window

I forgot but last week the ancient air-conditioner got transformed into this…….

window
I love how it matches the painting B gave me for Christmas a couple of years back. It was so meant to be.

painting by Vicki Langham

7 days in review

Under a haze of sleep deprivation all I can remember of the week is that our Chinese guests have returned to their homeland, and we have almost caught up on our sleep. The last night of their stay really hit us for six, Celia and Linda went to bed late, as there was the whole reweighing of bags thing to be done, redistributing items, and reweighing…..

The last night did not go quite as planned I was losing my patience due to a lack of sleep from the day before (1.20am bedtime on a “school night”) and Friday night we were repeating the whole exercise again when we had a 4.30am start the next day to get the girls to the drop-off point by 5.15am for the coach to the airport.

We had planned to take the girls out for coffee on their last night but, Celia, who could be a bit bossy informed us that she didn’t like coffee. Tea?? NO. Hot milk, soft drink?? No?? Well OK, then...we won’t go. B had started to quietly remind me how many hours we had to go, when he could see I was about to explode. So when they got up at 3am (an hour and a half earlier than planned), I was so pleased I had less than 2 hours to go (because I had to work that Saturday, B was taking them to the coach so I could get a bit of extra sleep). I do have a good husband, although I was so awake by the time they left I got up anyway and started the stripping of beds and washing of sheets and towels. Crazy, crazy, crazy… as I was shattered by early afternoon and we had B’s brothers birthday dinner to go to, which thank goodness was held at his mum’s because I was the one snoring on the coach at 8.30pm.

Sunday, we went to a street fair at Fivedock, before attending my Nan’s 87th birthday celebrations.

Five Dock street fair

fruit and vegetable art

vege art
At the street fair we discovered Embellish Jewels and I was thoroughly spoilt with two necklaces and a bracelet. Both necklaces are long, lariat style, one of pink dyed pearls, garnets, and with pink tassels, the other black onyx, red coral, carved turquoise, and black tassels. The bracelet is plain in comparison, being a navy crystal, but I just liked it.

Nan’s birthday celebrations were great, she liked the scarf very much. I think it was also the only non-cat related gift she got. The whole cat related gifts because she was given a cat (Yvette), she didn’t want a kitten, for her birthday.

birthday present cat
Due to the earlier sleep deprivation, the working week was spent counting down the days to the weekend. It could have been more interesting as I was invited to a preview as well as the opening night of an exhibition of my most favourite artist, Kerrie Lester. But alas I was too tired to make the trek to the other side of Sydney after work on Tuesday, and not really having the money, although I had promised myself this time to get a (small) painting.

the goode huswife

tonight Celia commented in response to B complimenting dinner which, both she and Linda had cooked, that she thought that she was a very good cook and also wife, as she cooked dinner for her husband every night. Ohhhh, should I then feel that I am a bad wife? I am actually not sure whether this was directed at me or not, anyway I choose not to take offence. I am lucky to have such a great husband who likes (and is good at) cooking.

It reminded me of an American reproduction cross stitch sampler pattern I bought a couple of years back from one of the craft shows 'one seed for another' by 'the goode huswife' the saying on the sampler being
" the goode huswives in summer will save their own seeds against the next yere - as occassion needs.
One seed for another - to make an exchange with fellowlie neighbourhood seemeth not strange."

Whatever the last bit is supposed to mean, I may even do this one next if I ever finish L'ete.

seven dozen eggs

we are less than 48 hours from saying goodbye to our guests, it has been a great experience albeit a lot more work than we both anticipated; getting meals, downloading photos, and a few too many late nights. Tonight also looks to be no different, there is a lot of packing going on, and weighing and reweighing of bags. I am amazed that the pallets of lanolin, boxes of perfume, and truckload of tacky stuffed koalas and kangaroos (made in China) seem to be fitting into their bags.

I will also be more than happy if I do not see an egg for a while. I did a rough stocktake today of how many eggs have been consumed by the girls and was shocked. In the last three and a half weeks, they have consumed seven dozen eggs, B and I have consumed possibly 2 eggs in the same timeframe. The girls have eggs for breakfast, use them in the cooking ~ to bind the pork meatballs, but also add them to soup.

I have tried the soup a couple of times but didn't really like it, it was a bit too watery and the egg which they whip up and then stir into the soup (looks a bit like noodles in the soup) doesn't add anything to the flavour so I don't really see the point.

procrastination day one, two, & three

Day one ~ I have three days off work, the purpose of which is not to wash the windows which I finished doing at 9am, nor is it to weed the garden (3 weeding sessions of at least 30 minutes duration carried out by 2.30pm), watch Judge Judy (3-3.30pm), do some knitting, update the blog, peruse ebay, or check the mailbox.

Day two ~ repeat of day one with the exception of window washing, although I was tempted as the enviro gloves for window washing (only use water) have left water drop marks all over the windows, and it is irritating me.

The other exception, a purchase made on ebay, a bulk lot of hippeastrum bulbs.

Day three ~ repeat of day two with the exception of an ebay purchase although there is still time in the day, and the other exception of dropping B off to pick up his car, got and getting (very) irritated with him for interrupting my assignment time, the reason I am home for 3 days.

chinese cooking lesson

we learnt to make pork and chive dumplings last night. They were relatively easy, very messy, and most importantly delicious.

dumpling preparation

There was lots of chopping, and apparantly we didn't have a big enough knife.

dumpling preparation II

Eventually, the chinese cabbage, chives, spring onions and pork mince concoction were ready for the production line to commence.

dumpling preparation III

We had an endless number of trays lined up ready for boiling, enough to feed a chinese army, let alone 4 people.

finished product

They were so delicious we ate more than we should, which B and I regretted, although me more so I think, because of one tiny but powerful ingredient ~ MSG. Although I had two tall tumblers of water with dinner. I had 1.5L of water immediately after dinner which made me feel extremely bloated and didn't seem to quench my thirst.

Sauces to accompany the dumplings included Hot Chilli Sauce, Malt Vinegar, Malt Vinegar and Sesame Oil, and Soy Sauce.

our nations capital

it has been a long week. A good week, but a long week nonetheless. 48 hours was spent in Canberra, spread over 3 days, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for work. It was a suprisingly easy drive there from the office and back to the office on Wednesday, where I worked until 7pm. Madness! and will explain why I am so tried and crabby today, I guess, it might also have something to do with the late nights this week.

Enough whinging, I had a great 48 hours in Canberra, the drive down saw me accomplish a fair bit of knitting of the new scarf (not sure what my Manager thought of that one). And dinner on the first night with the participants of the Alliance was pretty sensational. We went to a restaurant called Benchmark, which is a short walk from the hotel. I dined on the pan fried western australian goat's cheese with semi dried tomatoes and an oregano balsamic syrup as an entree, frenched lamb rack with paris mash and forest berries finished with a rosemary jus for my main, and then super indulged by having the rhubarb and apple crumble with cinnamon and rosewater ice cream for desert. Each dish was served with a specially matched glass of wine. I slept really well that night.

On Tuesday night, I was lucky enough to have dinner with Uncle R, Auntie B and Cousin M1. Uncle R was kind enough to collect me from the hotel, I was too chicken to borrow the Managers car and drive myself as I have the uncanny knack when in Canberra of getting lost. I get disoriented at the best of times, so add in a circular grid pattern kind of development, and well forget it. Anyway, I thought the dinner the night before was great, but my Auntie B cooked a sensational 3 course meal; kumera and peanut soup, tasmanian salmon accompanied by steamed veges and a salad that had almonds in it, and a sticky date pudding (the whole thing made from scratch, yes even the sauce). Following dinner we had coffee and more Auntie B delights (dried apricots and fresh strawberries dipped in chocolate) at M1's new abode. Great food and company, it was a lovely evening. I am very fortunate to have such a warm and welcoming extended family.

wedding guest dash

yesterday we celebrated friends Si and R's wedding, although we almost missed the ceremony. Somehow we had it in our minds that the ceremony commenced at 3pm, when it was actually 2pm. We discovered our misconception at 12.30pm just before tucking into lunch. We left our house at 1.44pm sure we would be dashing in late. Lucky for us, we discovered to our suprise that we are only 6 minutes from the Auburn Botanic Gardens and were lucky enough to get an immediate carpark, arriving just before the brides official arrival (apparently she was half an hour early and had done a few laps of the block prior).

It was a beautiful day, and a very moving ceremony, in lovely surrounds. The geese were well behaved, and no one disgraced themselves by falling in the reflection pond.

We managed a cup of tea back home in between the ceremony and reception, and more importantly wrapping of the present.

Lotsa luv and good luck you two..... may the dance continue for the rest of your lives.

scarfing maddness

BH&G May 2006 SCARF

In the May 2006 copy of Better Homes and Gardens, I came across this scarf, it said it was for beginners and looked pretty impressive, I was inspired. My relatively recent trip to Albury and surrounds, Beechworth to be exact, and The Ardant Alpaca was the final motivation. They had the balls of 4ply Alpaca and it was soooo soft, and the shop so inspirational, the scarf felt all but done....

A review of the archives puts the purchase of the wool towards the end of May, so the production of the scarf has been approximately 8 weeks. 6 weeks was a fairly solid effort with a couple of weeks away from this project due to my grandmother being in hospital. The scarf is actually for my grandmother for her birthday which is in a couple of weeks, and given she has been so sick I was beginning to wonder if I would have the opportunity to give it to her. Now that she is on the mend though I was remotivated, and ta da!

scarf model

enough already

The scarf is finished, complete with embellishments. It is not quite like the one in the magazine, it is longer, and has a few mistakes. The mistakes bother me a bit but the pattern wasn't as easy as I expected a beginner patter to be. If I lost concentration I couldn't remember what order of passing over, slipping stiches, forwarding and goodness what else was required for the end product to look like lace. There was many an expletive made, family disharmony, throwing down of knitting needles, and unravelling that took place before we even finished the first ball of wool. So much so that the first ball required B's assistance to unroll and reroll so that I could start from the other end, as the wool had become fuzzy. But if I do say so about myself, I am determined/pig headed, although when it came to picking up the needles this last week to finish the scarf, I once again stuffed up the pattern and rather than persist, as the scarf was longer than the patterns prescribed length, undid the stitches slowly the couple of rows I had just done and immediately cast off. So pleased with the finished product, I have decided to have a go at this one, from Notebook.

patons scarf Notebook Magazine August issue

I really like the colour of the wool, however, Spotlight didn't have that colour and as I couldn't be bothered in trawling the stores, I have this wool instead.

next project

cultural exchange update

our guests shopping list goes something like this: opals, pearls, lanolin, leather belt, and must be australian made. Opals no problem. Pearls, well the pearls they want them cheap and cheap pearls they come from China. Lanolin, seems to be made in the UK, although a trip to Westfield and a tourist shop and we finally sorted that one. Leather belts, the tip is the Myer, Reserve brand, otherwise its the Aussie favourite Made in China.

Their tourist must sees, the harbour bridge & sydney opera house being the hottest spots, followed by the QVB, darling harbour, art gallery, Hyde Park, Bondi Beach, and Royal Botanic Gardens.

Their expanding vocabulary: brussel sprouts, zucchini, spaghetti, bloody hell, chinese laundry, hairdryer, powerboard, blah blah blah,

Our expanding vocabulary: Way, ne home r = Hello, how are you. Doaye = Yes. Boo = No. Jol sun = goodmorning. Sek Fan = dinner is ready. Zoo sian = thank you. The Disclaimer being that I have spelt "phonetically" and even still much laughter ensues pronunciation.