Crossing the ditch

I am in countdown mode this week, as we're off to Surfers Paradise on Saturday morning. Rich and I have both been struck down with the flu, for which I am thankful, because how often do you hear of people getting sick on their holiday? At least we're getting it now.
So after what seems to have been an exceptionally long and dismal winter, we're super excited about getting our pins out and wearing our jandals again. I have even bought a new nail polish to celebrate. I know. It's called Suzi and the Lifeguard and is an OPI polish. It's a lovely pale pink with a slight shimmer to it.
We also are feeling pretty smirky because we have a Thing where, if we have coins in our pockets/wallets/back of the couch, we put them into a money box. I hauled the contents into the bank today and the sum total will pay for a new fragrance for us both and should stock up the booze cabinet also from Duty Free. I absolutely love Duty Free shops...I know it's only a bit cheaper than normal, and you can probably find better prices online...but there's something about knowing that you're getting a bargain and everything smells delicious and everyone's happy because they're going on holiday. Brilliant. Fragrance-wise, I'm going to get Ange ou Demon by Givenchy, because it's the first perfume in a long time that I've actually been able to single out from the myriad of others on the market these days. Rich is getting Fahrenheit, which I adore. Mmmm.
So while we're in Surfers we're going to visit some theme parks - Rich is DYING for Wet n Wild, but being a lady and terrified of heights, I might need to talk him out of this one. We're going to Dreamworld too, but what I most want to do is lie on the beach in the sun. It was 31 degrees there in the weekend - and 16 here. Ahhhhhhh.
Basil has also been in the wars this week. He's very....licky. Like, his fur is sticky, he's so licky. I sound like Run DMC. So he's off to the vet tomorrow before his trip to Karakakats this weekend. Poor wee button.
Our weekend was lovely. We had drinks at ours with some friends on Friday night. We made the most delicious nibbles platter. It had wasabi peas, pistachios, havarti cheese, pate, grapes, feta dip, rice crackers and normal crackers. We mowed it. We also mowed a heck of a lot of wine. We then toddled off up the road to a very small and casual pizza place where we terrorized the owner into having a wine with us and giving him all sorts of advice on how he should do his pizzas. We were awful. It was great though. Hangover the next day - not so great.
Last week I had a tiny operation.... I had a neuroma in my leg. It's this thing. This big hurty thing. So the doctor cut it out....it looked like a cooked lentil. Amazing that something so tiny could cause me soooo much pain. Anyhoo, I now have 3 stitches on the back of my thigh, and an excuse to get out of doing pretty much anything. The word "stitches" opens a lot of doors. Thankfully, it's not a tumour. Well, probably not.
I bought a pair of jeans yesterday. This is only because I have lost 4kgs. Me and jeans shopping do not have a happy relationship. Because I am apple shaped, and short, I have a battle of a time finding a pair of jeans that fits around my tummy, and doesn't make my ass look like the saggy baggy elephant. But, minus 4kgs and nothing to eat for breakfast = success! 3 inches of hem are being removed as we speak, so I can finally throw away my old pair of jeans that I've had for 3 whole years. Madness.
Summer is on the way here......the entire neighbourhood has caught the gardening bug. All we can hear is leaf blowers. In my day, we used a broom. It seems that spending 2 hours chasing leaves all over the place with a roaring, stinking piece of plastic is what you do in the affluent suburb where we are renting. The neighbours also chopped down an enormous lovely pine tree near to our backyard, where tui and keruru would play. I think it annoyed them because every so often, a pine needle would fall off, and land on their Audi, possibly scratching the paintwork and necessitating in an upgrade to the newer model. Thankfully, the tui have now adopted the puriri tree in our backyard, so we are treated to their beautiful song day in and day out. Luckily Basil only shows interest in sparrows, of which there are billions, because they are smaller than him and have ninety million feathers for him to distribute around our hallway and under the furniture. Richard and I have a pact - I do poos and spews, he does dead things. We both think the other got a better deal.
So, back to our Australia trip. We're planning on doing a lot of eating, drinking, lazing about, and spending of money. We finagled really good costs for tickets, and accommodation, thanks to knowing people in the right places. So we're going to spoil ourselves, because we have both had such a difficult year - not with each other, but money-wise, job-wise, living-wise, it's been rough. Here's to a well-deserved rest and celebration time, and what a way to bring in Summer by getting a tan ahead of everyone else. Yessssssss!

Foot in mouth disease on the rise

So today I am happy, because Richard is back from a week’s travel away with work. Basil and I have enjoyed having the house to ourselves, getting those annoying things done like sorting out the undie drawer and doing all my handwashing – the laundry basket is actually empty for once – but I am getting lonely.
So I’ve put the special bottle of Pol Roger that I got for my 30th in the fridge, and I’m going to make lamb pita pockets on couscous. Super easy and delicious.
In other news, last night I dyed my hair. I went a bit darker than I normally do, because it’s been looking a bit red lately, which I don’t like. When I say darker, I mean black as a raven’s wing. The box said Darkest Brown. It should have said Darkest Brown, if by Brown you mean Black and if by Darkest you mean Mega. Anyway I quite like it as it’s made my hair really shiny, and my eyes look greener. It’s funny how in books people with green eyes are always supposed to be extraordinarily beautiful, or slightly mystical, or in the very least, bitchy. I’ve had green eyes ever since I remember, and only once in my whole entire life has someone commented on their greenness.
So I turn up to work with my new black hair all blow dried and I’m actually wearing proper makeup (boyfriend’s home tonight makeup). Everyone notices my hair. They are all complimentary. Until one of the girls arrives. Whoa. Goth! she says. I stare. It’s really dark! she continues. I continue to stare. I mean, one of my friends dyed her hair that dark, and really hated it.....but.... I cut her off and say well, happy Friday!
I mean honestly. A little thinking before speaking people!

Girl's night in

So this week Rich backed away from me and said, "I've been invited to a boy's night out on Friday...and I've said I'd go," while ducking. I have no idea where he got the idea that I'd be mad if he went out without me. No idea at all.
So I have asked my friend to join me for a girl's night in. We're borrowing my parent's apartment in the city (because my house is just too cold and you can't hang around in PJ's in the COLD!) and we're going to do the following:

• Arrive
• Make fruit platter
• Open champagne
• Drink champagne
• Eat fruit platter
• Get into (horror) togs, robes and slippers
• Avail ourselves of the sauna, spa and lap pool
• Return to room
• Make nibbles platter of crudites, pita bread, dips, chicken kebabs and chorizo
• Eat said platter, washing down with more champagne
• Do face masks, hair masks, pedicures, and manicures
• Watch Twilight (I read the book - the first one - and didn't like it. Another friend of mine who is obsessed with Twilight said I have to watch the movie just to make sure I don't like it. So we are).
• Finish off champers and drink lots of water before going nigh-nighs.

If I were doing this properly, each bullet point would be interspersed with another: Gossip. Because that's what girl's nights in are really all about aren't they?

More Cooking with Moi

Tonight Richard and I are both super excited as it’s that time again. No, not business time...although it is Wednesday....it’s home made hamburgers and wedges night!
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like these, in all their juicy, drippy, crunchy goodness. Ahhhhh.
Here’s how I do it.
Chop up an onion really finely. Or, grate it. Mix with about 500 g mince (we have lots leftover after!). Stir an egg through, and if the mixture is quite dry, bind with some breadcrumbs. Season with salt and peps.
Have some fun with flavourings – Wattie’s Tomato Sauce is my favourite because I am a Kiwi Kid; mixed herbs, BBQ sauce, tobasco, gherkin pieces...the list goes on – experiment!
Shape the patties into fairly large rounds about 3 cm thick. Refrigerate if needed.
Fry on medium heat until juices run clear. Don’t have the pan too hot as they’ll be black on the outside and raw in the middle. Not cool. No matter what I do, my patties always fall apart. I have tried everything. It’s my Waterloo. They look fine once squished into the bun, but I wish you better luck than me.
While they’re cooking, assemble your extras. I like cheese, cheese, and more cheese, along with tinned beetroot. But I bow to nutrition guidelines, and have lettuce, sliced tomatoes, gherkins, and avocado if it’s around.
Lightly grill both ends of the bun, and layer with a sauce of your choice. We like Smoked Hickory, or good old Watties, and a good tangy mustard. Mmmmmmm. Slap it all together, roll your sleeves up, and get stuck in.
Oh yeah – wedges. Slice some nice Agria spuds (or Kumara) into thin wedges. Spray with olive oil and dust some garlic salt or whatever over the top. Bake until nice and golden at about 230 Celsius.
My mouth is watering.

Little Bunny and Mrs Tiggywinkle

My beautiful nieces. I miss them so much! Stella's hair has started to lie down flat, more's the pity. Sigh.