All and Sundry at Maitland St

Thursday, April 30, 2020

May 1st 2020 - Friday of the Third Week of Easter

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

First stop Frankfort on Lufthansa

Legroom!

I watched under the blanket so not to annoy sleepers

Flying over Russia!

Yummy ravioli with spinach!

My possie with shelf under window! Also guy next to me shifted so I had a double seat as well!

Arrived at Petra's Air Bnb in Frankfort

Dawn chorus in Frankfurt 12 July:

Sunday, May 12, 2019

Europe July 2019

I leave on July 9.

This is my plan, to visit places I have never been, to go to Mass in beautiful churches in exotic, ancient places, to see Becky, Ben, Manon and Luca on Manon"s invitation in Honfleur, to share with Cam and Court some travel adventures, and, with God's help, to make all my connections.

My trip begins:

Jetstar flight...Jacqueline and Kevin were at the airport, off to Bali, catching the same plane to AK as I was... a divine coincidence! So lovely to catch up with her...but I forgot to wait to say a final hooray to her when I got off the plane, but rabbited straight to International in my excitement.

All my packing went thru like a dream.

This is me after my first long haul to Shanghai:

I swapped my chosen seat at the back with the mother of a woman and oungdaughter, and I sat next to the father.

Here are some pictures of my journey so far, mainly of the Shanghai to Frankfort Lufthansa leg. It was so luxurious, as you can see!

They give you these lovely blankets and cotton covered pillows. And heated towelettes before our first meal, but not the ones after. I've got to mention it, tho, because it was so flash!

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Radio NZ country Life article re making barley malt for beer brewing.

Doug and Gabi Michael are passionate about making malt from Barley.

The Michael family has been growing malting barley for five generations near Dunsandel in Canterbury. The barley was always processed off farm until 2013, when they decided to build a state-of-the-art malt house in a paddock near the farmyard.

Their goal was to have full control of the malting process from sowing barley to delivering freshly made malt to brewers, so they invested in four kilns, two steeps, a huge custom made roaster and a laboratory for developing natural colours and flavours from the malt for craft brewers.

As the business grew they gradually ended their sheep farming operation and converted every bit of the flat 165 hectare farm to year-round barley crops, which are planted in spring and autumn and harvested during the summer.

Building the business from scratch has been a labour of love for Gabi, a trained vet who hails from Brazil and Doug who is the first to admit he had second thoughts along the way.

" It hasn't been an easy road and I must admit there have been a fair few times when I thought to myself we should've been milking cows instead of making malt, but at the end of the day it's been successful and looking back it was certainly worth it."

Word of mouth has had a huge impact on the business. Reports of the exceptional quality of Gladfield Malt and how brewers are able to work with Doug and Gabi to develop a new colour or flavour for their beer spread quickly. They now supply malt to about 90 percent of craft breweries around New Zealand

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Mother, 7 August 1925 to 8 June, 2013

On June 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother died at home, family around her, at 8,12pm - there had been a power cut, and she was lighted with candles from the altar at St Joseph's, her church through all those years - and some of us saw one of those candles flaring up a few seconds before she breathed her last gentle breath, in a mystical, tender tribute to her extraordinary life, lived for God...she really was happy to be going to heaven. She knew what joy awaited her...