Baguettes and Vegemite

2020

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    • El Camino 2014
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Hunkering Down: Restaurant Review – El Balcón

04.14.2020 by Trish // 1 Comment

What better day than Easter Monday to try out the new pop-up restaurant in the neighbourhood, El Balcón? Word has it that it is pretty good but you don’t know how long these pop-up  places last. It turned out to be one of these places where you ‘cook your own.’  Much like those steakhouses  which were so popular in the 70’s where you chose and cooked your own steak, until people realised it was much cheaper to chuck a steak on the barbie at home.

The decor could be best described as ‘faux Bali’ but we were lucky enough to get the best table, overlooking the ocean.

The menu was limited, sourdough pancakes with berries and yoghurt. However the ingredients were mostly fresh, the sourdough starter  activated overnight, the yoghurt home made,  but I suspect the berries were frozen. However given the present difficulties in sourcing fresh food this can be forgiven.

The staff were friendly, the meal nicely presented, although the 1970’s crockery somewhat dated.  The chef and the barista worked well as a team to present a delicious meal accompanied by freshly made spinach and pineapple water and hot coffee.

Overall it was a pleasant way to spend Easter Monday morning. I would love to return but have found out since that El Balcón has closed its doors, no doubt another casualty of the time.

Categories // Hunkering Down 2020

Hunkering Down: Easter Friday morning on the beach

04.11.2020 by Trish // 1 Comment

It is Good Friday and I wasn’t meant to be here. I was meant to be in a little village in Spain watching all the villagers get ready for the Good Friday Easter Procession.

I wandered down to the beach early and despite the seaweed and the accompanying smell and flies, it was so beautiful, so good for the soul.

While I was walking I listened to a Conversations episode between Richard Fidler and Julia Baird, the author of Phospherescence. It was wonderful and inspiring and humbling and just the thing to listen to on this particular morning. My friend, Mrs L, has just bought it and she had read some excerpts to me. Is this why we find so much joy and nurturing from a walk along the beach, or just gazing out to sea?

 

I think I’m going to have to get this book, apart from the cover which is just gorgeous, it is a book written before it’s time, exactly for this time!

Happy Easter everyone. Keep safe.


A beautiful, intimate and inspiring investigation into how we can find and nurture within ourselves that essential quality of internal happiness – the ‘light within’ that Julia Baird calls ‘phosphorescence’ – which will sustain us even through the darkest times.

And more than that, when our world goes dark, when we’re overwhelmed by illness or heartbreak, loss or pain, how do we survive, stay alive or even bloom? In the muck and grit of a daily existence full of disappointments and a disturbing lack of control over many of the things that matter most – finite relationships, fragile health, fraying economies, a planet in peril – how do we find, nurture and carry our own inner, living light – a light to ward off the darkness?

Absorbing, achingly beautiful, inspiring and deeply moving, Julia Baird has written exactly the book we need for these times.

Categories // Hunkering Down 2020

Hunkering Down: Week 2

04.09.2020 by Trish // 1 Comment

Its been an interesting week. I’ve been backwards and forwards about how much I was going to share, but I figure it is all part of my life right now,  so I might as well tell y’all.

A few weeks ago I had a mammogram, promptly forgot about it and went on with S-L life until I got a phone call from Breast Screen WA. It was a lovely lady with a very soothing voice telling me there was an ‘area of concern’ in my right breast and I had to to have another mammogram. Suddenly the whole coronavirus thing went right out the window and my mind was running at 100 miles an hour. Over the last two weeks I have had another mammogram and a breast scan. All the ladies at these places are so calm and caring which is nice when you are feeling anything but calm inside.You exchange pleasantries about how life has changed, what you are watching on TV, whether you have a vegetable garden, but inside you are just wanting someone to say its all fine, there’s nothing to be concerned about.

I had some moments of omg!  what if I have to go to Perth? where am I going to stay? I can’t stay with the kids in case I pick something up in the hospital, who’s going to look after me? will I have  to go into self-quarantine when I get home? who’s going to look after Papa Bear? Mostly I was quite calm though, I reminded myself what strong stock I came from,  us Louis/Stokes women can get through anything! And as it turned out all is well and I can go back to worrying about coronavirus, which seems a lot less worrying now.

We’re over the hump of Week 3  so I’m just going to do a quick run through of Week 2. My boss was a lot happier with me this week,  I was a lot more organised. But really I just did the same, except a bit more of it!

I didn’t do as much beach walking this week , and certainly no swimming. It was quite chilly and seaweedy, happy to report everyone on the beach is behaving themselves

I’ve done lots of cooking! I’d resurrected my sourdough starter and made delicious rustic pizza

The recipe for my fig, fennel and walnut loaf instructed me to prove it for two hours. Perhaps I should have checked earlier!

However , I cooked it anyway and it turned out ok!!

A mate of Papa Bear’s dropped off some freshly caught dhufish, we had crumbed fish, rosti and Waldorf salad. I love Waldorf salad but it still makes me think of that Fawlty Towers Episode!!

I made Mum’s granola and had it with home made yoghurt and mango puree from the freezer

Papa Bear cooked Saturday Big Breakfast, including his amazing home-cured bacon

As always our dining room living art room was amazing

 

I read this book which D3 sent me. Loved it, loved it, loved it. It tells the story of the “Marsh Girl’ who grows up on her own in the marshes of the North Carolina coast and her relationship with two young men from the nearby town. One of them is found dead and she is an immediate suspect. The description of the marshes are beautiful, I tried to savour these when I first started reading the book, but then I just wanted to find out what happened. I will read it again! Do yourself a favour and read it.

Papa Bear and I gardened, mostly Papa Bear gardened, but I did a bit. He put up a new wire and arranged the bougainvillea artistically along the wall

The beans sprouted!

D1 came home from work, she usually stays with us but wasn’t able to this time. She did some shopping for us. I never thought the words “See if you can get a plastic tray of it”  or “Try and get the plastic-wrapped continental cucumbers” would ever leave my mouth again. But its easier to disinfect if its in a tray.

Although she didn’t stay with us we did have drinks a couple of couple of times, making we sure we exercised appropriate social distancing

Papa Bear converted my office desk into a stand up desk. We saved hundreds of dollars with a couple of plastic tubs and a printer box!!

And I managed to get out of my ACDC t-shirt and Nepal pants

All in all, a good week. Keep safe everyone.

Categories // Hunkering Down 2020

Hunkering Down: Things you do S-I in the middle of the night

04.07.2020 by Trish // 1 Comment

It’s 6:00am. It is just getting light. From my office window I can see no-one has ventured down to the beach yet.

I have actually been up for about 4 hours, I’ve had a lovely few hours pottering in my kitchen and balcony and I am feeling very pleased with myself. I will have to explain later to the boss that I’m probably going to be late into work today, because I’ve done half a day’s work already!!

I’ve done the dishes and tidied the kitchen and living room. Like the guy who escaped from his his quarantine in Perth and caught the train to his girlfriend’s for a bit of nookie,my work escapes from the office and spread itself randomly around the house. I didn’t return it to its rightful place but I tidied it.

I love a reflection photo opportunity

Next the fridge. This fridge (please check it out!) from Hello Nutritarian brings joy to my heart,  but I am not seeing any assorted jars of olives and pickles or squeezie bottles of tomato sauce and mayo. If this goes on too long, who knows what might happen inside my fridge!! Pretty happy with my efforts though

I tidied up my flowers and indoor plants, made a note in my bullet journal to see if Mr Google knows why my indoor plants have dead spots on the leaves. Chopped up mushrooms and tomato for breakfast, gave my indoor herbs a haircut, enough basil there to make pesto later.

 On to the balcony. When I first moved to this house I fancied a herb garden on the balcony. I tried really hard but the wind and salt defeated me so now I am trying succulents which have been more successful. I noticed though that some had developed white mouldy stuff on the leaves and the pig face was looking very sad.

I trimmed and wiped the leaves with my home made lemon and vinegar cleaner

I decided my window herbs needed some time on the balcony. The pot is also the home to my frog salt and pepper shakers. They were given to me by a work colleague after we had been discussing the  book “Eat That Frog” which I had been reading at the time. Its a fabulous book on work planning and priorities. She would pop her head into my office every morning and say “So, what frogs are you eating first today?”

My balcony is home to two stone toads. I bought them years ago when I was visiting my mother-in-law in Melbourne. I gave her one for her garden and we took the other home, they faced each other across the country for many years. When she died I brought her toad over so they could be together. As you can see one of the toads has sustained quite a serious injury, but it doesn’t stop her from her duty of guarding the balcony. Day after they are steadfast, never taking their eyes off the ocean. I don’t they ever got over missing the boat of refugees landing in Geraldton.

They’ve had attitude this morning though, I don’t think they like these new young frogsters  who just lie around doing nothing, trying to look cool.

I’m happy with the balcony, I must make a note to Google mould on outdoors furniture.

And what better to keep you company than the moon , a glorious sight this morning shimmering over the ocean.

I’m off to make a cup of tea and join Papa Bear in bed where we’ll catch up on the the news of the day on our iPads.

Keep safe folks. Enjoy your day.

Categories // Hunkering Down 2020

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