Thursday, 31 March 2011
Friday, 25 March 2011
Georgia's first (and last) trip to casa Nixon in North Nowra
Georgia gets her last chance to visit the grandparents in North Nowra before they move to Melbourne.
Luckily they have a boatload of kiddie books.
Ma keeps Georgia amused.
Pa takes a while to get to the punch-line...
But he does.
No baby bathing facilities in North Nowra but we do have a laundry sink.
Big couch for a little girl.
Last waltz around the garden with Pop before we head back to Sydney.
Couldn't resist this one. Ma found her original bridal veil during the packing. There is no truth to the rumour that I referred to her as the Corpse Bride.
Luckily they have a boatload of kiddie books.
Ma keeps Georgia amused.
Pa takes a while to get to the punch-line...
But he does.
No baby bathing facilities in North Nowra but we do have a laundry sink.
Big couch for a little girl.
Last waltz around the garden with Pop before we head back to Sydney.
Couldn't resist this one. Ma found her original bridal veil during the packing. There is no truth to the rumour that I referred to her as the Corpse Bride.
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Kookaburra
A fairly frequent visitor to the residence in North Nowra I believe. Sadly we won't be visiting North Nowra as frequently any more. We're here for possibly the last time "helping" mum and dad pack for the move. More on that later. In the meantime laugh kookaburra laugh.
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Papilio Aegeus
According to this page the pretty butterfly pictured below is called Papilio Aegeus (Orchard or Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly) and is a fairly common garden butterfly in Sydney. It is one of the largest butterflies in Sydney too and mostly found on citrus plants. In our case the egg was laid on our cumquat tree on the balcony. I don't recall seeing the caterpillar and I'm sure Copernicus didn't either (it wouldn't have become a butterfly if Perni had seen it) but I did see the pupa at some point and forgot about until this pretty creature appeared. It is probably a female going by the colouring and she had just exited her cocoon. She's been back once or twice since and the last time we did have to save her from Perni.
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Best wishes Japan - Saikō no Nippon wa kibō
A few weeks ago I mentioned that this time last year we were in Japan. Three weeks ago no one knew Japan would be facing a disaster of historic proportions (hey psychics how did you miss this?*).
We couldn't be sadder for the Japanese people. We've travelled all over the world but our holiday to Japan was my favourite, or equal favourite, so far. The Japanese were superb. They have a generosity of spirit and hospitality we'd never encountered before. Time and again we met people that were friendly and helpful that seemed to belie the Japanese reputation for reserve and formality.
I've been shocked by the images coming out of Japan. It is truly heartbreaking.
There couldn't be a better prepared people to deal with such a catastrophe though. Hopefully Japanese stoicism in the face of this crisis will see them through. They must be being pushed to the limit though with an earthquake, tsunami, nuclear meltdown and now possibly the eruption of the volcano Mt Shinoedake on Kyushu. All they need now is Gojira to rear his ugly head above Tokyo Bay to complete a horrifying week.
Our thoughts are with our Japanese friends and we send them our best wishes but sometimes a more tangible gift is more appropriate: Australian Red Cross Japan Disaster Appeal.
Japan in happier times. Michelle in front of Matsumoto Castle, Matsumoto. 9th March 2010.
*Seriously psychics. You missed the 5th biggest recorded earthquake in history, one of the deadliest tsunamis in history and multiple nuclear reactor meltdowns. All on one weekend.
We couldn't be sadder for the Japanese people. We've travelled all over the world but our holiday to Japan was my favourite, or equal favourite, so far. The Japanese were superb. They have a generosity of spirit and hospitality we'd never encountered before. Time and again we met people that were friendly and helpful that seemed to belie the Japanese reputation for reserve and formality.
I've been shocked by the images coming out of Japan. It is truly heartbreaking.
There couldn't be a better prepared people to deal with such a catastrophe though. Hopefully Japanese stoicism in the face of this crisis will see them through. They must be being pushed to the limit though with an earthquake, tsunami, nuclear meltdown and now possibly the eruption of the volcano Mt Shinoedake on Kyushu. All they need now is Gojira to rear his ugly head above Tokyo Bay to complete a horrifying week.
Our thoughts are with our Japanese friends and we send them our best wishes but sometimes a more tangible gift is more appropriate: Australian Red Cross Japan Disaster Appeal.
Japan in happier times. Michelle in front of Matsumoto Castle, Matsumoto. 9th March 2010.
*Seriously psychics. You missed the 5th biggest recorded earthquake in history, one of the deadliest tsunamis in history and multiple nuclear reactor meltdowns. All on one weekend.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Friday, 11 March 2011
Georgia's first trip to the pub
The Erskineville Hotel for fish'n'chips (ordinary - Michelle ended up ditching it and getting a chicken burger) and a steak (okay). At least the company was good (Hi Mark, Sharyn, Gerard and Jasmine).
Georgia's dad spent a lot of time sleeping at pubs too once upon a time.
Georgia's dad spent a lot of time sleeping at pubs too once upon a time.
A French truffle
Sadly decadence is a much underrated vice. When I saw this little baby (pictured below) on display at Victor Churchill the other day I knew she had to be mine. This is our first French truffle - usually we get the domestic almost as expensive variety. Decadence? Well truffles are an extravagance. It isn't very often you buy something that is in the two to three thousand dollars per kilo range. Luckily they are small and light. This little ball of black beauty was only 18 grams. But oh the flavour and odour. To store it you have to double seal it in a zip lock bag and then in a plastic container because otherwise your milk will have zee stink of zee angels.
The very simplest thing you can do with a truffle is shave some into a basic omelette and then once the omelette is done take the pan and fry up more shavings in some lovely brown burnt butter. We then get a double hit of truffley goodness.
There's still plenty of truffle left for Michelle's Truffle Egg Pasta. Last time it was divine so I have... expectations.
The very simplest thing you can do with a truffle is shave some into a basic omelette and then once the omelette is done take the pan and fry up more shavings in some lovely brown burnt butter. We then get a double hit of truffley goodness.
There's still plenty of truffle left for Michelle's Truffle Egg Pasta. Last time it was divine so I have... expectations.
Sunday, 6 March 2011
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Late night webcam
If you were able to hack my webcam late at night when Michelle and Georgia are sleeping you might just see just what the boys get up to...
Yes I am wearing shorts.
Yes I am wearing shorts.
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