Balloons …… and salmon en croute

Today was the most dreadful day weather-wise.  Parts of the South Island have been declared states of emergency because of disastrous flooding and slips, and hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes.  In Auckland we were lucky to escape with extremely strong winds and torrential rain.  It is my Mum’s 94th birthday tomorrow, so my sister put on a morning tea for her with some of Mum’s grandchildren and great children, which is why I found myself driving on the motorway in the torrential rain. Not nice!  However, Mum enjoyed the fuss and we got there and back safely.  Before returning to her little independent villa, she wanted to go into the main building to make a small purchase, which is where I saw the colourful stack of balloons, which brightened up an extremely gloomy day.  Tonight we cooked Jamie’s Easy Salmon en Croute, which is the other photo in the blip.  There was enough for two nights, which is always good, and it was delicious.