Richie vs. Broccoli

It's hard to tell who's the winner here. But it was fun to watch.

Richie is discovering the joys of finger food and Mom is discovering the joys of the "dishwasher safe" tray on his feeding chair! 

Steamed broccoli was much easier to grab than those slippery pieces of fresh fruit we tried first, but he tended to pulverize the florets before getting them to his mouth. Boiled kumera (sweet potato) was another hit. And yesterday we tried pasta spirals, which he'd grab by the handful and shove in his mouth, sometimes more successfully than others. Now if I only had a dog to pick up the pieces that didn't survive the trip from tray to mouth!

It's feijoa time!

This little basket of goodness arrived on our doorstep this morning. What are those little green egg-shaped things? They're an NZ fall phenomenon: feijoas (pronounced fee JO ahs). They're also know in Latin America as pineapple guavas. The taste is hard to describe. They are citrusy but creamy with soft white flesh and tart seeds inside. I'd show you the inside of one but just because they're on my doorstep doesn't mean they're ripe yet.

These fruits fall from the tree and must be harvested after they fall and then set on the counter to soften and ripen a few days. They are still hard when they fall (I imagine this is Mother Nature's way of preventing bruising). 

We have several trees that have morphed into a huge hedge at the edge of our property, on the border with our neighbors Henry and Margaret. They're a lovely retired couple who have the most amazing hand-terraced garden that we have the pleasure of having a good view of from our kitchen. Well, each fall (or autumn as they say here) Henry comes over every morning and gathers all the feijoas that have fallen and delivers about half of them to our doorstep. The rest he brings back to Margaret, and she makes fabulous jam. I'll have to learn how make some soon, as I always run out of things to do with them and we get a basket full about every other day. So far I've made feijoa muffins, crumble, compote and cake. I'll jump out on a limb here and say Richie is going to be getting some feijoa baby food very soon. 

Next Henry will be showing up with our share of the walnuts from another tree on our border. The first time he showed up with a basket of walnuts, feijoas and assorted other goodies, I thanked him profusely for sharing his bounty. Then we later found out that the trees were actually on our property, but the previous owner never did anything with them so he's been in the habit of harvesting them. We're absolutely fine with that. We get more than we can possibly use. I still have a huge back of walnuts I need to crack before the new season's arrive. Feijoa-walnut crumble anyone???

Travel out takes, part I

As most of you know we just got back from our first trip back to the US with Richie. We took way too many pix to post here but I thought I'd start posting a few installments every now and then. Looking back, it's amazing how much Richie put up with. 

We took a total of 11 flights ranging from 2 to 12 hours long over a period of 29 days. He slept literally 95% of the time on those flights (but that 5% felt like forever). The worst parts were the layovers. 7 hours in Fiji sounded great when we booked but they had a tropical storm right before we got there and we weren't allowed to leave the airport. At least Richie caught some much needed ZZZ's. Then it was on to LA where we had another 6 hour layover. But luckily our friend Dan was a lifesaver and picked us up right at the gate and took us out for some great food and sightseeing to break up the trip. Then it was on to Chicago, where they were having record cold temperatures. Something like 22 below zero. Talk about extremes. 

The proof is in the pix. These two pictures were taken one right after the other on our camera, within 36 hours of each other. The first is Richie in our makeshift fort in Fiji and the 2nd is preparing to brave the cold in Chicago.

Batter up!

I'm starting him out early in the kitchen with Momma, but Richie looks more like the mad Swedish chef from the Muppets with his wooden spoon. It's his new favorite toy and he wields it alternately like a weapon, drumstick or conductor's wand. In a few months we'll see what he does when that spoon hits some batter. Batter up boys!

Guess the new food of the day

Hmm, it's a toughie. That's right it was beets! Richie did a double take of the spoon of ruby red goodness and looked at me funny, but after a taste is was back to shovel it in mode. He even found them funny and stopped long enough to laugh and smile between bites. I just made sure he an easy-wash plastic bib for the occasion.

A little breakfast conversation

It's not often that Richie takes his mind off stuffing his face, but this morning he was especially chatty. Yes, his first words or should I say word-like expression was "Dada." But of course that's just because it's easier to say than "Mama." He says it indiscriminately at everyone, including me so I try not to take it personally.

For example, Daddy was nowhere near Richie when this video was taken. At the end you can start to the whining that usually happens when I delay the arrival of food to his highness's mouth. He likes to add a little Arsenio Hall-style dog pound "whoop-whoop" arm movement just in case I didn't get the message. 

Doing it up at Art Deco!

We're back! After a great, but totally exhausting trip back home to the US, we're back in sunny Hawke's Bay. Just in time for the annual Art Deco Festival in Napier. Now for anyone even thinking of coming to visit us, I highly, highly recommend that you do it at the time of this festival (3rd weekend in Feb). It is held to commemorate the earthquake in 1931 that devastated Napier. The silver lining of the tragedy was that entire city was rebuilt in the Art Deco style of architecture in fashion at the time. As a result, Napier has something like the highest concentration of Art Deco buildings in one spot in the world (Miami eat your heart out).

And each year Napier shows off its Art Deco heritage with a festival that just keeps getting bigger and better. Hotels are booked months in advance and thousands come to dress in their Art Deco finest, drive their vintage cars, ride antique steam trains, watch old biplane air shows, listen to jazz and swing with a big band and dance in the streets. It is seriously like stepping back in time. I can't think of anything like it anywhere else. 

For the first few years, we rented costumes like many people do. But now that we're locals and go to the festival every year, we each own a couple Art Deco outfits that we trot out and add to our collection each year. Now that we have Richie, we'll have to be on the lookout for a vintage stroller! Next year Paul and Richie may have to enter the soapbox derby! There are a ton of activities for both adults and the kids, and even the local teenagers get into it.