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Latest — 20 Mar 2025

Bouquet interpretation: friendly warning

Most of the summer flowers seem to be finishing up at my local Countdown, but they've started making new bouquets with autumn flowers. This is a pretty simple three flower bouquet, but as usual, it has a lot to say for itself. Let's investigate:

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Dish of the day: end of summer

Although it may not feel like it, tomorrow is the first day of autumn. Let's see what kind of delicious treats are on offer to round out summer. 365 Puddings has a recipe for Wafer Pudding (Bakeless) for February 28th which does sound reasonably summery, and if you

Dish of the Day: Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day has been celebrated in NZ since at least 1866, although for some reason one of the earliest things I found was an ad from the 15 February 1866 issue of the New Zealand Herald. Presumably, either he was late getting his ad in, or it used

Ask the Past: sadness

I'm feeling kind of sad at the moment. Can you suggest anything that will cheer me up?

Bouquet interpretation: poor choices

With my usual florist open for the year and once again putting cheap weird bouquets out the front where I can't help but see them when I walk past, it is time for another year of bouquet interpretation. There are quite a lot of flowers in this bouquet,

Ask the Past: teenage drama

Just when I thought I would be taking a break from Ask the Past for a little while I received this message which felt like it needed a reply: My teenage daughter is prone to conniptions and the vapours. How might one put a stop to these unhealthy behaviours? Yours

Dish of the Day: 9th January

Things have been a bit busy lately between Miss Maud (if you usually get a copy, issue 4 should be heading your way shortly, and if you don't get one but you'd like one, email me and let me know), Sowing Discord, and a few other

Bouquet interpretation: cold comfort

Here's a bouquet from my local Pak and Save that I am sure someone will be snapping up, possibly because it's Christmas, or possibly just as a present for someone who likes red and pink flowers. Would that be a mistake, though? Well, let's

Ask the Past: dog biscuits

My dog is a really fussy eater, and they have discontinued the brand of biscuits that he likes. I thought I might try making some homemade ones to see if he'd like those better than the other kind at the supermarket that he refuses to eat. Can you recommend some recipes?

Ask the Past: despondence

I'm feeling really depressed about the election result. Is there anything you can recommend?