Life: Tea + Tulips

Hello my lovelies! I hope you’re all taking the changing seasons in your stride. We go onto daylight savings time this coming Sunday. It always catches me out. This week I enjoyed a walk among the tulips. I made cookie dough that I can’t bake up for eight days. I ordered some new glasses . And I’m heading out to vote this week.

Daylight savings time always seems to come around in no time. In NZ they extended it by three weeks around 10 years ago and I still get surprised by it. It doesn’t help that we don’t watch network television anymore. Ads from the NZ Fire Service run reminding everyone to check their smoke alarms at the same time as changing their clocks. It’s hard at first because I don’t like the switch back to dark mornings. It will be much easier now that I manage my own schedule.

Every spring our botanic garden plants masses of tulips for spring. A tulip celebrating day is held on a Sunday in September. The weather is all over the place here in spring so sometimes the tulips survive unscathed until the festival and sometimes not. This week on a sunny afternoon I took a break to enjoy them while they were still glorious. The garden is literally across the road from my house so I made a cup of tea (I have a KeepCup that holds a pint) and went for a walk. I really hope they stay lovely until this coming Sunday.

In my quest to find and test Christmas cookies I started a Lebkuchen dough. When I say started I mean the dough has to rest for EIGHT DAYS in the fridge. To develop flavour and the change the texture of the dough. It’s an easy dough to bring together and the other active bits are simple as well. There’s just a bit of planning and waiting involved. The dough tasted delicious when I scraped to bowl so I have high hopes. Honey, molasses and spices are some of my favourite things. This particular recipe came from The Christmas Cook by William Woyes Weaver. As you know I love my historical books!

I can’t see very well and wear contacts most days. I have to wear contacts when I’m photographing recipes because it drives me insane to use the camera with glasses on. I do like to wear glasses sometimes. It’s a nice change and it gives my eyes a break. I remember when I was growing up frames were so expensive. Optometrists offices basically held everyone to ransom. This was before ordering things on the internet. And without real competition from a low priced provider. I had the same frames for years. New lenses swapped in and out as needed. I went through a lot of different frames in my 20s. It was the start of being able to order cheap frames online. I’ve had the same ones for a few years now. And decided it was time to freshen up. I forget to keep checking to see if there is something I like. And that fits my narrow head. I’ve settled on a pair of transparent grey frames. And have my eye on some teal ones. That are $35. It boggles my mind. That’s one tenth of what they used to cost.

It’s also election time here in NZ. It’s a pretty dramatic race by our standards. Not by US standards though. A late change of leader for one of our major parties. And other ups and downs and changes of fortune. I’m not going to get into it here. I’m not a political commentator. But I do want to remind all the Kiwis out there to vote. Early voting has never been easier. You can turn up and vote at an advance voting station all week. You can even do it on Tuesday – the anniversary of women’s suffrage in NZ. The first country to have universal suffrage for women. Don’t fucking waste it.

Check your smoke alarms. Tiptoe among tulips. Make cookies. Vote. Look after each other.

xx