Yah Boo Sucks!

I have a backache...it's actually a herniated disc sort of a backache so please forgive the grumpy old woman face and the lack of posts as sitting at the desk for any length of time is impossible...
I bloody hate waterskiing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Homegrown Ratatouille

I know I'm just showing off now, but check out my crop!

Is there anything nicer than roasted veggies straight from the garden, a slosh of olive oil, herbs from the window sill and a tomato passata made just 3 days ago?

Heaven!

Anyone for a quick drag around the lake?

Resolution #7... Step outside the comfort zone.

So when I was asked if I'd like to try waterskiing I squealed with delight and begged them to take me, (OK, that's an exaggeration but I didn't say no and feign an ankle injury which is my usual get out of jail card).

How hard can it be... the family we were staying with have six year old twins and they can do it...

Haaaah!

A complete nightmare, after numerous attempts and having still not even made it to a crouch I admitted defeat and, in as dignified a manner as is possible when the vast amount of lake you've swallowed is determined to exit through the nostrils at an horrific speed, left the water. Once Slap's hysteria had calmed he pointed out with great gusto that if my head had spun 360 degrees I'd have looked scarily similar to that poor girl in the Exorcist!

To add to the humiliation I was then beaten by both twins at backgammon, arm wrestling and count the press ups, although a late win in the 'who has the biggest bruise' competition restored a smidgeon of pride.

Child prodigies....hugely overrated!

P.S. The bruise was an astounding 9cm long and a beautiful shade of greeny blue...who needs to waterski when you can produce skin discolouration to that sort of standard.

Diving Miss Daisy...

The nicest thing just happened; I overheard a conversation between my youngest and his cousin. Alf was telling Frank all about the recent diving lesson I gave him (we're talking ' how not to belly flop' as opposed to twisty cliff diving I hasten to add) and how helpful and fun he had found it....I KNOW!

I've had a chequered past when it comes to "just trying to help".

Apparently I'm the worst driving instructor in the world as I'm prone to sudden screaming and I insist on clutching at the dashboard and using the handbrake willy nilly...in my defense we had randomly pulled into a bus lane where a large No647 was hurtling towards us and then forgotten that red lights at an intersection were in fact a command to stop, not just a decorative hint!!

There was also a nasty incident with some papier mache, a homemade kite and a box of meccano...again in my defense I think it only fair that the person who thought of the idea in the first place/bought or supplied the necessaries/did most of the work on a craft project, should absolutely get the first and longest go... 5 year olds can be so irrational can't they?

So to hear that a lesson with me was almost enjoyable...well it gladdens the heart.

Vegging out...

I'm awash with courgettes and radishes...bliss!

Pomona gave me some very helpful advice regarding the virtues of raised beds so the spade brigade got going and we are now the happy beneficaries of baskets full of fresh veg. We've always grown lemons, potatoes and salad and tomatoes in pots but this year we really went to town and are growing a little bit of everything. Slap took charge of the choosing and planting, hence the beautifully straight lines and specific plots for each vegetable. Next time we are having a bed each as I'm more of a shove it in with gay abandon and add a lavish sprinkling of flowers for good measure.

As Alfie chants whenever there's a heated debate at the dinner table,

"Who's gonna win, who's gonna win!!"

Kiwiana crush...

When you move to a new country that is in so many ways very similar to your own, the differences are rather exciting. So when I found these alphabet cards, extolling the virtues of all things Kiwi, I thought the front room wall would be a far better display spot than the children's bedroom, especially as the childrens rooms in this house belong to teenagers with a fondness for poster books and blue tack.

So here they are in all there kiwi flavoured goodness..... enjoy!

P.S. Aroha means love, don't you think it's the perfect girl's name?

Ride 'em Cowboy!

It's a holiday roundup y'all!

There now follows a list of things I fell in love with this summer:

Fishing... off rocks, off a boat, off my head with the joy of catching stuff, getting someone else to kill it whilst I close my eyes and sing 'ging gang goolly' (my happy place song) then cooking it immediately in the open air before feasting like kings.

Camping... we managed to erect the tent on a scorching afternoon without a single cross word, we slept like babies, lived in the same funky smelling T-shirts for a week, played backgammon, drank beer, told some very tall tales and partied hard.

I've already booked the same pitch for next year....bliss!

Suntans and an Epilator... I've been sporting golden brown, stubble free legs that really do look longer than the hairy, white versions I was hiding within my woolly tights a few months ago. I realise, like the mayfly, they are only here for a few, heady days as the painful high maintenance needed for this look is frankly, a little beyond me. For now though, I'll continue to mince around the house with my short shorts on.

The Tua Tua Shuffle... a strange little dance reminiscent of the twist; it's carried out in waist deep water on a beach at low tide. You shuffle to the left, you shuffle to the right and when your toes hit the motherload you dive and grab these delicious little shell fish. Collect a bucketful, soak in fresh water overnight before marinating and steaming ...gobble, gobble, gobble.

My man... all over again. 2009 was our very own Annus horribilis and although there are still issues to be worked through we are marching in time, hand in hand, singing ging, gang, goolly at the top of our voices.

x.x.x

Happy New Year...

Resolution #1....keep up to date with blog posting.

BUGGER!!

We are still in holiday mode but I'll be back next week with a list as long as my arm, full of resolutions that have already been broken.

Resolution #2... stop making so may lists.

AAAAARRRRGGGHHGH!!!

advent #4 and the beach hut dancing ladies...

DSCF0012, originally uploaded by slap&co.

I was wondering what to write for a minute...all my advent posts have had 'new traditions' as a theme, but the closer we get to the big day the more I'm falling back in love with my old and treasured festive routines.

Then it struck me! Blogging...
I discovered the blog world back in January and then started this one in February so this will be my first 'Beach Hut' Christmas.

It has been incredibly enjoyable and I've met oodles of charming, delightful people. I've also discovered that I love to waffle... so much so that I've promised myself a creative writing class in the New Year, just for fun.

So, thank you my wonderful, bloggy friends...
Wishing you the best of everything this Christmas and I can't wait to catch up with you all in the New Year.

'Beach Hut' over and out....

things that make me go ho ho ho...

This is what greeted me before work this morning...someone has pimped my ride.

Of course the boys are delighted as they now have something else to;

a) throw in the pool

b) kick a ball at

c) throw at each other... let the games begin!!!

Pen pals and cats bums.....

Not so long ago I signed up to the 'A Bun can Dance' (possibly the most delightful, happiest blogger alive) letter swap.

I was teamed with Heather, so I posted off my little parcel and eagerly awaited the Postie's arrival......

Ta Da!! It's arrived and not only do I have a pen pal with incredibly elegant handwriting but I have a new Israeli decoration for our perfectly inelegant Christmas tree.

Due to circumstances beyond my control (I was held down and force fed champagne...that's my story and I'm sticking to it) the tree was decorated by a host of festive teenage elves. Mighty fine it looks too...no matchy poo, no colour co-ordinated decorations, no theme...unless you call looking like the spontaneous combustion of a Christmas Fairy a theme.

So far I've managed to ignore the urge to creep around at 3am and redo it... which could in fact be the most shocking new beach hut tradition so far.

The words 'decorating', 'tree', 'mother' and 'anal retentive' have often been muttered over the years but I'm hanging loose and chillin' like a cheescake this holiday season...and it feels so gooooood!

Thank you Heather, x

Advent post # 3

Keeping it short and sweet this week as it is Sunday night and I've been drinking champagne in the sun since lunchtime...

New tradition number 3...appreciate old friends and new... with a par-tay!!
Our bookclub first met in January this year and so it seemed only right that we should celebrate. We invited our partners and children and promised not to mention books at all.

A very good time was had by all and some truly gorgeous food and wine were enjoyed.

My contribution was a large circle of brie topped with nuts and dried fruits and covered with toffee...delicious and the easiest party plate I have concocted ever!

advent post #2

So this week's new tradition is the Christmas production.
Every year so far, there has been a school carol concert, a dance/theatre/musical event, even the odd, completely bizarre "the class wrote it themselves" play, but this year... nada.

So, beach hut new tradition #2....
The Christmas Production.

This year we'll be visiting the cinema as a family and the festive cinematic offering is... 'Where the Wild Things are'

This was my favourite book and therefore all three children have had this read to them over and over again. We still have an ancient, beat up old version of it somewhere.

I am EXTREMELY excited by the thought of our family film, Lil and Alfie are somewhat excited, Slap is a sighing, do I have a choice, sort of excited and Oz (15) is, as we speak, trying on various disguises. Apparently, there is a fate worse than death and that is being spotted by your peer group entering a children's christmas film with your parents!
He was even threatening to boycott said event until it was gently broken to him that, in fact, there isn't a big bloke in a red suit with reindeer and he is therefore relying on said parents to come up with the ipod he's so keen on.

The scores on the doors then at the end of week two:

Mummy 2 Teenagers 2/3

eggs are eggs...

just because I love this photo...

era envy...

What was it about the early 60's....

The clothes, the music, the entire kitandcaboodle in fact.

So, what brought on this urge to be a beatnik?

A greedy, stolen afternoon in a gorgeous old cinema where a book club buddy and I gobbled vanilla choctops with nuts and devoured the film 'An Education'.

Lynn Barber's memoirs with a screenplay by Nick Hornby, the writing is tight and amusing. It's beautifully cast, I loved Emma Thompson as the headmistress but the the real star is London; what a city!

It made me a little homesick, but oddly for a time and place I've never known. My London was all about the 90's, and I very rarely get the urge to revisit that period or, in fact, to go back now.

Rose tinted glasses? Absolutely, but apart from Prada sunnies, aren't they the best kind?

cool banana sort of a day...

It's not often that the planets align and Slap and I get a day to ourselves...no work, no kids...just a little time to get busy doing nothing.

Well this week they did and we made the most of our day by getting cultural, getting fed and getting lazy...

First stop was the Auckland Art Gallery for TASTE, Food & Feasting in Art.

Andy Warhol and Ruscha were there in all their pop art foodie goodness whilst Brueghel and Lindauer brought "proper paintings" to the table.

My favourite's though... the photographs.

John Daley's, Steves Fish and Chip Shop, Wellington is a corker

Brian Brake's photo's of Picasso and friends made me smile

It was the photo's of the old school artisans that got me all excited though...

Definitely worth a visit if you're passing through, it's on until the 14 February.

Vivace Restaurant was a splendid discovery...yummy cocktails and even better food and the maitre 'd has the most perfect eyebrows in Auckland.

Then home for some sofa time. We watched 'The Mother', a Sunday Theatre piece...

Gordon Bennett! What a woman... Anna Reid takes the title of merry widow to towering new heights.

Happy days!

advent post #1

Is the delightful Floss a mind reader I wonder?
I had been toying with the idea of writing a couple of posts about the new christmas traditions that seem to be a part of this years beach hut celebrations; then Floss puts a pause in advent out there...a happy coincidence or bloggy telepathy...hmmmm...

So, what happened this year to cause new traditions? Actually, I don't really know (is it only me that has to say that little phrase in a Les Dennis does Coronation Streets Mavis sort of a way?); but the kids really did grow up.
This year there were no school plays, no shouts for a tree around mid November, the chocolate advent calendars have been ignored during the supermarket runs and the letters to Santa replaced by electrical store catalogues...
Do I fight this teenage lethargy.......
ABSO - FLAMING - LUTELY!

So new tradition #1
The Advent Calendar:

Barbie, Hot Wheels and Winnie the Pooh may have lost their appeal but what teenager can ignore a waist high, sky blue tree covered in orangey chocolate balls...especially when it's strategically placed by the front door and school shoes? And what could be more pleasant than a mouthful of jaffa flavoured candy to accompany the morning school run?

So, the scores on the doors please,

Round 1:
Mummy 1 Teenagers 0

bunting and fairy lights...

On a recent op shop expedition I was lucky enough to come across an old fabric sample book; obviously there is only one true use for an old fabric sample book.....
BUNTING!! miles and miles of bunting,

So the Sunday sum is...

fabric sample book + pinking shears = triangles. (divide triangles between old ribbons and the occasional pretty button) + needle and cotton + midsomer murders and a wet afternoon

= happy verandah.

I've sprinkled in a few fairy lights for good measure...happy, happy, happy verandah!

I'm so excited I may vomit!

Tintin, Peter Jackson, Tintin, Steven Spielberg and Tintin!

Whoooopeeeeeee...

P.S. Did I mention Tintin?

P.P.S When did Mr Jackson get so skinny and doesn't Mr Spielberg look a little like Santa?

It's not what you know...

it's who.

A lovely friend dropped a heap of coffee bean sacks off this week; I'm planning outdoor seat covers, market bags and doorstops.

Watch this space...

Nee Nah Nee Nah...

One of the reasons I love blogging so much is that you learn new things daily. Take vinegar for example...until 3 weeks ago it was just a condiment squirreled away in the pantry. Admittedly, I had at least 4 different types, but it was most definitely a foodie thing. The various vinegars are all still there, however there has been a wonderous addition and it lives in my first aid box...
Apple Cider Vinegar...google it!
It is a curer of all and I'm a convert. There is only one downside, you do smell a little fish and chippy if you take too much, but that is really such a tiny 'con' when stacked up against all the amazing qualities of this wonder fuel.

I'm a huge believer in the healing qualities of food... and it's not just about comfort eating either.
I have garlic infused olive oil to be warmed and then dripped into sore ears; lemon, manuka honey and ginger for anything fluey, butterscotch for sore throats, lavender for the restless and salty water for everything else.

Just out of shot is a bottle of red wine, a nip of whiskey, organic dark chocolate and the entire back catalogue of Midsomer Murders on DVD... these however are 'adult only' medical supplies, to be enjoyed at leisure.

cookies...gobble, gobble, gobble

cookies, originally uploaded by jus41.

Alfie made these yesterday. He just whipped them up after school, in a nonchalant, Masterchef sort of a way.
Impressed...I was!

Moments #1

I recently read a couple of blogs where the prettifying of posts was alluded to. Although I really enjoy blogs where the photo's are all gorgeous and the writer's lives complete cheesecake (if I want gritty realism I'll watch the news), I do appreciate those real life posts where the untidy, embarrassing and bad tempered are celebrated too.
A Commonplace Life has decided to celebrate in style and I'm sure there's still time to join in her 'Moments' challenge if you feel up to it.
My moment... an early morning stop off on the way to the market where my tootsies found their way into shot. Normally I'd crop, but in the present 'keeping it real' climate I've left them in, shoddy home manicure and all!

A pirate with a heart

Alfie reluctantly agreed to model the latest Canteen bandanna, as he knows it's for a very worthy cause. (Why is it always the boys who get the golden curls?!

Canteen are an NZ organisation supporting young people living with cancer and every year they release a range of beautiful bandanna's to raise awareness and cash.

This year a likeness of the All Black Dan Carter, almost as well known for his underwear endorsements as his rugby, has been printed onto one of the range. However, I was swayed by the orange and, as I use the bandanna's as hankies in winter, the idea of blowing my nose on Dan's little face didn't really appeal.

Happy Fireworks Night!!

DC Fireworks, originally uploaded by Grundlepuck.

Thank you Flickr...

I would have posted my own but we were completely rained off... Ya boo sucks!

Can't stop, my favourite wedding reception song of all time has just come on the radio and I'm overwhelmed by the urge to dance like a red neck and scream 'living on a prayer' at the top of my lungs...

Back soon!

Make that a skinny latte...thank you!

I woke up this morning, sun shining and a definite smell of summer in the air. Out came the shorts, out came the singlets...quick shower and out the door, breezing passed the full length mirror on my way and WHAAAAATTT...back up the truck!

I was going to say you could have blown me down with a feather, but therein lies the problem, it's going to take a wrecking ball to blow me anywhere these days...I've gotten fat.

How this has happened is, of course, a complete mystery. My initial outrage was directed at the washing machine...

"I can't believe it has shrunk every piece of summer attire I own, and why pick on me ...nobody else's clothes have shrunk"

" Don't feel bad darlin', I like you a little bigger...pleasantly plump..."

A crashing silence descended over the house, the birds stopped singing and a tumbleweed blew quietly past the window.

"Pardon"

"Oh Shit"

It's taken all morning but I have now regained my composure (although marital bliss is still a little short on the ground) and I've already refused half a Bounty and arranged a run after work.

My body is now a temple...all sacrificial offerings should be inedible please.

P.S Check out the little horror found lurking under the frozen peas!
Halloween has been and gone, but this orange and mango icy lantern managed to escape unharmed...

So easy to make, cut off the top of an orange, scoop out the flesh and eat it with sticky fingers. Carve a face into the orange peel and then fill with fruity icecream (mango is best, but chocolate also works well...and yes I know chocolate isn't a fruit, but it is a valuable member of a very important food group, I'm sure)
Refreeze and enjoy...mwah, hah, hah, hah.

Q: When is plankton beautiful?

A: When it looks like this....

A vast plankton bloom occurring east of New Zealand has been captured by satellite. Caught up in eddies and currents, the blooms create intricate patterns of blues and greens that spread across thousands of square kilometers of the sea surface.

It reminds me of marbling hard boiled eggs; a favourite Easter time activity when the kids were small... gorgeous.

Just because I haven't written a list in ages...

Watching: I think I've mentioned this before but every Saturday night the Maori channel show a great indie' film.

Rabbit Proof Fence stood out recently, extraordinary subject matter...the English in Australia used to forcibly take the children of mixed race couples (white and aborigine) and put them into camps. They were denied any contact with their families and eventually released into servitude. This is the true story of three little girls who escaped the camp and walked hundreds and hundreds of kilometers home to their mothers.

A fabulous film that shocked and inspired.

I spent a very enjoyable evening with girlfriends watching Julie & Julia . I actually enjoyed the film more than I did the book, now that doesn't happen very often! Although Julie Powell is a very engaging character, all through the book I had a the persistent, nagging thought that I'd much rather be reading about Julia Child. The film split the difference beautifully and there was more than enough Julia time. What a woman!

I'm not much of a TV watcher but Nurse Jackie has caught my attention and I now look forward to a weekly dose of strange medical action. Loving Edie Falco's pixie cut too.

Reading: The Memory Keepers Daughter was gobbled up in one sitting; a sad story of discrimination, family dynamics and secrets. Some good strong charaters though, I enjoyed this very much.

I'm not much of a one for chick lit but in a recent 'sitting in the car waiting for basketball practise to finish' episode and with the only choice of reading matter being a leaflet concerning prostate cancer and my daughters book, I chose the latter.

It was about a Shopaholic and I am loathe to admit I can't really remember much else, however, I thoroughly enjoyed it whilst I was reading it...how weird is that? I'd class this as mental candy floss, sweet, insubstantial and only good in really small doses.

Does everybody have a friend that always seems to read the best books, cook the best cakes or find the best treasure? I do and she recently recommended The Surgeon of Crowthorne, a tale of murder, madness and the Oxford English Dictionary. It's a fabulous book and I have learnt at least seven new mouthwatering words that I am desperate to slip into a conversation.

Eating: Paella, bowls and bowls of steaming, ricey goodness. Recently some friendly Mexicans returned to their sunny casa and left me with the entire contents of their fridge and pantry. What fun I've had with boxes and bags of incomprehensible foodstuffs. There have been a few hiccups...never overcook an octopus, it tastes literally like a Dunlop tyre...but the mad abandon with which I've thrown in the contents of all sorts of herby, spicy, garlicy, limey, salty jars and bottles has resulted in some gorgeous one pot wonders. The queen of which has most definitely been Paella.

Finders keepers...

3 things I've found this week

1. The enormous lemons growing on next doors tree are actually grapefruit!! This is truly heaven...I live next door to a grapefruit tree. I feel a legalize scrumping campaign coming on.


2. I'd somehow forgotten this photo on my phone, so finding a snap of these amazing melted ceramic jugs folded across a washing line made my day.


3. I FOUND A KAYAK!! I kid you not, on the way to the market last Sunday I spied a kayak on the side of the road. Screeching to a halt, I jumped out and promptly sat in it until Slap had pulled a 'U' ie and parked up beside me.
Theatrical, moi...actually it was a very necessary action as the hordes of white vans that scout the inorganic piles of rubbish were converging like vultures.
What a piece of luck, now I've ticked off the top two on my camping wish list, hammock and kayak, just a bedouin tent and a throne to go!

Ceramic doilies.... really!

I have been a little remiss of late, there always seems to be just one more thing to do before I think about writing anything; so I've moved blog to the top of the list... and here we are!

As you can tell from the previous post my mind is full of campsites and caravans. I'm not a natural camper it has to be said, sleeping on the ground and not having all day access to a pair of GHD's leaves me a little cold; however in the spirit of 'try it you'll love it' I've booked us in for a week in a tent just after Christmas. There 's a lot of us going so it should be fun, most of them are seasoned campers with acres of equipment, boats and wetsuits, so it should be very outdoorsy, get wetty, barbecuing good times.

I actually won't be doing the get wetty bit if there is a wetsuit involved...I'm more the body type that enjoys deck chairs, waiters bearing cocktails and afternoon naps, in fact the closest I've ever been to a wetsuit is the two pairs of snuggy pants that are needed for me to fit into my party dress.
When I was being gently crowbarred into this camping trip the comment was made,
'that even Princess Margaret enjoyed camping!' (She's my hero and favourite ever royal, although Henry 8th comes a close second)


I'm not sure a villa in Mustique counts as camping, but beggars can't be choosers so it's a camping we will go...

ANYWAY!

The reason it's been so busy...we don't have a tent and that seems to be a prerequisite of this type of vacation so I've been scouring the internet for the canvas castle needed.
Blimey, tents are expensive! To afford even the scungiest affair with seventeen not so careful owners, I've been listing and selling bags of the treasure I've had in storage. The dollars are piling up nicely and I've been able to afford my first necessity...a hammock, and YES! it is a necessity.

We picked it up yesterday from a lovely lady on the West Coast, then as we had an hour or so to spare, Slap and I wandered around an art gallery, all hushed tones and grown up nodding until I spotted these...


...ceramic doilies!

As a doilie-maniac, these set off my spidey senses alarmingly. The exhibit, Labour of Love, Susannah Bridges, porcelain clay, was $7400, a snip for a wall of ceramic doilies, I think you'll agree. I wonder if you can sell children on ebay?

Three Hail Mary's at least...

Lustful thoughts are naughty I know....but check out this little beauty?

Number 1 on the list of 'things I didn't know about myself'...I'm incredibly attracted to old caravans, thank you flickr.