Slowly gathering material....

Hello! And Happy Thing Celebration to you all. I hope your festive event has been more fun than stress; more bling than blah; and certainly more food than you ever thought you needed! My day with friends and family yesterday set what I believe to be a purrsonal calorie high. Mind you, temptation was thrown before me in lavish quantities - just the dessert portion of the meal went like this:

1. A very fine brandy and macadamia christmas pudding

2. An equally fine blueberry trifle, and

3. A massively rich chocolate mousse

... served with...

4. Whipped cream

5. Double cream

6. Pouring cream

7. Brandy butter

8. Superior vanilla icecream, and

9. Custard

I'm sure there's a number 10 in there somewhere I've forgotten (even tho my eyes were indeed bigger than my stomach, an amazing feat of re-arranged physiology not to be thought about too carefully...).

I feel very spoilt and cherished by friends, family, gifts, unexpected good wishes, lots of contact from people I haven't kept up with propurrly, and not least of all, the weather. We've had some very hot, windy, dry dusty smoky horrible weather recently. Christmas Eve was everything one could actively hate - hot, dry, the house stuffy from days of heat, and the stove on for hours. Even with the portable cooler I was a hot hot purrson all day. And then, overnight, a cool change blew through, bringing with it steady, delicious, freshening rain. Maybe it spoiled a few picnics and barbecues, but I was delighted. I AM delighted! It's still cool and rainy, and long may it last. There's plenty of summer left to be hot and sweaty.

The gardens look so green, so invigorated, so wonderfully fresh. The mulch looks dark with water and usefully heavy with purpose, keeping roots and soil damp and cool. The day lilies are drooping with water and the roses and just .. fabulous. FABULOUS!

We have a few days before leaving for the coast, to read our christmas books, eat our christmas goodies, arrange our gorgeous new christmas fruity bits, drink our christmas bottles, and enjoy our christmas bling. I'm so delighted with my new resin necklace (thank you, darling M) that I've been wearing it in bed while I read. It's made of different lozenge shapes in reds, oranges and yellows, and is very me. For which read colourful, informal and a bit funky.

The last few days brought to you by sore feet (cooking requires much standing); several hard-used aprons; and a series of favourite purrfumes: Prada, the end of the bottle of Gucci, one evening's worth of Thierry Mugler's 'Angel', and quantities of Jo Malone 'Vintage Gardenia'. I urge you to try the Gardenia; it's delightfully balanced and flowery without being heavy or cloying. It goes very well, for example, with a chocolate mousse and shot of bourbon supper!

It worked!

I am Officially Amazed. For once my 'make it rain' antics made it rain! We were sitting in a Szechuan restaurant (yeah, chillie on a hot muggy night, weird I know) and suddenly a huge flash of lightning, then a crack of thunder and it was pouring. Then there was another loud bang, and we saw a substantial bit of ceiling descending on two hapless customers. Oooooops.... the sudden flush of rain had caused a leak in only seconds which was enough to bust a ceiling panel. Those two grrrls didn't look very happy. The restaurant owners just stoically swept up the mess and put a bucket under the leak. The perils of working in the food industry!

It IS somewhat cooler. We are lucky that the breeze is going the right way to waft into our bedroom. Let's hope it means a comfier night, and no asthma. I've been koff koff wheeze all night for several days now, what a damn pest.

This evening brought to you by Ma Po Tofu, a decent squirt of 'Angel', and lovely cool feeties.

Noxious weather too.

Hot, hot wind, blistering sun, fading garden, failing ppls, house getting lovely n warm if you like sweating like a bloody sweater all the time. I've had wet hair for days.

We used the portable aircon thingy in the lounge for a few nights, blowy but cool. Last night we even lugged it into the bedroom to cool it down before bedtime.

Now it's muggy, blowy and trying very hard to be a huge thunderstorm. To encourage this, I've washed windscreens, left some washing out, and watered the pots. The only thing left in my armoury of how to make it rain is to have all the nappies in the house on the line. But as none of us use nappies and in fact I don't have any left (well, it HAS been about 20 years since they were required)... that's tricky.

Today brought to you by a cool shower at 2am, the hope of a g and t later on, and two floppy, sacked out cats. Bloop.

Living in interesting times...

We've both been terribly tired lately. Maybe a touch of a virus? Whom nose. But M developed a koff, which turned into pneumonia and he has been hospital overnight, having intravenous antibiotic to quell the bacteria of deth. He's home now, still koffing but feeling better. I, otoh, am still buggered. It seems to be terminal.

This last week has been very exciting as the building of our new pathways around the house has started. We already have a completed bit, a lovely wide arc running from footpath to roadside. It's wide enough at the road end for a car to pull up, and both front and back passengers can step out onto paving (instead of cracked old concrete, mud and weeds which was our previous look). Now the pathways from the side gate and around into the back yard are taking place. At the bottom of the steps down from the deck, Alex has begun laying our stash of old Canberra Red bricks (from when the wall fell down a few years ago), and they look really good. And it's recycling in action!

It's also impressive that each night since this paving was put in place, we've had heavy rain, and not a paver or a crumb of concrete has shifted. Oh, I can't wait for it to be finished!

I should be planting my veggies but today, Monday, I am having a day of utter sloth and rest and heat-packing. I am aching all over for reasons I don't understand, so an actual day off my strange, unfixed retirement life seemed in order. I'm up to my third murder book, my second lot of 2 hours of heat pack, and Maccy has had a lovely day lying on me or squikking at me or sitting in the window doing profiles. He's been flat out catting and has now flaked out on the purple blanky on the chair in the corner, his favourite spot. He lies there looking gorgeous against the Indian sequinned and embroidered cloth, under the pool of light from the turquoise and cream batik lampshade, watched over by a troop of our teddy bears. Every now and then I get a glimpse of a glint, as he manages to just peel open one eye to see if I'm doing anything interesting, like eating bacon or pouring cream into a little porcelain dish. I never am. He seems ever-hopeful.

Tonight I am sending uber-hopeful thoughts of strength and support and love to my darling dorter, who has a challenging day ahead of her tomorrow. HOPE HOPE HOPE HOPE HOPE LUVLUVLUVLUVLUVLUV I go.

I think I shall finish on a note of Chanel No. 5, as I often do. A dear friend gave me a book called 'PERFUME' last week, which analyses and grades thousands of purrfumes from one star ('awful') to five ('sublime'). I went through the index, which is ordered by stars given, and underlined all the purrfumes I recognise or have. It seems I have eclectic taste! Most of my purrfumes come in at 3 or 4 stars, indicating that (according to the authors) I have some taste. But I have representations in every group. I am extremely puzzled that two of my most favourite, most commented-on-favourably-when-I'm-wearing-it purrfumes only got one star. I guess, like all opinions, they are just that. Natch. I shall go on wearing and enjoying my favourites and collecting compliments. I could perhaps conduct a smellathon of my own, and compile a purrsonal listing. It could be based on random pros and cons, such as 'can smell it through wet concrete and two blocked noses', 'leaves scent on a pillow case for at least 3 days' and 'can't tell I've got it on but other ppl notice'. Heh. My favourite pro would be 'can smell it on Maccy's fur hours after I cuddled him'. I still think Prada rools!

Helsinik, Wednesday August 13th

Blah.

You get highlights, magic, cor and wow and gobstoppers. You get true people and exciting adventures and purrfume on sale and wonderful shopping and galleries and holding hands in exotic places and it's marvellous. And the weather shines and everything is sparkly and your feet don't hurt (or your nose).

And...

... you get days like these, where will all the best intentions, and surrounded by all the above, it's just shit.

I don't know why.

We slept in again, and had lovely fresh coffee again, and puddled around getting ready to go out for lunch while checking the webs ... but somewhere between waking refreshed, and leaving, we both went flat. We both ignored this fact, and went around the corner (literally about 2 buildings away) to the Helsinki Museum of Modern Art. We spent about 2 hours there, having lunch first and then looking quite closely through 4 floors of exhibitions. Some very bleak visions, especially the urban shots of emerging Soviet states. M quoted the national suicide statistics for Finland at me; not exactly the cheeriest nation in the world.

As we move through the galleries, I am intrigued by the art (and many video/photo/graphic mixed installations) - and kind of horrified by a video of a German 'Baby Box' - a place outside hospitals where a baby who can't be cared for, can be left safely if the mother must. There is a joint video screen - film of the mother walking to the hospital and then away, and film of the inside of the hospital room where the alarm sounds and the medical team come to take care of the baby. Quite, quite confronting.

I feel a little retail therapy is in order after this, but walking our legs off uphill to the Kamppi mall, finding various things we need, and getting back to the hotel is not possible without a blow-up. It's all HIS fault, of course. I'M not tired, bleary, sore, sinus-y and depressed. Not at all. I love seeing abandoned babies, rainy days, teenagers smoking their heads off everywhere, dirty bus stations and a sad 'Aussie' pub with fluoro-cheery signs outside.

While M made a crucial grog-shop stop, I pissed off into the 'Sorco' department store, which kind of leeches onto the side of our Sorco Hotel. There's a huge parfumerie on the ground floor, and there's a sale. Hurray. I know I don't need to do this, but I cruise the shelves, nothing much here I haven't seen.. some interesting things... hmm, that's a good price for that, I only have a sample bottle at home... oh well, hell, here's the Euros and away we go. I could say the devil made me do it, but I knew it was me really. I get all homesick when I see Lancome 'Miracle' on the shelf, reminds me of my sis, who likes to wear it. And hi sis! - I had a BLT the other night and it wasn't a patch on our Psycho lunches. Not even having it with a Bailey's coffee helped. Goes to show that Canberra has gourmet food to equal or better international city standards, eh?

I'm gonna stay here and dial-up a movie, while M goes out to a church concert. We need some time apart. I need to have a gin or two, do some knitting, and get a grrrip.

Today brought to you by mall eau de bus exhaust mixed with cinnamon bun; several rather nasty test shots of purrfumes (DON'T buy 'Flower Bomb', or 'Hypnose', ick too fruity and sweet); a new bottle of Prada 'Iris'; and any minute now, a beaut cup of plunger coffee made with a Swedish plunger, Norwegian coffee, and Finnish milk and water. And, quite possibly, a bit of Aussie sweetener, if I can find it. Else gin will have to do!

Hmf. I'll write about yesterday another day.