My kete is full

What a whirlwind week! Headed to Castlepoint in the Wairarapa for the first time and had an awesome stay at a friends home right on the beach, with views to die for of the lighthouse. The sunrise was worth stammering out of bed for, but the proposed walk down to the beach had to wait until my eyes and mood were brighter later on in the day!  Being brought up by the beach on Toru Road in Paraparaumu, being back on a beach is really calming and I tend to feel centred and this visit did just the trick.

I asked my host if I could pick from their 'garden' around the house and came back with a kete full of kawakawa and dandelion which was just the best. There is nothing like getting amongst it. The best thing was coming home and making myself a kawakawa and ginger tea.  I'm sure I drank a whole teapot just because.  I did share some with our niece Tallulah-Belle who popped in to pick up some Toru Road goods. She probably thinks I've turned into a hippie, specially when I got her to taste the dandelion pesto I made from the tall dandelion growing around the whare and pushed it to her to take home.  It's just amazing what nature has available for us.  I dried most of the kawakawa so that it will keep for later. The smell of the leaves drying made my house smell like a herbal spa.  Keenau came around and said it smells not serene, nor gorgeous, his words were "medicinal".  I'll take that as a positive.

Finally my Toru Road pesto jars arrived and its great to have them.  My Toru Road granola bags arrived, and they are a lot bigger than anticipated so am pondering whether to just make them 1kg instead of 500grams, what do you reckon?  They are the enviro-friendly sealing bags that you tear the top off, just like the dukkah bags, but unexpectedly much bigger.  I'm just glad I now have some packaging.  This get on and do it stuff even though you haven't got yourself together keeps you on your toes. I could still be dreaming about it if I didn't start.

Finally the Toru Road logo is done, and that means I can work on some labels for my packaging and jars.  Can't wait to make them all pretties.

Best news is that my SHOP function now works online, so from a customer viewpoint its much more friendlier to purchase. I haven't worked out delivery yet but just email or message me and I can always work something out if you are in the region.  I am working on chill-boxes so that I can deliver further afield - I have had a few whanau up the line asking me when they can try my products, good things take time aye Uncle Howie lol.

I'm off to bake a cake, for another September birthday tomorrow - in our busiest birthday month for the whanau.  It's a dark chocolate sumptuous cake which Nigella says is by the way vegan - somehow when things are gluten free, or dairy free, they just don't turn out like a regular cake, I'm hoping this one is different.  Wish me luck...