Life is not like a box of chocolates, its like a carton of eggs

Open up a carton of eggs, any old carton, from any old store, any old brand, of any old size and price.  Take these eggs home and put them in the fridge or on the bench, leave them for a few days and then open the carton up – just a dozen eggs of the sale size, colour, shape, evenness and taste.  Just eggs, same old eggs

Take a community, any old community, from any old town, any county, of any size population, of different economic and social status.  Take this community and put them in the spotlight,  leave them for a few days and then take another look – it is a community of different people with different sizes, shapes, colours, political and social values and views – a community of people that have to share the same town with all of the other people

Not all eggs are the same, we tend to think they are but chickens lay large eggs, oblong eggs, speckled eggs, round and mottled eggs, however we are not always aware of this as we don’t have many choices to make about what sort of eggs we want to buy – oh of course we have choices I hear you say – we can buy caged eggs, battery eggs,  organic eggs, vegetarian eggs and  free range eggs

In a community we all have a similar goal, that of creating a place and a space for ourselves, that of living life to the full and achieving our own personal goals, weather that be having children, starting business’s, having fun, socialising or just enjoying the later years of our lives and taking things a little easier. 

Some eggs hatch to grow and to become the future egg layers of the world, some eggs just want to be part of the 11 other eggs in the carton, the same shape, colour and size  of all the eggs.  Some will go on to be future leaders of the chicken coup and others will be happy to follow.  Others will just pass the time being a chicken.

We live in a country that is the envy of the rest of the world, we live in a town that is one of the best in NZ, with the best climate, best wine, best food, best mountains and beaches – we live how we want to live, we make the choices  and are not dictated to be oppressive governments or  regimes.  We love Marlborough and so does everybody else that comes here and either looks at us or stays with us a while

Open up a carton of eggs, any old carton, from any old store, any old brand, of any old size and price.  Take these eggs home and put them in the fridge or on the bench, leave them for a few days and then open the carton up – if you pick up a eggs and it feels hollow or smells funny, just throw it in the rubbish as it is probably rotten – don’t put it into the compost as it will make it smell and attract feral animals.  If you dont throw the rotten egg out it will make other eggs go bad. 

How to poach an egg using a Wodge -  by Delia Smith (the Queen of eggs)

1. This method is not at all frightening or hazardous, but bear in mind that for successful poaching the eggs have to be really fresh – less than four days old. The key to a well-poached egg is to keep the water at a bare simmer throughout the cooking. Place a suitably sized frying pan over a gentle heat and add enough boiling water from the kettle to fill it to 1 inch (2.5 cm). Keep the heat gentle, and very quickly you will see the merest trace of tiny bubbles beginning to form over the base of the pan.

 2. Now carefully break the eggs, one at a time, into the water and let them barely simmer, without covering, for just 1 minute. A timer is essential here because you cannot guess how long 1 minute is.

3. After that, remove the pan from the heat and let the eggs sit calmly and happily in the hot water, this time setting the timer for 10 minutes. This timing will give perfect results for a beautifully translucent, perfectly set white and a soft, creamy yolk

 4. Now remove each egg by lifting it out of the water with a draining spoon and then letting the spoon rest for a few seconds on a wodge of kitchen paper, which will absorb the excess water. As you remove the eggs, serve them straight away with hot buttered toast