Our little Paradise with Passion.

Baking-Paradise

Here is our 20 year old making meringues in our 70's plastic-wood-decor kitchen. I think a pot of cream coloured paint won't go amiss in the near future...

She likes to potter about in the kitchen and I don't mind at all. Yum yum!

Luckily she has her supermarket job to tie her over in the next few months until University starts up again. She can save some money if she gets enough shifts. 

Bird-of-Paradise.

No, I haven't visited some exotic plant park! This grows downstairs by the washingline... We can grow quite different plants here than in Hastings, even though Napier is only 20 minutes further north. The advantages of sitting in a frost free pocket in the hills, with sea breezes.
It does look a bit like a strange bird's head like this, don't you think?

Flock of Birds.

Last night my man and I went to the movies. There is a little theatre in the area, that only shows art house films and documentaries etc, it only seats 40 people on comfy leather amchairs and couches, and they come and serve you fresh coffee or a glass of wine. Very luxe and about the same price as the normal theatre. Excellent if you are into watching international films!
 We watched "When a city falls" a doco about the earthquakes in Christchurch.
 It was really good! Quiet-making but with a feeling of hope. There were quite a few people and they all stayed till the end of the credits, in a  very thoughtful mood. After all, we all live in Napier; resurrected from the 1931 quake.
It was also a neat feeling to see our own country on the big screen.

Waxeye in nectar paradise.

 The Pohutakawa tree (or the kiwi x-mas tree) is looking Magnificent at the moment, and there is one male tui aggressively defending it from all other birds. He makes grating sounds and snaps his wings while he bomb dives the smallest sparrows, who dare land in it!
This little waxeye managed a quick drink.

How does our garden grow?

Vege-beds 28 Nov'11

Check out the growth rate in these 2 photos, 4 weeks in between. We are already harvesting fresh salads and radishes and bok-choi. Nasturtiums grow wild in the bit under the oak tree, which are delicious in a salad. There are baby tomatoes and capsicums on the go and the zucchini has flowers.

Vege-beds 27Dec'11

4 Different beans are going nuts, new tomatoes in the third bed and celery is thickening nicely. The oranges have bloomed their heavy fragrance and new fruit is developing. My lovage (maggi-plant) root taken from the other house has survived, and rhubarb and lemon-balm are thriving!
Just fantastic! We'll add another bed soon, so we can plant perpetual silverbeet and beetroots and I'd like to put in some carrots.

Passionfruit flower.

And the former owners planted 3 Passionfruit vines last year, so we should have a great crop.
Aren't they just the most ridiculously complicated flowers!
But well visited by the bees and bumblebees.

Young Passionfruit.

And the fruits look like little green eggs! Now we have to wait till they go black and slightly shrivelled up before we harvest.

Young fruit with passion.

And here is our 17 year old sporting a new "hairdo". There had been a dreadlocks experiment, which didn't work out and after that there is only one option: a close shave...
Luckily she has a beautifully shaped head, and at least now we get to see her blond hair again! And her uncle and Opa welcomed her to their club, hahaha.
She has worked very hard this year; she has gained her land-skills certificate, and also the national certificate in animal care . And was presented with the prize for best improved student of the year. Considering that most of her fellow students were much older than her, we are astoundingly proud of her. You have come a long way Darling!