Other places: Trip to Wollongong (and P.S., I'm back!)

Well hello there! That was a longer break than I intended. Which is to say, I didn't really plan on having a break from here, it just happened. What better to break the blogging ice-come-rut than a photo-laden post from my recent trip home to Wollongong for my best friend's wedding.

Since my last post in June, I have done approximately this many things:

• Travelled to Darwin three times
• Travelled to Cairns and Mission Beach for a wedding
• Almost finished a semester of Contract Law
• Drank at least 140 coffees
• Attended one rodeo, one camel race, one 'bust the budget' rally, one fete, one eco fair, one festival and the Alice Springs Show
• Rescued my phone from a coma
• Received one strange parcel from Turkey*
• Rescued/dealt with one wayward kelpie, on two occasions
• Failed miserably at ten pin bowling
• Read many books**
• Read all your blog posts, and probably didn't comment (sorry!)
• Got two head colds, one of them current, both of which I'm blaming on planes
• Blogged nil times
• Possibly purchased new shoes, a couple of times.

And now, about my trip home:

1. One of my favourite things to do is get a big fat dose of ocean air. The weather alternated between moody and overcast, and bright and sunny. This day was the former: perfect for a walk along the beach followed by breakfast.
2. The Continental Baths are the quintessential east coast saltwater pools. This day they were being refilled by the high tide, following routine maintenance.
3. Wollongong City Gallery: I used to work here, starting out as a volunteer gallery assistant and guide during my uni days, to regular casual work as a gallery assistant working on front of house and in the gift shop, along with work as a curatorial assistant. The building was the former council chambers and was designed to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth.
4. Mount Keira, through the grounds of the Botanic Gardens and Gleniffer Brae, an historic building that now houses the Wollongong Conservatorium of Music. Terrible photo, but nostalgic place.
5. Lunch with a magazine and a sea breeze on the balcony at Lee and Me on Crown Street.
6. Family lunch at Burrawang Village Hotel in the Southern Highlands.
7. Beautiful flowers from my parents' next door neighbours' garden.
8. Gorgeous sunny Saturday afternoon at Bulli. We spotted a humpback whale and calf frolicking off the coast and watched, mesmerised, as they splashed and played.
9. Since I usually wear my Saltwater sandals in the desert, I thought it only fitting that they meet their namesake.
10. Many a coffee was consumed, this one from Diggies at North Beach.
11. Another beach stroll on another overcast day, with spots of rain.
12. The wedding was just perfect, a day bursting with love. I was honoured to be a bridesmaid and share in a very special day.
13. The earth turns red, which means I'm almost back in Alice Springs.
14. It's not a trip away without bringing back new reading material.

* False alarm! It wasn't a stranger trying to hack my life, just my mum buying a scarf on Etsy.

** Will post about things I've read!

Alice Springs Sunday

Back home in Alice Springs, what better way to start off a Sunday than a leisurely bike ride and coffee. My friend and I have almost matching bikes so we set off for a lazy pedal along the river bike path, then back into town for a coffee. Just the right pace for a Sunday.

Hope you're enjoying the weekend, whatever you're doing!

The matter of time.

Time flies past and slips away. So much packed into the days, and the hours. Sleep comes very readily these days. Despite the frantic pace, still there has been time to share food with friends, to embrace the evening cool before summer properly arrives.

And the notion of time was unfurled in our most recent book club book, Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being. From the author's website (and a most fitting description):

Open up this book and discover: an earthquake-causing catfish, a hundred-and-four-year-old Buddhist nun, French maid cafes in a manga-fied world, cyberbullying, natural disasters, Zen philosophy, the infinite possibilities of time, and an uplifting story of love, loss, and wisdom old and new.

1. Lemon tree against the evening sky, walking the dogs after work.
2. Mid-week dinner at a friend's place, with a delicious meal from a Jewish cookbook. It was chicken with vegetables and clementines. Clementines! I didn't know they were an actual thing until this point.
3. Kitchen busy-ness. And golly, I'm in love with this kitchen.
4. Iron boost with freshly grown leafy greens.

And, a link to Em at The Beetle Shack!

Doggies and dusk.

Late on Sunday afternoon, some friends called and invited us and the two bouncy kelpies to head out to the claypans, where all four dogs (2 x kelpies, 1 x Jack Russell and 1 x pug!) could go a bit silly. There was a little bit of water in the claypans and we found a spot where there were no other cars/people/dogs. There was a lot of ball throwing, mud jumping, chasings and barking. (That was the dogs.)

The afternoon light was desert perfection. One of my most very favourite things about living in Alice Springs.

Stills: A weekly collection {winter sun}

1. We picked up our long-awaited chickens! I didn't realise they were going to be this small and fuzzy. There are three little Rhode Island Reds and they cheep and scratch in the newspaper and peck at their food and then all snuggle down for a sleep. 
2. At the Show: jumps in the arena.
3. At the Show: waiting for his turn in the campdraft events.
4. At the Show: poddy calves in the team penning events.
5. Late weekend picnic: BBQ sizzling away.
6. A glass of wine and some juicy strawberries.
7. The galahs prefer their drinks on tap.
8. Boots.
9. Bare feet.

And, linking with Em at The Beetle Shack!

Easy as pie.

I mentioned in my Stills post last night that we had dinner at our place with friends who are moving away. We had originally planned an easy late afternoon picnic, but it was a cold, windy day so we decided on a simple dinner at our place. I was gleeful at the prospect of this as I love to set the table and make things nice; usually our weekday dinners are eaten on the lounge - gasp - in front of the telly.

Plus having it at our place gave me the opportunity to make a super simple, super tasty spinach and feta pie. I almost forgot how easy and delicious this meal is - and impossible to get it wrong.

You might have your own special version of this recipe. Mine goes something like this.

You'll need: a big bunch of silverbeet; 1 or 2 blocks of feta; 4-6 eggs; pepper and paprika to season; enough sheets of puff pastry depending on the size of your baking dish.

What to do: Chop the spinach and discard the stems, put it in a steamer and steam gently to wilt it down a bit; spray the baking dish with olive oil spray and line the base with puff pastry, leaving some overlap on the edges; whisk the eggs, add the feta, crumbling it into the mixture; stir through the spinach until combined; pour into the baking dish, spreading evenly; cover with pastry and seal off the edges with a fork.

Bake in a preheated oven until browned on top. Delicious hot or eaten cold the next day with some tomato sauce. Yes indeed.

We also had a hearty pumpkin soup that my friend brought along, and some roast vegies. We finished the meal with some sweet, juicy chocolate-dipped strawberries and a cup of tea - in front of the telly.



{Apologies for the blurriness of the last photo. In too much of a hurry to get it into my belly.}

Stills: Something old, something blue.

1. Cheer-me-up flowers from a lovely colleague.
2. A blue day. A date with my bed and Frankie magazine helped, at least.
3. Raided a friend's pre-lawn sale stash and came up a winner. I'm not exactly sure what this gorgeous cage-like thing is (cue someone with more worldly nous than me! If you know, please do share!), but it comes apart and I'm guessing you can put little pastries in it or something. Next to it are some little cacti/succulents that I potted on my sick day.
4. Another new-to-me find: a leather and woven straw bag. It's a great size to fit all sorts of things inside, such as my camera or iPad or a book or two and a cardigan or scarf.
5. As was this woven carry basket from Kalimantan, the Indonesian section of Borneo. Goes well with my woven basket from Malaysian Borneo featured in last week's Stills post - in fact, they're hanging together on the curtain rod in the sunroom!
7. & 8. Making a spinach and feta pie for friends to farewell them as they move from Alice Springs back to the coast.
9. Table set for dinner.
10. And, yum! Dessert made by my clever man.


Linking with Emily at the Beetle Shack!