summer

This summer is long, hot and glorious - perfect beach weather. And so we had five days of camping on the Whangarei Heads. So many wonderful ocean swims - the best at Smugglers Bay and Matapouri. I came home feeling joyful.

+ Pataua South
+ Pataua North
+ Ocean Beach
+ Urquharts Bay

Listening: Divers by Joanna Newsom and Wakin on a pretty daze by Kurt Vile

Eating: Brussel sprouts - Although it's a bit sad that brussel sprouts are available in the shops already. Is summer finally coming to an end? But we're loving this Salad of potatoes and brussel sprouts from Grown and Gathered - with a few substitutions - basil pesto instead of sprout top pesto and rocket instead of wild sorrel. Totally delicious.

water

tui

For a few weeks now a couple of tui have been in the garden. I love tui and the weird noises they make. They had built a nest and, sadly, last week their two babies fell from it. The parent birds were frantic - swooping low over their chicks and making a huge racket. I got my bewildered cats inside and watched the birds for a while. The chicks were too young to fly and the parents too scared to feed them on the ground. So my neighbour and I gathered up the chicks and she took them to Bird Rescue where they'll be raised by hand until they're able to be released. The parents stayed in the garden for a few days afterwards - then disappeared. If only I could tell them that their babies will be ok...

Watching: People places things starring Jemaine Clement who makes no apology for his kiwi accent. Yeah!

passionfruit

Our passion fruit vine is doing really well this year and producing lots of fruit. It seems a shame to cook summer fruit because it's all so delicious fresh. However, passion fruit cupcakes are a simple treat and fun for children to (help) make and decorate. This recipe works every time.


Passion fruit cupcakes
75 g butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1/4 cup passion fruit pulp (fresh or preserved)
1 cup plus 2 tbsp self-raising flour

Beat together butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Stir in passion fruit, then fold in sifted flour.
Line cupcake pan with paper cases. Half fill cases with mixture and bake at 180ºC for 12-15 mins.

Ice and decorate however you want. Lemon or passion fruit icing is good.

Watching: Women he's undressed A documentary about the life of Australian costume designer and three time Oscar winner Orry Kelly.

milford

Last week I was hiking on the Milford track in Fiordland. It's a 53.5km walk mostly through rain forest. And, as you can see from the photos, it rained. Every day. Fiordland gets about 7m of rain and an average of 200 rain-days a year so the chances of walking in the rain are fairly high. It was still an incredible trip. Everything was misty with low cloud. The rivers rose and pounded down the valleys. Because of the weather we missed out on the view from the top of the Mackinnon Pass and didn't see many birds but the waterfalls - so many - were amazing.
TripAdvisor has many reviews of the Milford track - mostly written by hikers who were lucky to get fine weather - but Milford in the rain can also be a special experience.

Reading: The lady in the van and other stories by Alan Bennett

Watching: Australian Open Tennis (on television, of course)

bananas

Hot summer days scream out for ice cream. This banana one is so quick to make and so good to eat. We love it. I think you will too.

Banana ice cream
2 ripe bananas, frozen
1/4 cup milk (dairy, nut or soy) or yoghurt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp honey or maple syrup
tiny pinch of salt
1 tbsp cacao nibs (optional)
Put everything in a blender and blend until smooth.

To freeze bananas:
Slice the bananas and place on a tray lined with baking paper and leave in the freezer for at least two hours.

Serves 2-3

You can freeze bananas well ahead of time and store in a plastic bag in the freezer. You can also make the ice cream any time and keep in a container in the freezer but, I think, it's best eaten straight after making.

Reading: A map of the world by Jane Hamilton

Watching: Room - heartbreaking but beautiful film adaptation of Emma Donoghue's novel of the same name

spots

I was going to throw out these linen napkins. I never used them because I didn't like the pale apricot colour. But, inspired by Shabd Simon-Alexander's tie-dyed baby blanket (in Lena Corwin's book, Made by hand) I dyed them instead. I used a Dylon powdered fabric dye (dark brown) and used Shabd's method of wrapping chickpeas with rubber bands to form spots. Not sure that if I saw these napkins in a store that I'd buy them but they are (still) linen and better than before, I think. 

I was a bit nervous about dyeing them. But, do you remember Trinny and Susannah? They did something on clothing make-overs and their reasoning was that if you weren't wearing something then you had nothing to lose by trying to change it. If the make-over was a success, you had a "new" item in your wardrobe and if it failed, well, you weren't wearing it anyway. So, with that in mind, I gave it a go.

Reading: Oranges are not the only fruit by Jeanette Winterson. I found it in one of the local book exchanges. I liked her autobiography, Why be happy when you could be normal?

Watching:
Infinitely polar bear starring Mark Ruffalo,
scary documentary film, Going clear: Scientology and the prison of belief and
Star Wars: the force awakens.

Listening:  B'lieve i'm goin down by Kurt Vile :)