Islands in the Mist

Posted on 2 August 2014 by SJPONeill

This was ~~yesterday’s~~ a ~~recent~~ challenge in WordPress’ Writing 101 workshop a month or so ago (how time flies when you have work): “…today is a free writing day. Write at least four-hundred words, and once you start typing, don’t stop. No self-editing, no trash-talking, and no second guessing: just go. Bonus points if you tackle an idea you’ve been playing with but think is too silly to post about…”

One of the reasons that I like living here so much is that it can feel so isolated from the world and its issues…some times this can be a jungle moon of Endor, or a secluded part of Pandora’s Hallelujah Mountains…

The mist deadens sounds of the world and creates our own little world…free to imagine and wonder… DSCF8561

Last night when I came home, just on sundown it was like this…

OK, so the actual challenge was to write 400 words but doesn’t each picture speak a thousand? And it’s Friday night and we need to get fed before Coro…and I am also looking forward to ending Phase I of my retro TV groove, with the final episode of UFO already lined up in Plex. Phase II arrived in the mail tonight so the Space 1999 marathon will start tomorrow…

I always thought that Space 1999 was so much cornier than UFO which was the first grown-ups programme I was allowed to watch on a regular basis…type faster, type faster…no typos, no typos, I can already hear Jim Hickey making up the weather for tomorrow…looks like rain and lots of it…only 30 minutes now to get dinner ready…no pressure…but type faster, no typos…

Phew! Can smell dog poo on my boots…poo patrol on Monday I guess…so between UFO and Space 1999, maybe I already grew up enough to start to lose my suspension of disbelief…already between ten and twelve…? But I still like the purple wigs and tinfoil body suits – did they scratch? – and, as always with Gerry Anderson, the ~~toys~~ machines rule…UHU02 has made the SHADO Interceptor: is Sky 1 on the cards.. although I still have the Imai one of variable scale in the works…Probably not, I think the next Interceptor he will design will below to the Angels…

And speaking of Angels, PRIME TV, where is our Doctor fix now that the fez-wearing ‘custard and fish fingers’ idiot is gone…? And speaking of idiots, I can hear Seven Sharp prattling now…Dad, Dad, we want dinner…OK, OK, coming, coming…”let’s feed the dogs” (words never spoken out loud in jest) and there we go: 400-ish words and the challenge done…

Writing 101, Day Nineteen: Don’t Stop the Rockin’ | The Daily Post.

Wear sunscreen…

Posted on 7 July 2014 by SJPONeill

…and other handy things to know…

Yes, winter has finally hit the Central Plateau…and with it, the usual outbreak of idiots…

Handy tip #1. Snow is wet, hard and cold. Just because it is sunny, does not mean it is warm. Dress appropriately and, yes, that does include wearing sunscreen…

Handy tip #2. Your big 4WD does not make you immune from the laws of physics, or the road.

Sub-tip 1 to #2: when you crest a hill on the ice-covered road and you see the flashers on the Highway Patrol car at a breakdown, don’t hit your brakes. Score SH47 3, 4WD idiots 0.

Sub-tip 2 to #2: Chains are not equal to 4WD, nor do they make you a world-class rally driver. If you are not used to driving on ice, get the bus. If you miss the bus, get out of bed earlier.

Sub-tip 3 to #2: The absence of signs saying ‘slow down’ does not equal a defence when you are in the ditch. Use of the defence may justifiably be taken as provocation by the guy you hit on your way into the ditch.

Handy tip #3. Your quad headlights that can blind a possum at five kilometres will not melt ice on the road. Bridges and shaded corners may be treacherously slippery all day – drive appropriately.

Cautionary tales and idiots aside, heavy snow fall often sucks all the moisture out of the air and makes for beautiful days…The lower level tracks in the Park are all accessible and walkable but the higher levels of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing remain restricted to those with equipment AND experience above the snow line – those without should seriously consider signing up with one of the guided tours because a. it is safer, b. the Crossing in winter is a totally different experience to the Crossing in summer, and c. it is an experience not to be missed.

More nuts

Aside

My latest spin on the peanut chicken rice recipe ..there was some chicken cheap at the supermarket so o grabbed two packs. As normal, nothing is as good as it seems, and each pack was only 3-4 stripped skeletons…as an experiment I made up the peanut rice mix as above and then dropped the chicken into it….

There wasn’t enough meat on each bird to make it worth removing before cooking but I was hoping that it would loosen up as it cooked and that I would be able to scrap some off…

That worked out nicely and in addition to contributing to the stock, each contributed a bit of meat that was easy enough to scrape off the cooked skeleton…

All frozen and placed in the freezer for a lazy cooking day…

Note: this was originally written as a comment for the thread linked at the top of the post but Google decided that it didn’t like the WordPress URL so this was the alternative to save the text until Goggle got its knickers untwisted…since it became a post in its own right it might as well stay one…

The Story of O

Posted on 17 June 2014 by SJPONeill

OK, OK, minds out of the gutter…the WordPress Daily Prompt a couple of days ago was “You just inherited $1,000,000 from an aunt you didn’t even know existed. What’s the first thing you buy (or otherwise use the money for)?

Well, even though that sounds like a whole lot of money, these days it’s probably not as life-changing as it may sound…It would really help at the moment but for the most part, I’m thinking small for my top three…

First DSCF8481

This is my PC keyboard – the camera is a harsh mistress and (in theory) does not lie but it isn’t really as dusty as it would appear here – it has given long and trusty service and I have finally started to wear through the markings of some of the keys…N was the first to go, followed by O and then I; T and A will most likely be next…A clever cryptologist who cares about such things might be able to develop some stunning insights into my writing patterns from this wear pattern…or maybe these keys just weren’t as well-manufactured as the rest…who knows?

What this means though is that the number of unmarked keys is directly proportional to the number of typos in my work – if I am not careful. And as careful as I am – I still have that difficult transposition habit between ‘now’ and ‘not’ (just play around with that for s second and you’ll see the potential) – the occasional error still slips through and the one that has been slipping through the most is substituting O for I…so a million dollars would mean a new keyboard and the end of the subliminal recounting of the Story of ‘O’…

Second

I would give these guys a full makeover and invest in a pallet of Purina One food for them. I won a year’s supply of this at the end of last year in the annual Purina contest; even though even Purina admit that it’s a year’s supply for a much smaller dog, this has been much appreciated while times have been a little tight, and has been, literally, a lifesaver for Kirk. At the end of last year, he was getting very sore and stiff around his hips, getting up off his mat was a real strain for him, and I was having to seriously consider that one-way trip to the vet’s.

In less than four week’s after going onto the Purina One food, all stiffness and pain had disappeared and now, almost six months later, he has only indicated pain in his hips once and that was after his older sister shoved him into a post when they were playing (older siblings…it’s so good to be one!!!). It don’t really get into 100% product endorsements but this has made a massive difference to Kirk’s quality of life and thus my own. It is not that much more expensive but in this rural area, the larger more economic bags are hard to find.

Third

There wasn’t a door here on Friday morning…

I would get someone in to finish the bathroom. It probably would have been done already if this year had not presented its unique blend of cash flow challenges. The electrician came in on Friday to reposition the light switch that had been hanging down from the centre of the ceiling since we pulled out the partition that enclosed the second shower. That turned into removing the wall between the shower and the bathroom…progress of a sort. The ultimate plan is to replace the current windows with glass (double-glazed) down to the floor so that one can sit in the bath and gaze out at the scenic splendour outdoors…once there’s some minor relocation of the clothesline and some ugly scrubby stuff…

PS Just saw the trailer…I’d go and see this in 3D as well…

Gone with the Windfall | The Daily Post.

Room | The Daily Post

Posted on 9 June 2014 by SJPONeill

The Daily Post: Room

Like a few other English words, Room means two contradictory things. It can be the four walls that enclose us, giving us shelter and comfort but also limiting our movement. It’s also the limitless space into which we can wander and which we can fill — or try to (think about that expression, “room to grow”).

In this week’s photo challenge, share your take on the idea of room — it could be an actual room in your house, a favorite gallery in your local museum, a cubicle at work. You could also take this challenge in a more abstract direction, and show us where you feel like you have room — or lack it.

A tidy room…

…and, hmmmm…

…and this guy thinks he needs more room…

…but outside he has all this to play in…

Scale Model Expo 2014

Posted on 7 June 2014 by SJPONeill

The last Scale Model Expo in Wellington was in 2011. It’s a Biennial event i.e. once every two years, but was slipped until this year to re-align it with its traditional April time slot.Even with this extended period between shows, I still had nothing finished!! In my defence though, I would like to claim points for consistency…

I overnighted in Palmerston North and set off at zero dark thirty on the Saturday morning for Wellington. It’s only about a 90 minute drive but I was catching up with friends on the way…Even then, I still arrived in Upper Hutt (a suburb of Wellington) an easy hour before the show opened. I scored a coup here as my aimless wandering while I waited for the doors to open took me into the local Noel Leemings where they had 4 terabyte hard drives for almost half price…snapped one of them up immediately for the enhanced home theatre project!!!

This year was the first time that the show has been in Upper Hutt. In previous years it has been in either Lower Hutt or the Wellington CBD. I was impressed with the new venue. It is much larger than the old one in Upper Hutt, is right in the middle of town and has a great little cafe right beside the doors. My only minor gripe is that the Upper Hutt City Council could invest a little more in signage for parking as I was unable to find any parks for more than 120 minutes and parked a little further away in a side street. Once I got to the show, I learned that there is free parking and lots of it by the train station about two minutes walk away…still, a little walking never hurt any one…BTW, the same council could also invest a little more in rubbish bins around the CDB as it is quite a trek to find one to dump (in a legal manner) one coffee cup and sandwich wrappings…

The show was well-attended and well supported…some material was repeated from previous years (not necessarily a bad thing) but there was a lot of new build work as well…below is a random selection of images from the first day of the Show…unfortunately I was unable to stay for the second day as much as I may have wanted to. I have loaded more pictures into Photobucket for anyone who may wish to see more…

A Kiwi take on Noah’s Ark…

A whiffed (What-iffed) exercise in imagination…

The Juniors section – this club has been a strong supporter of junior modellers for years…

The Rex Crawford Collection

Rex Crawford was a long-standing and very active member of the Scale Models Wellington club. His ambition was to build one of every aircraft ever operated by the Royal Air Force – as you can see here, he came very close to it. When he passed away a couple of years ago, there was a very real risk that his collection may have been lost however a collaborative effort by the club with Rex’s family has seen this collection preserved and placed in storage in Wellington.

Personally, I would like to see this collection eventually displayed in the RNZAF Museum in Wigram. While the RNZAF may not have operated nearly as many aircraft types as the RAF, the RAF remains the air force that we most closely identify with. In addition, not only have many Kiwis over the decades operated these aircraft types while serving in the RAF but there are also now many former members of the RAF now serving in New Zealand that did fly some of the later types (and I am including the Vulcan and Victor here as ‘later types’).

The large scale train set-up always attracts many viewers…

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Wingnut Models are Sir Peter Jackson’s very own model company and they specialise in a range of exceptionally high quality models of WW1 aircraft in 1/32 scale. The first day of this year’s show they unveiled their latest release, the Roland C.II, an aircraft type that will have bring back fond memories for many modellers of the old Airfix 1/72 Roland that dates back to some time in the 1960s… DSCF8229

Of course, the normal purveyors of temptation were there and I felt somewhat compelled to support local businesses.

When I left Upper Hutt in 2004, it was in a state of decline. A decade later it has managed to reinvent itself: it now has a flourishing town centre and is a great little life support centre for those living and working up the top end of the Hutt Valley.

Spicy ricy

Posted on 24 May 2014 by SJPONeill

The enhanced vegetarian version underway

This post was originally meant to be an addendum to an existing post on the Healthy Food Guide Spicy Indian Mince and Rice recipe [PDF: Spicy Indian mince and rice – Healthy Food Guide ]but it seems that I never got around to publishing (or even drafting) that post in the first place…

Every day a new recipe or two from HFG pops up in my Facebook feed and I’ll grab anything that looks doable with basic i.e. inexpensive ingredients…meals that can either be frozen and/or that will last over a couple of days are popular at the moment…

What You Need

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped (I’m used garlic that has been crushed and frozen for simplicity and ease of use + I’m lazy)
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (I dice up the onion, ginger and (if fresh) the garlic using my every handy Tupperware Terminator – see below)
400g lean lamb or beef mince
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (the recipe says whole cloves which I have but hate picking them out later on)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 bay leaves
3-4 whole cardamoms, crushed (optional) I just used a teaspoon of cardamon powder because I have a bottle of it that will most likely not get used otherwise.
1 cup long-grain or basmati rice
400g can chopped tomatoes in juice
2 cups liquid chicken stock
salt and pepper, to taste
toasted slivered almonds and currants
chopped fresh coriander (optional)

The Tupperware Terminator

What you do

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Add the onion, ginger and garlic. Cook until onion begins to brown.

Stir in the mince and break up any lumps. Cook, stirring frequently, until mince has lost its pink colour.

Add the spices and cook for 1-2 more minutes before adding the rice, tomatoes in their juice and stock. Bring the mixture to the boil and then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender. I find that, at a slow heat, this takes about 30-40 minutes. If it starts to dry out, just add some more water.

Season with salt and pepper then serve. Garnish with a sprinkling of almonds, currants and coriander (if using).

I’ve made this a few times since discovering the recipe in March but until last night it seems to have avoided both camera and blog. It doesn’t take a lot of time or effort to prepare and is another uber-flexible recipe that you can tweak depending on what you might have available in the fridge.

Having successfully experimented with a vegetarian version of the Going Nutty With Rice recipe, I thought I might try the same with this one. Looking to provide dinner for the next 3-4 nights I also increased the quantities to make the same quantity as that nutty recipe. The change I made were to substitute the following from the original recipe above:

400g lean lamb or beef mince became two diced carrots, a diced stick of celery, a diced up chuck of cauliflower (about a cup) and a cup of frozen peas.
2 teaspoons curry powder was increased to three teaspoons.
2 teaspoons garam masala was increased to three teaspoons.
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder was increased to a full teaspoon.
1/2 teaspoon cloves was increased to a full teaspoon.
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon was increased to a full teaspoon.
1 teaspoon of cardamon powder. I kept this the same but probably should have increased it to 1 1/2 teaspoons.
1 cup long-grain or basmati rice became 1 1/2 cups.
2 cups liquid chicken stock became three cups. This was enough stock for flavour but I had to add two extra cups of water before the rice was cooked properly. I actually used Maggi Green Herb stock powder as I found that I was out of chicken stock.

I was very happy with the result although for dining in polite company I might look at reducing the curry and chili powder by about a third so that they match the proportional increase in the size of the recipe i.e. the 50% increase in the rice and stock.

Mt Ngauruhoe under the setting sun…

Image

Mt Ngauruhoe under the setting sun...

I just happened to glance over this way on my way home from the Visitor Centre yesterday after noon. After a beautiful clear day, a little patchy cloud was starting to drift in and I thought that this beautifully set the mountain off from the surrounding land…

Variations on a theme of C

Posted on 15 May 2014 by SJPONeill

A while back Sofia posted a great story on Schubert, who I didn’t know that much about apart from think (wrongly) that he was Charlie Brown’s friend with the piano, as a backdrop to her ‘Four Cs’ recipe…the four Cs being cumin, coriander, chili and curry…and over four nights I experimented with variations on this theme…

What you need

2 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon coriander seeds (I had hoped to use my own coriander seeds in the recipe but they didn’t look quite ready when I looked at them and now the storms of the last week or so have pretty much done for my corianders til next season)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon chili flakes

salt

black pepper

1 tablespoon of sesame oil

Your choice of meat chunks e.g. chicken, lamb, beef, fish…

1 cup of basmati rice

What you do

Wash the rice and put it on to cook in either a rice cooker, or pot on the range.

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Warm the sesame oil in a wok – I tried a frying pan but it was too flat: the wok guides everything into the centre – and add all the spices.

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On my first crack at the four Cs, I forgot the garlic…only remembering when I saw it on the window sill as I was serving up…

DSCF8263 Once the spices are blended together and the fragrance is wafting out of the wok, add the meat and mix it in so that the spices are all over it.

Place a lid on the wok and let the mix simmer – you don’t want it to dry out so add a little water if it does – stirring it occasionally.

In a perfect world, the spices and meat will be cooked just as the rice is ready.

A ring of rice

Ring the rice on a plate and serve the spices and meat in the middle. there should be enough of the spice mix to serve as a sauce over the top.

So that was variation #1 – forgot to take a pic of the final product…very tasty but I forgot the garlic…

Variation #2

As I had defrosted a three-pack of chicken breast from the freezer for Variation #1, I was pretty much committed to chicken for the next three nights…we all know that refreezing and reheating raw chicken just creates a lethal WMD, don’t we?

With Variation #2, I still had some rice left over from Variation #1, so rather than do the lazy and unadventurous option of simply reheating it in the microwave, I added it to the spices about five minutes after the chicken. I remembered to add the garlic to the spices too!

Having the spices mixed through the rice as it was cooking/reheating really added to the flavour and I much prefer Variation #2 to Variation #1 with the rice on its own. Having the rice on its own, I think, works a lot better as a bland offset to a strongly-flavoured centrepiece (just hold that thought for a minute…)…

Variation #3

In Variation #3, I got all the spices right, added the chicken chunks, and then added half a cup of the basmati. In other dishes, when I cook the rice with the main dish, I use the old standby of a can of chopped tomatoes to provide the moisture for the basmati to do its rice thing…I was a little over that but had a can of coconut milk approaching its best-by date that I cracked and added to the mix.

I didn’t realise quite how much I had made until I had plated it up…really, even for me after a hard day’s working, there was enough for two meals…from an economy point-of-view, not bad for one chicken breast and a half cup of rice…

Variation #4

I have had a pack of smoked salmon chunks in the fridge freezer for a while and they stare at me each time I open it to get something…I decided that their time had come and defrosted them on the fourth afternoon of this journey.

Because of their strong natural flavour, I decided (you can release that thought from Variation #2 now) to cook the rice separately as an offset to that strong flavour. I prepared and started the four Cs spices in the usual manner and added the salmon.

Placing the lid on the wok and stirring the mix occasionally, I waited for the rice to cook. When it was ready, I ringed it on a plate and served the salmon and spices up into the middle. Certainly this was the best presented of this experiment and certainly has the best combination of flavours…

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So there you have it: four variations on Sofia’s four Cs…cumin, coriander, chili and curry…Of the four, my preference overall goes to Variation #3 with the coconut milk, with the salmon of Variation #4 running a close second…

There was some rice left in the cooker after Variation #4, so I made a quick rice pudding for dessert but forgot to take a picture…twas yummy though…

Just Another Day | The Daily Post

Posted on 10 May 2014 by SJPONeill

Just Another Day | The Daily Post. Our days our organized around numerous small actions we repeat over and over. What’s your favorite daily ritual?

Every day, twice every day, we have this ritual, initiated by the phrase “…feed the dogs…”. It is such a well-known phrase here than we can only use it when we actually intend doing it, otherwise there is much excitement followed by disappointment. If we want to refer to this activity, we have to say “…Eff the Dees…” and even now, I am not convinced that they do not know that they are being talked about… It’s an important ritual because it is one that we can not afford to miss, forget or otherwise omit…it is also a very satisfying one that daily builds the bonds between us…

Edit: Forgot to mention…this morning…as I was dishing out their breakfast on the deck, the littlest wax-eye fearlessly planted himself on the deck to watch the proceedings. Lulu, in the pink collar, is our hunter but was fascinated by this bright-coloured little thing that clearly was totally unawed by her 40+ kilogram mass, nor the fact that she could probably inhale him by accident…

I thought he might have been hurt but nope, just fearless…he let me pick him up in my hand as Lulu looked on; hopped onto the rail, had one last look, and then flittered off into the trees…

People wonder why we’re not that fussed about missing out on the ‘joys’ of urban life…