I’ve discovered I really enjoy Andalusian music. Here’s an almost 2 hour joy: Andalusian Echoes: Abir el Abed & Amsterdam Andalusian Orchestra. 🎶
I visited Palmerston North today and looked at the aviaries in the public gardens. This Cockatiel was a good-looking bird.
I really enjoyed spending the day reading Death In Copper Town (The Pegasus Quincy Mystery Series Book 1) by Lakota Grace. It’s very readable, in a great setting, followed a logical process and the characters were believable. I’ll definitely read more by this author. 📚
ROFL — Police respond to ‘racist’ flag in Wānaka, find Klingon insignia:
Police responding to reports of a racist flag [at] a Wānaka property found the home was instead flying the colours of the Klingon Empire from Star Trek.
It’s so worth reading the rest of this short article. 🤣🖖🏼
Aha! I wondered about this after grating the Havarti — How to Grate Soft Cheese:
Place wrapped cheese in the freezer. Only keep the cheese in the freezer for ~15 minutes. You want it hardened but not frozen.
Re: Today I made Roasted Cauliflower and Cheese Mini Frittatas.
Today I made Roasted Cauliflower and Cheese Mini Frittatas. They were pretty delicious. The recipe lists red wine vinegar in its ingredients, but doesn’t actually use it. 🤷🏼
Roasted cauli; The mix ready for the oven; The finished product. Grating soft cheese is hard.
The commander had to issue the “Fire” command 96 times! Clouds of smoke filled the air as the shots bounced around re-echoing off the hills of Wellington. And indeed, it took about 16 minutes to fire all the shots. Won’t happen again in my lifetime.
Here it comes (video): Queen Elizabeth II Death Gun Salute to mark her passing. At 1 round every 10 seconds (my guess), 96 guns must take ~16 minutes. That’s a lot of guns!
Wow — The Queen’s death: All you need to know about what happens next:
There will be a 96 gun salute starting at 6pm, Friday night on the Wellington waterfront in front of Te Papa.
96 guns. I’ve heard a few less than 20 in my time, but 96! Won’t be able to hear it from here…
Today’s neighbours include some who are beefier than usual.
An interesting little snippet: Queen Elizabeth Sent the First-Ever Royal Email in 1976!:
On March 26, 1976, the Queen visited the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment, a telecommunications research centre in Malvern, England, and using ARPANET… sent an email.
I’m no Monarchist but this is still a huge moment:
Queen Elizabeth II … has died at Balmoral aged 96, after reigning for 70 years.
her eldest son Charles … will lead the country in mourning as the new King and head of state for 14 Commonwealth realms.
I was weeding a patch of driveway garden when a Green and Golden Bell frog appeared. It moved away. Moments later, when I moved some greenery aside to weed further there was a sound like a tiny scream. I guess I gave it a fright. 🐸
The local rabbits must have had a working bee overnight. For months there’s been a hole in the bank, presumably leading to a burrow. This morning there was a (relatively) huge pile of sand and the hole and tunnel have been massively expanded.
The mountains have a touch of snow today, thanks to an icy wind straight off the Antarctic. Fujifilm Astia film simulation. Trying for a @cliffordbeshers look. 😀
The Orville S03 seemed different from the first 2 seasons so I went back and rewatched those seasons recently. I enjoyed them as much as the first time, maybe even more. They were ‘lighter’ than S03 but explored interesting life issues with depth and humour. A really good show!
The neighbour’s pine tree is loaded with pollen. Ah-choo!
OK, Celebrate Tongan Language Week:
There are only 17 letters in the ‘alafapeti faka-Tonga:
A E F H I K L M N NG O P S T U V ‘
The ‘alafapeti includes the fakau’a (glottal stop), which comes before a vowel
Fascinating: Scientists Discover That a Surprising Factor Improved The Effects of Ketamine in Mice:
ketamine worked better when administered by males because [male] scent stresses the mice, activating the CRF system, which enhances their body’s stress response.
An almost pastoral idyllic scene as a cow relaxes by the shore of the rainwater lake in the paddock next door.
