Southerly by David Haywood

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Southerly: Coming Up For Air

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  • martinb,

    Look David, if you’ve had writers block you don’t have to hide from us behind these kinds of stories- just come right out and say it! We won’t judge you.

    Even though- does the invention of wild, wild, extraordinary excuses for not having completed any writing count as creative output enough to be considered completed writing?

    Seriously though, best wishes!

    When times get tough ask your self- what would Alan Bollard do? After reading your fine piece of financial reporting a few years back I often turn to the Bollster when I’m at a low ebb. Alternating between him and Kenneth off 30 Rock, of course.

    It's good to hear you caught a break.

    Auckland • Since Jul 2010 • 206 posts Report

  • Tim Michie,

    More of this occupy movement I say.

    Others above have spoke me mind much better than I can right now.

    Still hoha with your insurance company and now have others to the list.

    Auckward • Since Nov 2006 • 614 posts Report

  • Che Tibby, in reply to Graeme Haywood,

    +1.

    i recently discovered a minor allergy to wheat and series of other things. short story: if it makes you fart, it was a problem.

    so i've switched from a wheat-centric diet to a rice/potato-centric diet for starches. means i have to cook a lot of delicious, delicious curries and some japanese foods, but, it's just a sacrifice you have to make....

    i largely gave up dairy a few years back, so the change wasn't too dramatic.

    as a result the whole family has kind of moved to a non-wheat diet, and have focussed even more on wholefoods. happy to provide a few useful recipes if you need them. otherwise, do like the man says: eat the hell out of that lamb and local veges.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report

  • Islander, in reply to Che Tibby,

    Beans make almost everybody fart Che – even when served with corn & fish-

    and food like lamb (or any abbattoir-killed meat) is right out of the menu for a lot of us.

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Tamsin6, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Oddly enough, David wrote a tremendous post called The End of Lake Ellesmere? here five years ago

    Serendipitous? Good to hear that finally things are falling into place for you and your family David - the food allergies and toddler related sleep deprivation can be your prime concern, without having to worry so much about a roof over your head, and the ground under your feet. This can only be a good thing.

    Much sympathy by the way - my oldest was not able to drink milk, but at least we had the saving grace of soy. What they don't tell you when you have children with allergy or intolerance is that their not being able to have it without spewing/developing a rash etc etc doesn't mean they don't like it. A child who cannot eat dairy, but who also has a yen for icecream to the extent of stealing it from the plates of others, is not a pretty sight when covered with blisters and vomiting copiously. Thankfully she grew out of it (the vomiting and blisters if sadly not the stealing icecream from my bowl).

    We used to go sailing on Lake Ellesmere when I was young - a very different place to what it is now, from your story. I remember helping to push the boat in to the trailer, mud squelching and squishing between my toes, scared silly about possible eels...the hatching of mayflies and the storms of them trying to fly into your nostrils and mouth were also a hazard.

    London • Since Dec 2007 • 133 posts Report

  • Lucy Stewart, in reply to Che Tibby,

    i recently discovered a minor allergy to wheat and series of other things. short story: if it makes you fart, it was a problem.

    Enough of a problem to give it up altogether, though? There are a lot of foods which are always going to give your intestinal methanogens a happy time, but are otherwise fine to eat (as Islander said: beans.) It's more to do with whether you can digest the food (or its breakdown products) or not, and there are lots of things we eat which contain components humans can't digest at all or which get scavenged by our gut microflora. If particular foods cause a *lot* of flatulence, maybe, but as a rule of thumb, it seems a little...reductive.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report

  • ChrisW, in reply to Lucy Stewart,

    it seems a little...reductive

    Nicely done! A fart joke on a higher plane.

    Gisborne • Since Apr 2009 • 851 posts Report

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to ChrisW,

    Breakdown town...*

    A fart joke on a higher plane.

    Though I'm guessing they don't serve
    beans on long haul plane trips...
    (While balloonists may benefit from them)

    *Can't imagine a world without s.p.u.d.s
    :- )

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Glad you are able to move the house and family David. Glad you came up for air. Can't wait to see the progress photos. How exciting it will all feel. Well for me anyway.Plus you really must document it all. It is needed for anyone else of similar mind. I've seen a friends house lifted and shifted a long way and no problems whatsoever. Really cool that you persevered, against what seems like CERA hurdles. With others now having difficulty I can only be suspicious of their motives. Of course I would expect issues with insurance but the rest should have been accommodating.
    Boundary fences in the countryside too. For anyone else considering similar, check boundary. Thousands of boundary fences all over NZ have paper roads attached and fences shifted over the years. We made discoveries ourselves although not as much as you found. Yours may have had an access lane long forgotten and encroached on over time.Although 26 metres sounds like a paper road.
    Still what a relief eh? You guys are on the home stretch now (ha, literally). The finishing line is in sight PHEW!
    Merry cherry innit. :))

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Attachment

    Flax n flex…
    This is just along the Avon river
    from David’s place…

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Attachment

    As above, decked out for the Avonside red zone rally.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Che Tibby, in reply to Lucy Stewart,

    yeeeeah... it was the explosive diarrhea and intense abdominal cramping that was a little inconvenient.

    the point i was getting at is that the kiwi wheat/dairy staples are easy enough to avoid, but maintaining it in the long term takes a fairly profound menu shift - hence the recipes (i've changed from spag bowl as go-to meal to rice-and-cold/hot-meats/curry).

    but, no beans, no brassica, nothing with high levels of fructose, not wheat.

    sure do eat a lot of oats these days, and corn. polenta, FTW.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report

  • Islander, in reply to Che Tibby,

    O, oats! Sustenance eh?
    It must be the Scots side but I love oat cakes and porridge…they reckoned, those Orkney ancestors of mine,quite a while ago, that as long as you had oats, and ransomes (a wild form of garlic) kale, and crowdie (a form of cottage cheese) and butter, salmon and eggs, you would live to be a hundred!*

    None of my very large whanau has ever made that - but we do persist in eating lotsa fish & molluscs & birds & venison - and wholemeal flour....

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Che Tibby, in reply to Islander,

    porridge and muesli, non-stop, year-round. and that's oats with oat milk on it.

    in a strange irony, i intensely dislike the bagpipes.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report

  • Islander, in reply to Che Tibby,

    n a strange irony, i intensely dislike the bagpipes.

    Well mate, you cant help that!
    I love 'em (but I also love clarinets, guitars, and accordians, not to mention gongs, drums and flutes-)

    and oat milk! I make my own- it is sooo satisfying-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Islander,

    i intensely dislike the bagpipes.

    Well mate, you cant help that!
    I love ’em (but I also love clarinets, guitars, and accordians, not to mention gongs, drums and flutes-)

    So it's not about striking fear into the hearts of your enemies.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Islander, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    O yes!
    But, um, subtlely... you've never been crept up on by an accordian?

    (Srsly: bagpipes are war and grief instruments - their incorporation into dance music - let alone popular music - is a very late happening.) (And kind of strange even to my recent ear-)

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Hebe, in reply to Islander,

    Srsly: bagpipes are war and grief instruments

    Are they what! Maori and Scots (and Irish) have a lot in common in both those departments.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report

  • Lilith __, in reply to Islander,

    oat milk! I make my own

    Islander - how on earth do you do that? If you feel like sharing.

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report

  • Ross Mason,

    You find one lactating goat.

    Milk it.

    Kick the bee gee out of it.

    Oat Milk.

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report

  • Hebe,

    Bloody well done David Haywood and family! I have of late become very fond of that area near the lake. A nearby shelter belt too; excellent. May I suggest coppicing of trees (for local info google "Brandenburg coppice") as I assume you will be allowed a logburner. I'd love to give you a tree to plant.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report

  • Islander, in reply to Lilith __,

    Ok Lilith- here are the totally secret oatmilk recipes we teach the wee ones and the older ones and just about bloody well every ones-

    There are 2:

    1 CUP finely ground oatmeal
    4/5 cups water
    seasalt to taste and a little safflower or/sunflower/canola oil- leave overnight
    mix, drain through muslin

    Old original one from my Nanna’s recipe book:

    “Fill large jug with 2/3 water and 1/3 fine ground oatmeal some good oil & salt, mix and leave overnight. Sieve in morning.”

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Islander, in reply to Ross Mason,

    O you - bugger-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Lilith __,

    Steady on, Ross, this is oat cuisine!

    Islander, wow, thank you, will try this as I'm sure it's tremendously good for you.

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report

  • Islander, in reply to Lilith __,

    All I know is, tastes good, feels good ( and has kept all my lovely mother's side of the family alive into their nineties-)

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

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