Houseplant

I'm an old school Star Wars fan. Haven't really like anything since Return of the Jedi. I thought the Mandalorian was definitely OK, quite watchable up to episode 3. *** happened in episode 4? It was like an embarrassingly bad episode of Star Trek or Stargate.

Coat in olive oil and salt. Throw in to hot pan with no additional oil until well browned. Take them out and rest for 10 minutes. Slice. Pop in to oven for few minutes to warm them up and serve. Middle will be rare, but no blood. For something a bit different, Mrs Houseplant made a really nice carpaccio. Fairly standard recipe I think.

As a point of interest, I've been looking at airgun laws here in NZ recently as a friend was asking for advice on what air rifle to buy. No license is needed as long as the gun isn't a PCP. Off the shelf break barrel springers seem to come in around 18 - 22 ft/lb. I suppose there is a limit on how powerful you can make a springer before it shakes itself apart?

It's been a long time since I did any pigeon shooting, but I arrived at my favourite pond on the opening morning of duck season to find that it wasn't there! It had dried up. An awful lot of preparation and travel had gone in to that trip, but this eventuality didn't occur to me.

Egg for binding, breadcrumbs to add a little texture. Seasoning. We add some veggies to sneak them in to my boy. He can't get enough game burgers! We've done venison and wild boar, both have minimal fat, more so venison, but haven't added any additional fat.

I think you guys would be genuinely shocked at the levels of political correctness, colonial guilt and virtue signalling that goes on in NZ regarding colonisation. Not only is it supported and of course, funded by the state (i.e. the tax payer), it has a legal framework and affects every aspect of life, especially state sector services (e.g. education; healthcare etc).

Simple solution. Buy a right hand drive car 😀

I was listening to British talk radio the other day. A Labour Party member phoned in to make the point that they should be storming ahead in the polls given the state of the Conservative Party, yet they keep shooting themselves in the foot... over and over again. I'm inclined to agree.

Yes, like a government-sanctioned act of terrorism/murder in NZ in 1985. Hard to believe! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_Rainbow_Warrior

My prediction is that climate change, man-made or otherwise is going to kill off millions of primarily poor people in low-lying, developing countries. That is happening right now for a variety of other reasons. Do we care? Yes, a bit, but not enough to actually do anything meaningful about it. Most will give up plastic bags and straws, but not cars, holidays abroad or the right to have children. Developed nations have the resources to adapt to environmental changes. Coastal land will be lost and there will be changes to our way life. Life will get harder and more expensive, but in general, we will just keep ticking along for a very long time.

We got out offshore on Saturday. We had planned to go to the Mokohinau Islands (or "Mokes") which lie 52km from the mainland, but there was a bit of a swell running, so we only got about half way, fishing the Hen & Chicken Islands and a deepwater wreck along the way. We met at the boat ramp at 0730. Sunny day 😀 As we got close to the harbour entrance, there was an almighty commotion on the surface. A large pod of dolphins were rounding up bait fish. Our first target at the Hen & Chicks was john dory. We both favour them over other species for their eating qualities. It was pretty much bent rods from the moment we got to the islands, mostly snapper, but we managed to get passed the snapper and land a few john dory. As the tide slowed, I decided it was time for a dive. The target was crayfish (red rock lobster). Not too many of those around, but I did bag a slipper lobster which are just as good on a plate and enjoyed seeing the other wildlife. At the end of the dive, I surfaced by the rocks and met a bull fur seal. He gave me a bit of a grunt which I think meant back off. I obliged! After the dive, we went to the wreck of the RMS Niagara which lies in 115m of water. We could see the Mokes in the distance. We caught a few big snapper in the deep water and Tom had some fun with a shark on light tackle. Last goal for the day was to bag some scallops. We motored back to the harbour and I jumped in with about 30 minutes of daylight left. Fortunately, it was quite easy to collect our bag limit of 40 scallops and I was out the water just as the sun was setting. 12 hours on the water plus 3 hours of kit cleaning, fish filleting and scallop shucking made for an exhausting, but enjoyable day!

Sorry. Had some trouble with the photo hosting site (as in it shut down!). I've transferred all the photos to GooglePhotos with Teal's assistance. Showing fine on desktop. Not appearing on mobile devices which is a shame.

Back scallop diving today. Still plenty out there 😀 We cooked them in their shells this time with a little butter and garlic. Weather looks fantastic this coming weekend. Should be able to get properly offshore if the forecast holds. I'm expecting great things!

A decent snapper jumped on the line the other day. Unfortunately, it was caught in deep water, so a release wasn't possible. Not an ounce of that fish will be wasted. Fillets were processed, spare cuts were made in to ceviche and the head/frame will go to a local homeless charity to be made in to soup. On the way home, I spotted something floating on the ocean. It turned out to be a spear fisherman's float. Great find as I'm a budding spearo and was about to buy one! I got chatting to someone at work who lost their dive float at the weekend! I had found the lost float on the open ocean. What are the chances of that? The float was returned. You win some, you lose some!

Hi Trenta. I agree with your comments. You can have an outdoor life in the UK, you just have to work at it a little harder. Fishing is hotting up!

Please note that medical advice provided online is worth what you pay for it. That said, there are numerous causes of leg swelling and NSAIDs may make it worse! It's worth a visit to your GP.

It definitely is when you're 12km offshore and the onshore wind becomes an offshore wind. Having been there in a kayak, it's not something I would want to repeat!

I admit this is something I've never understood. My Maxus came with clear instructions that tighter chokes cannot be used with steel shot. They also indicated that steel shoots tighter than lead through the same choke. A load of bull? What's the story?

I see you have the same weather pattern as NZ! I'm stealing that photo!

1st September is a special day because scallop season starts! After my fishing trip, I got home, cleaned up and then loaded the car with dive gear. We planned to meet some friends, do a dive and cook scallops on the beach. The weather held for us. Mrs Houseplant all kitted up and ready to dive. Navigating to the scallop beds underwater. First scallop of the season! It didn't take us long to achieve our bag limit of 20 per person. We measured each one to ensure that they were minimum size (100mm across the shell). At the end of the dive, our boy welcomed us back and helped carry the catch. Scallops cooked and eaten on the beach as planned.

Another short entry from me. Back out on Sunday morning. Exceptional sea conditions and fish really on the bite. I caught my bag limit of 7 snapper in about an hour. All on light tackle and metal jigs. Home by 0830. Really good fishing! I have been asked before if I get bored of snapper fishing... A fish that grows pretty big, will readily take artificial lures, looks good, fights hard and great to eat. The answer is no! Best fish of the morning.

Quality over size is the ticket for reels these days with the advent of braid. No need for a big reel. You can get some very grunty little multipliers.

I haven't done anything of interest for over a month and fish/meat supplies are getting low 😢 Weather and sea conditions have been awful. There was a weather window this morning which I jumped through with enthusiasm! Sea was relatively tame, but it was a dull, overcast day. Not too inspiring and the fish weren't really in the mood. I managed one decent snapper and three smaller models, all on lures. At least we will be eating fresh fish this week!