Tiny e Ranch

Tiny e Ranch http://www.tinyeranch.com/ Now with new-improved South Pacific flavor! en Copyright 2008 Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:42:23 +1300 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification 'No ordinary storm' stuff.co.nz:

"This is no ordinary storm. It's one of the largest and deepest lows we've seen for some years," MetService spokesman Brian Kreft said.

"By the time this system reaches northern New Zealand on Saturday, it is likely to have significant destructive potential."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4629994a11.html

It's definitely been the biggest storm we've seen in our brief stay here, the wind hasn't stopped howling for three days!
]]> http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/no-ordinary-storm.html http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/no-ordinary-storm.html News Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:42:23 +1300 Kaitoke Regional Park

The girls and I, along with our very wonderful friend Nadine, headed up to Kaitoke Regional Park for a little half day trip. The drive was beautiful and took only about an hour from our door to the park entrance. They had a great website advertising the many hikes they offer and I was pleased to see that more than half of them were graded suitable for children.

I never planned on taking the girls on the swing bridge portion of the hike that crosses one of the rivers in the park, however, once we started down the trail, it was only a few yards before they saw it and wanted to go. I surveyed it for safety and it seemed very sturdy. A slatted, wooden deck covered with mesh to keep you from slipping on the moss that has formed on the wood. The sides were high with chain link fencing wrapping a u-shape from one hand rail, under the deck and back up to the other hand rail. The bridge itself is probably around 150 feet long (I am totally guessing here) but to me, it felt like 3 miles. This was the first time I really had to face a phobia while dealing with my children. I obviously didn't want to let them know that I was scared but I had to stay in control of them and my fear at the same time which was a true task. Both girls were in front of me with Nadine following behind. The girls were fearless and darted about, leaning from side to side to look down at the ducks swimming in the river. I barely held it together when they discovered that they could swing the bridge by leaning from side to side and started giggling like, well, little girls. I drove them forward in an attempt to stop the madness as quickly as possible.

Finally on solid ground we continued with our hike through the amazing rain forest. There were so many beautiful trees that when trying to take their picture there was just no way to capture the scale of these creatures.There were gigantic ferns and palm trees, vines so tangled they looked like a spiders web, and trees housing other plants that seemed like they could house us. I've seen the redwood forest and some of these monster trees made the redwoods look like saplings. Although we could hear it raining, we hiked under the cover of the forest for the first half of our loop.

Once out of the forest Nadine and I each picked up a child (did I mention how wonderful Nadine is?) and carried them the rest of the way through the rain. It was a great ladies bonding morning and I was so grateful to have children who enjoy being outdoors and hiking and haven't yet learned to love talking on their cell phones, hanging out at malls or otherwise being too cool. ]]> http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/kaitoke-regional-park.html http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/kaitoke-regional-park.html Trips Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:59:55 +1300 Eateria de Manon

Jake and I decided to have a night out to celebrate the reality of actually living here for 3 months. No more talking about it or planning for it or packing or traveling or setting up. We're settled. We've got a car, library cards, a babysitter. It's not like we're just here for an extended vacation.

Thanks to the intranet at Jake's office, we get loads of reviews and recommendations for places to eat and Eateria de Manon was being raved about last week so we decided to have a date night. We got polished up, I actually wore a dress, Jake wore a tie and we set off for a romantic night out.

We left the house at 6:30 and after parking and getting cash at the ATM we still had 15 minutes before our 7:00 reservation. And this restaurant isn't even in our town! This is what I love about Wellington. Everything is so close! Even parking isn't that difficult. The scenery reminded me of heading out to a 008 concert in San Francisco only it took us once around the block to find a spot rather than an hour of driving around.

A little walk down the alley off of Rue de Riddiford and we stepped in to a cozy, hip place. 7 is apparently early for a reservation as we were seemingly the only people there. We were seated at a nice little table for two next to the fire place. Shortly after we sat down, a gentleman in a velvet jacket came over and started roasting himself a marshmallow. The mantle held a fishbowl full of marshmallows and a beer stein full of skewers for anyone to enjoy.

Looking over the menu I suddenly got the urge to start eating the pages. I was starving and everything looked so good. Our meal for the evening went something like this:

We each ordered a "Sultry" which, if I can recall correctly was, plum juice, port and cinnamon. For food we started with Oven Baked Escargots w/garlic, parsley, butter and parmesan after which complimentary melon (I think canteloupe) sorbet was served. For our mains Jake chose the Oven Baked Beef Fillet w/goat curd & thyme raviolo & buerre rouge while I enjoyed the Grilled Crispy Half Duck w/lemon braised chicory & Drambuie ginger sauce. Jake's beef wasn't served with a steak knife but it turns out it was so tender, he didn't need one. The duck was delicious although not as crispy as I would have hoped. We split our sides of courgettes, broccoli and gratin potatoes.

After the dessert menu was presented the waitress informed us that the kitchen was a bit backed up and it would be a small wait before she could take our order. We spent that time debating if we should share one dessert or each have our own. Jake went to the restroom and I got to watch the two chefs in the very small kitchen work through their crunch. It was intoxicating just listening to music, watching the chefs dance around each other in the little kitchen. The waitress came around and I ordered a dessert for each of us. Jake had the Chocolate Decadence Cake w/cream, blueberry ice cream & rum-espresso sauce and I had White Wine Poached Pears w/pecan butterscotch sauce, cream quenelle & brioche ice cream.

I had just been reading David Lebovitz's entries about ice cream making and after eating these two ice creams my interest in ice cream making is peaked. The blueberry was tart and sweet. I imagined the brioche ice cream to just be flavored like brioche but it actually had little crumbs of brioche in it. They had a nutty crunch but with a softer finish. It was surprisingly good when you think about it being "bread ice cream".

The pace of the restaurant was purposely slow and not in a way that left you feeling in need of anything. Just perfectly paced for a nice, romantic evening out. We left feeling spoiled and happy. It was a very wonderful evening out and I would highly recommend Eateria De Manon.
]]> http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/eateria-de-manon.html http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/eateria-de-manon.html Restaurants Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:44:00 +1300 Sleep

Have you got any? I seem to have misplaced mine. Oh no, wait: some small villains stole it.

Here is a conversation I imagine takes place sometime after we put the girls to bed:

Sophie: Josie, it's your turn to get them up tonight!
Josie: No Sophie I too tired.
Sophie: But I got up last night!
Josie: Sophie I told you!
Sophie: Josiiiiie! Ugh!

I almost got up to post this last night, as I lay wide awake from 1am to 3am struggling to get back to sleep. Thankfully I didn't, was able to catch a little sleep and still remember what I wanted to write today. Bon soir!
]]> http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/sleep-1.html http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/sleep-1.html Sophie Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:56:07 +1300 Driving Update

As we hit the three-month anniversary of our life here in Wellington, I'm happy to report I can back up without feeling like I have to look over my right shoulder, signal my intent to turn instead of turning on my windshield wipers and ride in the slow (left-hand) lane on the highway without too much anxiety. These are all relatively recent developments.

For our first two months here, I got into the passenger's seat every time I went to drive the car. Embarrassing yes, but it was a good reminder that I needed to be alert and not just drive on auto-pilot. Situationally, I still do it though: after filling up at the gas station and whenever I have passengers other than my family in the car (embarrassing for me, and probably alarming for those passengers.)

I also had difficulty trusting what I was seeing in the rear-view mirror or over my left-hand shoulder: instead I had to look over my right-hand shoulder and crank all the way around. Not great for city driving by any stretch, but that was exactly what we were thrown into. Our residence hotel was smack in the middle of downtown Wellington, with the craziest parking in the world (a one-way, glass-railing cantilevered ramp 6 stories above the ground).

After years of predicting I would meet my doom because of my wife's "directional ambiguity" (credit here to 4kiwiwannabes for the phrase) I've developed the same problem here. In order to drive on the "wrong" side I've had to mentally mirror everything, so for some reason at times I still think of the easy left-hand turn (not having to cross traffic) as a "right". I'm sure she is relishing my confusion while appreciating the horror I've felt in the past.

Parking lots and gas stations are where I am most likely to revert to driving on the old side of the road: there's a lot to juggle with one-way directions and looking for spots, and for some reason it feels more familiar than other driving situations. Again it's good that I get in the wrong side first, to remind me of what I'm doing.

On the bright side, I've gone from being really frustrated and annoyed at the "right of way" rule (turning right from the left-hand lane, across traffic when a car from the other direction is turning the same way) to appreciating the beauty of it. The phrase makes more sense here, to me at least. I've also learned to appreciate the complexities of the roundabout, which make doubling back after a missed turn almost effortless. The city and suburbs are lousy with them, so we get a lot of practice.

Which is all really just to say we're ready for company to arrive, so we can take you for a spin!
]]> http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/driving-update-1.html http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/driving-update-1.html News Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:51:33 +1300 An Intro to Star Wars

I knew that this would be part of my children's life. I mean, I did marry Jake and I did know that he sort of likes Star Wars in the way that I sort of like chocolate. But for some reason, I never imagined how it would unfold.

They first watched the parade at the end of Episode One about a year ago. (Just a warning: for any of you Star Wars lovers/friends of my husband (John), please don't find it necessary to correct me on any of the names/places/scenes/episodes that I get wrong here. Ok?). And in addition to that scene, they must have watched something with Darth Vader in it as Josie's been saying "Darth Vader not nice" for almost as long as she's been speaking. But beyond that scene we've had a pretty hard lock down on any additional viewings mostly because Josie is pretty young and you know, (spoiler alert!) Star Wars has guns in it plus some pretty freaky aliens, monsters and that thing in the trash compactor. All things that aren't going to help anyone in our house sleep through the night.

However, (and if I could exaggerate that word any more I would) Star Wars has been a daily request lately. Jake let Sophie watch some of Empire during some special "Daddy and Sophie" time and she's stated that she loves Star Wars. So much so that she's developed a habit that I now call "the Star Wars Wake and Bake". She'll come into our room around 5:30, crawl in to bed, snuggle with me for a bit then work her way over to Jake and ask, "Can I watch Star Wars". Oh, she's good! My darling daughter has stumbled upon her father's achilles' heel and she doesn't even know the power she holds. There is just no way Jake could ever say no to that question. I keep picturing her at 16 really wanting to borrow the car but being grounded for some reason (I was always grounded at that age) and casually asking her dad if he wants to watch some Empire. Then after sitting through it, asking him for the car keys. His chest filled with pride, he reaches in his pocket and not only pulls out the car keys but throws her $20 for being such a good girl.

Oh, was I trying to make a point? I forget. Anyhow, they've been watching more and more Empire and have watched the Degoba scenes. I can hear Sophie explaining to Josie what a walker is. They cheer when it gets tripped. They love Yoda and get to watch the scene where Luke and R2 go to meet Yoda in the swamp. I heard them chanting "De-go-ba, De-go-ba" today when they were waiting for Jake to put the movie on. They absolutely love watching it with Jake and I think the feeling is mutual. Sure we've skipped the majority of the movie and they have no idea of the plot. Well, actually, Josie has a pretty cute summary of her version of the plot.

"Darth Vader coming. He going to fight. He going to fight Han Solo."

So, a little artistic freedom has been taken but I think it's a good overall idea of the pending doom during all of the movies. At the end of the day, I am a proud mom of two Star Wars fan girls in training. I wonder how soon before we can start dressing them up like Yoda and Princess Leia?
]]> http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/an-intro-to-star-wars.html http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/an-intro-to-star-wars.html Movies Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:29:40 +1300 A Year Early

'The island where "Jaws" was filmed had a real-life shark scare Thursday, when an unconfirmed sighting of a great white forced the closure of two beaches.'

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/11/jaws.sighting.ap/index.html
]]> http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/a-year-early.html http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/a-year-early.html News Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:03:30 +1300 Mine Dog

After months of pining and test drives during their weekly expedition to Moore Wilson, Sophie finally got to get her very own scooter this week. She decided to name it 'Mine Dog', inspired by the name she gave our car ('Moon Dog'). So far Mine Dog has had a photo shoot, gotten to watch a tv show with Sophie and go into the bathroom while she goes potty. Mine Dog also has a special parking spot next to the bed in Sophie's room, where it (excuse me, 'she') has to stay when it's not being ridden.
]]> http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/mine-dog.html http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/mine-dog.html Sophie Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:44:02 +1300 Windy Wellington

Northwesterlies may reach severe gale at times in exposed places between 8pm Friday and 6am Saturday with gusts to 140 kilometre/h about some hill tops in Wellington and 120 kilometre/h in some other exposed places.

That's 87mph, and right about now (almost 10pm on Friday) it sounds like it's going to blow all the doors and windows at the back of our house open! We just finished watching our weekly dose of television, the Australian variety show Rove, after having our fellow ex-patriots over at 4kiwiwannabes over for pizza night. (Apparently there was a pajama party prior to the pizza, but I missed that part!)

Happy Friday everyone, and enjoy those summer days for us! Almost there, almost there, almost there..
]]> http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/windy-wellington.html http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/windy-wellington.html News Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:44:20 +1300 Sophie's Thoughtful Spot
"Do cats have skeletons?"
"I'm hard because I have a skeleton under my skin and muscles."
"You wouldn't want to make a sandwich with me because you might get a BONE in your sandwich."

Most recently, the topic has turned to death. It first started when we were discussing Sophie's grandparents and she asked where Grandma Berta was. Jake explained that she was dead. Sophie asked how she died and it took us by surprise. Suicide is a tough thing to cover and while we had discussed not making up a story for the girls, we hadn't expected either of them to ask so soon. We settled on "She was very sick." It was a very emotional 30 seconds. Sophie was sad that her Grandma was dead. She was worried that she was going to die as well because she recently came down with a cold. And Jake and I were raw from the sad fact that we had to discuss this with her at all. Since that conversation, Sophie has been concerned with things dying. She realized that when we chase flies around the house with a towel, we are killing them. "Not very good" I think were her exact words. Cats eat mice, Spiders eat flies, we eat fish and cows and pigs. We haven't really held back or disguised any of the facts from her. She expresses sadness but then digs in to her fish and chips.

We also recently rented Charlotte's Web from the library. Sophie has a pretty debilitating fear of spider webs and I was hoping that watching this movie would get her over it. I totally spaced on the end where Charlotte dies. We watched the first half last night and she was enraptured. She was terrified when the farmer was going to kill Wilbur, overjoyed when Fern was singing and swinging with baby Wilbur and heartbroken when Wilbur was sold to Uncle Zuckerman. When we picked up this morning, she was so confused when Charlotte was dying. She wasn't sick and nothing killed her. All the cute babies in the following scenes were distraction enough to keep her from crying. After the show we had a snack. While in her thoughtful spot we had this conversation:

Sophie: "Mom, why did Charlotte die?"
Me: "Because she was old honey. Spiders don't live very long."
Sophie: "I'm old Mom, maybe I am going to die."
Me: "No honey, you aren't very old. You won't die until you are really old."
Sophie: "I don't want to die Mom."
Me: "Well (conjure up James Earl Jones here as Mufasa during the circle of life talk), everyone dies honey. Just like everyone has to be born, everyone has to die. But remember, Charlotte had all of her babies so more spiders could live."
Sophie: "But what if they all die? Then there won't be any spiders left."
Me: "Some of them will grow up to have their own babies. Just like Grandma Roberta had daddy. He was her baby and even though she died, Daddy is still alive and he grew up and had you and if you want someday, you can have a baby."
Sophie: "Mom! Grandma Mary is old. Maybe she is dying right now!"
Me: "She's not dying, I just talked to Grandpa Joe yesterday. But she will die someday."
Sophie: "And Grandma Sue will die too?"
Me: "Yes, Grandma Sue will die someday too."
Sophie: "But not until after me right?"
Me: "Well.... sure."

I just couldn't let it go on any longer because I didn't want to get to the realization that Sophie will have to see some of her loved ones die. Mainly I couldn't stand the fact that Jake and I will die before Sophie (Please God) and I was closer to that conversation than I would have liked. This seemed to satisfy her thoughts on the subject and she went back to eating her salami, cheese and crackers. Then she looked up at me and said, "When Dad gets home, I'm going to tell him that I am going to DIE."

"Ok honey. Sounds good."]]> http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/sophies-thoughtful-spot.html http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/sophies-thoughtful-spot.html Sophie Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:57:50 +1300 Princess Bay

Sunday morning we took a drive over to Kilbirnie to have a look at the kids' bikes at the bike store there. It hasn't really been bike-riding weather (in fact it snowed and hailed here on Saturday) but some other parents had the same idea as us so there was a small crowd of youngsters trying out bicycles and scooters (and crying when it was time to go home). We decided the selection at (you guessed it, Joanna) Moore Wilson was better and more affordable so we didn't take a bike home with us that day.

The girls have been developing some cabin-fever thanks to their ear infections and the weather, so Sophie wasn't happy to hear we were heading home after our shopping trip (not buying a bike probably had something to do with it too). We decided to take a drive out along the coast to have a look at the surf, as it's very dramatic when big storms blow in. We headed out Onepu to Lyall Bay and then took a right towards Island Bay.

Sophie was grumpy at first ("I'm NOT going to look at the waves, I'm JUST going to look at the floor!") but it wasn't long before she was exclaiming as if we were watching fireworks. The waves were enormous and beautiful, and crashed spectacularly on the rocks. As we drove around the corner into Princess Bay, we decided to stop the car and just watch the action. I got out of the car, climbed up on the rocks and took some pictures of the snow-caps on the South Island, then stayed with Josie (she fell asleep before we left Kilbirnie) while Brandie & Sophie got out and explored.

Afterwards we went home for lunch, then played some games and read books with Josie while Sophie napped. When Sophie got up we jumped on the trampoline and played in the little house, then made pizza for dinner. Even despite being on the tail-end of all our colds it was really a nice day for everyone.
]]> http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/princess-bay.html http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/princess-bay.html News Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:01:25 +1300 Parsnip Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing Simple Cafe Food by Julie Le Clerc. It has loads of great recipes and I've made several of the savory items for antipasti and they were delicious. But this was the first thing I knew I would make when thumbing through the pages. It's a take on carrot cake using the very available parsnip which I have come to love and appreciate. Plus, we had our first (and second) guests coming in for a visit and wanted something yummy for dessert.

Cake:
1 cup caster sugar
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained
4 cups grated parsnip
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup currants
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 160ºC. Grease a 20 cm springform cake tin.

Whisk sugar, oil and vanilla together to combine. Add eggs one at a time, beating until mixture is creamy. Stir in pineapple.

Place grated parsnip, flour, salt, baking soda, currants and cinnamon in a large bowl. Pour in the wet mxture, stur to combine. Spoon cake mixture into prepared tin. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Once cold, ice with lemon cream cheese icing.

Lemon Cream Cheese Icing:
1 cup cream cheese, softened
50 g butter, melted
1/2 cup caster sugar
grated rind and juice of one lemon

Beat all ingredients together until creamy. Spread over cake.
]]> http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/parsnip-cake-with-lemon-cream.html http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/parsnip-cake-with-lemon-cream.html Recipes Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:51:02 +1300 Oatmeal Molasses Bread
This recipe is from Joy of Cooking and was delicious. I started it in the evening and it wasn't in the oven until the girls were in bed and, to be honest, I have no idea how they slept through with the delicious scent that this bread let off as it is baking. It was as if each time I inhaled, I ate a spoonful of honey. It was maddening.

Combine in medium saucepan:
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup steel-cut or rolled oats
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 teaspoon salt

Cook, stirring occasionally, over a medium-low heat until the oatmeal is soft, smooth, thick and free of lumps. Let cool, stirring occasionally, until tepid and no warmer than 115ºF.

Combine in a large mixing bowl and let stand until the yeast is dissolved, about 5 minutes:
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm (105º to 115ºF) water

Add to the yeast the oatmeal mixture along with:
1/2 cup room-temperature water
1/3 cup molasses (I used Golden Syrup which is apparently an acceptable substitute)

Stir until well blended. Gradually stir in until the dough is moist but not sticky:
3 3/4 cups to 4 cups flour

Knead for 10 to 15 minutes by hand until the dough is smooth and elastic. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and turn it over once to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Punch the dough down and knead briefly.

Grease a baking sheet or two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pans. Divide the dough in half. On an unfloured work surface, roll each piece into a ball, loosely cover with plastic wrap, and let rest for 30 minutes. Form into 2 free standing round loaves or loaves for the loaf pans. Place seam side down and well spaced on the baking sheet or in the loaf pans. Cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Slash the round loaves before baking. Bake until the bottoms of the loaves sound hollow when tapped, 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from the pans to a rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. (PS Jake thinks this part is just to torture poor, hungry husbands)
]]> http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/oatmeal-molasses-bread.html http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/07/oatmeal-molasses-bread.html Recipes Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:50:54 +1300 Winter Here The New Zealand Herald:

Rug Up, Winter's Got More Shivers Ahead

"Black ice, strong winds and surface flooding made driving in the Wellington region treacherous, and the MetService said almost 100mm of rain fell in the hills east of the city."

]]> http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/06/winter-here.html http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/06/winter-here.html News Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:25:52 +1300 In Which I Teach Christian About Beer
I was a latecomer to the alcohol-appreciation party: long after my fellow Ascenders had discovered the joys of Saranac's many excellent brews I was taking MGD baby-steps in the Penn State dorms. So imagine my surprise then at Mr. F's blank look when I ran through my new list of New Zealand favorites.

Emerson's 1812? Wigrams Dunkel? Epic IPA, brewed in his very own fair city (recently ranked fifth in global quality of living, seven above our own)? He had heard of none of these outstanding beers. I was amazed.

Shortly after we arrived in Wellington I purchased a six-pack of Monteith's Original Ale, hoping to find some distant cousin of Saranac's: the label made claims to the pale ale family, that it's taste was dominated by hops. After cracking one open, I called him up.

"What the hell is up with this Monteith's crap?" I asked, not realizing it was one of his favorite beers. "It calls itself a pale ale? It tastes like Coors."

Silence emanated from the receiver. I had come all this way, over years and careers and oceans, only to deeply wound my friend's taste in beer. I think I could hear Joanna gasp in the background. Short of insulting his wife, I'm not sure what I could have said to hurt him more.

Fortunately Christian is thick-skinned and not one to take my attempts at humor to heart. He also knows it'll take more than a few beers to pay him back for introducing me to Old Speckled Hen, Kilkenny, Saranac and AC/DC. We shared some of my new favorites this weekend, after a glass of the Laphroaig single malt he brought me upon our arrival. I hope he enjoyed them as much as I have.

And yes, we bought them all at Moore Wilson.
]]> http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/06/in-which-i-teach-christian-abo.html http://www.tinyeranch.com/2008/06/in-which-i-teach-christian-abo.html Relocation Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:08:39 +1300