Margarita Brain Freeze- Oh, the pain!!! We have adequate Mexican food here, at
Mexicali Fresh. They have black beans, woo hoo! Have to say, not a fan of the margaritas here, too sweet for my taste, but then I've been called a tequila snob. Hey, I have no problem with that title.
Spring is definitely on the way. I see leaves sprouting on the trees (oak?) in the Auckland Domain, and the Magnolia tree in our yard finally bloomed. The lemon tree is heavy with fruit.
Saturday turned into a lovely, sunny day, and we tried to make the most of it. Darin and I returned to the French Market in Parnell, where we bought sausages, vegetables, and creamed blackberry honey- yum!! then looked at motorcycles. We found a nice Honda Shadow for a good price, but the question is, is this the best use of our money? The house needs work, and we went to the home show on Sunday, which only inspired desire for upgrades. The weather is less ideal for motorcycling here than in San Diego, due to the rain and cooler temperatures in NZ.
Post motorcycle shopping, we attended a Chardonnay wine tasting at
Kumeu River Winery, just north of where we live. Not normally fans of Chardonnay, we were impressed by this winery's products. The winemaker told us they use only 20% oak, and only French oak, as opposed to American oak- I suspect the taste difference is partly due to this. After a bite to eat, we took Fargo for a walk on the
Auckland City Walk in the Waitakere Regional Reserve. We were in awe of the gorgeous fern forest and old giant Kauri trees. Later, we saw the film the Bourne Ultimatum, which was good, and then watched the All Blacks pummel Portugal.
The NZ All Blacks
The
All Blacks are favored in the
World Rugby Cup, being played presently in France. I've been lucky to have pulled their team in the rugby pool at work, standing to win $50. Before every game, the team performs an intimidation dance called the Haka, which is incredible to watch. You can see one of their performances
here- though not their best, still good. One of the great things about watching rugby here is the absolute absence of ANY commercials! And there's few breaks for time outs, penalties, etc.
Movies and Books
We saw the Simpsons movie a few weeks ago, and as anticipated, it was funny and typical. We LOVE Matt
Groening. We used to enjoy his comics in the Reader, in Minneapolis,
Life in Hell. I also have two of his books, Love is Hell and Work is Hell. Highly recommended!!!
I've just finished reading the book The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon. It was a good read, but still I prefered his book, the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I had to renew my book checkout in order to finish the latest book. Though it was a fun read, it's hard to make time for reading. Next, I have the Omnivore's Dilemma (also from the library. It is really well written, much better than Diet for a Dead Planet. Very readable and impressive, so far.
Here's a couple photos from the Home Show. Barb is planning to remodel and add on to her kitchen, and she's got a lot of planning to do! The stove is apparently already chosen. 
Unfortunately, I accidentally shut the door on Latte's tail while I was holding him, and he freaked out. Good thing I was wearing a padded bra, because my t-shirt was shredded on the chest. I have like 5 bandaids on my arm and chest, and was in a lot of pain. A good stiff drink and a couple of tylonol have helped. Latte is fine.
Last Friday I took the day off work and went with Darin to Field days, the largest agricultural show in the southern hemisphere. There were tractor races, a Rural Bachelor of the Year competition, 
and a special exibit on tuberculosis, carried by possums and spread easily to cattle and deer (farmed in NZ). 
I wanted to see the castration tool in action, and had a great idea that I should ask for a volunteer to demonstrate. Heh heh. I make myself laugh. 
We looked at options for getting some storage on our land, and these shipping containers might be the answer. There are plenty of options to consider. There were good deals to be had at Field Days, so we bought an electronic dog training collar (tri-tronics), a small generator (Honda), a possum fur and wool blend hat and scarf (gift for my niece so she can stay warm when she goes to the South Island of NZ),
a curved knife with handles on either end for cutting pumpkins and squash, and a new scarf for myself.
Stephanie and I took the dogs to Karekare beach for a hike. The falls are a short walk from the parking area and it looks like a great swimming hole in summertime.
The NZ All Blacks played England at the Mount Eden stadium and tickets were all sold. We had a great time watching the All Blacks dominate England. England scored a few times because of this great player, Topsy Ojo-this man can run!
We got to see the Haka performed- so awesome!
