midge & judy

:: tough ::

 

what is that they say about tough going.

this year has been a tough one for us,
and it aint over yet.
there is still some three  months for 2013 to throw a bit more at us.
 last week was tipping point for us but there seemed to be a temporary solution.

 when the going gets tough the tough get skiing.

 and so we did.

 a family week, huddled together at night sharing food, drinks and a puzzle.

i even managed a bit of tiny, teeny crotchet.

 then we blew off some cobwebs by day.


as far as snow goes it was a very aussie spring on the hill.
the sun shone,

the wind blew, the rain tumbled down,

 the snow cover was patchy and soft at times. 

then finally it snowed.  we were lucky,

 it was just what we needed.

 we dragged our poor bodies home at weeks end, tired and sore but somewhat refreshed.
ready to face more of 2013.

and a bit more tiny, teeny crotchet. 
♡ that hill

roll on 2014 

:: dear blog ::

dear blog,

i just want to say, it's not you, it's me.

i have used you in the most despicable way.

i have made you a slave to my thoughts and my words.

i have posted my photos and made you into some kind of chronicle of my family life.

i have dedicated this space to shameless self promotion.

and, what have you asked in return?

nothing (except of course the monthly direct debit for the cost of securing this space)

you have let me laugh and cry,

share my triumphs and disasters.

you have watched countless holiday pics like endless family slide nights.

 you have stood patiently aside while i rave on and on about everything from tropical paradise to fun in the snow.

and how have i repaid you?

i have neglected you in the worst possible way.

 i have made you stand in line and play second fiddle to my work,

you wait patiently for my return from the office,

you have stood by silently while i ferry children around to various sporting activities 
 
and cospaly conventions.

 hell, i even put the dogs ahead of you.

it's not that i don't think about you.

 i plan posts almost daily,

i snap photos with gay abandon.

yet, i fail to make time for you.

like i said old friend, it's not you, it's me.

i thank you for waiting patiently for my return,

i promise i will try to do justice to your loyalty.

:: hi-ho, hi-ho ::

it's off to work i go,
the holiday is over.
the bali suntan has gone down the plughole with the shower suds.
the winter woolies have been taken out of mothballs  and the heater in the creative cottage is maxed.


mr curly, my trusty magic loop knitting needle, is back in fulltime employment knocking up rainbow beanies for the wee noggins of tiny tots.

and, steaming winter stews are back on the menu. this one was especially yummy with a warming hum from the ras el hanout , lemon zest and fresh parsley.

 poor old miss lucy spent the day at the doggy day surgery shop having her little girly bits nipped and tucked ( no puppies for you miss lucy)
 in her absence the girls had the run of the garden and were in chooky heaven.

mr norris also enjoyed the freedom and spent the day romping around the garden with occasional glances over his shoulder in expectation of a puppy jumping on his head.
  well little animals, your freedom is shortlived.  i am sure miss lucy mcpup will be back on deck tomorrow and will pass her time tormenting you all while i attend to the massive pile of baby shoes that have been cut but not stitched and await my attention on my desk in the cottage
in the company of my new bff, little betty, the mini tin sewing machine (just like mama'a) i will be stitching and snipping.
 

holiday, a distant memory.

:: favorite things ::

 

after a week in paradise here are a few of my favorite things.....

orange, ginger, lime and tumeric juice...yum

fresh coconut juice, preferably chilled and preferably taken by the pool

 Kopi Luwak
yep, cat's bum coffee.

potato head beach club

preferably at sunset

and beyond,

that moment when you step from the thick humid heat of the outdoors into your chilly airconditioned room

the sparkle of lanterns in the trees of outdoor restaurants

preferably when they are chandeliers,

the chaos and adventure of the fish market at Jimbaran Bay 

delicious mangosteen (did you know that the number of "petals" on it's little bottom corrosponds to the number of segments inside the purple skin, clever little mangosteen)

the joyous little Balanese children who have so little but give so much

the beautiful balanese fishing boats

warung ares restaurant and chef dean fishers bali cooking school

la lucciola restuarant

particularly for the view which is second only to the food,

the soaring kites

particularly when they soar above the gorgeous gardens or beaches

the temples

the offerings and the prayerful, reverence of the Balinese Hindus

their devotion is always evident 

the doors that lead to quirky villas

or elegant hotel courtyards

some with their own pool

some with lovely gardens

some are bright and jewel like

some are just ornate

the louvers with their patchy flaking paint

the path that leads to morning yoga class

in the peaceful open pavilion

with peaceful fishy friends

exotic flowers

with intoxicating perfume

the happy chatter of the work gangs as they climb aboard their lift to work

sometimes managing to get three workers or a family of four onto a motor cycle

there don't seem to be any complaints about overcrowded transport. no air conditioned trains and myki systems for workers to complain about here

while inside the sanctuary of the hotel the choices are, do we take up a spot on the shaded pergoda beds?

where the view of the pool from behind the curtains is inviting

or choose is the supersized lounges in the shade of the umbrellas.
Bali is an island of contrast, intense beauty across the road from extreme poverty.
i feel so lucky to have shared the week with my first born and to be as privilaged as we are 

 

 

:: paradise found ::

i am indulging myself in a way that i never have previously.
i have travelled to the beautiful island of bali in the company of my beautiful eldest daughter.

we have taken up residence in a beautiful resort in seminyak and have barely left the pool, bed, retaurant and bar.  
it is not the way i normally holiday, it is the first time i have ever holidayed this way.

i highly recomend it as an occasional treat.

yesterday i managed to drag myself away from the aforementioned activities of sleeping, drinking, eating and lazing to attend a cooking class.

this particular class came highly recommended on trip adviser and whilst the 1,000,000 rupiah price tag seemed high compared to others it is worth every single rupiah and then some. 

the class is named deans bali cooking class and is held at the restuarant of Chef Dean Fisher.

Dean is an expatriate from the UK and has been in Bali for two and a half years.

the class of five gathered at the seminyak restaurant called Warung Ares in Seminyak Square at 8.15 am.

we were chauffeured in air conditioned comfort to the seaside fish market at Jimbaran.

the day was overcast and raining and characteristically humid.

 Jimbarin fish market is an shambolic and chaotic gathering of families of fisherman selling hundreds of varieties of seafood, produce, spices, drygoods and poultry.

in spite of the narrow and bustling aisles, the tables groaning under the weight of  the exotic and the familiar it has a surprisingly calm and pleasant atmosphere.

as you wade through the puddled sandy floor, mixed with the dregs of seafood hauled up from the fishing boats and sometimes cleaned and filleted in the stalls, it strikes you that the smell is not bad at all.

perhaps it's the freshness of the catch, brought from the boat to the stalls or maybe it's the incense burning on the tiny alters peppered around.

Chef Dean and our driver expertly guide us around to purchase the best of the bounty to be taken back, prepared and cooked.

the families, sometimes three or maybe even four generations of them spend their days selling, eating, chatting, praying sitting, playing and watching as the world goes by.
 

they seem at peace with their surrounds and you get a sense that this place is home to many of them.

the view from the front of the market looking out across the sea towards Seminyak is a thing of beauty, and a world away.

on return to the restaurant we are schooled on the nuances of indonesian cooking bali style.

a complete and thorough lesson on spices

on local produce

 on cleaning and preparation techniques

(no matter how much you love octopus there is never any need to kiss it prior to plonking it in a delicious marinade)

 on base sauces

all of this teaching is thoroughly hands on with us, the students breaking down chickens from beak to toe, scaling, gutting and filleting fish, chopping, slicing and dicing our way though mountains of food all to be shared at the completion of the class

the lesson is interjected frequently by the ever cheerful staff delivering all manner of delicious cocktails and iced teas for our grateful consumption.

the day was made all the more enjoyable by the pleasant company of like minded food loving fellow students.

Chef Dean has a depth of food knowledge and is eager to impart it. he is obviously passionate about food and his adopted island home.

towards the end of the lesson when the the yellow chicken curry, the fish satay lilit, the tempura seafood, nasi goreng with fried tempeh, the chili prawns, satay chicken, spicy calamari, the confit spiced octopus, the corn perkedel and  the mantou bun are cooked ,we remove our aprons, we sit to a table beautifully set and dotted with bowls of delicious sambals and satay sauces and we eat.

 we eat for quite some long time, we eat, we drink, we eat some more only breaking to watch the theatric cooking of the singapore chili crab that we earlier prepared.

 it to comes to the table and is truly amazing.

 it is fortuotus that we seem to have left a tiny space for the pandan ice cream with black rice pudding that is so amazing that i realise i have eaten half of it before i manage to take a photo.

what better way to complete a meal than a double espresso bali style.

what better way to spend a day in paradise? 

i have many more photoes that will no doubt make it to the blog before much longer

:: cats will play ::

 

we all know that while the cats away the mice will play.
in our case the mice have been away
  and the cats have been playing.
 while the wee ones have been on a two week jaunt of Japan with their older siblings (and their two younger siblings)

 we cats have been keeping the home fires stoked and burning.

 we didn't play the way a couple of empty nesters would normally play.


we did a mini makeover of the smallest room in the house and the room of one of the smallest peeps in the house.
miss 13 came home to a newly painted and pimped up (in true Japanese style) bedroom.

 it features her antique Japanese kimono adorning the wall,

 fresh and subtle shades of china white and hog bristle replace the garish colours of the 1980'shand me down furniture was given a new lease on life with a coat of semi gloss enamel paint and black porcelain and brass door knobs,

new bedlinen

 alice in wonderland moss terrarium made by moi,

 and her original cocktail umbrella light shade that we made together last year.

 a pretty sweet home coming after a two week adventure methinks. 

:: ready or not ::

it has been two years in the planning.
for four young kids  it's a dream come true.

 i have written before of our blended family of six.

of our two amazing and beautiful thirty somethings,
of our delightful tweenagers,
and of the fabulous offspring of my ex husband, whom the older two call siblings and the younger two call besties.

well, yesterday they boarded a plane together and headed for the land of the rising sun.
the four wee ones have long been lovers of everything japanese.

they arrived in tokyo this afternoon and think that they have arrived in their own little corner of heaven.
to a city where a vending machine cooks fried chicken and chips to order for $3.50
where t.v ads resemble a cross between a comedy and a game show,


where  miss 13 gushes on facebook about the amazing showers that have a radio broadcast of anime shows, she just loves everything about japan,

where they get to giggle non stop about public signs with funny english translations.

it seems that the next two weeks will be an adventure of sorts. 
brace yourself japan, here they come, ready or not. 

:: twelve ::

 

during the week mr. youngest of four turned twelve.
he celebrated in fine foodie style.

 he shared an Adriano Zumbo mud mirror cake with a couple of buddies.
it was just the sugar hit that they needed before a saturday night sleepover.

 he had traditional heart shaped pancakes for breakfast on the actual day.

 then finished the day off with homemade gyozo and flat rice noodles,

 followed by the mandatory passion-fruit sponge with a singing candle.
happy birthday to you my foodie boy. 
it's all about the food in our house. 

:: cruden farm ::

 

at the weekend i spent a rare and enjoyable day in the company of my mum

we visited the home of the late Dame Elizabeth Murdoch AC DBE 
CRUDEN FARM

last sunday's gala was a fundraiser in aid of the Baker IDI heart&diabetes institute

the property is a truly magnificent

 it is grand but not grandiose

 it has the feel of a homely farm

the presence of the late Dame Elizabeth is tangable
anyone who is familiar with the media record of her life will remember many photos of her seated gracefully in a tapestry wing back chair by an open fire.

 the gardens are amazing,

 the kind of garden that has 'room' after 'room' beckoning you into the next area.

 sometimes up stone steps

 and often through a pretty door

 or an ornate gate.

 you are led ever forward or sidewards into another enchanted flower filled 'room'.

 many of these areas have a welcoming seat inviting you to take some time to admire the view.

 there must be hundreds of them scattered around the grounds.

 i think my favorite was a little old gardeners chair in a cluttered potting shed.

 the stables sit nobly in the picking garden,

 they are graceful digs,

 the style is reminiscent of Mediterranean architecture with ornate fittings and fixtures.

the biggest challenge was snapping a photo before another visitor wandered into my frame 

the second biggest challenge was know when to stop snapping photos.

one which i clearly didn't rise to.

the buildings and the vast grounds speak loudly of many years of love and admiration by many thousands of people both ordinary and not so ordinary.

if the walls could talk,

they would tell you to linger in the gardens,

and admire the carefully tended blooms

 it's a place where hours can easily slip by.

if you are still with me, well done.
just a few more to go and we will be at the end.

 you have shown remarkable commitment.
what can i say, i love gardens. 

 and all of their beauty.

so, that concludes our tour of Cruden Farm

thank you for stopping by,
you can exit via the rear gate. 

:: the end ::

this week i have been celebrating the end of a record breaking heatwave.
10 days of temperatures above 30c

10 sleepless nights of high humidity and temperatures in the mid to high 20c

when the cool change hit i celebrated by opening doors

 and windows

i took a stroll around the garden and collected a handful of blooms that had clung to life during the heat

 we had welcomed the youngest home from school camp

miss lucy was happy to see him and he was well glad to be home in an air conditioned house

the enterprising puppy found shade wherever she could.
spending time in the creative cottage in the garden was impossible,
no air con, no insulation and a tin roof without a ceiling space made it feel like a sauna,

i celebrated the change by catching up on some nappy wallets that were overdue.
the thing that i like about living in melbourne is the seasonal change.
i love the summers and the lifestyle that goes along with warm days and balmy light evenings.

similarly i love winter, spending time indoors with a view of the rainy grey outdoors.
even more so i really love the snow.
but really and honestly if i wanted ten hot and humid days with ten sleepless nights i would move to far north queensland.
just saying.