Harvesting fruits

I have started my course at CIT. The building is old and a little underfunded, but it is clean and functional and there is some great artwork on the walls by the café. Unfortunately, there is no information to credit the artists.

 

One of our first assignments involves workplace health and safety, and we have to photograph instances of signs that might mitigate risk, and then write a report. I'll spare you the report, but I'm sure you'll find the image thrilling. You're welcome. 

And just in case you think CIT students are all methodical and serious, I'd like to assure you that they haven't changed a bit from when I was last studying in a tertiary education establishment 30-odd years ago. Again, you're welcome. 

Here's another exciting instalment in the sporadic series of Nailed It in which I make food that bears very little resemblance to the image in the recipe. This week: Ombre Gratin. 

How Ombre Gratin is supposed to look

How Ombre Gratin looked

At the weekend I walked through the Pinnacle Nature Reserve with Him Outdoors, and then we called in to Rocksalt for breakfast before heading home through the streets of Hawker past affluent homes and street libraries. 

When we got home we found a fabulous offering left on our front bench for us by a friend - a bag of fresh home-grown tomatoes from their abundant produce. I have often mentioned how I would like to grow my own fruit and vegetables - it just doesn't seem to be something I can manage to do, so I am extremely grateful for this gift of garden bounty from others. 

Libraries

I have spent most of the day at work organising this new preservative free and organic section of wine.

And I spent most of the morning at the weekend browsing these shelves of a second-hand-book shop.

Week 26: Keep on running...

We are halfway through the year - which means we have passed the shortest day in this hemisphere. Things will get brighter and the nights will get lighter, which all sounds good to me. Meanwhile, one of the chaps at work has developed a sort of lamb cartel. He goes down to the market and buys a side of lamb, then gets it butchered into bits and weighs it up in the staffroom. By the looks of things, it's man's work!

The Harbour Capital Marathon was run in near perfect conditions - relatively still, for Wellington, and the temperatures remained cool without being bitterly cold.

I cycled round the bays (on a wonderfully closed-to-cars road) to the turnaround point for the half marathon. I got there before the runners came through so it was peaceful. The marshals from the Wellington Marathon Clinic were friendly and cheerful, and when the runners did come through, they were full of enthusiastic support.

The runners came first in a trickle which mounted to a flood. I cheered for Him Outdoors, friends, colleagues, and complete strangers.

I love the expressions of commitment and focus from these runners. As I cycled home, I passed people at the back of the marathon who were on the homeward stretch. I acknowledged all of them because they deserve support. From the winners to the ones who set PBs; to everyone who tried and trained and pulled on a number and completed a race, congratulations!

If you feature in any of these photos and would like a copy, leave me a comment and I'll get the image to you.

Week 18: Judging the lemons

The weather has been terrible this week and I have been busy with theatrical exploits - both viewing and rehearsing, so I have not been out and about much with my camera. Fortunately, our lemon tree is cleverly providing fruit for my gin at just the right time.

With the recession, there is much talk of redundancy, especially among the government sector. As you can see from this picture, we all have to write our predicted projects up on the whiteboard of shame, but there's nothing a quirky little monkey and an inflatable red dog can't cheer up, apparently.

One of the people I met on my interviewing circuit this week was the Prinicipal Youth Court Judge, Andrew Becroft. What an amazing man he is; aware of his responsibilty to young people and the important role that he can play in their future. While he believes they should be supported by their family, friends and community, he also maintains they must be held accountable for their actions.

He says, "If you think being a judge is hard work, you should try refereeing Wellington suburban soccer." Apparently he receives far more abuse from parents on the sidelines of his son's football matches than he ever does from defendants in the dock!