The Great Potato Dig

One of the Christmas traditions here for many families is to have new potatoes as part of Christmas dinner.



Dad grew some that he harvested on Christmas Eve.



Under supervision.......



........because, as can you see, my right-handed Mother was unable to help. Two and a half weeks ago she cracked both the bones in her right forearm just above her wrist while gardening ( the plant she was pulling on suddenly gave way and so did Mum). She will be in plaster until about the 20th of January - very frustrating for Mum as she is an avid patchwork quilter and can't use her sewing machine.

It is just as well that I am here for another week to help the Folks out!

Our Christmas

This year our Christmas day was very relaxed (and yes, that is Zebby Cat in the photo to the right under the tree). The morning was cloudy but the sun came out to play during the afternoon. I was very relieved that it wasn't a hot day, and the "gladdies" were flowering prettily in my dear parent's garden.

Dinner was an easy cook for me this year - marinated, boned out and butterflied leg of NZ (of course) lamb that I put into the marinade the night before. I cooked it in the hooded barbeque (gas grill) to keep the heat down in the kitchen!

It was accompanied by new potatoes, peas and green beans all grown in Dad's garden, plus a red wine laced gravy and mint jelly. We drank a very pleasant Shiraz wine.


I made a Summer Pudding for our dessert that I accompanied with a citrus custard - I made up the custard recipe and it worked!



Here is a shot showing the inside of this berry ladden pudding. Instead of bread I used pannetone and we all agreed it was the best one I'd ever made.

The day, and the next, were filled with phonecalls to and from dear family and friends both here and overseas. We finished the day with wine and mince pies (made by me) with the Christmas tree lights in the background.

I hope your Christmas Day was as happy and joyful as ours was here in Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.

Grumpy Old Zeb

Zebby Cat must have seen this photo from the Icanhascheezbuger site, as he was an absolute menace overnight with his frequent paw whacks, mad purring and
washing attempts on my face.

Perhaps he senses he is off to his Vets' cattery tomorrow!

December Fun in Wellington

On Saturday evening we had an earthquake - a 5.7! - which went on for 20 seconds. I hastily moved away from the full bowl of hot soup I'd just put on the table and moved to a doorway. Afterwards I checked on Zebby. He lifted his head from his snoozling to see what I wanted, then demanded some kittycat treats. So much for animals sensing that an earthquake is coming!!!

No damage here and only very little everywhere else the quake was felt.

Zebby would like you all to know that His human stupidly drownded another keyboard on Sunday. It was her latest after previous spills and this keyboard was supposedly spill resistant but proved other wise (what a waste of homemade ginger beer). The human bought another keyboard today and is keeping the plastic bag it came in over it for protection from herself.

So that was our Weekend.

That human had to go out today, right across town, for a medical check up with her wonderful surgeon. Just the 1 bus from here to there but I used 3 on the way back as I bought that keyboard, other boring human stuff and then groceries including Whiskas Tempatations cat treats. It rained the whole time and was especially heavy every time I had to walk somewhere. Thank goodness I was home, all safe and sound, at 5.30 pm when it became like a tropical monsoon - a deluge just in time for folks leaving work for the day!

Mickle would like you all to know that Zebby adores his catnip plant. Zeb lays down on his red bathmat (like in the photo above) and buries his nose in the plant, pulling it over and towards him. This is interspersed with His human brushing his furrs over and over in both directions(!) which Zeb so so enjoys now it is moulting season (maybe better called summer's extra-moulting season as Zeb moults all year around). There is much Zebby Cat puRRRRRRRumbling, at high volume, for a long, long time - and this is happening every evening.

And so that was our* soggy yet happy Tuesday, December the 6th 2011; how was yours?



*okay, Mickle's soggy day as Zeb spent nearly all day and evening on His bed that he permits me to share each night, bless him

New Toys

A few months ago I bought myself a breadmaker. I've made all my own bread ever since. I mostly use the machine to mix up and knead the dough, and to do the first rise. Then I shape the dough however I want it, let it rise again and bake it.

I've had a wonderful time working through some of the bread recipes on my dear blogworld friend Marjie's site. I can thoroughly recommend her Italian Potato Bread recipe.

So you'd like to make bread but don't know how? Check out Marjie's Bread Tutorial. It has instructions that cover working both with and without a breadmaker. Marjie makes bread most days so she knows what she is writing about. You'll also find links to a wonderful array of other recipes on Marjie's sidebar (check out the cakes!!!).



This is my other new toy - a new sewing machine, a Christmas present from my parents. This was a complete surprise.

I haven't tried using it yet (too busy knitting plus I need to clear the table) but I have read the manual from cover to cover. I know how to sew, I just haven't really for years. I must declutter so I have space for sewing once more.

My Folks bought it from the Bernina Sewing Centre Tauranga where I'm can get free lessons on the new machine when I'm up there over Christmas and help over the phone any time I need it. Mum (and Dad) have been regular customers since retiring up to Tauranga 21 1/2 years ago. The two sisters who own this sewing centre and their family have become special friends of our family.

And what about Zebby Cat? Well he now has his own cat grass plant inside together with his own cat mint (catnip) plant . The catnip gets brought down to his level once or twice a day for him to indulge in, while the cat grass is always down at Zebby level and it is already well munched upon!

Five months on .......

Five months!

I had not planned or intended to be "non-blogging" for so long. That was all of Winter and most of Spring here in Wellington, New Zealand.

While I was away from blogland .......

Wellington got Snow in August, three days in a row!!!



Now this was an absolute novelty and joy here because the last time Wellington got snow anything like it was an over night snow shower back in 1976. YES - 1976.! Back then the Mickle was a mere 11 years old!

And we discovered together that Zebby Cat doesn't like snow - Mickle doesn't blame him in the least and I really appreciated getting to snuggle up to Zebby in our bed each night over the three nights when "the snow came".

I stick by my view of snow from the late 1960s when my dear Parents took a young me up to "The Snow" to experience it:

Toddler Mickle promptly announced "Its all COLD and WET"


- and you know I was right!!!



Zebby has slowed down quite a lot over this year - after all his guesstimated age is 13/14. He spends most of the day on His bed. From here he can supervise His human a lot and demand affection and food when ever He requires it.

See - Zeb is still the same:


Still sleeping in the bestest place each day (Zeb has taken over all the fluffy scarves I made for me, and that is fine because they wash easily!). This rescue cat is so very much loved.

Happy Thanksgiving to those in the US, and those everywhere else as thankfullness is a joy to experience and share.

The Shortest Day

Wellington's weather is mild compared to many parts of the World. It doesn't get freezing cold in winter or boiling hot in summer. Wellington is very windy.

Here, at 5.15pm on the shortest day of winter it is 9C. Sunrise was at 7.47 this morning and the sun recently set at 4.58pm. There has been some wind and light rain is expected overnight.

Last winter I tried growing cauliflower and broccoli without any success. This year I have spinach and rainbow chard happily supplying me with luscious leaves.

My biggest joy and suprise is the broad beans. You see, I was a month late sowing their seeds. After their sitting under the soil in a huff for several weeks I now have 17 little bean shoots, each a couple of inches tall. Every single seed has sprouted!


While the worst of our winter is yet to come - dampness, rain and winds from the Antarctic that endeavour to slice thorough you - I have glorious broad beans (fava beans) to look forward to come spring.

Zebby is snuggled under his quilty on the bed - his place of security and peace. He is loudly purrrrrumbling away to himself in happiness.

Christchurch shaken up again

Today poor Christchurch was rocked by two big after shocks - a 5.5 at 1.00pm and a 6.0 at 2.20pm.

So, once more the schools are closed, the sewerage system is out and everyone needs to boil their water before use. The lines staff have been busy however at least 20,000 homes are still without power.

All is fine here in Wellington - but poor Christchurch, when will it end?

Update: The second quake measured 6.3, the same as the 22 February one.

To reassure you all..

..I have not been spirited away by the pixies...

Work is keeping my mind very busy as I delve into the depths of the debt and general ledger stuff on the computer system. Ha, I'll work it out before this work computer system has a chance to confuse me further.

Other stuff has had my thoughts and caring stuff busy, and Zebby is an ever present love and danger -often both at once. It is lovely that he wants to help me during my bouts of insomnia - only purring very loudly in my right ear at 3.00am ain't a help (warming up his right hind paw in my ear is also an "awakener" for me).

Added issue - just now loading down, up, sideways or backwards of photos aint working. All will be sorted some time this year.

But please don't worry - Mickle is still in the blogosphere, reading your blog posts and still working on explaining and writing up in a helpful manner the Mickle Ginger-beer making method, experimenting with it and, of course, drinking the results.

And Zebby Cat is okay - just tolerating me heading off to work 2 or 3 days a week, waking me up when ever he feels like it, and still delivering many purrs and happy, affectionate huggles and demands for head scritches (and, of course, for FOOD)

Our month of May in NZ was on average 2.5 degrees centigrade above average, which is a lot. Many trees which should show bare branches by now are still clinging to green leaves.

This includes the giantly huge tree magnolia down in the Botanic Gardens which is always the first of these trees bearing the most primative of tree flowers, giving a glorious display of pink leaves/petals in early August. The other magnolias are already completely bare of leaves, ready to bloom after the giant usually does - best guess at which will be out flowering first in August?

Otherwise the start of Winter here means still lots of green trees and shrubs in my excuse for a garden, and a very squelchy "lawn" to walk over to empty out His Nibs' litter tray (am building a wee kitty litter mountain for later use as mulch) and to clean out and top up the bird bath.

My spinach and rainbow chard plants are providing wonderful, luscious leaves - and will continue right through winter. Snails aren't the challenge - is still the caterpillars from those pesky white "cabbage" butterflies.

Sending care and huggles, Mickle and ...... a sound asleep Zebby Cat

I've been Linuxed!

Laptop #2 is unwell on its Windows side, so it will be heading up to Tauranga to dear Dad for him to mutter over and also check its Linux operating system too. In the meantime I'm back on my original PC, fully rebuilt, souped up and running on Linux.

This had been a massive learning curve which is good for my brain*. Tonight I finally managed to upload and save photos from my camera (woohoo) so am back in full-on blogging mode.

Above is a shot of my darling Zebster from Summer. Right now he is snuggled under his quilty and dreaming of Summer and raw lamb for dinner, bless the lad.

So, next on offer will be Mickle style Ginger Beer - now I can post the photos.

(* the little grey brain cells are already ticking over with the system data issues I have to solve at work - Linux will keep them running at the same rate when I'm at home!)

The Bagel recipe

Hello all, here is a link to the bagel recipe . It makes 6 bagels however it can easily be doubled, tripled etc...

Rather than rolling the piece of dough into a snake and joining the ends, like in the recipe, I used my dear Dad's method - form it into a bun shape then poke a hole through the middle with your thumb and index finger.

These bagels freeze very well, tasting fresh when thawed, and good spilt and toasted. And I'm thinking little mini bagels with a yummy filling would make great finger food.

I'll be making more soon to have for lunch at work. Happy Baking and Eating!

A few steps forward, a sideways lurch then a leap back....

Now I'm having problems with this newer laptop. I stopped with it on Friday so the swearing didn't happen until Saturday. I will do my best with blogging but all is currently only running in "safe mode" for the windows operating system. Will find an experienced, reliable and safe service here to fix it all.

I also have a Linux system on this laptop which is working fine - only it doesn't have all the apps that Dad had set up in Windows, knowing that I was trying to stay compatible with Work while enjoying the best of of the (far better) freeware that he uses.

Will do my best and avoid swearing at the beast now it is Easter Sunday.

On the plus side I have a boned and butterflied (by self) leg of local, grass fed spring* lamb in the fridge marinating in a mix of garlic, fresh rosemary, lemon zest, freshly ground black pepper, olive oil and a little lemon juice that I rubbed into the outer and inner surfaces. * I bought it back in September and have kept it frozen until now. This wont take long at all to roast for Sunday night dinner for myself and for Zebby - he loves lamb!

Happy Easter to you all, Mickle and Zebby - xxxxxx and zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zz zzzzzzzzzz

I'm still here, Folks

I have been busy with things like making ginger beer (the photo below is of a Mickle ginger beer "bug"). But also with some changes - I'm back working part time at the job I love as it really tests my brain, and keeps the grey cells ticking over.




I became well enough to work again late last year but unfortunately my workplace had truely nowhere to put me as they had a team in processing claims for the Earthquake Commission from the September 2010 Christchurch quake.

So I did some baking .....


These are sante biscuits (cookies), basically a chocolate chip biscuit but made using chocolate chopped from a block (the recipe originally used chocolate from sante bars, hence the biscuit's name).

Poor Christchurch had another rumble on December 26th, and then the really damaging aftershock on February 20th. In March I tentatively approached that place I had worked in previously ...... well ....... I'm back there.

In between times I also came across a very easy recipe for plain bagels. These are super delicious both warm from the oven and munched upon the next day.




And, of course, I continued to share my life with Zebby Cat, tending to his needs that include covering him up fully coz of his inability to get all of himself beneath his battered quilty.



The recipes will follow in later posts but, you know, I didn't have to share the any of the results with meat-eater Zebby at all!

Equinox Looms

Sun & Moon hours 23 March 2011
Sunrise - 7:26am
Sunset - 7:29pm

Ah well, you get a bit of that every year!

While I find my way.....

.... around this newer laptop here is a pic of "his rotundity" enjoying the late Summer sunshine (ssshhhhhh, we haven't noticed his generous tummy surplus resting to the right of his lion-style self, honest!).

This is Zebby's "Elsa - Born Free" moment.

All fixed

I just needed to tweak a server name. So I'm back in full-on blog and email mode at last!

As if Zebby cares - he's happy just as long as he is fed and watered,
cosily warm, loved and cuddled,
and has clean kitty litter.

Hello, Hello .......

...... its good to be back, its good to be back,

Hello Hello Hello

It wasn't me - the modem was a dud!

I'm reconnected now for blogging but still have some work to do to get email functioning as it should. The old laptop has died but this newer one from Dad is great (except for its shiny screen which shows my reflection - not flattering).

Zebby continues as usual - eating, purring, sleeping, purring, whacking His human awake in the morning while purring .......

Laptop Unwell

Iwont be blogging for a wee while as this laptop is unwell.

I have a replacement already, just have to convince it to talk to the internet (the problem is with Mickle's brain, not the newer laptop).

We felt an earthquake here in Wellington about 25 minutes ago - nothing unusual or to be concerned about. As usual Zebby Cat slept through it all, he didn't even stop purring!

We pray, we hope... yet we know

Dear Christchurch*, city of my birth and home for the first 3 1/2 years of my life - that earthquake "whallop" was so harsh, fast, violent and brutal.

We stay hoping, hoping so very much for further rescues, while we so fearfully know the list of fatalities will grow.

We are enormously grateful for the speed with which they have got here - and for the work of all the overseas specialist Search and Rescue teams that have added to our own. NZ's Urban Search and Rescue squads were soon there- humans and their very special trained dogs. Next up our cousins, the Aussies had their teams in action here, soon followed by those from Singapore, Taiwan, Japan and California,USA. The highly skilled UK team landed in NZ on Thursday afternoon, with more incredible UK backup following .

The help, support and care is so incredible. I cannot come up with the right words to express my own thanks. I'm humbled by the international help that arrived and has been deployed so very swiftly. Help that is so gratefully and appreciatively accepted and received.

(*I may have been born in Christchurch and the Canterbury district, however I am strongly, staunchly and most stubbornly a Wellingtonian - Wellington has been my hometown and chosen place to live since my 4th birthday. 42 years on and I wouldn't change it - I'm so used to walking up and down steep hills that my legs would fail on an alluvial plain!!!

Sending so very much love, hopeful thoughts and special care to you dear birth-city Christchurch, from Wellingtonian Michelle)

Postscript : There is also a rescue team here from China.

And 326 Police Officers from Australia arrived after a request for help from the NZ Police Force Senior Bods. These Aussie Police Officers arrived at Chch airport to receive a spontaneous standing ovation from all the NZers present


Sadly the death toll is now at 145 and is expected to grow. We pray

Christchurch Earthquake - I'm okay

Wellington is on a different Island so Zebby and Mickle are fine.

11.14pm - have just learnt that my Uncle and Aunt down in Christchurch are okay - a huge relief!

23 Feb - for news coverage check out www.tvnz.co.nz and www.stuff.co.nz.
Thank you so very much for your care and concern.

Pickles by Mickle (about time!) ...

... with a ginger beer bug lurking on the right!




These pickles contain apple cucumber (home grown), onions, multi-coloured peppers (capsicums) fresh corn and chopped fresh chilli, and are delicious with cheese. I'm now on my 5th ginger beer bug/starter having consumed the results of the first 3. Batch 4 has been bottled and is maturing for a barbeque at a friend's home on Sunday.

Summer continues ...

.... and here it is currently 19C in temperature and 100% in humidity. No wonder Zebby and Mickle are wide awake at 4.20am.

Wellington doesn't do the super hot weather, but she is darned good at lowering the clouds down below the level of our wee home (about 600 feet above sea level), then leaving the clouds there for a day or two while they dispense drizzle and light, soggy rain.

Stop moaning Mickle - think of the incredible amounts of snow, and of the ice storms that have attacked much of the U.S., and that super-nasty tropical cyclone that has well and truely whalloped parts of Northern Queensland over in Aussie.

I will stop complaining about the weather here and try to convince Zebby to be understanding for my Aussie and Northern Hemisphere friends (wasted hope, Mickle - he's a Cat!)

Take care and stay safe, wherever you may be,

Mickle and Zebby

What's been happening?

Not a lot to report:

Another birthday has been and gone. My amazing parents gave me a new fridge. Liz and Pete (my sister and her partner) gave me this wonderful mug.



The garden continued with the beans and started producing cucumbers too. The green Lebanese cuke is utterly delicious so I will grow more of them next summer. The zukes have given up.



And we've had some beautiful sunsets:

Garden Bounty

Today's harvest:

Yes, I made fried green tomatoes for dinner. I'm getting a good handful of beans each day however the zucchinis are reluctant (these below were picked over a week ago - nowt ready to harvest since).

How about this for a little gem squash - it was utterly delicious.

And I don't have to share with Zebby Cat!

He is a complete carnivore and, when fed to his requirements
(dry cat food, wet cat food and a little fresh meat daily),
is happy snoozing away the day on his battered, beloved quilt

(the battering by feline teeth is all his own work - I'm so proud!)

Postscript: Our Tuesday, the 18th of January, has been horribly hot, humid and overcast. The temperature got to 29C which is a heatwave for Wellington - a Summer's day is usually between 20 and 23C at the most with many back at 18 or 19C. Still my darling chose to sleep beneath his battered quilt.

At almost 2.00am on Wednesday it is still 20C here with 98% humidity - furry-clad Zebby is back under his quilty comforter, snoozling away, while I'm still wilting with the weather, no way ready for sleep with the hot and humid conditions - it is even too hot and muggy for knitting!

Zebby Cat Appreciates Good Music!

I have the radio on our Public Broadcasting Station, Radio New Zealand National. They just played Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher", and Zeb started purring LOUDLY as soon as the song started!

Zebby Cat Purring continued right through the song; now he has moved to sleepy snoring again.

My rescued feline Lad has good taste!!! (and he hasn't even seen "The Blues Brothers")

Happy New Year

A wonderful sight in the New Zealand Summer is the flowering of the Pohutukawa tree.

Known as "the New Zealand Christmas tree", the bright red flowers appear in December
and continue in January.

The trees have multiple trunks which makes them great to climb ...

but don't try it while they flower as Pohutukawa pollen is very itchy!

It is always lovely to see the patches of red amongst the usual greenery.