July 13 in history

On July 13:

100BC Julius Ceasar was born.

Bust of Julius Caesar

1916 Vivian Walsh became the first New Zealander to gain an aviator’s certificate.

1985 The Live Aid benefit concert took place in London and Philadelphia.

The locals say the beaches . . .

. . .  don’t get crowded until August.

If the beach at Conil, between Cadiz and Vejer de la Frontera was anything to go by, their definition of crowds and mine are a wee bit different:

Gone to Morocco

The note on the table when I got back from school on Friday afternoon told me my farmer and visiting friends had gone to Morocco for the day.

It’s only a short distance from Vejer de la Frontera where we’re staying but it’s a completely different culture.

We can see the hills of Africa from the town and it’s only a 35 minute trip on the ferry from Tarifa to Tangier.

Although there is a strong north African influence in the southern part of Spain, the food in Morocco is different too and a wander through the medina subjects you to an amaxing array of sights and scents.

 

Mini ovine lawn mowers for vineyard

A flock of 10 sheep for $30,000 sounds very expenisve but these aren’t your ordinary paddock variety.

They are baby doll sheep which grow to a height of only 60 cm and Peter Yealand bought them to keep the weeds down around his grape vines.

If they perform to expectations they’ll not only keep downt he weeds but elimiante the need for pesticides.

TV3 has the story here and the video here.

La Brasa de Sancho

The personality of the owner, a Frenchman, first attracted us to La Brasa de Sancho  in Vejer de la Frontera.

He and his Spanish wife welcome customers as friends and carry on treating them that way.

Their welcome is complemented by good, fresh food, cooked and presented simply. It’s served by friendly, attentive staff  and all of that has made us repeat customers.

Dishes on the menu include:

Lamb kebab:

Tuna Steak

And marmitas de mejillones - casserole of mussels which are smaller and more tender than the green lipped variety we get in New Zealand.

P.S. Apropos of happy dining experiences, Brian Edwards has a post on good service.

South Island 1st & 2nd in Young Farmer contest

Tim O’Sullivan of Pleasant Point, representing the Aorangi Region, is the 1009 National Bank Young Farmer of the year.

Richard Copland from Gore, representing the Otago-Southland Region was runner-up just four points behind.

rivettingKate Taylor gives a first hand report.

The Manawatu Standard’s report is here.

July 12 in history

On July 12:

1543: Catherine Parr became Henry VIII’s sixth, and last, wife.

1863 British forces invaded the Waikato.

1962 the Rolling Stones performed their first concert.

The Rolling Stones (L-R): Ronnie Wood, Charlie Watts, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards

Mexican Pumpkin Soup

On a hot Spanish evening. chilled Gazpacho is delicious but if we were still at home I’d probably be enjoying roast pumpkin soup.

When I had repeated trips to Dunedin Hospital with my sons in the late 80s and early 90s my favourite spot for lunch was a wee cafe called Partners which was owned by Judith Cullen.

One day Mexican Pumpkin Soup was on the menu. I asked what made it Mexican and was told tomato. I ordered it, enjoyed it and subsequently tried to make my own. This is what I came up with:

1 or 2 pumpkins                                  Lots of onions                      

olive oil                                                4 – 6 cans of tomatoes                               

 4 – 6 pottles (150g each) tomato paste                 Tomato juice or water.

salt and pepper to taste                                smoked paprika and/or worcester sauce (optional).

Chop pumpkin into pieces the size you’d use if serving it as a vegetable, place in roasting dish, drizzle with a little olive oil.

Roast until tender.

While that’s cooking, chop or slice onions (depending on whether you like chunks or slices in your soup) and either saute in a little oil until golden or drizzle with oil and roast.

When pumpkin is cooked take out of oven and when cool enough to handle scrape the flesh from the skin. Puree.

(If you’re using orange skinned pumpkin you could puree the skin too but if it’s green skin it alters the colour).

If you want to disguise the onions you can puree them too, I prefer to have the slices or chunks left in the soup.

Put pumpkin and onions into a large pot.

Puree tomatoes and add then add paste.

If mixture is too think add water or tomato juice until it reaches the consistency you like.

Bring to the boil and leave to simmer for at least 15 minutes stirring frequently so it doesn’t catch on the bottom.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

If it seems a bit bland a little worsester sauce and/or smoked paprika can enhance the flavour.

If you’re not going to eat it in a few days it can be frozen or bottled.

Saturday’s smiles

The Department of Labour had heard a rumour that a farmer wasn’t paying his staff the minimum wage.

The agent who was sent out to interview him asked for a list of his employees and how much he paid them.

The farmer replied, “Well, there’s my farm hand who’s been with me for 3 years. I pay him $550.00 a week plus a free house and meat. The cook has been here for 18 months, and I pay her as much as she wants, plus free room and board.

“Then there’s the half-wit. He works about 16 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $10.00 per week, pays his own room and board, and I shout him a beer or two every Saturday night.”

“That’s the guy I want to talk to…..the half-wit”, the agent said.

 That would be me”, replied the farmer.

Another rural petrol station closes

The cost of replacing fuel tanks has forced the owner of Clinton’s only service station to close his business.

Yet another reminder to check your fuel tank before leaving bigger towns because there are very few small towns which still have service stations.

Kingston Flyer to be grounded?

KiwiRail has been asked to save the Kingston Flyer  but it has declined because the operation isn’t commercially viable.

The company has enough problems with modern trains and tracks without saddling itself with an historic tourist attraction.

It would be sad to lose the Flyer, but if there’s a case for supporting it, it’s not the role of an SOE to be its saviour.

Chocolate wars

When the wind was in the right direction the smell from the near by chocolate factory wafted over the Otago University campus.

That memory provided a foundation for my preference for Cadbury’s chocolate.

But now my suspicion that adding palm oil to their recipe has resulted in an inferior product has been affirmed by an expert I’ll be changing brands.

Deciding which brand I shift my affections to will require some stringent taste testing, but if I was basing my choice on advertisements I’d be tempted by this David vs Goliath effort from Whittakers:

The ODT covers the issue here.

GPS vs map and mind

A GPS makes navigation much easier, but sometimes the old fashioned way is better.

On the way back from picking up friends from Malaga late last night we decided that instead of taking the coastal road from Algercirus to Vejer de la Frontera we’d head inland. That route was a little longer in distance but had more motorway which we figured would take a similar or shorter amount of time.

It might have, but a few kilometres after we’d started our detour the GPS told us to turn off the motorway. I knew the name of the town we were heading for and it wasn’t on the sign at the approaching intersection but I decided not to argue with technology.

I should have because the road we turned on to was narrow and winding. It was probably quite a bit shorter in distance but much longer in time because we could go at only half the speed we could have on the motorway.

Next time the GPS tells me to do something I’m not sure of I’ll remember that good as technology is, sometimes it’s no match for old fashioned paper map and a mind that’s worked out the route.

July 11 in history

On July 11:

1274 Robert the Bruce King of Scotland was born.

 

1776 Captain James Cook  began his third, and final, voyage.

James Cook, portrait by Nathaniel Dance, c. 1775, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

1877 Kate Edgar became the first woman in New Zealand to graduate from university and the first woman in the British Commonwealth to gain a BA.

Solo coches, no personas

Traffic on the motorway slowed, the cars in front of us stopped, so did we.

The car behind us didn’t, or at least not soon enough.

There was a screech of brakes then a bump.

We pulled over as close to the side of the road as we could and a moment later the driver of the other car came up to see if we were okay. We were and so was she, her husband and their baby who were travelling with her.

The cars weren’t quite so lucky. Our bumper was torn and scratched but the car was still drivable. Their front bumper and wheel rim were mangled and a tyre had blown.

We filled in the accident report form which is mandatory in Spain and while we were doing it the driver kept saying, Lo siento, lo siento.” (I’m sorry, I’m sorry).

I replied, “Son solo coches, no personas.” (They’re only cars, not people).

Winter

It’s a little difficult to comprehend cold when it’s at least 30 degrees outside, but in sympathy with those of you at home, this Friday’s poem is Robert Burns’ dirge on Winter.

                           Winter

The wintry west extends his blast,
  And hail and rain does blaw;
Or the stormy north sends driving forth
  The blinding sleet and snaw:
While, tumbling brown, the burn comes down,
  And roars frae bank to brae;
And bird and beast in covert rest,
  And pass the heartless day.

“The sweeping blast, the sky o’ercast,”
  The joyless winter day
Let others fear, to me more dear
  Than all the pride of May:
The tempest’s howl, it soothes my soul,
  My griefs it seems to join;
The leafless trees my fancy please,
  Their fate resembles mine!

Thou Power Supreme, whose mighty scheme
  These woes of mine fulfil,
Here firm I rest; they must be best,
  Because they are Thy will!
Then all I want—O do Thou grant
  This one request of mine!—
Since to enjoy Thou dost deny,
  Assist me to resign.

    - Robert Burns -

Young Farmer of the Year underway

When my farmer came second in the Young Farmer of the Year contest he won a motorbike.

Some 30 years later the prize pool is worth more but the seriousness with which the contestants take the contest hasn’t changed.

And with good reason because the contest tests their intellectual and physical skills, public speaking, farming and general knowledge, personality and sense of humour.

One of the strengths of the contest is the way it moves around the country and involves the community which hosts it. Another is that it gives a taste of the physical and intellectual skills which modern farmign requires.

The grand final started in Palmerston North yesterday and finishes tomorrow . Kate Taylor is there   but she’s not happy with TVNZ. Farmgirl has also posted on the contest.

No bull

July 10 in history

On July 10:

1553 Lady Jane Grey took the throne of England.

The Streatham Portrait, discovered at the beginning of 21st century, is believed by many to be among the first posthumous portraits of Lady Jane Grey.[1]

1930 Canadian writer Alice Munro was born.

1967 New Zealand adpoted decimal currency.

1985 The Rainbow Warrior was sunk in Auckland Harbour.

Did you see the one about . . .

The science news cycle at Anti-Dismal

Office of devil’s advocacy 2 at Stephen Franks

Risky Behaviour at Frenemy

Weight Watchers and the historical astrocities argument  at M&M

The Office  at No Minister

Careful with the paradox of thrift at The Visible Hand in Economics

Apostrophe errors undermine credibility  at Bill Bennettnz (hat tip rivettingKate Taylor)

And a new (to me) blog: This New Zealand Life