A Wee Bit O' Gardening

For the past few weeks I've been doing a bit of gardening around Chez Werst. Here are some before pictures from around December the the "back area". Note, there is not a lot going on, just two patches of dirt.

 

 However, after a few trips to the gardening store, Mitre 10, I was able to do a bit of a transformation. I planted "cinnamon basil", "chicken thyme", and cilantro in the bottom patch.

And strawberries and jalapenos in the top patch.

It has been two months since I took these pictures. I am sorry to say the cilantro is no longer with us. It never really took off. However, both the basil and the thyme are thriving and we use them a lot in our cooking.

We were able to eat about 3 strawberries from our plant, it is still growing, just not blooming. The real excitement these days is the development of the 3 jalapenos  on the enormous plant (look closely).

This is especially exciting because they do not sell fresh jalapenos in stores here. Only the pickled ones in jars. I'm so thrilled about these 3 peppers that they will probably end up going bad as I keep throwing out recipes as not being good enough for them.

I also planted a whole bunch of really pretty flowers in the front "yard".

However, do to massive winds, they are no longer standing upright. Although, they have not died, in fact, they are starting to grow sideways, which is somewhat curious.

That's ok. I'll take it.

Century Game

Flashback: January 29, 2011.

A while ago I got an intriguing email from a teammate about a frisbee tournament game going on in Wellington. Normally I don't pay much attention to these things. I like throwing a disc as much as the next bearded hippie, but I'm much more interested in grabbing a pint after the game with good people than I am winning, practicing, or playing in tournaments. But this...this was different. It was a hat tournament called the Century Game.

Two teams. Game to 100 points.

Ok. That sounds intense. BUT, each team has about 30 players (only 7 play at a time), and there's a BBQ and beer on the sideline. This I can get on board with.

We divided into two teams: Good vs. Evil. I was Good.

It was a great day, despite a couple rain showers. Things got started early, which was tough for me, especially given that the previous night was Sanjoy's last night in town. We started at 9. We held off on the beer 'til noon. The game sloppily ended around 6:30. Basically, it was a summer party with a frisbee game going on in the background, and you could play if and when you wanted. My body hated me the following few days, but the day was as fun as advertised and didn't disappoint.

To the Races

Flashback:  January 22, 2011.

Tremtham Horse Races!!!!

A few weeks back, the Barbs and I were invited to go to the horse races. Well, more like Barbs was invited and I was allowed to tag along and get a heavy dose of estrogen. I was pretty excited about this. The races, not the estrogen. I've always wanted to go to some races, but have never really had the opportunity. What's not to like?

Dressing up...

Hydrating...

Gambling...

Let's do this.

http://www.trentham.co.nz/

It was sweet. We got into our best duds and took the train out there. In between the many bottles of pink 'pagne, my highlight was winning $40 on a horse. For most of the day my strategy was to place a $1 bet on the sexiest horse named out there to place (eg. "He's Remarkable"). This strategy kept me interested (see photo above) and nickel and dimed me into a net $1.30 loss. But at one point my friend Anya took $2 out of my hand and asked me to pick a number. 4! It turns out 4 was "Mufasa", and he was a baller. Against the odds, he won the race and lined my pocket with $20 (Anya got the other $20).

Oh, and because Barbs will comment on her own blog about this anyway...I got kissed by a cougar...Twice.