I haven’t blogged in a looooong time. Not because I haven’t wanted to, more because I feel like my brain has been sucked out of me by the time school is over and we do all the weekly activities we are involved with. Life. Is. Busy. Bullet points might be the quickest and easiest way of summing up.
- We are running a ‘homegroup’ on a Wednesday night, which doesn’t actually take place at our home, but in a suburb about 50 minutes away. There are quite a few people who come up to our church from there, so we thought we’d meet their needs and run the group from their area. It means they can feel connected with church without the whole lot of them driving up here during the week. I love doing this with my husband; we work so well as a team and we manage to ‘fill in the gaps’ for each other.
- My husband has just accepted a job offer. Without actively looking, he somehow managed to land about six interviews, five of which resulted in offers. The new job means that we will very easily be able to manage on one income when the time comes, and it means that we can actually plan to do things like purchase a home, which seemed beyond the stars due to the resources boom here in the west (the resources boom which has made the way for the new income!). He has been very happy in the current job, but it really seems like God has made a way for us in this new one. It will certainly help us realise some dreams and goals.
- On said job offer: my lovely husband said it was completely up to me whether or not I choose to work next year, knowing how much I am over teaching. He rocks. I’m thinking about becoming a tennis/doing lunch wife. Ha! Actually, I think I will still work part-time, maybe three days a week. It is nice to add to our household in this way.
- We are planning a little holiday at the end of the year. I have never really been to Sydney or around New South Wales, and my darling has two weeks holiday to use up before the New Job. A little jaunt to the east would be so much fun.
- I preached at church on Sunday. It has been so long since I did that! I spoke on suffering and perseverance and all the Lord has taught me in regards to this. You know what? NOT my doing, but all glory to God - it was amazing. There were people in tears and I know that hearts were touched.
- My parents and sister and her family are back from Europe (again) and we have been spending some fun times with them. It makes me hungry for France again. They did do the right thing and bring us back some confit de canard (duck in a can). You haven’t had duck unless you’ve eaten French duck. The French Know How To Do Food. Seriously.
- School is actually going really well. Just over six weeks until the year is over. I can do six weeks.
- The garden is looking very pretty. One of these days I’ll post some pictures.
- Oh! I am SO excited about this! One of my friends is giving me her spare therm0mix. A therm0mix is a groovy appliance that is a food processor, grain grinder, enzyme-preserving cooker, bread mixer, slicer, dicer and all round amazing kitchen appliance. She has a new one with all these extra-fancy buttons, but the old one does all the same stuff. I can’t wait to play! You can make stuff like pesto, sorbet, mayonnaise and so on in the space of five minutes.
- That’s all, for now.
Filed under: food
My lovely husband is fighting a yucky cold at the moment, so I thought a dinner of hig nutritional value is in order. We are starting with fresh oysters, some with a dipping sauce (either wasabi, worcester or garlic) and some with just a squirt of fresh lemon juice. Next will be a pile of roasted vegetables: sweet potato, pumpkin, potato and onion, with rosemary. I’m making a big tabbouli salad with that: cracked wheat, tons of fresh parsley, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and salad onions all mixed together. All that garlic and all those veggies are good flu busters.
Filed under: food
I’ve had a couple of goes at making my own sourdough bread. I spent a small fortune on organic biodynamic rye flour, and did the whole filtered water, careful feeding and waiting for several days. By the end of it, my wonderful sourdough starter was a flat, stagnant mess. I don’t know what went wrong, but wrong it went.
I visted a friend yesterday who is seriously into healthy eating, and she very kindly gave me two jars of starter. She also ground some rye flour for me (she grinds her own flour!) and gave me a pile of organic bakers flour. I have no excuse. It is time for sourdough part deux. What motivates me is the fact that I fork over $5.50 for one loaf of good quality sourdough. It is the only sort of bread I really should be eating, so I’ve handed over the cash up until now, but being able to bake my own would certainly be a boon. I will report back later.
Filed under: Uncategorized
We finally, FINALLY got an iPod yesterday! It is one of the new nanos that can show videos and hold lots more music and photos and other cool stuff. The extra-cool thing is that we didn’t have to pay for it. I got it through this rewards system I am a part of. My husband did put his foot down and wouldn’t let me get a pink one, but I like the silver just as well. 
I’ve been sitting here in my jammies all morning, tea growing cold in the cup, trying to figure it all out. I’ve managed to create a workout playlist, which is about the most important thing. There is something about having a beat to make you move a little faster. My playlist has everything from Moby to Annie Lennox, to Desiree, and worship music. We’re all about the eclectic, here.
Now that I’ve actually got the music to go with the workout, there is absolutely no excuse to exercise, is there?
The thing about elephants is that they don’t often do what you want them to. This pesky elephant persists in hanging around, and I’m tired of waiting for it to go. Thus, I will keep blogging even though that darned mammal steps on my toes every now and then. I know I’m vague; it’s just that this is something that I don’t want to blog about. It has to do with waiting, and heartache and deferred hopes and dreams, and knowing that God is still good despite the suffering that seems to go on forever. Sometimes the Lord takes you down a path to teach you beautiful and holy truths that are learnt through pain and grief. He allows to experience pain that we may one day alleviate and understand others’ pain. We are told to bear one anothers burdens and we have certainly experienced that through the love of friends and family. I marvel at His goodness even though the path is rocky.
In the meantime: it is spring and the air is like champagne and the flowers are blooming riotously. I am on school holidays and am knowing the delights of hours in the sun-lounge with a book and a nice drink. The vegetables are growing and the herbs are beginning to flower and there is so much of life that is sweet and good.
