May Day.

On Saturday morning Elsie, Bec and I had a go at filming some jelssie. Hopefully Bec can magically edit it so that its not just a boring video of 2 women eating brunch! It was really fun though. The food was very healthy as you can see. There was nary an egg on the menu, and the only bacon was disguised as speck. Then we had a sticky beak in the CentraPark development which is covered in plants and has a big heliostat awning which is mirrors to direct natural light. Then Elsie and I walked up to Newtown via a makeup shop called Scotty's that sells professional equipment for special effects makeup and stuff. Also we saw a man walking on a tightrope in the park and I had a go. Also we found 2 different locations of angel wings on a wall that you stand in front of. Cute. Promo for a theater production.

JK joined us and we walked up to the Doctor Who shop, which was not that interesting, and in another shop I went mad and bought 2 dresses, the same cool dress that fit well, one red and one grey with penguins on it. Then JK and I went to myer cos there was a sale but all I bought was a pair of socks but JK did better. Then we went to Arisun for fried chicken with a friend of JK. Then we went to darling harbour for the vivid light water show, which was amazing, the second one included fireworks. Then I had no wait for a bus home! It was a perfect day. This is my dress.

http://www.origamidoll.com.au/products/all-along-watch-tower-dress

Music: I asked the Lord.

Words by John Newton. Music by Indelible Grace.

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith and love and every grace
Might more of His salvation know
And seek more earnestly His face

Twas He who taught me thus to pray
And He I trust has answered prayer
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair

I hoped that in some favored hour
At once He'd answer my request
And by His love's constraining power
Subdue my sins and give me rest

Instead of this He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart
And let the angry powers of Hell
Assault my soul in every part

Yea more with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Cast out my feelings, laid me low

Lord why is this, I trembling cried
Wilt Thou pursue thy worm to death?
"Tis in this way" The Lord replied
"I answer prayer for grace and faith"

"These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free
And break thy schemes of earthly joy
That thou mayest seek thy all in me."

Water.

Because it's raining. It's dark and rainy.

Luke Thompson (who I recently saw live) with Lydia Cole (Anna's cousin!) in NZ.


Here is the proper music video which is really nice.

Family weekends #2.

Went to freezing Goulburn for Saturday night, and had a Chinese banquet dinner for Grandfather's 90th birthday with about a quarter of the family able to make it, so a nice number not a massive crowd. It was really good and I realised that I'm rather fortunate that both sides of my family are pretty wonderful and everyone gets on. Also we had the loudest Happy Birthday To You in the restaurant.

This is Grandfather cutting the cake with a carving knife he made when they were first married. It's worn away to a stiletto now.

What happened the rest of the weekend:

And then we went home on Sunday afternoon, and I drove, and then I went to church but it was pretty much a write-off because I was too tired. I wrote in a baby book, and then went home and realised I might have written to the wrong parents. Lucky I've got lots of vitamin C tablets, I'm running on half power again this week.

Family weekends.

Last weekend was my Grandma's 80th birthday, this weekend is my Grandfather's 90th. Some photos of most of dad's side of the family from last weekend. Tomorrow we're off to Goulburn for mum's family.

Braces update.

Short story:

:( :(

Long story:

Yesterday I saw the 3D scans of my skull and teeth. Crazy. He's finalising the treatment plan. Then they make the robot wires. If I had known I wasn't getting wires on til the middle of the year, I would have taken them off in January. Today I don't care about improvements in my bite, I just regret still wearing them.

The xray showed a giant black patch on one side of my face, which is my left sinus full to capacity. Gross. And also so weird because I don't feel any different on one side of my face and I don't have headaches or a blocked nose on one side. I never knew. But that's another thing I'm going to have to chase up.

In other news, I've been watching the biggest loser this week because I love a makeover. But there was also a 5 way tug-of-war. Wow, I've never seen so much human character revealed so fast. It was perfect reality TV. First of all, it was unfair because girly teams are so disadvantaged. But putting that aside... I'm pretty sure the dad on the blue team has some kind of personality disorder—the ego and the manipulation at every opportunity. The game-playing, the twists, the false hope and desperation, and the green team who continually impress. So good.
http://thebiggestloser.com.au/video.htm?movideo_m=340433&movideo_p=50950

Alterations.

Oh I am super proud. I had an oldish shirt with puffy sleeves shaped like bows, which looked nice in the shop but I forgot the rule that I don't like puffy sleeves on me, and they look bunchy under jumpers and stuff. So on Thursday night I cut the sleeves off but left a little bit and hemmed, so now they are small 'cap' sleeves. So at least I can wear it under cardigans. Felt wrong cutting off the main feature of the shirt, but they made it unwearable, so it was better that they go and I will wear the shirt more.

 Before:

Sleeves shaped like bows:

After:

What I call 'cap sleeves':

Here's a secret: Although it is satisfying, sewing is not glamorous and creative. I'm not a perfectionist, I'm a getthejobdoneist. I only do alterations like this when it's economically the best thing to do. I'm not that confident that I can always improve things, there is usually a significant chance of mangling things up. So if I don't mind possibly ruining it, I feel safe to try altering it. And when it's something that's never getting worn, there is nothing to lose. I'll actually spend months pondering an unworn dress or whatever, figuring out what would make it more wearable, and if it is within my abilities to achieve, then I'll suddenly hack into it and do the most basic alteration I can. If it doesn't work, it goes in the bin.

D sent me a link to a good sewing blog. I love love love this post! After my no-shopping challenge I tried to be extremely deliberate about buying clothes that helped build outfits. Limiting colour palette etc. I still have some lovely but rarely-worn skirts in my wardrobe that don't go with anything, but I've been working on the situation and gradually supplying my skirts with shirts and cardigans that "match" (in a non-matchy-matchy way).

What I'm happy about.

Some gushing.

The mornings are stunning. It's why I'm trying to walk to work a lot. The air is cold and hazy and feels so clean, the leaves are turning, the angle of the sun is lighting everything more beautifully. So a couple of times a week I wake up at 6, and leave the house at 7, and get to work at 8.30. I feel SO fortunate that I can commute like this and start the day with so much beauty.

I'm reading North and South again. Loving it. Not so much the love story, which occasionally seems a bit weird and idolatrous, but the plot and the deaths and the discussions about the big things in life. It's chewy and satisfying. If I had the DVD I would have watched it again because I really want to hear Mr Thornton's lovely voice, or his mother, but I'm glad I can't do that because it's better to go with the pace of the book.

Going to Bathurst tomorrow for a family thing for Grandma's birthday. Really happy about it. Bathurst is quite cold: blanket cape! I'm getting there by bus to Central, train to Blaxland, car to Bathurst. My weekends go opposite extremes at the moment, either it's full and fun, or I don't leave the house. I'm in the mood for a full one, whereas last weekend I didn't leave the house apart from church stuff. I feel like there's an emotional rhythm matching my diary.

A lot of joy this morning, I booked flights for my September holiday today because we had our dates all organised and were waiting for a Qantas sale. $59 flights to regional NSW, unbelievably cheap. BUY! Normal economy is like $100-300 price range. Let alone the time saved cos it's most of a day to drive or go on the train. Train would take 8 hours and costs $95.

And now, for some music… you should watch this lip-syncing video. John Krasinski is one of my favourite male leads, up there with Richard Armitage and Tom Ellis. One of my "top persons", if you like. His 'Teenage Dream' cracks me up cos I hate that song.

Cake Herman.

I made the friendship cake after church on Sunday night. This was great. So easy and delicious. I'm not sure how much Herman starter I had left in the bowl after I transferred some to a nice jar, but at least a cup. The recipe says apples and raisins, but I used pears which were cheaper, and frozen berries which are nicer than raisins. Also I threw in an old banana from the freezer. Really good results.

Find Herman here. http://www.hermanthegermanfriendshipcake.com/

Note: I always fed my starter with water instead of milk because I'm stingy, and I did not pour sugar in by the cup either, because whoa. It is still plenty delicious.

Sourdough bread Herman.

Elsie have me a Herman 2 weeks ago and I kept it alive but I didn't have time to cook it. I was a bit scared of using starter, rather than a nice teaspoon of yeast. I'm more of a bread baker than a cake baker so I started with that. The recipe I found, though, requires quite a time commitment. That seems to be the secret of sourdough: normal bread lets the yeast feed for about 90 min but sourdough takes all day, let alone the cup of starter which was2 weeks old!

After I got back from the Newsagency, and D and I both went to Coles so I bought flour, I put washing on and stuff and then it was midnight, which was perfect cos my recipe said 8 hours is the longest time for the first stage. A cup of starter and 1.5 cups warm water and 3 cups of flour. Stir it, go to bed. Hope it's warm enough to grow. That's my bowl of Herman starter on the left.

8 hours later, wake up, and it worked! The yeast fairies visited. Then while my porridge was cooking I added salt and flour and kneaded it then put it back in the bowl for 2 hours. Seriously, this is easy. Slow, but easy. I will probably have bread for lunch. Eventually.

I had no use for two loaves so I decided to put one lump of dough in the fridge and try baking it later. That works for the no-knead bread so it's worth a shot.

So you need starter, and 6 to 12 hours, and flour and water and salt. The only cost is time. The dough was excellent to work with, not as sticky as it looks. The result of this attempt was just slightly heavier and stronger tasting bread than I normally make. Not like the shop stuff which has big bubbles in it and a really chewy crust. Maybe a warmer night would have given it a better start or something. I don't think the results warrant the extra hours, personally. Instant yeast is enough for me. But I'll have another play around with starter and try for better results.

Music at the Newsagency.

 

My favourite venue. Tiny, cheap, not too loud, quality music. I think D and I are going to keep going there as a regular thing whether we know who is playing or not, because you can't waste money there.

Most people at this gig were older than us. I didn't know any of the songs, it was just nice to listen to. The Yearlings were lovely, and Hayward was raw, and when they played together it was magic.

Friday Music.

Hoping to see Hayward Williams tonight at the Newsagency, if there are still tickets at the door. Otherwise eat ice-cream and go home. I haven't heard of him actually, but he's in the right genre, and he's here from the US so I want to support anyone who comes this far to play for peanuts. I wish more would. He's playing in Maitland on Saturday night, which blows my mind. Of all the places. Maitland. Who stops at Maitland when on a small tour of Australia? It's almost worth a trip up just to confirm it.