Catching Up and a Birthday Lunch

Hello all,  Madame Muriel here again.   It has been a busy busy week down here in Auckland.   The HDHBEM had a birthday -  unfortunately on a working day for my hostess, so the celebratory lunch was postponed until Sunday.   Today we all went to BANZAI.   As you know,  I am of diminutive size and was totally overwhelmed by the size of the dish but we all enjoyed our lunch. Raw for her and cooked for the HDHBEM.

Here's the 81 year old HDHBEM!!

The bottles on display were all empty (pretty labels though!)   

so we drank Japanese Green tea.

I think my hostess was a little embarrassed taking these photos but I insisted that you would all want to know I am being well looked after.

The she took me to the top of another of those volcanoes.   She seemed real proud of them but this was the first time I had been driven to the top of a volcano!!   Fully expecting to see smoke and a large hole,  I was amazed that it was all paved car parking -  a fence around the top kept the cattle and sheep off the car park.   Amazing to see a farm on a hill in a city ;-)   Anyway I sat on the fence while she pranced around taking photos of the city.  

First up was Mt Eden (yep!  a volcano) and then there was One Tree Hill (yep, another volcano!).  

Can't see the tree on that one can you?   She told me that a Maori man chopped it down some years ago and now the politicians can't agree on what sort of tree to plant as a replacement.  
On the way back home we saw this

She seemed to think I would know the Colonel and his fried chicken but I never eat fast food you know!   By the way he's usually red and white but because of this Rugby World Cup thingy that starts next Friday, patriotic New Zealanders are showing their support for their team which they call the All Blacks.   So this sign makes sense, right?!

Now as you know I take my stitching with me everywhere I go.   She doesn't.   There were some days this week when she didn't even pick up her needle.   I thought it would go rusty in the linen you know.   To be quite honest, I was really worried about her (and the linen) but yesterday was more to my liking.   She finished off some more Christmas ornaments.   Well, not finish-finished but to quite an advanced stage and as they are for Christmas 2012 she's quite smug about being ready early.   Here's number 11 and although the words say differently there are only two pipers on this and piper number two will appear this evening.

She's quite proud of the fact that all of the 'ingredients' for these ornaments came from the stash cupboard and she feels really righteous that she didn't buy anything new.   I want to see this stash cupbaord but she won't show it to me - yet.   Says that it needs a Spring Clean!!!

The Kogin darning needlebook got laced on card and is ready to be constructed and she promised faithfully that would happen this week.  

We leave on our road trip on Thursday and it has been suggested that I should take things quietly until then.   I can take a hint so you won't hear anything from me  - until there is something more interesting to report.  But, I hear that she is going into The City on Wednesday to get new spectacles and I told her I would like to see some of the City Spectacles too so will see whether or not I can twist her arm!
Meanwhile, Ka Kite Anou.