Pita Bread - football bread

Pita breads are easy to make.  Normal 4 1/2 cups flour bread dough, roll into 16 balls.  Turn oven onto hottest setting, 250 C,  once oven hot, roll out 4 dough balls until 5mm thick.   Place them on a tray in the middle of the oven - watch them puff up like footballs (4mins).  Take out, and roll another 4.  Leave to cool, fill with yummy stuff, and enjoy.

George

 

The tadpole has become George the Frog.  He likes to sunbathe at the edge of the pond, and on lily pads. The children love watching him, and of course, trying to hold him and stroke him.  

Bill, the other tadpole, has yet to grow "arms".

George sunbathing

Urchins coaxing George

Fireworks in Taupo

It was that time of year again, when we celebate terrorists who try to blow up governments... Guy Fawkes.  Unfortunately, the only public fireworks display at Rotorua was at the Speedway, and so Erik discovered that there was one in Taupo.  After gardening, off we set, the wind was freezing, but the children enjoyed playing in the playground for ages.  Dinner at the "Heritage of India"  fantastic food, really delightful, and then off to Owen Delaney park to watch the bands playing, and then of course, the fireworks.  Parking was free, total cost for 2 Adults and 2 Children, $14. 
Oscar and Anneke danced to the music.  When Erik and I got too cold, even though we were wrapped up in blankets, we got up and danced too, everyone did, to keep warm.

Anneke Dancing

Finally the fireworks, at least 15 minutes of glorious colour and music.  Comet styled fireworks, and new ones that split into 3, and then they split into three again.  Fabulous.  Will do this again, but will remember to pack the beanies, scarves and gloves.  Taupo is COLD!

Oscar Dancing

No dig garden

As I am allergic to work, the no dig garden is perfect for me.  Put some cardboard down, spread the compost out on top.  Plant the seeds, put down mulch.  Perfect.  No digging and more importantly, no weeding!
The orange marrows need to go in.  I planted 24 last year, and Erik was concerned at the time,  that it wasn't enough, so this year, we are putting in a larger run of them.  If the slugs and snails don't get them, perhaps we will get 50 plants.  Ran out of plant houses, so need to go to the recycling centre and get some plastic bottles.

  

Plant houses and mulch down

Picked up a Tamarillo, tomatoes, aubergines, spring onions and rock melons from the garden center.  We just need to work out where to plant them now.

Halloween

Ghosts, eyeballs, dead man fingers, dried bats ears, slime, dismembered hand in vampire wee - everything a child needs for Halloween.  We had some extra ghouls - Phillip and Marcus, Tom and Lewis, so 6 boys in total terrorising the neighbour hood trick'n'treating.  All the orange balloons got monster faces drawn on them, some were vampires.

Dead mans fingers and vampire wee

Dead man fingers and mango candy

Ghosts

Creating balloon Jack o lanterns

Halloween eve eve

How quickly Halloween has arrived.  I guess with the school holidays being changed around due to the Rugby World Cup (NZ won), just one week back at school, and then it is Halloween.
The boys have already been trying out which costumes that are considering to wear on Halloween... Tighe is the Ninja Noodle - I mean Turtle, Quinn has the knife through his devil head, and Oscar is the Green Wizard.

Trick?

or ....

Treat!

The bug boy with Snails

Visited Nana in the Waikato today.  Loaded another boot full of rocks for the steps... some of these rocks have not seen daylight in 25 or so years.  Tighe got bored with the heavy lifting, so Nana distracted him with some wonderful slimy snails.  Note the one under his ear.

2 Snails and 1 Tighe

The bug boy

A new earring perhaps?