Setting the record straight

Chocolate Martini - never had one? Great at bedtime, folks, for the wee nitey nite smugness that Milo doesn't give you.

We got drenched last night - not in chocolate (I hasten to add) but rain. It happened that the restaurant that we went to, while being ok, also was streets away from the nearest decent bar. So, we aquaplaned to the Blue Note only to find it closing. Poo. At 10.30pm on a Saturday? Ah well, we are in the Antipodes afterall. Off to The Flying Burrito Brothers - the home of over 300 types of Tequila and the Chocolate Martini (pictured above). Weaved home after the Bailey's mellowed us out and we had dried our hair. I kid you not, we were soaked!! Next time, the gals will choose the restaurant. And the boys will pay.

Now then, I feel obliged to mention this to set the record straight. I have not had group sex with the English Rugby team. Nor have I ever had a text from Shane Warne.

I am sure that there is a story here - I must be one of a very small group of wimmin who hasn't... er... "had" the aforementioned "prvileges". Alert the media.

Frozen sundries

I have been about the countryside again - this time firstly to Kaikoura. The photo above of a sign that took my fancy! I often wonder how people come up with these names, but I suspect all it takes is probably a few mates and an unhealthy quantity of alcohol.
This one shows that the only spot of colour was a road sign warning us of snow! Yup, we had that figured already actaully. An hour or so earlier we had been sitting on the side of a frozen road waiting for the graders to finish ploughing the snow off the road. To amuse ourselves we watched a group of truckers standing about shooting the breeze and WEARING SHORTS. Oh yes. There was one guy who amused us no end by spending the better part of the hour playing pocket billiards.
The next day saw us on the homeward straight. The above photo taken through the Otira Gorge. It was seriously cold and still snowing so we decided not to go up the very steep incline to the next look out post, we did not have chains for the car and thought it best not to get stuck!
On the otherside of the mountains, Castle Hill in the mist proved very pretty. If you click on the link, make sure you check out the web cam. I love this area of New Zealand, moody and almost menacing on a cloudy day but brilliant in summer.

It has been raining here for the past 36 hours and the river through the City looks fit to burst. But we're going out to dinner tonight, Pixie is in town! I think I might just get away with blaming her for the shite weather. After a few glasses of Chateau Collapso, who knows what I will get away with! (Evil laughter).

Well, well who's ringing YOUR bell?

Sunny but cold here and we have the 'promise" of snow at some stage in the near future. That's ok with me, but can we please have enough so that the roads are closed and we don't have to take kids to school or go to work? We have had a new load of wood delivered, got a couple of cases of red wine (in case RB or Pixie drop by) and plenty of fresh baked bread. Took the above photo just by my daughter's school yesterday morning, we had fog, fog, fog! I love it. All the kids were running about in the playground making ghost noises and trying to catch the stuff. I recall as a child being in the car with my grandparents and we were driving in fog so thick Grandad said we were driving close to heaven. Odd what you remember.


Next week I'm going on another road trip. Bet you can't wait for the photos.

Meanwhile, still no sign of Daisy. Still tears at bed time.

The book I'm reading at the moment is quite good but for the last few pages I have had the nagging feeling that I have read it before. Do I continue reading, do I skip to the last pages and doublecheck? Big decision.

Look what I did!

Thanks Gina!!

OK, have come out of my wee "funk" and decided to treat you to some New Zealand music. This band have been about for awhile and this is one of my favourite tracks.

There has been a tendency over the years for our musicians to suffer from what we call "the Dunedin sound" - I'll show you what that is later, but for now suffice to say I'm feeling rather chuffed with myself (and my expert instructor). I warned you I would be dangerous once I cracked this!!

So very unhappy right now

Our beloved Daisy is missing. She was here Saturday morning, all bright eyed and bushy tailed, cuddly and everything. Then, gone. We have no idea where she went. WEe have rung all the vets in the area, the SPCA, the city pound, we have put flyers in over 100 houses in the area. The kids cry themselves to sleep at night, and I'm not far behind now. Four days and she's never been away before. We had a bit of a "lead" this afternoon which raised our hopes only to have them dashed - she wasn't where it was suggested. I think its the not knowing that is so hard.

Then today I found out that a good friend of mine has been killed.



It snowed on Saturday evening, this photo isn't showing much and as it had been raining the stuff didn't settle anyway...BUT I adore the snow. Something so light and fluffy and damn cold about it. The 10 year old caught a snowflake and insisted on it being photographed.

I'm a bit of a kid when it comes to snow but this time my heart isn't in it.


Daisy - come home! RIP - TS.

Be afraid....very afraid

Well, dear Old Cheeser has tagged me for a Top 10 albums blog. I hope you are all scared right now, you should be! I am terribly erratic with my music. The Stud is always complaining about that but as we have just clocked up 13 years together, I figure his opinion can't really be trusted!!

Anyway, I guess I have to start and these are not really in any particular order. I had such a hard job narrowing the albums which have shaped my life thusfar down to 10, I figured I would pick the ones that have really done the job.

My all time favourite would have to be THE LAST WALTZ by The Band. I love Rick Danko to bits, shame he got sick and bloated and he's shuffled off his mortal coil/suffed it/popped his clogs/el morto... but he sure had fun before he went (that's Rick in the white tee shirt) and while inThe Band he was shaggingly-great! His vocals on "Twilight" would bring me to my knees even today (and not just cos he's dead!); this group have a never ending appeal. Even my kids like them. Honestly.

Then, a dart up to the 80's...ERASURE. I just love "Oh L'amour" just love the way the intro starts....and "Sometimes".. ( just love that Dobro guitar intro..and the poppy beat)I think they are on 2 different albums (Circus and Ersaure) but they are so bouncy and happy, dancefloor fillers without doubt. Plus my ex hated them, good enough for me to play them any chance I got! Even now I just love the happy-clappy feel I get from them. Anyone know where they are now?

Next, anything by QUEEN. Their Fat Bottom Girls is a treat as is Those are the Days of Our Lives...go Freddy. Such a flambouyant and loveable chap.

Now, MY FRIEND THE CHOCOLATE CAKE (yes, quite a mouthful as the actress said to the bishop)...their version of Danny Boy is soulful and I love their Midlife's Tale. An underated Australian band (if I say so myself).

Kirsty MacColl gets the next nod for TROPICAL RAINSTORM...just adore that "In these Shoes"..watch Kinky Boots for the song in action.

ZZ TOP - One foot in the Blues is fantastic boot stompin' butt twitchin' stuff. Its not on this album, but the first song of theirs I recall hearing was La Grange...I was in a bar in Hokitika and..no, sorry, that's another blog altogether...that was my um..biker era.

Dan Fogelberg - what can I say that would honour this guy as much as he deserves...he died only just recently but his Captured Angel album was the first I had even heard and used to put onto "repeat" on my stereo and fall asleep to for at least a year! He, of course, went on to other fantastic hits..Same Auld Lang Syne...The Leader of the Band...The Reach...

I have no idea how famous of otherwise this lady is, VAN ORLY, but she should be known from here to Mars and back. I have had the devils own job even trying to get her albums here, have had to resort to a relative getting them sent from Holland and we have made "back up" copies. She is such a strong singer/songwriter. In fact, even YOUTUBE had nothing! There, go and buy her stuff and make her even more famous so at least we get a clip on YouTube!!! However, tracks to watch for "Walking through this Fire" and "Somebody Hold me"....she is FAN-BLOODY-TASTIC.

Now moving right along, TOM WAITS...yeah I know, he sounds like Oscar the grouch 9according to my 10 year old) anyway, I love him. Heart Attack and Vine....The Heart Of Saturday Night...great stuff for late night whatever. When you're too drunk to move. And too stoned to care.

And, because I can only do 10...have chosen Herbie Mann and Cissy Houston (yup, Whitney's mama) "WATERBED/SURPRISES" as the lucky last. The version of CAJUN MOON (on the clip, you will have to forward it about half way to get this particular song)outdoes any other version on this planet. The EASTER RISING is equally stirring but you will have to track down the album cos YouTube ain't got this either!! By the way, if any of you want me to I can send copies of any of the above...email me. If they sang in church here like that I would be there everyday.

I know, I have missed out The Boss and The Eagles...Pink Floyd....and heaps of others who have shaped my life and given me memories that on some days I could do without. Without music however, there is little joy...I love the stuff. We have over 20,000 tracks in our home library...

My next mission is to finally work out how to put video clips on my blog - then you will all have every reason to be afraid.

I would be unstoppable if I could only just get started....

13 - Lucky for some!

Well, this past weekend was a full on one. First we had friends come and stay for the weekend (a long weekend here being Queen's Birthday) and that always means more grog than is decent...plus we had the rugby (also means more grog than is decent let alone almost humanly possible) and to cap it off our 13th wedding anniversary!

And I have dredged up this photo for you...me and my now Scowly Teen (who was my something new, only 3 months old). I also haven't got that colour hair anymore...somethings have to change over time and hair colour is one of them!

Yes, I got wed in red...the Harlot in Scarlet...it rained, hailed and snowed that day. The key for me was that my dad was able to be there. He was dying of cancer, kidney cancer as it turned out, and we had no idea how long he would be with us. All I knew was that I wanted him there on "my" day, and he was.

So, what did YOU wear on your wedding day?

Yay for our Rugby Team

Ah, the Crusaders won the Super 14 rugby title again this year. That makes it 7 times. We went to the game and it was so much fun. The above pic, taken by my cellphone so not tooflash really, is of the Cup awarding ceremony. Richie McCaw and his team did us proud.
Afterwards, we wondered around the city...bar hopping...we started at The Twisted Hop, then meandered over to the Bismark. This is a German Bar/deli where you can get a mean schnapps or port. I opted for wine but the boys with me bravely (read stupidly) went for tankards of beer with the schnapps. I was a bit unhappy that I wasn't offered my wine in a tankard actually. This photo, also taken by cellphone so not much chop in the quality department, and taken in an area known as South of Lichfield...several bars in a courtyard. They were too crowded and being the old fuddy duddies that we are, we decided we were too old to shag about in a queue to get into some overpriced pub to be thumped and jostled by youngsters hell bent on getting drunk. No, not us...so off we strolled to Al's Bar. What a great idea that turned out to be, stumbled across a band from Auckalnd called the Benka Boradovsky Bordello Band and what a bucket-load of energy they were. When you click on the link be sure to scroll down and have a listen to the tunes there. OK, we were feeling rather edgy and happy by the time we got there and the very good man on the door allowed us half-covercharge since it was late and the show had started....got home about 2am.
A good night out but Sunday was a very long day.....where's Richie when you need him eh?

Wellington again

Have been away again. Here are some photos from the plane! Above are the snow-capped Kaikoura Ranges. Usually there is more snow than this but it is only early in the season. They are truly beautiful is full snow but also rather impressive here as they are, don't you think?
Further up the Coast, the landscape speads out looking like an unmade bed, hill and rivers valleys.
At the "almost tip" of the South Island are the salt farms near Blenheim. This area is well known for the Vineyards and for being one of the main places to visit when going to or from the Island by road and ferry across the Strait. I went to boarding school around this way and have fond memories of it to be honest!
Once at Wellington, and having had the meeting finish early - the joy of that! I love the shoe shopping that is available in Welly, then also found a bookshop with loads of Dr Who books and actvity books for the 10 year old, and then the best part of course meeting Pixie for coffee and plenty of catch up chat. We had coffee at Astoria, a cafe on Midland Park and very central to everything. This photo is of the coffee machine in their cafe. It is huge and would do some serious business!! The coffe was very nice, altho' I do prefer cinnamon on my cappucino but wasn't given the choice...liberally doused with chocolate it was still great. I think the company was the key! Thanks, Pixie.
Of course, we ended up at Leuven which appears to have become our local when I'm in town. We had the mussel, scallop and dill fritters - divine!

Then it was home again, home again, jiggedy jig.