Not that it was particularly cold. In fact I started to get quite toasty by the time the sun was peeking over the horizon.
I can highly recommend this as a nice way to start the day. It took about half an hour from the time I started watching to the time the sun came up. False dawn had been around for probably another 20 mins so allocate about an hour for the experience. It was fascinating to watch the changes in the light and colours. I was surprised by the number of people out and about on the beach. It seemed as though someone new walked past every couple of minutes.
No pictures as the quality isn't that great for long shots from the mobile phone.

This is your last spoiler warning

Ive made things on the list that are still to be done bold, things in progress italic'ed and complete ones normal font. I think this will help me choose which ones to do next.

I'm going into work late tomorrow so I might have time to do this one #88 Watch the sunrise from the beach (bugger, actually it's more difficult to track down a particular task with the bolding.) I love starting early. I might start in the dark but at least there's an hour or two in the afternoon when it's light. That could of course be because the weather has been dry and not very windy for the last few months. I can't believe it's only about a fortnight until the shortest day of the year.

Walked home from work so there's another 5km off #97 'Run' from home to my home town. I know it's not technically totally running but I need new shoes before that happens. AND to remember to take my inhaler.

Been doing some research into #36 Spend a night on Tiritiri Matangi Island...have I blogged this before? It feels like it...

#54 Write a book for my niece
Here are the details
What are the names of the characters? Alane; Kery; Mia; Sera Princess; Puse (not entirely sure how this last one is supposed to be prounounced...)
Where are they going? Mall; Beach; Home
What are they doing? Playing; Sleeping; Shopping (at the mall?); Swimming; Relaxing; Reading; Looking; Eating
What animals do they encounter? Cat; Dog; Rabbit

#43 See a performance that doesn't include anyone I know
This is going to be King Lear at the ASB theatre with LoM and G. Should be fun.

I've offered to meet LoM for brekky (which is one of her 101/1001). Maybe she will join me on #51 Visit North Shore literary locations on the day. Not all of them of course but it MUST include Mr Sargeson's house. I'm not sure if it's open after the road works yet. It should be possible to get in a Devonport walk before hiving off to some of the North Shore ARC parks.

We seem to be experiencing database problems

#78 Go in a floatation tank
Cool, I've found one which is reasonably local. I've wanted to do one of these for ages, ever since I saw it offered in Hamilton. I wanted to buy a few sessions for my sister but the person I spoke to said that the flotation tank was a very intense experience and it possibly wasn't the best for a 15 year old. (Plus it was real expensive.) This is on a cost par with an hour massage...now the only question is do I go for the single session or the three?

The value is in the using not the owning

#35 Cook through the Edmonds cookbook

These cookies have been a hit at work.


Gingernuts - yum. They look a bit burnt and are quite dry but very tasty. Not at all like a packet biscuit. Would probably taste great with some chopped up crystalised ginger mixed in.





Honey snaps and a cup of tea - Wasn't sure about these as you just drop the mixture onto the tray. No chance to make them look fancy. Plus they are paper thin. Delicious though and getting better as the days go by.



Nutty Golden cookies - well, I know someone likes them. Next time I might chop the peanuts a bit finer as there should probably be more nuts through the whole biscuit.




Measuring spoons. I might buy some new measuring cups too as the size label is fading on the plastic ones. So far there hasn't been a major disaster but I just know that I'm giong to add 1/3 of a cup instead of 1/4 one day.

housemousepixiewixie *

Wow! What an eventful weekend.

#7 Visit all Auckland Regional parks. This weekend LoM and I walked Tawharanui on Saturday, and the Shakespeare and Wenderholm parks on Sunday. It rained both days so we were pretty good at getting the ole wet weather gear on by the end. There were heaps of people around too, even way up at Tawharanui.

Highlights

Tawharanui - clambering up and down the trail to get to the lookout. Plus the wood pigeons we spotted in the bush part of the ecology trail. This park is an open sanctuary so there is lots of wildlife around. (Including some surfers and camping teens.)




Shakespear - the waterfall area. The fall itself wasn't so impressive as there isn't much water around but the atmosphere was pretty good. Also the lookout to the city with a map - apparently there was a map looking back to Orewa but someone vandalised it.





Wenderholm - stonking up the hill in double quick time. It was weird going through the manuka bush. It had been raining pretty heavily so there was water on the ground except in the bush where you couldn't even tell that it had rained. Freaky.




Sad bad points - realising that 'packing in, packing out' (re. rubbish) for some people means 'dumping rubbish including used nappies in the carpark' or 'dropping snack bar wrappers on the trail'. Granted the second could have fallen out of someone's pocket (like the MAP of Tawharanui which fell out of my pocket HALFWAY around the track when we were making up our OWN combination of trail and it was getting DARK) but there isn't any excuse for the first instance. What must those people be like at home? Still on Saturday we stopped off at Waiwera hot pool on the way home for a bit of a soak. It was enjoyable but I'm not sure that it's worth the $27 (entry plus locker) fee. Maybe if I was more into the slides I'd have got my money's worth.

That night another friend came over and we had Mexican (#38 Host a (foreign country) themed meal) with margaritas (#33 Margarita night). Finally I get the appeal of tequila. Yum yum!



Today (Monday) I have been baking like a demon. (#35 Cook through the Edmonds cookbook)Not with the fire and brimstone but just lots of things from the Edmonds. (Oh - visited Couldrey house at Wenderholm where there is an 'Edmonds kitchen'. The family were related somehow.) Three types of biscuits, nachos and FUDGE! (#8 Make fudge) It was much more successful this time. Mojojojo says that the key to fudge is to make it lots of times. I think I can do that. Went out and bought some measuring spoons too.

*my cat

Decision has been made

Okay. I get to sleep in AND go to the parks tomorrow PLUS have another friend join us at Waiwera and for tea and drinks. Yay!