2 July Auckland

The one in the white shirt, the Favourite-Son-Who-Lives-in-Australia….we took him to the airport at 5 this morning and it felt like my trip was finally over. Since arriving home I’ve been living in a liminal place – home, but not quite back to regular life while he was still visiting.

One of his first observations – about half an hour after I got back – was

Mum, there are two types of people. Those who come home from a trip and sit down and relax and don’t unpack their bags for a week…and then there’s you.

It is true, I was already rejuvenating my sourdough starter, having pulled a black nightshade plant out of the garden on the way into the house and having closed all the kitchen cupboard doors that were open. But look, so worth it:

And not able to wait for the sourdough to bubble, I did this with commercial yeast and flour milled in the Brand New grain mill:

To go with the first of the Spanish cheeses:

That had caused daughter-in-the-black-pants-in-front-of-Australian-brother to ask if it is true that I am passionate about bread baking, but not passionate about cooking. I agreed I am not passionate about cooking, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m passionate about bread baking. I enjoy doing it, and I appreciate eating it, especially the sourdough stuff. She muttered something about “because you’re passionate about it”…maybe I am!

Loving the laden lemon tree. Might even prompt me to do some cooking 😉

Speaking of loving….

I’m loving The Quiet – I could not get over how quiet it was at night. Not just no snorers in the room, but no church bells or people walking past on the street or rubbish collectors or donkeys braying….it was absolutely eerily silent
The birds. Instead of griffin vultures and storks and cuckoos, there are rosellas and tui and fantails