Today Mark went to and bought us a 'splitter' which now means we have a computer network in our house and we can both use our computers at the same time! Exciting!
Guess I'll have no excuses to avoid work now... geez x
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Friday, February 1, 2008
Killer Recipe No. III
God, these little babies are as close as you will get to a creme brulee-type crust on top without much effort at all! Go forth and create!
LEMON PUDDINGS
90g soft butter (must be soft!)
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
1/2 cup of lemon juice
1/2 cup of plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder (or baking soda)
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius
- Place all ingredients in a large bowl
- Using a 'Food Processor Stick / Wand' Combine all the ingredients so it forms a runny liquid
- Pour into patty cases / greased ramekins
(It would be fine to do this before guests arrive for a dinner party, then just chuck them in the oven at the last minute so they are fresh)
- Bake for 20-25min, or until puddings are really golden on top
- Take from oven and stand for 5min (they will shrink a little)
- Serve with cream or vanilla ice cream
From: The Instant Cook by Donna Hay
LEMON PUDDINGS
90g soft butter (must be soft!)
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
1/2 cup of lemon juice
1/2 cup of plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder (or baking soda)
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius
- Place all ingredients in a large bowl
- Using a 'Food Processor Stick / Wand' Combine all the ingredients so it forms a runny liquid
- Pour into patty cases / greased ramekins
(It would be fine to do this before guests arrive for a dinner party, then just chuck them in the oven at the last minute so they are fresh)
- Bake for 20-25min, or until puddings are really golden on top
- Take from oven and stand for 5min (they will shrink a little)
- Serve with cream or vanilla ice cream
From: The Instant Cook by Donna Hay
Monday, January 28, 2008
End of Summer
On Australia Day a Cocky came to visit us on the 7th floor! Mark gave him a piece of bread.
Cocky had a nibble.
Mark and Cocky made friends pretty quickly.
We hope he comes to visit more often.
The end of Summer Holidays! It always comes too quick, and the last 10 days or so have been just blissful as I have finally relaxed properly and let my daily routine flow a bit. Let's just say I can't wait for retirement!
It's been a strange one in Sydney, with only one day over thirty degrees so far this summer, TRUE! But this has its benefits as well... less sunburn, emptier beaches, calmer tempers. In fact, here in Potts Point it is so quiet, one could imagine the whole of Sydney has up and left for a beach holiday elsewhere... more likely they are just at work!
Mark and I have been well, he has been back at work for what seems like ages and it was difficult at first, I felt so bored, and almost guilty I had this extra time! We have a swim in the pool most afternoons and enjoy reading and cooking together. Of course he was totally chuffed by the visiting cockatoo and we are still waiting for him to come back.. Hopefully soon!
Sydney seems chock full of interesting things to do right now and if anything it's just a shame they are not spread a little more evenly throughout the year so it can be more affordable! Mark and I went to The Opera House on Friday night to see Joanna Newsom play with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and I was nothing short of blown away by her talent, her ability, her looks, her accompanists... I was transported to some other place where things are so much more creative and sheltered and nicer and brighter and darker as well... but she is just one amongst a whole throng of potentially interesting artists to see in Sydney right now...
It's been a great summer, I really couldn't ask for much more right now...
So I pack my bag and head back off to work tomorrow and the funny stories will start again and my mind will become crowded once more with worries beyond choosing which book to read or how long to leave conditioner in my hair.
Tis been wonderful chaps x
I HEART: Expresso Coffee and milk blended over ice with two sugars, lychees, mangoes, making my own face scrubs, afternoon harbour breezes, resting on my special cushion and reading the paper, the kind intentions of our Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, thinking about my 30th birthday, my new satay chicken recipe!
I DON'T HEART: Forms, the various charity collectors who 'chat you up' outside Potts Point Woolworths, the idea that spiders have crawled in my window and onto my head!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
How to Apologise
Having a nice long holiday has given me a chance to reflect on the last few years of my life and seek out some further information in areas I'd like to grow.
It would be fair to say that I grew up in a family devoid of the ability to apologise effectively, so I'd like to learn how to say sorry properly, and also receive apologies gracefully!
I have found this passage below very helpful, and I think there are many many people out there who could make use of this advice so our world is a more peaceful place.
Adapted from: Choosing Happiness by Stephanie Dowrick
A genuine apology is a powerful thing. it affects both the person giving it and the person receiving it, making way for healing and moving on as nothing else can.
Here's how to do it.
Look at the person and say 'I am sorry to have hurt you.'
Do not convey through your body language or tone of voice that you are not really sorry; that you resent apologising, or that you may be apologising but you will soon repeat the wrong.
An apology carries weight only when it is not forces, when you believe it and you also believe you have learned something and will not do again whatever caused hurt or harm.
An apology needs to be clean, short, simple and genuine. And it needs to be supported by a change in insight and behaviour.
There may be times when someone is clearly hurt by something you have done or that they believe you have done - but you know that they misread you or your good intentions.
It may be, for example, that your best friend is hurt because when she told you about her promotion you paid very little attention and went on to talk about something else. You were careless, but not deliberately hurtful.
Breakdowns in good communication happen frequently. protesting about someone else's reaction, telling them that they 'have no reason to be hurt', getting irritated because they are hurt, is never helpful.
It is possible to say, very simply, 'I am so sorry that you are upset,' without taking pon apprpriate guilt or shame. You may also want to add 'That certainly wasn't my intention,' but the crucial point is that you acknowledge the hurt, and express your concern that they are hurt, without attacking them or going into elaborate self-justifying.
And when someone apologises to you?
Accept it gracefully and gratefully. Do not ask yourself whether you need to go on sulking for another week, or whether you can make them suffer as much as you have.
If someone is routinely apologising without changing their behaviour this is a relationship issue and needs urgent attention.
Apologies - given or received - weave their magic only when they bring a little wisdom and are accompanied by changed action as well as insight.
It would be fair to say that I grew up in a family devoid of the ability to apologise effectively, so I'd like to learn how to say sorry properly, and also receive apologies gracefully!
I have found this passage below very helpful, and I think there are many many people out there who could make use of this advice so our world is a more peaceful place.
Adapted from: Choosing Happiness by Stephanie Dowrick
A genuine apology is a powerful thing. it affects both the person giving it and the person receiving it, making way for healing and moving on as nothing else can.
Here's how to do it.
Look at the person and say 'I am sorry to have hurt you.'
Do not convey through your body language or tone of voice that you are not really sorry; that you resent apologising, or that you may be apologising but you will soon repeat the wrong.
An apology carries weight only when it is not forces, when you believe it and you also believe you have learned something and will not do again whatever caused hurt or harm.
An apology needs to be clean, short, simple and genuine. And it needs to be supported by a change in insight and behaviour.
There may be times when someone is clearly hurt by something you have done or that they believe you have done - but you know that they misread you or your good intentions.
It may be, for example, that your best friend is hurt because when she told you about her promotion you paid very little attention and went on to talk about something else. You were careless, but not deliberately hurtful.
Breakdowns in good communication happen frequently. protesting about someone else's reaction, telling them that they 'have no reason to be hurt', getting irritated because they are hurt, is never helpful.
It is possible to say, very simply, 'I am so sorry that you are upset,' without taking pon apprpriate guilt or shame. You may also want to add 'That certainly wasn't my intention,' but the crucial point is that you acknowledge the hurt, and express your concern that they are hurt, without attacking them or going into elaborate self-justifying.
And when someone apologises to you?
Accept it gracefully and gratefully. Do not ask yourself whether you need to go on sulking for another week, or whether you can make them suffer as much as you have.
If someone is routinely apologising without changing their behaviour this is a relationship issue and needs urgent attention.
Apologies - given or received - weave their magic only when they bring a little wisdom and are accompanied by changed action as well as insight.
Reverend Run!
I'm not a Christian nor do I pretend to be. But sometimes I need a little reminding about my manners and so forth...
Who better to remind me than Reverend Joseph Simmons... of Run DMC.
You can read his advice, or subscribe like I have to his 'thought of the day.'
www.revswordofwisdom.com
Peace!
Friday, January 18, 2008
I'm in the paper today!
Today I had my first ever letter published in The Sydney Morning Herald.
http://www.smh.com.au/letters/index.html?page=3
http://www.smh.com.au/letters/index.html?page=3
Monday, January 14, 2008
Sydney Festival
It's mid January, and if you're not relaxing on some fine sunny shore, The Sydney Festival can be your saving grace! Mark and I purchased tickets way back and have been lucky enough to see some great performances so far, if only we had the moneybags to attend a few more gigs!
First we went to The Spiegeltent to see La Clique. Oh, how lucky we were! The whole season sold out at two shows a day, with tickets selling on Ebay for three times what they are worth!
The Spiegeltent itself is a wonder to visit, wood and stained glass all around, almost if you have stepped into an old-fashioned jewellery box. And the delights once inside...
This picture speaks for itself. This is the wonderful David O'Mer. His bathtub act, well... it's just one of the sexiest things...
Watch his performance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lrg4wV-Uqo
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=7280970
This is Yulia, she does wonderful things with hoops!
Then last Saturday the 12th January 2008 we went to The State Theatre to see Sufjan Stevens. I'm not an expert at writing reviews, but I know I enjoyed the show, particularly in these unique surroundings.
There were lots of visuals and Sufjan arrived on stage with a 10 piece? band, which nicely rounded out the sound with brass and woodwind. The crowd was very well-behaved, which I think confused him at times!
However, I did become increasingly annoyed at the people sitting around me taking pictures of the show! When you turn a camera on in the dark, it becomes very distracting! It gives the area that mobile phone-like glow: and when a quiet song is being played and the artist (YES, Artist) is attempting to connect somewhat with the audience, it becomes infuriating! Stop it, stop it! Just enjoy the moment, and forget about the shaky, over-exposed shots you are taking that your friends aren't even interested in seeing anyway. grrr.
Sufjan was also supported by a new York act called My Brightest Diamond which I really enjoyed. A voice like Jeff Buckley, loose stage moves, and she sits at a piano like Tori Amos! She also plays in Sufjan's band so that's a bit of trivia for you...
Next is Joanna Newsom in two weeks at The Sydney Opera House... another treat!
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