Winter Weekend at home in Auckland

Enjoyed another Sunday in Auckland doing things downtown like going to the Central Library, then the Californian Design exhibition at the City Art Gallery with its Modernist examples of furniture, leisure clothing, pottery, weaving and art.

Filled in the rest of the afternoon by attending a free concert in the Town Hall of British music  performed by the Auckland Symphony Orchestra.  Music by Elgar, a couple of the Enigma Variations including Nimrod, my favourite, Holst, Benjamin Britain , Percy Grainger among others.  One soloist played a movement of the Grieg piano concerto in A  in a most virtuoso way, bringing a lot of pleasure to the audience.  

A hazelnut icecream from Giapo rounded off the afternoon nicely as well as a look in to Smith and Caughey's winter sale.  

Today wandered down town again on my way to the train station to go to the choir out at Glen Innes. Discovered a deli in O'Connell St. with the most delicious pies.  I sampled a spinach and fetta one with the lightest flaky pastry for my lunch , followed  by a Kapiti  fig and honey icecream.   Both were delicious.

Room with a View

We redeemed our night for two at the Amora Hotel in Greys Avenue last night . I won it at the Mothers Day Fun Run earlier in the year, a spot prize,  and as it was nice and handy to the gym and we were going out for a mid-winter lunch at AUT with the Never Too Old people it was the right time to do so. We were able to go to our room and get ready for the lunch later on and come back afterwards , go out for pizza in the evening, watch a bit of TV and enjoy our buffet breakfast in the morning. It was nice to have a touch of luxury though I had to twist D's arm as I just decided at 8 am and we had to be out the door an hour later with all our stuff for the day and night. In the end he quite enjoyed it too. I think!!


Came home after breakfast and bypassed lunch after the big breakfast. it was a beautiful day so spent some of it in the garden.  Sowed  some Jersey Bennes potatoes which I had forgotten I had, also the new tulip bulbs for this year and some from other years. The ground is hard and sodden for the most part but I found a few holes for them. Getting rid of the oxalis is hard. I don't think we ever will.

Waiheke

Escaped the big smoke for a dose of island sunshine which was very enjoyable.  Alternate weekends in Auckland are enough especially as we are out and about in Auckland all week anyway.  The visit this time was short and sweet seeing we weren't planning a voyage but when the weather was so sunny and balmy warm it seemed a very good idea.  Relaxed at the bach Saturday afternoon  and evening and went to Oneroa this morning, first to Mass at St Peter's where a Franciscan by the name of Father Bernie presided, if you use that word in this modern world of ours.  Probably not.  Anyway he was entertaining and told us all about how he worked as a lay missionary and a priest in the Pacific in earlier years as his response to the call we all have to preach the Gospel and spread the Good News. 

After that had a cup of tea in the foyer, bought a raffle ticket for a blender (if I win it I can replace my big heavy Kenwood cake mixer and blender with this less cumbersome number).  The Kenwood belonged to my Aunt Dorothy who always referred to equipment by its brand  eg the Frigidaire, the Hoover etc. 

She was a very good cake baker too and slices and biscuits of the healthful variety with plenty of dried fruit.  Puddings and pies were always good too . Gooseberry pie, raspberry pie, apple dumplings spring to mind.  

I also have her food processor which I use for making pastry and slicing the grapefruit for my chunky marmelade.  Brought back a bag full from Orewa on Friday so they will get sliced this week sometime.  

Wandered along Oneroa Beach in brilliant sunshine, enjoying the view and the sound of the waves breaking , then repaired to Solar, the cafe with the best muffins in town - feta, onion and spinach , and, cinnamon, date and blueberry (crammed full of blueberries too), accompanied by a latte in a tall glass.  Forgot to take a picture of it all before we had scoffed the lot.  Did take a picture out the window though, the one with the orange flowers.  

Childhoods

Went to a talk at the Silverdale Historical Society today at which one of the members spoke about her Jewish childhood in Germany. Ellen Rothschild was born in the late 1920s in Hildesheim into a well-to-do family.  

By the time she started school Hitler was already in power and soon everybody had to wear an armband on one arm with a yellow Star of David on it and on the other arm a band with a J for Jew on it.  People were told not to patronise Jewish businesses, then Jews were not allowed to be treated in public hospitals or have access to anaesthetics.  They wanted to take Ellen's tonsils out without anaesthetic but she kicked up such a fuss that the attempt was abandoned but a couple of years later she had her appendix taken out with only an injection.  

As a 10 year old she was evacuated to a host family in Budapest who were very kind to her but who couldn't speak any of the languages Ellen spoke but by chance she met a young girl who did and arranged for her family, also Jewish, to host Ellen for the few weeks she was in Budapest while her parents arranged emigration papers for the family to leave Germany.  It turned out the father of this family was Mayor of Budapest.

In November 1938 her father along with other Jewish men was rounded up at 2.30am and taken to the square where the synagogue was on fire.  The fire brigade came and in the guise of putting out the fire turned the hoses instead on the Jewish men forced to witness the horror of Kristallnacht in Hildesheim.  They were then taken  to Buchenwald.

Ellen's mother decided to take her to Frankfurt where her sister and husband and their two mothers were living.  They returned to Hildesheim to find their house full of other Jewish people made homeless after the Gestapo set fire to their houses.  

In 1939 Ellen's father was released from Buchenwald and they made their way to London where Ellen's uncle had been living for a few years.  Six weeks before war broke out the family sailed for Wellington on the Melbourne Star, a cargo ship with about 14 passengers . 

The family settled in Auckland where they lived  first in Papakura where they had a dairy which they left after being accused of being spies as it was near the Papakura Militqry Camp.  Ellen attended St Mary's College where she suffered more anti-semitism at the hands of one of the nuns! So she transferred to Epsom Girls to complete her secondary education. The family  moved to Hepburn St in Ponsonby where they ran the very successful  Busy Bee dairy which is still in Ponsonby to this day .

Her Aunt Gertrude , who had been an opera singer  came to NZ too with her young son after being released from Theresienstadt and taught the NZ opera singer Heather Begg.  Her son became a successful lawyer.

So a very sobering talk .  My mother came to New Zealand in 1939 as nanny to the children of an English couple, the wife of which was Jewish.  I spoke to Ellen over lunch but she didn't know them so they must have been on a different ship.  The Lillies and Mum settled in Wellington where they also experienced the odd anti-Semitic and anti-German sentiment.  

Dieter's childhood in the 1940s under Russian occupation in East Prussia was similarly fraught.  He was a sickly child and because he did not seem to be a very strong child and didn't want to go to school he went a few months later, five months before the Russians bombed their town of Willenberg .

They went from there to Ortelsburg from where they got a train going west.  All went well until they nearly got to Elbing and the train stopped and they were told the Russians had cut off their retreat and were in front of them. The train went  east again to Königsberg where they found accommodation  but then Königsberg was bombed  and Dieter's  mother, sisters and aunt went to the coast where they lived for nearly three years as refugees as East Prussia was no longer part of Germany.  The northern part was occupied by Russia, the southern by Poland.  

There was no schooling except a little in 1947 and by the time the family got to the west in 1948 Dieter was 10 and started school with 6 year olds.  The family was billeted in an old farm house , just a kitchen and a small room for 5 people.  They shifted to another house still very cramped with at least one other family.

My childhood was nowhere near as dramatic.  I grew up in St Clair , Dunedin.  We had a small villa at 21 Onslow St, which later became 26 Albert St, a couple of streets back from the beach where we tended to spend all summer.  My mother believed in enjoying life and we made the most of the beach in summer and had a crib in Queenstown where we went in winter for skiing holidays.  I started school at St Clair Primary school, then when Helen was five we both went to St Bernadette's a mile or so away by tram or foot in Forbury.  

Crown Lynn

Went to the launch of the new handy Crown Lynn book by Valerie Ringer Monk - Crown Lynn collector's handbook at the Women's Bookshop last night.  Bought a copy and got the author to sign it "Happy collecting"' she wrote!! Do feel inspired to collect a few more pieces.  I don't seem to have all that many at present, at least not all in the one place.  Just three pohutukawa dinner plates in the Kelston Ferrostone  Nirvana range, produced in the 1970s, the book tells me.  Oh and a couple of colour glaze cups and saucers languishing in the china cabinet.  And a  beehive mixing bowl. And a very old buff coloured chamber pot under the house. And a very old salt glaze bread crock that I use to hold umbrellas at the front door.  It belonged to good friend Eileen's family who lived in New Lynn in the 1950s and 60s.  So I do have quite a lot of Crown Lynn and more probably that I have forgotten I have.   

Life after Sydney

The first few days were spent trying to get warm and stay that way after the warmer climes of Sydney. This is the first year we haven't been to Europe or elsewhere for a decent length of time.  May still escape somewhere  warm if we can cope with the long flights.  At present D is having trouble with his feet and adjusting to the discomfort of inflamed tendons, a result of last year's long flights.  

Over recent weeks we have had our house painted and I am very pleased with the way it is looking.  One of the neighbours even asked us were we going to sell our house.  No, never, too much stuff to get rid of first.  

However I made a concentrated effort in the book line and returned at least 20 books to the library book sale, bringing home only about 5 over 3 visits.  Will have to find another 5 to pass on to an op shop . 

Talking of op shops went to a new one in Pt Chevalier on Saturday and came away with a new coffee mug with wattle flowers on it to remind me of our Sydney sojourn  and a 500 piece jigsaw, which has quite small pieces.  It is going to be good for the hand-eye coordination.

Have started gardening again.  I bought some variegated silver beet and perpetual spinach at the garden centre this week and a bright pink pansy to add a splash of colour near the front gate, plus a bag of jersey benne seed potatoes.  I suppose it is not too cold as they grow well in the Oamaru area which would be pretty cold in winter.  

Brought  in the orchids to the front porch after they languished outside while the porch was painted.  Will top the pots up with new orchid mix to help them recover.  

Sunny Sydney

We enjoyed the chance to get away from the cold of the New Zealand winter by having a few days in Sydney,  primarily so I could attend the Asia-Pacific Parkinson's Meeting which I found very informative and buoying.  I feel I am not doing t of badly at all and long may it last!  Met up with old friends who took us to their home about an hour by car out of town.  They also took us to Aldi and Target, our favourite shops of choice these days when we are in Australia. I must say they don't have the same appeal as in the past.  We travel light these days mainly because we can't lift and carry like in the past. 

Had one lovely day of sightseeing the day before we left. Got a bus to Circular Quay and imbibed the atmosphere, watching the colourful ferries plying the Harbour waters.  Good views of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.  Being a Monday there were not too many tourists around.  Enjoyed a latte and a delicious pastry with Belgian chocolate dipping sauce at a harbour side cafe, then bought myself a pair of sheepskin Ugg slippers as my treat to myself.  

In the afternoon spent an hour or two at the Australian Museum, full of fascinating examples of fauna and flora as well as an interesting display of Aboriiginal history.

Celebrations

This is Queens Birthday Weekend here this weekend but more importantly for us, yesterday was D's 75th birthday. I of course am a lot younger!

Went to Mass at the cathedral and then ambled up the road to the Fortuna restaurant at Skycity where 5 of our nearest and dearest celebrated with us.
The buffet was excellent as usual, especially the seafood and desserts.

Later in the afternoon a couple of friends joined us for afternoon tea. They arrived with a huge gingerbread cake which was delicious and I made a hazelnut cake as usual on these occasions.

Ruapehu

Had a wonderful day retracing trips of yesteryear. Our family had a bach which we used on skiing trips from the late 50's to the late 70's when it was sold. It was in McKenzie Street in National Park. I had to think hard to identify it as all the places seemed different.

The road up to the Chateau evoked memories too - the tussock, flax and too too, the three mountains of Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngaruahoe, the Chateau building and its grand lounge area inside.

Drove to the Top of the Bruce. Was it really 25 years ago when we were here last and had a coffee in grander surroundings than then.

Visited the Whakapapa Visitor Centre and sorted out a couple of short walks to look at the Tawhai Falls and the mounds on either side of the Chateau road.

We have lovely comfortable accommodation in Ohakune with its own view of the mountain in the setting sun. A holiday with good friends Frances and Sue to remember.

Flower Power and Exploits on the Home Front

Picked a bunch of these tree peonies for our breakfast table from outside our bedroom window. They are so beautiful the way they change colour over the days from white to dark pink.

Have had a domesticated weekend seeing the weather has been so changeable.Don't know how I have so much energy to make marmelade for us and the Bulgarian and Russian ladies I supply too. Mind you I make it in small quantities which makes for a quicker setting point and a faster job.

Made a Bavarian apple cake instead of my usual lattice-topped Dutch apple cake which has an easier streusel topping atop the apples which had been poached with cinnamon, sultanas and lemon zest. The sweet short pastry has an egg in it , then a layer of flaked almonds sprinkled over it followed by the apples,a layer of custard on top of that, then the streusel. I took it to the family gathering I went to with good friend Pamela in honour of her big sister, Robyn who is up from Christchurch.

Good friend Leny was in my thoughts as I made chicken schnitzel as she taught me many years ago and served it in a mushroom sauce, topped with parsley.

Downsizing

Is an ongoing project with me and recently it seems to have become a little easier now that I am separating from things I really like or liked in the past. Far better to do it gradually on my own terms than have somebody do it for me should there ever be the need.

So out with the old - three cute little jugs and a vintage Gregg's spice rack have been parcelled up and sent off to new appreciative owners.

Anzac Day and After

Didn't manage to make Anzac biscuits as intended as we went for a nice walk along the Te Atatu peninsula . This took most of the day, getting there and back by bus, or should I say buses, as we went via Pt Chevalier to pick up good friend Frances who knew where to go.
There is a beautifully landscaped walkway along the coast with stunning views or the upper harbour and back to the city with the Harbour Bridge, Skytower etc. Enjoyed a picnic lunch along the way after walking for an hour or so. Just as well we had taken our gourmet sandwiches and water bottles as there are no shops or cafes along the way which makes a refreshing change come to think of it. Not that many people either.

After having promised my long-suffering husband some baking I finally got round to it this afternoon. I made walnut drops from my trusty Fielder's cornflour recipe book which dates back to the late 1950s and queen cakes from the Edmond's book.

Puhoi

Good friend Frances suggested we go for a day trip to Puhoi today and drove us up in her new car. Called in to Orewa for Mass and to see Jane and Adam and to pick up a few things to bring back and either use or dispose of.

Had a picnic lunch in the domain then visited the old Catholic Church, the museum and the pub to look at the artefacts dating back to the old Bohemian settlers of the 1880s and later. Also visited the cheese factory further up the road and bought cumin cheese and some feijoa yoghurt.

Called in to Orewa again on the way home for a walk along the beach and visit to to the green grocer to stock up on veges for the week.

Easter

We spent Easter as usual on Waiheke Island with visitors Frances and Pamela joining us for some or all of the time.

As has been the case for the last three months the weather was good and we were able to swim at Surfdale and Little Oneroa. People are worried about the lack of rain and water and we were pleased there was a shower or two one night. It would have replaced the water we used for showering.

Harvested the last of the pears for eating as I ran out of oomph for stewing or bottling. Now the feijoas are ripe and falling on the ground. They too are not as plentiful as in other years and smaller because of the lack of rain.

Went to the Ostend Market on the Saturday to stock up on local products like tamarind chutney. The crowds and the heat were off-putting. Enjoyed the walk over to Ostend and the bustrip home!

The art gallery was worth a visit. There was the annual exhibition and sale of small paintings by local artists and an exhibition of very large paintings, many of them with birds