Where shopping is an adventure

 "Give us this day, our daily bread."  

I think Jeanne and I have been singularly blessed.  We started off our married lives by spending four months in Spain. Then, during our earning years, we worked really hard for our daily bread, and truth be told, spent a good deal of time worrying about whether we'd have enough for our retirement.  As it turned out, our efforts were rewarded and we now find ourselves comfortable and once again living in a country far from home.  

One of the things that make living here in New Zealand an adventure, are the products for sale in the markets I frequent.  Jeanne is the gardener of the family, and I, the hunter, gatherer. (That means that I do most of the grocery shopping.)

Today's post will simply show you a few of the places I frequent as I gather our daily requirements. I'll start by showing you Daily Bread, in Point Chevalier. It's in an old bank building. 

I have one of their bags. 

I generally get a baguette and either a plain sour dough or what they call a 'seeded' sour dough.  

This is Da Hua. It was the first Asian market we found in Henderson and I still often shop here. 

Those are young coconuts that have a hole drilled in them and a straw attached.  

These dragon fruit look so exotic, I thought before I bought one, that their flavor would amaze me.  In fact, they are bland and therefore disappointing.  

I've talked about this stuff before, but not for a while.  This is coconut vinegar with spices added and is terrific.  

I often buy these cookies. There are lots of flavors.  The one I have at home right now is green tea.  Peanut and taro are my favorites though.  

I'll end with this one.  Salted egg yolks.  I'm not a fan of these. Actually, I don't quite know what to do with them, nor do I like the Glory cookies that are made from them. I'm showing them to you simply because I did find them very interesting and had to try a package.    

So, there it is.  A very quick look at a few stores that provide Jeanne and I with our groceries.  

See you next week.  -djf

While Arram's team warmed up, part two

Well then, after our brief hiatus from pictures of Army Bay Beach last week, when we looked at palm-produced, faux stained-glass windows, we will return to that excellent stretch of sand this week and complete our visit.   

You may recall that Allie and I were up there on the beach killing time, while Arram and his team warmed up and discussed game strategy, back at the soccer field, just 10 minutes away.  We'll be back there in time for the start of their game.  

I finished last time with a couple of shots of tiny tide-pools.  Here's a look at what the nearby cliff face looks like. 

There is a lot going on in those rocks. What formed them and produced such patterns, I haven't a clue, but they're fascinating.  

This is of course, the same area of cliff, but I've played with my edit options and highlighted the colors, just to show them to you more clearly. 

This person is meeting the fish half way.  

This lady has been feeding the sea gulls bits of her sandwich.  I missed some really good shots of the whole flock in the air, vying for the limited number of morsels.  

This is the sort of day the boys have for their game, which will start in about 15 minutes.  We're in the carpark and about to leave. 

The game started dry, but before long, a very light rain began falling, which slowly, but steadily increased. Just as the game ended, the sky opened up and it poured.  We all ran for our cars.  Allie cranked the heat up and Arram toweled off as we headed home.  -djf