My brother, sister-in-law and I took Mum out for lunch at Untouched World Kitchen today. It is Mum’s 96th birthday. Here she is, still on her first course while we’re onto coffee.
Mum and I were both wearing Untouched World merino-mink jumpers. In the showroom beyond the cafe, we were intrigued to see a window has been cut in the wall so you can see where the jumpers are made.
The sun came out in the afternoon, perfect for a happy birthday, and too hot for those jumpers!
We had an early birthday dinner last week with my sister and brother-in-law and nephews before their West Coast holiday. Here is the beautifully decorated cake my sister made. The flowers are from their garden.
That was the greeting at the top of an email from Groovy Glasses this week. This morning my sister and brother-in-law called in with a pair of sunglasses they thought gave my new ones a run for their money. They go perfectly with Mum’s outfit today.
This evening I picked the first of this season’s runner beans for dinner. I was afraid that I’d left them too long, but there were no strings and they were delicious.
After a successful but tiring couple of hours shopping for birthdays I felt in need of sustenance before the 30 minute walk home. It was our usual cheese and crackers (and sometimes a cocktail) hour and the cafes were closing, so I stepped into a bar I pass on my way.
I like this old building and I’m so pleased that Te Pae is built around it and that it wasn’t demolished in the post-earthquake ‘knock ’em over’ frenzy.
I sat on a tall stool looking out at Victoria Square and enjoyed a refreshing Charlie Chaplin.
Source: Pinterest The Bartender’s Ultimate Survival Kit
I thought they are called ‘runner beans’ because they climb, but perhaps its because of the rate of their growth. Not quite overnight, as in Jack and the Beanstalk, but pretty quick all the same. Today I noticed that there are a few beans ready for picking. I looked back at my photos to see how long they took from the start.
9 Nov – just showing through the soil12 Dec – reaching the top of the frame6 Jan – ready to start picking
The dwarf bean plants beside the runner beans were planted on 11 December and they are almost ready for picking now. The zucchini plant went in the ground on 11 December and I have already picked two, with one more almost ready to harvest.
Dwarf beansZucchiniFelix
It looks as if the runner beans will have a long picking season as the beans which are ready are lower down the stalks and there are loads of flowers at the top.
These scarlet runner beans come up year after year from the same roots which I planted in 2021. The bean frame has made all the difference as, last year, the beans were ruined by strong winds. In 2022 and 2023, however, I had great harvests.
27 Feb 2022 – a later picking by the look of them12 Jan 2023 – the first pickingMar 2023 – with only thin bamboo poles for support, the beans leaned into the trees, forming an arch
The 2024 diary is full and closed, the 2025 one open and empty. Underneath, a garden diary has a few entries from during the year. I’ll use it again, overwriting in a different colour so I can compare.
Today I picked a large bowl of blackcurrants. This time I picked some rhubarb to go with them and made a crumble, combining various recipes including some online where I discovered there is an International Blackcurrant Association (IBA). It recommends the rhubarb and blackcurrant combination and, after eating our dessert, we do too.
Despite bans on single-use plastics in supermarkets, The Press has insisted on packaging the daily paper in plastic so that it arrives in a ‘presentable’ state. Occasionally, rain seeps through into the paper, but never more so, in my experience, than this morning. I peeled the pages apart cautiously and dried them on the clothes airer in front of the heat pump. With no butler to iron it flat, I ended up with a crisp and crinkly newspaper to read over breakfast.
Henrietta, Hester and Harriet react appropriately.
The garden, however, is appreciative of real rain – much more than of my watering.
It’s a seeping sort of rain, seeping up the base of the birdbathWater butts and buckets are full and the stacked dry-it-yourself (!) wood is damp
The temperature is down, so we’re in our winter woollies. Inside, it’s cheering to put on the Christmas tree lights. Felix comes in to be towelled dry and to eat.
Outside under the bay treeToday I can see this was suited to a winter XmasAngled photo to fit Felix’s long tail
Mum’s absorbed in the paper now (not in a damp way) – probably reading the new year honours list, or about former President Carter’s active life, or the articles about the struggles of other world leaders. Later, I will finish the code cracker.
I have read over a hundred books this year and I review each one on goodreads. Books which particularly impress me sometimes get a mention in my blog. This is one of them.
I have often wondered what Hillary Clinton is doing these days. I know she has written books and I saw her with her daughter Chelsea on the Graham Norton show talking about The Book of Gutsy Women which they co-wrote. I enjoyed the novel State of Terror which she wrote with Canadian author Louise Penny. Her latest book, published this year, answers my question and I can tell you she is not letting the grass grow. Here is the review I wrote for goodreads:
Well written and highly readable, this collection of 17 essays on contemporary events and issues backgrounded with fascinating history lessons is by turns heart warming and heart breaking. It is an absolute treasure – a book to revisit time and time again.
Always positive about individual agency, the book finished with ‘Keep Marching’ a theme from the musical Suffs about the US women’s suffrage movement. This led me to an internet search and a video of Shaina Taub and some of the cast discussing and demonstrating the creative process in making the award winning musical. The production is a perfect demonstration of a repeated message in the essays that, even when we seem to find ourselves on the brink of The Handmaid’s Tale made real, there is always something we can do, particularly if we work together whether creating a musical or fighting for the vote or reminding those who would remove them that ‘women’s rights are human rights’ as Hillary Rodham Clinton advocates.
Post Script: I know that some of my blog readers will make the connection between ‘Keep Marching’ and the song which became an anthem: ‘Keep on Moving Forward’ (also known as ‘Never Turning Back’) from the UN Fourth Conference on Women in 1995 and of Sonja Davies’ second memoir Marching On. Perhaps also of the rock musical production we saw at the Court Theatre: That Bloody Woman, about Kate Sheppard and the women who worked successfully to gain the vote for women in New Zealand.
The city after dark is a delight of lights. From the Carols by Candlelight in Victoria Square and the passing restaurant tram, to Te Pae, Cathedral Square, Ballantynes Christmas window displays and the bustling Terrace, we were charmed and uplifted by the sights and lights. Two cones placed over uplights by the Town Hall glowed luminous red-orange.
Knox Church, lit up for the Christmas Eve midnight service, looked wonderful.
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