Deconstruction Continues

The building over the road from work is dwindling, carefully 'supervised' by a fairly constant contingent of construction geeks.  On Thursday the road was opened so it's feeling a little more normal, albeit accompanied by a shipping container barricade.

Tuesday

Thursday

Friday, with Supervision crew front & centre

The Aftermath

Earthquakes are calming down and now the cleanup is in full swing.  This is the view across the road from work today...

First thing this morning

Lunch time

End of the day

Amazing watching this concrete munching machine get stuck in.

Becoming a Prepper

We have had several close encounters with Mother Nature this week; earthquakes (a 7.8 and hundreds of aftershocks), tsunami alert, storms and flooding, high winds and a King tide.  Thank goodness for a sense of humor from emergency services staff - this is one of many 'emergency cutes' sent out to make people feel better.

Having to evacuate in the middle of the night makes you realise how prepared, or not, you really are for an emergency.  As of right now I'm better prepared that I was a week ago; go bag, stay box, some emergency camping gear and a cat carrier ready to go too.

Kiwi As

I've been nursing a repeat of my earlier cold which has meant some down time and more than the usual level of non-cooking meals.  I have discovered some wonderful small pot meals and apart from the fact that they are tasty and have lots of veges in them, I particularly like the heating instructions.  Heating in a microwave or a pot is fairly standard but I must admit reheating soup in a hangi had never occurred to me.

Slightly Nuts

I have always been a fan of peanut butter, crunchy not smooth, and New Zealand has some of the best ever.  Not long after moving here I was introduced to Pic's, made in Nelson and have been a fan ever since.  They are now putting their peanut butter into glasses appropriately decorated with iconic backyard objects.  Then last week I was introduced to Fix & Fogg, made here in Wellington.  More specifically I was introduced to their paprika and Kaitaia Fire chilli peanut butter.

They also do a dark chocolate peanut butter but I'm saving that for another day.

Signs of Travel

Last weekend I was in Picton catching up with friends who were over from Aus.  The weather was not great but it was a wonderful but it was perfect for visiting wineries and sampling local produce.  That included a brewery who are totally honest about how they make their beer.

Then last Tuesday night I picked Mum and Dad up from the airport and noticed that they have added to their parking signage.  Now to remember your row you have an animal to help you - A for Alligator and B for Butterfly.

Being Safety Conscious

It's been a wild week, single figure temperatures, hail and 100k plus winds.  I've been wearing a minimum of 3 layers - flannel, fleece, merino and puffer jacket.  Being such a safety conscious place there is an app for everything so that you can get warnings on your phone.  I've got the MetService, Civil Defence and the new one, Red Cross Hazard App. In a wild week though you do get a bit of information overload.

Coats

When I first arrived back in New Zealand I noticed that pretty much everywhere you went there were coat racks.  These were my first experience of massed racks, at a conference in Christchurch.

My new workplace has coat stands lined up along the wall and at this time of year they are full - coats, scarves and hats all lined up ready for any foray into the elements. The challenge is grabbing the right black coat or puffer jacket and not going home with someone else's.

Taking Advantage

After a big year (new job, new house, all new routines) and an even bigger week (whole new computer system at work) I succumbed to the lurgy.  Just a bad cold but enough to put me out of action for the weekend and give me a properly impressing husky voice and a half-way decent cough.

One of the outcomes of this has been the addition of a doona (or duvet depending on where you are) to the sofa.  As you can see the girls are taking full advantage.

Projects

I have found a weaving group to join and have also acquired 2 projects to exercise my mind and eventually my fingers.  The first came in a box from a lady in the South Island that I heard about from a weaver at work.

All of this will make a little feathered korowai/cloak, dolly sized. The other project is a lifesize cape that I'm learning to make from weavers in the group to catch up with what they have been doing.  Lots of thinking and planning needed for that before even gets to the stage of having things together.

New Post!

Yay, a new post! My Mum's benchmark of properly cold is snow on the Rimutakas, the line of hills at the top of the Hutt valley.  Petone is at the sea end of the valley and yesterday it snowed.  Not where I am but very close and with a lovely southerly coming off the water it was properly cold.  This was the view out over the harbour to the city...

 and this, if you look carefully, is snow up on the hills from the end of my street.

Spotting Kate

I work in a part of town that is close to Parliament and if you look carefully, has Kates all over the place.  Kate Sheppard drove the petitions that made NZ the first country in the world to give women the vote in 1893.  She stands in our foyer...

 and if you look really carefully we have lovely Kate walking lights!

Doing Science

At work one day this week we noticed this...

We waylaid a passing curator and found out that they were testing the degradation of a type of photograph in sunlight.  Cool eh.

A Little Atmosphere

I go past the Petone wharf every day on my way to work but Wednesday provided the perfect combination, weather closing in and traffic so bad that we were stationary at the perfect spot.

Off the Grid

I have just come back from a week off the grid at Parihaka, back in Tarakani about 40mins round the coast from New Plymouth.  The community there was established in the late 1800s and is well known for it's history as a community of peaceful resistance.

First was the monthly Rā or Days which are held every 18th and 19th and then I was part of hosting the annual Māori Librarians and Information Workers conference.  On our first day we heard stories of the history of Parihaka and from local people who are working to record, preserve and pass on history, practices and taonga/treasures.  On the second day we walked the land, visiting spots that we had heard about the day before.

On top of one of the surrounding lahar or volcanic hills looking out to sea

From the same hill looking inland over the community

And I finished my weaving project too! 14 little baskets for speakers gifts.  The Anzac poppy brooches were woven by another committee member and the little mountains made for us by a local potter.

Stocking Up

Wellington Fashion Rule #1 - Black tights go with everything and everything goes with black tights.

A bit like Melbourne, the dominant colour in winter Wellington is black and although during the summer you do see lots of other colours black tights are a regular feature.  Something to do, no doubt with the ever present southerly wind.

So, the days are getting shorter and the mornings are crisp and cool.  Winter is on the way and I've realised that my small collection of black tights is probably not going to be enough.  Thank goodness that they are such a staple that they are in the supermarket - at the end of the biscuit and coffee aisle.  Coincidence?  I think not.

A Productive Weekend

All that prep work over Easter has led to a productive weekend, two thirds of the way through the 12 that I need to make.

R and R

Last weekend I was back in New Plymouth for Womad which of course meant fried bread and festival footwear...

 as well as some crowd participation on the Sunday morning - everyone getting down to the Patea Māori Club's Kiwi classic Poi E.  It's on Facebook under Stepup Taranaki if you want to watch a hillside full of people working off all the fried bread they have eaten.

 and the Peacock ladies who did an amazing job of stepping though the crowd on stilts.

This weekend I've been in recovery mode and using the extra days over Easter to prepare some flax for a weaving project; 12 little baskets to give as part of a speakers gift for a conference at the end of April.

New Wheels

When your mechanic suggests that it might not be worth doing major work on your car my experience is that the time has come.  So, having done more than a few thousand kilometers I have traded in my car and am now the proud owner of a lovely little second hand Renault.
  

Catching Up

Mum and Dad have been here the last two weeks so there has been lots of stuff going on but no time to write about it. Opera in a private garden...

the annual street fair...

and a visit to Napier that along with catching up with family included street art and the famous Rush Munro's ice cream

Weird Food!

Among my many favourite things 'weird' food is very high on the list.  Today I made it to one of the places I had been told about that makes Petone a bit of a foodie heaven.

The upshot of enormous restraint was this; Gorgonzola, black sesame crackers, baklava and one happy camper.

I haven't taken any cloud shots for a while but this morning this was the view from the end of my street looking south, out through the heads.

New treats

For a very long time now I've had a Saturday morning routine.  Get up, put on the week's laundry, walk to the local shop, get the paper and a little something for breakfast, back home to make a 'proper' coffee.  By the time I've had breakfast and read the interesting bits of the paper the washing is ready to hang out.  As I've moved around the only real variable has been the little something.  Donut holes, pastry, muffin.  I've now added a new word to my vocab as well as a new treat.  Meet the Schneckennudel.

 In other places it's known as a pain aux raisin, escargot or a scroll but mine comes from a fabulous German bakery just up the street.

Relaxing

The weather has been up and down, as it is in Wellington, but today has been fine and hot and we have been relaxing.

Celebrating Small

As with Christmas my New Year was even more low key than usual.  New Year's day was hot and sunny and the perfect opportunity to try out a new brew.

Yup, lime and chilli ginger beer.  Found in Moore Wilsons, weird food heaven centrally located in Wellington, luckily not too close to home.