Quiet but busy

January has been pretty quiet, partly because the weather has been awful but also because of being back at work and really just keeping on keeping on.  I have however caught up with a friend down from New Plymouth and gone to the football/soccer.  Wellington lost to Brisbane but the most interesting thing is this...

trees - if you didn't know it you would never guess you were in a capital city.  In other news the weaving continues.  All of this

has become this, a Pākē or cape.  It's not really flash but it does make a lovely sound when it moves.

A Quiet Break

A quiet Christmas and a quiet New Year have given me lots of time for weaving prep.  My 'helper' is still keen so I'm thinking that my next project might need to be a cat nest.

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.