Moving Day

Iridescent jellybean is on the move.

Point your computer this way ---> http://rebekahlyell.wordpress.com

Sorry, been out and about

(The ferris wheel at Waikouaiti Races - the best vantage point of the course.)

Because I worked over Christmas, I got from Thursday 30 December off until today. So I took the chance to zip down to Dunedin on Wednesday night to spend time at our new crib. And I was so glad I did.

We said goodbye to 2009 by taking part in the Karitane raft race. About 10mins to the start time we decided to enter, so out came the hideous old wardrobe in my room (when we bought the house we inherited truckloads of furniture, most of which has now been burned in our fireplace).

Out came the masking tape to make it water tight and in to the tide it went, much to the amusement of the locals - hey, we gotta make our mark somehow!


Dad struggled at first...until....

My brother in law braved the freezing water and jumped in to act as a secondary outboard (Side note: 11 days until I can officially call him my brother in law)

They crossed the finish line.....where their "boat" promptly sunk.

Afterwards the organisers - a guy called Allen who runs the local kayak business - holds a free sausage sizzle, lolly scramble and prize giving. We got third place, a tour for two round the Huriawa peninsula.

New Years Day = Waikouaiti Races. Woah! Almost as cool as the Kumara races which will be held this weekend. Mum, Dad and I glammed up and hit the racecourse. We met up with my brother in laws brother (I have no idea what that makes him to me) and his wife and generally just burnt to a crisp.

The course has a gorgeous grand stand and was packed full of people, it was fantastic.


Dad fails at taking pictures, you can't see my dress or my fascinator, but never mind.

Things I love Wednesday

The last TiLT of 2009! And I'm early because I am off to Dunedin for a five day break, thankfully as I worked all Christmas.

2009 wasn't that great for me, I lost my Grandfather after a very short battle with cancer, was sick most of the time (meeting with surgeons next week so fingers-crossed I am all set), broke up from a long-term relationship, quit work and lost contact with a lot of friends.

But in that comes lots of new beginnings, firstly a new brother-in-law whom I adore and who makes me laugh everytime I see him (17 days until I can officially call him my bro!), a new career, discovering true friends, meeting new people, challenges and a great chance to expand my skills.

The list:

- My brand-new 13" MacBook Pro in aluminum. Amazing. Goodbye forever Windows.

- My parents stealing my cat to take him to Dunedin (after they abandoned me over Christmas). The bit I love though: he got them back by first pooping in their car and then.... throwing up everywhere. Apparently Mum could tell he was going to be sick so Dad stopped, held his head out the window. Poor Phe threw up all over the outside of the car. To top it off: A busload of Asian tourists were parked opposite and started taking photos of it. Hilarious!

- 17 days until my sister's wedding! Crazy!!! I am so happy for her and Ben, they make me smile. And neither of them have gone Bride or Groom-zilla on us.

- today left of work (and we should be home early) and then straight off to Dunedin for a five-day break where I can swim, eat, relax, shop and annoy my sister.

- Vanilla lattes. Delicious

- Fruit. My house is FULL of fruit, mangoes, nectarines, strawbs, bluebs, pomegranate, apricots, bananas, raspbs, and peaches. Dribble dribble

- Video Skype. Life saving.

- Hawaiian Tropic after sun cream. I am religious about suncream cause I am so pale. Unfortunately I forgot that sitting in a convertible for three hours in a singlet on a hot day is a recipe for burn. Ouch.


Happy New Year everyone! Here's to a great 2010!!!!!

Crazy cat lady - it's official

Crazy cat lady - it's official
Originally uploaded by rebekahl

Just a minute!

Listening... to the Glee sound track. Such a perfect cruising album. Only bummer is it doesn't have Beyonce's Single Ladies.

Praising... having no work for one more day. Sleep ins galore, followed by morning paper and coffee and then whatever the heck I want!

Watching... Sunshine Cleaning (weird), Family Guy's Something Something Something Dark Side (actual name, and actually hilarious!)

Reading... Limestone by Fiona Farrell. I have a major love affair with any NZ author and this one is definitely one of the best released this year.

Cooking... far too much. Falafel with yoghurt, mint and spring o dip, lemon cake, pizza dough, pasta salads, chicken and leek with couscous, pmegranate and pine nut salad with jersey bennys...the list goes on....

Writing... stories about Christmas trading, measles outbreaks and Christmas dinners. Am also bang in the middle of picking up my fiction writing - for the first time in yonks!

Loving... the just right temperature. Cold enough for jeans, warm enough for singlets. My perfect uniform. Although it would be nice if it cool down just a tad at night so I could sleep better.

Regretting... drinking just a tad too much on Christmas Eve. Bruises = ouch!

Great news!

I didn't end up in the emergency room yesterday! Yay! It's the first time in forever. I am, however, very bruised and sore thanks to an epic and feral Christmas Eve, involving vodka, bonfires, carts, lost shoes and vacuum cleaners.



I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, whether it was yesterday or today, and that it was filled of love and family, food and happiness.

If you are like me and don't do Christmas, remember to:

It will all be over soon. Let's get ready to welcome in the second decade of the millenium!!!

Things I've learned in the last decade:

- shopping trolleys are not good taxis

- no one cares about what number is on the tag of your clothes. If they do, they don't deserve to be in your life.

- Twitter/Facebook/Flickr et al are huge time wasters, but are wonderful for keeping in touch with friends.

- Driving a car is not a spectator sport.

- Elected officials lose all common sense once they enter the hallowed halls of our Government.

- being kind is not the same as being nice.

- turning your cellphone off for a day or more will not herald the end of the world. In fact, it's very liberating.

- people hate journalists. Just as much as kids hate brussel sprouts. As long as you do your job properly there is nothing that can be done. If you are all people have to complain about, their life is pretty sweet really.

- a rabbit's scientific name is not Hoppus A Lottus.

My Christmas curse

As you know, I'm not a big fan of Christmas. And while I hate the fact that people get so wound up over getting their nearest and dearest the best thing out and only shower afffection of them for one day, there is another reason.

I will end up in the emergency room.

I have for the past three years. It's what I do - every, and I mean every, public holiday I will get sick.

I won't get drunk and fall down some stairs or try and pull off a stunt. Nope, I will get sick. Like, really sick. And it will all come to a head on a public holiday, I can be 100% fine the next day, but as soon as the sun is up, bang!

Cases in point:

Northland anniversary 2000: broken toe, deep laceration on foot.

Queen's birthday weekend 2002: Appendix burst. Nine hours later I had surgery. As you can guess, it was very very septic in there and it caused a whole lot of grief.

Waitangi weekend 2004: Burst ear drum. Bronchitis

Christmas 2005: Burst ear drum.

Christmas 2007: Kidney failure. Vomitting. Dehydration. Twisted intestine.

Those are just some. I also get ill at the most inopportune moments, for example my first day of work in Greymouth = taken to hospital with bronchitis, tonsillitis and kidney failure. Start of my holiday in November = acute ear perforation and infected throat.

My family know now that one of them has to remain sober every public holiday. Unfortunately I have been orphaned for Christmas, it's up to my cat:


I think I'll just keep the ambo on speed dial.

Christmas treats

Cupcake wreath

By far my most favourite cupcake project ever!!!

The cupcakes are red velvet topped with vanilla buttercream icing. Then topped with white chocolate leaves and jaffas.

For the leaves:
Melt some white chocolate. Grab some leaves - I used mint and lemon - and paint the top of them with chocolate. Try and make it nice and thick. Leave to dry.
When dry slowly peel off the leaves, they should come off quite easily. A few of mine stuck as you can see, but it's ok because the leaves that stuck were mint leaves and they taste good!

For the cupcakes: (from bestcupcakerecipes.blogspot)
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 oz. red food coloring (two bottles) or 4 oz beet juice (if you use unprocessed light cocoa you can leave out the food dyes and you'll get a warm red/brown color)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins or silicone pans with cupcake liners.

2. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a smaller bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go. Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.

4. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda. Be careful as it will fizz so don't do it in a shallow bowl. Add vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to combine. Fill cupcake cups with cake batter until they are a little under 3/4 full. I ended up with 20 cupcakes. Place muffin tins in your preheated oven. Bake for approximately 20, rotating pans halfway through. The cupcakes are done when you are able to pat the tops and the cake springs back up. If it sinks down they are not yet complete. Or you can insert a toothpick into the center of a cupcake in the center of the tin and if it comes out clean they are done!

5. Cool the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Then decorate. I iced the cupcakes first. Then put them in a circle so I could get the directions of the leaves right. Plop them on. Take some more icing and add little blobs for the jaffas.

6. Enjoy!!!!! (I also added a wee ribbon at the top afterwards, just a standard do not eat ribbon, but I'm sure you could make a spectacular one out of licorice or something).

The above ones are the same recipe, just decorated with sprinkles and icing and Jaffas.

Hot chocolate on a spoon

What I did:
Grabbed a chunk of 62% cocoa chocolate and popped it in a bowl which was over simmering water. Mix it up so it's nice and runny. Added a good chunk of Milo (or other hot chocolate drink mix) and stir in.

Then I poured the mix into some heart shaped molds, mine are these dinky wee things that are designed for iceblocks ($4 a tray at The Warehouse). Pour it in. Wait until slightly set and shove a bamboo spoon in it. You could use a ice block stick instead.


Get in the kitchen and get creating! Enjoy!!!

Happy Holidays!

Our Christmas tree. Pheonix the cat (that weird thing in the top right corner) decided to photobomb me.

I am not a big fan of Christmas. I find it sad that so many families go in to debt trying to buy the biggest and best presents for their kids. It sucks that Christmas is often the only time that people take the time out to tell people how much they care about them. And I think it's stupid that people spend hours and hours traipsing around shops trying to find the perfect gift.

When I was younger it was all about family. I remember one year we got a Playstation and a couple of games. Yes, my sister and I set it up immediately and started playing. Half an hour later our parents asked us if we wanted to go to Auckland to see our cousins/aunts/uncles/grandparent or stay at home. Our answer was immediately go to Auckland. And every year we would traipse off to Auckland to spend time with our family.

But regardless of how much I "grinch out" over Christmas, I still get gifts from friends who say that they aren't for Christmas, they are "just cause". Which I appreciate no end. These just arrived from a lovely friend who knows how much I hate Christmas, so it's a Happy New Year gift.

A heart ice tray from Ikea in America. Which worked out fabulously as I am bang smack in the middle of completing a not-so-secret project for my sister's wedding. Can you guess her colour theme?

A tui gravy boat. Cute, clever and handy, or as my Dad would say "full of form and function". Love it.

The Guide To Getting It On and Lloyd Jones's The Man In The Shed. TGTGIO is a compulsory book in American sex-ed classes, and I can totally see why. It is hilarious and oh so interesting. With chapters such as "How To Keep Your Kitty Happy" how can you not fall in love with it. It covers EVERYTHING, from "doing it" to "losing your v-card" to how to have sex when you are disabled, cyber sex, cancer of your bits, birth control, how babies are made, everything. It's going to be one of those books that I give to my kids. Added bonus: the hilarious sketches! Hint: Try Fishpond.co.nz to get your hands on your own copy.

Lloyd Jones is not an author I'm particularly fond of. I hated Mister Pip. I didn't see what the hype was, but my friend has assurred me that I will love his latest one. And I have read the first chapter and can't wait until I can pick it up again.

And by far my favourite....

Russian Nesting Doll measuring cups!!! And yes they do nest inside each other and yes they do actually measure! Each half of one doll equals a measurement, so the big one is 1 cup and 3/4 of a cup. And the little one is 1/4 and 1/5th. So fantastic, I am totally in love and they make me just want to stay in the kitchen all day and night. Hint: You can get them from Living And Giving in New Zealand, who also have an online store.

Things I Love Thursday

the rocking horse | theblogpaper.co.uk from http://www.theblogpaper.co.uk/photos/design/13jul09/rocking-horse

- the above rocking horse is pretty much the only toy my kids are going to get. Holy Batman, it is freaking amazing and I love it beyond words.

- our work Christmas window which I created yesterday using newspaper and books

- having my Christmas holdables done and dusted and ready to appear on a cold and dreary day

- ordering pretty fairy lights for my room from Christchurch. A string of 20 with big purple fabric roses surrounding each bulb = check!

- Isaacs Cider. Delish.

- strawberries and blueberries, blackberries and plums. Summer = I go crazy. I HATE red meat, not so much because it is dead animals, just the taste and the texture. The crap thing about that is summer = BBQs. While I can stomach a sausage sizzle I am a useless carnivore guest at a BBQ. But I do bring the best berries. And fruit. And salads. Yum.

- anticipation of getting a new laptop. Hopefully I will have a new Macbook by the time my sister's wedding rolls around.

- sleep overs involving exhaustion, hot chocolate and pillow fights.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! They are perfect for doing whatever the heck you want to do, be it shopping until you drop, running a marathon, diving with sharks or lazing around in bed all day with a good book (my top pick = Edwin and Matilda by Laurence Fearnley).