Have a lovely weekend

Well, this week has proven to be incredibly busy. I have found much of it extraordinarily busy in the sense that I have had a contract renewal (yes I have a job for three more years) run a professional development afternoon for teachers, attended the College Musical and done a whole host of other things that just appeared! I love that element of my job - the different things I get invited to do or to contribute to -

HSC marking commences tomorrow morning. I hope to find some time for rest. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Plants and Food

Well I have finally had an opportunity to take some photos of my growing garden and of my weekend breakfast meals.

These are photos of the main balcony of our apartment.

tomatoes

tarragon

leeks and the far black pot has coriander

basil and dill

Orchids, Japonaica, Tomatoes and Tarragon in this photo

Tarragon

I am so excited. Saw little purple buds on my Polygana X Damaisiana

Our outdoor table setting.

Friday on my mind

Well the end of week one of term four has arrived! It has been an action packed week at school and I am now looking forward to taking things slowly (as much as that is a possibility) over the weekend. I plan on doing a lot of reading, gardening and cooking. I hope you have a lovely weekend.

To work, to work...

Well today marked the second day back to school. I truly cannot believe how quickly this year has passed. In 8 short weeks, our students will have finished their studies for the year, and will enjoy a long break before the new school year in 2010. It has been a busy but very inspiring beginning to the school term. Yesterday was the first day back for staff. It was a staff development day, meaning we had a day of professional development for staff. I was one of the creators and facilitators of the day. I truly love working on curriculum development and pedagogy. A colleague and friend, Penny and I worked on creating the focus of the day and we were so thrilled to have a wonderful guest speaker, Ruth Targett, to deliver the keynot address. Without a doubt, she is one of the best speakers and most highly regarded educators I have had the pleasure of working with. She has some great insights in the way teachers can differentiate curriculum to make it relevant and accessible to students. The best part of the day though, was the fact that some of our talented teachers led different sessions. It was fantastic! I read over the evaluations today, with Penny and with our boss and the evaluations were overwhelmingly positive.

I hope this sets the tone for the term...I have such an amazing staff and was so incredibly proud of them and their efforts! I see great things for many of them!

The other part of my day involved chairing the first meeting of my third term as Alumnae President of my high school. The committee has grown significantly. I loved it because we have now created a new award and it gives me an opportunity to work with the Principal who is one of the people I respect most in education.

Food and Friends

I have been really blessed this week with opportunities to catch up with friends over some lovely meals in lovely places in Sydney. On Tuesday night I went to Newtown for thai at my favourite Thai restaurant there - Thai Pothong. My dear friend Penny and I shared a couple of great entrees - Papaya Salad, Scallops and then a couple of mains - Green Chicken Curry and a dish of Green Vegetables. The food, needless to say was delicious! Mind you the Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand, went quite well with the food and really complemented the dishes!

The restaurant has grown incredibly over the last few years. It has continued to expand in size and now boasts a gift shop as well! It still retains the lovely ambience and the staff are all very friendly.

It is well lit, but no with hideous flourescent lighting. There is quite a lot of Thai art that adorns the walls. It really does create a gorgeous ambience. We had a wonderful dinner and then went to Kuletos, a regular haunt of mine when I was a university student in the '90's for cocktails. The evening was so enjoyable! It was great to be able to catch up with a work colleague I can honestly call a friend.

Last night, I had dinner with my cousin George. He is one of the most inspiring and hard working teachers I know. He is also incredibly generous with his time and his knowledge is deep. We started with drinks at Clock Tower at Surry Hills and then went to Pizza e Birra. If you have never been to Pizza e Birra, it is an Italian restaurant in one of my favourite suburbs in Surry Hills. The pizzas really are something else! Dessert was some delicious cannolli filled with ricotta. Mmmm. Afterwards we went to another good place for a drink - The White Horse. Again it was a really enjoyable night and I suppose that both of these wonderful meals got me thinking about the importance of food in bringing together friends. The relaxed way in which we come together to share a meal is so simple, yet provides so much sustenance. It gives us an opportunity to nourish our friendships (as well as satisfy our appetites)

I truly believe that I exercise the way that I do (I did a 10km run before dinner yesterday) so that I can eat delicious food. I am quite happy about that arrangement, because I do have quite an insatiable appetite for good food, whether it be at a restaurant or a home cooked meal. I think I could be characterised as one of those people who dreams about the delicious meal that they will have and uses that as inspiration!

Good times aplenty

Well today (and yesterday) have proven to be wonderful days. Hours and hours spent potting plants, sowing seeds and rearranging the layout of the plants and furniture on the balconies has taken a lot of time. I have to say though, it does look great~ photos to come.

There really is great satisfaction in planting vegetables and herbs, as well as gorgeous plants. I am going to pick some tarragon and make a delicious french chicken dish for dinner.

Yesterday evening, I went to see Julie and Julia, a delightful film about my favourite topic - food!

It was lovely to be able to see it with a close friend who is also a great cook and is as passionate about food as I am!

Tonight I had dinner with another gorgeous friend. We has Thai at a beautiful place in Newtown, Thai Pothong. We followed with cocktails at Kuletos. Such a great time with friends over the last couple of days.

Cooking, eating, gardening, socialising and reading...I truly feel blessed. I hope your days are good ones too!

Orchids in abundance

Well, I had my very first go at separating orchids today. I am not sure how successful I have been, but with the advice my dear mum gave me, as well as the countless youtube videos that gardening enthusiasts and specialists have uploaded, regarding this very topic, I feel a little less nervous about the whole endeavour. I initially began with I think five pots of orchids. I now have nine pots of orchids. I was thinking, that if they continue to look healthy and flower, they will make more bulbs and I will have more separating to do - which means (hopefully) gifts for friends! I will wait and see. I want to make sure I have done it right, but am also excited at the prospect of giving orchids away as gifts (especially if I have grown them)

I have cleaned all of the dust from one of the balconies now. I had to mop a couple of times to really get the dust out of there. It took me forever (and it's only a small balcony)

It is the balcony that opens out from our bedroom. I am thinking about what I will put out on that balcony - Perhaps some orchids? Although I have a few other plants that I am growing here as well. In any case, I need to get ready to go and see that wonderful culinary movie (I hope) Julie and Julia!

Spring gardening delights!

Well, today has been a great morning so far! My gorgeous husband and I went for a wonderful walk through Carss Park and followed it up with a coffee. It was great to see all the sailing boats, as well as the early morning runners and walkers! I have been working hard to reorganise both balonies of our apartment. I promise I will upload some photos later. I am in the process of planting and transplanting plants into larger pots. I was very excited to see that the Oriental Lilly produced a little shoot. I have to go back to the nursery to purchase more potting mix and I need to find another stand as well.

I love school holidays! I get the opportunity to just spend time gardening, which I love doing as well as cooking and reading! I was quite pleased that I reorganised the linen cupboard yesterday.

After the balconies, I am going to the movies to see Julie and Julia with a dear friend.

Am still thinking about establishing a food blog.

A lovely Spring break!

My husband and I have just returned from a few days up the mid-north coast of NSW. We spent time swimming, walking, eating and just enjoying the time together. We took some great photos and I will post some soon. My sister and her family also holidayed in the same place - Port Macquarie. We had dinner together each night. We ate at two lovely restaurants and it was truly a wonderful time to just relax and enjoy each other's company. I was particularly impressed with my gorgeous little niece, who was so well behaved. She just amazed me with her manners and etiquette - something I think is absent in a lot of adults. It is good to see that our future generation are aware of manners and etiquette. She is only three - no tantrums, no squealing. She was so beautifully behaved.

Mark and I took some lovely photos - we wanted to capture some of the elements we didn't capture, the last time we were there.

Today, before we left, we went to the Farmers' Market which was great! Of course, I can't bear to miss a moment to meet farmers and find out about their produce. I purchased some delicious cold pressed olive oil, mixed berry jam, Queensland Blue pumpkin, potatoes (brushed) , mediterranean chutney and tomato relish. I really believe that food that is not mass produced, or fresh produce that hasn't been sitting in refrigeration for a few weeks, tastes so much better!

Tonight I used the wonderful olive oil in a french inspired meal I prepared for Mark and I.

We also visited one of my favourite wineries in NSW - Cassegrains. I purchased a number of red wines and verjuice. If you have not used verjuice in your cooking - then spend a little bit of time with me and I will show you just how versatile it can be and how much depth it adds to your cooking.

Finally, I have also made some plans to continue to add to my garden. More on that in the coming blogs. Needless to say, I have decided that it is time to create a garden that moves beyond my orchids, succulents and ferns, to really embracing an edible garden.

A new blog

I have long thought about establishing a blog dedicated to all things food and drink. This is largely because I love to cook. I am trying to think of what to call it. I think it will be dedicated to not only my own culinary abilities, but also my experiences at food markets, reviewing new products, cooking courses and festivals! Stay tuned!

October Long Weekend

Well the school holidays are well and truly here. There is always a sure sign of the impact that the school term has had on me, and how this will influence the holidays. Today I woke up with a sore throat - now yes, I did cheer quite loudly for the Melbourne Storm, however, that was not the reason. It has been an incredibly long term. Long in the sense that it was 10 weeks, but truly busy. I really needed to draw on physical, emotional and mental agility to get through parts of it. I always find that the crazy-busy-frenetic moments are fine... until the school holidays. The holidays are a time when my body just stops and I sleep a lot (which I have done over the weekend) and occasionally get a sore throat (which I am trying to fight off!)

In any case, it will be a time for quiet. A time to clean thoroughly - to give clothes and extras away. A time to rest, to sleep, to do nothing, to swim, to run...to plant and to cultivate.