Feathered friends / fiends

I haven't updated for ages. To those admirable folk who care enough to read my ramblings, I do apologise. In the craziness of the post-quake world hereabouts, I've been pretty distracted, though to be fair, visiting family and my old friend Workoholism have played a part too. I forgot how much I actually love my job, when I'm not stressing over childcare and functioning on minimal sleep. I'm enjoying seeing some fairly massive academic gains take place in my class, though teaching a very boy-heavy bunch is certain to lead me to the brink of insanity sometime very soon.

Anyway, I digress...

A few months ago, we got some chooks. They were promptly named Cinderella, Ariel, and Fizz. We can mostly tell them apart, though when Fizz grows the feathers back around her nether regions, it may become difficult.

We had always intended to get chooks, but Steve had grandiose plans for the Taj Mahal of hen houses, so there was quite a building process before we were ready. To his credit, the finished product didn't cost us a cent, and was made entirely from salvaged or recycled building materials. It even has a fancy wee flap to access the laying boxes, though we had to do a bit of work convincing them that they were suitable boxes, as they preferred the floor for a while. I would perhaps like a gate on the run, as we've shredded two favourite clothing items whilst climbing the 'we'll-never-need-to-actually-climb-that' fence already. Am also becoming adept at clipping feathered wings, but more about that later...




Pretty flash, aye?

The first bunch are common old brown shavers. They lay very reliably, and are incredibly tame. The kids spend a lot of time playing with them, picking them up, feeding them, and generally having a merry old time.

Today we acquired a pair of banty / shaver crosses - one old lady, prone to broodiness, and a young cockerel (okay, I just wanted to type that word!) that will end up in my lovely new casserole dish the day he learns to crow. We are very fond of the theory of wee chickens running about, but the idea of an early wake up call is a little unsettling when we are this close to restoring our child-induced sleep deficit.

So against our better judgement, and following the advice of the fair folk who gave us the chooks, we just bunged them in with the others straight off. I built a funky wee teepee of branches as an alternative roost if they were made unwelcome in the Taj Mahal, and left them to fight out the pecking order.

A few hours (or was it minutes?) later, I was seen dashing off up the hill, wielding Steve's precious trout net (which to be fair hasn't had a LOT of use for its intended purpose for a variety of reasons **winks and waits for backlash later**) and swiping at two amazingly quick chooks.

There were howls of mirth from the deck, as Steve (recovering from knee surgery) watched and attempted to video my gallant efforts at catching both rascals in the net. Some foul (fowl? **groans at own humour**) words may have been uttered at this point, and he limped and grimaced his way down to give me a hand.

Eventually we caught both, though not without some drama. Minty attempted to help and ended up chained up for her efforts. If it wasn't for her prize-winning efforts at the local A&P show recently, she'd be heading for a long slow stint in my casserole dish too!

Speaking of which...



She went on to win 4th (**ahem** last) in the champion all age round, but we shan't dwell on that. Minty and Sophie are the reigning champions of the Oxford A&P Association Preschool Pet Lamb class, and nothing shall deter our pride in such an achievement, even the tantrum that ensued during said championship round.

We've also been having a great deal of fun with the tops sawn of a friend's retaining wall posts. My intention is to concrete them in as a meandering climbing feature for the kids, but in the meantime, they make great building materials! I love watching their wee minds work as they build, balance, and play around with the laws of physics. Trying not to twitch about that treated timber...

These are a few of my favourite things!

Yeah, apologies about the Sound of Music theme going on lately. Where did that come from?

So it was my birthday yesterday. Was thoroughly spoiled, but as I didn't expect to be and had made copious pleas not to be in light of the recent earthquake and general depressed mood of all Canterbury-residing folk of late, I thought I'd make just a wee purchase for myself **darty-eyed glance**

I splashed out and bought a cast iron casserole dish. A bit sad, and not even that expensive given the Farmers '60%-Off-So-Please-Get-Spending-Again-Canterbury-In-Case-We-Go-Bankrupt' sale, but very exciting for me and my sad little collection of disfunctional, un-matching and cracked cookware.

So it inspired me to make a list of my bestest favourite cooking stuff. I hasten to point out here that until very recently, my entire kitchen was stocked full of second and third-hand cast-offs from late grandmothers and the boys' flat that was our first home until I moved in.

We had an amazing collection of saucepans with handles that fell off if you didn't screw them back on after every use. Copious amounts of spatulas with melted handles, and measuring spoons with the unit rubbed off. And some ugly, ugly bakeware. Possibly so ugly that had I kept it for another decade it would be back in vogue.

Anyway, since acquiring a new house last year, I got a bit stroppy about upgrading a few items and actually buying something NEW that hadn't been thrashed and rejected by someone else. So here's my list of loves...

Old School Kenwood Mixer



I love this baby. She's a few decades older than me and runs like a dream. She actually was previously owned by a grandmother, but I'd sell my soul to buy one of these second hand if I didn't already have one. Seriously. The new Kenwood mixers (the trendy coloured Kitchen Aid rip-off kind) don't even come CLOSE to the functionality, reliability and general awesomeness of these machines, despite looking so groovy that I'd possibly be tempted to buy one for the looks factor alone. I use mine to knead bread, mix cakes and cookie dough, beat eggs, basically everything. Unfortunately the rest of NZ has also become aware of how fantastic they are, so the price of one on Trade Me can be pretty daunting for something so old. LOVE IT. Have I said that already? Buy one. Or better yet, steal your granny's.

90cm Smeg Freestanding Oven



Yeah, so I know I'm skiting! I have been coveting this piece of culinary creating perfection for a few years. When I saw a new one on Trade Me while we were building for almost half the retail price, I bought it. And then had to sort out shipping for a 100kg oven from Auckland to Christchurch **nervous twitch**

It bakes perfectly. It simmers perfectly. It brings water to a raging boil in moments. It lets fudge and sweet treats idle away without frying their nether regions to tar on the bottom of a broken-handled saucepan. It really is every bit as wonderful as I hoped it would be. It has ingenious racks that layer in the most incredible way to fill that 90cm of baking space to the max. I have actually managed to cook two trays of cookies, 3 cakes, a loaf of bread and a lasagne all at once. And the cookies didn't even taste like mince!

My one complaint? It doesn't have a colour change function on the LCD display, so it clashes with my splashback. Bahahaha!

Shiny new Kenwood MultiPro food processor



This was my birthday pressie from everyone else. Was a tad flummoxed as had selfishly purchased cast iron casserole dish for self earlier, and now had a present afterall. I guess there goes Christmas!

I've hardly used it, but have coveted one for some time. Of course I'd love a Magimix, but I live in the real world and our budget just doesn't stretch that far. So it chops heaps of stuff, has a million gadgets and gizmos that attach to do cool stuff, and its shiny and silver. And it beats the pants of my second-hand, non-brand plastic fantastic blender with a half-sized food processor bowl attachment. Am looking forward immensely to making soup and managing to whizz it in fewer than 4 batches. Heaven.

Beside it is my Sunbeam Bakehouse breadmaker. This was the first 'new' appliance I ever owned, and it was after we'd been married for about 6 years. I am of two minds as to whether I love it. I used to. And Steve uses it daily to make bog-standard loaves of bread, so it has certainly proven itself to be very reliable and far better than any of the other cast-off breadmakers I've owned. I am getting quite fond of making bread by hand though, so I'm finding that I use it less these days. Still very handy though, so I included its picture. Also because I couldn't be bothered shifting the MultiPro from its suctioned wee feet which meant I couldn't crop the breadmaker out ;-)

Imperia Pasta Maker



I have sung its praises before, so I shan't repeat myself. Love it though. Don't be fooled by cheaper imitations. Like I was.

And here is my Shiny New Cast Iron Casserole Dish



... capitalising because I can. And because it deserves it.

Love being able to use the same pan to brown meat on the hob and then just bung it in the oven after adding the saucy bits. And I don't mean rude things.

It weighs a tonne, and I look forward to foisting it upon ungrateful future grandchildren and daughters-in-law when I buy new stuff, because this sucker would survive a nuclear holocaust. Or another major earthquake.

Is that statement in bad taste??

I took a picture of my Tupperware digital scales, because I think I do love them today. The thing is, though, that I have a passionate love-hate relationship with Tupperware. I adore their gleaming, stackable, matching fabulousness, but the disgraceful prices and exploitation of my obliging nature at parties makes me twitch. I think I have a Tupperware problem, actually, and don't EVER invite me to one of your parties, because I WILL buy too much, I WILL regret it, and no amount of shiny matching containers that I can't even microwave without breaking the fecking lids (and no, that's not covered under the infamous lifetime warranty) will make it okay. Although I do really like the free stuff. And my scales. And the wee lunchbox containers. And...

Right, I've been writing for ages, and actually I'm boring myself to tears, so if you've managed to stay tuned for so long, well done. If it was a Tupperware party, you'd be getting free egg separator. At least I think that's what it is for.

Sew, a needle pulling threeeeaaaad!

Sophie is totally over the fact that our world has changed considerably in the last 8 days since the big quake. Although our house is fine, we've had a lot of people coming through and using facilities (polluted water in town and limited electricity) and there was no school / preschool for a week. I'm now back at work, supposedly, but my head is all over the place and I'm pretty distracted. Apologies to any children expecting to learn anything. And now Caleb has a nasty gastro bug, so we're housebound.

So yeah. BORED.

Today I set up a craft activity using that stuff you buy to line drawers with so that your utensils don't slip about and mark the interior. It's actually rubbish in terms of functionality, but it was great for drawing designs on, and arming your 3 year old with a darning needle and some yarn. I told you I've been distracted lately!

To be honest, I thought this activity would be way beyond her, but she was desperate to somehow make a house out of it and some wallpaper paste for our cat, so this seemed like the lesser of two evils.

She did really well!







This activity would be great for slightly older children who could draw their own designs, or count exact numbers of holes for consistently sized stitches - great practice for skip counting in 2s, 5s, 10s etc. Sophie went through stages of being meticulous about using just one hole for each stitch, then deciding that she'd just get the freaking thing finished and doing a few massive stitches that were good enough. Who says she takes after her mother?

I think we'll try making bookmarks next. If she cares. Which she probably won't.

By the way, remember Minty? Here she is doing some ballet the other day...



Massive brute. She is in serious danger of being chops in our freezer. Especially if she keeps getting into my vege garden.

I just realised that this blog is nearly entirely about Sophie's activities. I need to write about more of Caleb's interests and mischief, but he's the type that entertains himself so well (albeit often in ways I'd rather he didn't!) that I'm not often required to be anything other than the one that gives him a cuddle when he skins his knees. Or cleans him up when he's sick. **sigh** Bring on some health!

Order! Order, I say!

I think Sophie is her father's daughter. Look at what she created today in a fit of earthquake / illness induced boredom...



Bear counters sorted according to colour and size!

She is the type of child that doesn't cope with anything even slightly askew from her perception of order, so things like buzzing flies or messed up lines of lined up stuff do her head in. I will admit that there have been fleeting wonderings about various disorders and syndromes, but I think she's just quirky and particular ;-)

Pretty cool, aye?

Shaken. Again.

2 days ago, our city was again struck by a major earthquake. 5 months ago, a 7.1 magnitude quake struck in the dead of night, miraculously resulting in no casualties. We patted ourselves on the back, brushed off our knees and started to rebuild, thinking that we had suffered and survived 'The Big One' that all NZers grow up expecting sometime during their lifetimes.

This time, though the quake measured less in magnitude (a 6.3), it was centred a few kilometres from the city centre and was only 5km below the surface.

Dozens have been killed. Possibly hundreds. Being such a small city, everyone knows someone dead or feared dead. 2 degrees of separation and all of that. There are 200 people still unaccounted for. 2 days on, people remain trapped beneath the rubble of their workplaces, cafes and homes, while sniffer dogs and their masters (co-workers seems a fairer term) scour the debri. Amazing stories of survival emerge. We watch, glued to the TV, as Armani-clad business people emerge from literally pancaked buildings, covered in dust and bloodied, their loved ones hysterical with relief from their point of vigil. The media anger us with their intrusion into the carnage, but we still watch, turning off the TV only when our children ask another awkward, unanswerable question, or when the tears become too much to hold in.

By some crazy stroke of 'luck', soldiers, both foreign and local were in the city completing exercises at the time. I use the word 'luck' loosely, because it's hard to speak of such a thing when 30 minutes from your doorstep there are people dead and suffering on the streets. What is luck?

But we're okay. The kids are a bit nervy, but so are we. Our beautiful historical city has effectively been destroyed. Basic infrastructure is mostly beyond repair, so primary services like running water, power and sewerage are either not functioning or severely rationed. Disease is feared, as raw sewerage flows into rivers and leaches up from below the surface, blending with silt and sand to form a stinking sludge.

This isn't supposed to happen here. Surely our well-heeled selves in fair Christchurch should be exempt from such horrific acts of nature. Surely these things only happen in third world countries, where we can just click our tongues, flick World Vision $100 and absolve our consciences from any personal responsibility or grief. Disasters on this scale don't happen to real people, do they?

Our historic Anglican cathedral, long seen as the symbol of our city, and indeed a symbol of resolute Cantabrian spirit following the last quake, is a pile of rubble. 20 people are believed to be dead in its ruins, but it is unsafe at this stage to attempt to retrieve the bodies.

I can't bring myself to post pictures. is where you will find many, if you haven't already been glued to it.

Some time next week, I'm going to have to go back to work. I'll have 24 children asking hard questions. They will know people who have suffered immensely. Many will know people who have died. What will I say? How on earth can we carry on with writing our Beach Education trip recount, our mathematics goals, our swimming programme? In years to come, these children will open their Year 4/5 exercise books, see the date of February 22, 2011 carefully printed in sharp pencil and underlined in red ink, and marvel that it was a normal day until 12:48pm. Now it is viewed as anything but.

Somewhere there is a line between experiencing and acknowledging stark horror and loss and just getting up and soldiering on. Who knows where that line is, for this generation of New Zealanders who have been so blessed until now never to have had to suffer heart-breaking times.

Silly old Fox. Doesn't he know?

There's no such thing as a gruffalo!

No idea what I'm talking about? You obviously don't have preschoolers!

http://www.gruffalo.com/

We had an invasion of Mr Whineypants today. Nothing was good enough for Caleb, but anything was cause enough for a good ol' tanty. That child has a temperament of extremes - when he smiles (which to be fair is most of the time) the whole world smiles with him. When he turns on the grizz, we all run for cover!

Anyway, I sent him to bed after lunch after a morning of contrariness. Not surprisingly, he was unimpressed. He declared he wanted to make a gruffalo when he got up. He was expecting me to make excuses as to why it wasn't an option, but I called his bluff and said "What a great idea. We'll get out the craft box and find the things we need". He looked at me in shock, scowling that he missed a certain opportunity for another tantrum, and then declared "No. I want to make a gruffalo CAKE". Refusing to be out-grizzled and allow him the excuse for a wobbly, I told him that was an even better idea, and we'd get straight to it when he woke up. I will admit that I was eye-rolling and cringing inwardly, but please don't give him the satisfaction of knowing this information.

We had a busy day, but squeezed in a trip to the supermarket to buy edible gruffalo-ness. The kids helped me write a list of things we'd need, and we had a great lot of fun at the supermarket selecting the perfect elements for our creation.

* Orange eyes - dried apricots
* Purple spines - jelly beans
* Teeth and tusks - milk bottle lollies
* Horns - bananas

I opted out of a body, as making a small gluten and dairy free cake requires a great deal of sorcery. Making a large one is nigh on impossible. And expensive.

So anyway, cake was made and kind of successful. I iced it and allowed them to add the eyes, teeth and other bits and pieces. They loved it and he's not too ugly!



Please note the PowerPuff Girls hair clip in my hair and the evidence of bowl licking on Caleb's face. Nice, huh?

THE cake

This is it. The cake upon which much praise and adoration has been heaped upon by the many that have partaken of its chocolatey perfection in recent weeks.

I may have mentioned the ludicrous surplus of courgette / zucchini that we have been suffering under over the last month. I am actually OVER them. If I ever suggest growing them again, hit me with a nasty ol' marrow. HARD. That ought to knock some sense into me. If another person suggests making some more chutney, or how lovely a zucchini fritter is of a Sunday morning, I will be the one doing the marrow-striking. You have been warned.

Anyway. A friend of mine **waves at Fiona** gave me some recipes for dealing with said surplus, and one of them was this. It is so good that I have made many. I have even frozen copious amounts of grated zukes so that I can make it in the off-season. If there ever is an off season. It seems wrong to wish powdery mildew on your own garden, but SHEESH! Stop the prolificness!!

Will stop waffling now. Here 'tis.

Fred's Favourite Chocolate Cake

125g butter
1c brown sugar
1/2c white sugar
3 eggs
2 1/2c flour
1t vanilla
1/2c yoghurt
1/4c cocoa
2t baking soda
1t cinnamon
1/2t mixed spice
1.2t salt
3c grated zucchini
1/2-1c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 170deg. Line 25cm square tin with baking paper. Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time with a spoonful of the measured flour. Add yoghurt and vanilla and mix well. Sieve in dry ingredients and add grated zucchini. Stir until just combined - do not overmix. Pour into tin and top with chocolate chips. Bake for 45mins.

Try it. It even works when you don't measure stuff - I've tried it. I suspect, due to the moistness, that it would also be an easy gluten free conversion.