It is with cold fingers that I type that there has been a return to frosty mornings, dark skies, and icy rain in Auckland recently. In fact, so far, spring has been more like winter than, er, winter.
In spite of that, we’ve managed to make the best of it.
Last weekend, Missy and I braved the elements to walk up the hill and into central Auckland for the annual Blessing Of The Animals.
Held in a gorgeous old church, St Mattthew’s In The City, the event raises funds and awareness of the work of the SPCA (New Zealand’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).
It’s a cliché, but all creatures great and small converged on the cathedral – dogs, cats, goats, rabbits, mice, rats, donkeys and even a bull!
We were warmly welcomed, and the presence of the animals gave the service a festive feel.
I’ve never had my butt sniffed at church before, but there’s a first time for everything! And Missy fell in love with a fluffy Samoyed, who kept howling along with the hymns. By the time we left, Miss 6 had a blotchy red face and streaming eyes and noses, thanks to an allergy to the friendly pup – but she still couldn’t resist bringing home a fist of his fur. (Which I later vacuumed up, accidentally on purpose. Shhh! Don’t tell!)
Then this weekend, we went to the Diwali Festival, the annual Festival of the Lights. The Auckland Viaduct was like a little slice of India with colourful stalls, delicious food and drinks, and loads of entertainment.
The kids had a few days at vacation care each week, while I caught up on work, but we also had lots of fun swimming, rollerskating and rock climbing. (Well the kids did the last two. Husband banned me from anything too physical, due to my predilection for falling over and breaking and/or dislocating things).
I can’t post photos, because I’m waiting for a new thingamajig to put in the wotsit on the computer, but I’ll upload them as soon as I can.
Meanwhile, in a return to the Wine of the Week, let me present Fiasco Wine’s Gee-Whizz Gewurztraminer 2008.
I was lucky enough to win a bottle recently, and wasted no time cracking it open. (My infamous Fall Up The Stairs which ended up in wedding and engagement rings being cut off was judged ‘The Fiasco Of The Week’ in a recent competition. Glad my clumsiness was good for something!)
The company describes their wine better than I ever could:
“Our Gee-Whizz was harvested with soft hands, then gently squeezed like a lover, and fermented slowly to retain the intense Fiasco flavour. We’ve had a ball getting it from vine to bottle and now it’s your turn to enjoy our wine, the one that can only be pronounced after a few glasses!”
It was delicious, cool, light and tasting just slightly of ginger, flowers and lemon. Cheers!
In spite of that, we’ve managed to make the best of it.
Last weekend, Missy and I braved the elements to walk up the hill and into central Auckland for the annual Blessing Of The Animals.
Held in a gorgeous old church, St Mattthew’s In The City, the event raises funds and awareness of the work of the SPCA (New Zealand’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).
It’s a cliché, but all creatures great and small converged on the cathedral – dogs, cats, goats, rabbits, mice, rats, donkeys and even a bull!
We were warmly welcomed, and the presence of the animals gave the service a festive feel.
I’ve never had my butt sniffed at church before, but there’s a first time for everything! And Missy fell in love with a fluffy Samoyed, who kept howling along with the hymns. By the time we left, Miss 6 had a blotchy red face and streaming eyes and noses, thanks to an allergy to the friendly pup – but she still couldn’t resist bringing home a fist of his fur. (Which I later vacuumed up, accidentally on purpose. Shhh! Don’t tell!)
Then this weekend, we went to the Diwali Festival, the annual Festival of the Lights. The Auckland Viaduct was like a little slice of India with colourful stalls, delicious food and drinks, and loads of entertainment.
The kids had a few days at vacation care each week, while I caught up on work, but we also had lots of fun swimming, rollerskating and rock climbing. (Well the kids did the last two. Husband banned me from anything too physical, due to my predilection for falling over and breaking and/or dislocating things).
I can’t post photos, because I’m waiting for a new thingamajig to put in the wotsit on the computer, but I’ll upload them as soon as I can.
Meanwhile, in a return to the Wine of the Week, let me present Fiasco Wine’s Gee-Whizz Gewurztraminer 2008.
I was lucky enough to win a bottle recently, and wasted no time cracking it open. (My infamous Fall Up The Stairs which ended up in wedding and engagement rings being cut off was judged ‘The Fiasco Of The Week’ in a recent competition. Glad my clumsiness was good for something!)
The company describes their wine better than I ever could:
“Our Gee-Whizz was harvested with soft hands, then gently squeezed like a lover, and fermented slowly to retain the intense Fiasco flavour. We’ve had a ball getting it from vine to bottle and now it’s your turn to enjoy our wine, the one that can only be pronounced after a few glasses!”
It was delicious, cool, light and tasting just slightly of ginger, flowers and lemon. Cheers!
5 comments:
Sweet. Can't wait to taste some of that wine...
I need a cold shower after reading that wine description.
The wine sounds delish, love the flavours.
Sounds like you're having lots of fun despite the crazy weather!
Thanks for stopping by!
I have recently discovered the joy of Gewurztraminer, love it with a curry, will have to look out for this one.
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