Cafe Chick's 4th birthday

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Don't they all? Things started quietly on 29 November 2007, grew a bit, built up a lot ... and now it's Cafe Chick's 4th birthday! Along the way, I've joined Twitter, participated in the 101 in 1001 project, had a go at Project 365 and most recently launched Café Chick's Jukebox, sharing tiny snippets from the soundtrack of my life. Whew!

Enjoy a slice of Café Chick's 4th birthday cake

So, what's up with Café Chick four years on? Well, I still love Wellington. I still love cafés. I still love coffee. (It goes without saying that I will always love chocolate.) Sunshine makes me happy, as does my sweetie and the occasional good book. I bake every chance I get and still am thrilled with my little corner of the blogosphere. Tiny red dots and comments (or tweets) from blog visitors always make my day, even four years after this blog began. :-)

As with every blogging birthday, my Clustr map will archive in a few days and my world map will be devoid of pretty little red (and yellow) dots until my coffee buddies start visiting again. I somehow managed to avoid my map being archived last year, so it is looking beautifully red today. 81,000+ visits during the past two years - gosh, that's a lot of coffee and cake!

I've been a bit quiet lately but am still here and plan to celebrate at least another birthday or two. Thank you to each and every one of you who has dropped by for a cup of coffee, a recipe or a song. It really has been a blast!

Mosquito magnet

After dropping hints and promises, summer made a glorious appearance today. My to do list went out the window as I made the most of the sunshine, including a long walk, coffee and newspapers, reading a book while sitting in my hammock swing, a few hours attacking the garden and truckloads of washing. Ahhhh.

While buried in the garden (not how it sounds), I made a few discoveries: a lavender bush that we didn't even know was planted outside our window, an almost-dead plant with rotten branches that fell apart in my hands, a 5 cm layer of sand in the drains and a number of creepy crawlies scurrying out from under rocks after their homes had been disturbed. (You can tell I'm not a gardener; all this is novel for me.)

And then I was reminded that it really is summer. If there's one thing that's synonymous with summer for me, it is mosquito bites. Somehow I manage to block this from my consciousness during the year and am always shocked at the first itch before it all comes rushing back.

You see, I am the ultimate mosquito magnet. For as long as I can remember, mossies have sought me out for a quick snack and seem to revel in telling all their friends that I'm both tasty and have skin exposed. Actually, I've been bitten through my clothes before ... and through sheets in bed, or through the teensiest gap in my inesct repellent shield. I have scars on my lower legs and feet from where I have scratched myself to bleeding point and the scabs won't heal - sometimes in my sleep without even realising it.

I've heard it all: "you must be sweet", "they must like your blood", "don't wear shorts/t-shirts/bare feet" (all summer??), "Brand X is the only one that works", and "well, I'm not being bitten" (which is usually followed by a disbelieving look as I madly start scratching for no apparent reason). It's enough to drive me itching mad!

Are you a mosquito magnet, or do these bloodsuckers pass you by?

Ghost chips

It seems like everyone has been talking about ghost chips lately. To be honest, I haven't had a clue what they were all talking about. It turns out that's what happens when you don't watch ads on tv, or watch them with the sound turned off.

This morning, I saw someone blog about ghost chips, had a few minutes spare and thought I'd watch the video. Yeah, it's kind of funny, but not really what I expected.

Turns out I was watching the wrong video - this version is a send up of what is on tv and makes more sense if you've seen the original ad, which is actually a clever way of addressing drink driving. Also, anyone outside of New Zealand will probably be completely dumbfounded by the kiwi style of humour, but believe me, this is funny for us.

The madness meme

I haven't done one of these in a long time. Here's part 1 of The Madness Meme from Sunday Stealing. No guarantees there'll be a part 2 from me next week, though!

1. Have you ever licked the back of a CD to try to get it to work?
   What the  - seriously, what does that do? I guess that's a 'no'.
2. What’s the largest age difference between yourself and someone you’ve dated?
   7 years.
3. Ever been in a car wreck?
   I've been in a couple of small car crashes but nothing I'd call a wreck.
4. Were you popular in high school?
   I definitely wasn't one of the popular girls, but I had a lot of friends, many of whom I am still in contact with 20 years later.
5. Have you ever been on a blind date?
   No - and I never would.
6. Are looks important?
   Unfortunately, sometimes ... but not in the big scheme of things.
7. Do you have any friends that you’ve known for 10 years or more?
   Yes, several.
   
8. By what age would you like to be married?
   Whoops - well and truly missed that age.
9. Does the number of people a person’s slept with affect your view of them?
   Sometimes ...
   
10. Have you ever made a mistake?
    All the time - far too many to count.
11. Are you a good tipper?
    Thankfully we don't tip in New Zealand. I'd probably tip grudgingly if it were brought in here.
12. What's the most you have spent for a haircut?
    $60ish.
13. Have you ever had a crush on a teacher?
    Yes, but only while I was a teacher myself. (We were together for three years.)
14. Have you ever peed in public?
    Euw. No.
15. What song do you want played at your funeral?
    Closing Theme from The Muppet Show.
16. Would you tell your parents if you were gay?
    No.
17. What would your last meal be before getting executed?
    
Not exactly sure but it's likely to involve coffee, chocolate, strawberries and cashew nuts.
18. Beatles or Stones?
    Beatles, definitely - but the Stones aren't too far behind.
19. If you had to pick one person on earth to die, who would it be?
    Don't go there. I wouldn't mind having a guarantee that all trace of a couple of bands could be wiped out, though.
20. Beer, wine or hard liquor?
    Wine, although I'm not much of a drinker.
21. Do you have any phobias?
    Nothing I'd consider a phobia, but I'm not too impressed with creepy crawlies.
22. What are your plans for the future?
    Cure cancer and create world peace ... seriously, I learned to not make plans for the future a looooong time ago.

Your turn?

Summer's coming

Spring is my favourite season of the year for many reasons, one of which is that summer is on the way and the best is still to come. I'm not a beach babe by any description and reach a melting point somewhere around 25°C, but the thought of long days and heaps of sunshine are a welcome tonic for my soul.

Signs that summer is almost here:

• I can safely wear 3/4 pants and short sleeve tops all day without worrying if the 5 spare layers of clothing I have brought with me will be enough to be keep me warm later in the day.
• My straw sunhat gradually becomes an essential item of clothing.
• White limbs are everywhere you look. Some are practically translucent!
• 50+ women proudly put their cankles on display. (I'll never understand this one.)
• Barbeques become the most commonly planned meal, even for those of us who are only just barbeque-tolerant.
• Days no longer end as soon as I arrive home from work. In fact, it's almost like there's still another half a day to go before bedtime. Bonus!
• Jandals become uniform footwear.
• Gelato becames my preferred means for ingesting calcium and dairy products. 
• Strawberries and other summer fruits start appearing in shops and gardens. 
• Lawnmowers and weedeaters provide the soundtrack during daylight hours on Saturdays and Sundays.
• I can get 17 loads of washing done and dried outside in a single day. *

 What are your telltale signs that summer is on the way?

* Actual numbers may vary, but you get the point.

Well, I never

I'm sick at home today after what was a relaxing long weekend. In between napping, I've tried reading my book but a pounding headache has seen me resort to randomly surfing the net and reading blogs from days ago. That's how I found Moata's post about things she has never done.

I got to thinking about things I've never done in my lifetime. Not big life changing, world saving, reckless and radical stuff, or major regrets, but small or quirky things that others might be surprised to learn. For example, I have a friend who has never pumped petrol into her own car. Mind you, she does introduce herself at staff meetings as Princess. I started putting together a list just like  Moata's. (I've even stolen the title.)

Without resorting to anything dodgy, here are a few things I've never done.

Things I've never done but would like to do someday:

• Build a house. I have the perfect plan in my head and it would be awesome to see it come to life.
• Own a smart phone. Maybe one day ...
• See a live rugby test match. I probably should have done that during these past few weeks while the world cup was invading our home turf.
• See The Nutcracker on stage. I listen to Tchaikovsky's score every Christmas and have seen a few performances on TV, but never live.

Things I've never done and feel indifferent about doing:

• Eat caviar. Just to say I have.
• Be in a food fight. Such a waste.
• Own a hairdryer. Find out why here. 
• Purchase individual songs or albums in iTunes (or similar). I prefer to cut a high quality copy of music from CDs instead.

Things I've never done and have no interest in ever doing:

• Have a manicure or pedicure. Conjures up images of a spoilt French poodle for me.
• Buy something on credit or hire purchase, have a bank loan (apart from mortgages) or use an overdraft.
• Jump out of a plane, off a bridge or onto/off any moving target.
• See the second and third Lord Of The Rings movies or read the books. I sat through the first and that was more than enough for me.
• Read a trashy Mills & Boon romance - and I don't accept the "how do you know they're bad unless you've read one?" rebuttal, either.
• Get drunk.
• Gamble with real money. I'd may as well just throw it away.
• Smoke a cigarette or take illicit drugs. That often makes me the odd one out in groups.
• Get a tattoo.
• Pretend I was sick to get off work. Seriously - I even took annual leave once to have an operation and worked full time during my six week recovery period.

 What's on your "I've never done ..." list?