The Ballad of Sarah Palin

I'm not actively following the leadup to the American elections but let's face it, it's hard to ignore. And we've heard so much about this Sarah Palin (anybody even know who Obama's running mate is??), not much of it good so I did a little youtube search to find something to make me smile :)

Running out of Patience...

I honestly do not know how much more I can take of this "green" wall. Tonight was my fourth week attempting this and I'm tired of getting stuck at the same point every week. I think I could deal with this if I was getting a bit further on each attempt but getting stuck at the same point... well, trust me when I say that I was not "being too hard on myself" (Spencer's words not mine). I'm tired of this and it seems to me that I need a lesson on technical climbing if there's such a thing. I intend to speak to the people in Fergs and see if anybody there can help me with some technical moves that I don't have but need! Of course it could just be that it's a nerve/arm strength/leg strength thing too but at some point I'm going to need the technical stuff too... I ain't good with using the wall unless it's obvious bit of rock (1 inch) jut/ledge to use.

Last weekend I finally finished John Irving's "Until I Find You"... if you haven't read then my suggestion would be go, "read it". It's fantastic. It's a long novel (close to 1000 pages) but it's so well written with fantastic characters that I loved it from start (literally) to end! I started reading "The Italian Woman" by Iris Murdoch after that which I have to admit I'm finding much more readable than I expected! But I decided the other evening as it's such a lovely light thin book I should keep it for our tramp this weekend. We're going to walk up to Waitewaiwai (Y-te-Y-Y) Hut from Otaki Forks on Saturday and back out on Sunday... apparently about a 6 hrs walk. Well I need the exercise (hence finally buying some running shoes this weekend)!!

As for the runnng shoes... I feel I can trying something a little more than climbing, tramping and pilates. My aim is to do the Corporate Challenge 5km run on the 12th November. As I've never actually done any serious running (Bray to Greystones once does not count!) I don't really expect to be able to run the whole thing (but I'm still aiming for that) but sure I have no doubt that I could easily walk that bit that I can't run.

Enough waffle so that's it for now...

The Menu... for anybody interested

Last Saturday evening's very tasty veggie degustation menu that I had at Citron...

Degustation Menu


Amuse Bouche
A small bite of food to amuse the mouth, invigorate the palate, whet the appetite
Eggplant mousseline w cocoa nib & micro greens

Cherry tomato w olive paint, avocado, purple potato crisps
& tomato oil

Parsnip dumplings on sweet corn puree w glazed baby onions,
truffled chestnut & cumin foam

Indian spiced split red lentil soup

Blue cod w cauliflower crumb, balsamic caviar, buttered turnip
& parsley couli

Portabello & crushed potato galette w edemame beans, Spring pesto
& aubergine ragout

Meyer vintage gouda w peach & almond paste

Nectarine & green tea refresher

Pain d’épices w dark chocolate mousse, cherry compote
& crème de cassis caramel

Petit fours

Weekend bits and pieces...

Quick note to say hello again. All good here... spring is really trying to show it's face though yesterday and today I'm afraid that it got lost somewhere along the way. Definitely a little cold today and the October and November wind is starting to show it's face.

Saturday evening we went to Citron for what I can only describe as a wonderful meal. We arrived at 8pm and finished at 11:45pm... well I didn't know, I've never had a degustation menu before! It was by far one of the best meals (in a restaurant) I've had in a long long time and definitely the best since I got to NZ. I think what I was so impressed with was that out of all the courses I only got fish in one (so they didn't take the easy option), I got vegetarian cheese and I really felt that they had put as much effort and thought in to my courses as they had for a meat eaters. And not only that but my courses were not totally distinct from Dave's - they would share a sauce or idea. This place is not what you'd call cheap and cheerful but I'd have no hesitation in recommending Citron to anybody wanting something a little special. Wonderful :)

Saturday afternoon (why write in chronological order I ask you?) we visited the Botanic Gardens to see the tulips that I'd heard a number of people asking about. There were thousands of them about but I think what I really enjoyed was that we ended up just wandering photographing trees, wild flowers, and lots of other beautiful plants.


212 photos later I was feeling pretty tired.. and windswept :)


Oh, we went to see Wall-E last night... it's a wonderfully cute and amusing, and sometimes sad movie. Clever (watch out for the "is it a fork or a spoon" bit), funny, and definitely moving. If you haven't seen it go see it!!! It's great :)

Okay that's it. Oh feeling very pleased as I had 56 views of my flickr photostream on the 28th.. and I've had two photos added as favourites in the last fortnight. As I've said plenty of times before, it's the little things in life...

Look what I won... and other ramblings!

So a few days back Kathleen awarded me the following:



This is a Portugeuse aware meaning "This blog invests and believes in proximity". Kathleen and myself went to uni together in Scotland (she's Scottish and I ain't and neither of us currently live in Scotland). We didn't keep in touch much after we graduated but somehow or other (I'm not sure how) we got in touch a few years after I'd left. We exchanged maybe one or two emails a year and a Christmas card. But since I've discovered Kathleen's blog I've been able to use that to keep in touch much more as we now actively comment on each others activities and I get to hear about her husband Dave who we were both at uni with and the two kids. It's great :) I'll pass this aware on a little bit but I'm going to hang on to it for a week or two :)

I'm afraid I've been bad at keeping up to date recently; just haven't had the inclination I'm afraid. I had a superbly relaxing lazy weekend though not much in the way of photography (light wasn't great). Rewatched Sense & Sensibility on Mon evening and while nothing will ever beat P&P in my eyes, I do enjoy this movie a little bit more each time that I watch it :)

On Tues evening it was lovely and mild so I decided to drop some CDs and DVD back to the library (short walk) but took my camera with me. 1 hr and 50 photos later I got home! Taking photos at night is hard... I need to practice!


I was climbing this evening - it never ceases to fascinate me that my warm up climb scares me the most. I always forget this but then am really quite nervous when I'm doing it. I reclimbed that "challenge" wall that you were getting weekly updates on a while back. It's the first time I've done it since I managed to complete and I didn't expect to complete it tonight... I nearly gave up at one point but decided to give it one more try and no hassle so pleased that I did. There's a wall I've been trying the last few weeks and I keep getting stuck on the same point... maybe I'll do better next week...

Work wise things are interesting if that's the word to use. I'll be taking on a new role in a few weeks (very different to what I've been doing - more varied, more autonomy, more responsibility etc etc etc) and have started attending a few meetings related to this. In some ways I'm looking forward to it and in others I'm worried... But I wanted to push myself and this is the perfect opportunity!!

Heading to Citron for dinner on Sat... really looking forward to this! We'll be having the 9 course degustation menu and when I was on the phone explaining that I was vegetarian I was blown away by their helpfulness... how do I feel about gelatine (ugh), free range -v- normal eggs, animal -v- plant rennet in cheeses... really fantastic. So stay tuned for the review :)

And on that merry little note I'm going to go get some food... getting peckish :)

So... the camera

So apart from cooking and eating tasty cupcakes from Tempt this weekend, we also headed out to Somes/Matui Island on Sunday for a few hours. We did spend a few hours out there last Jan or Feb I believe and have been intending to head back in ages. Our original plan was to bring a picnic out with us but I'm afraid that our lack of planning meant that we just grab some sambos in New World before getting the ferry across. But none of that mattered as it was a beautifully sunny day out there and I had my new camera to play with. But oh my Lord, there's so much to learn, understand and remember! There was much (and I mean ALOT) patient explaining of lighting, exposure, ISO sensitivity (set it myself or go with Auto), white balance etc etc etc but at the end of it all I think I managed to get one or two pics that I'm happy with. I've put up a few on flickr but here are a few as well...

I like this because with the compact I could do close up but I could never get it quite as sharp as it is here...


How could anybody not find this fuzzy little lamb adorable??





Back in Wellington I also couldn't resist playing with the shutter speed to freeze water... I'm easily amused :)

For those of you asked

Thanks to all of you (here and on LJ) who seemed so sure that dinner would turn out okay! It did. Well actually, it wasn't fantastic but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I think one has to have a little more energy than I possessed that day to this meal properly (quite a bit of prep) and it needs to be served with some nice to stop that empty plate thing happening. Next time maybe I'll remember the tomatoes and manage to get dried chick peas and remember to not pulverise the veggies in the blender and I'll serve the whole lot with some nice green beans baked in garlic butter in the oven... yummy :)