Wednesday, 21 August 2013
Thursday, 15 August 2013
Life lately - via Instagram
a bit of bakin'
lazy breakfasts in bed
beach walks
fun with friends
homegrown delights
cuddles with a sick Siddy
afternoons in the sun
sunbakin' sillies
breakfast on the back verandah with my Jdawg
pretties from the garden
Life Lately....
Looking forward to: my little brother coming to visit! We only get to see him once or twice a year - living on opposite sides of the country and all that - but his visits are always so special for our family. It is a beautiful thing to see how happy he is becoming as he gets older and finds his place in life. I don't think I could possibly put into words how proud I am of this kid, and of the man he is becoming. Just a shame his lovely girlfriend (who has a lot to do with his happiness) won't be with him this time. Still, roll on September and a Hooke catch up - yay!
Something I am enjoying: After having been given the hot tip on a couple of new series by my very clever sister-in-law - I am not ashamed to say that Jon and I have finished them both already!
Vikings is a great series about - surprisingly - the Vikings, and in particular a fella called Ragnar Lothbrok and his rise to "fame". Now I don't know if it is the fact he is played by former Aussie model Travis Fimmel or what - but I thoroughly enjoyed the (not historically exactly correct) series a LOT and can't wait for the new series in 2014.
The other series was a French show called The Returned. The premise of the show is a bunch of dead and buried folk returning to the small mountain town they are from - apparently not realising they are dead and having no recollection of what has happened to them. Very mysterious, very intriguing, very can't-stop-watching.... go and watch it - right meow!
Something I am grateful for: I originally started this blog because I felt like all my trying to find a community of infertile folk online to connect with was in vain - that the blogs and groups that I had found, I couldn't relate to in any way.
Never the less, I have continued to try and find blogs and people out there who are going through the same thing who I could get some peace of mind from. It has dawned on me over the past year - that the most likely reason why I can't exactly relate to the people I have found is because their journeys are so much further along than ours.
I noticed a lot of them talk in abbreviations which I found hard to understand - IVF, PCOS, HCG, AI, AO, HSG etc etc. At first this annoyed me, I didn't want to discuss something so emotional and personal to me in abbreviations and weird code words (eg BFN = Big Fat Negative - for the longest time I thought it meant something scientific - turns out it's just a polite way of saying "it didn't EFFING work - again!").
As time has gone on, I have realised that I haven't had to experience half of the things these people have - and that having a simplistic way to describe the turmoil in their lives without "harping on" might have been a relief for them.
When I read these stories, it occurs to me that we are probably at the starting block on the Monopoly Board of Fertility Treatment, while these folks have gone right the way around with a few "go directly to jail" set backs along the way.
I recently heard about a lovely couple I know, from my hometown, who have endured 9 IVF transfers (with an assortment of other unpleasant treatments over 7 years!!) and are now expecting their first little munchkin. It kinda floored me a bit actually - what the hell have I been whinging about?? Yeah, we have been trying for years and putting up with the disappointments etc - but there are others who have really put their cards on the table and gone for it and ended up disappointed a LOT more times than us.
While finances and circumstances are holding things up slightly - we still have a LOT of tricks up our sleeve to try yet - and for that I am grateful.
Never the less, I have continued to try and find blogs and people out there who are going through the same thing who I could get some peace of mind from. It has dawned on me over the past year - that the most likely reason why I can't exactly relate to the people I have found is because their journeys are so much further along than ours.
I noticed a lot of them talk in abbreviations which I found hard to understand - IVF, PCOS, HCG, AI, AO, HSG etc etc. At first this annoyed me, I didn't want to discuss something so emotional and personal to me in abbreviations and weird code words (eg BFN = Big Fat Negative - for the longest time I thought it meant something scientific - turns out it's just a polite way of saying "it didn't EFFING work - again!").
As time has gone on, I have realised that I haven't had to experience half of the things these people have - and that having a simplistic way to describe the turmoil in their lives without "harping on" might have been a relief for them.
When I read these stories, it occurs to me that we are probably at the starting block on the Monopoly Board of Fertility Treatment, while these folks have gone right the way around with a few "go directly to jail" set backs along the way.
I recently heard about a lovely couple I know, from my hometown, who have endured 9 IVF transfers (with an assortment of other unpleasant treatments over 7 years!!) and are now expecting their first little munchkin. It kinda floored me a bit actually - what the hell have I been whinging about?? Yeah, we have been trying for years and putting up with the disappointments etc - but there are others who have really put their cards on the table and gone for it and ended up disappointed a LOT more times than us.
While finances and circumstances are holding things up slightly - we still have a LOT of tricks up our sleeve to try yet - and for that I am grateful.
Tuesday, 13 August 2013
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Monday, 29 July 2013
Friday, 26 July 2013
80s
Now if ever a song was able to put a smile on my face (usually just because I am remembering the rah-rah skirts and side ponytails I used to rock when listening to that song) it would be from this time - not that all of the following are particularly "happy" tunes - but still - a great era for some cheesy, some amazing, some unforgettable musical moments - for me.
Enjoy
S xx
what would be on your ultimate 80's list? Have I forgotten something/someone? - I feel like I have! Far too many to choose from...
Not even remotely about baby makin'......
I am a little bit sad this week. Sad and disheartened. Feeling blue. Down in the dumps. Wound up. All of those things. And for once it isn't anything to do with our baby makin'.... that stress has been put on the back burner for a time, while Jon and I have been doing lovely things like fixing our house and gardens (VERY slowly), watching movies, having lazy brunches at home on the weekends etc etc.
No folks, this time my sadness is being caused by the ongoing debate (some may say brawl) that is happening in my sleepy old town of Bowen.
Basically, there is a proposal waiting on government approval at this very moment to determine whether the coal port (Abbot Point) located just outside our little town should be expanded (by means of dredging the ocean bed to allow the expansion infrastructure) to accommodate increased traffic and export.
The frustration and desperation for this oh-so-important decision to be pushed ahead in the quickest amount of time possible (which has already been delayed as a new Environment Minister has been appointed in the meantime) is palpable - and is rearing its head in really heated and, sometimes, ugly discussion.
There are two valid sides to the debate - one is the fact that our town is dying, literally, suffocating under the strain of high unemployment, failed businesses and over saturation of the housing market with new developments which were banking on a "sure thing" with the expansion going ahead.
The flip side is some people's distrust in the integrity of the big corporations who are linked with the expansion. The distrust is based around the core areas of environmental conservation and the impact on other industry such as fishing and tourism, "real" benefits for locals vs out of town and overseas workers being brought to Bowen for the expansion phase and what all of this will mean in the long term for our town.
I am a big believer in debate and discussion - and that it can only bring a better understanding of the wider issues - and that EVERYONE has a right to express themselves and their concerns and to be listened to.
What has my heart heavy with this debate is the appalling manner in which my town folk are treating each other - the insults flying freely, people being told their opinions and concerns don't count, a "shut up if you don't think the same as us" attitude, and some really, really, really loose use of "facts" to try and sway opinion - from both sides of the extremists.
Its really off putting and saddening to realise that the egos of some people are breaking down the very fabric of what living in a small community should be about - having respect for your neighbours and working TOGETHER towards an outcome that everyone can live with happily. I mean, I know not everyone could ever be made happy (especially the extremist "greenies" and the extremist "anti-greenies") - but there has got to be a better way to deal with this debate other than bullying and badgering and bulldozer-ing everyone into thinking the same. I don't want to live in a world where everyone thinks the same - how would we ever have change and improvement? The only thing I want everyone to think the same about is how to treat each other, and sadly that just isn't happening.
I am not sure what will happen, and I am not sure how I will feel about it when it does happen. All I know is I grew up with some of the people who's behaviour is so upsetting to me - and it makes me question what has happened to us? Have we become so tied up in ourselves that we have forgotten how to care for each other? I relocated my husband to the other side of the world because I didn't want to raise our children in a city where it's the norm to look the other way and not have close relationships with the people you live around. I grew up so differently to that - where the neighbourhood kids played in the street; safe in the knowledge that we were all looking out for each other, where your mum found out you were smoking behind the town hall before you even got home to breathe your stinky breath on her and where, when times were tough, you knew a neighbour, a friend or a family member was just around the corner with an offer of help.
If that isn't how my sleepy little town operates any more - if progress and industry has replaced manners and kindness - and if people I once respected are going to turn on each other - then what the hell did I come back here for? I wouldn't want my children to witness the things I have heard and read seemingly "decent" people say to and about each other lately, it's heartbreaking.
Maybe its the migraine I have been rocking all day. Maybe its a distraction from other things I would normally be stressed about. Maybe I got me a case of the boo-hoo-blues. Whatever it is, I am a sad sack - and cannot wait for the decision to be made already so all of this silly-ness can end. Or maybe, just maybe, it's time for me to start scouting for my teepee commune haven in the rainforest I have always dreamt of - and just be done with this place once and for all.
I feel majorly guilty for not being "positive" in this post - but it's how I am feeling and I couldn't even pretend it's not - so I am just going to go with it.
Maybe a playlist will cheer me up..... who knows?
No folks, this time my sadness is being caused by the ongoing debate (some may say brawl) that is happening in my sleepy old town of Bowen.
Basically, there is a proposal waiting on government approval at this very moment to determine whether the coal port (Abbot Point) located just outside our little town should be expanded (by means of dredging the ocean bed to allow the expansion infrastructure) to accommodate increased traffic and export.
The frustration and desperation for this oh-so-important decision to be pushed ahead in the quickest amount of time possible (which has already been delayed as a new Environment Minister has been appointed in the meantime) is palpable - and is rearing its head in really heated and, sometimes, ugly discussion.
There are two valid sides to the debate - one is the fact that our town is dying, literally, suffocating under the strain of high unemployment, failed businesses and over saturation of the housing market with new developments which were banking on a "sure thing" with the expansion going ahead.
The flip side is some people's distrust in the integrity of the big corporations who are linked with the expansion. The distrust is based around the core areas of environmental conservation and the impact on other industry such as fishing and tourism, "real" benefits for locals vs out of town and overseas workers being brought to Bowen for the expansion phase and what all of this will mean in the long term for our town.
I am a big believer in debate and discussion - and that it can only bring a better understanding of the wider issues - and that EVERYONE has a right to express themselves and their concerns and to be listened to.
What has my heart heavy with this debate is the appalling manner in which my town folk are treating each other - the insults flying freely, people being told their opinions and concerns don't count, a "shut up if you don't think the same as us" attitude, and some really, really, really loose use of "facts" to try and sway opinion - from both sides of the extremists.
Its really off putting and saddening to realise that the egos of some people are breaking down the very fabric of what living in a small community should be about - having respect for your neighbours and working TOGETHER towards an outcome that everyone can live with happily. I mean, I know not everyone could ever be made happy (especially the extremist "greenies" and the extremist "anti-greenies") - but there has got to be a better way to deal with this debate other than bullying and badgering and bulldozer-ing everyone into thinking the same. I don't want to live in a world where everyone thinks the same - how would we ever have change and improvement? The only thing I want everyone to think the same about is how to treat each other, and sadly that just isn't happening.
I am not sure what will happen, and I am not sure how I will feel about it when it does happen. All I know is I grew up with some of the people who's behaviour is so upsetting to me - and it makes me question what has happened to us? Have we become so tied up in ourselves that we have forgotten how to care for each other? I relocated my husband to the other side of the world because I didn't want to raise our children in a city where it's the norm to look the other way and not have close relationships with the people you live around. I grew up so differently to that - where the neighbourhood kids played in the street; safe in the knowledge that we were all looking out for each other, where your mum found out you were smoking behind the town hall before you even got home to breathe your stinky breath on her and where, when times were tough, you knew a neighbour, a friend or a family member was just around the corner with an offer of help.
If that isn't how my sleepy little town operates any more - if progress and industry has replaced manners and kindness - and if people I once respected are going to turn on each other - then what the hell did I come back here for? I wouldn't want my children to witness the things I have heard and read seemingly "decent" people say to and about each other lately, it's heartbreaking.
Maybe its the migraine I have been rocking all day. Maybe its a distraction from other things I would normally be stressed about. Maybe I got me a case of the boo-hoo-blues. Whatever it is, I am a sad sack - and cannot wait for the decision to be made already so all of this silly-ness can end. Or maybe, just maybe, it's time for me to start scouting for my teepee commune haven in the rainforest I have always dreamt of - and just be done with this place once and for all.
I feel majorly guilty for not being "positive" in this post - but it's how I am feeling and I couldn't even pretend it's not - so I am just going to go with it.
Maybe a playlist will cheer me up..... who knows?
Saturday, 29 June 2013
London-dreamin'...
Here's the next playlist - this time it's songs that remind me of my days living in London.
Some of the best times of my life - not least of which the time I met my darling J there.
I surprised myself (and everyone else I think!) at how much I ended up loving living in London - it was a shaky, homesick, bumpy start - but once I had my bearings (that tube map makes SO much more sense after a few weeks) and had met some awesome friends who took me under their wing(s) - I really felt like I belonged in that big, bustling, crazy city.
For several reasons, none of which are that important or seem that valid now really - we decided to move back to Oz and start this phase of our lives here. But every time I hear one of these tracks - it takes me straight back to a messy night at the Spotted Dog or a chilled evening in my Irish boys' flat playing video games or our little hovel of a flat in Camden amongst the crack heads and punks or one of those glorious London summer days where the shock of the sun hitting your skin was enough to send you straight to the offy for a bottle of beer on your way home from work. Ahhhhh I miss you London :(
Hope you enjoy the mix as much as I do...
Biggest love S xx
1. Wandering Eye - Fat Freddy's Drop 2. Amy Winehouse - Love is a Losing Game
3. Over and Over - Hot Chip 4. Funky Kingston - Toots and the Maytals
5. The Sprout & the Bean - Joanna Newsom 6. New Romantics - Laura Marling
7. Pretty Little Thing - Fink 8. If You Got The Money - Jamie T
9. Let It Die - Feist 10. Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
11. Fix Up, Look Sharp - Dizzee Rascal 12. Cold Shoulder - Adele
13. Hang Me Out To Dry - Cold War Kids 14. Extraordinary Machine - Fiona Apple
15. Jackson - Johnny Cash and June Carter 16. My, My, My - Armand Van Helden
17. The Boxer - The Chemical Brothers 18. All I Need - Radiohead
19. Taper Jean Girl - Kings of Leon 20. Ghost Town - The Specials
21. Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division 22. Second Chance - Liam Finn
ps don't forget the above are links to the songs so just click on the track to have a listen (via Youtube)
pps you can find my previous "grunge" playlist here
Monday, 24 June 2013
Marinated Eggplant
After being given a couple of shopping bags full to the top of different varieties of eggplant this week, I decided I would have a go at marinated eggplant - being that it is one of my most favourite-est things to have on an antipasto platter (and also maybe because antipasto platters generally mean wine for me too hehe).
There seem to be a few different methods for preparing and preserving eggplant. I did some basic research on the net, and had been given a recipe from a work colleague a while ago. So I had a frame of reference for this experiment - but rather than going with one single recipe, I thought I would give each of the methods a wee go so I could compare for the next batch.
As such, I don't have exact amounts for this recipe - but really just an idea of what to use (roughly).
I began with a shopping bag FULL (I mean full to brimming) - and prepared them as such:
These were the round marbled variety - which I had never cooked with before - so I sliced them up and salted them and let them sit for a few hours to allow the moisture to seep out. Apparently this helps with reducing the bitterness (which a lot of people say isn't really necessary with commercial breeds of eggplant now-a-days) - but seeing as I had never used this breed before I thought it might be wise to give this method a go.
These were the common long purple variety - half of which I boiled in vinegar and water until just soft - and then fried in olive oil until completely cooked. The other half I just fried straight in the oil (taking slightly longer than the pre-boiled slices) until slightly golden.
The slices that were sprinkled with salt to seep the bitterness out were also fried lightly in olive oil.
Eggplant is hella absorbent, so you will use quite a lot of oil to fry them - I used an olive oil with a mild flavour to not over complicate the end product. Normally using a large amount of oil turns my stomach a bit, but seeing as the end result is preserved in flavoured oil it didn't really bother me too much. Besides, marinated eggplant (and all the delicious things you have with it) are a "sometimes" food, so no need for panic stations....
I finely chopped 3 heads of garlic and a handful of sweet golden shallots to infuse in the oil (approx 1L), along with 4 pretty heaped tablespoons of Italian herb mix. I also added two tablespoons of raw brown sugar - just for balance. Don't heat the oil to quickly or to too high a temperature - you don't want to "cook" the herbs as such. After I infused the oil, I did think to myself perhaps I may have been better with a few less shallots - but after the jars have sat for a while to marinate I will have a better idea. It certainly wasn't unpleasant, just maybe masked the garlic slightly.
As the eggplant slices were fried, I started layering them with the garlic/shallot/herb infused oil (including the chunky bits of herbs) in each of the jars
Then right at the end, top with the infused oil and a cap full or two of white balsamic vinegar. Give it a good shake - and let it cool down completely before you put a lid on.
I can't wait to give this a try this weekend - with some yummy cheese and biscuits and olives - and of course, a big glass of wine!
Be warned though, this recipe was a long-winded and drawn out process - and if you decide to give it a go - there is a good chance your kitchen is going to end up looking like this bloody mess! Worth it in the end though...
Enjoy
S xx
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