Thirteen Things I Did at the ELLERSLIE FLOWER SHOW today
1. Scored free car parking. Left our umbrellas and coats in the car since there wasn’t a rain cloud in sight. Woohoo! A great start to the day.
2. Checked out all the scarecrows designed by local school children.
3. Visited the palm garden. It was amazing since they’d planted dozens of fully grown palm trees in their temporary garden.
4. Walked through the Floral display tent. The floral artists are really talented and would most likely cringe if they saw the way I jam flowers into vases.
5. Had a free cup of tea – Chai tea. Delicious and my favorite since first drinking it in India.
6. Watched some Thai ladies making butterflies out of flowers and carving flowers out of vegetables. Amazing.
7. Ambled through the dark nocturnal gardens with their pretty lights and water features. I can walk, talk and snap photos all at once. Why can’t everyone else???? Quite a few traffic jams in this exhibition.
8. Talked to a man about gutter stop – mesh stuff to stop leaves from blocking the guttering. My sister reckons it’s worth the cost since she hates climbing onto the roof to clean the gutters every few months. The photo below is nothing to do with gutters but I liked the cacti so decided to put it here :)
9. A lady from Visique cleaned my sunglasses for me and gave me a free polishing cloth. Score!
10. Purchased a garden stake in the shape of a kiwi. My sister purchased a cat one.
11. A lady cleaned one shoe for me with this special polish stuff. I asked her very nicely to clean the other since I looked like something out of a before and after commercial. My sister purchased some of this stuff since it works on leather furniture and saddles as well as my shoes.
12. Ate lots of free samples in lieu of lunch. Toasted seeds, biscuits, chocolate, yoghurt, fruit juice, pesto to name a few. Tried out testers of hand lotions. The tomato one was quite nice. Purchased some lavender soap since I love the smell. My wardrobe will smell beautiful.
13. Lots of elderly people pushed me around but I refrained from pushing back even though I was armed with garden stakes. My sister and I decided we’d looked enough and left the garden show. Hitched a ride back to the carpark in a golf cart. My sister and the driver discussed banking. After a quiet coffee in the Botanic Garden cafe (the flower show ones were packed) we went home. I’m currently resting with a glass of wine and mentally preparing for my day of kayaking tomorrow.
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Since it’s Halloween I’m all about superstition today. All of these come from the Collins Gem book of Superstitions.
1. A drowning person sees their life flash before their eyes.
2. If your right hand itches you are going to receive money. If your left hand itches you are going to give money away.
3. Cross your fingers for luck, especially as you tell a white lie.
4. If you have a mole above an eye you’ll find love early and have many children.
5. Spit on a child to protect them from harm. ~ men! Hubby came along, read this and started spitting. EEK!!
6. Happy the bride the sun shines on: for a bride to be hit by a shaft of sunlight on her wedding day was the very best of omens. A ray of sunlight falling on a funeral mourner was a death omen.
7. A four leaf clover is lucky. Horseshoes are lucky. ~ hubby has come back after spitting on the dog. He says horseshoes shouldn’t be tipped upside down cause the luck will fall out.
8. Cat’s don’t have nine lives. It is lucky if a black cat crosses your path, enters your house or comes on board your ship. ~ Hmm, anyone out there own a ship?
9. Money is the root of all evil. A coin in a new purse or wallet brings good luck.
10. When sweeping you must sweep inside rather than outside because otherwise you’ll sweep away all your good luck.
11. It’s bad luck to walk under a ladder. ~ I’ve always thought this was commonsense. Who wants the person up the ladder to drop something on their head???
12. Breaking a mirror brings seven year’s bad luck.
13. 13 is unlucky and Friday the 13th is the unluckiest day.
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I hadn’t read a military romance for ages but the other day I just had the urge to pull one from my to-read pile. I’m also going through a Western themed splurge so I’m definitely thinking alpha male! Here are some of my favorite reads with military heroes.
1. Cullen’s Bride by Fiona Brand – a Silhouette Intimate Moment by a New Zealand writer.
2. Forget Me Not by Marliss Melton. This is the book I pulled out of my to-read pile. It’s the writer’s first book. Wow! I enjoyed it so much I’ve ordered the rest of her backlist.
3. On Danger’s Edge by Lise Fuller. This book won a RT Reviewer’s choice award.
4. Suzanne Brockmann – It’s hard to choose from Suzanne’s books. One of my all-time favorites is Letters to Kelly. It made me cry.
5. Lora Leigh – I’m a real fan of Lora’s so I’m adding her Navy Seal series to my list. The first book is Dangerous Games. Actually Amazon says this is book 2 so I’m slightly confused.
6. Kiss and Tell by Cherry Adair. I read this book ages ago and have been a Cherry Adair fan ever since.
9. Denise Agnew writes great military heroes. Try Primordial.
10. Eye of the Storm by Maura Seger. This is set during the second world war and came out in 1985. I must reread it to see if it’s as good as I remember. Amazon says it’s a civil war story. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
11. All the Queen’s Men by Linda Howard – not strictly military. The hero John Medina is a CIA Black Ops Specialist.
12. Summer in the City of Sails by Shelley Munro – you didn’t think I’d leave out my own did you? The hero is a member of NZ’s SAS.
13. Unforgettable by Shelley Munro. Go on – buy me! I’ve been getting Five star reviews all over the place!
14. And one extra one – just for Mr. Munro. Any of the Sharpe books by Bernard Cornwell or if you prefer check out the DVD’s featuring the hunky Mr. Sean Bean. One of the recent Sharpe books is Sharpe’s Escape The stories are set in the early 1800′s.
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Food is one of my favorite things. I have this cool book called Food in History by Reay Tannahill, which has all sorts of interesting snippets.
1. Salt was a powerful factor in the world economy. The word ‘salary’ is derived from the Roman for ‘salt rations’.
2. During the Middle Ages exotic conversation pieces were invented such as live birds in a pie. A pastry coffin was made with a hole in the bottom. Just before the pie was served a number of birds were stuffed through the hole. The pie was cut in front of guests allowing the birds to fly out, much to the delight and pleasure of the dinner guests.
3. The dinner fork was an oddity in most of Europe until the Eighteenth century, Most people carried their own knives and sometimes a spoon. As late as 1897 the British Navy were forbidden to use knives and forks because they were considered prejudicial to discipline and manliness. In America, however, 19th century etiquette manuals were severe about people who ate peas off their knives – with the result that America became a nation of dedicated fork-eaters.
4. Courtesy books decried scratching for fleas and lice. It was okay if it was done surreptitiously but it wasn’t polite to remove fingers from a shared bowl of food to start scratching.
5. Of all the rules of etiquette through the ages, the one against breaking wind has the longest life. A delicate burp was acceptable and sometimes commendable. Farting in public was forbidden to the Chinese as early as the sixth century. It is said the emperor Claudius planned an edict to legitimize the breaking of wind at table after hearing about a man who endangered his health by attempting to restrain himself.
6. Of all the new foodstuffs Columbus found in the Caribbean, maize was to be the most important in later history. When Columbus sighted America, its inhabitants had already developed more than 200 types of maize.
7. Tomatoes made their first appearance as weeds in prehistoric times, but careful cultivation increased yield and varieties. The tomato introduced to Europe in the 16th century may have been an oragne-yellow variety, which would account for it being called a golden apple. Britain didn’t acquire a liking for tomatoes until the 20th century. They were thought to cause gout and to be lacking in nourishment.
8. Potatoes were banned in 1619 Burgundy because it was thought too frequent use of them caused leprosy.
9. The introduction of chocolate, tea and coffee ushered in a new era of relative sobriety. Before they became popular for everyday drinking, most Europeans had to choose between water (unsafe), milk (not a thirst quencher) and wine, ale, beer or cider.
10. If English cooking was a bad as everyone said, it wasn’t because of the lack of cookbooks. The genre was very popular and The English Housewife, published in 1615 was in its eight edition by 1668.
11. Never eat the liver of a polar bear. It contains so much vitamin A that it is toxic to humans.
12. By the 18th century Scots and Irish settlers had introduced whisky distilling into North America. Like their European contemporaries, early Americans had a built-in resistance to water. Of all the drinks to warm 18th century America, rum was the most important. It was estimated by the War of Independence the colonists were downing 24 pints of it per head per year, women and children included.
13. Europeans to New Zealand liked Maori bread, which is a bit like sourdough, and they were fascinated by the Maori’s cooking methods. Where there were thermal springs the food was lowered into the water in baskets or cooked in a hangi. A hangi is a hole dug in the ground. The food is placed into the hole, on heated rocks, and covered over for several hours. This method of cooking still survives to this day. Hangi food has a delicious smoky taste.
Personally, I love the variety of fruits and vegetables that we have available to us these days. I eat lots of both and feel really unhealthy if I miss my fruit and veg. Apart from chocolate is there any food you couldn’t do without?
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A sample from my info bank. I’m not big on how-to books because they usually end up making me second guess myself but these are some of the titles I’ve purchased over the years for reference purposes.
1. Cause of Death by Keith D. Wilson – a writer’s guide to death, murder & forensic medicine. What can I say? I like to sprinkle bodies in my books.
2. Collins Pocket Reference Astrology – the essential guide to your astrological signs. I like to use this when deciding on character traits. I might not mention a star sigh in my book but I still use this book a lot.
3. Deadly Doses by Serita Deborah Stevens with Anne Klarner – a writer’s guide to poisons. Poison is an interesting way to kill off characters.
4. Courtesans by Katie Hickman – I have a fascination with English history and intend to try my hand at another historical soon.
5. Lascivious Bodies by Julie Peakman – a sexual history of the Eighteenth Century. I’ve mentioned this one before in a previous TT. It’s an interesting insight into the past.
6. The Kama Sutra – Pocket Idiot’s Guide by Ron Louis and David Copeland – very handy for an Ellora’s Cave author.
7. The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800 by Lawrence Stone – another historical reference book.
8. The SAS Urban Survival Handbook by John ‘Lofty’ Wiseman – I’ve used this quite a bit in writing contemporaries.
9. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary – I use a dictionary most days. This one is good because it has the date the word was first used. I like this better than an online one because then I don’t get distracted!
10. The Secrets of Sexual Body Language by Matin Lloyd-Elliot – who knew we gave away so much by the way we stand or look at each other?
11. What Men Really Want by Susan Crain Bakos – straight talk from men about sex. Very interesting book and great for writing male characters.
12. The Big Book of Filth – 6500 sex slang words and phrases – this is always good for a laugh. It has little cartoons throughout.
13. Baby Names for New Zealanders by Anne Matthews – once again, I prefer a book rather than searching for the perfect name online. Less distraction that way!
Do you have favorite research books you wouldn’t be without?
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
1. Zanzibar – off the coast of Tanzania, East Africa. We spent three nights here in different hotels because most were booked out. On the first night we stayed in a nice hotel and they became steadily worse. The last one was a windowless box with a lone ceiling fan to stir the hot air. Our friends had a rat in their room the first night – we often have a retelling of the rat story when we meet, and the rat has grown with the telling but it still cracks me up. What I remember most about Zanzibar are the night food market, the beautiful carved wooden doors in the old town and the fragrant smell of spices along with glorious sunsets and the silhouettes of dhow sails.
2. Jersey Islands – off the coast of France but an English island. Mr. Munro and I visited here while I was recouperating from cerebal malaria. I remember feeling weak as a kitten with less stamina. We visited Gerald Durrells’ zoo, which was a highlight for me. My favorites were the tamarins.
3. Samoa – we visited Samoa this year, and I can’t wait to make a return visit. It’s not very touristy and is laid back and relaxed but the hotel staff weren’t on island time. We visited Robert Louis Stevenson’s house and I enjoyed that as well as spending time reading and doing nothing. Good times!
4. Little Barrier Island – one of the Hauraki Gulf islands not far from Auckland, NZ. It’s a conservation island housing many of NZ’s rare native birds and the tuatara. A special permit is required before you can land. Once you’ve landed the DOC staff herd new arrivals into a classroom and shut the door before searching all bags for mice, stoats, ferrets and rats. Yeah, right! Like I’d cart any of those around in my pack. *shudder*
5. Tasmania – part of Australia and a couple of hundred kilometres south of Melbourne. This one isn’t tropical but it’s interesting. Tasmania was used as a convict colony and some of my distant relations were sent here for minor offences such as stealing a petticoat and receiving stolen goods. There’s lots of history, some of it very cruel.
6. Norfolk Island – another Australia territory and also used as a place to put convicts. Also had relations here but this relation was a marine guarding the convicts. Also famous because of the Bounty settlers.
7. Ireland – the Emerald isle. It’s definitely green and it rains a lot. A bit like New Zealand really. Heaps of interesting history and beautiful scenery. I have found memories of narrow roads, hedgerows and the villages of colored houses plus the castles and the Celtic monuments. We used to stop every morning for a cup of tea and scones. Yum!
8. Isle of Sky – not really an island these days since it’s joined to the mainland by a bridge. I remember the barren landscape, the shortbread at the hotel and the weird colored water that came out of the tap because of the peat. It was also really cold!
9. Vancouver Island – not far from Vancouver. We visited the Butchart Gardens and were given umbrellas after buying our tickets. It poured! But it was still pretty. I also remember a very nice chocolate shop in Victoria, the main city. We hope to return for a more in-depth visit next year after conference.
10. Roatan Island, Honduras. We took a break here during our Central American trip and had a relaxing three days doing not much! The snorkelling was excellent. We also took time to go kayaking.
11. Hawaii – our most recent trip. I just loved Hawaii. It had everything. Sun, sand, swimming, great scenery…
12. North Island and South Island, New Zealand. Okay, you knew I had to fit my home island in here somewhere. Here’s a photo of the Goat Island marine reserve north of Auckland. And one of Mount Cook, in the South Island, the highest mountain in New Zealand.
13. Rangitoto Island, off the coast of Auckland, NZ. A dormant volcano and the youngest in Auckland’s field of volcanoes.
Islands still on my wishlist: Madagascar, Crete, Galapagos Islands.
Which islands would you like to visit? Which islands have you visited and really enjoyed? (I might need to add to my list)
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When I saw one of the excursions possible from the ship was a visit to a seahorse farm I cast my vote immediately. I told Mr. Munro we should visit and he agreed since we both love nature, animals and the like, and it was something we can’t do here in New Zealand. I fell in love with seahorses during my visit to Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater world in Auckland. Our claim to fame – I believe Kelly Tarlton’s pioneered the giant perspex tubes that you see in aquariums World wide.
1. Seahorses are generally monogamous and they can’t live alone. They must have a mate.
2. The seahorse is the only animal in the entire animal kingdom in which the MALE has a true pregnancy.
3. The MALE stays pregnant most of its life.
4. Seahorses inhabit the coral reefs and sea grass beds in all the oceans of the world.
5. They’re an endangered species.
6. Over 30 million seahorses are taken from the wild every year for use in Chinese medicine.
7. Over 1 million seahorses are taken from the wild for pets. Most die.
8. They will eat only live foods such as brine shrimp and are prone to stress in an aquarium, which lowers the efficiency of their immune systems and makes them susceptible to disease.
9. A seahorse has highly mobile eyes to watch for predators and prey without moving its body. It has a long snout with which it sucks up its prey. Its fins are small because it must move through thick water vegetation. The seahorse has a long, prehensile tail which it will curl around any support such as seaweed to prevent being swept away by currents.
10. Ocean Rider in Kona, Hawaii started up to breed seahorses so they weren’t taken from the wild for the pet fish trade.
11. As mentioned in No. 8 above seahorses eat live food in the wild. Ocean Rider’s first challenge was to get their seahorses to eat dead food. One brave little seahorse – I think his name was Jack but I can’t remember for sure – tried one and all the others copied him. They moved Jack from tank to tank to train all the other seahorses.
12. Check out Ocean Rider for details on buying and caring for seahorses and register for their bulletin board to get into contact with other owners.
13. A pair of Mustang Seahorses of medium size costs around US$300 for a pair. Mustang seahorses are good for first time seahorse owners. They are tropical, colorful, bold, gregarious, social, hearty and healthy! They all feed EZY on frozen mysis enhanced with Vibrance® right from your hand!!
Ocean Rider has been breeding the Mustang since 1998. They first offered Certifiticates of Authenticity and High Health for the Mustang in 1999. All Mustangs are now shipped with these Certificates.
And finally, here are a few photos from our visit. It was a bit hard to photograph the little blighters but we did our best! These are the tanks and that’s me with my floppy hat.
And these are my fingers holding a seahorse. They’re just so danged cute. Ah, that would be the seahorses, not my fingers
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Thirteen Things about Elvis Presley who left the building for the final time thirty years ago today.
1. Elvis was born on 8 Jan 1935 and died on 16 Aug 1977 at the age of 42.
2. At school, Presley was teased by his fellow classmates; they threw “things at him — rotten fruit and stuff — because he was different, because he was quiet and he stuttered and he was a mama’s boy.
3. Aged ten, he made his first public performance in a singing contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show. Dressed as a cowboy, the young Elvis had to stand on a chair to reach the microphone and sang Red Foley’s “Old Shep”. He won second prize.
4. In 1946, Presley’s mother took Elvis to Tupelo Hardware to get him a birthday present. Although he wanted a rifle, his mother wanted him to get a guitar. He had earned money from doing small errands, but did not have enough to buy the $7.90 guitar, so she paid the difference.
5. Elvis didn’t want to sing in the movies…More than anything else, Elvis wanted to be a movie actor.
6. Elvis made thirty movies…They all made money.
7. On July 18, 1953, Presley went to the Memphis Recording Service at the Sun Record Company (now commonly known as Sun Studios). He paid $3.98 to record the first of two double-sided ‘demo’ acetates — “My Happiness” and “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin”. Presley reportedly gave the acetate to his mother as a much-belated extra birthday present, though the Presleys didn’t own a record player at the time.
8. Presley appeared at the Grand Ole Opry, Nashville. Hank Snow introduced Presley on stage. He performed “Blue Moon of Kentucky” but received only a polite response. Afterwards, the singer was allegedly told: “Boy, you’d better keep driving that truck.”
9. Presley’s first Ed Sullivan appearance (September 9, 1956) was seen by an estimated 55-60 million viewers. During the second, Presley only had to shake his legs to get screams from the audience, which a bemused Sullivan didn’t notice him doing when stood next to the singer. On the third show, the family-minded Sullivan censored Presley’s “gyrations”: he was shown only above the waist. According to the show’s director, Marlo Lewis, Sullivan told him that Presley was “hangin’ some kind of device in the crotch of his pants” and that it was “waving back and forth” when the singer moved. Sullivan said: “We can’t have that on a Sunday night. That’s a church night”. Although Lewis ordered camera two to film only Presley’s chest and head, he never believed the “device” was there at all. Despite his misgivings, Sullivan still declared at the end of the show: “This is a real decent, fine boy. We’ve never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we’ve had with you… you’re thoroughly all right.”
10. On December 20, 1957, Presley received his army draft notice. Presley returned to the U.S. on March 2, 1960, and was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant (E-5) on March 5.
11. Many fans and others have acknowledged Presley’s sexual attraction and photogenic looks. Steve Binder recalled from 1968: “… when Elvis came back from vacation in Hawaii… he was awesome looking. I mean, I’m heterosexual. I’m straight as an arrow and I got to tell you, you stop, whether you’re male or female, to look at him. He was that good looking. And if you never knew he was a superstar, it wouldn’t make any difference; if he’d walked in the room, you’d know somebody special was in your presence.”
12. Towards the end of his life, Presley had many health problems, some of them chronic. “Elvis had had an enlarged heart for a long time. That, together with his drug habit, caused his death.
13.
There were loads of Elvis clips to choose at You tube. I chose this one because it’s the song that was played at our wedding.
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1. A kiwi is a flightless bird native to New Zealand.
2. The kiwi is a New Zealand icon.
3. Kiwis are shy and nocturnal birds. I have never seen a kiwi in the wild.
4. New Zealanders are affectionately known as kiwis. I am a kiwi. I am shy but I buck the trend cause I’m more of a morning person!
5. A kiwi is around the size of a chicken and is an endangered species. The Auckland zoo runs a captive breeding program where the birds are released back into the wild.
6. The Bank of New Zealand raises money to help with kiwi conservation and awareness.
7. Kiwis are creatures with a highly developed sense of smell, most unusual in a bird, and are the only birds with nostrils at the end of their long bill. Kiwi eat small invertebrates, seeds, grubs, and many varieties of worms. They also may eat fruit, small crayfish, eels and amphibians. Unlike other birds, the kiwi can locate insects and worms underground without actually seeing or feeling them. This is due to their long beaks, with nostrils at the end of them. As the length of a birds beak is measured from the tip of the beak to the nostril, the Kiwi has the shortest beak of any bird.
8. After an initial meeting during mating season (March to June), kiwi usually live as monogamous couples. The pair will meet in the nesting burrow every few days and call to each other at night. These relationships have been known to last for up to 20 years.
9. Kiwi eggs can weigh up to one quarter the weight of the female. Usually only one egg is laid. Although the kiwi is about the size of a domestic chicken, it is able to lay eggs that are up to ten times larger than a chicken’s egg.
10. New Zealand troops awaiting repatriation after World War 1 carved a huge kiwi shape into the chalk ground at Bulford on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. It’s still visible and is currently maintained by the Ministry of Defence.
11. You can send a kiwi e-card to your friends. See here
12.
Here’s a cool animated cartoon about a kiwi, which was done as a thesis. Remember – kiwis are usually flightless.
13. Last week on our favorite local TV show, Outrageous Fortune, one of the characters died. The actress is going to Australia to act in an Australian soap. But when she died, right at the end of the show, they played the Goodnight Kiwi song. It was heart wrenching for all the viewers.
Before 24 hour TV came to New Zealalnd the Goodnight Kiwi cartoon signalled the end of nightly broadcasts. The last airing of this animation was in 1994. Today the characters are regarded as icons of New Zealand culture. Note from Shell – I’m not showing my age – really I’m not!
Here’s the Goodnight Kiwi cartoon that many New Zealanders remember with great fondess. If you slept through this you were likely to wake up to lots of white screen and a horrid hissing sound from the TV.
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Each shopping day hubby and I have a coffee and people watch for half an hour or so. It’s become a favorite ritual. Each time we visit our favorite cafe, I purchase a fortune chocolate to have with my coffee. The following are some of the fortunes I’ve received. Of course, they’ve all come true
1. The smallest things in life will be your greatest adventures.
2. A special someone will bring excitement into your life.
3. Make your own happiness your first priority.
4. Someone will return a favor.
5. Take time before you make a promise.
6. Someone will dazzle you with words. Probably some of the authors of the books I’ve read lately. Can you say writer’s envy…in the nicest possible way!
7. A good day for communicating.
8. You will find something that you thought was lost.
9. A surprise opportunity is coming your way.
10. Complacency can stop your progress.
11. A conversation will reveal a secret.
12. You will be made an offer you can’t refuse.
13. You will find a new outlet for your creative talent. This is my most recent fortune and hubby and I both immediately thought of the new direction my writing is taking. I’m attempting to write for a Harlequin line. Here’s hoping this one comes true!
Which fortune would you most like to find in a fortune chocolate and why?
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
The hero is a member of NZ’s SAS.
