Yoga. I just don’t get it!

It’s been a busy few weeks and there doesn’t seem to be much let-up on the horizon but I wouldn’t want you to think I haven’t been getting on with #50Before50. In fact, I’ve made great progress. I know because my spreadsheet and graph say so. Yes, I am that sad. I love a great spreadsheet. Nothing makes me happier than creating new columns and making sure they’re all properly aligned and that the headers are all in the same font. Again, I really am that sad. I’ve calculated the rate at which I should tick things off if I did them at a constant rate and them compared this to the rate at which I’ve already achieved things and I’m well ahead of where I need to be! This is great as a) I need to be ahead so that when there are quieter times such as holidays or busy work periods that I do not fall behind and b) I imagine things will slow down. It’s relatively easy to drink wine and eat cheese but much more difficult to get to Antarctica and walk down the street wearing only body paint. Some of those things are going to need a lot of planning…

So, a little summary of where I’m up to:

• White wines – 36 out of 50 drunk
• Red wines – 16 out of 50 drunk
  • It’s definitely getting harder and not helped by having to exclude a few that I’d already counted because they looked like they were from a unique vineyard but actually there were just from a range with a different name from the same vineyard as another wine… It can be so complex that my head hurts! I won’t give anything away but the video explains a bit more about one of the wines…

    

• Metro restaurants – 5 out of 50 visited
  • This is not as easy as it seems either because the French Cafe is closing! Argh. My supper club is going there but on a day I can’t go. Who wants a cost meal for 2 with me there before it closes its doors? Top eatery so far was Ortolana – absolutely tip-top. Both Ponsonby Road Bistro and Amano scored highly but sadly they were let down by slow service.
    

    Amano menu

    

    Amazing crayfish tagliatelli at Amano

    

    Ponsonby Road Bistro

    

    Absolutely amazing crudo at Ponsonby Road Bistro

    

    The gang at Ponsonby Road Bistro
• Sunrises – 3 out of 50 seen
  • So it’s winter which means they’re later, but unfortunately that means there aren’t so many due to rain or clouds. A few weeks ago I got up for a faint pink hue over Rangitoto from Kohimarama Beach but last weekend was a real coup – a stunning orange ball over the Waitemata Harbour observed from Te Wero bridge at the Auckland Waterfront.

    

    

    

• Random acts of kindness – 7 out of 50 completed
  • I’ve decided with these that I am not going to say much about them as the purpose is not to say “look how great I am, aren’t I just the most generous person in the world?” But they are progressing nicely, the recipients of the acts have been happy and I have been giving a little card with each one so that people can see what it’s all about. The cards seem to have caused as much excitement as the deeds themselves!
• Nail colours – 4 out of 50 done
  • Mardi continues to choose my colours for me. I’m currently on Midnight Swim which is dark blue and glittery. I like it but my mate Jon says it makes me look like a vamp. I don’t think he meant it as a compliment.
• Recipes – 1 out of 50 cooked
  • Well this was just stunning. I’ve long been a fan of Ottolenghi and generally his recipes are delicious and not too complicated to cook. I think of all recipes, I’m most happy making desserts so I purchased a copy of his book Sweet, co-authored with Helen Goh and I made the Beetroot and Ginger cake to take to a workshop I was attending which happened to fall on my birthday. Never before have I added vitamin C tablets to a cake but it kept the beetroot red and the cake was absolutely amazing. It was a definite 10 out of 10 from everyone who had a piece and was totally demolished in about 5 minutes.
    

    Beetroot and ginger cake from Ottolenghi’s book Sweet

    

    Recipe number 1 just about to occur!

    

    My baking ready for the oven

    

    The vitamin C worked! The cake stayed red
• Cheeses – 12 out of 50 eaten
  • Having decided that “eating cheese” shouldn’t just be a taste at a farmers’ market, I plumped for qualification being enough cheese to cover 2 crackers. Last weekend I was invited to friends’ for dinner. “I will bring the cheese” I declared. Four cheeses (three particularly delicious morsels from Over The Moon), 8 crackers, homemade quince paste and a delicious spread from Maggie Beer later and I felt like I would be ill. Never mind, one of the crackers sported a piece of camembert that looked like a penguin. Yes, I said a penguin.
    

    Tania smoked brie by Evansdale. Just try it!

    

    A selection of great cheeses

    

    It’s a camembert penguin – bottom right photo, left hand cracker…
• Happy Birthdays – 14 out of 50 learnt
  • So I’ve done the obvious European ones. The last few I’ve added have been Asian languages. Man, it’s hard to get the pronunciation right. Have a listen here for the one in Mandarin and see what you reckon! As soon as I move on to a new one, I forget the last one. I think I’ll be going back to primary school and making flash cards.

    

• Monopoly streets – 3 out of 26 visited
  • I have trips planned to Nelson, Christchurch and Dunedin so that will be a few more ticked off. Getting round all of them is going to be a big big challenge, especially the 4 stations which are all a bit remote!
• New things to see or do in NZ – 2 out of 49 done
  • No new ones since the White Lady Van but my mates Chris and Sarah have promised to take me to Whatipu next time the weather is nice on a day I’m not working. They have an old car (don’t tell them I said so) that they don’t mind driving on the gravel access road. I’m not so keen in my Italian-branded vehicle.
• Tree art project – in progress
  • Here the progress has been great. I’ve chosen my trees and I know it will take a while to knit enough to cover the trunks but I’ve acquired some needles and wool from friends and charity shops and have started to knit a long colourful rectangle that I will eventually use to wrap around one of the trunks. How I’ll sew it onto the tree I have no idea but I’ll think of something. Some kind friends have already sent me some squares of knitting or crochet which they have contributed which will make this a very special project when it’s finished. I’m also saving buttons, ribbons and so on to add embellishments. I am genuinely excited about seeing the finished articles in a few months’ time.
    

    

    The trees in my garden destined for yarn bombing

    

    Yarn bombing – the inspiration for my trees

    

    Woollen offerings from Mary

    

    Crochet squares donated by Sarah

    

    Knitting by Meri
• Yoga – in progress
  • The video says it all. I just don’t get it. I do like that it helps flexibility and I’d love to be able to touch my toes again. I like that it helps with balance and not falling over so frequently as one gets older will indeed be helpful. I like the stretching, the quietness and to some extent it’s helping me relax and unwind. But, I don’t get all the stuff the teacher says. There’s all this stuff about “feeling the breath” and “breathing the movement”. Then the names of all the positions and the various different types of yoga. What is all that about? So, at the moment, I don’t know what to think. I wouldn’t say I don’t like it. I wouldn’t say I look forward to it either. I sort of feel like I should like it more than I do and so I feel bad saying that I haven’t fallen in love with it. On the other hand, I think that if I had been destined to fall in love with it then I would have stumbled across it before now. But, I’m being open-minded and I’m reserving judgement until I’ve been a few more times.

So that’s where I’m at! The yoga video is taken just after the first class – it’s a winner. The sunrise one is just short and was recorded on the beach so the sound is not great but it does at least prove I was up that early!

Adios!

Helen xx