Seafood Platter at Carey’s Bay Hotel

Posted on June 7, 2013 by thecontentedcrafter

I had a little nearly mid-winter treat last night – YD and her friend, tLK and I went out to dinner at a beautiful and historic old pub about 15 minutes from town in a little bay just past the big industrial wharf of Port Chalmers. YD had somehow scored herself – and us – a free bottle of Riverstone Sauvignon Blanc to accompany the meal.

None of us had been there for years – the last time I went was to have lunch with a couple of friends in the garden of the pub. The food was okay and the service slow, but seated at the next table over were Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth and we spent the entire lunch admiring and eaves-dropping and wishing she would just up and sing……….. but as it was only us and them, that never happened.

Since then the pub has undergone a transformation – the garden is now covered in and heated by huge gas heaters and you can dine in it even in the middle of winter. The service is a million times better and the food has upped its game a gizillion fold since Cleo and Johnny sat in the garden with their fried cheese sandwiches and bottle of best NZ Pinot Noir – I told you we eaves-dropped!

The reason we were heading for Carey’s Bay was the seafood. The pub is famous for it. But, like I said, none of us had actually been there for a long time. There had been a lot of discussion prior to the event on whether the fish platter was an actual platter or a basket – YD being set on having the platter – so it was relief all round when she announced during the drive that it was indeed a platter as she had checked on line.

YD has an absolute fetish about fish platters. I think she has tried most of the platters available in restaurants both locally and nationally – and even in parts of England and Australia. She likes New Zealand fish the most and locally caught fish best of all.

YD likes fish. She especially likes fish platters. Fish baskets, not so much.

Personally, I didn’t care nearly so much, it was just such a treat to go to this lovely old pub with these two lovelies and have a good meal and share a [free] bottle of wine.

We arrived and parked in front of the hotel, right on the waters edge. The night was calm and almost mild. The lights twinkled beguilingly on the water and the waves lapped at the moorings of the fishing boats. The stone pub stood stolidly on its ground, through the lit windows fires sparked and patrons sat in groups talking quietly over their drinks or meals.

Two elderly ladies sat by themselves in the smallest bar, at a small table right in front of a roaring open fire. A large, heavy silver teapot sat on the table between them as they talked earnestly together. They were still there when we left……….

We took our seats in the enclosed garden restaurant close to a roaring gas heater and entered into a complex discussion on whether to have the fish platter or some other offering.

Eventually it was decided that we would indulge in a small shared entree, a selection of delicacies available as mains. In this way, other tastes might be sampled and the fish platter still be loyally adhered to.

When the entree arrived it looked to be enough to feed us all adequately with no need for anything else. But we had already ordered our main courses……….

The selection was delicious and we took our time over it, sipping on our wine and swapping stories of our doings since last we had all met.

Eventually the main courses were carried out. I say carried, but really the server needed a horse and cart to get it to us and we needed a much larger table to accommodate it!

There were gasps all round and cries of both wonder and horror conjoined – tLK and I shared many theories on how YD would manage her platter – and even YD, it must be said, looked somewhat stunned for a few moments.

This is the platter!

In the background is tLK’s seafood broth and the Contented Crafter’s fish of the day and salad with a bowl of fries on the side. The rest all belongs to YD.

YD pretty much ate all of it!

YD is 5’9′ tall and 140ibs.

It’s really not fair…………

If you are in this neck of the woods, take a trip out to Port and on to Carey’s Bay Pub. You won’t be sorry – but share the fish platter with someone you love.

Box to Book Part 3

Posted on June 6, 2013 by thecontentedcrafter

Two weeks have gone by and the work on this project is not going according to plan ….. But I am remaining true to my usual way of working, and continue merrily on with my hit or miss style

I’ve been working on different embellishments that will be added into the book – most of them still requiring finishing touches as I kept running out of supplies – and as I buy most of my stuff on-line there can be a five day delay between ordering and receiving.

If I discover, say on a Friday afternoon [and this actually has happened] that I need more embossing powder it can be Thursday before it gets to me – depending on the supplier. It can really stop me in my tracks – so I’ve spent a bit of time checking everything this week and making a list…………. [Yay me!]

So consequently all I have to show at the moment is the layering process which is underway.

What you are about to see is simply phase two and there are at least another two steps to be taken in this process – And just to keep your interest up [hopefully] I’ll finish with a quick peek at a possible phase three page.

This is a page towards the back of the book. Card-stock has been torn, dry embossed [the script] and then attacked with some ‘Old Paper’ ink to age it up. The edging of lace is done the same way – but this may well disappear altogether as I don’t really like it……

The strip of fabric edging on the right side is loose so that more pages can be tucked under it later on. Most of what you can now see will soon disappear…..

A close-up of the lower left page.

This is a page towards the front of the book – it’s actually two pages as the curved part is the edge of a flip page, narrower and incorporating a pocket for more embellishments to be tucked into, and the bird belongs on the following page – I quite like that you can see this glimpse of what comes next..

A couple of pages on you’ll find this:

Another flip page, made to look like an envelope with lace edging and ribbon tie. Well it doesn’t just look like an envelope, it is an envelope and will hold a couple of poems inside.

This is the page before the envelope – that’s the back of the envelope on the right hand side. The page on the left has its first layer on and the next pic shows what I am considering as layer three for this particular page:

I can’t adhere anything as yet as I still haven’t decided what text I am going with – but two strong contenders are Khalil Gibran – selected extracts from ‘The Prophet’ – or a selection of my favourite Rumi verses…….decisions, decisions!! But once that decision is made and the verses all printed out then everything will come together – I’m hoping another two weeks will see it done………

Stay tuned!

Thanks for taking the time to drop by – I love that you came!

Taksim Square Turkey

Posted on June 4, 2013 by thecontentedcrafter

I have chosen to live a quiet and meditative life. I have no TV, I do not read the newspapers or log on to current events channels. I don’t like the media and its consistently negative and fear inducing stance on daily and current events.

However, those events that I do need to know about are placed before me and I practise sending peaceful and loving thoughts where they are needed. I don’t do this in an ostentatious manner, I just do it quietly as I go about my daily tasks.

My blog is the one public place where I keep it lighthearted and kind of inconsequential – it’s my fun stop, my place for keeping track of crafty creations and as I have discovered, a place for making new friends across the globe – a modern era version of the pen-pals we had as children I guess.

I have been holding the events in Taksim Square in my mind these past few days – but this morning George Takei posted a moving message and a video that encapsulates through pictures and music these unfolding events, and while I was in the shower [does it happen for you this way too?] I had the idea to write this post, and share the idea of a series of moments ………………..

I’d like to suggest that sometime on Friday 7th June, between midday and midnight, you watch this video and then sit quietly for 30 seconds and send your prayers and/or heartfelt intentions for a peaceful settlement to this place and these people.

That’s all – it will take maybe 4 minutes of your time and will have an impact on the outcome.

If enough people do it there will be a 24 hour period where there will always be peace sent to Taksim Square and strength to the citizens of Turkey who are standing against despotism.

Now I don’t have many readers of my blog so I’m not expecting to change the world – but I am hoping to reach a few folk who may spread the word – So please, share this message and the video with as many people as you can – and click ‘like’ to let me know if your intention is to take part.

I am aware that others are already undertaking moments like the one I am suggesting – I do not mean to step on any toes. My intention is purely to make one more person aware of the human rights and freedoms that are currently under attack in Turkey.

An Easel Card For A Man

Posted on June 3, 2013 by thecontentedcrafter

June is he who should be my son-in-laws birthday month and every year I try to come up with something a little different – not to mention manly – for him.

One of the ideas my two daughters are cooking up currently is taking a road trip across the US of A and of course SiL would be the driver…… so with that in mind I decided to create a card I could hide a couple of Lotto tickets in and maybe a scratchie or two. [That’s a gift idea for the man who has nearly everything]. And if they come up trumps the road trip in ON!!

This is what came out:

Front of Card

Instructions for basic easel shape: Make a diagonal score line on the front of the card from top right to bottom left. Attach another piece of card the same size to the front by gluing from the right side of the score line only.

Inside – left side will have birthday greetings message

The 3D open tourer card is attached by a tab at the bottom – it needs to be flexible.

And every card – even one for a man – needs a little bling, so gold stickles are used around the clock faces and banner and tag on the front and as the road markings. And yes I know Americans and any others who drive on the right side of the road – we do as the English do and drive on the wrong side ……

Standing Easel Card

The little tag has a secret pocket for a small scratchie ticket to slide into …..

I covered the back of the card with paper too, so that the whole thing shows a map of part of the US wherever you are looking. Paper is from the Prima ‘Engraver’ line.

And now Ta-da as I am practising my video-ing skills and uploading to You Tube skills – which is amazingly user friendly I have to say – here is an ‘in-the-round’ look at the finished product:

Hope you enjoyed that – leave me a note if you did…….I like to know you came by! 🙂

Orlando Finds A Lemon Pip

Posted on June 3, 2013 by thecontentedcrafter

The other day as I have already told you in the last post, I was making hummus; and as he had finished posing for his little friend through the window, Orlando now sat at my feet, waiting for any dropped goody to play with……

This can be another of those fraught times – he has inadvertently tasted several black peppercorns, and being a bit like Winnie-the-Pooh, who is as we all know, a bear of very little brains, has not learnt from these nasty experiences and still enthusiastically chases anything that falls from my mixing, blending, chopping and stirring.

Another part of this game is that when the chased object – and it must be said, the smaller the better – disappears under the fridge, the stove, or even the floor mat, my expected position is that of retriever.

This too can be fraught as I am not always willing to stop what I am doing immediately to retrieve the lost object.

Orlando signals he is waiting by constantly peering intently into the gap and purring encouragingly at me. Should I show no signs of retrieving the object of his desire there is usually a sad little whiffle of disappointment before he goes off and finds his baggie of nepeta and beats that up.

This day was different however. I had the camera at the ready, having got it out in the hopes of getting one of him greeting his little friend through the window – but as I was too late and the moment had passed it now sat ready to go on the kitchen counter and I sprang into action….

Yep, that’s a lemon pip alright ….

Just a wee tap …

Now, where’s it hiding?

Mmmmmm – nepeta!

I see it – hiding under my baggie

Oh oh ….

About this time, remembering I wanted to teach myself how to upload to You Tube, I had flipped the camera to record mode – and I caught the last part of the game – the bit where the lemon pip has been scooted under the cooker. Though the quality is very poor, [I’m sorry, apparently my camera is inferior!] if you listen carefully you can hear him purring away encouragingly beneath the whirring of the device …. But as I was holding the camera I couldn’t play my expected role of retriever, so despite my words of commiseration, the sad little whiffle of disappointment may be just heard at the end …..

Thanks for dropping by today – I hope you enjoyed seeing Orlando at play.

A Story For Cat Lovers …..

Posted on June 1, 2013 by thecontentedcrafter

One morning last summer, quite early in the day, when Orlando was sitting in his accustomed place keeping an eye on the neighbourhood, a small child’s voice floated through the open window “Mummy, mummy look at the pretty kitty…” I heard mummy’s voice agreeing and urging the child to keep going while Orlando sat calmly watching it all.

Obviously this became a bit of a routine which I was not aware of as, some weeks later, I just happened into the room and heard through the same open window the little boy’s lamenting cry to his mother “Mummy, mummy, where’s the kitty gone, mummy?”

Mummy had no idea, but even as she spoke said kitty appeared from nowhere and springing across furniture, bench tops and stove, raced to reach his waiting admirer.

I heard an excited squeal, “There he is mummy!” exclaimed the child “Look mummy, there he is!”

Mummy’s murmured reply was incomprehensible – but watching my ‘kitty’ sit up very tall and straight and puff out his handsome chest while gazing softly into the far distance sent me off into a fit of giggles and I had to leave the room – who was it that said animals have no concept of social interactions?

This morning I was busy in the kitchen multi-tasking away quite happily – cooking a new batch of cheese and oat cakes and making hummus for my daughter when Orlando suddenly and with no warning sprang across furniture, bench tops and stove to the window.

Even as I squeaked my concern and disapproval I realised by the way he positioned himself who was there – and sure enough a happy voice announced to the whole world “There’s the kitty mummy. Hello kitty!”

Kitty sat up tall and proud, puffed out his chest and gazed into the far distance with a long, slow blink.

I’m so proud!

Have a great day and thank you for stopping in!

A Quick Card

Posted on May 29, 2013 by thecontentedcrafter

Made this card for my daughter’s friends baby son’s first birthday – now say that quickly six times!

It’s a cutie with a teddy, a flower, a butterfly and bit of bling ….:-)

It’s still cold here though the freezing polar blast has died away……….. I ventured out briefly this afternoon for the first time in two days and was glad to get indoors again.

But lots of time to keep working on my box-book now, stay tuned for more on that soon.

Daily Prompt – Switcheroo

Posted on May 28, 2013 by thecontentedcrafter

My little house is usually toasty warm, no matter the weather – and the weather has been mild for the season. But during the night I woke up cold. Orlando came and snuggled up tight against me and purred himself and me back into sleep.

I got up this morning and the house felt cold. I turned on the heat pump and it stuttered and shook and vigorously blew cold air about the room. I turned it off!

I dragged the heater from my craft room into the living area and turned it on full blast. It still felt cold.

Though not yet light, I opened the curtain in the kitchen so Orlando could sit in his accustomed place and stare out at the awakening world.

In the pre-dawn light I thought I saw white rooftops through that opened curtain.

I blinked and looked again – snow.

Snow!

Snow??

It’s too early in the season. It doesn’t snow here until at least the end of July.

I want to switch places with Char from Lesie’s World .

Lesie’s World is Jamaica where it is always summer and doesn’t get icy cold like this – and I know there is no snow – I saw that movie!

Lesie’s blog is full of the colour and flavour of Jamaica……… most especially the post called A Likkle Literary Taste A Mi Culcha. Lesie’s blog allows me soak in the colours and smell the aromas and taste the flavour of Jamaica. When I wander around her Thrift Shop and read about her daily life I fall in love with a world so colourfuil, so vibrant and warm and so very different from mine…….

I don’t really want to swap places with Char, I want her to be there too, for many reasons:

I will need a translator, I’ve been practising my Jamaican patois but we all know book-learnin’ is nuthin’ like the real thing!!
She knows where all the cool places are
She knows the markets and the landmarks and all about mangoes ……
I like Char!

And though Char once expressed an interest in visiting my little country here near the bottom of the world with it’s odd wild life, this is not the time of the year for someone who lives in perpetual summer to make the journey – hell, even our high summer would feel wintry to her I expect.

No, it’s grey and cold and the weather is coming straight off the Antarctic Ice Shelf to our little part of the southern ocean and the snow is turning to sleet and the wild seas are breaking up our coastline and a favourite promenade walk is in danger of being undermined and swept away – and she hasn’t yet learned to speak our lingo!

These are some things every visitor should know:

New Zealand is properly pronounced ‘Neew Zillan‘
Leading statements are made as questions
Every second sentence has ‘eh?’ at the end
Lynn of Tawa is an historical cultural icon, if you can understand her you have a good chance of getting by – here is a link to a brief You Tube view, I suggest you turn on the captions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ZZe4O7Ct8mo

Good Luck!

I’m on way Char – it’s a long walk but I’ll make it one day.

Daily Prompt – The Elevator

Posted on May 25, 2013 by thecontentedcrafter

Long, long ago, in a land far, far away I entered a crowded lift, the hand of my four year old daughter clutched tightly in mine.

The only sound was the shuffle of feet and rustle of clothing as room was made to accommodate us. Eyes turned modestly downwards or reaching for unseen horizons the silent occupants waited as the lift doors swooshed shut and with a shudder we began our ascent.

Almost immediately the uncomfortable silence was broken by the piping voice of the four year old. Tugging on my hand she inquired intensely ‘Mummy, where do babies come from?”

The silence became focused. An unseen arrow of interest aimed straight at me, waiting for the answer to the unexpected question.

Instantly I became an internal jangle of question marks and exclamation points –

What? Why Now?? Really, already?? Oh God, what do I say here??

Pretending serenity, I bent towards my daughter, intending to say “Let’s talk about this later” but what came out instead was: “Where do you think you came from?”

The focused interest whispered towards the dark haired girl looking up at me. She turned her eyes down, frowned slightly and was quiet for a moment. The focus held its collective breath.

Then she smiled and responded clearly.

‘Starlight.” She smiled up proudly at me and as I stared silently back, the focused silence curled back on itself and settled with the smallest of sighs into the eyes and mouths of the inhabitants of the lift.

The lift juddered and stopped and the swoosh of the door opening returned us to the world. As we jostled aside to let some occupants out, an elderly gentleman ruffled my child’s hair and beamed down at her. “Starlight, indeed” he chuckled, “And you are an angel!”

I met my child that day in the lift.

Box To Book – Part 2

Posted on May 24, 2013 by thecontentedcrafter

I haven’t spent as much time on my recycling project as planned…… we are experiencing our first mild frosts of the season and the days that follow are beautiful, sunny and warm and they call Orlando and me outside. We sit in the courtyard with our faces turned up to the sky and, smiling slightly, enjoy the warmth and the feeling of warm air on our skin or fur….. we both sometimes purr……

But I have done some work. I’ve begun the process of sorting out embellishments I would like to add, finding just the right poem scraps and verses to include [which simply takes forever, there are so many] and making the extra fancy bits.

I had completed the first fancy pocket before realising I had not recorded the process – duh!! So I made some more and here is a small sampling of a couple of things where I had employed the camera:

The raw materials, cream cardstock and dies

These are two of my favourite dies – the lacy corner is from Heartfelt Creations and the open book is a Marianne die.

Because I am going to use those lacy corners as pockets I glued them onto clear rigid plastic [recycling the packaging that everything comes in these days] with multi medium gloss gel – that is the milky white that is showing up in the photos as it was still wet at photo call time. Disappears when dry, so at first glance the pockets will appear transparent but will not rip when other items are placed into them……… Prior to this I had painted, inked, embossed them and then screwed them up to get a really well worn look.