In the Dry

I'm feeling less fuggy today cos I've cut down on the pain medication for my sore back.  (Having a sore back was really awful, by the way.  Another one of those things that I never understood how awful until I felt it for myself.)  To celebrate the renewed spring in my step, I went for a little walk outdoors.

My goodness are we having a dry dry

 season this year!  Dry grass and bald rocks everywhere!  This is actually my favourite kind of Australian scenery.  I just love it - I can't tell why.

Unpredictable

I'm really sick.  Or something.  I'm constantly exhausted and forgetful all the time (eg, where's my cup of coffee gone? Oh, there it is, stone cold after sitting on the bathroom floor for hours.  I wonder how it got there?) and I'm having real trouble stringing these sentences together.

But lucky for me, I'm pretty much unemployed (there's always a chance I'm totally unemployed - it's hard to tell sometimes) and I've got a good book to read.  Amazon has finally sent me Eileen Cook's first novel, Unpredictable, and so far it's ridiculously funny and nice to read, like a lovely piece of cheer-up cake.  Not chocolate cake ... more like a delicious almond and citrus sponge.  I'm trying hard not to finish it too quickly.

But when I have, I'll be back here with a proper review.  Probably.

Meanwhile, under my desk

my new winter slipper was being shredded!

I'm reading this book about how to raise a happy cat, and it's always describing the terrible scenarios and dangerous situations in which cats can risk their lives; e.g. who knew that Christmas could be such a traumatic time?  apparently kittens are always getting thrown out with old wrapping paper, strangled by tinsel and trodden to death by visiting relatives.  The book advises me to keep a current photo on file so I'm always ready to put together a 'lost kitty' poster should the need arise.

Do you think this one would do?

The Hungry Girls

In a recent rash of ordering books over the internet (what? my winter interests have been kick-started.  As mentioned in the post below it’s time I turned to creative things, like cooking, gardening and cosying up our little home) I ordered this:  The Hungry Girls’ Cookbook Volume 2.  

At the time, I was mainly wanting to have a look at how they’d hand made the book - I think I was vaguely hoping it would inspire me to make my own.     It didn’t inspire me that way - it’s too nicely done for me to get that ‘hey, I could do that too’ feeling.  But it did inspire me to cook, so in some ways it has achieved what it set out to do.   It’s got just twelve recipes in it, and I’ve made two of them so far - Carrot Fritters and a Quick Spanish Dinner of mixed up potato, capsicum and chorizo.  And they both turned out delicious.  I’m seriously looking forward to making the Nepali Dahl with Eggplant Pickle.  It’s ages since I’ve eaten a lovely comforting blandish dahl.  It’s a craving I get every so often, and our local indian takeaway makes it just too damn thick and tasty.  Sometimes I’m after something with a whole lot less impact.

Anyway, I highly recommend The Hungry Girls’ Cookbook.  It has a simple cardboard cover and it’s bound with string and staples, and the book itself has a beautiful soft smell.  Its something like green tea, and it makes me think of hanging out at Jan’s place.