Dog poo, birthdays, anniversaries and new beginnings

"Are you that Anna Harrison?"
"Yes, that's me.  Nice to meet you."
"I didn't vote for you, but this is what I want you to do for me..."  This was my greeting when I popped into the Vic for a quick drink after an anniversary dinner with my family at Armando's.  The lovely lady who confronted me went on to tell me about the issue of dogs wandering and too much dog poo - her solution, more rubbish bins in the greenways.  That might work for dogs being walked by owners - but I've never seen a dog pick up it's own poo, so not sure how this will help with problem of dogs allowed to roam free.  Maybe I just didn't put in enough effort into poop scoop training when my dog was a pup.
Ringo - Age 9 and still unable to scoop her own poop!
Now don't get me wrong - I am more than happy with being approached by people who want to talk about issues facing Cromwell and I will of course offer a listening ear, as I did on Friday night.  The lady at the bar isn't the first or only person to mention dog poo and the lack of rubbish bins on the streets and in the greenways around Cromwell.  I'm not sure the solution is as simple in reality as it may seem in conversation.

I skipped a week of blogging between Christmas and New Year.  It is a busy time for everyone and our family is no exception.  We had visitors popping in and there are several major and important events for our family immediately after Christmas.  There were two important birthdays - first and foremost Lummox no.2 turned 19.  He had some friends round for a BBQ and we dragged him to Queenstown for a lunch out.  He's in that funny space between youth and adulthood - he didn't really want to spend the day with 'the olds' - but he coped, mostly.
Couple of lummoxes tuckered out after lunch out in Queenstown
The next event was a surprise 60th for my sister in law Jill.  Her birthday is New Year's Eve and she often feels very much neglected when it comes to birthday celebrations.  This year her lovely daughter Alex planned for a secret family gathering at the Harrison Senior residence in Pine Hill.  Jill got quite upset at the total lack of any event being planned for her birthday and took matters into her own hands - dragging Alex on a road trip to nowhere in particular a few days before her birthday.  This threw a spanner in the works, as the unpredictable Jill departed south bound from Christchurch.  They stayed in Cromwell for a night - we all worked very hard to make sure the secret celebration was kept just that and waved them off again the next morning.
Surprise!
The party was great fun and I think Jill was genuinely surprised.  We left the lummoxes at home while we made the whistle stop visit to Dunedin.  Will was working and then heading to Queenstown.  The other two helped themselves to a goodly portion of their dad's beer and cooked up a storm making teriyaki chicken onigiri (rice balls) and chocolate mousse.  They were so impressed with their efforts they made rice balls again on our return on New Year's day.  We've since used the same recipe for sushi - truly yummy.  There wasn't any chocolate mousse left for us - but it was one of our favourite Annabel Langbein recipes.  Follow the links if you'd like to try the recipes. Teriyaki chicken Chocolate mousse
Chicken teriyaki 
Our next event was a family outing - Will's Christmas present to us all.  We headed to Clyde for lunch at the Post Office followed by the movies to watch the new Star Wars instalment - Rogue one.  Great day out and a fantastic Christmas present idea.  He managed to just sneak in a day that suited us all before we had to move Jack back down to Dunedin and into his new flat ready for summer school at The University of Otago.  We had a deadline as we were meeting the letting agent for the property inspection at 3pm on Wednesday.
The old Dodge on our family outing
The flat is in a great position on Great King Street.  It looks like it will be a good place - hopefully warm and dry, not in the really cold valleys that Will's flats always seemed to be in.  The flat was however completely filthy.  Every surface was grimy and greasy - disgusting really.  We put in a really concerted effort to scrub the kitchen and bathroom and to properly vacuum the carpets and set Jack up with some basic kitchen equipment and a pantry stocked with some basics.  This little adventure coincided with my wedding anniversary - great way to spend a day that should be filled with celebration.  We got home to Cromwell in time for a sausage on the BBQ, a shower and bed.
Moving day in Dunedin
We deferred our celebrations to the next day and that brings me right back to the beginning of my story.  We went for a lovely dinner at Armando's with Will and Joe followed by a quick drink at the Vic.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lamb Shanks with sweet chilli and black bean

Image
This dish has a rich, tasty sauce. The shanks are browned and then cooked in the sauce until the meat is very tender. This can be done in the oven, crockpot, stove top or in a deep electric frypan. Best served with mashed potato sweetened with carrot, kumara (sweet potato), pumpkin or parsnip.  Ingredients Lamb shanks - 1 per person 1/4 cup black bean sauce 1/2 cup sweet chilli sauce 1 1/2 cups water 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger 3 cloves garlic - crushed Method In an electric frypan Heat the pan on the highest setting place the shanks (no oil needed) in the pan, pop the lid on and brown on all sides - this will take 15-20 minutes.  Turn pan down to a simmer setting combine all the other ingredients and pour over the shanks. Place the lid back on and leave to simmer until meat is very tender approx 1 1/2 hours. Turn the shanks from time to time to make sure they are coated in the sauce. Keep an eye on the sauce and add more water if needed....
Read more

Community consultation, conversations and questions

Image
Many of you will have seen that my fellow Cromwell Community Board (CCB) member Robin Dicey posed some questions for our community in The Bulletin last week.  Like all of us on the CCB Robin is looking for ways to engage and connect with the community.  We all want to be doing the best for those that we represent and to be making decisions that reflect what the residents and ratepayers of Cromwell actually want to see in our great wee town.  So, well done to Robin for trying to get the conversation going on a range of issues.  I've popped an image of Robin's questions below - you can also find them on page 12 of The Bulletin dated 12 January 2017.  Robin has included his contact details for anyone interested in contributing to the discussion.  I would be very happy to be contacted too - anna.harrison@codc.govt.nz or via my Facebook page Anna Harrison Cromwell Community Board. One of the questions Robin asks is in regard to the level of community con...
Read more

Circus Time!

Image
I've been pretty quiet over the last couple of weeks.  I've attended all meetings required of me, engaged in discussion and discourse, listened and expected to be heard and thought that there had been a resolution to halt the action to remove Neil Gillespie as Board Chair with only 13 months to an election and with the immensely important Master Plan Project in full swing.  I left a meeting on Tuesday 21st August thinking that a decision had been made to seek further governance training and to set out a rules of engagement document outlining roles and responsibilities of board members and their relationship with each other, council, the mayor and council staff.  So when I was contacted less than a week later on Monday 27 August I was surprised to hear that a requisition letter calling for the removal of Neil as chair had been sent to Sanchia Jacobs, CODC Chief Executive.  I relayed that surprise to the journalist who rang the next day.  I was not blissfully unaw...
Read more