Well I don't mean to boast but I can now add custard to my repertoire of things I can cook. Additionally I can also now add repertoire to my repertoire of words I can spell!
We didn't have a very big tea for dinner on Monday so I decided to make pancakes for desert, I thought it would be nice to to have chocolate sauce with them. I remember at Christmas I'd made a chocolate icing based on custard, so I decided to look for a recipe for chocolate custard. I found one and gave it a go, and it was a horrible (but yummy) disaster. Did you know custard can curdle? I didn't... I wondered why it had so many tiny bumps in it - it wasn't at all the consistency of custard!
So I headed to google and did some research and found out why custard curdles. Basically if the egg yolks get too hot too quickly.
Now happily I'm in the habit of making egg white omeletes at the moment, so when I got home from work tonight and whipped up an omelete and then I had two egg yolks left over... so I thought time to give custard another go. I unfortunately didn't have much milk at all, but I kept going anyway. This is my recipe I made up which ended up making some very rich yummy thick chocolate custard which you wouldn't eat by itself but as a topping for something... like icecream!
Ingredients:
2 egg yolks (room temperate)
About 200ml milk (I used skimmed) use more than this if you don't want it super thick, I was planning on using about 280ml.
40g of caster sugar
Tbsp cocoa
tspn cornflour
drop of vanilla
Method:
1 Heat the milk up in a saucepan with the vanilla, just so it's almost boiling.
2 Whisk the egg yolks with the cocoa and sugar and cornflour to get a nice even consistency
3 Pour a tiny bit of milk into the egg mixture and whisk, pour another tiny bit in, you don't want the egg yolks to get too hot too quickly.
4 Keep pouring in the milk and whisking until all the milk is in the eggs
5 Return the mixture to the saucepan
6 Put on the stove at a very low temperature - and don't walk away! Keep stirring it the whole time! And just sit here patiently until it's as thick as you want it. Maybe 10 minutes of something.
And there you go! Enjoy!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Me, Right Now
One of those questiony things taken from Claire's blog:
Ok looks like that's it. My sore throat has now come back, I think I'll have no voice tomorrow when I wake up - it feels like it's been disappearing all day!
Love
Mindy
| me, right now! | |||
 | |||
| 1. A morning person? Yup! 2. Are you a perfectionist? Nope, in some things (onto the 5th time starting on Eloise's cardie, but generally good enough is good enough) 3. Single? Nope 4. Currently suffering from a broken heart? Nope 5. Okay styling other people's hair? Depends on the style, I did some Bridget's hair beautifully once I remember. 6. Left handed? Sure am! 7. Shy around the opposite gender? Not really relevant hehe I think this question is more for teenages. But I guess just answer the damn question - the answer is no. Well no more than I'm she around anyone! DO YOU: 1. Bite your nails? Nope never 2. Currently regret something that you have said? Oh definitely... can't think of something specific, but I often say things I regret in the middle of arguments. 3. Curse frequently when you get mad? Nope, I don't swear much at all. 4. Enjoy smoothies? Especially mango, or banana and mango! 5. Enjoy talking on the phone? Yup especially to Mum and Dad, but I wish I felt comfortable calling more people more. 6. Have a pet? Only Becky back in NZ 7. Have a tendency to fall for the "wrong" person? Don't think so 8. Have all your grandparents? No :( I haven't had all of them since I was 2, have just one now. 9. Have at least one sibling? 2 wonderful sisters who are my best friends. 10. Have Caller I.D. on your phone? Is this question from before the time of cell phones? I do on my cell phone but not on my landline. LAST PERSON WHO: 1. Slept in bed with you? Darren 2. Saw you cry? Darren 3. Went to the movies with you? Darren 4. You went to the mall with you? Darren 5. You went to dinner with? Darren, Rach, Greg, Susannah and Cory 6. You talked on the phone? Dad 7. Made you laugh? Darren WOULD YOU RATHER? 1. Pierce your nose or tongue? Tongue, except I wouldn't want it to damage my teeth 2. Be serious or be funny? Funny 3. Drink whole or skim milk? Whole 4. Die in a fire or drown? Drown DO YOU PREFER. . 1. Flowers or candy? Flowers... it's been AGES since I've gotten flowers. 2. Colour or Black? Colour 3. Sunrise or sunset? Sunrise, though hardly ever see that, I see the sunset here frequently and it's so beautiful. 4. M&Ms or Skittles? I don't know! Um probably M&Ms 5. Staying up late or waking up early? Wake up early ANSWER TRUTHFULLY !! 1. Do you like anyone? Yup 2. Do they know it? Yup (haha these are teenager questions again) DO YOU PREFER... 1. Sun or moon? Sun 2. Left or right? Left 3. 10 acquaintances or having two best friends? I have 10 best friends! 4. Sun or rain? Sun at the moment because I'm sick of staying inside - but I love the rain a lot 5. Vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream? Chocolate if it's by itself, vanilla if it's a side 6. Vodka or Jack? Jack FOOD: 1. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it? I cut it before I cook it, and twirl it when I eat 2. Have you ever eaten Spam? No 3. Favorite ice cream? Phish food 4. How many kinds cereal are in your cabinet? Only one at the moment - porridge! 5. What's your favorite beverage? Mango and banana smoothie 6. Do you cook? Yup IN THE LAST MONTH, HAVE YOU? (YES OR NO) 1. Had a b/f or g/f? yes 2. Bought something you didn't need? yes 3. Sang in front of people? no 4. Been kissed? yes 5. Been hugged? yes 6. Felt stupid? no 7. Missed someone? yes - all the time 8. Danced Crazy? don't think so, wish I had though 9. Gotten your hair cut? no 10. Cried? yep 11. Lied? oh yup, but just a white lie | |||
Ok looks like that's it. My sore throat has now come back, I think I'll have no voice tomorrow when I wake up - it feels like it's been disappearing all day!
Love
Mindy
Friday, April 25, 2008
No Subject
Hiya!
I just felt like blogging and I don't know what I'm going to write about yet so I didn't really know what to put as a title. Thus there is currently no title. Though I put no subject because that's like what emails say, which isn't really that funny. But not everything has to be funny.
Well today is my first ever Anzac day away from NZ, but then yesterday was my first ever April 24th away from NZ and tomorrow will be my first ever April 25th away from NZ. So well, I think I'll be ok. I bought a poppy to wear anyway, I'm not quite sure what the poppy was for as obviously they don't sell Anzac day poppies here, but I figured it would fit the purpose.
Do you wanna see the kaftan I knitted for my gorgeous wee niece Eloise? You do? Well ok then here it is...
And Darren tried it on to see how it fit...
And then I decided to knit something for my darling sister Claire so I made her this scarf...
And that's all. Now I'm knitting a baby cardigan also for Eloise. It's made out of pretty dusty rose wool, it's almost purple and it's the first time I've knitted with tiny wool and tiny needles so it takes a lot longer!
What else is news? Well I have a new desire to get into my French lessons I've been teaching myself. It's hard, but I'm being lazy too. What I'd learnt so far wasn't enough for me to say anything in French while I was in France, but I think it did enable me to understand a tiny bit more - I could grab certain words.
One thing I absolutely loved in the office we were in in Nancy was that each time someone arrived at the office they came around everyone and shook their hand and said bonjour. Even me and they had no idea who I was and why I was there. It was so nice. A lot of people also went round and said goodbye at the end of the day too! Very civilised I thought.
Darren put on this martial arts movie last night. Sometimes I don't like them much, as sometimes they are a bit short on interesting characters and plots, this one was not much different - but for some reason I really liked it! In fact I can't wait to watch the end of it tonight (I fell asleep - but that's because I was tired from travelling). It was called Showdown in Little Tokyo.
I can't actually wait to go to Japan either (there were Japanese people in the movie last night). I've been thinking maybe I should learn Japanese again. I say again even though I haven't really learnt it properly, but I did take it for two years in high school. I have a friend Michiko who could help me! I can't really remember any words but enu. Which means dog. Kawaii means cute I think too. And instead of saying knock knock they say kotsu kotsu. We had a song that the postman sang as he went round the neighbourhood I think saying "kotsu kotsu" as he knocked on the doors. Anyway the thing I liked about Japanese was it was easy to pronounce in that it was pronounced exactly as it was written, I'm not sure if there are any exceptions to that but I didn't come across any. Anyway I can still read most of the characters I learnt so I've got a small headstart in learning Japanese.
I think I will. I think I'll try and learn French and Japanese. It is very doubtful I'll get the two mixed up in my head. I should try and learn a word each day in French and Japanese. To cheat I'll make dog my first word as I already know that in Japanese. Ok just learnt it in French it is chien. Good done.
Ok well hope everyone is well! I'm missing my sisters a lot today. I think they need me. Or maybe I need them. But anyway I just have to do what I can from here.
:)
Mindy
I just felt like blogging and I don't know what I'm going to write about yet so I didn't really know what to put as a title. Thus there is currently no title. Though I put no subject because that's like what emails say, which isn't really that funny. But not everything has to be funny.
Well today is my first ever Anzac day away from NZ, but then yesterday was my first ever April 24th away from NZ and tomorrow will be my first ever April 25th away from NZ. So well, I think I'll be ok. I bought a poppy to wear anyway, I'm not quite sure what the poppy was for as obviously they don't sell Anzac day poppies here, but I figured it would fit the purpose.
Do you wanna see the kaftan I knitted for my gorgeous wee niece Eloise? You do? Well ok then here it is...
And Darren tried it on to see how it fit...
And then I decided to knit something for my darling sister Claire so I made her this scarf...
And that's all. Now I'm knitting a baby cardigan also for Eloise. It's made out of pretty dusty rose wool, it's almost purple and it's the first time I've knitted with tiny wool and tiny needles so it takes a lot longer!
What else is news? Well I have a new desire to get into my French lessons I've been teaching myself. It's hard, but I'm being lazy too. What I'd learnt so far wasn't enough for me to say anything in French while I was in France, but I think it did enable me to understand a tiny bit more - I could grab certain words.
One thing I absolutely loved in the office we were in in Nancy was that each time someone arrived at the office they came around everyone and shook their hand and said bonjour. Even me and they had no idea who I was and why I was there. It was so nice. A lot of people also went round and said goodbye at the end of the day too! Very civilised I thought.
Darren put on this martial arts movie last night. Sometimes I don't like them much, as sometimes they are a bit short on interesting characters and plots, this one was not much different - but for some reason I really liked it! In fact I can't wait to watch the end of it tonight (I fell asleep - but that's because I was tired from travelling). It was called Showdown in Little Tokyo.
I can't actually wait to go to Japan either (there were Japanese people in the movie last night). I've been thinking maybe I should learn Japanese again. I say again even though I haven't really learnt it properly, but I did take it for two years in high school. I have a friend Michiko who could help me! I can't really remember any words but enu. Which means dog. Kawaii means cute I think too. And instead of saying knock knock they say kotsu kotsu. We had a song that the postman sang as he went round the neighbourhood I think saying "kotsu kotsu" as he knocked on the doors. Anyway the thing I liked about Japanese was it was easy to pronounce in that it was pronounced exactly as it was written, I'm not sure if there are any exceptions to that but I didn't come across any. Anyway I can still read most of the characters I learnt so I've got a small headstart in learning Japanese.
I think I will. I think I'll try and learn French and Japanese. It is very doubtful I'll get the two mixed up in my head. I should try and learn a word each day in French and Japanese. To cheat I'll make dog my first word as I already know that in Japanese. Ok just learnt it in French it is chien. Good done.
Ok well hope everyone is well! I'm missing my sisters a lot today. I think they need me. Or maybe I need them. But anyway I just have to do what I can from here.
:)
Mindy
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Yes I'm strange
Hello! I'm in France England
This is a picture of a lovely square, Stanislas, in Nancy
Nancy Nancy
This is a picture of a lovely square, Stanislas, in NancyToday was work and a very nice guy approached me at breakfast who was also English and going to visit the ECR (Euro Cargo Rail) Offices so I had myself a ride. The day was productive... I've got a lot of work ahead of me now though!
Ok finally as to why I'm strange. Because I'm in
Love,
Mindy
PS (Added next day) I realised something today that made me quite happy. I can confirm amongst strangers I really don’t care in the least what people think of me. Well of the real me – I would be annoyed if they made assumptions and judged me etc. I came to this realization when I was sitting on the train from
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Just a couple of things
... to mention today. Nothing too exciting.
First I mentioned on Marc's blog and maybe even in a blog post here a while back that I thought it would be so much better if third part car insurance was compulsory in New Zealand (I think this was in agreement with him) - and lo and behold, an article in stuff about how the government is proposing compulsory third party insurance. So obviously I'm very happy with that.
Secondly did I say my computer got a virus two weeks ago? It was SUCH a pain, put me out of action for days at work! In addition to the virus I had a hard drive error so my computer got taken away on Thursday to be fixed. Nows for all I know I may have mentioned this in my last post, but I'm sorry I really can't be bothered going back to check. Anyway as I said my computer is geting a new hard drive at the moment, so I'll get it back Monday! Woo hoo! I miss it - we've never been separated for this long before ;) Hehe actually I wonder if that's true. No, it can't be, I've been away from it for long weekends before.
Thirdly (yes we're still keeping count) I was just checking the visitor activity on this blog. It is so astounding, my blog traffic has sky rocketed since I posted that picture of a baby tapir. I'm guessing this is because there must not be that many pictures of baby tapirs on the internet so when people search google images for baby tapirs they get my page! Honestly there is at least ten hits each day on the baby tapir image from a google image search. Marketing people should keep this in mind, if they want lots of traffic on their page, then consider adding a picture of a baby tapir.
Fourthly Darren and I watched the new Stargate movie last night. It was awesome. Because it was Stargate. I'd read some bad reviews on it, well not bad as such, but one review that said it wasn't even as good as two good episodes put together, but maybe that's just because Stargate is just so amazingly awesome to start with it would be impossible to be better than it already is. Anyway if you love Stargate you'll love it, if you don't love Stargate you won't. If you love the original Stargate movie but not the TV series then you won't like it either. Or in fact understand it at all - it really is just a conclusion to the series. Sob sob. But at least Sam is in Atlantis now.
Fifthly I finally finished the jersey I'm making (oops I've made) for Eloise! I would post a picture, but then it wouldn't be a surprise for her. As I know she regularly reads this blog.
Good night and thank you,
:)
Mindy
First I mentioned on Marc's blog and maybe even in a blog post here a while back that I thought it would be so much better if third part car insurance was compulsory in New Zealand (I think this was in agreement with him) - and lo and behold, an article in stuff about how the government is proposing compulsory third party insurance. So obviously I'm very happy with that.
Secondly did I say my computer got a virus two weeks ago? It was SUCH a pain, put me out of action for days at work! In addition to the virus I had a hard drive error so my computer got taken away on Thursday to be fixed. Nows for all I know I may have mentioned this in my last post, but I'm sorry I really can't be bothered going back to check. Anyway as I said my computer is geting a new hard drive at the moment, so I'll get it back Monday! Woo hoo! I miss it - we've never been separated for this long before ;) Hehe actually I wonder if that's true. No, it can't be, I've been away from it for long weekends before.
Thirdly (yes we're still keeping count) I was just checking the visitor activity on this blog. It is so astounding, my blog traffic has sky rocketed since I posted that picture of a baby tapir. I'm guessing this is because there must not be that many pictures of baby tapirs on the internet so when people search google images for baby tapirs they get my page! Honestly there is at least ten hits each day on the baby tapir image from a google image search. Marketing people should keep this in mind, if they want lots of traffic on their page, then consider adding a picture of a baby tapir.
Fourthly Darren and I watched the new Stargate movie last night. It was awesome. Because it was Stargate. I'd read some bad reviews on it, well not bad as such, but one review that said it wasn't even as good as two good episodes put together, but maybe that's just because Stargate is just so amazingly awesome to start with it would be impossible to be better than it already is. Anyway if you love Stargate you'll love it, if you don't love Stargate you won't. If you love the original Stargate movie but not the TV series then you won't like it either. Or in fact understand it at all - it really is just a conclusion to the series. Sob sob. But at least Sam is in Atlantis now.
Fifthly I finally finished the jersey I'm making (oops I've made) for Eloise! I would post a picture, but then it wouldn't be a surprise for her. As I know she regularly reads this blog.
Good night and thank you,
:)
Mindy
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Dave
Dave is my new best friend. I spend much of my day with Dave. Dave is a free view channel that shows about three programs over and over and over again. These are Top Gear (awesome!), Whose Line is it Anyway and Red Dwarf. I know what you're thinking. Awesome! It even shows the good old Whose Line is it Anyway, the old one with Clive Anderson. Whose Line is it Anyway was my absolute favourite program awhile back, when I was at uni I think.
Anyway yay for Dave. Also of note in my TV regime at the moment is Fresh Prince of Bel Air. It's just good because it's been so long since I saw it and it's such a strong tie to my childhood! That's not on Dave though that's on Virgin 1.
Ok so my life is a wee bit boring that I'm talking about TV... but well you are all the people reading about my sad life ;) Haha.
Oh something extremely exciting happened today. I got a whole bunch of packages descending on me at work. Darren and I had ordered two lots of DVDs (I won't mention that these were Star Trek DVDs as that would be embarassing) and these arrived, and my birthday present from Amy arrived! I had checked with her that I could open it (ie that my actual present was wrapped inside) and I could and I'm so glad I did. She was such a sweetie! She sent me four packets of Extra Drops, which are these sugar free lollies that I haven't seen here (though apparently you can get them, but not as commonly as in NZ!) and some delicious licorice. I've already had a piece, this is RJs licorice, I think it's widely regarded as the absolute best licorice in the world, ok maybe not widely regarded but I'm sure I'm not the only one who holds that opinion! Amy sent 3 packets on onion soup!! You know what that means! Three bowls of dip! Ok non New Zealanders won't get that at all, but that's their fault for not being New Zealanders, and they should just go and be a New Zealander like the best of us are! (Or they could probably just go to NZ and ask a NZer, or they could just ask me and I'd probably tell them).
Here's a tip for you all as well. Jonathan at work recommended the movie "Lars and the Real Girl" and so much do I value his opinion that I'm going to go ahead and recommend it before I've even seen it myself... but rest assured I will be watching it!
Hope everyone is well and happy :)
XOXOX
Anyway yay for Dave. Also of note in my TV regime at the moment is Fresh Prince of Bel Air. It's just good because it's been so long since I saw it and it's such a strong tie to my childhood! That's not on Dave though that's on Virgin 1.
Ok so my life is a wee bit boring that I'm talking about TV... but well you are all the people reading about my sad life ;) Haha.
Oh something extremely exciting happened today. I got a whole bunch of packages descending on me at work. Darren and I had ordered two lots of DVDs (I won't mention that these were Star Trek DVDs as that would be embarassing) and these arrived, and my birthday present from Amy arrived! I had checked with her that I could open it (ie that my actual present was wrapped inside) and I could and I'm so glad I did. She was such a sweetie! She sent me four packets of Extra Drops, which are these sugar free lollies that I haven't seen here (though apparently you can get them, but not as commonly as in NZ!) and some delicious licorice. I've already had a piece, this is RJs licorice, I think it's widely regarded as the absolute best licorice in the world, ok maybe not widely regarded but I'm sure I'm not the only one who holds that opinion! Amy sent 3 packets on onion soup!! You know what that means! Three bowls of dip! Ok non New Zealanders won't get that at all, but that's their fault for not being New Zealanders, and they should just go and be a New Zealander like the best of us are! (Or they could probably just go to NZ and ask a NZer, or they could just ask me and I'd probably tell them).
Here's a tip for you all as well. Jonathan at work recommended the movie "Lars and the Real Girl" and so much do I value his opinion that I'm going to go ahead and recommend it before I've even seen it myself... but rest assured I will be watching it!
Hope everyone is well and happy :)
XOXOX
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Remember Me?
Helloooooo!
Remember me? I know I haven't been around in awhile. Here's a picture of me in case you've forgotten who I am (which would be totally understandable). :)
Well hmmm a lot has been going on here since I last wrote.
Darren and I went to Holland and stayed with Susannah and Cory. It was such an awesome holiday as Rach and Greg came over from Cambridge too! Oh that was Easter, so I guess that wasn't too long ago really.
Ohhh before I carry on I should say the most important thing! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLAIRE! It's my baby sister's birthday today. She turns 19! Sometimes she seems a lot older and sometimes she seems a lot younger hehe. Uh oh. I just did some maths, that means it was 7 years ago almost that I was 19. Urgh! I'm old! Thinking back though to when I was 19... well lets just say I've come a long way. I can still remember Claire as a baby though, she was a premmie, and stayed in hospital a whole month to grow big and stuff. While she was in hospital I had a cold and I wasn't allowed to go in an visit her for a week or so but Amy still was... man that wasn't fair! Then she came home from hospital on my birthday and I was a bit grumpy about this because I thought she'd steal my thunder... and she probably did but in the end I didn't really mind. Besides Mum and Dad had got me a highlighter pink bike and it was awesome so I think I got over the Claire thing pretty quickly. Well not got over her, of course I loved her so much and still do!
Ok back to Holland. So it was Easter, it snowed. We went to a gorgeous art gallery in The Hague. Which was definitely a highlight. We spent a very cold day in the snow in Amsterdam, where a lot of the day was spent walking to somewhere, finding the queue was too big then walking somewhere else. We did go to a cool kid's science museum called Nemo, and we braved the queue for Anne Frank's house which was amazing to see.
What else. Hmm I don't even know if I've written since my Dad came over! My Dad came the weekend before Easter which was so great! We just hung out a bit (he was only here for 3 days) and also went for a drive to Buxton and went to Poole's cavern which are these cool limestone caves. We also had some delicious meals out... I still salivate thinking about the wild mushroom and pinenut rissoto I had for lunch at a pub. It was sad to see Dad go, I'm such a family girl, and it was just like standard four camp all over again (Dad came to visit one night, it was so hard to see him go, even though I only had like 2 more days left on camp hehe!).
Um what else has happened. Confession time! I've started watching (and enjoying) Star Trek. I'm a total sci fi geek now. Stupid Darren's done this to me. But I always figure it's probably better than to enjoy something than to not enjoy it (like if I pay to go to a movie a try and enjoy it rather than rip it apart).
Work has been hard work lately. Hehe. So I won't talk about that much.
I don't even know if I've written a blog since Kirsty Face had her baby! Well her and Nick's baby I think they're supposed to share. She's a gorgeous wee thing called Eloise and I can't wait to meet her. Though when I meet her she'll be a lot bigger than she is now! I'm so proud of Kirsty and Nick and Eloise, even though it's really nothing to do with me! I would post a photo but I think it's bad enough when parents get out your baby photos when you're a teenager and embarrass you with them, I wouldn't want Eloise to get embarrassed by her picture on the net. Trust me she's cute! Claire has some pictures on her bebo, which is much more private than a blog so if you have bebo and have Claire as a friend check her out :)
Congratulations also to my cousin Hamish and his wife Sam who also had a baby in the last month! Another gorgeous girl called Lily. And Beth's sister Emma had her wee boy James, I think he's called. So really March has been a baby-full month!
Ok that's just about enough from me I think.
Lots of love,
Mindy
Remember me? I know I haven't been around in awhile. Here's a picture of me in case you've forgotten who I am (which would be totally understandable). :)
Well hmmm a lot has been going on here since I last wrote.
Darren and I went to Holland and stayed with Susannah and Cory. It was such an awesome holiday as Rach and Greg came over from Cambridge too! Oh that was Easter, so I guess that wasn't too long ago really.
Ohhh before I carry on I should say the most important thing! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLAIRE! It's my baby sister's birthday today. She turns 19! Sometimes she seems a lot older and sometimes she seems a lot younger hehe. Uh oh. I just did some maths, that means it was 7 years ago almost that I was 19. Urgh! I'm old! Thinking back though to when I was 19... well lets just say I've come a long way. I can still remember Claire as a baby though, she was a premmie, and stayed in hospital a whole month to grow big and stuff. While she was in hospital I had a cold and I wasn't allowed to go in an visit her for a week or so but Amy still was... man that wasn't fair! Then she came home from hospital on my birthday and I was a bit grumpy about this because I thought she'd steal my thunder... and she probably did but in the end I didn't really mind. Besides Mum and Dad had got me a highlighter pink bike and it was awesome so I think I got over the Claire thing pretty quickly. Well not got over her, of course I loved her so much and still do!
Ok back to Holland. So it was Easter, it snowed. We went to a gorgeous art gallery in The Hague. Which was definitely a highlight. We spent a very cold day in the snow in Amsterdam, where a lot of the day was spent walking to somewhere, finding the queue was too big then walking somewhere else. We did go to a cool kid's science museum called Nemo, and we braved the queue for Anne Frank's house which was amazing to see.
What else. Hmm I don't even know if I've written since my Dad came over! My Dad came the weekend before Easter which was so great! We just hung out a bit (he was only here for 3 days) and also went for a drive to Buxton and went to Poole's cavern which are these cool limestone caves. We also had some delicious meals out... I still salivate thinking about the wild mushroom and pinenut rissoto I had for lunch at a pub. It was sad to see Dad go, I'm such a family girl, and it was just like standard four camp all over again (Dad came to visit one night, it was so hard to see him go, even though I only had like 2 more days left on camp hehe!).
Um what else has happened. Confession time! I've started watching (and enjoying) Star Trek. I'm a total sci fi geek now. Stupid Darren's done this to me. But I always figure it's probably better than to enjoy something than to not enjoy it (like if I pay to go to a movie a try and enjoy it rather than rip it apart).
Work has been hard work lately. Hehe. So I won't talk about that much.
I don't even know if I've written a blog since Kirsty Face had her baby! Well her and Nick's baby I think they're supposed to share. She's a gorgeous wee thing called Eloise and I can't wait to meet her. Though when I meet her she'll be a lot bigger than she is now! I'm so proud of Kirsty and Nick and Eloise, even though it's really nothing to do with me! I would post a photo but I think it's bad enough when parents get out your baby photos when you're a teenager and embarrass you with them, I wouldn't want Eloise to get embarrassed by her picture on the net. Trust me she's cute! Claire has some pictures on her bebo, which is much more private than a blog so if you have bebo and have Claire as a friend check her out :)
Congratulations also to my cousin Hamish and his wife Sam who also had a baby in the last month! Another gorgeous girl called Lily. And Beth's sister Emma had her wee boy James, I think he's called. So really March has been a baby-full month!
Ok that's just about enough from me I think.
Lots of love,
Mindy
Friday, March 07, 2008
Finish this Sentence
Borrowed off Lottie's bebo :) And needed 2 minutes of light relief during a tough day!
Finish The Sentence
1. My ex still......? Um plays guitar
2. I love... my fiance and porridge
3. Maybe I should... brush my hair
4. People close to my heart... know who they are! I hope!
5. I am listening to... Nothing :(
6. I don't understand... why people buy those those butt ugly cars
7. I lost... myself once or twice
8. People say... that every cloud has a silver lining and I agree!
9. The meaning of my screen name is... Well it's just my name so that's not very exciting
10. Love is... everywhere
11. Somewhere, someone is... eating porridge!
12. I will always... love porridge (haha)
13. Forever seems... huge
14. I never ever want to... hurt people, but sometimes I do
15. When I wake up in the morning... I start cooking my porridge so it's ready for when I'm dressed!
16. I get annoyed when...people speed and when I burn my porridge
17. Parties are... sometimes best when its just a few of your closest mates
18. My pet(s) is... my fishies that Kirsty is looking after
19. Kisses are the best when.... they're unexpected
20. Today I... will relax after a hard week and have some porridge
21. Tomorrow I will.. go for a run and have some porridge
22. I really want... a hug from my Dad (1 week till he comes!) and to eat some porridge
23. I need to tell... someone about my day - I need to offload!
24. Life is... all about being the kindest person you possibly can be and eating porridge
25. I promise... that I will try and learn from every mistake I make
Ok that got a little silly - there wasn't so much mention of porridge, I went back and added more porridge references. But porridge is great, and I'm tired so I think I'm being funny when I may not be!
:)
Mindy
Finish The Sentence
1. My ex still......? Um plays guitar
2. I love... my fiance and porridge
3. Maybe I should... brush my hair
4. People close to my heart... know who they are! I hope!
5. I am listening to... Nothing :(
6. I don't understand... why people buy those those butt ugly cars
7. I lost... myself once or twice
8. People say... that every cloud has a silver lining and I agree!
9. The meaning of my screen name is... Well it's just my name so that's not very exciting
10. Love is... everywhere
11. Somewhere, someone is... eating porridge!
12. I will always... love porridge (haha)
13. Forever seems... huge
14. I never ever want to... hurt people, but sometimes I do
15. When I wake up in the morning... I start cooking my porridge so it's ready for when I'm dressed!
16. I get annoyed when...people speed and when I burn my porridge
17. Parties are... sometimes best when its just a few of your closest mates
18. My pet(s) is... my fishies that Kirsty is looking after
19. Kisses are the best when.... they're unexpected
20. Today I... will relax after a hard week and have some porridge
21. Tomorrow I will.. go for a run and have some porridge
22. I really want... a hug from my Dad (1 week till he comes!) and to eat some porridge
23. I need to tell... someone about my day - I need to offload!
24. Life is... all about being the kindest person you possibly can be and eating porridge
25. I promise... that I will try and learn from every mistake I make
Ok that got a little silly - there wasn't so much mention of porridge, I went back and added more porridge references. But porridge is great, and I'm tired so I think I'm being funny when I may not be!
:)
Mindy
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Double Take
Darren was having his tooth out today so I went along with him just in case. It went fine though I was expecting more funny faces due to his painkiller injection numbing half his mouth. So that was disappointing. However it was really worth the trip as we were driving down the road and I saw a street name that made me do a double take! I found the road on google maps - check it out:
Now this has left me wondering... how in the world did this street get it's name? And how would you feel living there? These people didn't like it much at all! For those who can't be bothered following the link there is a statement in the story that the Doncaster council has nothing on record as to why the road was named Butt Hole Road.
Hope you're all having a good week.
:)
Mindy
Now this has left me wondering... how in the world did this street get it's name? And how would you feel living there? These people didn't like it much at all! For those who can't be bothered following the link there is a statement in the story that the Doncaster council has nothing on record as to why the road was named Butt Hole Road.
Hope you're all having a good week.
:)
Mindy
Monday, March 03, 2008
No Legacies!
I had a huge realisation today that actually caused me some consternation. There are no subaru legacies here! That's probably what's missing from my life at the moment. In Christchurch every second car is a subaru legacy station wagon. Ok maybe that's a very slight exaggeration but check this out - a list of the people I know who own or did own legacies:- My Mum
- My Auntie Bobbie
- My cousin Hamish (or maybe it was Josh, or maybe both)
- My cousin Andrew
- My friend Helen
- My friends Kim and Lennon
- Kim's parents
Now onto some more general observations about cars here. Men get all excited about Granny cars - and they boast about the fuel economy of their cars. I mean sure they might be latest model German technology - but they are so sissy! Everyone has sissy cars. I guess to everyone's credit they are much more eco friendly!
There are a few people who don't have sissy cars (haha I totally contradicted my last paragraph) - they are a lot more very expensive cars around, and I must admit I do love seeing them around. But that doesn't change the fact that it's ok here to boast about having a Granny car. We have a Granny car - but you don't see me boasting about it! Anyway enough about the Granny cars (which are everywhere and are sissy!).
One great thing about motoring over here is that insurance is compulsory. Now all the smart people in NZ have insurance anyway but the dumb ones don't, and the dumb ones are the ones who end up buying cars that are way more expensive than they can afford and then crash them and end up in debt for years and years. Now it's mostly young kids who do this - they can afford the cars because they sign up for really dodgy loans that put them at such a financial disadvantage right when they're starting their life in the working world. And lots are boy racers. Here there are some boy racers too - but the majority of kids just simply can't afford the insurance on these flash cars till they're 25. It's brilliant they end up having to buy a sensible not very powerful car that they can afford to insure if they want to be on the road, then once they're 25 and the insurance drops they've hopefully learnt a bit about money and responsibility and can then splash out on whatever they want. This isn't the reason that car insurance is compulsory but I think it's a chuffing good side effect!
Ok that's all for now!
:)
Mindy
Friday, February 22, 2008
Very Windy
Ok so this post was supposed to come yesterday and it was so supposed to contain my thank yous for the slip of my imaginery CD. Unfortunately it will fulfill neither of those expectations. Turns out I need another sleepless night to work out my thanks and I haven't done that yet.
Anyway it's so windy here today! Walking home was the strongest wind I ever walked in in my whole life that I can recall. Once apparently it was really windy at Picton and Amy blew off the wharf when we were waiting for the ferry, but I can't remember that. So I'm going assume it's windier here today. Luckily I didn't get knocked out by flying debris or anything like that - but I will admit I'm glad I'm not ten kilograms lighter as I may very well have gone flying!
I'm so glad that Darren is working indoors at the moment in a police station otherwise I'd be really worried about him. Though I must admit now I am worried about him driving home. Lucky we have a small car that won't catch the wind too much. Though I bet there's a lorry or two blown over today.
I'm watching Neighbours right now - I haven't watched it for ages! Like years and years so it's quite funny. I find it weird that Susan and um her Doctor wife are together because last time I watched they were broken up and I was so sad about that. Now I feel stupid for being sad - what a waste of time! Oh Carl, that's his name. Ew how weird this girl on neighbours (Paul's daughter) just made pikelets and she burnt them all - how unrealistic - you wouldn't burn every pikelet you'd learn from the first. They're not the kind of thing you start cooking and then just walk away and leave. You have to stand there the whole time they're cooking. She's quite pretty though.
It's such a good day for lazing on the couch watching TV. Susannah and I were emailing this afternoon about just that and it made me really really desperate to get home. It was such a long week at work this week. In some ways. In other ways I can't believe it's Friday already! I'm not complaining though.
Ok well I have to go and do some more lying on the couch and watching TV - catchya later!
:)
Mindy
Anyway it's so windy here today! Walking home was the strongest wind I ever walked in in my whole life that I can recall. Once apparently it was really windy at Picton and Amy blew off the wharf when we were waiting for the ferry, but I can't remember that. So I'm going assume it's windier here today. Luckily I didn't get knocked out by flying debris or anything like that - but I will admit I'm glad I'm not ten kilograms lighter as I may very well have gone flying!
I'm so glad that Darren is working indoors at the moment in a police station otherwise I'd be really worried about him. Though I must admit now I am worried about him driving home. Lucky we have a small car that won't catch the wind too much. Though I bet there's a lorry or two blown over today.
I'm watching Neighbours right now - I haven't watched it for ages! Like years and years so it's quite funny. I find it weird that Susan and um her Doctor wife are together because last time I watched they were broken up and I was so sad about that. Now I feel stupid for being sad - what a waste of time! Oh Carl, that's his name. Ew how weird this girl on neighbours (Paul's daughter) just made pikelets and she burnt them all - how unrealistic - you wouldn't burn every pikelet you'd learn from the first. They're not the kind of thing you start cooking and then just walk away and leave. You have to stand there the whole time they're cooking. She's quite pretty though.
It's such a good day for lazing on the couch watching TV. Susannah and I were emailing this afternoon about just that and it made me really really desperate to get home. It was such a long week at work this week. In some ways. In other ways I can't believe it's Friday already! I'm not complaining though.
Ok well I have to go and do some more lying on the couch and watching TV - catchya later!
:)
Mindy
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Casual Friday
I don't know if I was particularly not tired last night or whether I'm suffering from insomnia as I spend what felt like a good hour in bed after lights out trying to decide what I'd wear for casual clothes to work. As we wear pretty formal clothing here I did want to wear something a bit trendy and also a bit young (not to rub in the fact that I'm only 25 to everyone, but you know just to be young). So there were numerous debates in my head:
As you can imagine making that decision was a relief.
Now all I need for us to have a casual Friday here at work one of these days!
Stayed tuned for tomorrow's installment of Mindy's insanity: "Who I would thank on the imaginary album cover of the imaginary CD that I'm putting out".
But before you go, here is a picture I took on my way to work of a leaf and rime - stayed tuned tomorrow to find out what Rime is (or look it up if you can't be bothered waiting!).
:)
Mindy
- Is my denim mini skirt too slutty? (My tartan one definitely is)
- Do I want to use this opportunity to promote the bands I like?
- Would my mini skirt be better with 3/4 length black footless tights underneath?
- Am I more concerned about comfort or looking good? (wearing trackpants did cross my mind)?
- Would my ugg boots be ok for walking to work in (they came off very favourably in the debate as they are comfy and trendy!)
- Is my playboy top too slutty - or too young?
- Would I scare people if I wore my skull and crossbone earrings?
- Were my jeans too scruffy?
- Was my green DKNY top too boring?
- Did I think I could find the nice gold necklace I bought when Claire was here?
As you can imagine making that decision was a relief.
Now all I need for us to have a casual Friday here at work one of these days!
Stayed tuned for tomorrow's installment of Mindy's insanity: "Who I would thank on the imaginary album cover of the imaginary CD that I'm putting out".
But before you go, here is a picture I took on my way to work of a leaf and rime - stayed tuned tomorrow to find out what Rime is (or look it up if you can't be bothered waiting!).
:)
Mindy
Monday, February 18, 2008
Weekly Update
I think I should do a weekly update from now on. This is to stop me going too long between posts.
Not that I guarantee I'll have anything exciting or even vaguely interesting to say.
This weekend was a quiet one - it was lovely though. We are having stunning weather here at the moment. Just beautiful. Really heavy frosts that get every leaf on each tree, that freeze our lake - but then such brilliant sunshine during the day. It just feels so nice walking around in the crisp air with the warm sun on your back. People in Christchurch will know what I'm talking about! Though the difference here is that the frosts don't defrost by the end of the day - the bits in the shade stay icy! I think that happened in Dunedin a bit but I haven't experienced that much in Christchurch.
Well Darren and I watched Beowulf in the weekend. It was odd. The movie was good-ish - but the animation caught our attention more than the actually movie did. And though some of the effects were absolutely brilliant there were times when I'd wished it was just a normal acted movie. Also I'm not quite sure what John Malkovich's character was there for - it was a bit odd - I love John Malkovich and he did a great job his character just confused me.
We've decided with Rach and Greg to go and visit Susannah and Cory in Leiden for Easter which will be very exciting. That's in the Netherlands. Could everyone please keep their fingers crossed that due to it being a reasonably mild winter the tulips will already be out for us to see :) I can't wait I feel it's about time for another trip and this one will be so fun getting to see our friends too!
Darren has started Wing Chung haha I actually don't know if that's what it's called but that's what I hear when he says it. It's a type of Kung Fu anyway. So that's good. And as part of my Valentines present he's said we can do dancing lessons.... I'm so excited about that! Thanks hunny :)
Write - now everyone go and write me a letter. You know you want to!
Love,
Mindy
Not that I guarantee I'll have anything exciting or even vaguely interesting to say.
This weekend was a quiet one - it was lovely though. We are having stunning weather here at the moment. Just beautiful. Really heavy frosts that get every leaf on each tree, that freeze our lake - but then such brilliant sunshine during the day. It just feels so nice walking around in the crisp air with the warm sun on your back. People in Christchurch will know what I'm talking about! Though the difference here is that the frosts don't defrost by the end of the day - the bits in the shade stay icy! I think that happened in Dunedin a bit but I haven't experienced that much in Christchurch.
Well Darren and I watched Beowulf in the weekend. It was odd. The movie was good-ish - but the animation caught our attention more than the actually movie did. And though some of the effects were absolutely brilliant there were times when I'd wished it was just a normal acted movie. Also I'm not quite sure what John Malkovich's character was there for - it was a bit odd - I love John Malkovich and he did a great job his character just confused me.
We've decided with Rach and Greg to go and visit Susannah and Cory in Leiden for Easter which will be very exciting. That's in the Netherlands. Could everyone please keep their fingers crossed that due to it being a reasonably mild winter the tulips will already be out for us to see :) I can't wait I feel it's about time for another trip and this one will be so fun getting to see our friends too!
Darren has started Wing Chung haha I actually don't know if that's what it's called but that's what I hear when he says it. It's a type of Kung Fu anyway. So that's good. And as part of my Valentines present he's said we can do dancing lessons.... I'm so excited about that! Thanks hunny :)
Write - now everyone go and write me a letter. You know you want to!
Love,
Mindy
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Another List!
Those of you who are pretty familiar with this blog will know that I quite like posting lists here - because sometimes they're just easier than paragraphs and sometimes I'm lazy. Those of you who know me quite well will probably also know I've been a bit down on being here for the last few weeks - but I'm turning it around! I think part of the problem is I get a bit bored... I have lots of hobbies but no motivation - so now I'm making wee goals for myself and basically just trying not to be a misery guts. As quite often you just need to change your thought pattern and things pick up! Anyway in the spirit of being positive here's a list of things I love about being here:
Hope everyone is good!
Mindy
- Danone shape yoghurt.... YUMMY!
- Cleaning an apartment - takes about 30 seconds, ok not 30 but not long!
- Traveling of course!
- Writing and receiving letters.
- Getting a lot closer to people through emails and msn that I wasn't as close to before like Susannah and Lottie.
- The lovely people I've met over here, Ann and Julia at work.
- Having broadband (ok we could have had it in NZ but we didn't so it counts!)
- Having baths (again we not exclusive to the UK but we didn't have a bath in Chch)
- The new words I'm learning such as chuffing.
- Our outlet mall.
- The Mighty Boosh (a great BBC comedy)
- Oh! The birds - the birds are great here.
- ASDA Carrot and parsnip soup YUMMY!
- Walking to work.
- Having a gym at work.
Hope everyone is good!
Mindy
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Alien vs Predator : Requiem
Well for those of you who haven't seen the first Alien vs Predator this will spoil it - but since you're so silly as to not have seen it yet I make no apologies (besides if you haven't seen it yet you're probably just one of those people who have assessed it's not really your kind of thing which is totally fine and you probably won't watch it anyway so I'm not really spoiling anything). Anyway to recap the end of the first Alien vs Predator movie the Predator ship flew away and you saw an Alien burst out of the Predator! Wow!
So anyway the new Alien causes havoc on the ship which then crashes near a small town in America somewhere near Colorado. It is filled with Americans.
The basis for this movie is a fight between the Alien that burst out of the Predator and has taken on the Predator's genetic traits versus just the normal Predator. Now silly me. I thought well the Alien is awesome the Predator is awesome - how can a normal Predator even have a chance of beating an Alien Predator crossbreed. BUT I forgot some important things - firstly the Aliens (despite their genetic merging) have been are always instinctually driven creatures, whereas the Predators are higher thinking beings - it's a sport and a challenge to them to kill, Aliens just do it. Predators are very much like humans, though maybe a bit cleverer. The other thing and the most important thing is that Predators are a technologically advanced species and so that gives them a huge advantage. The one advantage the Alien's have is the ability to reproduce and make lots of Alien minions.
So anyway I feel more akin to the Predators (what can I say I like their handsome dreds, and their soothing clicking noise, and their sexy split face thing) and I was hoping they would come out victorious. But of course I will not tell who did!
Other points of note: I love these movies because they don't even need to bother with character development at all as most people get killed. Oh and watch out for the brilliant scene with the father and his daughter - you'll know it when you see it, it was hilarious! Also interesting to note in this movie was the hot blonde chick, took her top off, right by a swimming pool, and yet there was no scene with her dripping with water... even more surprising she put her top back on and didn't spend the rest of the movie running around in her bra... and to my absolutely amazement she actually went a step further a wore a buttoned up denim jacket that didn't reveal any cleavage at all!
The thing about these movies is only people who are going to enjoy them ever end up watching them anyway. So my advice is to watch it if you want to and if you don't don't!
That is all.
:)
Mindy
So anyway the new Alien causes havoc on the ship which then crashes near a small town in America somewhere near Colorado. It is filled with Americans.
The basis for this movie is a fight between the Alien that burst out of the Predator and has taken on the Predator's genetic traits versus just the normal Predator. Now silly me. I thought well the Alien is awesome the Predator is awesome - how can a normal Predator even have a chance of beating an Alien Predator crossbreed. BUT I forgot some important things - firstly the Aliens (despite their genetic merging) have been are always instinctually driven creatures, whereas the Predators are higher thinking beings - it's a sport and a challenge to them to kill, Aliens just do it. Predators are very much like humans, though maybe a bit cleverer. The other thing and the most important thing is that Predators are a technologically advanced species and so that gives them a huge advantage. The one advantage the Alien's have is the ability to reproduce and make lots of Alien minions.
So anyway I feel more akin to the Predators (what can I say I like their handsome dreds, and their soothing clicking noise, and their sexy split face thing) and I was hoping they would come out victorious. But of course I will not tell who did!
Other points of note: I love these movies because they don't even need to bother with character development at all as most people get killed. Oh and watch out for the brilliant scene with the father and his daughter - you'll know it when you see it, it was hilarious! Also interesting to note in this movie was the hot blonde chick, took her top off, right by a swimming pool, and yet there was no scene with her dripping with water... even more surprising she put her top back on and didn't spend the rest of the movie running around in her bra... and to my absolutely amazement she actually went a step further a wore a buttoned up denim jacket that didn't reveal any cleavage at all!
The thing about these movies is only people who are going to enjoy them ever end up watching them anyway. So my advice is to watch it if you want to and if you don't don't!
That is all.
:)
Mindy
Monday, January 28, 2008
Lovely Day
It was an absolutely beautiful day in Doncaster today, made better still by the fact that I'm feeling a little better today - I've been feeling quite sick for the last 6 days. But I think I'm finally on the road to getting better. In fact I went for a lovely run tonight, it was really good. I think my muscles and everything are back I just need to get a bit fitter then I'll be back to where I was.
Also tonight I decided to learn about Afghanistan and Iraq and Sudan so I read about them on wikipedia and now I know a little more. This was prompted by me watching a bit on the news tonight about a school in Afghanistan. Turns out most of what I read was already in my head - I did know it all - but now I just know it properly. Also recently I read the book the Kite Runner part of which is set in Afghanistan. I would really recommend this book, it was a fantastic read, and pretty quick too - so if you're not used to reading it's not daunting at all.
Other new... well I like my new bebo skin so check it - I spent a long time choosing it!
I watched most of the third season of Weeds now. I really quite like that program, I think when it is on TV in NZ it's on Prime, so keep your eyes open for it.
Oh and I made a chocolate cake today and I'm quite impressed because I sort of made up the recipe - in that I found a recipe didn't have many of the ingredients so just guessed alternatives, and didn't really measure anything properly. But I've made enough chocolate cakes now to be able to tell from the batter if it's going to be a goodun or not. This one was pretty good but way to big for me and Daz... I would take some to work but I've iced it and it'll get all sticky and messy so I don't think I'll bother.
Darren and I are now watching the second season of Rome - probably a year after it was on TV - but anyway I'm quite enjoying it. For anyone who has watched it Titus Pullo is my favourite - I'm going to miss him when the season finishes.
There are some London youths on TV on a program and listening to them talk I'd swear they're not even speaking English - but they are! They really should consider giving them subtitles hehe. In slightly related news yesterday I had to ring our bank in New Zealand - it was so easy! I didn't have to repeat any words the lady on the other end understood everything I said! :) Hehe.
Love,
Mindy
Also tonight I decided to learn about Afghanistan and Iraq and Sudan so I read about them on wikipedia and now I know a little more. This was prompted by me watching a bit on the news tonight about a school in Afghanistan. Turns out most of what I read was already in my head - I did know it all - but now I just know it properly. Also recently I read the book the Kite Runner part of which is set in Afghanistan. I would really recommend this book, it was a fantastic read, and pretty quick too - so if you're not used to reading it's not daunting at all.
Other new... well I like my new bebo skin so check it - I spent a long time choosing it!
I watched most of the third season of Weeds now. I really quite like that program, I think when it is on TV in NZ it's on Prime, so keep your eyes open for it.
Oh and I made a chocolate cake today and I'm quite impressed because I sort of made up the recipe - in that I found a recipe didn't have many of the ingredients so just guessed alternatives, and didn't really measure anything properly. But I've made enough chocolate cakes now to be able to tell from the batter if it's going to be a goodun or not. This one was pretty good but way to big for me and Daz... I would take some to work but I've iced it and it'll get all sticky and messy so I don't think I'll bother.
Darren and I are now watching the second season of Rome - probably a year after it was on TV - but anyway I'm quite enjoying it. For anyone who has watched it Titus Pullo is my favourite - I'm going to miss him when the season finishes.
There are some London youths on TV on a program and listening to them talk I'd swear they're not even speaking English - but they are! They really should consider giving them subtitles hehe. In slightly related news yesterday I had to ring our bank in New Zealand - it was so easy! I didn't have to repeat any words the lady on the other end understood everything I said! :) Hehe.
Love,
Mindy
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Wet Weekend
Hi Everyone!
It's really wet here. Not substantial big raindrops but it's been consistently drizzly for several days now! I think it drizzled everyday last week. And of course after the summer floods here people on the news are a bit nervous (other people might be too but I haven't spoken to them about it). We'll be nice and high and dry in our second floor apartment if that happens though! Though we may have to find somewhere drier for our car.
Anyway this was the first weekend in AGES that we didn't have people here or were away. We didn't actually just flop and do nothing like we were planning to. We went out into town both days (yesterday for some reason it was packed!) and looked at the shops. And went for a short run in the rain this morning. I almost got Darren to go for a walk with me yesterday too, we were just putting on our shoes then it occurred to me to go out onto the balcony and check if it was raining. It was, heavily, so we skipped it. I love walking around the lake after dark because there are just so many pretty lights!
I was really bored last night so today when we were out I looked for some art supplies. We're trying to save money now so I opted for a cheap-ish option and spent 5 pounds buying some pastels and a pastel pad. So I'm going to learn how to use pastels. My first surprise was that pastels that are not oil pastels are totally dry, like chalk. So this is going to be quite a learning experience for me. I've been looking up about it all on google and soon I think I'll be sufficiently prepared to actually put pastel to paper - maybe in a fortnight hehe. We'll see. I don't want to neglect my knitting, but knitting is something I like doing while I'm watching something, so if there's nothing I want to watch I don't really feel like knitting.
Speaking of knitting I started my sleeve for my jersey for the third time today. I did lots of it ages ago last year, then when I picked it up a week ago I couldn't figure out where I was up to in the pattern so rather than risk making a mistake I started again. Today I was very confused by the pattern as it looked like the sleeve was going to be twice as long as my arm but realised I'd made a mistake in reading it, so once again I started again. I won't be starting it again though! Well not till I get to the other arm.
And we had a lovely roast chicken for tea tonight. I'm not sufficiently confident in the kitchen that I'm still at the stage where I feel quite a sense of achievement by cooking a roast meal (even though it's dead easy). Though I did put vegemite in the gravy as I saw it on a cooking show last week, and I didn't much like it. I might try marmite next time ;)
I'm listening to REM at the moment, I really really really like REM even though I don't talk about them very much so I thought I would just say that now, so it's on the record.
:)
Mindy
It's really wet here. Not substantial big raindrops but it's been consistently drizzly for several days now! I think it drizzled everyday last week. And of course after the summer floods here people on the news are a bit nervous (other people might be too but I haven't spoken to them about it). We'll be nice and high and dry in our second floor apartment if that happens though! Though we may have to find somewhere drier for our car.
Anyway this was the first weekend in AGES that we didn't have people here or were away. We didn't actually just flop and do nothing like we were planning to. We went out into town both days (yesterday for some reason it was packed!) and looked at the shops. And went for a short run in the rain this morning. I almost got Darren to go for a walk with me yesterday too, we were just putting on our shoes then it occurred to me to go out onto the balcony and check if it was raining. It was, heavily, so we skipped it. I love walking around the lake after dark because there are just so many pretty lights!
I was really bored last night so today when we were out I looked for some art supplies. We're trying to save money now so I opted for a cheap-ish option and spent 5 pounds buying some pastels and a pastel pad. So I'm going to learn how to use pastels. My first surprise was that pastels that are not oil pastels are totally dry, like chalk. So this is going to be quite a learning experience for me. I've been looking up about it all on google and soon I think I'll be sufficiently prepared to actually put pastel to paper - maybe in a fortnight hehe. We'll see. I don't want to neglect my knitting, but knitting is something I like doing while I'm watching something, so if there's nothing I want to watch I don't really feel like knitting.
Speaking of knitting I started my sleeve for my jersey for the third time today. I did lots of it ages ago last year, then when I picked it up a week ago I couldn't figure out where I was up to in the pattern so rather than risk making a mistake I started again. Today I was very confused by the pattern as it looked like the sleeve was going to be twice as long as my arm but realised I'd made a mistake in reading it, so once again I started again. I won't be starting it again though! Well not till I get to the other arm.
And we had a lovely roast chicken for tea tonight. I'm not sufficiently confident in the kitchen that I'm still at the stage where I feel quite a sense of achievement by cooking a roast meal (even though it's dead easy). Though I did put vegemite in the gravy as I saw it on a cooking show last week, and I didn't much like it. I might try marmite next time ;)
I'm listening to REM at the moment, I really really really like REM even though I don't talk about them very much so I thought I would just say that now, so it's on the record.
:)
Mindy
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
More Positive
Well I don't have anything exciting to write about but I didn't want the last thing on my blog being me moaning about being homesick. Thanks for all the nice comments though! So anyway I've decided to just write something! I can also post some photos from Dublin too.
Haha a program just came on TV called Golden Balls. They really love their game shows here that's for sure!
So I haven't done any exercise (apart from lots of walking around Barcelona and Dublin!) so back and work and back into my routine I went for my first run yesterday. It was pretty hard work. The second day though I think is often more important than the first - and today was even harder! But something strange and annoying happened, I somehow hurt my back so now it feels all bruised and sore.
Ok I said I'd post a photo, here's my favourite of all the photos I took in Dublin - it's a bit blurry but very pretty I think:
And here's a photo of a Leprechaun I saw:
Ok well I might go and do some knitting now. I started again last night after neglecting it horribly for sometime.
Lots of love,
Mindy
Haha a program just came on TV called Golden Balls. They really love their game shows here that's for sure!
So I haven't done any exercise (apart from lots of walking around Barcelona and Dublin!) so back and work and back into my routine I went for my first run yesterday. It was pretty hard work. The second day though I think is often more important than the first - and today was even harder! But something strange and annoying happened, I somehow hurt my back so now it feels all bruised and sore.
Ok I said I'd post a photo, here's my favourite of all the photos I took in Dublin - it's a bit blurry but very pretty I think:
And here's a photo of a Leprechaun I saw:
Ok well I might go and do some knitting now. I started again last night after neglecting it horribly for sometime.Lots of love,
Mindy
Monday, January 14, 2008
Homesick
Well I had a really homesick moment today. While we were packing up our hotel room we were watching a program on TV where each episode a British family gets presented with the kind of life they could have in NZ or Australia and at the end they have to decide whether to take it up and move, or whether to stay put. Well this episode was about a Welsh family considering a move to Nelson... and just hearing so many NZ accents, and seeing the schools, and the sea, and the boys playing rugby, and hearing the narrator mis-pronouce Marae made me miss NZ lots! To add insult to injury the stupid family decided to stay in Wales. Why? When you could live in Paradise?
I actually cried as I was walking down the street thinking about home. Though admittedly I may actually be a bit overly emotional today anyway as I cried a couple more times about very little.
Any I hope all the New Zealanders back in New Zealand reading this appreciate what they've got! Darren and I could quite happily go home tomorrow. But we won't :) Tomorrow we probably won't be homesick still anyway. Actually when I got to the supermarket after the flight arrived home to find my favourite diet coke was reduced from 37p to 18p for 2L that was almost enough to tip the scales in Donny's favour again.
:)
Mindy
I actually cried as I was walking down the street thinking about home. Though admittedly I may actually be a bit overly emotional today anyway as I cried a couple more times about very little.
Any I hope all the New Zealanders back in New Zealand reading this appreciate what they've got! Darren and I could quite happily go home tomorrow. But we won't :) Tomorrow we probably won't be homesick still anyway. Actually when I got to the supermarket after the flight arrived home to find my favourite diet coke was reduced from 37p to 18p for 2L that was almost enough to tip the scales in Donny's favour again.
:)
Mindy
Dublin... loved it!
Dublin! Wow what another beautiful city. An incredibly lively and spotlessly clean place with such a strong sense of culture and history.
We arrived on Friday evening, and I must admit it was a relief to be travelling in a country that speaks English again, just being able to rock up and have a really easy conversation with the lady at the tourism office. We bused in no problem and found the hotel... it's strange to be staying in a hotel again rather than a B&B, a pretty budget one albeit but very livable, and with it's own sort of charm.
The first day we'd bought a bus tour which was very useful to get around a lot of sights. I think I'll look out for more bus tours in the future the commentary was very useful, and amusing. The first stop was Trinity College which was a beautiful university that was opened by Queen Elizabeth the 1st (see I wouldn't know that if it hadn't been for the tour). Trinity College was also the home to the book of Kells which was a very interesting to see! This is a book written by monks in the 9th century. Just as impressive almost was the college's "Long Room" a charming library room that houses the colleges oldest books.
A bonus was they had the sculpture "Sphere within sphere" I think it is called. There was one of these at the Vatican City too so it was cool to see another!
We had a short look around the Georgian buildings and parks (and saw a statue of Oscar Wilde - coming to Dublin really makes you realise how many fantastic authors came from Ireland). Then we went to the National Museum. It was a really lovely museum, just had a really airy old but modern atmosphere. The highlight here though was the bog people, which were human remains that were almost perfectly preserved in peat bogs. It was really eerie! They had hair and faces and everything!
Next stop was a quick look at Dublin castle which was closed, then we decided to choose one of Christ Church Cathedral, or St Patrick's Cathedral. Well for no better reason than we're from Christchurch we went to Christ Church Cathedral. It was a lovely Church and very accessible, you were allowed to wander all around it and into the crypt. I haven't had enough of Church's yet, but I think for big Catholic Churches nothing will beat St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, and for Gothic Cathedrals York Minster.
Next stop, The Guinness Storehouse! It was an interesting tour, learning a bit of history and how they make the beer. But of course the highlight is the complimentary pint of Guinness you get. Darren pulled his own pint, and for some reason didn't have to hand in his complimentary tag which meant he had it for when we up to the Gravity Bar so he could get another! And I gave him mine too. The half a glass I had in the tasting room made me realise I didn't want a whole pint to myself. The gravity bar was a pretty high bar which wonderful views of the city. It was a lovely spot, and coincidentally Darren and I were celebrating our 4 year anniversary that day. After his 3 pints (which he shared with me) Darren declared the Guinness Storehouse to be the highlight of the day!
It was dark and raining by the time we got out so we had the rest of the tour without getting off. The taste was then to enjoy another quite drink and pretty reasonable bar meal at a pub. The end to a very nice day!
Sunday was a chance to get back to some of the places we'd seen on the tour but not got off. I got a picture with Molly Malone's statue. I love the song Molly Mallone as Gran taught it to me and we used to sing it while we were skipping along the beach at Port Underwood. We also looked around the shops and spent a relaxing half hour of so wandering around the beautiful park of St Stephen's Green.
Then it was time to catch the train to the Bram Stoker museum. Which actually turned out to be similar to a carnival haunted house experience. It was fun though and I learned a lot about Bram Stoker. The actual wander through "Dracula's Castle" wasn't really that scary but I managed to psych myself up enough that I did get a fright at the couple of dummy's that jumped out at you! The funniest thing that it was in this bar complex, that had a gaming area, TONS of pool tables. It was a like a family friendly bar, but still definitely a bar... it stunk of alcohol! So what else to do but enjoy a quiet drink here!
We caught the train back then wandered through "Temple Bar" the area of Dublin famous for Bars, Restaurants, shops, culture! I insisted Darren had another drink here, as you can't go to Dublin without enjoying a drink at Temple Bar. So despite the pint he had cost the same as a dozen would have in NZ it was a great experience in a real atmosphere filled buzzing pub.
For dinner we tried Ireland's answer to fast food... Supermac! A fast food shop that sold Maccas style burgers, Subway style sandwiches, pizzas, fish n chips! The whole kebang! We both had burgers though and they were nice enough.
Monday was final shopping and a final Guinness in Temple Bar for Darren!
:)
Mindy
We arrived on Friday evening, and I must admit it was a relief to be travelling in a country that speaks English again, just being able to rock up and have a really easy conversation with the lady at the tourism office. We bused in no problem and found the hotel... it's strange to be staying in a hotel again rather than a B&B, a pretty budget one albeit but very livable, and with it's own sort of charm.
The first day we'd bought a bus tour which was very useful to get around a lot of sights. I think I'll look out for more bus tours in the future the commentary was very useful, and amusing. The first stop was Trinity College which was a beautiful university that was opened by Queen Elizabeth the 1st (see I wouldn't know that if it hadn't been for the tour). Trinity College was also the home to the book of Kells which was a very interesting to see! This is a book written by monks in the 9th century. Just as impressive almost was the college's "Long Room" a charming library room that houses the colleges oldest books.
A bonus was they had the sculpture "Sphere within sphere" I think it is called. There was one of these at the Vatican City too so it was cool to see another!
We had a short look around the Georgian buildings and parks (and saw a statue of Oscar Wilde - coming to Dublin really makes you realise how many fantastic authors came from Ireland). Then we went to the National Museum. It was a really lovely museum, just had a really airy old but modern atmosphere. The highlight here though was the bog people, which were human remains that were almost perfectly preserved in peat bogs. It was really eerie! They had hair and faces and everything!
Next stop was a quick look at Dublin castle which was closed, then we decided to choose one of Christ Church Cathedral, or St Patrick's Cathedral. Well for no better reason than we're from Christchurch we went to Christ Church Cathedral. It was a lovely Church and very accessible, you were allowed to wander all around it and into the crypt. I haven't had enough of Church's yet, but I think for big Catholic Churches nothing will beat St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City, and for Gothic Cathedrals York Minster.
Next stop, The Guinness Storehouse! It was an interesting tour, learning a bit of history and how they make the beer. But of course the highlight is the complimentary pint of Guinness you get. Darren pulled his own pint, and for some reason didn't have to hand in his complimentary tag which meant he had it for when we up to the Gravity Bar so he could get another! And I gave him mine too. The half a glass I had in the tasting room made me realise I didn't want a whole pint to myself. The gravity bar was a pretty high bar which wonderful views of the city. It was a lovely spot, and coincidentally Darren and I were celebrating our 4 year anniversary that day. After his 3 pints (which he shared with me) Darren declared the Guinness Storehouse to be the highlight of the day!
It was dark and raining by the time we got out so we had the rest of the tour without getting off. The taste was then to enjoy another quite drink and pretty reasonable bar meal at a pub. The end to a very nice day!
Sunday was a chance to get back to some of the places we'd seen on the tour but not got off. I got a picture with Molly Malone's statue. I love the song Molly Mallone as Gran taught it to me and we used to sing it while we were skipping along the beach at Port Underwood. We also looked around the shops and spent a relaxing half hour of so wandering around the beautiful park of St Stephen's Green.
Then it was time to catch the train to the Bram Stoker museum. Which actually turned out to be similar to a carnival haunted house experience. It was fun though and I learned a lot about Bram Stoker. The actual wander through "Dracula's Castle" wasn't really that scary but I managed to psych myself up enough that I did get a fright at the couple of dummy's that jumped out at you! The funniest thing that it was in this bar complex, that had a gaming area, TONS of pool tables. It was a like a family friendly bar, but still definitely a bar... it stunk of alcohol! So what else to do but enjoy a quiet drink here!
We caught the train back then wandered through "Temple Bar" the area of Dublin famous for Bars, Restaurants, shops, culture! I insisted Darren had another drink here, as you can't go to Dublin without enjoying a drink at Temple Bar. So despite the pint he had cost the same as a dozen would have in NZ it was a great experience in a real atmosphere filled buzzing pub.
For dinner we tried Ireland's answer to fast food... Supermac! A fast food shop that sold Maccas style burgers, Subway style sandwiches, pizzas, fish n chips! The whole kebang! We both had burgers though and they were nice enough.
Monday was final shopping and a final Guinness in Temple Bar for Darren!
:)
Mindy
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