Trying New Things: April

I watched Evil Dead Rise

I was actually going to go see something else but then had issues with the online booking system and I MUCH prefer booking online than in cinema so forgot I actually COULD book tickets in the cinema and chose to see this instead.

I am so glad that I did!

Even though it didn't feature the iconic Ash, it still read authentically Evil Dead.  There are plenty of nods to the earlier films both in story and style, and while not as camp as some of the earlier iterations, the mark of Bruce Campbell is all over it.  

Not only that, but I was so excited to see that there were no US imports in this film.  Every single actor featured was either from NZ or Aussie.  Bruce Campbell has often sang the praises of Kiwi film crews in the past and his love is very apparent in this film.  This made me feel irrationally proud to be a Kiwi.

And there were more feels to come!  Not only did it contain strong, complex female leads, but it made a real effort to break horror tropes.  While in the past women perceived as sexually uninhabited are among the first to die, here our main protagonist is single, finds herself unexpectedly pregnant and struggles with the notion of motherhood.  Not only that but the only lead male character is played by a trans-male actor and nothing is made of it either in how the film is promoted or shot.  I only discovered this actor was trans when I checked to see where the cast came from.

Not only was this great horror filled with iconic scenes which showcased Kiwi/Aussie talent, but it was progressive to boot.  Thank you Bruce Campbell!

I read Hortus Curious by Michael Perry

Mum loaned me this thinking I might enjoy it - I absolutely did!  Not only did I learn about plants I didn't know much about before, but it helped me understand which of these I might be able to cultivate at home myself.

While some of the plants I already had a fair amount of knowledge of already, it was still interesting reading more about the history of these plants and their uses - some of which were completely new to me.

It's a very easy read with beautiful illustrations which I recommend to anyone interested in global botanical history.

I planted more chillies and curry trees

I love the internet.  Honestly.  It's brilliant.  It's how I'm communicating with you right now.  One of the things I love most about it is the communities you can form and the connections you can unexpectedly make with people from pretty much anywhere.  I have a few online communities I participate in - some actively, some more stealthily.  One of my favourites is a Facebook group about gardening on a budget in NZ.  This group has a regular plant/seed swap and in April I chose to participate in it.  While I sent red rocoto seeds across the motu I also received a few wonderful plants myself.  A local lady dropped off some curry seedlings - all of which were gifted to friends and whanau.  And I received yellow rocoto seeds from a lady in Wellington which have sprung into healthy little seedlings in my bay window.

I made peanut ANZAC biscuits

ANZAC day is a tricky one for me.  While I think it's important to remember those who gave their lives for our perceived freedoms, I struggle with the notion of war.  So while I don't participate in grand celebrations on this day, I do still make biscuits every year.  It's a way of remembering the huge sacrifices made not just by those men, but also of the families they left at home during unimaginable times.

While I usually stick with my usual tried-and-true recipe, this year I decided to give something new a try and went off-book.  Alongside the traditional ANZAC bickies I made some featuring peanut butter and some chopped roasted and salted nuts.  I forgot to write down exactly what I did but basically I substituted about a third of the butter with peanut butter and added in a quarter of a cup of peanuts.  

I did this mostly for me.  I love peanuts.  I love peanut butter.  I need more of it in my life.  But surprisingly, the kid who doesn't like either peanuts or peanut butter also liked these biscuits.  So it really did feel like a winning recipe.

I adopted

We were never meant to ever be a more than two cat family.  Two cats are plenty.  But when a friend posted that a Mama feral cat she had spent some time trapping would be re-released by the SPCA while her kittens would be fostered it just seemed so unfair.  Why should the Mama be discarded?  I felt compelled to help out.  The intent was never to keep her - I had hoped to take her temporarily while I sourced a suitable foster family for her as I know people who foster for other agencies. 

SPCA are not heartless bastards - it was kitten season which meant that many foster homes were already full.  And while feral kittens are usually fairly easy to domesticate, adult feral cats generally take a lot more time.  And when she arrived at our place Toastie certainly was feral! 

She was unapproachable - she hissed and scratched and spent most of her time hidden in her cat sack.  We kept her crated for more than a month not just to help her adjust but for everyone's safety.

I never expected her to change as much as she has in such a short time.

In less than eight weeks after she arrived, she is a changed animal.  Other than the ear tipping from SPCA you would never guess she had been a feral cat.  She doesn't attack us, nor does she attack our other pets.  I can call her and she'll come.  I can pat her - everyone in our house can pat her.  She's not scared of strangers - she's more social than Huddle.  She even had her first trip to the vets and didn't so much as complain or scratch anyone.  It's crazy.  She's a proper, regular pet cat.

As much as I'd love to take credit for all this change, I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that Toastie is a very food driven cat.  We've been able to hand feed her since a week of her arrival.  Her need for treats has always trumped her fear which was definitely the driver for the antisocial behaviours we saw early on.  Whatever it was that snowballed this adjustment to domesticity, I am grateful she is part of our whanau.

I painted

And here she is in painted form.  I was really happy with how this turned out.  I had a lot of fun playing with different textural elements and layering colour.  It's a little more heavy handed than I'd like but honestly, I'm happy.  It's the first painting I've done this year that I've really liked.

and I carved

I haven't finished carved anything in more than ten years, but after seeing 'my own pounamu' on Etta's birthday list I thought it was time I gave it another go.  

This year is Abby's first year of Kapahaka which she has been really excited about.  While she might seem like an outgoing child, she gets very anxious about performances.  I thought if I carved her a taonga to wear during performances it might help her feel braver.

I created a small, simple design which signifies dignity and strength and embedded an orange (her favourite colour) baby oyster shell in its base.  She wasn't super excited about it but she has worn it on days where she needed to feel a little braver.

Etta's taonga is currently a work in progress.  While it's made from humble cow bone rather than pounamu, I'm sure she will still cherish it.

I'm so excited to see what new things the next month brings!

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.