3/26/2012

Hooray!!

I can make comments with Chrome again! Yay!

I downloaded and was using Firefox when I wanted to comment on a blog post that didn't use the pop-up page, but I do love my Chrome and it was like I was cheating big time.

Thanks, blogger. I knew you'd come through!

3/25/2012

rerun 03/09

I have learned many interesting points and many new uses for words since I was in Kansas.  You can read about 'new' stuff I have already posted about here  and  things I have learned about New Zealand here.

I'm sure the list will be never-ending, so I consider this a continuation of the list....

Where 'vacuum' is a verb in the US, they use 'hoover' here.

The dot at the end of a sentence here is called a 'full stop'.

I find the made-up word 'mugwump' very amusing.  It means, well, nothing specific really.  I asked what a bird on a fence was called and wonderful, understanding Hubby told me it was a mugwump. Never having heard of one before, I asked if that was a native of New Zealand.  He shrugged and said "I don't think so.  Any bird that sits on a fence with his 'mug' on one side and his 'rump' on the other is a mugwump."  [He was treated for minor injuries at the Emergency Room and released.]

Over 1/3 of this whole country is set aside as land reserves.

'Trainers' are not people who help you exercise here.  They are athletic shoes.
I guess that's not any stranger than calling them 'tenny-runners' when I was a kid.

All the rolls of kitchen things like foil and waxed paper and saran wrap come as plain rolls.  They don't usually have boxes much less any cutting edges built into the box.  I have learned to tear them rather efficiently.

Pound cake, chili, home-made mac and cheese were all new to my new family.

I still can't get a decent saltine cracker.  We have one brand, but they are way too thick for my liking.  Hubby thinks they are fabulous, though.  Interestingly enough, there is a NZ brand called Jatz that tastes exactly like a Ritz. And they sell Ritz crackers, too.

The small towns all roll up the sidewalks early and don't bother to open the shops on weekends. Just the hardware/garden centers and maybe a couple other stores on main street ('High Street') are open on Saturday mornings. Liquor stores, the video shop, convenience stores and some of the many owner/operated 'dairies' are usually open.  There was a poll taken by the newspaper concerning weekend-shopping and it has been the front-page news for the last 3 weeks.  Yes, that's how small this town is.

3/19/2012

forgiving


For other quotes and scriptures, click here.

3/15/2012

Peeks into my blog posts

I was looking for past posts about a subject I will address later and realized that some of my posts have had lots of visits. Out of curiosity, I scrolled through all of my posts and found some very interesting stats.

I'm happy to say that my several posts about NZ trivia got a combined looksy of about 500.

The Hawera Push-Bike Pub Crawl got a lot of attention with about 640 clicks on two posts about it.

Not surprising, my posts about the 'are kiwis rude?' debate have garnered over 1000 views in total.

And my rants about the NZ school system have almost 400 combined views.

I posted what I thought was a great idea that I stole found on another blog but, apparently, the blog world didn't agree. It was called 'Pay it Forward' and required a small token to be sent to three who left comments--then you post on your blog for others to pay it forward, and so on, and so on.  I did my part but was quite disappointed that nobody took up my offer to pass it on. *sniffle*. Interestingly enough, that post got 558 views.

Floppy bakeware--you know, that kind in the store that you look at and go, 'Eww! That can't work!'--rated with almost 250 bloggers checking it out, but my post with a photo of an L&P bottle label got 281 peeks.

Maori potatoes (they are purple inside and outside and are quite good) got 386 clicks and the recipe for Hairy Hot Dogs got 220. Chewy Granola Bars was up there with 161 views.

The weirdest thing about checking my views and comments was that two posts had 5 and 7 comments, but no views registered and one had 11 comments with no views!!

I have given up trying to figure out how some bloggers get hundreds of comments on their posts. I suppose I'm not quite interested enough to pursue it because I blog for me and not for money or others. But I do appreciate the views I get. At least, I know I can be found out there in the big, bad world of blogs.

3/08/2012

Hubby's timing..

After a surprise visit to the hot pools in New Plymouth for a wondrously relaxing hour, Hubby drove along the water's edge so I could take some photos of the gorgeous sky.


Here's one shot. You can click here for more sunset shots on my photo blog.

Yes, timing IS everything!

3/06/2012

Flatto peaches and how curiosity killed the cat!

I never saw Flatto brand peaches until I got here. The are, indeed, flat, but also delicious!


I had finished baking some cookies and, for whatever reason, left the oven door open. A while later, Wheelie was inside the oven but I didn't get the camera fast enough.
So, now you know how it could happen!


3/03/2012

Sorry, bloggy friends...

I am not able to comment on many blogs at the moment, so please know that, if you left a comment on any of my blogs, I have visited you!! I hope this is resolved soon.