Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Good things: February 2014

Ice creams. Fish and chips. Sand castles. Sand in everything. February has turned out to be the month that January should have been. And boy, am I glad about it.

Fish And Chips From The Waimarama Store, Hawkes Bay

Very early readers of this blog might recall the summer holiday we took three (THREE!) years ago. We had such rose-tinted memories of that stay (despite the fact that it rained a lot) that we went back for a few days at the beginning of the month.

Waimarama Beach Hawkes Bay

We shopped at New Zealand's best Farmer's Market, ate New Zealand's best fish and chips, went for swims and made a lot of sandcastles. It was a proper, old-fashioned summer holiday.


Even better, my sister came to stay and brought with her a shiny new ice cream machine and a batch of this ice cream. I've thought about it often ever since.

Emma Galloway's Dairy Free Chocolate Ice Cream

Back home, we harvested our own tomatoes, which have thrived despite inclement weather and neglect. I listened to this completely charming interview with Wellington's best French patissier and made a mental note to visit his little shop more often.

Homegrown Tomatoes

The pantry is in - and filled - but I've decided to wait for the big reveal until the painters have finished, because the rest of the kitchen is such a tip I can't bear to show it. I'm sure you can wait a little longer.
In the meantime I have more cupboards to clean, more dust to vacuum, and an urgent appointment with a glass of wine in my garden while the cicadas chorus around me.

What have you been up to this month? Pin It

5 comments:

  1. what a lovely summer post! lovely colours in your farmers market pic. but ooooh, i want some fish and chips now, with the tang of salt air. thanks for whisking me away to your wonderful part of the world, if only for a moment!

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  2. Ahhh. Memories of summer. Just what I need this chilly London morning x

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  3. those fish and chips look so good - January we had some days at the beach but February has been all about the pool (and school) - glad you got your beach holiday - am sure sand is preferable to renovation dust!

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  4. Summer was looking so bleak earlier in the year we booked a weekend in Hawkes Bay (just got back) and it was wonderful. Pity the temperature drops 20 degrees by the time I got home. Great news on the pantry - shall email you about getting your kitchen portrait done (a portrait of you, not the kitchen!).

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  5. What a beautiful post! And I love the title : )

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Hello - thanks for stopping by. If this was real life I'd make you a cup of tea and open the biscuit tin, but in lieu of those things, let's have a chat anyway...