anyresemblance

Sunday stocktake: deadline edition

I've been working all weekend but I am lucky, I have no one to juggle except myself and the dog.  I am feeling bad for my team in Melbourne enduring yet another lockdown.  It's the cumulative effect that is just so wearing for them all whereas I worked out I had been back in the office for nearly 12 months and life is so ... normal ... here.  Just lucky.  

1. Eating: Molly Baz pumpkin ragu with Italian sausage.  Since my old boss gave me his spicy Italian sausage recipe, I make a giant batch and freeze it and haul it out for these kinds of dinners.  If only I could find broccoli rabe in Australia then my life would be complete but somehow that spicy bitter thing does not seem to feature here at all.
2. Making: aforesaid Italian spicy sausage since I am lucky enough to have a grinder attachment for my food processor
3. Watching: Mare of Easttown.  I loved it so much not as a thriller but for lots of weary middle aged women and their beautiful complex relationships.  So so good. Also, starting watching Halson which is good for the clothes and New York street scenes and 70s nostalgia.
4. Listening: to Emma Stone and Craig Gillespie on Soundtracking on the Cruella soundtrack.  I have become au fait with the terms "cue" and "needle drop" listening to this podcast.  Sophie and I went to see Cruella on Bank Holiday Monday and I very much enjoyed the fashion and the soundtrack (even though like most movies, it could have been shorter).  Also, sat in a real cinema eating a choc top.
5. Enjoying: my very effective central heating which is making everything cosy.  The apartment is incredibly well insulated so I have yet to put it on in the morning.
6. Marvelling: that it is already June.  WTAF? wasn't it just Christmas. 
7. Returning: a marvellous pair of navy suede knee high boots that were excruciatingly narrow.  The quest continues.
8. Paying: my tax bill:(
9. Enjoying: the cute little Aussie shepherd pup who has moved into my complex and who LOVES Charlie's ears.
10. Wearing: long sleeved thin merino tops I bought last year in Zara which are super warm.

 

 

 

Sunday stocktake: vaccine edition

1. Rejoicing at having the first vaccine.  Someone at work asked me what I was getting, as if it were a flipping restaurant menu.   Despite the torture in booking an appointment, the actual check in and getting it process was fine.  My arm is sore at the vaccine site but other than that I've been fine.
2. Eating: delicious Ottolenghi chicken with dates.  I went to dinner at someone's house and they had cooked an ottolenghi feast.  The aforesaid chicken, a beautiful rice pilaff with roasted cherry tomatoes, roast carrots with harissa and Brussel sprouts with tahini.  I even overcame my dislike of Brussel sprouts to eat a couple.  I was even inspired to buy another copy of Simple today as the original belonged to the daughter who moved out.  Delightfully, these friends live ten minutes walk away so it was pleasant to walk home after delicious food.
3. Replacing: my glasses.  One pair lost in a taxi, one pair sat on, one pair the arm sheared off as I was sitting on the sofa watching telly.  Then the frames I liked where no longer in stock so I ended up with my less preferred. So flipping annoying when it was all brought on by my carelessness
4. Baking: eclairs.  They were less than perfectly shaped as I had the wrong tip for the piping bag but the pastry turned out good.  I went chocolate mousse for the filling even though coffee is more my vibe but the kid loves chocolate ...
5. Reading: Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka.  It is made for a claustrophic movie thriller and I am racing through it.
6. Watching: Mare of Easttown.  I can not wait for the finale tomorrow.  I have my current theory on the culprit and it's a gut bunch.
7. Listening: new to me podcasts: Winds of Change, Soft Voice, Every Outfit
8. Considering; Having another go at Line of Duty.  I watched about 4 episodes a few years ago but never got into it but everyone raving on it in the UK, and listening to Adrian Dunbar on How to Fail has made me wonder if I need to rethink it
9. Enjoying: Masterchef especially the representation of Asian cuisines
10. Hoping: to score some left over plants from my upstairs neighbour who has decided to re do his balcony plants.

*don't know why this did not post last night

 

Daily bread

No one wants to hear whingeing about work volumes and, frankly, it's no different than it's been for 15 years so why even talk about it?

I've got a new boss who used to be an old colleague but has been somewhere else and risen to stratospheric heights but had a teeny fall from grace and is now back here.  She is actually very straightforward and helpful and will make a difference even though I think she will be tough it will not be unreasonable.

Another person left in a hurry which has us all speculating on that fall from grace.  WhatsApp was humming with rumours.

I worked from home yesterday as it was just too cold to want to get dressed for work and I ended up making wheaten bread in my lunch break.  I used ganching's original recipe from 2010 which I think I prefer to her more recent one.  I did not have pin head oatmeal but just whizzed up some porridge in the food processor which seemed to work just as well.  I also used yoghurt as I didn't have buttermilk and that seemed fine as well.

I also made Marcella Hazan tomato sauce so there was something in the fridge to have with pasta.  Last night I went to my daughter's for dinner and took her half a loaf, the sauce, some frozen bolognaise, a chunk of parmesan, some salad and a frozen chicken breast so she does more than look sadly into her empty fridge.  Despite that we ordered very good pizza and I helped her write a submission for an award.  I was home and in bed by 9 o'clock.

 

 

Sunday Stocktake: Mother's Day Edition

It's Mother's Day here in Australia.

1. Baking: Nigella's rhubarb meringue cake which was a lot less effort that the stupid Black Forest cake and a lot more delicious.  I still managed to over bake the rhubarb but it was delicious just the same.  
2. Enjoying: the continuing mild weather.  I still have not had to put my heating on and am sitting on my balcony writing this at 6pm with only a long sleeved t shirt on.
3. Watching: Masterchef Australia.  I am doing them all on catch up as I disconnect the aerial as it was ruining my aesthetic and I don't have live to air tv in the sitting room anymore.  I don't have a favourite yet.
4. Organising: piano movers... I bought a cane chair a few weeks ago from a guy who turns out to specialise in restoring old pianos so I messaged him yesterday after I bought the piano to ask about moving it.  He offered to do it yesterday afternoon but then turned out to be terrible at communication and it was sooo frustrating but in the end he came through and it arrived this morning.  I met him on the street and my upstairs neighbours were there saying goodbye to their kids.  They looked horrified at the news that a piano had arrived.
5. Listening: to Girl in Red.  I heard her on Song Exploder and loved the episode so much I have her album on heavy repeat.
6. Celebrating: Mother's Day with the gift of some Aesop smelly stuff and a roast chicken lunch.  
7. Thinking: about how I need something to look forward to since my life feels so circumscribed.  
8. Frustrated: at my inability to make a vaccine appointment.  It is infuriatingly opaque in my city.  To book on line required downloading the local health app which will not recognise my medicare number.  Now I am going just join the queue of people on the telephone.
9. Finding: a laptop on the ground on Friday night.  I almost tripped over it walking Charlie down the street.  I put it on the neighbourhood Facebook group and within 2 minutes its owner contacted me.  She had driven out of the car park with it on her roof! Hopefully it is still working.
10. Missing: my family.

 

Piano

I bought a piano.  

I'd been talking to my work friend whose mother used to work in our local piano shop and, in fact, sold my then husband a baby grand that was greater than the budget we had agreed.  I digress as the topic of this conversation was how her piano tuner had told her that the price of second hand pianos had sky rocketed during the pandemic.  Anyway, then I saw this one on marketplace and it looked pleasing and not too expensive.

I messaged both W and my ex-husband for advice.

W: mum says to check the serial number and ask if it has been in storage.

Ex: why don't you get an electronic keyboard and some headphones and spare your neighbours.

Me: do you even understand my aesthetic?

Anyway, the seller didn't contact me for a few days and then she did and I took W to see it this morning who played it and pronounced it a good buy and I paid cash and now I own it.

Except, I have to transport it and man, it is not cheap to move a piano.  Also, I do not play the piano but it is going to look very nice in my house.

 

Bucketing

The weather has done a shift with a band of heavy rain, the first we've had in about 2 months so I think our balmy autumn is gone. I have had a very trying day at work with a lot of loose ends and a late night call tonight and my days at home seem very long gone.  At least, the dog is still perfect.

 

 

Sunday stocktake: penance edition

I've been behind

1. Experiencing: my first flight in a year with a trip to Melbourne staying in a hotel and everything.  I felt like I had forgotten how to pack but it was so great to see some of my team in person for the first time in a year and we had a very productive week. 
2. Enjoying:  a few days off work.  For a hot moment I thought I would have to work through it due to a work deadline but that deadline got extended out a week so I just took the time and did ... not much at all though I put up nearly all my art work, went to the framers to get more stuff fixed, took the dog to the groomers, and walked a lot.
3. Baking: Beatrix Bake's Black Forest Cake.  It was a labour that is for sure.  Day 1 was macerating cherries and making a cherry jelly.  Day 2 was making a creme fraiche chocolate mousse (delicious) and the sponges (a palaver and honestly they did not taste as good as a straight up Victoria sponge) assembling and weighting.  Day 3 was the chocolate glaze by which time I was bored and could not face making the chocolate bark as well.  Day 4 was eating and it was ... nothing special and kind of too chocolatey for me.  Even my chocolate loving daughter declined to take some home with her so think I will take into the office tomorrow and see if I can foist it off on my co workers. Disclaimer: I did not drive two hours to buy sour cherries as they are not even in season and instead bought some expensive Polish jarred ones.
4. Eating: Japanese Peruvian food in a fancy pants new restaurant in my town.  It was very good but the service was on the amateur  side "we have a wine on special... I think it's red ... I don't really like red wine so can't tell you anything about it but I didn't hate it"
5. Reading: Don Winslow's The Force. Phew, it is full on but so, so good.
6. Lending: Sara Paretsky's latest to a woman whose daughter was doing an assignment on crime fiction.  She admired my library and left with the first one (published in 1984) as well.
7. Cooking: chicken tikka masala, rice, carrot salad and onion pakora for dinner.  Lots of leftovers sent home with the kid (see above for cake failure)
8. Selling: an old chest of drawers and rug on marketplace.  With the proceeds I bought a rush woven bench which pleases me greatly.
9. Sipping: Lark Hill Pet Nat, so good 
10. Glorying: in the perfect weather. It is unseasonably mild given this is when I would normally bite the bullet and put my heating on but it has been in the low 20s during the day and only dropping to 7 overnight.  The skies are clear, the moon was amazing and I have loved walking Charlie several times a day.  I have easily averaged 15,000 steps on these days.

 

Sunday stocktake: late edition

1. Listening: the Cookbook Circle which while not the best audio quality is a nice assessment of "classic" cook books and how they stand up in the cooking stakes; also finished Sentimental Garbage SATC episodes which I enjoyed but got really bored of the mutual love fest so am grateful that season is over.
2. Watching: Legally Blonde.  One of kid's oldest friends got admitted as a solicitor this week and there were a LOT of Elle Woods gifs floating around so rewatched and enjoyed it immensely.
3. Baking: red velvet cake from here.  I didn't love the icing last time around but this time I thought it was the bomb.  Charlie somehow got red food colouring on his fur.
4. Cooking: a very small roast chicken for one.  Hands down my favourite meal and now I have stuff for sandwiches, Charlie and Ned get lots of bits and I made stock with the bones.
5. Organising: framing for some prints and stuff I had hanging around.  I was a bit offended when the young guy in the framing shop assumed my Ice Cube photo was for someone else.  "I'm not a regular mom"
6. Buying: chairs for my outdoor table.  Finally.  I got them in Bunnings so they were not too expensive but I still spent ages pondering spending the money.  Even though I had to spend 30 minutes peeling off the packaging tape, they look good.
7. Reading: The Wild Remedy again.  I read it last year but am finding the days quite turbulent at the moment so this is a soothing bed time read.  I'm really noticing the change of seasons, the sounds of bird song, the kangaroo droppings and the quality of the light at the moment and it is all very soothing.  Like many people, I found this interview in the Guardian very moving: "this valley is cut in the shape of my heart."
8. Liking: a visit from an old friend who is going to look after Charlie for a few days.  We sat on the balcony and drank tea and looked at maps and talked about movies.
9. Failing: yet again, to hang the pictures which have been stacked in the hallway for nearly 2 months now. I'm having a week off after Anzac Day and must get it done then
10. Organising: a lock box so I can more easily share the spare key with cleaners, dog sitters etc.  I felt pretty pleased with myself for finally getting that done.

Sunday Stocktake: Nostalgia edition

1. Missing: the streets of Manhattan.  Living in an apartment again, and taking Charlie for several short walks a day, makes me nostalgic for the little routes we would do around midtown, walking blocks through the theatre district to get steps in and seeing theatre goers off for an evening they would remember for months.
2. Wishing: I had a plan to see my siblings.  My sister has a long awaited surgery appointment and I have no idea when I will see her again.  I am grateful for our Sunday evening catch ups where I hear the minutiae of what is emerging for spring in her garden.
3. Eating: delicious food at XO.  It was a last minute booking with my friend who is emerging from convalescence and I was grateful for a 6pm booking (in bed by 9).  We had a to have a set menu which was delicious but still not sure how to eat bok choy with chopsticks
4. Reading: Daisy Jones and the Six which I am finding profoundly irritating.  I listened to an episode about it on Sentimental Garbage so am a bit more motivated to plow through.
5. Wearing: merino wool as the temperature has plummeted.  It was mid twenties on Friday and now it is down to 6.  Winter now a coming.
6. Moving: furniture again.  I think I might have cracked the organisation for now.
7. Coveting:  the B&T book case from here
8. Planning: to go to WA in the winter if I can make the dates measure up to see my niece
9. Regretting: wearing mascara last night.  My eyes have been itchy all day.  I may be down with mascara entirely as it kills me every time I wear it these days
10. Wearing: this top.  It's the one I paid over the odds for but I am getting a lot of wear out of it as my going out top.

 

In haste

I am having a productive day working at home interspersed with a trip to the dental hygienist who is new and will no doubt recommend expensive periodontist work which I will refuse having already spent 10k on that stuff over the past decade.

I had a 7am call with a guy in DC who is mentoring me for something but who was at his mother's house in Mississippi. I really just wanted to type Mississippi.  He was really good and gave me lots of good ideas and it was so nice to speak to someone in another country.

On that, there is some huge piece of gossip about a former colleague which set WhatsApp buzzing yesterday.  It is a nice story, not mean, and it was so nice to connect with people that I worked with and loved working with.  Also, I got more than 40 likes on a twitter reply about something which happened a long time ago but which people found amusing.  Who knew there were so many Gramsci nerds out there?