More of the same

I may have mentioned before that Melantho always examines any box that arrives in the house. This is one of the most recent (wine) deliveries, which she feels the need to approve.

I have now registered my street library, which I find very exciting and I keep checking in each day to see what has been borrowed and what has been left behind - there are changes every day! I also have been checking out the libraries near me, which can be found on the map. This one is Cook Books.

The fabulous JoJo had a birthday and I spent a lovely evening with her and her family, chatting and laughing and enjoying each other's company. Here she is with her thimble of bubbles.

JoJo in her element

The following photo is from the top of Mt Painter where I walked at the weekend. Shortly after this I had an encounter with my first brown snake of the season. It was a shock but altogether fine. The snake was a juvenile (about half a metre long) and I missed it by inches. The secenery is beautiful though, so I played with creating an image out of the filters on Prisma.

On Sunday I went for a walk around Lake Ginninderra with The Luminosity, and then we rewarded ourselves with coffee and brunch at 54 Benjamin. The weekend is done well, you see.

The Luminosity enjoying her granola

McWatzie Wedding

Him Outdoors and I are on a quest to find the perfect curry in Canberra. It is an exhausting but rewarding search. In this week's episode, we travelled to Gungahlin to NH8 Restaurant and had the best  onion bhaji and papdi chaat I've had in ages. The murgh methi masala and chetinaad lamb were excellent too.

Onion bhaji

Papdi chaat

This beautiful screen saver popped up on my monitor at work to make me feel at home.

As I got ready to go out to a friend's wedding reception I thought 'Oh my, I look like David Bowie in Labyrinth.' It wasn't the look for which I was aiming, but I did feel a little like a goblin king!

There follows random party shots of guests having a good time at the McWatzie Wedding

Work crew

Blushing bride

There were swings...

...and cake

They like to read books and fire nerf guns at each other... whatever works!

Arty candles

Party candles

Let the dancing begin!

First dance

Blurred but happy

Nothing to see here...

Friends and Colleagues

This week's offering from the book and food files is Elizabeth Captive Princess by Margaret Irwin accompanied by chicken quinoa salad with snow peas.

Although I no longer work at Plonk, I was kindly invited along to the Christmas function, which was a fabulous trip on a boat on Lake Burley Griffin, with a great array of food (cooked by one of the staff members who is also a chef) and, of course, some excellent booze!

The sunset on the lake was rather gorgeous. 

And then the sun went down and the lights went out, so we continued telling stories by torchlight.

The National Carillon

When someone new starts at work, what do we do? We take them to Space Kitchen to eat cake!

JoJo with Mango Raspberry Cheesecake and 'I'm a Tart'

Some more bits of graffiti near my workplace:

This is what I get up to at weekends and the middle of the night - agonising over whether my team can score more points than their team; we're not even half-way through the season and it's nail-biting stuff. 

Same book; different lunch...

Bubbles with friends (two and four-legged) is a wonderful way to celebrate the end of the week. 

Calamity Sue with bubbles

General Philosopher with dog and beer

Dinner

A visit to another friend allowed me to indulge in gin - via their specialised advent calendar.