the fruits of my labour

Lowlights:

• having nausea and a headache (and other delightful symptoms that come with a gastro-type bug) for six days straight
• trying to convince people that I was sick and not pregnant
• not having the strength to make hot cross buns or cook a fish meal for Good Friday (not that we’re religious; it’s just a tradition we like to uphold)
• entering the eighth week of having an unreliable oven and continually being told they’re “waiting on a part”
• finding out the property our rented house is on is going up for auction next month
• contemplating finding a new place to live and then moving (possibly my least favourite thing to do)
• not getting any sewing done
• eating too much Easter chocolate
• not getting any blogging done

Highlights:

• receiving a visit and some gifts from my parents on their way back to Tasmania after holidaying in Malaysia
• eating fish and chips by the river with Chris and the kids on Good Friday (above)
• watching the second series of Life on Mars with Chris
• eating too much Easter chocolate
• hearing Isobel say “mama” over and over again
• learning my sister Emily, who’s been overseas for nearly a year will be back home for a couple of months soon
• seeing the wonderful Wilco at The Palace on Wednesday night with my sister Anna

So here’s the sourdough I made out of that starter I showed a couple of posts ago:

It was really dense and chewy, as the recipe (from here) promised. And it was pretty sour. I’m not sure if the extreme heat we experienced that week made the starter more intense, or if the first loaf from a new starter is more sour than successive loaves, but Chris couldn’t handle it. The kids and I liked it, but I’d be happy with a milder flavour, especially if that means Chris will eat it. So I’ll see how the next one goes and report back here.

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Something that wasn’t sour in the least, was the Sufjan Stevens concert Chris and I escaped the house to go see last week. Breathtaking. Hope we get to see him again one day.

My god. I can’t believe it’s taken me over a week to get to write this post. Actually, I started it days ago, but only wrote the title and the first sentence, both of which I just changed completely. Anyway, last Sunday we (Chris, Elliott, Isobel and I) had a great time seeing Dan Zanes and Friends for a family sing-along last Sunday at Arts House’s Meat Market.

I think I was looking forward to it more than anyone and I wasn’t disappointed. We all had a great time, although Elliott kept asking, “Was that the last song?”. I’m sure he enjoyed himself the rest of the time .

I will admit I kind of forced (in a kind and motherly way) Dan Zanes onto Elliott. I had had it up to the back teeth of The Wiggles (at least the one Wiggles CD we have) and had heard great things about Dan Zanes. I liked the idea of family, as opposed to kids’ music, and it’s really refreshing for kid-friendly music (not that I think there’s much music we listen to that isn’t kid-friendly) to be all about the music and not the licensed merchandise. And Elliott likes it too.

It was wonderful to see and be part of a musical experience involving people of all ages singing and dancing along. And I think it’s a good sign, when days later, we’re still singing the songs and not annoyed by the fact we can’t get them out of our heads!

No, this isn’t knitting news as (almost) promised. As you can see, though, I wasn’t able to do any knitting last night, as I was at the Corner Hotel with the newly reformed Crowded House. Never having seen them live before they split up in 1996, it was great to be there last night in such a small venue. They were in fine form, but I must admit it felt a little strange without Paul. Liam Finn was the support and he had some good tunes (although we – Chris, Mum and Anna – missed the start of his set, as we unexpectedly had to queue to get in, despite picking up our tickets earlier in the day) and was quite charismatic.

And thanks to Victoria’s new smoking laws, I didn’t come home reeking and needing a shower!