Winter wrap-up

Winter 2020 has pretty much come and gone. Like most of this year, it's been a novel one. Somehow the days seem long yet the months have raced by. I struggle to recall what I've been up to. I haven't ventured out much since the first round of lockdown ended in May, mostly just socialising with close friends and whānau. I appreciate having the ability (and flexibility) to work from home to protect vulnerable family members but long days online has made work seem all-encompassing, especially when much of my volunteering obligations also happens in an online environment. 

Beautiful views like this one just around the corner from my home have made winter seem less intense. I'm so lucky to have this almost on my doorstep.

A winter's day in Petone

What I'm listening to

Podcasts - lots of them. Here's a selection of non-work podcasts that I enjoy.

• This is Love from Radiotopia
  
• Conversations from ABC
  
• Eating Fried Chicken in the Shower from RNZ
• Voices, also from RNZ 
• Dolly Parton's America from WNYC

What I'm reading

Biographies and memoirs, two of my favourite genres.

• Rolling with the Punchlines by Urzila Carlson
• Untamed by Glennon Doyle
• Teacher by Gabby Stroud
• Māori Boy: A Memoir of Childhood by Witi Ihimaera 
• Working Class Man by Jimmy Barnes
• Educated by Tara Westover
• Becoming by Michelle Obama
  

What I'm baking

Bread, mostly. Sourdough and the occasional cake or treat for Good Bitches Baking.

What I'm watching

Not much, really. I'm reading more these days but am still prone to the occasional binge.

• Lucifer
• Wentworth

What I'm looking forward to

• Spring, my favourite season
• Daylight saving time. Bring on the longer, lighter evenings.
• Wellington on a Plate, postponed until October

Plum blossoms to welcome spring
and prepare us for another summer of plums

September snapshot

So blogging hasn't been happening much for me lately. I exceed my daily word limit at work most days and don't have any left for reading or writing at night. I guess I don't have to blog; there are no kick backs or consequences if I do or don't, but blogging has been something I've done for nearly nine years now. Sometimes the words just aren't there, or the subject matter isn't anything worthy of a blog post. And nine years feels like a very long time to be playing this gig.

I'm going to try something different every now and then. It might tide me over while I experience blogger's block or lead me somewhere else entirely. Here's a snapshot of where I'm at right now. I'd love to hear what you're up to, too.

September snapshot

• I've walked up five flights of stairs several times a day this month for Steptember - for every day I've been in the office. The first three flights are fine. The fourth and fifth flights aren't getting any easier.
• I'm loving the beginning of spring, my favourite season, and can even forgive its tempestuous weather. I also can't wait for daylight saving to start tonight.
• I'm revisiting an artist I hate to love: the incorrigible Terence Trent D'Arby. It annoys me to no end that he is as talented as he tells everybody. 
• I don't mind emptying the bottom rack of the dishwasher (plates, cutlery and big stuff) but I HATE emptying the top rack. It's mostly filled with coffee mugs that don't stack neatly, none of which I use but Mr Weka manages to churn through with his endless cups of tea.
• I've made a lot of potato bread lately. It's great comfort food.
• This hummingbird cake recipe is great. It uses coconut instead of nuts and I've made it twice in the past fortnight, including for Good Bitches Baking tomorrow.
• I'm half-watching Deadpool (2016) as I write this. Parts of it are quite funny but I'm not concentrating enough to work out if there's a plot. There probably isn't, but there's Ryan Reynolds and that's enough for me.
• I've just polished off half a packet of soft Italian pistachio nougat for dessert. I'll be joyfully licking the bits that are still stuck in my teeth all night.
• I still don't trust blue toothpaste. Striped is fine. White is best.

Winter wonders

Today is the first official day of winter and the overnight frosts this weekend have well and truly announced its arrival. Winter is not my favourite season but I have to admit that it does have some pretty darn amazing redeeming features. Beautiful, crisp mornings like today act like silver linings that contrast short, dreary days filled with wind and rain.

Here are just a few things I love about winter:

• Merino everything: hats, tops, wraps. 
• Scarves: warm ones, colourful ones and scarves you can knit for others.
• Hot chocolate, especially when made with Bohemein dark chocolate tricks.
• A roaring fireplace, although I usually need to borrow someone else's to enjoy this.
• Soup: vegetable soup, pumpkin soup, minestrone ... let your food imagination run wild.
• Mulled wine (although, if I'm honest, I far prefer the smell of it mulling than its taste).
• Boots. Long ones, short ones, elegant ones and puddle stompers.
• Goose down duvets (and sometimes extra duvet layers) for night time snuggles.
• A good storm, but only once I'm safely inside and wrapped up warm with no plans to leave the house.
• Bed socks: the only kind of socks that are ever acceptable to wear in bed.
• Cashmere-lined kid leather gloves made in Italy, for a little bit of luxury every cold day.
• Freshly baked cookies straight out of the oven. Actually, these are good in any season!

Wrap up warm, folks. Winter's going to be hanging around for a while. :-)

Enjoying autumn

Didn't we have an amazing summer, Wellington? It's the stuff that childhood memories are made of: hot, sunny days, long evenings and an eerie absence of wind and rain. Seriously, this has been a dream run.

But now, suddenly, it's different. There's an autumnal feeling in the air. (I love that word: autumnal.) It's like someone flicked a giant switch on 1 March decided it would be autumn from now on. Sure, we see reminders of our glorious summer here and there. It's beautiful in the sun but the heat no longer follows me around the corner and into the shade. I now need to turn on the kitchen lights in the morning as I get ready for work. I know that once daylight saving finishes in a few weeks' time that dusk will be gradually trimming away more and more of my evening, making me yearn for hibernation. There are other signs, too. The extra layer of clothing each morning, the dewy coat on the grass, the fogged up car windows ...

Autumn is less romantic in Wellington than in other parts of the world. Trudging through crunchy carpets of fallen leaves is not an everyday occurrence, although they do exist in pockets of this region. But autumn brings with it a feeling of cosiness while still enjoying some of the kickbacks from summer. The light looks warm but the air is crisp. The barbeque has given way to the slow cooker. Vegetable soup and roast dinners beckon. My favourite holiday of the year is almost upon us. Autumn is a wonderfully snug way to ease into the long winter months ahead.

Even the cat has noticed. During the summer months, we'd barely see her from dawn to dusk. Now she is back inside at a reasonable hour, demanding more attention than ever, going to bed before us and waking me up in the morning with purrs and nuzzles.

Now, where's my hot chocolate?

Things I love about spring

A few weeks ago, I set up a Pinterest account. It seemed like half the people I follow on Twitter and a big pile of Facebook friends were all jumping on the Pinterest bandwagon so I thought I'd go along for the ride. I imagined myself tagging to my heart's content and creating endless pretty boards of all my favourite things. *sigh*

To be honest, I don't really 'get' Pinterest. I know it's about tagging images you like and keeping them as a kind of online record, but I'm more inclined to think in terms of bigger concepts or websites than images which represent these. Yes, I understand it could be a handy tool if you are planning a wedding or something (which I'm not). Other than that, I'm at a loss. Can anyone enlighten me?

I do, however, have favourite things that I'd love to share, so here's a blog post à la Pinterest style. The theme is Things I love about spring - there is so much to enjoy right now. :-)

daffodils

daisies

lambies

freshly mown lawns

apple blossom

daylight savings and sunsets

ducklings

freesias

cherry blossom

What do you love about spring?

* These images are not mine and I'm not claiming them as my own. Used without permission.

That time it snowed in Wellington

Yesterday, 14 August, shall forever be referred to as That Time it Snowed in Wellington. There's even a Facebook page set up to commemorate the event. Living half a block from the beach, I could see snow flurries in amongst the falling rain but nothing that could settle on the ground so I didn't feel qualified to join it. Today, however, is a different story. It actually snowed at work - and not just up in the hills! I might join that group after all. ;-)

Let me explain. Wellington has its hills but, being nestled around a harbour, snow is about a once in a decade occurrence - and even then we're just talking about light flurries and a chill in the air. It is extremely rare for us to see this icon on the weather report and snow days are simply unheard of. Not today, though. We have real snow today.

I was having a serious meeting with an external delegate this morning discussing exciting things like financial obligations, contracts and senior management sign off when suddenly my guest looked past me out the window and said, "is that pollen falling or is it snowing?" We jumped up to check out the icy bits falling, our faces a picture of glee. Snow - real snow! Later, back in my office, we noticed the snow flakes getting heavier and starting to settle. The three of us found another window with a better view and were pressed up against it just like kids. True, we weren't exactly making snow angels on our cars, but the excitement of snow practically at sea level is enough to bring out the inner six year old in all of us.

The snow got heavier this afternoon and staff members were advised to leave early and drive safely if they thought there was any risk involved in leaving work later in the day. Daycare centres were closed and parents were called to pick up their children so everyone could get home safely. It's all terribly exciting for those of us used to life at sea level.

A Russian colleague is simply laughing at us carrying on like a bunch of over-hyped children; she maintains that what we are experiencing barely resembles snow at all and that it quickly becomes a nuisance rather than a novelty when you experience it every day for several years. Spoil sport.

Are you snowed in? Or even close to it? (Go on, indulge us. We're loving it!)