Oh my word, I have just discovered the coolest shopping website ever, and had to share!! Warning: gushing ahead. For all I know, you've all known about this website forever, but I didn't, and I feel like I'm uncovering Tutankhamen's tomb.
Zenni Optical. An online spectacles company. Cheap glasses, anyone?
I wish I had known about it last year, when I bought my first pair of glasses, shelling out over NZ $500 for frames, lenses and an eye exam.
ALL the frames on this website are between US $9.99 and $46 (or NZ $12 and $60). Even its most expensive glasses are ONE TENTH of the price of my fancy Converse glasses from the local optometrist. (Don't get me wrong, I love my Converse frames, but I don't particularly love the effect they had on my savings account.)
And that's not all.
Because it sucks to buy something like glasses without trying them on first, you can upload a photo of yourself to Zenni and try the frames on virtually! Just imagine all the hours you could spend on this site playing with this fun wee toy.
Reading this through, I can see that you may be suspicious that someone from Zenni Optical has hacked into my account. I can assure you now that this is not spam. I am simply a little over-excited that I may be able to afford more than one pair of glasses, or that if I break or lose my current glasses it's not the end of the world.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
sing-along
In about a month's time, my flatmate and I are throwing a Sing-along Chitty Chitty Bang Bang party! We are very, very excited.
You may remember that last year we hosted a sing-along Sound of Music at our flat. It was a pretty amazing experience - so much fun! I had been to a public version of this event once before, so I already had heaps of ideas from that for ways to encourage audience participation (e.g. party poppers to let off when they kiss, edelweiss to wave in the air, whistles to blow, etc etc). There are also heaps of ideas online for costumes, activities, party food and so on.
And there's something about The Sound of Music that is very easy to work with - all those songs full of random lists. Brown paper packages tied up with string; do, a deer, a female deer; a flibbertigibbet, a will o' the wisp, a clown; cream coloured ponies and crisp apple strudel... and so on.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is rather different. My attempts to find anything online have been woeful. It is hard to believe we are the first people to do something like this who thought to chronicle the experience online, but nevertheless we are going to have to come up with most of the ideas ourselves. It's a fantastic, imaginative movie (did you know Roald Dahl wrote the screenplay?), and so there's plenty of material to work with. I am sure we'll do just fine.
But in the interests of future singalong-holders, I would like to announce my plan to provide the internet with a blog series about holding a sing-along Chitty Chitty Bang Bang party. Over the next couple of months, I will pass on to you the many ideas I am sure we will come up with, on:
1. Decorations
2. Party food and drink
3. Costumes
4. Audience participation: ideas and props
And more!
To see the progress of this idea, see all my blog posts under the label sing-alongs.
Monday, April 4, 2011
oops
I have been applying for lots and lots and lots of jobs. About fifty so far, and I have many more on the to-do list. My policy is to apply for anything and everything that could conceivably accept me. Now is not the time to be fussy. I know that I'm on the shortlist for one, currently, but I've got fairly used to receiving rejections. I've developed a philosophical attitude towards them - after all, the earthquake has delayed my thesis by at least a month, so it's quite lucky I am not currently expected to be working full-time as well as finishing my thesis.
The problem with my policy is that I feel like I'm getting a little blasé about the whole application process. I spent yesterday afternoon applying for about fifteen jobs. Writing cover letters, rewriting cover letters, making small alterations to my CV, firing through online applications, filing away the job descriptions and the date I applied for them. Quickly quickly quickly, so I can get back to work.
Turns out that in my speed I was not very careful with one of them. I received an email this morning from the HR person in charge of a copywriter/freelance writing vacancy saying "Hello, we received your application, but we are not [Insert Company here] nor do we need a [Insert vacancy here]." Obviously I had managed to forget to alter those crucial words in my cover letter, even though I had changed everything else to suit the position.
I groaned, swallowed my pride, apologised profusely and offered a corrected version. Response: "Well, if you seriously want to work as a copywriter, I'd advise you edit your own cover letter properly. Obviously, I can't accept your application. Sorry. You seem like a nice person."
Ouch. And touché, good point, and all the rest of it.
The pity of it is that I was actually quite excited about that application. That job sounded much more intriguing than the majority of the other things I have been applying for. It would also have allowed me to work from Christchurch, unlike most available jobs at the moment.
I have had other moments of embarrassment. I applied for a job as a proofreader for a magazine publishing company. Not particularly exciting so I haven't lost much sleep over that one. However, only a few hours after applying, I got a phone call from HR, who wanted to talk to me about it. Unfortunately, when they got to the inevitable question - "And what do you think of [Insert name here] magazine?" - I had to admit that I had never laid eyes on this magazine before, and didn't even have a clue what type of magazine it was. Cringe! Not a good look! (It was a lifestyle/home decorating magazine, as it turns out.)
Another experience: I had a phone interview for a local job in a library. I do feel I was slightly unfairly treated here, because they told me beforehand it was just a phone call to check things like the date I would be available, and then they proceeded to ask all the standard interview questions. Including: "Can you tell me about a time when you had a difficult experience with a customer?" I was flummoxed. I have NEVER had a bad experience with a customer. And I have worked several customer service jobs. I didn't know what to say, and it showed. (I've come to the conclusion now that I should simply have been honest. I haven't had bad customer service experiences, and that probably shows that I am good at dealing with customers. I shouldn't have to feel like it doesn't.)
I think the problem is that because I am already doing what is basically a full-time job (writing a thesis), a job that is by necessity absolutely consuming, I don't feel like I have time to take job applications seriously. I am also coming from a background of studenthood, in which I have paid people to accept me into their organisation! People in the real world, however, don't have to be fair, or consider everything about your application, or account for your mistakes. They can ring you entirely out of the blue and expect you to know everything about their organisation. They only need to see one single unfavourable thing about you and it will sour your entire application. I'm not complaining - but it's a mental adjustment for me to make. And it's scary!
The problem with my policy is that I feel like I'm getting a little blasé about the whole application process. I spent yesterday afternoon applying for about fifteen jobs. Writing cover letters, rewriting cover letters, making small alterations to my CV, firing through online applications, filing away the job descriptions and the date I applied for them. Quickly quickly quickly, so I can get back to work.
Turns out that in my speed I was not very careful with one of them. I received an email this morning from the HR person in charge of a copywriter/freelance writing vacancy saying "Hello, we received your application, but we are not [Insert Company here] nor do we need a [Insert vacancy here]." Obviously I had managed to forget to alter those crucial words in my cover letter, even though I had changed everything else to suit the position.
I groaned, swallowed my pride, apologised profusely and offered a corrected version. Response: "Well, if you seriously want to work as a copywriter, I'd advise you edit your own cover letter properly. Obviously, I can't accept your application. Sorry. You seem like a nice person."
Ouch. And touché, good point, and all the rest of it.
The pity of it is that I was actually quite excited about that application. That job sounded much more intriguing than the majority of the other things I have been applying for. It would also have allowed me to work from Christchurch, unlike most available jobs at the moment.
I have had other moments of embarrassment. I applied for a job as a proofreader for a magazine publishing company. Not particularly exciting so I haven't lost much sleep over that one. However, only a few hours after applying, I got a phone call from HR, who wanted to talk to me about it. Unfortunately, when they got to the inevitable question - "And what do you think of [Insert name here] magazine?" - I had to admit that I had never laid eyes on this magazine before, and didn't even have a clue what type of magazine it was. Cringe! Not a good look! (It was a lifestyle/home decorating magazine, as it turns out.)
Another experience: I had a phone interview for a local job in a library. I do feel I was slightly unfairly treated here, because they told me beforehand it was just a phone call to check things like the date I would be available, and then they proceeded to ask all the standard interview questions. Including: "Can you tell me about a time when you had a difficult experience with a customer?" I was flummoxed. I have NEVER had a bad experience with a customer. And I have worked several customer service jobs. I didn't know what to say, and it showed. (I've come to the conclusion now that I should simply have been honest. I haven't had bad customer service experiences, and that probably shows that I am good at dealing with customers. I shouldn't have to feel like it doesn't.)
I think the problem is that because I am already doing what is basically a full-time job (writing a thesis), a job that is by necessity absolutely consuming, I don't feel like I have time to take job applications seriously. I am also coming from a background of studenthood, in which I have paid people to accept me into their organisation! People in the real world, however, don't have to be fair, or consider everything about your application, or account for your mistakes. They can ring you entirely out of the blue and expect you to know everything about their organisation. They only need to see one single unfavourable thing about you and it will sour your entire application. I'm not complaining - but it's a mental adjustment for me to make. And it's scary!
cookbook challenge #6
[About the New Years' resolution behind this]
From a Foodtown magazine, I made broccoli and cauliflower curry with cumin seeds. Six down, eleven to go.
This recipe is vegetarian and also gluten free, which is great, considering I served it to a friend who needed the latter and a flatmate who needed the former. Unfortunately, it wasn't so good for another flatmate, who has a very very very low tolerance for hot food. I didn't even feel like it was hot, but even the tiny amount of heat in it was too much for her. Sigh. Someday I'll get it right for everyone!
You will need:
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
375 g /13 oz can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 medium potatoes, scrubbed, diced and cooked
500g / 1 lb & 1 oz bag frozen cauliflower and broccoli
1 can (drained) chickpeas
1 tablespoon cornflour, mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water
Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the mustard and cumin seeds and cover with a lid of some kind. When the seeds have finished popping, remove the cover.
Toss in the onion, garlic, ginger, coriander and spices and cook gently until the onion is soft. Add the evaporated milk and bring to a simmer. Stir frequently.
When the sauce is simmering, add the salt, cooked diced potato, frozen vegetables and chickpeas. Simmer until the vegetables are piping hot, then mix in the cornflour/water.
This should be served with rice. It serves four or five.
Verdict: Yeah, this is okay. It's a pretty good way to serve a big, filling meal without meat. It didn't seem particularly special to me, though. Maybe it was just that I had dined off the aroma of all the spices cooking, and so wasn't able to taste them as easily when I actually ate the meal.
All the same, it wasn't a bad meal at all. Even if not particularly exciting.
From a Foodtown magazine, I made broccoli and cauliflower curry with cumin seeds. Six down, eleven to go.
This recipe is vegetarian and also gluten free, which is great, considering I served it to a friend who needed the latter and a flatmate who needed the former. Unfortunately, it wasn't so good for another flatmate, who has a very very very low tolerance for hot food. I didn't even feel like it was hot, but even the tiny amount of heat in it was too much for her. Sigh. Someday I'll get it right for everyone!
You will need:
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
375 g /13 oz can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 medium potatoes, scrubbed, diced and cooked
500g / 1 lb & 1 oz bag frozen cauliflower and broccoli
1 can (drained) chickpeas
1 tablespoon cornflour, mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water
Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the mustard and cumin seeds and cover with a lid of some kind. When the seeds have finished popping, remove the cover.
Toss in the onion, garlic, ginger, coriander and spices and cook gently until the onion is soft. Add the evaporated milk and bring to a simmer. Stir frequently.
When the sauce is simmering, add the salt, cooked diced potato, frozen vegetables and chickpeas. Simmer until the vegetables are piping hot, then mix in the cornflour/water.
This should be served with rice. It serves four or five.Verdict: Yeah, this is okay. It's a pretty good way to serve a big, filling meal without meat. It didn't seem particularly special to me, though. Maybe it was just that I had dined off the aroma of all the spices cooking, and so wasn't able to taste them as easily when I actually ate the meal.
All the same, it wasn't a bad meal at all. Even if not particularly exciting.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
why the rules against split infinitives and final prepositions are silly
I have a bone to pick, so to speak. A grammatical bone. I have endured in silence - well, not exactly silence - but I have endured in blogging silence for some time, and cannot hold back my blog-rant any more. [Sorry about the probable boringness of what will follow.]
I do not believe that the rules against splitting infinitives or putting prepositions at the end of a clause have any kind of justification whatsoever.
Take that, eighteenth and nineteenth century grammaticians who had nothing better to do than make up rules that were completely inappropriate to the English language.
This breaking-point comes as I have received more comments from my supervisors on the chapters of my thesis. I am willing to admit that in some cases moving the adjectives or prepositions around may make for more elegant writing. However, the majority of the 'corrections' they have made sound unnatural, and much worse than the original sentences, even if they are correct according to the rules against splitting infinitives or placing prepositions at the end of a clause. And so, I bring to you an angry rant against two very stupid grammatical rules:
- These rules are utterly inappropriate to English. English is not like French; it does not have 'infinitives' in the same way. English is not like Latin, which does proscribe prepositions at the end of clauses.
The rules were made up by busybody grammarians in the 18th or 19th centuries who decided that English should be more like what they saw as the ideal (though dead) language, Latin. As Tina Blue says,
"Some of the 'rules' of English grammar that you learned in school were devised by pedants who believed that English was inferior to Latin and should be improved by forcing it onto the Procrustean bed of Latin grammar. But English is descended from an ancestral German dialect, not from Latin, and certain of the rules based on Latin grammar simply do not fit the structure of English."
[NB: English does have a relationship to Latin, especially in borrowed words - but Blue is correct in saying that the grammar of our language is descended more directly from German.]
According to the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, the rule about prepositions seems to have been created in 1672 by John Dryden, and "repeated uncritically thereafter". The same goes for the split infinitive, although that was only debated for the first time in the 19th century.
- Every great author or writer has broken both rules (and many others) on numerous occasions. That is, unless they too subscribe to the ridiculous myth. For example, we can see the following authors splitting their infinitives:
"But I would come back to where it please me to live: to really live." - Ernest Hemingway
"Who dared to nobly stem tyrannic pride..." - Robert Burns
"Root pity in thy heart, that when it grows / Thy pity may deserve to pitied be..." - Shakespeare
"And so we proceeded to minutely examine them." - Bram Stoker
And then, of course, there's Star Trek's famous "to boldly go where no man has gone before". Thank goodness the writers of Star Trek were sensible. It sounds so much cooler than the alternative.
And, of course, most of us have heard versions of Winston Churchill's response to an over-zealous editor who wanted him to remove a preposition from the end of a sentence: "This is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put!"
As A Dictionary of Modern English Usage says,
"Those who lay down the universal principle that final prepositions are 'inelegant' are unconsciously trying to deprive the English language of a valuable idiomatic resource, which has been used freely by all our greatest writers except those whose instinct for English idiom has been overpowered by notions of correctness derived from Latin standards." [quoted here]
- Most people who are actually qualified, intelligent grammarians refuse to accept the need for these rules. For instance, the Oxford University Press decided in 1995 that there is nothing wrong with the split infinitive.
Another expert, Edward D. Johnson, said in 1982 that the idea that a sentence cannot end with a preposition is a "superstition".
Meanwhile, the acknowledged expert in the field, H. W. Fowler, points out the fact that people who say the final preposition is wrong, when used as a phrasal verb, are actually just showing their own ignorance, because the final "preposition" in this context is actually an "adverbial particle"!
[NB: a phrasal verb is a verb that absolutely must have a preposition after it, in order to understand the meaning. For example, the verb "to put" completely changes its meaning when it is becomes "to put up" or "to put up with".]
- Of course there are times when using these principles makes a piece of writing better. But there are other times when the use of these rules simply obscures meaning or unnecessarily complicates a perfectly good sentence. Here is an example:
"The government expected unemployment to more than double in the next three years."
As Karl Craig points out, where else could you put "more than"?
- Because people push rules like this which don't matter, and which have no reflection in the language, it undermines the importance of other rules that do actually have some foundation, that actually affect the meaning of sentences.
- I can understand following these rules in formal settings, such as writing a cover letter for a job - just in case the person reading it is deluded into thinking your final preposition is bad usage and doesn't give you the job. However, I am starting to hate these rules SO MUCH that I feel we should all start making an effort to banish them forever. If the person who marks my thesis has a problem with my prose for these reasons, I'd rather contest his judgment afterward, explaining my reasons, than change something that is perfectly good beforehand.
- I just find it quite sad that children in schools are being taught silly rules, wasting their time, or writers who produce perfectly adequate work are being scorned for their use of these constructions. One of the coolest things about the real English language is its capacity for creative fiddling. I find it very, very sad that creativity is inhibited for no good reason.
Make the world a better place! Eschew these pointless rules! Long live the split infinitive! Long live the final preposition!
Here is something I did because I felt so mad!!!!!
Feel free to make it into a t-shirt or something :)
Sources I looked at:
General articles on grammar myths:
'Grammar Myths', by Karl Craig
Grammar Girl's 'Top Ten Grammar Myths'
Wikipedia on 'hypercorrection'
On prepositions:
The debate over Churchill's famous sarcastic usage of "up with which I will not put".
'Prepositions at the end of sentences: further explanation of why the "rule" is wrong,' by Tina Blue
'It's usually not wrong to end a sentence with a preposition', by Tina Blue
Grammar Girl on final prepositions
On split infinitives:
The Independent, on the OUP's decision to allow split infinitives, and the Queen's English Society's response
Wikipedia on split infinitives
"The so-called split infinitive"
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, on split infinitives
I do not believe that the rules against splitting infinitives or putting prepositions at the end of a clause have any kind of justification whatsoever.
Take that, eighteenth and nineteenth century grammaticians who had nothing better to do than make up rules that were completely inappropriate to the English language.
This breaking-point comes as I have received more comments from my supervisors on the chapters of my thesis. I am willing to admit that in some cases moving the adjectives or prepositions around may make for more elegant writing. However, the majority of the 'corrections' they have made sound unnatural, and much worse than the original sentences, even if they are correct according to the rules against splitting infinitives or placing prepositions at the end of a clause. And so, I bring to you an angry rant against two very stupid grammatical rules:
- These rules are utterly inappropriate to English. English is not like French; it does not have 'infinitives' in the same way. English is not like Latin, which does proscribe prepositions at the end of clauses.
The rules were made up by busybody grammarians in the 18th or 19th centuries who decided that English should be more like what they saw as the ideal (though dead) language, Latin. As Tina Blue says,
"Some of the 'rules' of English grammar that you learned in school were devised by pedants who believed that English was inferior to Latin and should be improved by forcing it onto the Procrustean bed of Latin grammar. But English is descended from an ancestral German dialect, not from Latin, and certain of the rules based on Latin grammar simply do not fit the structure of English."
[NB: English does have a relationship to Latin, especially in borrowed words - but Blue is correct in saying that the grammar of our language is descended more directly from German.]
According to the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, the rule about prepositions seems to have been created in 1672 by John Dryden, and "repeated uncritically thereafter". The same goes for the split infinitive, although that was only debated for the first time in the 19th century.
- Every great author or writer has broken both rules (and many others) on numerous occasions. That is, unless they too subscribe to the ridiculous myth. For example, we can see the following authors splitting their infinitives:
"But I would come back to where it please me to live: to really live." - Ernest Hemingway
"Who dared to nobly stem tyrannic pride..." - Robert Burns
"Root pity in thy heart, that when it grows / Thy pity may deserve to pitied be..." - Shakespeare
"And so we proceeded to minutely examine them." - Bram Stoker
And then, of course, there's Star Trek's famous "to boldly go where no man has gone before". Thank goodness the writers of Star Trek were sensible. It sounds so much cooler than the alternative.
And, of course, most of us have heard versions of Winston Churchill's response to an over-zealous editor who wanted him to remove a preposition from the end of a sentence: "This is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put!"
As A Dictionary of Modern English Usage says,
"Those who lay down the universal principle that final prepositions are 'inelegant' are unconsciously trying to deprive the English language of a valuable idiomatic resource, which has been used freely by all our greatest writers except those whose instinct for English idiom has been overpowered by notions of correctness derived from Latin standards." [quoted here]
- Most people who are actually qualified, intelligent grammarians refuse to accept the need for these rules. For instance, the Oxford University Press decided in 1995 that there is nothing wrong with the split infinitive.
Another expert, Edward D. Johnson, said in 1982 that the idea that a sentence cannot end with a preposition is a "superstition".
Meanwhile, the acknowledged expert in the field, H. W. Fowler, points out the fact that people who say the final preposition is wrong, when used as a phrasal verb, are actually just showing their own ignorance, because the final "preposition" in this context is actually an "adverbial particle"!
[NB: a phrasal verb is a verb that absolutely must have a preposition after it, in order to understand the meaning. For example, the verb "to put" completely changes its meaning when it is becomes "to put up" or "to put up with".]
- Of course there are times when using these principles makes a piece of writing better. But there are other times when the use of these rules simply obscures meaning or unnecessarily complicates a perfectly good sentence. Here is an example:
"The government expected unemployment to more than double in the next three years."
As Karl Craig points out, where else could you put "more than"?
- Because people push rules like this which don't matter, and which have no reflection in the language, it undermines the importance of other rules that do actually have some foundation, that actually affect the meaning of sentences.
- I can understand following these rules in formal settings, such as writing a cover letter for a job - just in case the person reading it is deluded into thinking your final preposition is bad usage and doesn't give you the job. However, I am starting to hate these rules SO MUCH that I feel we should all start making an effort to banish them forever. If the person who marks my thesis has a problem with my prose for these reasons, I'd rather contest his judgment afterward, explaining my reasons, than change something that is perfectly good beforehand.
- I just find it quite sad that children in schools are being taught silly rules, wasting their time, or writers who produce perfectly adequate work are being scorned for their use of these constructions. One of the coolest things about the real English language is its capacity for creative fiddling. I find it very, very sad that creativity is inhibited for no good reason.
Make the world a better place! Eschew these pointless rules! Long live the split infinitive! Long live the final preposition!
Here is something I did because I felt so mad!!!!!Feel free to make it into a t-shirt or something :)
Sources I looked at:
General articles on grammar myths:
'Grammar Myths', by Karl Craig
Grammar Girl's 'Top Ten Grammar Myths'
Wikipedia on 'hypercorrection'
On prepositions:
The debate over Churchill's famous sarcastic usage of "up with which I will not put".
'Prepositions at the end of sentences: further explanation of why the "rule" is wrong,' by Tina Blue
'It's usually not wrong to end a sentence with a preposition', by Tina Blue
Grammar Girl on final prepositions
On split infinitives:
The Independent, on the OUP's decision to allow split infinitives, and the Queen's English Society's response
Wikipedia on split infinitives
"The so-called split infinitive"
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, on split infinitives
Monday, March 28, 2011
escaping
My dad went on a trip to Auckland last week, and left me his car. Suddenly, on Thursday at about 10.30am, I realised that (a) I had to return the car on Friday; (b) this was my last chance to get out of town; and (c) the weather was going to be beautiful in Arthur's Pass that day. I shook myself out of my morning stupor, got dressed, and went and knocked on my flatmate A.'s door. "I'm sorry to do this to you, but do you want to go to Arthur's Pass today, and if so can you be ready to leave in half an hour?!"
It took us a bit longer! But by midday we were on our way out of town, down the Old West Coast Road, heading for the mountains. Arthur's Pass is one of the main routes through the mountains. It's about one hour and forty minutes from Christchurch by car, and it's a national park. It's also a place for which I have a particular affection, as I have spent many, many family holidays there. My grandfather, a steam train driver, had a tiny cottage there in the old days. My father and all his brothers went to visit the area periodically, building their own skis in the winter and scaling the peaks in the summer. My family has continued the tradition, and now my siblings have begun taking their own children there.
A. and I arrived at about 1.40, hungry, but not so hungry that we weren't willing to wait for the perfect picnic spot. We found it:
It took us a little while, but we found it. We wanted grass, we wanted solitude, we wanted to be near water (you can't see, but we're overlooking a river). If you want to find our perfect picnic spot, just turn off onto the road where the police sign is - it's right near the start of the Mt Bealey Track.
Then we wandered around by the river near our picnic spot. Sounds non-eventful but it was charming. After we tired of it, we decided to go and climb up to the Punchbowl Falls (otherwise known as the Devil's Punchbowl). It's a climb of about half an hour. I remembered it being very steep but philosophised that I was only about eleven last time I did it and was probably just whining.
It is very steep. This is my impression near the beginning:
We hauled ourselves up the hill, feeling very, very pathetic and unfit. But eventually the climbing part ended and then we could just enjoy the really beautiful forest on a really beautiful day:
Then finally we reached the falls and all our hard work was worth it. They really are rather special. The water just drops down this sheer cliff and hits a pool before dropping from that pool into another and another and another... Here we are on the viewing platform about one third of the way down the waterfall:
It's okay standing on a viewing platform, but it's better getting closer, so we climbed underneath the platform and then just sat on rocks in the sun and the spray from the falls, watching water moving:
Beautiful.
I could have stayed there for much longer, but it was time to leave. So we went back down the track (it's much quicker on the way back, of course), got in the car, took a quick trip to look at the view down the Viaduct, and then drove home - via the Bealey Hotel where we stopped for a drink. And nearly got eaten alive by sandflies.
Edit: So yeah, on Thursday I hadn't managed to get back into my study-hard routine yet. :) But now I am!
It took us a bit longer! But by midday we were on our way out of town, down the Old West Coast Road, heading for the mountains. Arthur's Pass is one of the main routes through the mountains. It's about one hour and forty minutes from Christchurch by car, and it's a national park. It's also a place for which I have a particular affection, as I have spent many, many family holidays there. My grandfather, a steam train driver, had a tiny cottage there in the old days. My father and all his brothers went to visit the area periodically, building their own skis in the winter and scaling the peaks in the summer. My family has continued the tradition, and now my siblings have begun taking their own children there.
A. and I arrived at about 1.40, hungry, but not so hungry that we weren't willing to wait for the perfect picnic spot. We found it:
It took us a little while, but we found it. We wanted grass, we wanted solitude, we wanted to be near water (you can't see, but we're overlooking a river). If you want to find our perfect picnic spot, just turn off onto the road where the police sign is - it's right near the start of the Mt Bealey Track.
Then we wandered around by the river near our picnic spot. Sounds non-eventful but it was charming. After we tired of it, we decided to go and climb up to the Punchbowl Falls (otherwise known as the Devil's Punchbowl). It's a climb of about half an hour. I remembered it being very steep but philosophised that I was only about eleven last time I did it and was probably just whining.It is very steep. This is my impression near the beginning:
We hauled ourselves up the hill, feeling very, very pathetic and unfit. But eventually the climbing part ended and then we could just enjoy the really beautiful forest on a really beautiful day:
Then finally we reached the falls and all our hard work was worth it. They really are rather special. The water just drops down this sheer cliff and hits a pool before dropping from that pool into another and another and another... Here we are on the viewing platform about one third of the way down the waterfall:
It's okay standing on a viewing platform, but it's better getting closer, so we climbed underneath the platform and then just sat on rocks in the sun and the spray from the falls, watching water moving:
Beautiful.I could have stayed there for much longer, but it was time to leave. So we went back down the track (it's much quicker on the way back, of course), got in the car, took a quick trip to look at the view down the Viaduct, and then drove home - via the Bealey Hotel where we stopped for a drink. And nearly got eaten alive by sandflies.
Edit: So yeah, on Thursday I hadn't managed to get back into my study-hard routine yet. :) But now I am!
Friday, March 25, 2011
cookbook challenge #5
[About the New Years' resolution behind this]
I had some friends over on my cooking night, Wednesday - and using Vegie Food, I made pumpkin and feta pie. I've had my eye on this recipe for a while now and it didn't disappoint! Five down, twelve to go.
You will need:
700g / 1 lb, 9 oz butternut pumpkin (squash), cut into 2cm / 3/4 inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 small red onions, halved and sliced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon soft brown sugar
100g / 3 and a half oz feta cheese
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
1 large sheet shortcrust pastry (savoury)
Preheat the oven to 200*C / 400*F. Put the pumpkin and garlic cloves on a baking tray and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove the garlic cloves, and leave the pumpkin to cool.
Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan, add the onion and cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add the vinegar and sugar and cook for 15 minutes or until the onion is caramelized. Remove from the heat and add to the pumpkin. Cool completely.
Add the feta and rosemary to the pumpkin mixture once cooled. Squeeze out the garlic flesh and mix it through the vegetables. Season.
Roll out the pastry between two sheets of baking paper to a 35 cm / 14 inch circle. Remove the top sheet of paper and arrange the pastry on a tray. Put the pumpkin mixture on top, leaving a border of about 4 cm / 1 and a half inch. Fold over the edges, pleating as you fold:
Bake for 30 minutes, or until crisp and golden.
Unfortunately I didn't get the more attractive photo of the pie as it looks when it is cooked, but trust me regardless - this is a really gorgeous meal! I loved the way the sweetness of the pumpkin worked with the balsamic vinegar and the feta... mmmm.... I served it with a green salad, and it served five. I also got lots of compliments because people seem to think anything involving pastry is difficult, but it's actually a very simple recipe. Yum yum! A big thumbs-up from me!
I had some friends over on my cooking night, Wednesday - and using Vegie Food, I made pumpkin and feta pie. I've had my eye on this recipe for a while now and it didn't disappoint! Five down, twelve to go.
You will need:
700g / 1 lb, 9 oz butternut pumpkin (squash), cut into 2cm / 3/4 inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 small red onions, halved and sliced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon soft brown sugar
100g / 3 and a half oz feta cheese
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
1 large sheet shortcrust pastry (savoury)
Preheat the oven to 200*C / 400*F. Put the pumpkin and garlic cloves on a baking tray and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove the garlic cloves, and leave the pumpkin to cool.
Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan, add the onion and cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add the vinegar and sugar and cook for 15 minutes or until the onion is caramelized. Remove from the heat and add to the pumpkin. Cool completely.
Add the feta and rosemary to the pumpkin mixture once cooled. Squeeze out the garlic flesh and mix it through the vegetables. Season.
Roll out the pastry between two sheets of baking paper to a 35 cm / 14 inch circle. Remove the top sheet of paper and arrange the pastry on a tray. Put the pumpkin mixture on top, leaving a border of about 4 cm / 1 and a half inch. Fold over the edges, pleating as you fold:
Bake for 30 minutes, or until crisp and golden.
Unfortunately I didn't get the more attractive photo of the pie as it looks when it is cooked, but trust me regardless - this is a really gorgeous meal! I loved the way the sweetness of the pumpkin worked with the balsamic vinegar and the feta... mmmm.... I served it with a green salad, and it served five. I also got lots of compliments because people seem to think anything involving pastry is difficult, but it's actually a very simple recipe. Yum yum! A big thumbs-up from me!
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