Hard to believe we’ve done Thanksgiving Dinner for our urban family 5 times now – it’s always a really long, tiring, often stressful and hot day of standing and cooking but everyone loves it so much and it’s so great having everyone together. Check out the same food and fact that everyone fit around the table that first year …
Yep, we made the same food this year as all other years after a slight period of alarm when we thought we might be faced with a tiny turkey after Moore Wilson’s informed us that due to the Christchurch earthquake we were victims of the Great Turkey Shortage 2010 (because a frozen turkey plant failure after the quake meant frozen stock had to be destroyed and replaced with fresh) and then when the turkey eventually did arrive it was a whopping 7kg-er which was the biggest we’ve had for not the biggest crowd we’ve had! Luckily it fitted in the bag and oven dish and we didn’t get any nasty hell’s kitchen moments due to it needing an extra half hour or so cooking (thanks to the trusty Edmonds cook book and the run-sheets and notes I’ve saved from every year with scribbles and recordings of timings and tidbits (like the purple cabbage panic of last year which thankfully wasn’t an issue this year!))
People seemed to go to extraordinary lengths to attend which was amazing: our Small Dark Friend starved herself all day to make room for turkey, Jiff ironed & wore a shirt with a collar, Lance missed out on going to the kids’ dance recital & new-to-the-urban-family Rocket Scientist & Mrs Jam-Off came from a family funeral. Yes you heard right, that’s Mrs Jam-Off … not so much of an ‘enemy’ after all
Simon brought a grow-your-own-Xmas-tree into work today – the first time he had one I was very taken with it! Didn’t realise that was 3 years ago. This year’s was a bit bigger and I set up my camera to take regular photos of it to make a time lapse seeing as we now sit opposite each other.
The photos weren’t taken very regularly and despite the bluetac holding the camera in place I still didn’t get the tree in the same place each time!
However, The Mister managed to make a time lapse video out of it with sound track and it makes me laugh!
Remember a while back when Supreme opened their revamped Woodward Street store I went down and took a bunch of photos and commented on the little ‘exhibition’ space in the brick wall? Well the minute I saw that space I knew what I wanted to take to put there one day – and that day came last week when our Supreme Friend tweeted that he was looking for something new to put in the space.
I rushed down there with the treasure that I knew I wanted to display – just on loan – my New York prism!
Oh how easily the little Vespa model was cast aside so I could ‘install’ my treasure. We discussed all sorts of lighting and signage options but for now, one of my orange cards serves as the art credit. Feel very famous!
We made a quick video of our finished product to basically wave and say hi to send to her after finally hearing her voice on her spring roll instruction video – over the time we’ve been Twitter friends we’ve seen photos of her, her changing hair colour, her cats (including the sad time when one died), her husband, dog, friends and read about her triumphs in the kitchen and seen lots of wonderful photos of her food. We thought she might get a kick out of hearing our accents and seeing us ‘in the flesh’.
She was stoked and said the video made her week! She wrote a blog about it and her recipe for the day was something involving orange, just for me! Have a read of the post (and some of her others, she tells a great story!) and see the video we made for her: The Novice Chef – Orange Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls.
Well this year ours is growing something for free! This abandoned pot on the deck has had a little shrub and friends spring up in the last 10 days or so – a hebe I believe Mother? (Please don’t tell me it’s a weed.) A native New Zealand shrub. Have watered it and talked to it to tell it that it’s welcome to grow and stay if it likes so we’ll see how we get on. I suspect it’s a seed blown over from the neighbours so hopefully they won’t claim it back if it grows into a handsome shrub!
Today The Mister received a delivery at work, from He-Man! Our Tweet4yourtee wardrobe increased by 2 more items as a ‘Master of the Twitterverse’ set was delivered to him at his desk – he had no idea and I had to keep the secret that the delivery was coming and that one of the Masters of the Universe characters was doing the delivery! I’d gone around work and got various people organised to video it, including me, and Tweet4yourtee are using it as part of their social marketing … with me giggling in the background and all.
The Mister was very surprised and was a great sport! I giggle every time I watch it!
As you know I’m a fan of Tweet4yourtee shirts and this month being breast cancer awareness month they took a break from their blue, black & white (& very occasionally orange) brand colours to do a pink range with some of the shirt price going to the Breast Cancer Foundation. Not wanting an entirely pink shirt, I still wanted one and opted for the ‘I Heart’ shirt that has a pink heart …
My heart is for The Mister, @storminwalker Awwwww!
(And that coffee & the warmed croissant I had for breakfast at Customs Brew Bar was FANTASTIC!)
I’m hoarse! Had a night jumping and screaming in my ear muffs, swooning at the drummer in Golden Axes making their debut performance at Rocktober last night! Wow – not my kind of thing but a great night. The Mister is SO talented – so amazing to see him in action behind the drums – hard to believe he hasn’t played for 15 years!!
Rocktober started out with me digging out some 80’s rocker photos from my university days to get into the spirit of it.
Then I wore Dean’s original Iron Maiden t-shirt to work all day, trying to pull off an 80’s my-boyfriend’s-in-the-band kind of look – I remember when Dean wore this shirt all the time!
Then it was time – The Mister was up on stage
and people were screaming and waving at the band!
God it was awfully loud, but I was somewhat protected in Father’s lawn-mowing ear muffs and it was great seeing the crowd really get into it – there were loads of people from work there including some that had left their kids at home and brought their partners out. I was really proud
Was rather excited on the way home today to see Rocktober posters pasted up on the poster poles in Cuba Mall – not long now until 1 October!
Here’s a photo from the latest band practice – now happening in a proper recording studio and not in a meeting room at one of the guys’ offices – very orange – might have to get down there for a look!
