I enjoyed Stonehenge a lot more than I thought I would. It was cold, bitterly bitterly cold, but brilliant. As far as I can gather from the Audio Guide (which, btw, would be better without the cheesy sound effects + sound tracks, thanks) is that they don’t know how the stones were put together in that formation, or why (though they suspect it had something to do with burial rituals).

They do know that there were two types of stone used, one called Bluestone, which they suspect came from a quarry approximately 250km away. That’s kind of phenomenal considering that they think that Stonehenge was created approximately 2500 BC, and the stones weigh approximately 4 tonnes. 4 TONNES! They suspect they were floated (as much as 4 tonne rocks can float) down a river. The other type of stone is what I want to call the grey stones, but I don’t think that’s right (Sarsen stones??). These ones were collected much closer, maybe 40km away. Local, in comparison.

I thought it was absolutely phenomenal. Perhaps a lot of the appeal in finally getting here was that it was on The List. And it was on The List because its instantly recognizable and seemed so very far removed from home. Either way, I was quite enthusiastic about the whole trip out there. I was excited to cross something off The List, excited to be doing something I said I would, and absolutely stoked to see something as old and as a brilliant as Stonehenge.

It was big, and impressive, and gorgeous. Vatican City was amazing. Sadly, I didn’t see the Sistine Chapel (I’d like to go back at some point to see it) but we did visit St. Peter’s Basilica, and yes, we saw Pietà, by Michelangelo. Fairly awe inspiring.

St Peters Square

St. Peter’s Basilica. No togs, but pj’s okay.

Number 59 – Done!

Where I was staying in Sommerset has this lovely, open, comfortable kitchen. The kind of kitchen that I always end up wanting to bake in. It’s gorgeous. So, on one the down days before Christmas I took over the kitchen, drank champagne and made Pierogi dumplings from scratch.

Goodness, I wasn’t expecting it to take so long, or be so involved. I always wasn’t expecting it to taste as brilliant as they were, or to have made the best mash I’ve ever made in my life (literally. I couldn’t stop eating it!)

The great thing about when I did this, is that there were enough people around to pick up the camera
and document the process so I didn’t have to. It was alot of fun to have a cheering squad.

So, I stole this recipe shamelessly from OH Mommy over at Classy Chaos with the knowledge that if she can make this with her toddler, I can make this without help. Hopefully.

Ingredients
Oil for frying.
6 to 8 Yukon Gold potatoes.
6 to 8 ounces of grated cheddar cheese.
Flour.
3 eggs.
3 tablespoons of cream cheese.
3 teaspoons of milk.
2 tablespoon of butter.
Salt to taste.
(There was also onions, I think, but I don’t know why anyone would ever invite onions to the party).

How to make Pierogi Goodness

1. Boil potatoes, cut in quarters, in salt water.

2. Prepare the pierogi dough. This is a little bit pedantic, but it worked, so: Add one egg, one tablespoon cream cheese, one teaspoon milk and 1/2 cup flour. Once it’s all mixed up good, add another 1/2 cup flour, one tablespoon cream cheese + one teaspoon milk. When the dough is well blended, add one egg, one tablespoon cream cheese and another 1/2 cup flour; mix well. Finally, add the remaining egg, one teaspoon milk and 1/2 cup flour. If dough is too dry, add a little more milk; if too wet, add more flour.

3. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin & separate into cute little circles with a glass. Make sure that each side is covered in flour so it doesn’t stick. This makes things ALOT easier.

4. With your now boiled potatoes, add butter + cheese and mash like you’ve never mashed before. Try not to eat too much of it. Boil more water.

5. Scoop up a little bit of the mash, and place in the middle of your dough circles.

6. Fold the dough over the potato, and mash the ends down with a fork. Should like any dumpling you’ve ever seen the world over.

7. Using your previously boiled water, add your pierogi. When they start floating (about 2-3 minutes) you can fish them out.

8. Dry the pierogi with a paper towel, and then fry them.

And tada! When done, you should have tasty Pierogi’s. Mine didn’t last very long, which was nice. They were quite tasty, and if it wasn’t so much work I’d do it more often.

Still, yay! Number 26, done!

I’ve mentioned it before but there is this scarf. It’s a red scarf, and this scarf? I started it during the 2004/2005 Northern Hemisphere snow season. It’s come with me all across America, and all over New Zealand. It came with me to Canada, and Europe and while I was in Italy? In a little Tuscan Villa?

I finished it. Five years in the making, and it’s finally done.

It has tassels, and is brilliantly warm and is delightfully red and it’s FINISHED!! I’m absolutely stoked. So, it’s a little bit wobbly, and some of the stitches are loose, and the width of parts of it is a little variable, but I think it’s incredibly rustic. And all those little details give it character.

I’m immensely pleased that it’s finished. Perhaps I’ll make another 🙂

Number 49? Done!

There was going to be a video. I carefully documented everything via video. But let’s be honest, with all the grand adventurous things that are going at the moment, making a video about cheese is low on the priority list.

But one exciting Saturday months and months ago (October, I think?), The Fourth Quarter, Lina and I made cheese. Actual cheese. From Milk. MILK!

It was pretty easy, and has alot of sitting around and wait for milk to be hot moments where we all hung out and just gossiped. A pretty amazing day, with some pretty amazing people.

It was actually pretty amazing. I can’t remember the exact recipe, but it goes something like:

* Take 10L of non-homogenised milk and put it in a water bath and heat milk.
* Add culture and rennet (we used vegetarian rennet, yay!)
* Leave it alone for 40 minutes to become cheese. Yeah!
* Cut the wobbly elastic-y stuff on top into 1cm cubes. This was tricky, and my cutting skill was not awesome.
* Let it sit some more
* Scoop it out into cheese cloth, and put into a press. (Handy fact: 10 Litres of water is apparently the same as 10kgs!)
* Add vinegar to the whey, and as it becomes cheese and floats the top, scoop it up and put it in a cheese cloth.
* When you’ve got it all, let the cheese drain (this is the ricotta!)
* Once the pressed cheese is pressed, cut into squares.
* Salt one half (yeah, this is the feta!)
* Heat the whey, and put the other half in. When it’s done and is floating to the surface, take it out.
* Sprinkle with salt + mint on one side, and then fold it in a half. (This is the Haloumi, woo!)

The final product: Feta, Ricotta, and Haloumi.

We pretty much fried up the Haloumi and ate it straight away. The Ricotta went soon after. We had enough feta to last us for a while, so we left the feta for a day. Resalted it, and then put it in jars with sun-dried tomatoes + rosemary to eat later. Looked like this. And let me tell you, it was SO GOOD.

And you know what? Cheese is absolutely tastier when you’ve made it.

Hurrah! Number 75 on The List, done!

It took me absolutely forever, but I’ve done it. I’ve finally joined the ranks of those able to drive during the hours of 10pm – 6am, and to take passengers.

Truthfully, though, it never stopped me before, and I never once got a ticket for it. Still, I’m stoked, check it! License Class Held: 1F!

In a slightly amusing side story, a few months ago I was playing Sober Driver to The Second + Fourth Quarters and the brilliant Lucas. I got pulled over as you do when you’re coming from town with a bucketload of people in your car at 4 in the morning (Sidenote: as The Second Quarter was sitting in the passenger side with his full license, I was allowed to drive with passengers). Anyway, I wasn’t speeding, and I wasn’t sure why the policeman had pulled me over. I asked if it was because I was ‘wobbly’. It wasn’t, it was just so I could do a breath test to make sure I was sober enough to drive.

Well, The Second Quarter mocked me the whole drive home after that. BUT! When I took the driving test for my full, the License Lady told me that it was likely that no one had ever told me this before, but that I drove a little ‘wobbly’. She used that EXACT WORD! Ever since I’ve been trying to drive a little less wobbly.

Anyway. Number 37 on The List: Get my Full License. Done. Woo, yeah!

A few weeks ago, I planted a tree. The Fourth Quarter and I went out to a Palmers Garden World and I brought me a tree. A lime tree. I named him Lauchlan.

And then I planted him in the ground:

On The List: Number 66 – Plant a Tree – Done!

It’s official. I’ve handed in my notice. I’ve got tickets. I’ve got Visas. I even have Job Interviews and plans to meet people who live in other hemispheres. I’m ridiculously excited about this. It actually blows my mind.

Blogosphere, I’m moving to London.

I’m not going straight to London though, I’m going by a few places, to see a few brilliant people, see a few sights, knock a few other things off the list. Here’s the plan:

So blogosphere, tell me. While I’m in these amazing places, what should I do? What should I see? Are any of you in these cities and keen to meet up for some adventuring?

Well, I did it. Last week I posted the final photo in my 365 Series:

And I can’t believe I did it. I can’t believe that I took that many photo’s of myself, that I committed to a full year of this project. That I finished. And for serious, for anyone looking to do it, it’s hard. There are so many times I took shitty photos. Photos that are out of focus, or just of me pulling a face or my feet. Times where I just took a shot, any shot of whatever because I’d almost forgotten, or was out, or was lacking in motivation.

I think that was the hardest part. The complete lack of motivation to keep going. For a while there I used mini projects to keep my motivation up. The Week of Jumping, of Reflections, of Upside Down and of Random Head Gear. I think the best part is being able to look back and remember. Remember how I was feeling, how far I’ve come in the last year. The adventures I’ve been on, the people I’ve met. The ups and downs and in betweens.

So, for your viewing pleasure, the full 365 images:

The video was put together by the brilliant and fantastic and amazing Lucas, who said if I got the end he’d make me a video. <3 him muchly for this. The song is "Go Do" by Jónsi.

For the images in their still form, check them out here.

On The List: Number 20 – Complete the 365 Project – Done!

This was one of those random, unlikely to happen, “throw it out there”, “I have my whole life to do these” items on The List. When I realised that actually, Kelly Tarltons (the local aquarium) DOES let the public hand feed their stingrays, I was totally on board. I convinced my best friend, The Second Quarter + my girl JZ to come stand in a pool with stingrays and hold out a bit of fish with me.

In short, it was brilliant. And scary, and amazing but mostly quite scary. They were HUGE, and completely unlike any other animal I’d ever encountered up close. They were a little bit slimy to touch, and to be honest, they freaked me out quite a lot.

Still, these ones were pretty tame. They still had their barbs, but were polite enough to move them away from us when they passed. They’re apparently quite familiar with people, which was nice for us.

Feeding them was also pretty random, as when you dropped the fish, they hoovered the water to get the fish, and they beat their wings to keep themselves upright against the hoovering. It was an unexpected thing, that made me drop the fish the first time, and made me unsure whether I’d actually fed the string ray the second.

It was a brilliant experience, totally memorable, and very exciting. If you have a chance to do something like it? Do it. Absolutely just do it.

PS:
– If you can’t see the video, check it out on vimeo here.
– All the footage in the pool is blurry, cause the camera was safe and dry in a ziplock bag. I didn’t fancy getting my video camera wet.
– The rest of the footage that is dark (especially in the beginning) is because I didn’t use my brain or think about light sources when I took the footage. Fail.
– For those of you that were there, or heard about it from those that were there, yes I edited out the squeal. I’m sure you can imagine it at about the 2:18 mark.