Covid-19 Lockdown

Quote for the day:

“The one of the most beautiful gifts in the world is one of encouragement. When someone encourages you, that person helps you over a threshold you might otherwise never have crossed on your own”. by John O’Donohue

Welcome to day 19.  What a change in the weather, the rain was most welcome, keeping my fingers crossed for some more.  Wonder what activities you have done on day 19 in lock-down?

In case you have missed reading day 18’s comments, click here get up to date.

Thank you Sue for providing me with the feature image on today’s post.  I love the tinges of pink on the end of the white petals. Taking the photographs and posting them has been and still is a good learning experience for me.  Especially taking close-ups, you really get to see all the parts that make up the bloom, they are so intricate, delicate and exquisite. I trust you find them as picturesque and as interesting as I do?  Please feel free to send any close-ups of your flowers.

The above quote is for one of my long time readers – Susan.  When we were chatting this morning she informed me she looks forward to reading my blog each morning, one of the first things she does. Thank you Susan for that encouragement because at times I wonder ‘can I be bothered’, ‘who really cares if I post or not’ but knowing that you and others are looking forward to reading them, then I must continue and not get lax!

I awoke this morning with my body telling me it needs a ‘slow day and some pampering’! As it was raining it was a good justification to stay in bed a little longer and read a few more pages of my book.  Decided today was about being creative in my shed and taking part in a Zoom session in yoga titled “Restorative Yoga“.  What better way to recharge the batteries  and take care of “me”.  My neighbour Sue had mentioned the Monday afternoon yoga session.  Thank you Sue it was just what the doctor ordered – so to speak.  The 1 1/2 hr session went by quite quickly and at the end I felt very relaxed and in-tune with my body.

Carly’s chutney

This is Carly’s finished product from the chutney recipe I posted the other day.  Thank you Carly for your photograph.  She did say the chutney went well with blue cheese and crackers – can imagine it does!

Signs of autumn

Thank you “I-Solution Wanaka” for the following photograph taken near Sticky Forest walk, Wanaka.

Well that is it for Day 19.  Look forward to hearing about your happenings and events.

Be patient and be kind to yourself and everyone else in your bubble.  Stay safe – Goldcard Gal 🙂

Quote for the day:

“Be happy.  Be yourself.  If people don’t like it, then let them be.  Happiness is a choice.  Life isn’t about pleasing everybody”.  by Unknown

Welcome to day 18 – another beautiful autumn day.  Thank you Jan for the featured image.  Have you noticed how much cooler the evenings and mornings are now?  This morning I put my winter duvet on the bed so looking forward to snuggling under it tonight.  Today being Easter Sunday did you do anything special within your bubble?  How did today compare to previous Easter Sundays? 

Click here to read day 17’s comments.  Always a good read.

Easter Sunday spent in the garden

Did nothing special other than spend several hours in my garden.  Divided and planted many clivia plants, emptied  the compost bin around the garden and split and replanted some tractor seat plants. So all in all I’m very pleased with my to-do list today.  This afternoon did the grocery run for the over 70’s and myself.  As I was taking the car (first time I’ve driven in approx 3 weeks) I noticed everyone ordered ice-cream!! So what does that tell me?  Supermarket was quiet and no cuing. 🙂 

Signs of spring

“Signs of spring” is correct.  Today I have no ‘signs of autumn’, so thought I’d show you what is happening in Eastbourne, UK.  “Unhurried in Hamilton” has sent through the following ‘signs of spring’ from his sister’s garden. Aren’t the colours exquisite?  We have a few cold and wet months to endure before we get to enjoy these signs of spring, but it will come.

I’m feeling a bit jaded and the mind is tired, so that is it for day 18.

Be patient and be kind to yourself and everyone else in your bubble.  Take care – Goldcard Gal 🙂

 

Quote for the day:

“If everything was perfect, you would never learn and you would never grow”  by Beyonce

Welcome to day 17, another fabulous autumn day in paradise.  It occurred to me today that I think I live in paradise because of my own environment and my life style.  If you have just lost your job, got several kids at home with no area outside for them to run around and get rid of that excess energy, you probably don’t think you live in paradise.  If you are a small business owner with employees (who depend on you) and not knowing how long this lock-down is going to last – it is unlikely to feel as though you are living in paradise.  What we class as ‘paradise’ will solely depend on our own circumstances.  What do you think?

If you have missed reading day 16’s comments click here to catch up.  I really appreciate you taking the time to post your comments, it’s what makes this blog most interesting – thank you.

Small business in rural Waikato

Saturday morning is my longer bike ride day, where I venture a little further away from home (on my own) and on the look-out for small rural businesses.  Today’s business “The Clock & Watch Workshop“, 179 Te Miro Road, Te Miro.  Roger Jennings is a Horologist.  He repairs clocks, watches and barometers.  I can recommend Roger as he repaired my grandfather clock a few years back and my clock hasn’t missed a beat since.  He loves to chat and if you are interested he’ll show you his collection of clocks etc.  The setting is quite beautiful as you can see in the photograph on the right.  The photo is not that clear, again the sun was in the wrong direction, actually I choose the wrong time of the day to take the photo, but you get the gist!

The drive up to Roger’s business (about half way up the hill to Te Miro) is worthwhile, (of course once this lock-down is finished).

Signs of autumn

This garden reminded me of my mum’s garden out at Ratapiko many many years ago.  Then it was quite common for homes of farming families to have gardens on the verge of the road.  The lady that has planted this garden did so because she was waiting for her new house to be built and wanted to get a flower garden started. I loved the bird house, and the garden is full of colour, quite beautiful at this time of the year.

To-do list

• Transplanted two hydrangeas and divided and planted 4 clumps of Japanese iris (gee they’re hard to divide up)
• Started emptying the compost bin, getting garden ready for dividing up the clivia plants.  (My garden very dry)
• Had virtual drinkies this afternoon with good friends – always good catching up

What can you tick off your to-do list today?

Well that is it for day 17,  the days are ticking by quite quickly, don’t you agree?  Look forward to hearing about your happenings and events.

Be patient and be kind to yourself and everyone else in your bubble,  Take care – Goldcard Gal 🙂

Quote for the day:

“Happiness isn’t about getting what you want all the time.  It’s about loving what you have and being grateful for it”  from theteenagerquotes.tumbr.com

Welcome to day 16.  I’m a bit late tonight posting this blog, been watching a Jason Bourne movie on TV. Haven’t watched a good movie for sometime, as I normally spend my evenings writing up my lock-down blog posts.

I have a confession to make, today’s feature image is not from my garden, but from the Hamilton Gardens.  I saw the bloom with a bee in it on the foot path and couldn’t resist taking a photo.  Quite beautiful don’t you think?  I’m so glad the bees have a good food supply at present with all the camellia out.

If you missed reading day 15’s comments click here to catch up.

It’s been another stunning day in paradise – what a beautiful day for celebrating Good Friday.  Did you do anything special today, or were you one of those that went to the beach batch???  Yeh right – if only!

This morning I went for a short bike ride to check out the country side and Hamilton Gardens and get some ‘signs of autumn’ photographs. You’ll see my captured moments below.  It’s hard to get used to Hamilton with so little traffic on the roads, and with the supermarkets closed today, the city was ultra-quiet.  This afternoon got my lawns mowed and tomorrow will throw some lawn seed over the bare patches of my lawn.  The forecast is predicating rain on Sunday – so here’s hoping.  Mind you, having said that I’m a firm believer in waiting until the day arrives and then see what the weather will be like.  All this forecasting of weather can lead to false hopes and changing of plans, which is not a good thing.

What can I let go of to keep my life peaceful?

I get monthly emails from Cindy Cashman (Million selling author and Intuitive Coach) and thought you may find this useful.  She wrote the following:

With everything going on with the coronavirus, a question I have been asking myself is:

How do I let go of fear, anger, hurt, sadness, etc?  What works for me is allowing myself to feel whatever feeling is coming up and then I give myself permission to let it go.  How do I let it go?  How do I let go of a hot potato?  I drop it and stop talking about it!  Instead I choose to focus on gratitude and what brings me joy 🙂  This is an ongoing process like brushing your teeth.  Some days are easier than others.

Signs of autumn

That is it for day 16.  Trust you’ve had a great Good Friday and look forward to hearing about your happenings tomorrow.

Take care and be kind and patient with yourself and those in your bubble.  Goldcard Gal 🙂

Quote for the day:

“To live a creative life, we must loose the fear of being wrong”  Unknown

Welcome to day 15.  Wasn’t it great to finally have some rain over night?  Our farmers will be pleased along with the life style block owners and residential neighbours.

Fantastic news that the cases of COVID-19 are decreasing.  Yes, yes, yes!

Today being Thursday is my online teaching day through Wintec.  There were issues with last week’s classes but today thankfully there were none.  I felt much more confident and everything seemed to flow well, students were more verbal and actively involved.

Here is the link to Day 14’s comments just in case you missed out, they are always interesting reads and sometimes you can have a good laugh:  Day 14.

Some special to share with you

One of my readers Sue shared with me how she records her lock-down days.  I admire her imagination and sketching skills – oh to have such talents!.  Sue, I think your daily sketchings will make an interesting book when this lock-down is over.

How are you recording your days in lock-down?

Feijoa Chutney Recipe

Here is the recipe for those of you who have requested it – it is tasty.

This recipe is from Rowan Bishop’s booked titled “The Virtual Cafe Cookbook” published in 2000.  She used to live in Hamilton and write for the Waikato Times many years ago.

Aromatic feijoas are such a wonderful fruit to eat fresh and they are full of good vitamins and fibre.  The only problem is that they don’t have long lasting abilities.  Feijoas do however, made a great chutney for eating with breads and cheeses, tangy and sweet, this chutney is irresistible on crackers with cottage cheese OR use as an accompaniment with cold meats or simply cooked fish or chicken.

Ingredients and instructions

600 gms onions 1.5 kg feijoas (about 7 cups peeled, diced fruit) 3 medium apples 2 1/2 cups wine vinegar 3 cups sugar (I put in 2 cups) 60 gms fresh or pre-pared minced ginger 60 gms fresh or pre-pared crushed garlic 2 Tbsp dry mustard (powder) 2 Tbsp mustard seeds 3/4 cup raisins 1 tsp cardamon seeds* 1 tsp whole cloves 1 Tbsp turmeric 3 Tbsp cornflour 1/4 cup of water *  The cardamon seeds enhance the unique flavour of the feijoas

1. Peel and chop the onions into small dice.  Peel and dice the feijoas then peel, core and dice the apples.  Place the vegetables in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Pour in the vinegar and the sugar and bring to simmer point over a medium heat. 2.  Add all the remaining ingredients except the cornflour and the 1/4 cup of water.  Turn the heat down and simmer, covered, stirring regularly for 40 – 45 minutes. 3.  Combine the cornflour with the 1/4 cup of water and add slowly, stirring to ensure the cornflour mixture doesn’t turn lumpy.  Allow to simmer for 1 minute more. Pour the mixture into hot sterilized glass jars.

Happy cooking and do let me know how your chutney goes!  If you have a feijoa recipe that is easy and always successful, please let me know and I’ll share it.

Signs of autumn

To-do list

• Completed one hour in the shed sanding and have made a start making my grand-daughters a noughts & crosses set.

What can you tick off your to-do list today?

Well that is it for Day 15.  Look forward to hearing about your happenings and events.

Be patient and be kind to yourself and everyone else in your bubble.  Stay safe – Goldcard Gal 🙂