#166 Nomad Diary. 23-29 December 2023. Week-plus Housesit with Jojo in Tawa, Wellington. Weka Cave Tour. Christmas Essentials. The Case of The Five Pound Cauliflower.
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| Darrell on Our Computer at Our Tawa House Sit |
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| Rhubarb From Our House Sit Garden Going In The Oven Recipe Is In A Picture In My #159 Nomad Diary From Ruth In Mangaweka |
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| Rhubarb Topping Finished Baking Saturday. 23. Today we are moving from our 2 night Wellington Airbnb to our housesit in Tawa. We get over to Celia and Ben’s house around 10 am. Before they leave for their South Island ferry we visit a little and they finish packing and head out. We go grocery shopping and stock up for our holiday weekend. We stocked up with a turkey to bake, stuffing ingredients, plenty of veggies, and items to make Reubens and Nachos. We bought more than we usually do for our holiday feast. |
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| Darrell Making Stuffing |
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| I Baked The 7 Pound Turkey Sunday. 24. The people at church here includes many immigrants and some travelers and some students. I meet people from Hong Kong, China, the Philippines, South Africa, Samoa, New Zealand and there are still more I have not yet met. It is humbling and beautiful to worship God together in this multi-cultural group. This is my ‘wow’ for today. And after we left, Darrell told me that the family from South Africa knows many of the same South Africans that we know in the US! Wow! After worship we go back to our Tawa house and make nachos for lunch! This is our first time to make Mexican food for ourselves in a long time! We really enjoy our feast! While Darrell browns ground beef, I make a vegetarian topping of cauliflower, mushroom and spices. It is raining and overcast today. The cat goes out in the rain. She has come in a couple of times and seemingly looks for her people who have left us in their place. She’s allowed me to pet her, but just a little. Monday. 25.Today we called Wes, our second oldest son(37), and visited by audio phone for about an hour. His big news is that he’s going to look at houses with a friend and an agent to potentially buy a house together in Huntsville. He has also finished a book project that has left him in an end of the year pause in between projects. Then we called Samuel, our youngest (30), on Whatsapp. It boosts my happiness to talk to our sons. Samuel has an aged cat that he cares very well for. He’s on a staycation with a few days off of work. He works from home as a computer software contractor. They both are invited to Eric’s for the 25th which is our 26th! We talked about our time in New Zealand and some things we have enjoyed that are very different from the US. I got our 7 pound turkey prepped and into the oven to finish by 12:30. We chopped some of onions, celery and mushrooms for Darrell to add to the stuffing. Celia and Ben’s kitchen is stocked with all kinds of spices and she said for us to use anything we wanted to. So making scratch foods is quite easy here. We also cooked a regular potato for Darrell and a sweet potato for me. A couple of days ago I made a rhubarb and strawberry sauce that is taking the place of our normal cranberry sauce. It’s tart and red and it will do fine. Everything turned out delicious. We feasted on our simple meal and enjoyed the lack of complexity of a larger feast. Most of the day I worked on my diary on the computer. We each did our daily duolingo. I watched a bit of an Australian Music Christmas special called: Christmas with Delta. We went out for a walk as the weather cleared and is about 70 degrees and a bit sweaty or humid too. In the evening we have been playing two rounds of card games. Our first game is Straight Gin and our second is Gin Rummy.. When we began playing a few weeks ago, we had to decide which rules we would follow and how the scoring worked best for us. Now we have a card playing routine. We take turns winning or losing and banter each other a bit about it! Darrell likes to make sure that I know when I have won. Of course that means he has lost over and over again! Lol! Next we watched a tv show. Tonight we watched the 3rd show for the current season of Great British Bake Off. We are out of order and went back to catch earlier episodes. Then we shower and go to bed. Jojo the cat gets her cat door locked so that when she comes in for the night she will be in all night. |
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| Jojo Our House Sit Hosting Cat |
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| Having Fun At Weta Cave In Wellington |
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| More Fun At Weta Cave in Wellington |
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| Our Tawa House Sit Tuesday. 26. Jojo wakes me up today at 5:30am. Yesterday Darrell got up to let her out and give her fresh food. I got the laundry started and had my morning meditation and prayer time while Darrell slept a bit longer. Once he’s up we do our morning exercise routine which is our one time a week DDP expanded abs routine today. Then we dress and make breakfast. Today we have a 4pm, 90 minute tour at Weka Caves in Wellington. This is the prop workshop for Lord of the Rings and other movies. We will go down earlier to find parking and look around the gift shop. This day is called ‘boxing day’ here. It’s the day after Christmas. I’ll see if I notice anything different from the US! There was an ad on tv last night for a boxing day 50% off sale at a department store. That’s similar to the US. Right after the holiday, sales begin to clear the stock for the holiday build up. At mid-morning we took a walk down our hill and went to the Outlet shops. I saw a tee shirt I may go back and get on another day. We walked back up the hill to our house and had lunch. Darrell ate left-over turkey and dressing. I had a salad and a fruit salad along with some dark chocolate and a couple ‘digestives’ otherwise known as British biscuits otherwise known as cookies! |
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| Night Sky Viewed From Our Tawa House |
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| Darrell Making Us Americanos In Our Tawa House |
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| Grandson Owen Wednesday. 27. Morning routines. Walk to the grocery and walk back up the hill to our house. We haven’t seen Jojo since she left the house this morning about 5:45 am. We are a little concerned as this is the first time she’s stayed gone so long. We had a phone call with Eric’s family! It’s lovely and brings smiles to me. We are still eating on the turkey I baked. Darrell finished our stuffing off. We have been talking about our 2024 travels from May and forward. Today we looked at and are considering a Greenland cruise in August. We drove a few miles north to Whitireia Park and found some lovely beaches and an overlook to South Island and Cook Strait. I cut the cauliflower from the garden here at our house sit. It is huge! It also tastes really nice. I made some of the veggie into a chili with some black beans, garlic, onions and spices. Celia, our host has a fabulous spice drawer. I enjoyed my cauliflower chili on tortilla chips with some shredded cheese. We walked down our hill to an Outlet Mall and I bought a NZ tee shirt and a long cotton skirt with a loud red print and very outside of my norm! Lol. |
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| Looking From Whitireia Park High Point Toward South Island and Cook Strait Thursday. 28. Today it’s rainy. I cooked an asian cauliflower recipe for lunch. The recipe is Kung Pao Cauliflower at www.howsweeteats.com It was very good! I’m going to make it again with all of this cauliflower. Darrell ate a portion and enjoyed it too. With Celia’s spices and sauces in her fridge she has set me up for making some great recipes! For dinner I made an Italian cauliflower recipe: Baked Cauliflower pizzaiola at www.bbcgoodfood.com We both really enjoyed this recipe too! In the afternoon we walked to the grocery and back. Somehow we timed the only part of the day that it didn’t rain! Friday. 29. Today the rain is coming down again. I did laundry and hung out the sheets to dry as there was no precipitation and a lot of wind. Then we went for a mid-morning walk with our raincoats. It’s a good thing because we got caught in a downpour. We ate lunch at Nada Bakery where we have been buying sourdough bread. We had their Reuben Pie. It was pretty good, but I would have loved an extra side of sauerkraut! The sheets on the line got wet in the rain. About 2-3pm the sunshine came out with clear skies, my sheets dried and the wind is still blowing with summer warmth of about 70 degrees. We subscribed to our son Eric’s writing substack: Pyrite Dreams. He’s been writing enjoyable stories for many years and I’m looking forward to reading his future writing too. Check out Eric's Substack if you like reading and helping to support his creative ideals and for staying home with his kids. For dinner I’m planning to make that Kung Pao Cauliflower again and add in the Cauliflower leaves this time. |
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| Some of the Giant Cauliflower I Am Attempting To Make Delicious |
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| Kung Pao Cauliflower Was Delicious |
Nomad Notes. A conversation at church Sunday with cousins who have moved here from South Africa. They say ‘wow’ as I describe our cruises and travel schedule getting here and then getting back to the US. I say ‘yes, it’s a wow!’ And I remind myself of that because I get tired and I forget that this is a ‘wow’! Darrell and I have some amazing stories and we slow down and remind ourselves of some of our ‘wows’ to remember how kind and gracious and awesome God is through all of this!
Having time with people at church helps me to adjust to my location. Although we are here only a short time, I am grateful for their friendships and kindness toward us.
Recently I have had many thoughts of missing out with grandchildren. The youngest is Esther who was born while we were in Alabama in August. I am very much looking forward to seeing her in May along with Owen her older brother. It is such a gift to talk to them and also to Quinn the oldest grandson by way of video call. I feel so happy to see their smiles and hear their little voices. I have such gratitude that they are in kind families with loving God as a core value.
Today I am feeling good with the sunshine and a full three nights here at this house with more than a week ahead of us here.
Challenges of a Road Trip
This makes me think of the tempo of our 7 week road trip in South Island. The tempo of our travel when it is 1, 2, and 3 night stays with road trip drives and touring gets tiring and challenging. The challenges of a road trip are multiplied and wearing the longer the trip lasts.
Challenges:
Packing useful and minimal items.
Doing laundry.
Self-care routines of stretching and yoga; haircuts, foot care for extended walking needs.
Anticipating emergencies and recovery from injuries, bug bites, or anything requiring first aid or outside help.
Eating for health and blood sugar maintenance.
Eating out and not over ordering to minimize waste.
Purchase and use what we need without stockpiling.
Sitting too long in a car.
Sleeping in different beds with different pillows.
Getting good coffee and other foods and meals.
Being in a small space with only each other.
Wanting to do it ALL, and then being satisfied with what we get to do.
Tracking expenses because each transaction is unique.
The great thing is that we did get a week-plus house sit in Christchurch during our 7 weeks. It was very relaxing and gave us more space to spread out. Now we are at an 11 day house sit and on our 4th day. I’m feeling more relaxed, happy and comfortable in my routines. The sun has also come out after a couple of days of clouds and rain. I’m looking forward to scheduling a massage or two in January. I’m waiting on getting a massage mainly to get through the holidays and be settled into our month-long house sit in January.
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