Slow food weekend
Not just slow food - slow weather, slow life. Very pleasant hibernating indoors over a wintry weekend.
Winter set in rather suddenly right on June 2 (in Australia, seasons don't bother waiting for the solstices to get moving), and we've had a week of fog, condensing into heavy rain, lightening back to thick fog, repeat the cycle, with occasional half hours of sunshine. I've had dig out my extra heater, and have the other two turned up full blast, but so far, have resisted turning on the fan heater (except in the icebox known as my bathroom).
After a full-on three days in the city early last week, it's been really good to have a slow weekend.
Yesterday (Saturday) we actually had a few hours of intermittent sunshine. My friend C took a break from her housemoving packing to drink strong tea and share my bland cake, (which she said had a subtle flavour). C witnessed me signing the confidentiality agreement for working on some financial white papers - a nice bit of freelance work which sees me being paid for sitting reading mountains of background material before I even start editing.
C pointed out to me that it's actually a long weekend, something we self-employed folks tend to not notice - so I realised that it was the 7th anniversary of a major event in my recent life - becoming single again & setting up life on my own in Newtown
After that we walked down the street together, she to get her train back to Leura and her packing, me to buy some wine and veggies. And cheese, as I wanted to make a macaroni cheese - something I haven't cooked in at least 7 years.
Saturday lunchtime of a long weekend is not a good time to go food shopping - or booze shopping, for that matter. Hordes of people packed the liquor shop, clutching bottles and casks and 6 packs, and asking each other if they had enough of everything, while I tried to wheel my tartan trolley between them without running over their toes to get my one small 2 litre cask of quality red wine. Ditto in supermarket, and when I was finally almost to the checkout after a longish queue, I remembered the cheese, & went back for it.
Still I got home mid-afternoon with chicken carcases for stock, pork mince for meatloaf, lots of veggies (I ignored the swedes despite them returning to a non-gourmet price), & some rather delicious Tasmanian Swiss-style cheese, on special. I used that in the evening for the macaroni cheese - it was a bit too subtle, despite being fortified with quite a bit of parmesan, but is delicious on its own with a glass of Banrock Station shiraz cabernet.
Today has been a very pleasant slow day. When I woke up, there was fog right up to the house, so I knew a walk was out of the question. Instead I had a lazy breakfast of bacon and scrambled eggs, read for an hour, and then finished straining and packing up the stock. I put the soup mix (lentils, split peas, barley) on to soak, put on a cd, and knitted for an hour or so. It is so good doing the cabling for the Kepler pattern! It feels like a stolen treat, as I still haven't finished the 3 colour purple scarf (but that can be knit while I'm watching tv). The cabling is a real pleasure, seeing the pattern develop under my needles, and knowing that I can do it! I shall have to seek out another cable pattern, maybe tackle the DNA scarf now I know I can follow a cable chart!
I had the macaroni cheese again for lunch - it had improved in flavour overnght, spent some of the afternoon trying to write, & the rest of it reading notes about music composition, and am about to have some 24 hour soup (actually 27 hours) from when I started the stock to when I ladle it into th bowl).
Tomorrow might be a holiday for wage slaves, but it's a work day for me, so tonight I'm gonna kick back & watch an Austen movie on tv - the Beeb's latest version of Persuasion. Thank heaven or whoever for slow weekends!
Winter set in rather suddenly right on June 2 (in Australia, seasons don't bother waiting for the solstices to get moving), and we've had a week of fog, condensing into heavy rain, lightening back to thick fog, repeat the cycle, with occasional half hours of sunshine. I've had dig out my extra heater, and have the other two turned up full blast, but so far, have resisted turning on the fan heater (except in the icebox known as my bathroom).
After a full-on three days in the city early last week, it's been really good to have a slow weekend.
Yesterday (Saturday) we actually had a few hours of intermittent sunshine. My friend C took a break from her housemoving packing to drink strong tea and share my bland cake, (which she said had a subtle flavour). C witnessed me signing the confidentiality agreement for working on some financial white papers - a nice bit of freelance work which sees me being paid for sitting reading mountains of background material before I even start editing.
C pointed out to me that it's actually a long weekend, something we self-employed folks tend to not notice - so I realised that it was the 7th anniversary of a major event in my recent life - becoming single again & setting up life on my own in Newtown
After that we walked down the street together, she to get her train back to Leura and her packing, me to buy some wine and veggies. And cheese, as I wanted to make a macaroni cheese - something I haven't cooked in at least 7 years.
Saturday lunchtime of a long weekend is not a good time to go food shopping - or booze shopping, for that matter. Hordes of people packed the liquor shop, clutching bottles and casks and 6 packs, and asking each other if they had enough of everything, while I tried to wheel my tartan trolley between them without running over their toes to get my one small 2 litre cask of quality red wine. Ditto in supermarket, and when I was finally almost to the checkout after a longish queue, I remembered the cheese, & went back for it.
Still I got home mid-afternoon with chicken carcases for stock, pork mince for meatloaf, lots of veggies (I ignored the swedes despite them returning to a non-gourmet price), & some rather delicious Tasmanian Swiss-style cheese, on special. I used that in the evening for the macaroni cheese - it was a bit too subtle, despite being fortified with quite a bit of parmesan, but is delicious on its own with a glass of Banrock Station shiraz cabernet.
Today has been a very pleasant slow day. When I woke up, there was fog right up to the house, so I knew a walk was out of the question. Instead I had a lazy breakfast of bacon and scrambled eggs, read for an hour, and then finished straining and packing up the stock. I put the soup mix (lentils, split peas, barley) on to soak, put on a cd, and knitted for an hour or so. It is so good doing the cabling for the Kepler pattern! It feels like a stolen treat, as I still haven't finished the 3 colour purple scarf (but that can be knit while I'm watching tv). The cabling is a real pleasure, seeing the pattern develop under my needles, and knowing that I can do it! I shall have to seek out another cable pattern, maybe tackle the DNA scarf now I know I can follow a cable chart!
I had the macaroni cheese again for lunch - it had improved in flavour overnght, spent some of the afternoon trying to write, & the rest of it reading notes about music composition, and am about to have some 24 hour soup (actually 27 hours) from when I started the stock to when I ladle it into th bowl).
Tomorrow might be a holiday for wage slaves, but it's a work day for me, so tonight I'm gonna kick back & watch an Austen movie on tv - the Beeb's latest version of Persuasion. Thank heaven or whoever for slow weekends!