Beer bread and sunrises

The wet weather we've had lately means that I've seen more of the inside of my wee whare than usual. Although I haven't been very productive, I've read a couple of books, done plenty of online research for tablets and smartphones and also made more beer bread. I'm still in the experimental phase and working out what works and what doesn't.



Beer bread made with salsa and Cajun seasoning and cooked
in mini-loaf tins

My last effort involved putting half the dough in the mini-loaf tin, spreading salsa and chopped salami over, then adding the rest of the dough with a thin smear of salsa with grated cheese on top. Into my mini-oven for 35 minutes (will do for a bit longer next time) and although they looked and tasted good, the loaf came apart where the filling was. Putting the dough in patty tins was another success but I didn't get to try those as they were for a pot luck lunch.

Once I started reading the 'Owner Series', by Neal Asher, all other jobs took a back seat. It's just as well the third book, Jupiter War, isn't being released for a few more weeks otherwise I'd have an even bigger backlog of jobs!

Books 1 and 2 of the 'Owner Series' - book 3 coming soon

If you want to get a glimpse into what the future could hold for a burgeoning population with diminishing resources then these books are well worth a read. Set around 2150 there are enough parallels with what's happening today to see that global government, widening the gap between rich (elite) and poor (zero assets), and political control of media and scientific research are dangerous roads to go down. At the beginning of each chapter the author writes a short essay which I found thought-provoking and a good structure to develop his story around. The story pulls no punches; maybe it should be essential reading for us to avoid irrevocable harm to our planet and our humanity.

 

On to something a bit lighter! We've had a few spectacular sunrises lately, here's one from 20 July from home...

 

...and this one yesterday as I walked to work. It's getting much lighter in the mornings now and the korimako (bellbirds) start their dawn chorus as I'm walking; a wonderful accompaniment and so much nicer than traffic noise!

 

I spent a day track trimming at Dancing Star a couple of weeks ago and came across a kaka having a fine old time in a macrocarpa tree, yanking the bark off and judging by the number of fresh scars up and down the trunk, he must have been doing it for a while.

 

 

No robins to entertain me this time but probably just as well as the track was overgrown and took a while to trim back. Here's a section where it was hard to see where the track went - look for the pink tape in the middle of the photo!

 

Pink triangles to mark the bait stations (this one was Line 2, bait station 13)
and pink fluoro tape to mark the track

My technology upgrade went well and great to report a big increase in internet signal strength after swapping my Sierra 306 T-Stick for a Huawei E587 mobile hotspot. I have the Huawei plugged in to my yagi aerial and now run my notebook wirelessly from anywhere inside the house. I can have up to 5 wireless devices so should work a treat when I make up my mind on which tablet to buy. The Google Nexus 7-2 has just been released in the US and comes with impressive specs but probably not available in NZ for a few weeks - and I guess there could be some bargains lurking for the earlier model. Any suggestions most welcome!!