Birthday Week

This is not my photo, but as I share my birth week with Mum, I was sent this picture of her and Dad sporting flash new haircuts.

As I am in the middle of a play, the birthday itself was pretty low-key but no less enjoyable featuring breakfast with black pudding, and sitting in the garden with friends partaking of a few beers.

Food and Drink Reflections

Just because I love Belgian beer and reflections, and we had the right glass and lighting conditions.

Another weekend; another fancy breakfast - going out for breakfast with Him Outdoors after accomplishing domestic tasks is one of my small pleasures at the weekend.

Our friend's daughter turned 21 and, in that way that people do in a community, we were invited to her birthday bash where there was pink, cake, and fluffy dresing gowns. It's winter and it's cold. Also, young people today... Happy Birthday!

Happy Birth Week!

This is my official birth week. I actually start it the weekend before so that I get two weekends of festivities and general merriment. As you can see.

I promise I didn't drink them *all* myself. That's what friends are for, right? Friends also arrange beautiful flowers to be delivered to your house. Thank you to the Dairy Queen for these beauties.

What goes seamlessly with champagne? Oysters! Calamity Sue and I shared a couple of dozen, while Him Outdoors arranged fish and chips, with mushy peas and gravy of course. It was a perfect dinner to be shared with great company in our garden.

The next day Design Diva and I did a reccy of stage three of The Bloody Long Walk and needed to fortify ourselves with bacon half way round. In the spirit of full disclosure, I must point out that the angle and focus of the camera has slightly distorted perspective. Contrary to appearances, the breakfast butty is not actually bigger than Design Diva's head.

What we do in winter

So, it would seem that what 'we' do in winter is eat food, visit friends, go for walks, read books and do puzzles. Put like that, it sounds rather idyllic, I must say. Here is the photographic proof, starting with date night dinner at Turkish Delight.

Manti

Lamb Güveç

The bedside book table continues to evolve.

A trip to Sydney for a workshop saw me popping into this cafe in the morning. I liked the artwork, the coffee and the breakfast buns at Urban Piccolo in Redfern.

Lovely Bonkers' Second Born turned eighteen, which is obviously cause for celebration. And cake (made, naturally, by Emma Cake). And unicorn slippers.

Walking in the Pinnacles, we went kangaroo-spotting, but only to shoot them in camera way; not a gun way. 

The Coronation Street puzzle is two-sided: this is the black-and-white old timey side. 

Roast lamb with all the trimmings is definitely something to which to look forward all week. And 'all the trimmings' definitely means Yorkshire pudding, does it not?

Bermagui Birthday

It's quiet at work, as everyone has wound up for the end of the year. 

Before the beaches get really busy and full of people, we decided to head to the coast for a few days before Christmas, and to celebrate Him Outdoors' birthday. We chose to go to Bermagui, where I've not been before, and I got to see the sea, which always makes me happy.

Bermagui breakfast

The mural painted on this water tower is called Spirit Dance and was created by Joe McKenzie. It was apparently originally painted to help McKenzie's young sons get to sleep, with its 'friendly protective spirits to ward off bad spirits'.

Spirit Dance

Bermagui Rock Pool

According to the Visit Bermagui site, Bermagui has a 'well-deserved reputation for fantastic fishing. Made famous as a game fishing port - due in part to the visits of American author Zane Grey in the 1930s - the continental shelf is just 20km off shore, the closest point to the Australian mainland. This means warm northerly currents flow very close to the shore bringing an abundance of all types of fish close to the coast.'

Zane Grey and fishing party

Local ACT beers are well represented in the craft section of the local bottle shop.

The agapanthus are fenced in, but still trying to make a break for it.

We walked along a beach to a brewery that wasn't open - they were renovating and had run all the kegs dry. In that respect it was a completely unsatisfactory excursion, but it was a very pleasant walk.

Nativity Scene, Bermagui

Bermagui Marina

Fish & chips on the balcony

Another day; another walk by the sea.

Up the Clarets!

After playing on the beach, we went to Tilba Valley Winery for lunch. The winery has recently been sold to new owners and there are some changes in place. For example, one used to be able to camp by Corunna Lake, but now it is only available for family friends to hang out at festivities. 

The 30-acre property has 10 acres of established vines producing Semillon, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, Traminer, [sic] Shiraz and Chardonnay. There is a function room and restaurant, with tables for outdoor dining. There is a small bar area, and plans to brew their own beer in the near future. For now, the local beer and cider are refreshing, as is the wine on a hot summer's day.

Once you've done your daily exercise, holidays are all about food and drink, right? As an upcoming  birthday celebration, we ate dinner at Il Passaggio. Him Outdoors likes Italian for a special treat - I like oysters at any time at all.

Antipasti: half a dozen natural organic Wapengo oysters

Primi: stuffed zucchini flowers with goat's cheese

Pizza, Insalata and Secondi 

Bermagui Marina in the moonlight

Our final morning was a beautiful day, so guess what? We went for another walk by the sea. Farewell, Bermagui; we'll be back.

A sort of Christmas tree

This was my birthday card to Him Outdoors. It made me laugh, anyway.

We returned to Canberra for a few birthday beers with friends.