Garden news

I haven't posted a garden update for a while, so thought that it was timely...

Our prospero rose which we planted a few months back continues to do well. It has the most gorgeous highly scented blooms.

Last weekend was an absolute stunner so Will & I spent most of Sunday out in the garden. We finally got around to finishing a job that we had started before we left for the UK at Christmas! That was to finish putting down weed matting on the terrace that our citrus trees are on as we were getting sick of always having to weed under the trees! Nana will be happy as the last couple of times she has visited she has ended up pulling a few weeds from this area!

I also harvested our butternut squashes. We ended up with a dozen so that will keep as going for a wee while. We had the first of them with our dinner that night & it was divine.

We have had a good season so far from the carrots & they are still going strong. I pulled up this monster last weekend but unfortunately it had started to go to seed & was a bit woody. I have also planted a second row of carrots. The tomatoes are still going really well, I wasn't too sure how successful they would be in Wellington, but have been pleasantly surprised. The beans are also still going, but only just. They probably only have another meal or two left in them... The other thing that I have been really impressed with this season is the cape gooseberries which have been prolific.

I have also planted some onion & broad bean seeds so we will see how they go... We are also trying for a second season of sugarsnap peas (from seed collected from this year's crop). Our spinach & silverbeet is growing like mad, so we need to hurry up & get the chickens who we mostly planted it for! We also have celery, bok choi, leeks, beetroot, brussel sprouts, red cabbage, broccoli & lettuce on the go.

I have been growing my chillies inside & was very excited to see the very first one turn red this weekend! The other thing keeping us busy at the moment is collecting walnuts. They have started to drop over the last week or so & it is already looking like it is going to be a bumper crop. We already have more than we did last year & probably about half are still on the tree! We are currently drying them on the kitchen bench but we are fast running out of room! They might end up being spread out on the kitchen table...

That is about all the garden news...

In other news, my friend Sara & her husband (plus their 2 & 4 year old kids) came & stayed with us for a couple of nights at the end of the week. I used to teach with Sara at St Peter's & it was great catching up with her & the family. They arrived on Wednesday, then on Friday caught the early morning ferry to the South Island where they are having a family holiday for several weeks.

I am back into my rugby & have had 2 pre-season games so far. The season proper starts next week. I had forgotten just how sore I always am the day after a match, today I haven't been too flash! I guess me body will eventually get used to it again... Last night Will & I went to a friends 30th birthday party with a 'Rubik's Cube' theme. It was loads of fun, but the punch made with fejoia vodka & the Rubik's Cube coloured jelly shots probably helped contribute to me not quite being 100% today... The 'young' ones continued into town but Will & I decided to call it a night. Will was driving so we dropped a carload into town just after midnight then came home to bed.

Fill the Basin for Christchurch

A couple of weekends ago my mum, dad & nana came to stay. Dad had a meeting in Wellington so mum & nana decided to come & stay as well. They arrived in the morning & dad went off to his meeting & mum & nana enjoyed a tour of parliament before catching the bus to our place. The weather Saturday was superb so mum & nana put themselves to work in our garden. They are always incredibly helpful whenever they come to visit.

On Saturday afternoon we went to watch Andrew play cricket for a couple of hours. It was really nice catching up with Anna & Ross & the girls.

On Saturday night we went to the rugby with dad as it was the Hurricanes versus the Chiefs. It was a close game, but unfortunately for dad the 'Canes came out on top.

On Sunday we dropped the family off at the airport for their early afternoon flight back to Hamilton. It was a really nice visit as it had been a good few months since we last saw them. Later that afternoon Will & I headed to the Basin Reserve for the charity cricket match to raise funds for Christchurch. Initially I was too slow to get tickets & missed out. However one of my friends from school ended up with a couple of spare tickets which she offered to us.

It was a brilliant afternoon out & incredibly well-organised, particularly in the short time they had to put it all together. As you can see from the scoreboard above, the line-up was pretty awesome! Who would have thought you would ever see all those names on the same card...

Richie McCaw & Conrad Smith did a brilliant job as umpires, & Tana Umanga showed just what a good all-round sportsman he was with a pretty impressive bowling, fielding & batting display, even managing to dispatch Shane Warne over the boundary! Speaking of Warney, I wonder what he & Russell Crowe are discussing in the pic below...

Between innings we had the very entertaining spectacle of John Key facing an over from Shane Warne. To his credit the Prime Minister did a great job, dispatching the ball to the fence on several occasions. To be fair though, Warne was being pretty generous to Key, going fairly easy on him. I was impressed by what a good sport Shane Warne was, he really entered into the spirit of the match & was even prepared to put up with a bit of banter & references to Liz Hurley! Below you can see Key in action...

Will & I spent the first half up the top of the hill where we had a great view. One of the highlights was when Sir Ian McKellen (aka Gandolf) came & 'worked' our bank, collecting for Christchurch. He was very impressive, working our part of the crowd for close to an hour. He was incredibly obliging & prepared to chat & pose for numerous photos with all & sundry. What a lovely man.

For the last part of the match we headed over to the other side of the ground to sit with some friends of mine from school. We were seated on the grass in front of the scoreboard inside the usual boundary rope so the view wasn't great, but it was cool to catch up with my friends. The boundaries were put right in for the game in order to fit more of a crowd into the ground. Of course it also made it more entertaining with a huge amount of 4's & 6's hit throughout the match.

All in all we had a brilliant time, it was probably one of the most entertaining live sports events that I have ever attended, plus it managed to raise half a million dollars for Christchurch.

A Day on the Green

Way back in February (yes, it has been quite a while since my last post!) Will & I celebrated our birthdays on the 17th & 20th respectively. It just so happened that Crowded House were playing 'A Day on the Green' at the Alana Estate Vineyard in Martinborough that weekend. We, along with Lucy & Paul, drove over Friday night to the house we had booked for the weekend. Emmaline & Wayne had arrived earlier in the evening & were relaxing on the deck with a drink in hand when we arrived.

Saturday was a lovely day. People chilled out by reading the weekend papers, playing guitar & playing a bit of backyard cricket. I love Wayne's casual approach to wicket-keeping with beer in hand in the pic below! Early evening we walked over to the venue in time to catch Seth Haapu who was kicking off the evening at 5pm. We found ourselves a nice spot near the top of the hill to set up camp. Brendon & Keryn were also at the concert & it was Brendon's birthday that day, so we met up for a celebratory drink.

Supergrove were next up & they were awesome! They had loads of energy on stage that belied their age, & they cranked out all of their hits.

We had packed a pretty impressive picnic spread between us & enjoyed a lovely evening eating, drinking & enjoying the kiwi sounds.

Eventually Crowded House came on, and as usual, they did not let anyone down. They really are one of my all-time favourite bands & I never get sick of seeing them live. They stuck mostly to the crowd-pleasers & at times it was just like a mass karaoke session. It was a brilliant way to spend our birthdays.