Picking pipis with poppa

Were back!!!

We had an awesome holiday at Cooks Beach in the Coromandel.   Two weeks away. Yippee.  We hadn't been away at Christmas time so this was our break.

The kids had a wonderful time at the beach every day.
The weather was pretty much perfect.
We ate too much.
And we enjoyed catching up with family.
.....What more can you ask for in a holiday.

One of the novelties for the girls was collecting pipis and tuatua with Poppa.   They then had a great time gathering them, cleaning and shelling them and then  helping as he turned them in to fritters for lunch the following day.

Yummy!

Collecting the Pipis...Phoebe and Poppa

Cleaning the Pipis....Holly and Poppa

The finished product...fritters with sweet chilli sauce!  Yummmmmm

The Garden

Bain has done an awesome job with the vegetable garden.  When we shifted here he built two huge new gardens so we could start growing some of our own vegetables.

So I love this time of year when the veges are abundant.

Here's Phoebe with our broccoli...

Holly enjoying a plum  (one of those beautiful Christmas plums with the purple inner)...

New Potatoes with mint....

Various herbs:  parsley, mint and basil to name a few....

Corn, cauliflower, broccoli and beans.....

The girls love helping gather the veges.  I think that encourages them to eat them as well!  All a bonus!

And of course not to forget the tomatoes and cucumbers....we are loving salad for tea in this hot weather...