Mid-term break. It’s tricky for two working parents, fortunately there are holiday programmes which are (not cheap) but do provide a range of options. We don’t put Anna in for an entire week because she needs a break as much as anyone else!
I also made some half decent hot cross buns, and certainly enjoying crumble season (ok, when isn’t it crumble season?)


I took Anna to see the Bluey stageshow. It was excellent as always. The story revolved around Bluey’s dad being wedded to his phone and the kids just wanting to play. A lesson for us all. Until Anna was three I really tried to never be on the phone around her. That has slipped a little since then, but, I still try to generally not be on it around her. Probably should just go back to leaving the addictive time-wasting device in a different room…
First off – finally got around to trying the sushi maker that Maaike got me for my birthday (no self interest I swear ;))


Actually worked really well… Anna was completely convinced that we should do this all the time.
My Aunt came down for a visit. Lovely to see her. We mostly chilled out. Going to the Lyttelton market and picking up some passion fruit was a highlight! I love passionfruit.

Also took my cheese scone recipe for a spin…
RECIPE: FEDERAL DINER CHEESE SCONES
Makes 12
Preparation 5 minutes / Cooking 15 minutes
500g tasty cheese, grated
600g buttermilk
½ teaspoon salt
pinch of cayenne pepper
600g self-raising flour
Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a large
baking tray (or 2) with baking paper.
Absolutely yum fresh out of the oven.

And, took a picture at this months’ Ruby meetup… the meetup has just been running nicely for the last few years, it’s always a highlight of the month.
Woolshed creek really is a lovely little hike with young kids (which is probably why we do it so often!). I was most impressed – this time we walked in & out the more difficult route (it’s not that much more difficult, but, still, nice going)






At the hut, kids chilled out and then put on a show – mainly driven by Quinn who was determined to put on a magic show. He rounded everyone up, hiked in his box of tricks all the way… it really was a most impressive effort. Then the kids did a waiata (song) too. The applause was thunderous.
Slept pretty well in the hut.. I’d bought along my anti-snoring device and apparently I was nicely quiet! Next morning, cleaned the hut, quick trip down to the wire bridge (because those are super exciting!) and then back out. All in all an excellent weekend.
I’ve been trying to get out a bit more walking. It’s mostly the mental effort of getting up and out after everything else has been done. Aiming for at least once a week and mostly hitting it (not always) but I’m trying.



Anna had a friends birthday party. She had her nails done. At a salon! She was psyched & we were mildly horrified. Then on to “ninja zone” or something (quite like clip & climb) where she had a great time.
She has also taken to playing with my more piece-heavy games (like Catan and Wingspan) and incorporating them into play. This is fine, just as long as all the bits are still there!


Anna Maaike & I went biking at the park. It was OK, but, Anna was having a slightly tired day – and I think she must have hit a rock 3/4 of the way down as the derailleur hanger got slightly bent and she could no longer change gears. Anyway, we all survived but personally I think McLeans island is a bit more fun while they’re Anna’s age.


I went to a lecture Nobel Prize laureate Moungi Bawendi: From curiosity to technological impact
. That was fascinating, all about “quantum dots” – how they power your TVs and the simultaneous discovery etc. Also some quite sobering questions on what the heck is going to happen to science in the US now that Trump is gutting everything.
Speaking of Trump, I’ve been getting increasingly nervous about the effect of the incredible amount of damage he has been doing to US soft power, their institutions, the amount of federal workers he has laid off, the war on science and scientists (and doctors too it seems). The entire thing seems utterly mad. Like, even from a selfish stand point I don’t quite understand what they’re hoping to achieve here. Anyway, we have a small amount of savings in a growth account (which is mostly US backed) and we decided to just withdraw it all and put it in a term deposit for 6 months. I know you’re not supposed to be ruled by emotion, I know it’s about “time in the market not timing the market”. Whatever, I wanted to sleep better and this has certainly helped my anxiety levels. It’ll be fascinating (and very unknown) if this leads to the end of the dollar as the reserve currency. It’s all just completely mad.
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