Sweet Mary

Click here to find the recipe for the most delicious Rock Buns by Jane Brockett. Make them this weekend ! You will enjoy her beautifully written and photographed blog too.

Today is the last day of Matinee Idle on Radio NZ National after 4 weeks (I think) of fantastic afternoon entertainment of songs weird and wonderful. I find myslf laughing out loud, dancing around the house and looking for things to do that keeps me near the radio. So, today, the last day, I decided to avoid needy jobs and embellish stuff instead. First up was the pretty rose covered tablecloth found in a second-hand shop on our road trip to Taranaki. The minute I bought it I knew I wanted a red pom-pom trim for the edges. Next up, the black and white stripe trim for a plain tee-shirt was sewn around in a trice. I bought this cheap food cover because of the red spotty fabric but didn't like the nylon lace edging it. Rustling through my basket of lace trims produced a couple of metres of white cotton broderie anglaise - on it went. This photo is for Mutti to see the red Ric-Rac trim that I have sewn on to the beautiful silver grey linen tablecloth that she gave us last year. It ...

Best scones in the world are made by my friends Nicola and Peter - thanks to Peter this time for date& ginger and rosemary&lemon. I hide these from my family. My sister making a " brick " for my breakfast. Needless to say, it was delicious. For Christmas, the same sister gave me Stephanie Alexander's Kitchen Garden Companion which has prompted me, amongst others, to make Anna-Maria's Zucchini Slice and Salad of Broad Beans, Cherry Tomatoes, Feta and Olives. Its a great book to encourage you to use the abundance of vegetables growing in your garden.

Since Christmas, we have generally lounged about and relaxed so last week we decided to have a few days away. The Taranaki region on 'the other side" of the island from Hawkes Bay was the target of our wee road trip. Its a beautiful region steeped in history and dominated by Mount Taranaki. Please click on highlighted words and explore for more details and photos. Photo above and below taken on our drive home along the enchantingly named Forgotten World Highway. I think I read somewhere that the Whangamomona Hotel is the most remote country hotel in New Zealand. We stopped here for a hearty lunch of pie,peas and mash covered in gravy. We stopped short of licking our plates clean - just! Just out of Taumarunui we nearly shot past this beautiful lavender farm . The sign posting was hard to see but catching sight of the lavender fields was enough to make my husband hit the brakes hard - checking rear vision mirror of course! He knows me well and didn't even have to ask. It...

On the first day of 2010 we went to the beach for a very, very long walk. My "found" collection from the beach walk but I only came home with the driftwood. We are having hot, lazy days here in the Bay but it still amazes me how icy cold that water feels. Happy New Year to friends and family. Thank you to my husband who took these great photos.