anyresemblance

Gang Gang

So excited to see some happy little Gang Gangs in the tree on my walk this morning, giving the sulphur crested a good talking to. I needed to breathe fresh air and walk fast after watching the distressing footage of the abuse of kids in custody on Four Corners last night.  The incarceration rates of aboriginal kids makes me ashamed.

The Antiques Roadshow

Although my suburb has a good sprinkling of old cottages and their original inhabitants and rather too many  trophy homes (courtesy of buying up the former, knocking them down and building the latter) it also has some gracious old money homes.  I like numbers 1 and 3.  

On Saturday, I walked up a street with many of the embassies and older homes where there was an advertised house contents auction.  The flyer in our mailbox promised aboriginal art, european art (including a Chagall and a Picasso), a mercedes and a signed photograph of Sandra Bullock (say what?)  There were about 500 lots and it went at a cracking pace. I didn't really think I was going to snap up a Matisse (yes, there was one of those two) but I was too slow for a diamond ring that went for less than $400 and some chains that I reckon I could have sold for the gold.  The people watching was superior.  Many, many dealers who displayed camaraderie, disappointed rubes like me who assumed we might get a bargain and some gifted amateurs.  I mused on why a family had not taken some of these astonishing items (wouldn't you at least have a niece or nephew who took the Picasso?)  The house was on a huge block but surprisingly modest inside.  I hope the deceased had an interesting life acquiring these things.

Other things I did was make orange ice cream (bad), pumpkin ravioli (fantastic) and watch 3 episodes of GoT (meh).  I was glad to do a long walk with charlie on Saturday morning when it was sunny and cold and then turned grey, bleak and cold.  Winter may be half way through but it still has a long way to go.

Unbound

I'm meeting an old friend tomorrow who I have not seen in more than a decade who messaged me something cryptic.  

Me: I had to google Michael Fassbender reference

Friend: I'm surprised you don't know who Michael Fassbender is?

Me: (tetchy) I KNOW who Fassbender is, I just haven't seen Prometheus

Friend: blah blah Ridley Scott blah blah

Me: I've stopped listening now

The subjunctive

Not only does she send messages that show how much she gets me, but she correctly uses the subjunctive.  

A rather dull account

That was a failed weekend of mobile blogging as now I can't even get the blogger app to post photos.  Whatevs.

I failed to finish something at work on Friday so, even though I did not work on it at the weekend, its shadow cast a pall, and I have to get it done today.  In better news, my boss being in the Japan timeframe this week means we can exchange thoughts on a number of things without the overnight delay we typically manage with.

In better news, I rewatched season 1 of The Blacklist with the youngest - her first introduction to James Spader and highly satisfactory (discovering season 3 now on netflix which I will watch alone.) In the kitchen, I successfully cooked duck breasts with chinese five spice which I have only recently discovered transforms all fowl into something delicious and made banana bread with some squishy bananas from my failsafe recipe from my namesake who instagrams and face books but is another long time non blogger:(

I exchanged a couple of texts with my team member but in Turkey on Saturday morning as the coup was unfolding.  Sadly, his analysis of the situation appears spot on.

I tidied up the sun rooms whose shelves have become a junk repository and made two trips to Ikea (I reckon I get in 1000 steps trudging its halls every weekend) where I bought a potted fake sage.  I had found an ants nest while I was washing down the shelves (I disposed of them) and did not quite want to put a nice fresh plant there for them to colonise.  I was surprised at myself but quite like it in its like 99c zinc bucket.  The sun room is way too hot in summer but very pleasant on a winter's afternoon.  I also bought a sisal rug to go under my desk but it's the wrong size hence the second trip.

I also did a long promised visit to the zoo with my kid.  As the crow flies it is about 3km from our house and on clear icy mornings you can sometimes hear the lions roaring coming across the lake.  One of my oldest kid's friends is a keeper there and she has the best snapchat, especially of red panda cubs.  They are always my favourites, closely followed by the snow leopards.

Along with 4 walks of differing lengths, that was it.

Reading: The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks and Shanghai Moon by SJ Rozan

TFW

... your boss tells she only has two slots to catch up, one of which is Thursday 5.30am or Friday 6am and you already have a 6am on Friday so you bite the bullet and schedule it for 5.30 and drag yourself out of bed at 5am and make tea and turn the heating on and dial in and wait and wait and she does not show.  And you get a little bit annoyed.  And then you go to reschedule to Friday to fit in with the other option because you really need to talk to her before she goes to Japan for a week.  And you realise you forgot to add her in the calendar invite.  That.

Here's a picture of Charlie to cheer you up.  It cheered me up.

3D printing

My friends in Strathalbyn, SA, live in a beautiful Victorian house with associated old fixtures and fittings.  The husband, who has the air of a distracted genius, was very excited to discover he could get a replacement spindle for a door lock reproduced in plastic via 3d printing.  The cat would like you to note she was born the old school way and just likes sitting on the printer as it fits her shape and is often a source of radiant heat.  I, on the other hand, dislike having to explain away repairs required because of a surfeit of animal hair in the mechanisms.  I am trying to find a way to hide that printer.  Best bet is that I stick it in a cupboard as there is no disguising its bulk.  I then need to cut a small hole in the back of the cupboard to feed out the cable.

It is snowing here today! Snowing! Never in 20 years have I seen it snow in the city but there you go.  The kid was so excited "best day ever" she texted me from work this morning.  There is a guy here sanding a bench top and he told me it actually snows a fair amount in winter but only at night and never sits.  It was also extraordinarily windy and I was glad that the car port roof survived as at one stage last night it sounded like a giant was tearing it apart.

 

Round the twist

I swear I can't keep up with UK politics.  What kind of world is it when you feel relieved that a "normal" Tory is in charge? Ugh.  I was joking that every word we played in WWF was like some portent of doom.  I did not sleep well last night and woke at midnight to see Angela LeadBalloon had withdrawn from the contest.  Seriously, should not check the BBC headlines on my phone.  Of course, then I had the remainder of the night with low level anxious dreams included someone telling me they were resigning with immediate effect.  Was relieved to wake up and find that was not true.

Back to work was tolerable.  I joined the 6am call this morning to discover the sky is now green and the grass is blue but am fully confident it may change by the end of the week.  A bit like UK politics, I suppose.

 

Order restored

I bought this ring in Singapore more than a decade ago.  I lost one of the stones (they are tourmalines) and it was sitting unworn in my jewellery box.  My former husband bought me a beautiful grey pearl bracelet for a significant birthday and I had broken it on a plane - fortunately, I rescued all the pearls - and I took it in to be restrung.  On the off chance, I took the ring and they happened to have a stone which fitted the ring perfectly.  So I have two extra things to wear - which makes up for the two pairs of earrings and pendant I have mislaid and have sinking feeling I left in a hotel in Austin:( I've also had a manicure since this photo but nothing can make up for the wrinkled hands (testament to never wearing rubber clothes or hand cream.)

I never underestimate how much an orderly life contributes to my mental well being.  That's not to say that I don't leave clothes strewn across a chair in a bedroom when I go to bed, but I could never last to the next night without hanging them up. It drives me nuts when the kids leave car keys, headphones, books and detritus on the hallway table and I am constantly shoving stuff in drawers to declutter (with the consequent wails of "where are my ..." "have you looked in the drawer?....")

So it was, that it was impossible for me to return to work this morning (i.e., go and open my work email at the desk) without filing all the papers and tidying all the bits and pieces.  I realise the 8 or so desk drawers around the house are fast being stuffed with stuff that should really go in the bin but that can be next weekend's task.

I made white chocolate pannacotta on Saturday but judged it a failure as it was way too solid and without the delicious wobbliness I was looking for.  The recipe called for 3 sheets of gelatine which I suspect was 2 sheets too many.  Chalk it up to experience.

Yesterday I made a rare lunch with my friend, P.  Her kids and husband had gone down to the coast but she had a couple of days of urgent work so would not join them until Tuesday night.  We went here which was a lovely setting but the food was a) over priced b) suffered from under trained staff, e.g., Me: can you tell me how the beef is prepared? (one of those cryptic menus in which it is described as Angus Beef; Leeks: Jus) Waitress: sort of rare Me, trying again: what cut of beef is it? Waitress: it's kind of rectangular   I admitted defeat.  The desserts were pretty inspired and the setting was nice and it was good to have a lengthy chat but I would not be putting it on any must go back list.  It is conveniently located to Ikea so I went for a wander after and pondered the Hemnes sofa table yet again...

Come-bye

I saw this on a wall on my walk last night.  We did a walk round the back streets as it was already dusk - it's not that I mind the woodland walk at dusk but there are so many kangaroos it's hard to control the hound and I didn't have time for him to go awol. I don't encourage chasing the kangaroos but the bounding is so tempting. They are way faster than even a fast border collie but it's not good to stress them with dogs.

He got his fill of herding on Friday at his sheep dog practice.  The farmer says he's a natural (proud dog owner moment) but since he nor I have no intention of ending up on a sheep farm, this is for brain stimulation.  

I enjoyed a Saturday of tasks: waiting for the handyman  to fix up the curtain pole (yes, I could have done it myself but it would have required buying a masonry bit, charging the drill, borrowing a step ladder, finding the spirit level); discovering pole was too short (if the dog didn't go into a frenzy of panic every time the tape measure came out maybe I would have measured correctly); taking the pole back to Bunnings; discovering there was no longer one in Bunnings; getting my  money back; driving out to Ikea (getting decent coffee at Ona first); discovering Hemnes is 30% on sale and wondering if I should get the sofa table.... Handyman coming back on Tuesday when he will also fix the sliding door and the toilet seat that keeps slipping off (pleased to discover this is not my ineptitude but stripped thread on the wing nuts.)

Then the kid and I went to the movies to see Central Intelligence (The Rock, my not-so-secret guilty pleasure) and coming home to watching the Coroner which we had recorded (was there ever worse acting that in that show?)

The oldest one is still house sitting in the country but had a night on the town last night so came back here to sleep.  That meant I had to drive her out there early this morning as she suddenly discovered she had an early shift and all her work clothes (and car) were there.  I didn't mind as we got 30 minutes catch up in the car and I got 30 minutes to listen to the latest John Connolly.  I read one of his books and did not care for the gothic flavour but I find I concentrate much more on the poetry of the language when I listen to them rather than read them.  I am also reading a Gillian Slovo which I am disliking - it feels stale and repetitive - and a SJ Rozan which I am loving.

Today is the last day of my leave so I need to maximise my idleness.