"Wishing and hoping..

.. thinking and praying,  planning and dreaming..."  

But in my case these Dusky Springfield lyrics remind me of how I am thinking about the water this winter.. its  all about the water and the harbour and the weather and trying to sneak down to the club when the water is rowable.

You have nearly rowable..

And then a southerly blows in with hail...

And then you have nights like tonight where the water could have gone any which way, but by the time I was making my way down to the club it already was looking promising


And then it was


Better still I got to got out with 4 really lovely people who focus when rowing  and I was able to leave everything I fret about behind.  Earlier this week I nearly started crying down at the club.  It is hard to explain how this angered me. The rowing club is the one place I can always go to get away from everything.  Some days are more exciting than others. Some days the excercise hurts more than others.  But this weekend was the first time the worries of my everyday life snuck in with me.  Tonight that didn't happen, so hopefully it was only a one time thing.  


Ah.. what a great row tonight!

cooking versus baking

First off.. you know it is winter when you are baking chocolate cake with a hat on to keep you warm.  Good luck with 'room temperature' butter in NZ in winter.  The winters are mild, until you go inside.  

Tonight I noticed that I am much more of a baker than a cook, and both of those I prefer over cleaning.  Funny thing is that I almost always clean up when I bake.. which tonight I realized probably has to do with how baking has a built in clean up time when you are waiting for the oven to finish its job.  When I cook, I almost always am making something that is ready when it is ready, no time to clean up before eating.  And once I start eating, well cleaning is much less important than another drink, more conversation, etc..

...unless I decide to make a dessert.  I am always willing to clean before I bake.  You clean, you make a reward, you eat the reward looking at a kitchen that has been cleaned twice in an hour thanks to the magic of the baking time forcing me to do something while I wait - and why not clean.  

Too bad I have forgotten how to make a cake and ended up with tasty battered things 
not really worth frosting at this point, but at least the kitchen is clean.  

Run away with me

Last week I ran away with my lover... I can't remember the last time Traveler and I ran away together. And then we FLEW back together ON THE SAME plane. Traveler and I have piloted planes. We've traveled. We've even been in the same small plane together. But I can't think of the last time we flew on the same jet and sat next to each other - we have this habit of flying separately and going our separate ways until we reunite.

Anyway, the coromandel is an amazing place.
This is at least my 3rd trip and if I lived closer I'd go every month.
I just love walking the beaches and seeing the views and exploring the bits that are forest.


THE DRIVE:
NEARBY BEACH



with a lady walking her dog and using the leash as a way to drag her sandals behind her!

Then we walked up a hill in a town which I think started with a T. Yes, it was that kind of weekend. We just drove around chatting until it was decided that we should stop to explore. I have next to no idea where I was most of the time.



And of course more driving
And the obligatory trip down to cathedral cove

Auckland

Auckland isn't my favourite city... yes, I've said it.

But that said, it lends it self to amazing moments. Yes I don't like the city business nor some of the attitudes I bump into there or the suburban sprawl feel... but is so close to so many amazing places - like Piha, the Coromandel, and wow ferry rides.

But this last trip I went for a walk on along the Point Chev beach at night and then headed to the city where everyone was oggling the city hall light display. Lights were projected on the building in a way that used the structure's shape to enhance the display.



It also is a place where olives just grow.
You can also watch the planes taking off and landing from the side of the road in the designated parking lot for this activity... just don't litter because that is feeding birds and that is bad for planes
Don't get me wrong, Auckland isn't that bad.. just my book has some stiff competition in it already between Melbourne, Boston, Portland, and Wellington

Mother's Day

This Sunday Traveler got me out of bed... and took me to the water. It was such a gorgeous day with the full moon still above the horizon and the water as still as it could be. By 9 am the winds had turned southerly and all hope of rowing was shot for the next few days, but just before then Traveler and I rowed round and round in circles while the getting was good.

Signs

Sometimes you see something and you just know its a sign.. the tricky thing is that you turn it, squeeze, it mold and deform it into a sign of whatever you want but haven't yet decided to believe in yet.

No idea what this is a sign of... but it was pretty special. It probably wasn't a sign to go to a disco with children and be painted like a mouse and then read books by torchlight while having the illustrations photographed... but that was a very good way to spend my Friday.

I highly recommend looking for signs to spend your Friday night at an 80's disco and then read books with bright fun kids. Or at the very least misinterpretting other signs so that you get to go do the fun stuff anyway:)