Covid-19 Lockdown

Well, well, well, finally the end is in sight more or less.  Doesn’t it feel good to be able to mix and mingle again and get those essential jobs done?  What have you got planned?

I am excited, I am finally able to get my hair cut on Wednesday at 9 am – can’t wait!  And on Friday afternoon I have my overdue massage to look forward to.  Having a massage is part of my health and well-being strategy and a little luxury.  It seems to keep my body in good running order, so to speak.  What is best though – is when Jo has finished massaging my back she then gives it an exfoliant scrub, but here is the best part – she applies a large warm towel to my back and then wipes the exfoliant off – it feels so good and warm.   Are you tempted  to have a massage?  If so, let me know and I can give Jo’s details.  Here is a list of the benefits of having a regular massage.

As this is my final post (as long as we stay out of level 4) I have included a couple of extra dingbats and some additional cartoons.  Having a good laugh helps lift our well-being – so enjoy them.

Recipe – Carrot Soup

Thank you Margie for this recipe.  She says it’s delicious!

Ingredients:

• 600 gms diced carrot
• 1 diced onion – you can sauté this first if you wish
• 700 mls water + 2 oxo cubes if you don’t have any liquid
• 50 gms butter
• 1 tsp cumin – if you like
• 1/2 tsp turmeric – if you like
• 1 tsp salt or less
• 1/2 tsp pepper or more
• pinch of chili flakes – if you like
• 1 apple unpeeled and diced. I like Granny Smith for this recipe

Method:

1. Add all the above ingredients to a pot and cook until tender
2. Cool and blend to liquidise
3. Enjoy with baguette
   It freezes well

Enjoy!

Dingbats

These dingbats came from this website:  https://dingbatsanswers.com/  in case you miss your daily dose.

A little humour

Today my friends sent me several jokes, here are a few of them – enjoy!

Dingbat answers

1. Background check
2. Big fish in a small pond
3. Think outside the box
4. In between jobs
5. An eye for an eye
6. One thing after another

And remember to –

use the NZ COVID Tracer app wherever you go.  Also wear a face covering when out and about and cannot maintain physical distance from others.

It’s been a pleasure to chat with you each evening / morning.  Thank you for your contributions and feedback, always appreciated.  I now have the momentum to get back to posting a few of my backyard adventures.  Until then – take care out there – GoldCard Gal 🙂

Neighbourhood Scenes

This morning I saw these two scenes along the cycle-path beside the Waikato River.

I poured a glass of Merlot wine, gathered my wool and knitting needles (to start another fish and chip top), and made myself comfortable in one of my small arm chairs.  I was ready to listen to the radio commentary of the All Blacks vs Wallabies in Perth.  What an exciting game.  Well done to the All Blacks, they played very well.  They were impressive how quickly they adjusted and upped their game tempo when they lost a player to a RED card.  Only having 14 men on the field for 20 minutes of the game they still managed to add points to the scoreboard.

I reminded me of the times when my Dad, brother Ben and I sat around our radio and listened to the commentaries when Peter Snell ran and won two gold medals in the 800m and 1500m races within eight days at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.  That is when my fascination with the Olympics certainly started.

Thank you Carly for sharing one of your memorable radio listening events.  What was your most memorable radio listening event?  I would love to read about it.

What a wonderful lazy day I have had today.  Only walked as far as my compost bin to empty my vegetable scraps.  Made a few phone calls, done some knitting and other odd jobs – and you know what – it feels good and I don’t feel guilty.

I’ve just heard the news, we are going into level two mid-night on Tuesday – yippee is all I can say.  How do you feel about it?  What will your priority be when in level two?

Dingbats

Good to know you are finding these dingbats a little easier!

A bit of humour

Dingbat answers

1. Coffee break
2. Tickled pink
3. Downtown
4. Wise guys

This will be my second to last post.  I won’t miss the time commitment to takes to put a post together but I will miss taking photographs.  Will miss not hearing from you and receiving your neighbourhood scenes.  I am sure looking forward to catching up face-to-face with my friends and family.  Take care out there – GoldCard Gal 🙂

Neighbourhood scenes

Tonight’s scenes.

As I mentioned last night there was a possibility I would not post tonight because the The All Blacks are playing the Wallabies in Perth.  It is late afternoon and here I am, part of my me could not let a night go by without posting.  Not that I have much to say, but you do have your dingbats to solve, Mike’s cheesecake recipe to try, and of course some neighbourhood scenes.

One of my highlights this morning was seeing a Tui having a bath in my bird bath.  He had several good swims.  The photograph is not that clear because I took it through one of my French door window’s with high magnification.  I was scared I would frighten him away.

The writing process

When writing these posts they have several iterations, meaning what I start with and what I end up with are quite different, that is how I work.   What works for you regarding your writing?  Do you type all your ideas and thoughts into a document and then edit or do you type and edit as you go?  Love to hear your writing process.

Mike Van de Elzen’s Father’s Day Cheesecake

While out walking this morning listening to Francesca Rudkin’s radio programme she was chatting to Mike Van de Elzen about what he is cooking.  Mike was saying how his daughters had made his favourite dessert – a cheesecake for Father’s Day.  It sounded pretty delicious so thought I’d include the recipe for you to try.

Ingredients 

• 250g gingernut biscuits
• 125g unsalted butter, melted
• 500g cream cheese
• 300g sour cream
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla paste
• 2 eggs

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 150*c and line a 20cm springform cake tin with greaseproof paper.
2. Take the gingernut biscuits and wrap them up in a tea towel and hit them with a rolling pin, or blitz in a food processor.
3. Add the melted butter and combine.
4. Press the biscuit mix into the bottom of the cake tin. You can use the bottom of a flat glass to press down to ensure its flat.
5. Place into the fridge to set.
6. Combine the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and then add sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice and eggs.
7. Then place the cheesecake into the fridge for an hour to chill down.
8. After one hour, place the cheesecake in the oven on 150*c and bake for one hour.  After this time turn the oven off and leave the door ajar for a further 2 hours.
9. This allows the cheesecake to cool down slowly, preventing it from cracking or splitting badly.
10. Allow to cool before enjoying.

Dingbats

Here are some easier dingbats.

A little humour

I think we all can relate to this carton.

Dingbat answers

1. Quarter back
2. All is not lost
3. Red herring
4. You’re under arrest

That is it for day 19.  Thank you for your comments and feedback.  Let us hope we move down to level two mid-night Tuesday!  Go the All Blacks.  Take care out there – GoldCard Gal 🙂

Neighbourhood scenes

Thank you Jan for your garden scenes.

So much for my planning to write this post before evening – I’ve failed miserably tonight.  I even thought “I wonder if anyone would miss one night without any dingbats?”  But then I realised rugby is on tomorrow night and I just may not post Sunday night.

It will be the first time in many years that our little group of “rugby fans” won’t be gathering together for dinner and then watch the All Blacks play.  Guess I’ll either have to listen to the game on the radio and/or watch the delayed TV broadcast – better than nothing.  Go the All Blacks!

What a fabulous day to be out and about on the bike checking my neighbourhood.  There was a chill in the air and a cool head-wind on my return home.  Didn’t plan that very well – I mean riding home in a head-wind.  Cyclists always try to have a tail-wind when riding home cose that is when they are tired.

While having a take-away coffee I meet another couple of cyclists who originally came from South Africa – Stefan & Sandra.  They’ve recently shifted to Kihikihi from Auckland and just starting to explore their rural neighbourhood on their bikes.  We chatted and discussed many issues, mainly relating to cycling.  They did mention a couple of times about how pleased they are to be living here in New Zealand in such a safe and beautiful place.  They felt many New Zealanders don’t realise how lucky they are to be living here.  Couldn’t agree more with them.  It was a nice interlude to have some face-to-face communication and then  we started our return journey home in opposite directions.

After my “power nap” this afternoon I finally cut my Buxus hedge and must say how nice it looks.  I wonder how you filled in your day today?

Mindfulness

Setting myself a goal of posting neighbourhood scenes each day makes me be much more aware of my surroundings and the little things that may make an interesting photograph.  I guess it is what is called “mindfulness” – being in the present.  It makes me observe my current environment and I’ve noticed time and distance soon fly by.  What are your views about mindfulness?

Patricia’s pasta recipe

Carly has made your dish Patricia and said what a success it was and the boyfriend agreed.  I keep meaning to make it – just need to get the cream.

Dingbats

If it’s any consolation to you not many people get all the dingbats correct.  Tonight’s dingbats relate to Christmas.

Big of humour

Answers to dingbats

1. Opening presents
2. Mixed nuts
3. Midnight mass
4. Peace on earth

Another day of fewer COVID cases – yippee!  Thank you for taking the time to comment. That is it, take care out there – GoldCard Gal  🙂

Neighbourhood scenes

Today’s scenes from rural Waikato – enjoy.

Could not cycle past this scene this morning. 

Another gorgeous spring day!   What have you been doing today?

This morning I had an enjoyable training walk checking out my neighbourhood and appreciating the bird song. One of the bonuses of being ‘unplugged’. Great to have seen you Jacky, trust you had a enjoyable bike ride?  When down to level two we will meet up for coffee – OK?

My “She Shed” has had a thorough clean-out today.  It is surprising how quickly “stuff” gathers eh?  Well – no more.  Have you done any major clean-ups or did you do those last year during lockdown?

Where “manliness” is based on knitting

Today I received a link to this travel article Taquile:  Where manliness is based on knitting

Can you imagine a society where “manliness” is based on knitting?  Well, it is true.

On a tiny Peruvian island of Taquile, a man’s worth is not measured in his ability to hunt or fish, but in his ability to knit a chullo (a colourful knitted, intricate patterned hat).  They are taught to knit from the age of five or six, with the skill passed down from one male to the next.

The chullos play a key role in pairing young couples. Men are chosen by their mates based on their ability to successfully knit a chullo with tiny wire-thin needles. They used to use thorns of cactus!  Nowadays, many men used bicycle spokes. They are good to knit with because they are thin and they don’t break easily.

What a great use for bicycle spokes – who would have thought?  To read the rest of this article click here.

Marmalade Recipe

As mentioned in my previous posts there seems an abundance of free citrus fruit available on local berms.  In case you are tempted to make some jam here is a recipe from Rosemarie White, Marmalade recipe, published in a recent Life and Leisure magazine.  Looks delicious.

Dingbats

Great to know you are still enjoying these dingbats and that you are not always able to work them out.

Paralympic Update

Sophie Pascoe is a champion.  Even though she missed out on a medal last night, (apparently the first time in her Paralympic career) she is an inspiration.  I felt for her when she was interviewed so soon after her race.  She was in tears and distraught with the result.  No doubt the young women who beat her would be elated to have finally beaten the champion!  Sport is a great leveler, for better or worse and many lessons learned either way.

An excited Anna Grimaldi won Gold today in the long jump and also broke Paralympic record.

NZ Medal count:  5 gold, 3 silver, and 3 bronze.  Very good results considering there are only 29 athletes in NZ team competing in six events.   Eight of the athletes were in the wheelchair rugby.

Dingbat answers

1. Double cream
2. Double decker bus
3. Dust to dust
4. All over the world

Thank you for your comments, I do enjoy hearing what you are up to.  Encouraging to hear new COVID cases are down today – long may that last.  Take care out there – GoldCard Gal 🙂

Neighbourhood scenes

Today’s scenes from my garden.  If you have any scenes you would like to share, please send them to me.

I love the way the sun is shining on the leaves.