It's been one of those days.  Grey and damp outside and grey and damp inside too.  Poor CNN had to mark exams from nine to three and as for me, I don't know.  There were tears in the supermarket yesterday (we were having people over for dinner and I had convinced myself they didn't like me) - the slipping of summer into autumn and then winter is not a change I handle well.

We had a two hour window between CNN finishing his schoolwork and the start of the Formula 1 (critical, I know).  A walk to the shops to get supplies for dinner was about the grandest plan we could muster, so off we went.  Each wanted to spend time with the other but we ended up in a bit of a grump.

We're all good now, especially with my realisation that words are not always the answer (which seems like a very silly thing to write in blog which is a word-driven medium).  This is a hard truth for someone who has fallen as passionately for language as I have, but cuddles, kisses on temples and just being together are some of the sweetest words I know.

two saturdays

Did I tell you that CNN is going camping with work?  He is leaving early Sunday morning and will be back next Friday evening.  He is not looking forward to 'going bush' for five nights, I am not looking forward to being lonesome for five nights (I know it sounds pathetic, but if CNN was doing such a trip in London, I would have friends to keep me company) and we are not looking forward to being incommunicado five nights.  For reasons that I don't fully understand, mobile phones are forbidden on this trip - even for the teachers.

As camping novices, Saturday was spent procuring items on the extensive list provided by the school.  Afterwards, we found we were (shock horror) too tired to go to Mardi Gras.  All's well that ends well  though (look, ma - another Shakespearian quotation!), as we were invited to dinner at a friend's house.  Vegetable and lentil soup, red wine, lovely company and a game of Taboo later (please note, Taboo is much less risqué than the name suggests - the English version of the game is known as Articulate) and we were back home, ready for beddy.

All this is an elaborate way of apologising for the lack of pretty pictures from last weekend.  Luckily, my inability to post nearer to the time of the event means I have photographs from the weekend before that I have yet to show you.

here we are
arriving on cockatoo island
isn't the ferry building beautiful?
(please note all the people ahead of us)

Everyone's patience as I photographed the building meant that we were pretty much the last from our ferry to reach the Island Bar.  It was (those of you with a delicatee disposition might wish to look away as I am about to use an unpleasant word) a shit-fight at the bar and I think we were all having second thoughts about being there.  I know I was, particularly as I had proposed going in the first place.  Needless to say, things improved when we found our own patch of grass (all the deck chairs were taken) and realised that we just needed to time our bar runs to avoid the influx from the incoming ferry!

many thanks to
the lovely melinda
for helping us
take this picture

leaving cockatoo island
i also have some photos of sydney harbour
(the opera house and the harbour bridge, etc.)
but sadly they are all low-quality camera shots

okay, i guess i did have a photo of the harbour bridge to show you
this must have been taken on the ferry
but i have no recollection of taking it
this is what two margharitas and glass of wine will do to a girl

catching up is hard to do, part two - walking

It is appalling that I am only writing the second part of my catch up when part one was written a month ago.  A plague on me and both my houses!  (Apologies to all for bastardising Shakespeare; also, CNN and I do not have two homes, but my mamee's house is always my house, right?).

It might come as a surprise to some of you, but CNN and I love walking - specifically, urban walking.  Give us a map and something interesting to see

like this deliberately ambiguous couple
in the gay quarter in brussels
it's on the comic book/street art walk
can you see the rubbish bin pretending to be a beer?

and we'll be off.  When we were in London, we were big fans of the Capital Ring, a circular walk around the city.  It takes you through hidden parts of the city very few people see - wicked graffiti, disused railway lines and leafy parks.  We only got serious about the loop the summer before we left and didn't finish - though walking from Hendon to Falconwood isn't too shabby.  Londoners, do it now!  You won't regret it.

if you go in late summer
you might get to pick blackberries
though i hope you are careful
and come away without scratches

i was very proud
(and very sweaty, sorry)
i was also looking forward
to cooking up tasty treats



me, in the woolwich tunnel
underneath the thames
(it was cold and damp and pee-smelling
but still kinda cool)



So CNN and I decided to find a substitute for the Capital Ring right here in Sydney.  We knew about the Bondi to Bronte walk - but did you know you can walk from Clovelly to Cronulla? (when I say Cronulla in my head, I like to do it with my best, most nasal Australian accent - I don't know why but it amuses me.  Maybe because of all the different vowel sounds?  I am sorry if this is rude or offensive but I can't help my thoughts)  Now this is a size of challenge more in keeping with our excellent striding skills!

So, nearly six weeks ago now, CNN and I walked from Coogee to Maroubra.

my apologies for my unusual stance
CNN has decreed that we must
have interesting poses in all future photos
but aren't the colours of the seagrasses pretty?

this bit was my favourite
clambering over rock pools
peering at scuttling crabs
you can't cross this section at high tide

ignoring my silly husband
the jogger in the distance
crossed the rocks in two minutes flat
it took us about ten

So now you are all caught up with our adventures.  We'll complete another stretch of the walk when the weather cools down.

take four ingredients

 

This is my wee contribution to all those posts I'm seeing featuring tasty things: last night's dinner.  It's one of the easiest and tastiest meals I know and it's pretty healthy too!

Ingredients:

• sweet potatoes
• feta
• chilli
• lime

Instructions:

1. Put the sweet potatoes in the oven at 200 Celsius/centigrade
2. Chop chillies
3. Crumble feta into a bowl
4. Add chillies
5. Squeeze in lime juice (I only used half)
6. Stir and leave so the flavours can make friends
7. Serve when sweet potatoes are ready (this is the only downside to the recipe, sweet potatoes take f-o-r-e-v-e-r to bake)

i thought it was funny
how i've been quite anal
and sliced my sweet potato into quarters
whilst CNN's is just a mess

It might look spicy, but it's not.  The creaminess of the cheese really melds with the chilli to take the heat off, not to mention the sweet potato underneath.

This recipe was given to me by Helen.  We taught English together in London.  Helen is a knitter, a former ballet dancer, a mother and grandmother and all-round incredible woman.  We didn't keep in touch after I left teaching but I do miss her.

I love the stories that food can tell.

a second beginning

A rainy Sydney Saturday - English teacher detritus, steaming Chinese tea and gerberas from my husband

You've Got Mail was on TV this evening.  Now, either CNN loves me very much or he is developing a taste for romcoms because he prioritised watching it over watching the Indigenous All Stars vs. NRL All Stars rugby league game.  I'm hoping for both although there were some disparaging comments when we reached the grand finale of the film.

I'm sorry I haven't been the best of bloggers.  The job interview I was meant to go to last Tuesday was cancelled.  Not only was it cancelled, it was cancelled the day before the interview via email.  Isn't that rude?  I'm over it now, but I have to admit I did spend most of last week in my bednest, reading.  I highly, highly recommend The Thousand of Autumns of Jacob de Zoet.  No mindfucks but a writer at the peak of his powers (I'm sorry I just used such a clichéd term, but it's true).  We also ate an abundance of Chinese food because it was Chinese New Year (Happy Year of the Rabbit, everyone!), but also because I thought New Year's fell on the Wednesday when it was actually on Thursday.  So we celebrated twice - no harm in that, right?  (Please can those of you who are super au fait with Chinese traditions hold your tongues if it is really unlucky to celebrate twice?)

On the weekend, our house was filled with boys.  CNN is part of a sports tipping competition called the ASS which stands for the Armchair Sportsman's Shield (there is an actual shield).  They held the 2010 presentation last weekend and I really enjoyed spending time with the opposite gender.  I haven't had many friends who are boys thus far in my life but I am open to this changing.  In fact, I am generally open to making friends in Sydney so if you see me, wave and smile and I promise to do the same back.  The other good thing that happened last weekend is that I decided on a church.  There were two that I really liked but I came to a decision after talking it over with CNN (which seems like an odd thing to do because he's agnostic but is one of the reasons why I love my husband).

This week I have been a busy bee, applying for jobs, looking after my buddy as the combination of new school and big weekend has lumbered him with a cold, and cleaning up the house after the ASS weekend.  As CNN is now the primary breadwinner, we are currently operating a 1950s marriage (although CNN is still responsible for cleaning the bathrooms and windows in a chore trade-off made whilst we were still in London).

In weather news, which I feel I must mention (is this a hangover from having lived in England for so long?) this week has been cool and grey - a big contrast from the superhot weather we had last week.

And finally, something exciting from two weekends ago...

We have furniture!  Unpacking our books made our little flat feel even more like home.  CNN and I spent a very enjoyable and very geeky afternoon figuring out how we were going to catergorise and store our books - our English and teaching degrees had a field day!

I'm sorry I've been a bad blogger.  Pinky promise I'll be better if you promise to continue reading?