Trying New Things: March

I watched Red, White and Brass

I had no idea that the events inspiring this film had even happened!  Which isn't really surprising given I don't follow any kind of sports - not even the Rugby World Cup.  But even if you don't do sports, this is a really enjoyable Kiwi movie for the whole whanau.  If I didn't have a kid who refuses to watch anything not animated, I would definitely take our kids to see it.  Because it's based around a youth group there are no swears or any especially adult themes.  Also enjoyed seeing Nathaniel Lees upgraded from being a  Minister (in Sione's Wedding) to a Reverend.

It was also the first time in a long time I've been to a cinema that had more than four people in it! 

Basically, if you like heartwarming stories with ridiculous plots - you'll probably like this.   

I read Trafficked by Sophie Hayes

I really didn't enjoy this book.  It wasn't because the topic is pretty awful - reading/watching docos about awful things is definitely my jam - it's was just not well written.  I think if Sophie had had someone ghostwrite it for her I might have appreciated her story a little better.  Because this happened to her, and it was still fairly fresh at the time of writing and she (understandably) has PTSD it was (also understandably) a bit messy.  Her emotions sit at the top of things and while she does her best to explain things (and I do get it, I really do) her reality didn't hit like it should have.  While her story is important because she puts a face on domestic violence and uses it to support others in this situation, this isn't conveyed as well as it could have been. 

I also read The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of the Whole Stupid World by Matt Kracht

I am not usually the sort of person who buys books from museum gift shops.  They are generally overpriced and you can often find them cheaper elsewhere.  However, on spotting this I made an exception.  And I'm so glad I did.  This book is pretty funny.  Yes, it's childish and repetitive but I loved it nonetheless.  It's the illustrations that make it.  It was also nice to have an Aotearoan bird featured, even if it was used to make fun of us:

'It [the Great Cormorant] is sometimes called a black shag in New Zealand.  I looked it up, and in local parlance, 'shagging' definitely means having sex.  I'm not saying people from New Zealand like to shag birds; I'm just saying it makes you wonder.'

I recommend this book to people who like birds and have a stupid sense of humour like mine.  But I do not recommend reading it aloud to your kids.  On doing so I realised the author has a very potty mouth and our kids don't need to learn new swears (they are very capable of doing so by themselves).

I made African Peanut Soup

I took this recipe from a Soup Group on Facebook and tweaked it a little and OMG it was amazing.  This is truly the best tasting anything I've put in my mouth this year.  Sweet and creamy but so well balanced with chilli, and umami.  While this version is not vegan I think you could very easily do a vegan version using silken tofu.  I've included my version of the recipe at the bottom of this blog post.  I will definitely be making it again soon!

I planted some greens and chillies

I took this pic a few days ago but this is less than a month after planting the seeds.  Less than a month from seed to table!  These are the kind of greens that you can just harvest as you grow (lettuce, rocket and mustard) and are great for a little salad on the side.  These were a Christmas gift from my Mum which I am glad I finally made time to use!  Well worth the very small effort it took to plant them.



I was also gifted some rocoto chillies by a friend.  Not only have I enjoyed them in delicious meals like the peanut soup I also made in March, but I kept the seeds.  This chilli is large, juicy, sweet, hot and a little smoky - I absolutely love it.  So I was very excited to come home from a family trip to Wellington to find they had sprouted!  These plants can live up to ten years and are very hardy - even resistant to frosts, so if I can get them a little bigger they can live outside with our other happy plants.  

Growing things always feels pretty magical*.

I visited Zealandia

I know this isn't on my list of goals BUT in the spirit of new things I decided to share this here.  When we were planning our trip to Wellington Murray told me I should go on a night tour of Zealandia.  And while I really appreciated this opportunity, after looking at the tours that were available I thought it might be better if we all went on a day tour together as it would be a pretty amazing experience.  While Murray had his misgivings about this** he agreed we would all go.  So we did.  And it was awesome.  The takahē were definitely the highlight for the kids, but seeing tuatara without a plane of glass between us was the bees knees for me.  If you love our native flora and fauna - I cannot recommend visiting here enough.

Derpy takahē

I painted this painting

Again, it's not great - but I still did it.  And it does actually look like Nettie, so I'm pretty happy about that.  I don't know if I want to deviate from painting animals at this stage, but I don't really think it matters.  It's ok to just paint cats.  

What's important is just that I paint.

Soup recipe

* Except for when they die, which happens fairly often.  That's when I remind myself that I'm not really a serious gardener.  It helps to keep the magic alive.

* *Abby is very much NOT an outdoors kid.  She lasted far better on this two hour guided tour than either of us could have imagined.