Ready to Go

We are going away for a month to the UK, so it seemed like a good excuse to have some friends round to say farewell for a while and to tidy up the cupboards...

I was not so sure the next day that this had been such a good idea, but a refreshing beetroot and other cleansing goo helped a little. Okay, so the juice was good, but I think this may be a slightly over-the-top claim. 

As if it knows we are leaving it, the garden is bashfully hinting at future glory. We will have people staying here, so at least someone will get to enjoy it while we are gone. 

Rainy Weekend

A friend came to stay for the weekend, and she likes tequila, so Him Outdoors made tequila sunrises. Aren't they pretty?

Tequila Sunrises

In the morning we went to our local cafe for posh French toast with fruit. Regular readers of the blog will recognise the dish. Other breakfast options are available, as seen below. 

Zucchini, spinach and feta fritters with fennel and beetroot puree

Smoky bacon with eggs, cheese and tomato relish on a brioche bun

As it rained, we did what do on rainy weekends, and finished off our latest puzzle. It's a beautiful image, and I now have an even greater respect for Monet's seemingly abstract approach to colour. There was only a little bit of swearing at the Impressionist master... 

 

Friends and Festivals

I love a good festival. I like pretty much all festivals, because they are celebrations of things that matter to people, and I like the enthusiasm that brings folk together to share a common interest. We are at the start of the Italian Film Festival in Canberra - so many things to see. 

I have no idea what this festival was for, but I like the brightly-coloured lanterns strung through the bare branches of the trees above the market stalls.

Today's book and breakfast combo: I'm reading the novel because it was shortlisted for this year's Booker Prize (and I like the cover); I'm eating the breakfast because I like bacon and egg rolls.  

We had a sort of spring meal with a gathering of friends: this is some of the dessert selection. 

Our garden continues to do its spring thing with beautiful scents and colours. 

And the cool evenings are still the perfect time to enjoy a glass of spiced mead. 

Spring is Coming

Another month, another book pile - this is what is keeping me warm at night. 

Bedside books for September

The graffiti is still eye-catching on my walks around the urban hubs. 

Morning sorties to the local cafe are rewarded with servings of fruit and French toast (or 'eggy bread' as we used to call it, with a distinct lack of sophistication).

A friend had a cocktail evening to celebrate her house-warming. She has decorated the place beautifully, kicking off a new chapter in her life and it was fun to enjoy that with her. 

Meanwhile, our garden is celebrating the more clement weather with a flourish.

Weekend of Culture

Sight for Sore Eyes came to stay with us for a weekend - it was mainly for the theatre that we had lined up, but we packed in some other cultural activities too, such as the sculpture garden of the National Art Gallery, where I take all the best people for visits.

Detail from The Burghers of Calais by Auguste Rodin

The following work is new to me - it was created for the Biennale of Sydney 2012. According to their website, "Cal Lane's industrial doilies play upon juxtaposition by transforming industrial objects... The works highlight an unexpected relationship between the delicate patterns of lace, carved into an expanse of steel... The choice of lace patterns brings an additional dimension to the work, referring to ritual and religion, and hinting at lace's metaphorical capacity to both expose and conceal." In an artist statement, Cal Lane wrote, 

"I like to work as a visual devil's advocate, using contradiction as a vehicle for finding my way to an empathetic image, an image of opposition that creates a balance, as well as a clash, by comparing and contrasting ideas and materials. I am interested in pulling together industrial and domestic life as well as relationships of strong and delicate, masculine and feminine, practicality and frivolity, ornament and function. I have always been interested in embracing the very thing that repels me in order to understand it. I prefer to make sense of things, or in order to suspend (or pass) judgement."

Domesticated Turf by Cal Lane

Hill Arches by Henry Moore

Cones by Bert Flugelman

Although I have been here many times before, I have never previously been to visit the 'skyspace' by American artist, James Turrell. A 'skyspace' is a viewing chamber designed to affect the way we see the sky. Sight for Sore Eyes and I walked inside the pyramid to a pool surrounding a dome. Inside the dome are benches on which to sit while looking up at the sky through a circular opening in the roof. It's all rather discombobulating watching the patterns created by the light, clouds and water. Apparently at dusk and dawn the chamber is lit with a cycle of colours timed to interact with the changing sky. We didn't wait for either, but I will return.

 

Within without by James Turrell

From within Within without 

We also went to see the exhibition Story Time: Australian Children's Literature at the National Library of Australia. Not growing up here, I wasn't exposed to many of these books as a child, but I have seen several since and learned to love the characters. It seems to me that Aussie animals such as kangaroos, koalas, wombats and emus are uniquely suited to be the subjects of stories for children. 

Final artwork for Koala Lou, Written by Mem Fox - Pamela Lofts

We saw Shakespeare in Love at the Canberra Theatre Centre with outstanding acting, writing, direction, sets, costume, lighting, sound and every element of production done just so. I proper loved it.

"It will be alright in the end." "How will it?" "I don't know; it's a mystery."

Oh, and of course, because it's us, there was food. Here are some photos of our breakfasts from Dobinsons and Rocksalt.  

Sight for Sore Eyes with waffles

Eggs on toast (with salmon side)

Sight for Sore Eyes with Shakshuka

Rocksalt breakfasts with Corned Beef Hash in the foreground

As we walked back to the house we passed one of these cute street libraries that I like so much. 

And we rounded off her visit with drinks with friends on the patio in our back garden. Cheers! Do come again.