Results matching “Spring”

Bookended

So spent the beginning and the end of the weekend swimming with EffanC.

Friday night was a club swim night at a private indoor pool. Which should be nice in winter. Except. The room has terrible acoustics, which meant it got very loud with not many people. And then people started pegging balls at each other which made it all kinds of tedious. But then some people left and it quieted down which made it nicer. Went back to EffanC's and we had some wine and cheese and watched Peter Jackson's Braindead, which apparently used the most fake blood in a movie ever. But the horror was all so cheesy and fake that it didn't bother me. Then a couple of episodes of The Katering Show which was hilarious.

Saturday was very quiet, just housework and painting and tv.

Sunday we did some food shopping and then more of the same. In the evening we met up with EffanC for dinner. We were going to go to Kinh Do, but it was booked out, so ended up at Chong Co.

Then back to our place for a chilly swim.

Citizenfour

Last Wednesday night, we went out for dinner with EffanC (to Kinh Do - lots of really yummy food).

Then we headed into Civic to see Citizenfour.

I thought it was very interesting and thought-provoking, although I did get distracted from time to time by the whole film making process.

My dad used to lose it at governments doing that sort of stuff. He was completely paranoid, hated the idea of "big brother" and even raged at having to do the census. But, probably because he was like that, I feel a lot less paranoid. Maybe because I feel like I have such a boring life that why would anyone *care*? Probably not the right attitude, but I suppose it's one of the lesser likely things to keep me awake at night.

And, relatedly, it was just that same morning that I was doing some testing of our proxies (Simon says!) to see what is logged during image searches, and what images are returned from sites that are blocked. It seems the image searches return images from Google rather than from the blocked site itself, means that things can show up that shouldn't.

So for anyone watching, that image search I did on "weapons making" was just for testing!

So this was dinner at Kinh Do

And this was the bar at the theatre

Clubbing

Headed out to the club first thing yesterday. That is, we didn't leave til after 10am and with a shopping trip didn't arrive til nearly midday. Had a bit of lunch and then the sweetie went to work on his essay, and I went up to the kitchen to help prepare dinner.

Yup.

Several of us spent the entire afternoon prepping veggies while others cooked. We cut up ten kilos of potatoes, half a sack of onions, a kilo of garlic (garlic oil *hurts*, who knew?), thirty cucumbers, half a box of bullhorn peppers, lots of zucchinis, several large bunches of spring onions, several large bunches of bok choi, a couple of huge pots full of cabbage, a bowl of ginger, a huge bowl worth of mini egg plants. And that was just the veggies. There was also probably 10L worth of fried rice, fifty drumsticks, fifty chicken wings and a *mountain* of pork.

All to feed forty people.

Yup.

As you can imagine, there was a lot of leftovers. And I mean *a lot*. We could have easily fed another hundred people with the leftovers. In fact most of it (including at least three quarters of the garlic (which *hurts*)) wasn't even cooked up. The whole thing offended me actually. There was so much left over there wasn't the fridge space to store it. Although I did make a valiant effort at it before bed.

But the food that we did manage to eat was really good, and after dinner R&L put on some music and a whole bunch of us danced for ages which was heaps of fun. Mostly sixties and seventies music, with a couple of Adele and Kylie songs heh.

This morning I woke up early stressing about all the food and whether it would all go to waste.

Went with EffanC to Bungendore for a light breakfast, then came back with lots of freezer bags and bagged up all the veggies for people to take home. I made a cabbage bake for dinner tonight which was evil but good, and used up some old cream and bacon that was in the house.

Other than that it was just painting and watching Veronica Mars and dad's documentaries.

I think I need a weekend to recover from my weekend.

And my fingers still smell like garlic.

Coq au vin

This is the second recipe from the Women's Weekly French Classics book. It was a tossup between that and the cassoulet, but Stu didn't like the look of the cassoulet recipe as he said it needed duck fat and toulouse sausages.

So, the coq au vin.

First lay out the ingredients. Chicken thigh fillets, bacon, mushrooms, spring onions (I don't think I had the right kind really, but didn't make too much difference), stock, wine, flour, tomato paste, garlic, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves.

Here's everything prepped (except the chicken that needed flouring, and the herbs that needed de-stemming)

Firstly browning the onions a little. Next time I'll try to find the more bulbous ones that were in the picture in the book.

Because I was using the frypan for browning but a big saucepan for cooking, I just started chucking things in the saucepan when they were browned. This is just the wine, I left the stock out so I could use it for deglazing later. Also has the little bits of spring onion, tomato paste, garlic, bay leaves and herbs.

Next we're browning mushrooms. These little buttom mushrooms brown up nicely.

Into the pot they go!

Bacon! Two packs of bacon! (done in a couple of batches)

Chuck the bacon into the pot

It's important to stay hydrated during the cooking process. And if there's a bit of a bottle of shiraz leftover from the cooking, well it may as well be drunk, right?

The chicken thighs get coated with a little flour

And they get browned nicely in bacon fat :)

Into the pot! I used some stock to deglaze the frypan and chucked all that in too

Then simmer away for about forty minutes

The finished product. Served with a little rice to soak up juices. Not very pretty to look at .. but it was soooo good! Super super tasty.

Loved this dish, but again, I'd probably halve the recipe so all the browning didn't take so long to do.

Sunny Queensland

Thursday

So Thursday we had a nice slow morning. Saw Fiona off, then got ready and headed to the airport.

Took a Virgin Australia flight because it was $20 each cheaper than Qantas. Stu even got a spare seat next to him which was nice. Got some snackages on the plane for lunch.

Canberra from the plane

Gulgong - the town on the $10 note. Well it used to be.

Turns out I even got a couple of pics of Chay and David's suburb, and the reserve (middle) that we did a couple of walks around.

Had the nice approach into Brisbane, and I think pretty much the only time I've done this approach, in daylight, with a window seat.

Picked up our hire car and then headed into New Farm to have a look at the city, get something more to eat, and have a look at Stu's old house. (I took my jumper off after I got off the plane, and didn't put it back on again til we arrived back in Canberra!)

Then we headed out to Chay and David's.

We've driven past this pool a few times, but this was the first time I'd ever seen anyone in it.

For dinner we picked up some beer and pizza. I had pepperoni and feta, with a couple of pieces leftover for breakfast.

We played a few games of Buzz and did some Singstar.

Friday

Fairly slow morning. I'd had awful trouble sleeping because of the heat, and also the bed sagged in towards Stu so felt like I was lying on a slope all night.

After my pizza leftovers for breakfast, we eventually headed out to Orion, where we got the sweetie a coffee and had sushi for lunch.

In the afternoon I worked on a jigsaw Chay had picked up for me, and we all pretty much just chilled out.

Later in the afternoon we all went for a walk in the nearby reserve.

We also had a look at the memorial to Jeremy Wackrow (spelt Jeremy Wacrow on the memorial), who had been found dead there in October 1995. (The next day on the same walk we even ran into the guy that found him).

Had some very nice fish and cauliflower bake for dinner.

Then we headed over to Storm's where we played quite a few games of Emporer-Scum, and then some Singstar til very late.

Saturday

Better sleep last night! I had leftover cauliflower bake for breakfast. Continued to work on the jigsaw, where I had to defend the pieces against Ichi stealing them!

We were going to go to the cafe in Springfield Lakes for lunch, but it was closed! How rude!

So we went back to Orion for sushi again.

After lunch we went for a drive to go see Helen's amazing new house.

Came home and finished the jigsaw.

David cooked up the rest of the fish, as well as a whole stack of yummy veggies. Yum!

Watched The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which was good, but it was very strange seeing Emma Watson try to do an American accent! Then played a bit of Singstar.

Sunday

Woke up at 5am, then couldn't get back to sleep :(:(:( Got up and we headed off to Sizzler for breakfast. All you can eat bacon FTW! Except the bacon ran out, so it wasn't all you could eat, unless you wanted to wait. So waited, but the bacon wasn't as nice in this batch. Mushrooms were almost gone the first round, so had to wait for those too. Didn't have a croissant cause they looked pretty doughy. The potato gems were really nice though. And had the added bonus of not needing to eat again til dinner time.

Picked up another small jigsaw at Crazy Clark's on the way home.

Did a bit of the jigsaw, then had a long afternoon siesta.

Had another walk around the reserve, but it wasn't nearly as nice - heaps of trail bikes making a whole tonne of noise :(

Had corned beef that had been in the slow cooker all day.

After dinner played a couple of games of Buzz, then watched Sherlock, then some Singstar.

David and I tied in "Who Wants to Live Forever"

Monday

Quiet morning. Had muffins for breakfast and finished the little jigsaw.

Then we headed out to the airport and had some snackages in the Qantas club.

The flight back was also pretty good, and most of the back of the plane was empty, so Stu got a spare seat next to him again. Flew right over the top of Sydney, then into Canberra from the south.

Gold Coast

Cessnock (with the Crowne Plaza where we stayed at Christmas at the bottom left)

Lake Macquarie and some of Newcastle

Tuggerah Lakes

Gosford and Brisbane Water

Eastern Suburbs of Sydney

Canberra

So as always, a lovely weekend away!

Some flowers

I like flowers. I like spring.

White Chocolate Blueberry Cheesecake

So I've had ~300g of blueberries in the freezer for the longest time. And decided I really should use them. And some butter that's been in the fridge a while too. The obvious solution to this problem? A cheesecake! No, really :)

I googled some recipes and found this one on taste.com.au.

I changed the base (I used my regular biscuit base - a crushed packet of Nice biscuits and 125g melted butter).

I took it along to the games night on Saturday night where it was well received. So will have to try it again some time :)

White Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients

Method

Biscuit base:

250g pack Arnotts Nice biscuits, crushed

125g butter, melted

Crush a whole pack of Arnotts Nice biscuits to breadcrumb size

Melt 125g butter

Mix butter into biscuit crumbs

Spread mix a greased springform tin

Refrigerate to set

Filling:

2x 250g packs cream cheese, room temperature

180g white chocolate, melted

185mL can light evaporated milk

1/3 cup caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 tblsp boiling water

3 ½ tsp gelatine powder

Sprinkle the gelatine over boiling water in a heatproof bowl. Stir until dissolved. Set aside to cool slightly.

Melt the chocolate and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth.

Gradually beat in evaporated milk, chocolate and gelatine mixture.

Pour cream cheese mixture into pan.

Cover and refrigerate overnight or until set.

Options and Notes

Adapted from http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/19939/white+chocolate+and+berry+cheesecake

Add 300g fresh or frozen berries to make a berry cheesecake

Fresh Ingredients Shopping List

Pantry Ingredients Shopping List

Ingredients in stock

Butter

2x 250g packs cream cheese

(Berries)

250g Nice Biscuits

180g white chocolate

185mL can light evaporated milk

Caster sugar

Vanilla essence

Gelatine powder

Queensland, June-July 2011

Thursday

Managed to squeeze in one beer at drinks before being picked up. Made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Had already checked in, so just needed to drop off bags, but no automatic machines that I could see at Canberra airport for plebs, so went to counters to drop off bags. Went into the Qantas lounge for drinks and snackages.

Then Stu got a notification on his phone that flight was delayed. Oh well, more snackages. And delayed again. Flight was nearly two hours late by the time we got away :( Got a beef stroganoff of some description for dinner on the plane.

People please, stand back from the luggage carousels so other people can see the bags going past and actually get to the carousel to pick up their bag!! Sheesh!!

Because the flight was so late, the car rental place was closed. So had to walk all the way back into the terminal to pick up the keys, and back out again. At that time of night it wasn't much fun. And their computer system was down as well. Hurrah.

Finally got the car and headed off, thinking we'd use the toll roads and get there a bit quicker.

Big mistake.

Night roadworks on the M1 meant we were stopped for long periods of time in several places along the motorway :(:(

We had a hybrid car, so the stop start traffic was kinda quiet and fuel efficient.

Finally arrived - very very late - but still ended up talking til around 2am before going to bed.

Friday

Latish on Friday morning we headed down to Springfield Lake for brunch. Although someone misheard it as Bugger Lake and so that's what it then became known as :)

I had a reasonable caesar salad, although all the pieces were in separate sections..

Dropped into the Springfield aquarium and got a new heater for the aquarium, and Chay got a good deal on some plants on logs and a big sunken ship.

Headed out again after setting up the fish tank and went to a few different aquariums looking for fish. We ended up getting eight ghost mollies, six male guppies, four sucking catfish and a betta.

Dinner was lots of Pizza Capers pizza. Then we played Buzz (they have some different Buzzes we don't have, must go looking for them) and SingStar.

Saturday

Saturday morning is garage sale time! Mainly looking for books for Chay's business, but picked up a few other bits and pieces as well. Got some sushi for lunch and saw Batman on a segway!!

Headed back out again in the afternoon and ended up getting some female guppies, and another betta for K (who had picked up a small fish tank at one of the garage sales that morning).

Dinner was chicken pies with mac&cheese - yumm!

After dinner we attempted to watch Seven Samurai but I was restless (so was Chay, who couldn't actually sit there) and then David had to go drop some stuff off at Chay's mum's, so we gave up. Sorry sweetie, I'll watch it with you one day..

So played Buzz again, and more Singstar. Not as late that night, and I set some pretty insane scores (9720 for Where the Wild Roses Grow, 9727 for Come As You Are and a whopping 9837 for Heaven is a Place on Earth!!). Helped being mostly sober I suppose heh.

Sunday

Headed out to our favourite Brisbane cafe for brunch - Ascot Provisions. Driving around I was actually surprised how everything had recovered from the floods. In a lot of places you'd really never know there'd ever been any flooding there at all. Amazing stuff.

I had the big breakfast. They're still doing the mini cheese kranskys (I preferred the bigger ones they used to do).

Saw some interesting things on the drive back.

A staircase to nowhere..

Brisbane CBD from the Story Bridge

And a human aquarium. This is a swimming pool at the top of a building opposite the Gabba, with windows so you can see into it!

Dropped into Hardly Normal to look for Buzz games (didn't find any, but did find this sign)

Did some more shopping at Orion. Found a couple of Buzzes. Also did some food shopping for dinner.

Dinner was a super awesome roast pork and veggies with an amazing apple sauce. I swear David can cook about ten times as well as I can :/ I did my (fake) violet crumble cheesecake for dessert.

Night three of Buzz (the new ones) and Singstar.

Monday

Much of Monday was just chilling out, watching Big Bang Theory, reading news feeds etc. Did a Bunnings run to get some new runners for the front sliding door. Then packed up and left.

Again made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Which was a good thing, because all the new works around the airport terminals, and a truck going down the wrong way towards us in the lane we were trying to drive down, meant we missed the sign to the rental car return (because the truck was in the way). Second loop around we went to a different part of the parking (luckily didn't get charged for the long stay carpark). But we did see the sign this time (after it was too late to change). Third time around we finally got it right. Lame lame lame. Returned the car ok and used the electronic bag drop gizmos for the first time. Took a lot longer than handing them to a human, but I imagine it'd get a lot quicker once you got the hang of what you need to do.

So the plane was delayed. Again. What else is new. We had an hour wait in Sydney on the way back, but as the plane got later and later it was looking like we wouldn't make the connection. So they got us onto the preceeding flight, but even that was going to be cutting it fine. They brought out a beef teriyaki for dinner. We got a lovely view of Sydney as we flew past it, then flew waaaayyyyyy out to sea before finally swinging around and landing from the south on 34R. We finally arrived at the terminal pretty much as the other plane was due to leave. Fortunately it was only four gates down, and several other people were transferring too. So we raced down and got on the plane at the very last minute - they closed the doors a couple of minutes later. I was thinking there was no way our bags possibly could have made it..

Flight to Canberra was pretty quick and uneventful. Took off from Sydney to the west and straight on down, approaching Canberra from the south in very windy conditions. But the landing was a lot smoother than I thought it would be, considering how much we were getting buffeted.

Had to walk out onto the tarmac (love it when that happens :) ) - where we'd just gone from beautiful t-shirt weather to suddenly cold and wet and windy. Craziness.

Went inside and then waited to see if our bags had made it. Which, miracle of miracles, they did!! Was very impressed with Qantas making *that* happen :)

So got home very late and pretty much just crashed.

Had a lovely few days. A nice relaxing weekend, good company, fun times and even read plenty of my very behind news feeds.

Same time next year guys :)

101 things

I haven't done one of these things in forever. And I'm *that* far behind in reading my news feeds that I only just got to this the other day (sorry Dave2, I'm usually a lot better with yours!)

ONE OF YOUR SCARS, HOW DID YOU GET IT? I have three tiny lines on my thumb where a blue tongued lizard bit me. Only time I ever got bitten by a blue tongued lizard in all my years picking them up
WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR BEDROOM? Nothing, just paint
WHAT DOES YOUR MOBILE PHONE LOOK LIKE? An iPhone 3GS
WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO? Not much anymore. If I do put on music it's usually the CD player on random (there's a whole lot of cds in there which means I get a crazy random mix of stuff)
DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME YOU WERE BORN? 5:10pm
WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW? To be able to fly (like Superman)
WHO DO YOU MISS? Luc and James and George
IS ANYONE IN LOVE WITH YOU OR HAS A CRUSH ON YOU? Yes
WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU KISSED? The sweetie!!
WHAT'S YOUR MIDDLE NAME? The (Kazza The Blank One, get it? ;) )
THE BEST TV SHOW EVER CREATED? Airwolf or MacGyver
THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO? The sweetie
DO YOU GET SCARED IN THE DARK? Only if I'm home alone
THE LAST PERSON TO MAKE YOU CRY? Myself (actually my mother if you can count her dodgy genes that I inherited)
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COLOGNE / PERFUME? Um, I don't wear the stuff.
WHAT KIND OF HAIR/EYE COLOUR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX? Dark hair and pale blue eyes maybe?
WOULD YOU RATHER BE SMART OR FUNNY? Smart
COFFEE OR ENERGY DRINKS? Neither
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PIZZA TOPPING? Cheese (three for three same as Dave!). Actually probably pepperoni. Although I'm also partial to feta cheese on pizza.
IF YOU CAN EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Right now? A little close to bed to be thinking about a big meal or anything. But I am hungry. Maybe I'll go eat the banana that's out in the kitchen
WHO IS THE LAST PERSON WHO MADE YOU MAD? Don't remember. Probably someone at work.
DO YOU SPEAK ANOTHER LANGUAGE? Nur ein bischen. Nah not really.
WHAT WAS THE FIRST GIFT SOMEONE EVER GAVE YOU? First gift? Bit of a silly question, who's going to remember that sort of thing?? I do however have a brooch with my name on it I got as a baby.
DO YOU LIKE SOMEONE? I like lots of people
ARE YOU DOUBLE JOINTED? No.
FAVOURITE CLOTHING BRAND? Umm.. Jeans West for jeans, Millers for t-shirts??
WHAT'S YOUR DREAM CAR? One that flies (ha! I like this one of Dave's). But probably a 97 or 98 WRX.
WHAT COLOUR IS IT? Blue.
WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE KIND OF EXERCISE? Walking.
WOULD YOU FALL IN LOVE KNOWING THAT THE PERSON IS LEAVING? Don't know. I've done the long distance thing twice though, does that count?
WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO TELL SOMEONE HOW MUCH THEY MEAN TO YOU? It depends. If it's your significant other, just tell them. If it's someone you like but don't know if they like you back that's more tricky...
WRITE A NUMBER FROM ONE TO A HUNDRED? 32.
BLONDES OR BRUNETTES? Either.
WHAT IS THE ONE NUMBER YOU CALL OFTEN? Probably the sweetie.
WHAT ANNOYS YOU MOST? People.
HAVE YOU BEEN OUT OF YOUR COUNTRY? WHERE DID YOU GO? WHAT PLACE DID YOU LIKE BEST? Yes. Europe, America, Japan. Like all of them in different ways.
YOUR WEAKNESSES? Potato chips (crisps for DaveC :P )
FRIES/CHIPS, RICE, OR BEANS? Fries
FIRST JOB? Shop assistant in a news agent
EVER PRANK CALLED SOMEONE? No
WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE YOU FILLED OUT THIS? Watching The Amazing Race Australia
IF YOU COULD GET PLASTIC SURGERY WHAT WOULD IT BE? Umm.. don't know
WHY DID YOU FILL OUT THIS MEME? Cause I haven't done one in ages
WHAT DO YOU GET COMPLIMENTED ABOUT MOST? My hair
WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF ALCOHOL BECAME ILLEGAL? Survive without it I suppose
WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY? A new brain
HOW MANY KIDS DO YOU WANT? None
WHERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No
DO YOU WISH ON STARS? No
WHICH FINGER[S] IS YOUR FAVOURITE? I suppose my index finger?? Who writes these questions??
WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? The aforementioned banana
DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? No, except when I take about four times longer than normal to do it properly, but then I lose interest and it degenerates into scrawl again
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT? Pepperoni/salami (on a pizza sub)
ANY BAD HABITS? Yes.
WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING CD ON THE SHELF? Maybe Roxette or Mariah Carey?
IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? No. Seeing other kids bordering on aspergers and how annoying they are, I'm surprised I ended up having any friends at all.
HAVE YOU EVER TOLD A SECRET YOU SWORE NOT TO TELL? Not that I know of. My problem is only when I don't know something is a secret (growing up I was always the last to hear anything, so I assume by the time information gets to me it's already public knowledge)
DO LOOKS MATTER? Only partially
HOW DO YOU RELEASE YOUR ANGER? Rant on twitter or my blog.
WHERE IS YOUR SECOND HOME? Probably my parents' place? Or James and George's?
DO YOU TRUST OTHERS EASILY? No.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE TOY AS A CHILD? Don't know. Maybe Space Lego.
HOW MANY NUMBERS ARE IN YOUR MOBILE PHONE? No idea. How do I tell?
DO YOU USE SARCASM? Sometimes. I don't think I'm very good at it.
DO YOU KNOW ANYONE FAMOUS? No.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN A MOSH PIT? Not really.
WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A PLACE TO LIVE? Close to stuff (work, friends etc).
WHAT ARE YOUR NICKNAMES? Kazza, Kaz
HOW MANY HATS DO YOU OWN? WHAT'S YOUR HAT SIZE? A couple of caps.
DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Yes.
WERE YOU UPSET ABOUT STEVE IRWIN DYING? I felt really bad for Terri. She looked devastated.
WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Choc mint.
ARE YOU LAZY? Yes
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE SONGS AT THE MOMENT? Don't have one
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE BAND? Queen
HOW MANY WISDOM TEETH DO YOU HAVE? Two. Although I think I have the other two in a container somewhere
DO YOU WANT TO GO ANYWHERE SPECIAL THIS YEAR? Always, but not likely to happen this year. Next year I want to do a round the world theme park tour with Nat and Andrew.. just gotta convince them they can afford it...
WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? My computer fans humming
LAST THING YOU ATE? Haven't we had this question already? Lame
LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Just trying to think if I talked to anyone on the phone at work today. Don't think so. Last log in my phone is the sweetie on Friday
WHATS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT YOURSELF IN THE MORNING? Usually that my spine hurts
FAVOURITE THOUGHT PROVOKING SONG? There's a couple I suppose? Trying to think of favourite..
FAVOURITE TWO THINGS TO HATE? Two of the vendors I have to deal with at work.
FAVOURITE DRINK? Orange juice
FAVOURITE ZODIAC SIGN? Shrug. Who cares.
SPORTS YOU LIKE TO WATCH? Maybe ice skating? Not really into sports
WHAT IS YOUR HAIR COLOUR? Blonde
EYE COLOUR? Greeny grey/brown
DO YOU WEAR GLASSES? Yes
SIBLINGS? Yes, a little brother
FAVOURITE MONTH(s)? December
DO YOU LIKE SUSHI? Depends what's in it. Not a huge fan of raw fish. I like cooked tuna and beef ones though.
LAST THING YOU WATCHED? The Amazing Race Australia
FAVOURITE DAY OF THE YEAR? Christmas Day or my birthday
ARE YOU TOO SHY TO ASK SOMEONE OUT? I used to be. Now is a non-issue.
SUMMER OR WINTER? Neither - spring!
KISSES OR HUGS? Leaving Dave's answer: Depends on the person, but probably hugs.
RELATIONSHIPS OR ONE-NIGHT STANDS? Relationships
WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE CELEBRITY? Don't really have a favourite at the moment.
WHO IS THE LEAST LIKELY TO ASK YOU ON A DATE? er.. anyone really, given that I'm married
BOOKS YOU'D LIKE TO SEE TURNED INTO A FILM? I'm surprised Prey by Michael Crichton hasn't. The Belgariad would be cool but that would be a lot of movies.

Sunny Sunday

Lovely day today. Although the wind had a bit of a chill in it!

Headed out for brunch. Went to Black Pepper which is our main haunt. Service is often a little slow there, but today was particularly bad. Got there at 10:35, but they said there would be a 15-20 minute wait for a table. So we went for a walk.

Came back at 10:55 and were seated straight away. But didn't get our food until 11:40 :(:( So was very hungry by that stage. But the food is pretty good and today was no exception.

Went for a trip to the other side of the lake afterwards to feed the birdies (and the little fishies).

Autumn colours were all over the place (I still haven't taken many for the RiotACT), the red is at home.

Some bugs at home..

A little butterfly

And these little bastards are destroying the cherry tree :( Hoping it's got enough energy to come back ok next spring, and then might need to figure out how the heck I can stop them if they come back next year :(

Other than that, really just read news feeds all afternoon (and put away the two jigsaws).