One of my dreams came true this week when I walked into the Countdown supermarket in Whangarei and saw mangosteen.

Over 25 years ago i first tasted this hard shelled milky white fruit in Bali and had one of my earliest mouthgasms!

As you can see, they (Garcinia mangostana L. ) look like hard reddish brown mandarins and inside they look exactly like a mandarin except the pulp is milky white and each section has a large brown seed. The texture is somewhat lychee-like but the flavour is delicate and exciting, indescrible as it teases your tongue and melts in your mouth.

The tropical fruit is hard to get into, but with a good knife you can either cut a bit of the shell off and then peel them, or slice in half (carefully with a strong arm) and then use a teaspoon to get them out.

I remember researching them all those years ago and finding they only grew in hot humid climates and had to have really deep roots, perhaps the trees needed to be very old before they produced.

From http://www.mangosteen.com/ I found that this is not strictly true:Under ideal conditions (plant nursery), the first fruit can be as soon as 6 years after the seed sprouts but the initial low light period is still essential for about the first two years. They do require a tropical climate however, so my subtropical orchard probably won't allow me to grow these divine fruit trees.

The mangosteen has historically been praised (see History and Folklore) for countless centuries by all who encountered it. The edible interior is renown for its indescribable sweet-sour melting rush of flavors. But apart from the edible treasure inside the hull, the rind (technically a pericarp) has also been part of Ayurvedic medicine and has been valued throughout its native range for its medicinal qualities.

There is much more you can read about this fruit, but I'm just thrilled to have a dream come true, and irregardless of food miles or Carbon points, I'll buy them whenever I can - I hope they are not seasonal. YUM! Can't wait for my next mouthgasm (thanks to my friend Philippa for that spunky descriptive word).

Plenty to do and no where to go - a marvellous day!

It is blowing a gale, showering heavily off and on, cold and wintery - a marvellous day that I started with early coffee and a reorganisation of my closet - moving summer clothes out and winter clothes in. I have plenty to do and no where to go.

I am content.

It has been a busy few weeks with B&B guests from Australia for a mutual friend's wedding, a visit from a new friend who is taking up the position of manager of the Kaikohe Pioneer Museum, more time looking after my old dog Mally whose toe was amputated not quite a month ago, and lots of organisation to do for the next Northland Region Fire Service newsletter and annual report.

It is also, finally, planting time since there has been some rain. It seems like lots of rain, but it isn't. The soil is still dry a few inches down, but there is moisture gathering and frequent rainbows - what could be better?

What is not better is the new google account stuff. My God there is a lot to organise....what blog, where, what user name, which password, do you have a google account, what google groups do you belong to, which do you want to join, how about sharing calendars? Not to mention whether you Twitter and tweet.

I seem to have sorted it for this moment as I was finally able to access this blog and make a post. Fingers crossed I'll be able to do it again.

I know I started another blog somewhere, that was going to be my homourous writing. It is really rather funny because I have no idea where that blog is or what I've called it and now I've reset my password, I'll probably go to both and they'll be confused as they'll have the same account details. Oh well, such is the price of being over 50 in 2009.

I might prefer to sell lemon grass and cut protea flowers, but I won't give up my day jobs or my creative retreat B&B.

Back to work. I hope I can find you all again next time.

Finally some rain is coming

Home is the middle property, which is the third house from the left. you can make out my curving drive way...which is very long and takes a lot of rocks, that have just been renewed at the cost of about half the fare to LA, so I'll be staying home driving on my well shaped and rocked drive this year!

It has been a long hot dry summer and the dirt is dust. we have had a bit of rain and it is said by the almighty, and usually wrong, weather forecasters that we may get 6 inches over the weekend. Fingers crossed, because then I might stay inside and do more work on the computer or in the kitchen. Feijoas are ripening now so it is time for more jam. speaking of which my HUGE brown turkey fig tree has produced unbelievably this year and it is late and beautiful - a dark skin with a bright red interior that is so sweet! The wee wax eyes are going crazy in it and it is a very big tree, so this year they will get many more than I have.

Mally my dog had his toe chopped off last week after four months of infection. It was doing very well, but now I fear he has licked it or it got rubbed so I forced him to allow me to put a sock on it with a plastic bag, which I've now been told I should have done from the start, but I was only told not to let him lick it after I took the bandage off. I didn't even want to remove it since I knew it would keep it dry and clean, but I guess it had to breathe. Now we have to go to the vet AGAIN tomorrow. AAARGH!

I really really don't want it to be infected again. He's been on antibiotics nearly four months, and he's not a fan of yogurt so I don't know how to replace the good bacteria.

It's late, I'm ready for bed and have nearly completed a project I've procrastinated on for weeks, so this is it folks.

Night night and take care!

Catching up

Sailing on Yamana and meeting 'cruising' friends of Pete and Alice's, met along their paths through the Islands and countries between America and New Zealand, has been an extra treat this summer and a great way to start the new year!

So far, 2009 has been hot and dry and glorious....not just at the Tangle!

After a month of less than an inch of rain - a perfect summer for tourists and beach goers, a drought for gardeners and farmers - we are having torrential rains so that I may sit at my computer and begin again telling of the wonderful happenings in and around the Glorious Tangle.

The rains have come from New South Wales in Australia where they caused flooding, but unfortunately did not go to the fire area near Melbourne to put out fires. On the other hand, this kind of rain there now could also cause more devastation. Life is so complicated.

Since writing last I've been to California and Baja, spent wonderful time there with family and my gorgeous wee niece and nephew. My pal Kimberly and I took the children and her son to "The Baja House" in Ensenada where we had a few days of Mexican summer, food and beaches. we loved the time away together, even though I lost my voice! The owner of the house, in a 'gated community' is Mike Wilken, the leading expert anthropologist on the indigenous people of that region. Check out the house and go visit him http://www.thebajahouse.com/

Since my return to New Zealand, I've put out another Fire Service newsletter (Region Wise), grown zucchini, chiles, pepino, eggplant, wonderfult heritage tomatoes and am now harvesting figs, well except for the torrential rains of course.

Here's a picture of one day's harvest... come and visit and help me eat it!

Summer was perfect with B&B guests from Germany and the States and loads of friends camped on the property in tents and caravans (known as trailers in America).

Jessie and Murray, film making friends from the Hokianga came down and we've begun a documentary on New Zealand's rarest bird, the fairy tern. This year's and last year's Conservation wardens in charge of the fairy terns on the Waipu Wildlife refuge (the sand spit in front of my place) were all living on the property so it was an intense time regarding cats being trapped, bird eggs being moved for protection and other rare species stragegies being put in place.

I think it was five chicks successfully fledged this season, none from Waipu.

Mangawhai was far more successful this season. This picture shows you how well camouflaged the chicks are and one was trampled by uncaring people who walked inside the areas roped off by the wardens. When the chicks are scared, they stay perfectly still.



And one of the happier parts of my life at present is the arrival of Pete and Alice, Olive and Ruben on Yamana, as indicated above by moi sitting at the helm...wait there is a bunny and seven or so quail chicks plus three adults in front of my window. Another happy thing about living here! These are California quail, by the way. I love it here.

The racket outside, made by the cicadas and the sea, is another joy this time of year.

Peter and Alice Grant, my out-laws, and their two children sailed in to the Bay of Islands last November after three years cruising the world from South Carolina through the Caribbean and Panama Canal to the Galapagos, Marquises and Polynesia. They are settling now in Ngunguru and it is very cool to have them in Northland and to meet their friends. The children, Olive and Ruben, are wonderfully confident and well read after three years on the boat and it is great to have them on board, well on land here. Sailing with them from Russell to Tutukaka was fun, really wish I'd met them in Tonga now, but it was too soon after California.

Scarily, other cruising friends, Tom and Thecla Bouter, are lost at sea. Hurricane Klaus crossed their path on Jan 24 off the Netherlands and in spite of extensive searching by several governments, they are not yet located. We all hope they will float to shore somewhere and we find that their boat was disabled but not sunk.

So enjoy every day - live your life fully, whatever that is for you - and stay in touch, there's a break in the rain so I'm going to walk my ancient dog (Mally made it through vestibular disease just after turning 14 in November) and then practice my uke before I get back to real work. Check out the Flaming Ukuleles of Waipu on You Tube if you haven't already. Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9T0jT9JnrY for Tequila with our teacher Bob and his friends or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zktZvDe8XCs Five Foot Two for just us.

Keep on sailing, dancing or doing whatever you do!

Feasts of all sorts

Double rainbows and bright light on the sand dune with a dark gray sky was a stunning treat for myself and my visitors last week. We've finally had a bit more rain...but the scary storm that was predicted was far milder and without consequence, then ended with double rainbows! What a pleasure.

The week before we had another visual treat when the Sustainable Rural Develpment group went bush walking at Debbie (one of the students) and her partner Graham's bush block in the Bryndyrwyn Hills about 10 mintues from home. It seems we were walking about two hours, but it may have been less. They have magnificent trees and a wonderful waterfall. we only covered a very small area of their 60 acres.

We've also had a veritable feast with the vegetables we've grown in the class. Golden beans, pesto made from home grown basil, stir fried bok choy and Moroccan tagine of swiss chard (silver beet). I think we've all been amazed at how much we've grown with Jamie's help, and the plastic house is full of seedlings - both edible and ornamental.

Oh yes, and dare I mention the wonderful treat I had when the Sky City Media team offered me two nights' free accomodation and a media pass for the Firefighters Vertical Challenge? I had written some stories about Waipu firefighters who were climbing the 1029 steps to raise money for the Leukemia and Blood Foundation fundraiser. Hundreds of firefighters, male and female went up. It was a great weekend and the Grand Hotel was fantabulous, and I swam 2kilometres in the pool. The evening party was fun too and I got to sit with the mc, CEO of Sky Tower and Kellee, the wonderful media relations person who invited me along in the first place.

Life is full - the Flaming Ukuladies are getting ready for our first public gigs in June and July and we're looking forward to the Wellington Ukulele Orchestra coming to Waipu on September 26! What fun we're going to have then too.

A holiday weekend is upon us and on Sunday friends and I are going to see the local production of Cats, the biggest budget musical ever produced in Northland and directed by Waipu's own Lachie McLean. On Monday we're going to Scotland's Battlefield Band who play ancient instruments in modern ways and they rock!

Well, bedtime now. Off to a workshop on creating newsletters tomorrow, so will need my brain rest.

Ciao for now.

Industry and Control

We must be vigilant in our attempts to control our environment in Northland.

The minute the hedge is trimmed (most recently by new friend Debbie from the NorthTec gardening course being offered here) it starts growing again.

The beautiful raised beds are growing our vegetables well, but the weeds must also be pulled and the walking paths around the beds heavily mulched to keep the wild sorrel and other evil weeds from returning. Actually, wild sorrel is very tasty so not truly evil, but a menace and a pest where it is not wanted.

As soon as the rains come, they will take away some of the new rock recently laid by the giant digger and truck that were here on Saturday. My whole day changed when they showed up, unannounced after weeks or perhaps months, dry months, of waiting. Yes, it rained last week so the paddocks are a bit more torn up than they would have been, but never mind, the drive way is once again safe, at great expense. Some people travel and for the cost of the drive, I could be in Europe, but I'm not.

Here are a couple of photos then, for you to ponder as I head for bed!

New Love

My how time flies etc etc. Summer is coming to an end but the glorious weather continues, it is so dry and warm and humid that the veggies are growing wonderfully, bananas fruiting and I have even harvested grapes, which I said I was determined to do this year!

The new French chocolatier at Bennetts of Mangawhai liked my figs - fresh and candied and he made a delicious jam with samples I took him so next year he may make more.

My stories are appearing at greater frequency in Mangawhai Focus and on the green pages of the Northern Advocate. I must say, I am incensed over plastics. Stop letting them get into wild places, y'all. Collect them from beaches and parks, please. Birds are swallowing them and it is a bad thing. We do not need all the packaging, just because we know how to make it. More biodegradable plastics are being manufactured, so ask for them.

Now to my new love...my gorgeous looking and sounding, hand-made in Tauranga by Ian Milne, ukulele. It is rounded as you see in the picture but is not a banjo uke because it does not have a skin. Ian called them banjoleles when he made them for a primary school, but they are ukuleles...four strings...makes real music.

There are 10 of us playing together now and we are having fun! If you want to know more about what can be done with a uke (the sort of sound to which we aspire) follow this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puSkP3uym5k to a most marvellous version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on uke.

I have lots of deadlines to day so must away. In my mind I am well organised, have a tidy house and all my stories written on time, the garden is in order and I'm in touch with all my friends. I'm part way there, and having loads of fun with the rest of everything.

Last thought, I really enjoyed watching the Ballistic Blondes skydiving at the One Tree Point Primary School Gala Day. Three sky divers had a ball and impressed the masses who looked up in awe!