Life in Middle Girth

It’s Anzac Day morning, and my boys have just gone off to Dawn Parade. In our house it’s a bit like a mini re-enactment of war, the men going off, some in uniform, the youngest one excited and not really knowing what to expect, the older ones going dutifully, and the adults quiet and serious, and Mum staying at home feeling emotional. I’m ashamed to say I’ve never been to a Dawn Parade, but Brent and the kids always go. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always glued to the TV coverage, watch all the commemorative programs on TV, howl when I hear the bugle and have a keen interest in histories from the war (mostly WW2), but I’m just not a morning person. This year is Duncan’s first, he is a six-year-old Kea (that’s NZ’s youngest section of the Scout movement), and Michael’s - well, would be about his 11^th - he’s now a Venturer and has actually been asked by the RSA to carry The Flag - not the Scout one, but the actual flag at the beginning of the march, and doing the raising and lowering. He’s under instructions not to march too fast as a lot of the attendees are elderly. Hope he’s got his hair done this morning, all the Venturers stayed overnight at one of their leaders’ houses. (That’s the mother talking there!)

Duncan and I made Anzac Biscuits on Sunday, and that was a great opportunity to teach him a little about the war. My kitchen bible, the Edmonds Cookbook, has one munted up recipe and that’s Anzac Biscuits - had something spilt on it and is now illegible - so we went on the net and found a lovely child friendly site that gave a bit of background about the whys and wherefores of how the biscuit was named and invented, how the recipe was formulated in WWI because there was a need for a healthy and tasty treat the ladies at home could send to their boys overseas - but because of lack of refrigeration on ships and the time it took to get parcels to the soldiers the goodies had to be able to be stored for two months! (That’s why there’s no eggs, they’d have gone off. The golden syrup glues the mix together.) By the time of WWII not so many were sent away - why? Because by then, ships had refrigeration, and many more products were available. Just like the pavlova, the Aussies claim Anzac biscuits as theirs too, but we know that they’re Kiwi don’t we?! Baking with kids is such a neat window of learning, you talk, you measure, you do maths when you double the recipe, its fun, it doesn’t take all day (even if clearing up the mess does), there wouldn’t be many situations where there isn’t an appropriate kitchen activity to be found somewhere!

125g flour 150g sugar
1 cup coconut 1 cup rolled oats
100g butter 1 tablespoon golden syrup
1/2 teaspoon Bicarb of Soda 2 tablespoons boiling water

1. Mix together flour, sugar, coconut and rolled oats.

2. Melt butter and golden syrup.

3. Dissolve Bicarb Soda in boiling water and add to butter and golden syrup.

3. Make a well in the centre of the flour, stir in the liquid.

4. Place spoonfuls well apart on a greased tray. The mixture spreads quite a lot.

5. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius / 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

There you go, give them a try.

Right, moving along….I see I’ve already done Waihi Beach, lovely place that it is, so the next burble is Nigel.

Nigel is a goldfish. He lives with us at the moment but spent last year flatting with Pip; actually I’m not sure why he’s not staying with her this year! Kirstie gave him to Pip to keep her company when she first went to Massey about a month before she died, so Nigel has special significance. Well, about a month ago, Nigel didn’t look very well. I was quite concerned that the end was nigh - but then he perked up and we forgot about that. Two weeks ago, I got home to a very upset Pippy and sad looking Nigel who was limping sideways around the bottom of his bowl. Oh dear I said, maybe its time to flush? NOOOOOOOOO!!!! Well you can’t give mouth to mouth to a goldfish, but we did the next best thing, stuck in a lump of oxygen stone, and would you believe it, he came right. Nothing short of a miracle. But wait, there’s more…. Yesterday morning, yep, Nigel was floating upside down. For sure he’s a flusher this time, I thought - but no! A bit of food, more oxygen stone and bugger me, he’s away again. How many times can he do this??? Pip blames the introduction of a new snail, but that was weeks ago. Admittedly, the previous snail had died in the bowl and hadn’t been discovered for about a week, but that was even longer ago and surely any bacteria from that would have done their damage earlier? Clean out the bowl? No, I’m sure that would kill him with shock. It got really gungy after the first snail karked it and before we got a new one, but it seems to be self-cleaning (or else that explains the rapid snail growth). And speaking of snails, I think this one wants to populate the universe because I keep finding wee round patches of eggs on the bowl - but they never hatch, they just disappear and I don’t know whether to blame the snail or Nigel (yes, we do feed him). I’d love them to hatch, just one batch.

Well, I hear vehicles, wonder if it’s all over. Surely not, it’s only 6.30. They usually go and have breakfast in the Memorial Hall afterwards, or at least a cuppa and some sammies - and ALCOHOL for the oldies - a tot of rum in the coffee. That bit has always impressed my kids no end. I’ll go down and have a look at the wreaths later on. At least the forecast rain didn’t eventuate.

Cheers,

Jaybee