Purple Carrot Juice

While my kids were staying I made them fresh vegie juice ... purple carrots, celery, carrot and ginger.  The colour the purple carrots gave the juice was amazing!  Plus the taste ... unreal!






























My son Andy ... looks like he really enjoyed the fresh vegie juice ...

A Thought ...

Support bacteria, it's the only culture some people have.

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Some things should remain secret ...

February 2011

While my kids were visiting from Sydney we cleaned up an area that had a few pieces of timber stacked one on top of the other.

When we removed the last piece of timber ... there was a snake skin ... and ghee it was long!  It was quite scary to realise a snake had been there, as this area is at the bottom of the steps Wilson and I use to get down to my vegie garden ... and we go down and up these steps at least twice a day during the week and more often during weekends.  I wonder how close we got to Mr Snake? ... Did Wilson sense he was there? ... Where is Mr Snake staying for autumn/winter? ... Is it true that snakes are territorial and return to the same area year after year? ... What can I do to make sure we all remain safe when the weather gets warmer ... that includes Mr Snake?

Deep down I have this feeling of ... why didn't this remain a secret ... there are some things I'd rather not know about ... and this is one of those!

Merv's second anniversary - 29 February 2011!

Where has time gone ... it's two years already and yet I seem to remember every detail as if it's still happening.  A couple of the biggest things I've learned is that when a person dies you don't stop loving them ... and when your heart is breaking there is a real physical pain!

I think of Merv with every breath I take ... I miss him more than I thought was possible!

This year we decided to repeat letting the environmental friendly balloons go, with messages written on them for Merv.  We chose colours for special reasons - Blue and  Gold to represent Otago and Taieri.  We lived in Otago on the Taieri plains and Merv played for the Taieri Hockey Club and represented Otago at all levels in hockey and coached both the Taieri Hockey Club and the Otago U21 Mens and Otago Senior Mens hockey teams.  Next we chose black and silver for New Zealand ... for all top sports teams in New Zealand.  Finally I chose purple, as Merv called me his Purple Dragon ... and I loved that name!

Amie and Andy came to stay

In February 2011 both Amie and Andy came to stay.  It was lovely having them home with me and we did many fun things together.








We went to my favourite cafe in Strathalbyn ... Argus House!

I love their chai and the way they serve it. It's spicy rather than sweet and you can see whole spices in the teapot ... divine!

This is their lentil, curry and kumara pie ... to die for!

Amie's T-Shit

This was one of Merv's favourite songs, sung by one of his favourites - Dave Dobbyn.

We played this song at his farewell!  What a great t-shirt!

Gift from those I work with

Moth Orchid

... the orchid my colleagues gave me when I returned from New Zealand was beautiful. It's continued to flower for four months. I'm hoping it will have a new flowering spike next season.

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Farewell

My Dad

An emotional farewell to my precious Dad and it was time to head to Christchurch to catch a flight to Adelaide via Melbourne.

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My Next Car ...

Sweet as ...

A drive to Dunedin to see some friends and family is never complete without a visit to the home of Speights.

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South Island Beauty

Birth at Moeraki

While visiting my girlfriend we celebrated a birth. Such a beauty.

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Earthquake

A foot bridge in Christchurch. Showing a little of what one of the big earthquakes has done.

While I was home, my girlfriend drove me to Christchurch. It was confronting.

A couple of days after I flew out of Christchurch, another huge aftershock hit and now the damage is much worse.

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Victoria Park, Waimate

Reflection in the park

The kids and I explored places we used to visit when we lived in New Zealand. a great way to appreciate things you have left behind.

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Mum died while we were visiting

My sister-in-law, Karen, had been caring for both my parents and sitting with Mum for a few days when we arrived. ... And a few hours after getting to the nursing home, Mum passed.

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Been absent and much has happened

Mum was dying so I took my kids home. Here they are standing at the corner of the street I used to live on. The main street of my little village is behind them. January 2011

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