Lockdown Gardening Blog!

Hi there! 

I thought today I would share with you how my family garden is going and show you some photos too.

In our garden we have:

• Lettuce varieties
• Cauliflower
• Chilli 
• Snow peas
• Basil
• Oregano
• Parsley
• Mint
• Sweet corn
• Sunflower
• Baby spinach
• Bean varieties
• Silverbeet

We have also planted some zucchini and tomato seeds but we are still waiting for them to start growing. 

Something I have noticed is that our so-called 'baby' spinach is actually quite big, not miniature like it normally is from the supermarket. Another thing I have noticed is that our basil plant seems to be not growing very much, in fact I think it's actually shrunk a little bit which is a bit daunting. 

It turns out I have eaten the chilli! My sister made a curry and she put it in! She said she only put a little bit in, I noticed it tasted spicier than usual. I'm still building courage to try it by itself (with a nice cold glass of milk!). I'll let you know my experience if I do!

Here are some photos of the garden:

Cauliflower

Mint

Green/Glass House

Chilli

Parsley

Lettuce

Lettuce

Snow Pea

Beans

'Baby' Spinach

Thanks for reading!

P.E: The History of Netball

Hi there! Today I will be writing about the history of Netball as a task for P.E. while I am at home.

Netball originated in England in 1895 and was first played at Madame Ostenberg's College in Kent. It had a nine-a-side version and a five-a-side version when the game was first played. In the first half of the 20th century, the popularity of Netball began to grow.  Commonwealth countries such as New Zealand and Australia are just two of many who took the sport up. 

Some legends in Netball are: 

• Laura Langman
• Leana de Bruin
• Geva Mentor
• Jhaniele Fowler
• Caitlin Bassett
• Irene van Dyk
• Maria Folau
  

Laura Langman is a New Zealand Netball player who also plays for the Australian Netball league too. She plays the tiring position of centre in the game. She is famous for her amazing stamina in a game, this dates all the way back to to 2005. She is considered one of the fittest Silver Ferns and is the second most capped Netball player in New Zealand's history.

Leana de Bruin is a former South African born Netball player but played out the majority of her career in New Zealand. She played the crucial defense positions of goal keeper and goal defense for over 17 years. She played for New Zealand over 100 times and has played in Netball World Cups from 2003 to 2015. She has also gone to 3 Commonwealth Games and won 2 gold medals at these events as well as a silver medal.

Geva Mentor is a British Netball player standing at over 1.9 metres tall. She is a defender, playing wing defense, goal defense and goal keeper. She has been playing Netball since 2001 and is still playing. She has played for England 146 times and has so far participated in 3 Commonwealth Games, gaining one gold medal and 2 silver ones.

Jhaniele Fowler is a Jamaican born Netball player but has played in the Australian Netball league as well. She clocks in at a jaw-dropping height of 1.98 metres tall, the world's third tallest Netball player in the world. She played for New Zealand for a short period of time and has played for Jamaica 46 times since debuting in 2010. She plays the all important position of goal shooter.

Caitlin Bassett is an Australian Netball player in the top 5 tallest netball players in the world, being 1.96 metres tall. She started her career in 2005 and is still playing for the Australian Diamonds in her position of goal shooter. At the 2011 Netball World Cup she only missed 4 goals throughout the whole tournament (151/155).

Irene van Dyk is a South African born player but played the majority of her career in New Zealand. She is considered the best player of all time, playing goal shooter and goal attack. Her phenomenal accuracy almost never dropped below 90%. She started her career in 1994 in South Africa playing 72 games for the South African team, she stopped playing for South Africa in 1999. The next year she moved to New Zealand and played the rest of her year career here, retiring from netball fully in 2016. She is the most capped international player in the world with 217 games played all together and has gone to 5 Netball World Cups and 4 Commonwealth Games, one of which she was the flag bearer. 

Maria Folau is a Netball player from New Zealand with an unbelievable skill in the shooting circle. She played the positions of goal shooter and goal attack. Her Silver Ferns debut was in 2005 and retired in 2019. She can shoot from anywhere in the shooting circle, which made her a dangerous opponent. She has gone to 4 Netball World Cups and 4 Commonwealth Games, in 2019 winning a World Netball Champion title with the Silver Ferns.

Netball is played professionally in many countries but is also played as a grassroots sport for children or those who aren't in the pro leagues. Netball is played with 7 seven players on each team. Positions played are goal keeper, goal defense, wing defense, centre, wing attack, goal attack and goal shooter. To play a game of Netball you need bibs with all positions for both teams, two umpires (referees), a netball, scorekeepers, a timekeeper, netball court and suitable playing equipment for players.

Netball has evolved a lot since it's discovery over 100 years ago. Netball was played in long, heavy dresses previously and is now played in light, sweat-wicking, shorter dresses. Baskets were used as hoops, there were no boundaries, no lines or circles back then. Netball was also played on grass courts all those many years ago.

Netball has evolved much over the decades, I think it will continue to do so for many more.

Thanks for reading!

Home Economics: Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Hi there! This will be quite literally Home Economics. Today I will be making Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. I am using a recipe from the Chelsea's Sugar website.

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 cups Standard Grade Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2-3 large ripe bananas (mashed)
• 3/4 cups White Sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup Butter (80g), melted
• 150 g dark (or milk) chocolate buttons (you can use chips if you like)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C bake. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.  
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt then set aside.
3. In a large bowl combine the bananas, white sugar, egg, and melted butter. 
4. Fold in the flour mixture and chocolate buttons until only just combined.
5. Spoon evenly into muffin tin and bake 20-25 minutes until muffins spring back when gently pressed.

Tips/Notes:

• When sifting the flour baking powder, baking soda and salt first put half of your measured flour into the sieve. Then put the baking powder, baking soda and salt on top of the first half of flour, then put the second half on top of the baking powder, baking soda and salt.
• When adding sugar to the banana mixture also sift it like the flour, in case there are clumps in the sugar.
• Before adding the melted butter, I put mine in the fridge and covered it with plastic wrap so it would cool quicker, remember to check on it so that it doesn't start to solidify. If the butter is too hot, it'll cook the egg in the banana mixture.
• When combining the banana mixture with the flour mixture add the flour and chocolate buttons in bit by bit, it'll make the mixtures combine faster than adding it in one go. 

My muffins turned out really well and I am very happy with them. They were a hit with my family too! The muffins tasted like bananas and the chocolate buttons provided a pleasant sweet flavour which went really well with the banana. 

The muffins looked like classic homemade muffins as well as having a light and fluffy texture. When pressed, they would spring back to their original shape. They also were easy to bite through.

Here are some photos of my process of making the muffins:

Thanks for reading! 

Lockdown Blog!

Hi there!

Today I will be writing a short summary about what I've been doing during the four week nationwide lock-down due to Covid-19 in New Zealand. 

Before the lock-down, my family and I bought a greenhouse to see if we could grow any vegetables during the lock-down. Boy oh boy! We have a lot of vegetables, we've even got a splendid, blazing yellow chilli plant! I haven't got the courage to try it yet, I'm a bit afraid it'll scorch my mouth.

I have been keeping my fitness up by using an old rowing machine which was hiding in our garage. My dad showed me how to use it and I have been glued to it almost everyday! I really like using it, it's quite a lot of fun to use.

I have also been going on walks with my mum, sister and dog everyday as another effort to keep in shape. When we get back from a walk on the mostly gusty days, we have established a process before going into the house.

Before leaving to go on our walk we fill up a tray with water and soap. The reason for this is so we can dip our shoes in it as an effort to try reduce the chance of germs on the bottom of our shoes when we get back from our trek around the neighbourhood. At first it was a bit weird, still is a bit odd but I have gotten used to it. 

I have also dug into the vast plethora of e-Books from public libraries. I have almost finished a book series with 10 books in about a week's time which is a feat I haven't achieved in a little while. 

After having dinner my family and I will watch some sort of movie or series to finish off our day. 

Thanks for reading!