Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Great way to spend part of my day off!

As many of you know, I work at a Day Spa, so what am I doing on my day off?

I am going into the spa to be a 'body' for one of the therapists to practice a wrap on!


Imagine being in a room listening to soft music, and the water right outside the window lapping at the bulkhead, you are covered in a scented oil, massaged, then enveloped in warm blankets and left to rest for a while.

Tough job, but someone has to do it!

May as well be me.


Sunday, November 27, 2005

The one that didn't get away

My brother, John holding a king terakihi which was caught in about 70 meters of water at one of their favorite fishing spots.

My brothers, Graeme and John, are avid fishermen who go fishing at every opportunity.

The king terakihi is a 'brother' of the common terakihi. The common terakihi is plentiful in the waters around New Zealand and often used in fish and chips. Oh! how I love fish and chips, especially when the fish is fresh from the sea.


Friday, November 25, 2005

Recipe: Hot Beef Curry

Hot Beef Curry

1 1/2 lb. beef top round
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 inch piece green ginger
Cooking oil
1 teaspoon curry powder ( or more)
½ tsp chili powder ( or more if you like heat)
½ tsp. Turmeric
2 tbsp. Lemon juice
1tsp. Salt
1 cup coconut cream

Cut meat into 1 inch cubes. Slice the onion and chop the ginger and garlic.
Heat the oil and fry the onion until golden. Add the ginger and garlic and cook 1 minute longer.
Add curry powder, turmeric, and chili powder, and cook 1 minute.
Add the meat and brown all over. Add lemon juice and salt.
Mix in the coconut cream, cover and simmer the curry for 1 hour or until the meat is tender.
Serve with boiled rice.

Depending on your taste for spice, and heat, adjust the amount of curry and chili powders.

KIWI WORD OF THE WEEK


Gumboots: rubber boots, wellingtons, wellies.

we could make use of gumboots today. It started to rain sometime during the night, and is still coming down.

Thursday, November 24, 2005

THANKSGIVING


I AM SO THANKFUL FOR MANY THINGS.

For my freedom bought with sacrifice by others.
For the man who loves me, and is my best friend.
For all the love and laughter in my life.
For my family.
For good friends
For a job I actually like.
For the sunshine today, after days of fog.
For the beauty on this earth.
Looking out the window, I can see two rabbits, snuggled up against each other at the base of a tree, trying to keep warm. I am thankful for all the wonderful creatures we have on this earth.
For all my blogger friends.
For all the other things too numerous to mention.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and blessings on your day.




Tuesday, November 22, 2005

R.I.P



DOUGHBOY


Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community.

The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71.

Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins,BettyCrocker,the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch.

The grave site was piled high with flours.

Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded.

Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes.

Despite being a little flaky at times he still was a crusty old man and was considered a roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, two children, John Dough and Jane Dough, plus they had one in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart.

The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

Thanks to Roxie

Saturday, November 19, 2005

The Law Of Unintended Consequenses


Never bring plants into the house.


Garden Grass Snakes (also known as Garter Snakes...Thamnophissirtalis)
can be dangerous... Yes, grass snakes, not rattlesnakes.

Here's why...

A couple in Sweetwater, Texas, had a lot of potted plants. During a recent cold spell, the wife was bringing a lot of them indoors to protect them from a possible freeze.

It turned out that a little green garden grass snake was hidden in one of the plants and when it had warmed up, it slithered out and the wife saw it go under the sofa.
She let out a very loud scream.

The husband (who was taking a shower) ran out into the living room naked to see what the problem was. She told him there was a snake under the sofa.

He got down on the floor on his hands and knees to look for it. About that time the family dog came and cold-nosed him on the behind. He thought the snake had bitten him, so he screamed and fell over on the floor.

His wife thought he had a heart attack, so she covered him up, told him to lie still and called an ambulance.

The attendants rushed in, wouldn't listen to his protests and loaded him on the stretcher and started carrying him out.

About that time the snake came out from under the sofa and the Emergency Medical Technician saw it and dropped his end of the stretcher.

That's when the man broke his leg and why he is still in the hospital.

The wife still had the problem of the snake in the house, so she called on a neighbor man. He volunteered to capture the snake. He armed himself with a rolled-up newspaper and began poking under the couch. Soon he decided it was gone and told the woman, who sat down on the sofa in relief.

But while relaxing, her hand dangled in between the cushions, where she felt the snake wriggling around. She screamed and fainted, the snake rushed back under the sofa.

The neighbor man, seeing her lying there passed out, tried to use CPR to revive her.

The neighbor's wife, who had just returned from shopping at the grocery store, saw her husband's mouth on the woman's mouth and slammed her husband in the back of the head with a bag of canned goods, knocking him out and cutting his scalp to a point where it needed stitches.

The noise woke the woman from her dead faint and she saw her neighbor lying on the floor with his wife bending over him, so she assumed that he had been bitten by the snake. She went to the kitchen and got a small bottle of whiskey, and began pouring it down the man's throat.

By now the police had arrived.

They saw the unconscious man, smelled the whiskey, and assumed that a drunken fight had occurred. They were about to arrest them all, when the women tried to explain how it all happened over a little green snake.

The police called an ambulance, which took away the neighbor and his sobbing wife.

The little snake again crawled out from under the sofa.

One of the policemen drew his gun and fired at it.

He missed the snake and hit the leg of the end table. The table fell over and the lamp on it shattered and as the bulb broke it started a fire in the drapes.

The other policeman tried to beat out the flames, and fell through the window into the yard on top of the family dog who, startled, jumped out and raced into the street, where an oncoming car swerved to avoid it and smashed into the parked police car.

Meanwhile, burning drapes, were seen by the neighbors who called the fire department.

The firemen had started raising the fire truck ladder when they were halfway down the street.

The rising ladder tore out the overhead wires and put out the electricity and disconnected the telephones in a ten-square city block area (but they did get the house fire out).*

Time passed! . Both men were discharged from the hospital, the house was repaired, the dog came home,the police acquired a new car, and all was right with their world.

A while later they were watching TV and the weatherman announced a cold snap for that night. The husband asked his wife if she thought they should bring in their plants for the night.

That's when she shot him.*

Thank you to Bob for this.

Friday, November 18, 2005

KIWI WORD OF THE WEEK


Pack a Sad: Become morose, ill humoured, moody.


Thursday, November 17, 2005

RECIPE: TACOS IN PASTA SHELLS

Tacos in Pasta Shells

1 ¼ lbs. Ground beef
3oz. Cream cheese with chives, cubed and softened
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Chili powder
18 jumbo pasta shells, cooked, rinsed, and drained
2 tbsp. Butter, melted
1 cup taco sauce
4 oz. Shredded cheddar cheese
4 oz. Shredded Monterey jack cheese
1 ½ cups crushed tortilla chips
1 cup sour cream
3 green onions, chopped
Lettuce, olives, cherry tomatoes (optional)

Cook beef until brown, drain fat. Reduce heat to medium low.
Add cream cheese, salt and chili powder; simmer 2 minutes
Toss shells with butter; fill with beef mixture. Arrange shells in a buttered 9x13 pan.
Pour taco sauce over each shell. Cover with foil and bake 350F for 15 minutes.
Uncover, then top with the two cheeses and crushed chips and bake until bubbly.
To serve top with sour cream and chopped onions.
Garnish with olives, tomatoes and lettuce

I like to use pepper jack cheese in place of the cheddar and have extra taco sauce on the side.



Wednesday, November 16, 2005

CAT AND MOUSE

Rocket is aptly named, as he loves to run, he streaks up and down the stairs, along the hallway and through the living room at a great rate of speed.

One of rocket's favorite places to sit and watch birds is on the corner of my computer desk. He spends a great deal of time watching the birds eating from the feeder which is stuck to the glass with suction cups.

It is fun to watch Rocket and the birds, and imagine what they are thinking. I can almost hear the birds saying, "sure glad they keep that cat indoors"
We are always telling Rocket that the birds would not be much fun to play with as they break too easily.

Rocket is a very independent cat, he loves to be petted and brushed, but does not like to sit on our laps or be picked up, he definitely is the boss around here.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Childhood Memories

Standard 3 1957 Hokowhitu School
Palmerston North New Zealand
Standard 3 is about grade 5 USA


I will not point out where I am in the photo, but I will say, I am the cutest girl.

A few weeks ago I came across some old school photos and started wondering what life had brought all these kids I had gone to school with.

I decided the way to go, was to do a Google, people search in New Zealand, and came across a web site called Old Friends. On this site you can find old school friends, people you used to work with and even friends from service clubs.

The 'Old friends' site, is set up in such a way, that you have to add the names of people you would like to hear from on 'your friends' list, then you can send an email to one of these friends through 'old friends' and the person receiving the email, can reply to your email if they so wish.

The few photographs I have kept all these years, I posted on the school web sites, entering as many names of the kids, I could remember, in the grid underneath the photos.

The response to the photos, and the messages I left on the site to be forwarded by 'Old friends' has been very rewarding, a number of people have made contact already and we are enjoying trading stories of the last 48-50 years.

I am looking forward to hearing from many more of my old school friends.

Saturday, November 12, 2005

A LESSON FROM GEESE




Geese Facts

This fall when you see geese heading south for the winter... flying along in V formation...you might consider what science has discovered as to why they fly that way:

As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in V formation the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range, than if each bird flew on its own.

People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone... and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front. If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed the same way we are.

When the head goose gets tired it rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point. It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs...with people or with geese flying south.

Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. What do we say when we honk from behind?

Finally...and this is important...when a goose gets sick or is wounded by gunshots, and falls out of formation, two other geese fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly or until it dies, and only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with their group.

If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by each other like that.

I was quite taken by these facts on how geese support and encourage one another,a lesson we all can afford to learn.


Friday, November 11, 2005

KIWI WORD OF THE WEEK

Wobbly
what we used to say is " keewee is packing a wobbly" meaning, she is angry or being snotty!

Thursday, November 10, 2005

RECIPE: PATRIOTIC PIE

patriotic pie


Crust
1 pkg Blueberry muffin mix, with canned berries
¼ cup butter
Filling
1 8oz cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
½ cup sour cream
1tsp. Vanilla
½ of 8oz. Tub of cool whip
Topping
Can of blueberries from mix
1 Can cherry pie filling

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease 9-inch pie plate.
For crust, place mix in medium bowl and cut in butter with pastry blender.
Spread evenly in ungreased 9-inch pan. Do not press
Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Stir, and reserve 1/2 cup of mixture for top.
Press remaining crumb mixture against bottom and sides of pie plate. Cool completely.

For filling, Beat cream cheese until smooth, gradually beat in sugar. Blend in sour cream and vanilla. Fold in cool whip and spoon into cooled crust.

For topping, spread reserved crumbs over top of filling, then decorate with canned blueberries which have been rinsed and drained, and cherry pie filling.
Chill at least 3 hours.

I also make this recipe using vanilla ice cream as a filling and seasonal fruit to decorate.




Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Steve's Flightstar

When we were in Juneau last year, our friend Steve took me up for a ride in his Flightstar. (experimental aircraft, except Steve's is way beyond, being experimental)

We were flying around over Juneau, enjoying the view, when Steve asked me if I would like to experience a stall.(You have to understand that I am a real chicken when it comes to dropping from heights, I won't even ride a roller coaster.)

I thought to myself, "OK, this is an experience of a life time, just do it"

I looked at Steve and said OK, hoping I did not look as nervous as I felt.

You would have been proud of me, when the nose of the Flightstar was pointed up just before the drop! I was thinking, "this is fun," then down the Flightstar went, just a little way, as Steve did not want to scare me too much. I will admit I had my eyes closed during the drop thinking if I could not see anything it would not feel so extreme, and it didn't.

I did experience that feeling in the pit of my stomach when you fall from a height, but it lasted for such a short time that I was Ok with it, and when the stall was over and we were flying level again, I said to my self," Whew! I did it, but I don't think I want do it again."

I was happy to have this experience, and I still feel the same about roller coasters.

For a look at a picture of the Flightstar you can go to Mr.Completely's site and view it by clicking HERE



Saturday, November 05, 2005

Carnival Of Recipes

This week, Carnival of recipes #64 is being hosted by Pajama Pundits.
The cool weather has folks thinking nice warming comfort food like soups.
Go on over to Pajama Pundits and take a look at all the wonderful recipes.

Friday, November 04, 2005

RADICAL RODENT

Now I have your attention!

Have you ever seen ' A real Radical right-Wing riflerodent?

NO, well CLICK HERE and visit The Conservative UAW Guy


KIWI WORD OF THE WEEK

TIP: dump or recycling depot.

When I was a kid, my brothers and I always rode with Dad to the tip.
It was always interesting to see what 'treasures' people were throwing away.

Thursday, November 03, 2005

ONE POT TACO SOUP



ONE POT TACO SOUP

2lbs hamburger
1 onion – chopped
1 15oz. can corn
1 15oz. can chili beans
1 15oz. Can kidney beans
1 15oz. Can diced tomatoes
1 lg. Can V8 juice
1 env. Taco seasoning

I like to brown then drain the hamburger before putting it in the crock pot.
Open all cans , Do not drain
Place all ingredients in large crock pot, simmer 4 to 6 hours
To serve, top with shredded cheese and sour cream.
Have your favorite corn chips on the side.

It is so nice to come home to a hot meal, especially if you have spent time outside in the cold.



Tuesday, November 01, 2005

HOW TO GIVE YOUR CAT A PILL



Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.

Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw away soggy pill.

Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.

Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.

Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat's throat vigorously.

Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.

Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.

Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink 1 beer to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.

Retrieve cat from neighbors shed. Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.

Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of scotch. Pour shot, drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus jab. Apply Whiskey compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw t-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.

Ring fire department to retrieve the cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil-wrap.

Tie the cats front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table, find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed.

Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of fillet steak. Be rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour 2 liters of water down throat to wash pill down.

Consume remainder of Scotch. Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room, sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table.

Arrange for RSPCA to collect mutant cat from Hades, and ring local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.


HOW TO GIVE A DOG A PILL:

01. Wrap it in bacon.



MAUI AND THE MAGIC FISH HOOK

I grew up hearing the myth about how Maui fished New Zealand up out of the ocean.
Grampapinhead has the story HERE for you to read.