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May Happenings

           


New light fitting
Originally uploaded by 4ndrewScott.

May’s been a big month and here are the edited highlights:

The month got off to a great start when we went to see the Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of ‘The History Boys’ on the 1st of May. Great play, great acting and great fun, definitely a play (or movie) to see if you have the chance. The 2nd of May brought great change with Kate’s wonderful boss, Ros, being retrenched. It’s been a bit of a tough month work-wise for Kate but she’s finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, life in the corporate jungle can be unexpectedly rough, definitely a case of that old adage, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. 

On the 6th of June we went to Queenscliff for a day of fun and sun, and pasties from the award winning Queenscliff bakery. The weather was beautiful and we walked along the pier and read the newspaper in the park, as well as checking out the local shops. A lovely break from the usual. Speaking of which on the 10th of May we went to see Cirque de Soleil’s show, Varekai. An amazing night, most of which Kate spent exclaiming, ‘that’s not possible!’ as one or another of the performers bent various parts of their bodies into abnormal shapes and poses. If you ever wondered if a circus could really be worth $100 a ticket you should go and see Cirque de Soleil, it really is an amazing show. 

May also saw another intrepid bike riding event with both of us completing part of the Yarra Trail from Fed Square to Dights Falls (near Collingwood Children’s Farm) with our friend Claire Marks. We started at around 11am, Andrew on a hired bike, and rode to the Abbotsford Convent to have lunch at Lentil As Anything, the cafe where you pay what you think the food was worth. It was a gorgeous autumn day, and a great ride, another opportunity to see Melbourne from a new perspective. Andrew had to borrow a spanner from the Abbotsford Bakery to put his bike into ride-able shape (the seat and handle bars both had issues) and then we rode back, about 15kms all up. 

May also saw two great cooking adventures, Mother’s Day and the world’s largest moussaka, and gammon cooked in coke a cola that we prepared for Andrew’s work colleagues one Sunday lunch. Gammon is an English cured pork product, and is available from only one butcher in Melbourne, Rob’s British Butchers, in Dandenong. Andrew drove out to pick up our order of 2kgs of gammon and then we drenched the entire piece in about 4 litres of coke, boiling the meat for two hours and then finishing it off in the oven. And the result, fantastic. The meat was moist, with a sweet (but not overly sweet) crust. We served it with Nigella-seed cabbage and sweetcorn pudding, with apple pie for desert. Fantastic, if we do say so ourselves. The moussaka was also fabulous, even though we ate the leftovers for over a week! It was lovely to again be able to host Mother’s Day with Kate’s Mum and Nana (plus Dad and brothers) coming over to join in the fun.

And what other random news? Kate’s found a fabulous new masseuse, see all that stress at work did have one benefit!, and attended a Shoe Party which was surprisingly fun, plus she has a new pair of boots on order which should arrive any day now. Andrew went along to book club and discovered that lots of people hadn’t finished May’s book either. And we’ve discovered a new-to-us author, Jasper Fford, which is surreal, strange and laugh-out-loud funny. We’ve only read one book this far, The Fourth Bear, but we’ll be heading back to the library asap.

And finally month of May house news. We’ve spent most of the month talking to a draughtsperson about drawing up our plans for our new veranda, and being quoted quite a bit of dosh to do so. But, having just spoken with a builder, we’re hopeful that perhaps a permit won’t be needed after all (as we’re replacing an existing structure) so fingers crossed on that front. We’ve also had two electricians come through the house to fit all our new light fittings (see photo above). The first quoted us $4000, telling us the house needed new mains, apparently our entire house runs on less amps than some modern ovens, plus rewiring. The second electrician quote $300, a quote we happily accepted. We still need new mains, but that can wait until we redo the house, in a couple of years’ time!


Posted by Kate on Jun 04 2007 under Scott News



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