Renovations: We've almost come to the end of painting the rendered exterior in the obligatory 'coastal' off white and grey. I must say that rendering really freshens the outdated red brick but as with all good things in life, came at an expense... needless to say, at the end of this stint of renovations we will be penniless. But luckily we can subsist on our own agricultural pursuits....
Gardening: We are now reaping the rewards of patiently tending to our veggie patch and have had TWO WHOLE MEALS from our harvest! A silverbeet, chorizo and cannelini bean dish and broccoli with our lamb and cous cous tonight. I can certainly attest to the silverbeet and broccoli being crisper than their store bought peers, and they were, of course cheaper as well! First stop - supplying our crisper, next stop - supplying Woolworths. Well, you have to dream big...Running: Completed the Sutherland to Surf 11 km run in a much better time than expected! It was a miserable, drizzling morning so I stepped up the pace just so I could finish gthe damn thing and get indoors. Didn't stop the whole way and completed the run in one hour and seven minutes. There's fight in this old dog yet...
Baking: Have to confess that my recent baking attemtps were both from .... (look around and lower voice)... packet mixes. Shocking, I know. I tried to make pizza dough from a packet mix and while it was edible, it was a bit thick and gooey. Problem diagnosed there - I need to roll out the base a bit better, rather than trying to prise a globby mess off the kitchen counter and throwing it on the pizza stone. Then I tried a Donna Hay mix to make macarons. I didn't believe that you could put such an infamously hard-to-make sweet treat from a mix, and it turns out - you can't. Sorry Donna. Actually, they tasted pretty good but didn't rise as much as Zumbos (no surprises there). And I made them the size of frisbees. However, a frisbee sized flat macaron is still pretty good to eat, thus proving that the path to hell is lined with macarons.
Books: Finished reading Chris Cleave's 'Gold' and really found it hard to believe that it was the same author that wrote the brilliant 'The Other Hand'. Looked up a review online to see how it has been received by the critics. Came across one from The Guardian which, paraphrased, wondered 'Is this the same author who wrote....'. Maybe I should write reviews for the Guardian? The novel was fine for an airport style page turner to fill the hours, but hardly the standard of work expected from this author. Still, it was relevant at the moment while the Olympics are on. Speaking of which, back to the tv, someone's about to cry again over being only the second best at something in the world...
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