Cold weather cravings

Happy Wednesday morning dear readers. It's poured for two days straight. Yesterday it was perfect weather for having lunch at a vintage tea shop with friends, getting my suede pumps thoroughly soaked running to the car, having a bath by candlelight, making pasta for dinner and watching a dvd in bed. But today, even though I have promised the husband I would start a gym contract and I have a million things to do, paintings to block-mount, pictures to develop and letters to write I cannot bring myself to get off the couch and out of my pajamas. I'm even too lazy to walk 10 steps in to the kitchen to make flapjacks (craving!).

   

As to dinner last night, the bacon carbonara worked out better than I had anticipated. Dicing bacon is surprisingly difficult and I have to figure out a way to make the sauce thicker (where on earth can I get double cream?) but Graham said it looked like something he expected to see in a magazine and then he three helpings. And I made pepperdews stuffed with cream cheese as a starter which was surprisingly good. I'm going to do a bit of baking later today though which will be wonderful.

 

Lastly for today (because I'm motivated enough now to at least have a shower) I want to thank you. All of you who read this blog, all of you who tell me that you're loving hearing how we're doing and that you wish I would write more often. I am actually writing this for you and so when you enjoy it I guess I'm doing a pretty good job. 

Oh and don't wait for me to post a link on Facebook or twitter (I don't always post the link on Facebook when I blog)- if you add and follow my blog you'll get automatic updates.  

Have a lovely wet (if you're in Durban) day x

Beautiful weekend things

A long weekend turned into the first weekend of my holidays (due to hectic strike action- see strike rant in previous post). I'm not complaining, it's a million degrees outside (slight over-exaggeration) and my idea of perfection would be lying under a fan reading and only having to move to get food. Welcome to the next week of my life. 

It has been a beautiful weekend, baking on friday morning, a drive up to Petermaritzburg in the afternoon to spend time having dinner and playing board games 'till midnight with friends. A farmers market for pancakes in the morning (we LOVE farmers markets- R20 for 5 avos, yes please) and then a GWC reunion in hillcrest for lunch. The busyness of the day meant, however, that I felt nauseatingly tired for the whole of saturday night and slept 'till 11:30 this morning. 

[Some beautiful pictures I found this weekend] 

The nature of this weekend also means that I have a very tired husband (who decided to partay on his weekend off) who is cranky, especially when I wake him in the middle of the night to tell him to get his elbow out of my face -a few early nights are in order.

   

This week I'm looking forward to; spending time with bible-study group girls, finally make bacon carbonara pasta (that i've been wanting to make for two weeks now), to get through C.S Lewis's 'That Hideous Strength', to pack for Cape Town, to get my gift making on for my Best Friends wedding, to eat more easter eggs than I should be, to spend at least a few mindless hours in front of the television. It really is the little things that make ones' life happy.

[I'm so keen for some colder weather- recent weather in Durban makes it impossible to wear any clothing]

A coffee shop post

An overcast tuesday. Blogging from a coffee shop after being chased off campus by some very enthusiastic strikers/students who have decided that getting a degree is not that important and if they can't get a degree then why should anyone else? It's frustrating to say the least. But on the positive side, it's given me time to mull over life while eating toasted sandwiches.

   

This weekend Graham and I went book/dvd/music shopping (Musica has a special on all classic animated movies at the moment- its made it difficult for me to walk into a store without coming out having added 2 or 3 dvd's to our collection).

   

Yesterday I bought a maid-of-honour dress for Nici's wedding! It's made it so much more real-and exciting! (I feel like they really do deserve to spend their lives together. And I'm so keen for them to experience what I have the privilege of going through every day with Graham.)

Yesterday (due to the terrifying strike at howard) I also went shopping for food stuff for dinner this week. I should probably be taught what a "clove" of garlic is- i've always thought that it was a whole garlic plant- and so when i worked out that for the whole of this week we needed 20 cloves of garlic I bought 20 garlic bulbs. Graham couldn't stop laughing when he figured out what I'd done.

   

In other exciting news, I'll be back in Cape Town next Sunday. It has been too long.

Quick post before dinner

 

Argh, I hate not having time to post, I apologize for my lack of commitment to all of you who actually read my blog. This week has been the first 'busy' week (busy for a first year Lynsay who is trying to figure out how to cook and run a house). On the subject of cooking, last week I (and a food making helper) made the MOST wonderful chicken salad (thank you Jamie Oliver for existing) which suitably impressed Graham. THEN on monday night I made Jamie Oliver Burgers. Amazing. I am also amazing for being able to make them.

   

Even though I'm moaning about being busy, being busy does make the days fly by. I really look forward fridays, mostly because they are after Thursdays (hell day where I usually end up crying to Graham when he gets home) but also because there is a long delicious period of nothingness from the time that I get home until the time Graham gets back from youth. And I usually go people watching in that time. or bake. or have a meal out by myself (some of my favorite things to do)

The lucky ones

Happy monday night! I've really missed blogging this week but life has been pretty hectic. Biggest thing that happened: I made The Knead cookbook's divine roast chicken and roast veggies. Not a huge achievement for most people- enough for me to spend a week telling everyone I know about it. Also this week; I spoke to one of my most favorite people on Skype after having not seen her for 2 months, I bought a new duvet, I braved the woolies sale (and hundreds of Indian women ramming each other with trolleys full of clothing) and I watched a rugby game at the shark tank (which was surprisingly not at all like it is on television).

  

 

I've put Lana del Rey's CD on permanently in my little car-which drives Graham insane- and so I know practically all the words to every song and am even more convinced that she is a genius. Or at the very least one of the most beautiful singers I have ever heard. 

Let's get out of this town, baby we're on fire 

Everyone around here seems to be going down, down, down 

If you stick with me, I can take you higher, and higher 

It feels like all of our friends are lost 

Nobody's found, found I got so scared, 

I thought no one could save me 

You came along, scooped me up like a baby 

Every now and then, the stars align 

Boy and girl meet by the great design 

Could it be that you and me are the lucky ones? 

Everybody told me love was blind 

Then I saw your face and you blew my mind 

Finally, you and me are the lucky ones this time

  

Slowly dying of heat

It's been a week since i wrote- a hot week, a week of mornings spent hiking up a hill to my classes and having to stop for a drinks break halfway up, a week of cleaning in the afternoons, and having the whole house smell of fabric softener (Graham says I use too much but as far as I'm concerned if the clothing is clean then it's good enough) and a week of incredible excitement.

   

Definitely the most exciting weekend i've had this year so far. Friday my mom and sisters arrived and we got takeaway burgers from Pashas, took them to the beach for a sunset dinner and then spent the rest of the evening feasting on my wonderful chocolate cupcakes. In the morning we went to get my wonderful sparkly mini cooper (that I have been waiting for for five years!) and it looks just like a marshmallow-beautiful! We took it up to petermaritzburg for its maiden voyage, we had a romantic lunch there and then raced back to go house shopping (we bought a dining room table, so we can finally have people over for a dinner that doesn't involve sitting on the floor). Seeing them was wonderful and it made me look forward so much to a months time when I can visit Cape Town again.

   

As for the cooking, last week was my first real cooking disaster. I tried to make one of my favorite dishes for Graham, stuffed jacket potatoes with bacon, and the potatoes just wouldn't cook and then I think I over-cooked them so that they were practically rubber. Graham came home and found me crying and then proceeded to insist that not only was my food edible but it was really nice, and he ate all of it. This week I am going to attempt roast chicken and vegetables. We might end up having 2 minute noodles.

   

 Off to bed- dreading the 6am wake up where I have to leave graham happily snuggled up in bed to go and fight people on the roads.

Perfect

 

"Thanks for all the times you've said yes: to go out with me, getting engaged, & at the altar. Can I ask you something: will you be my Valentine, today, tomorrow and for the rest of our lives? x"