Summer’s on the run

I was feeling a little tired of my usual recipes – usually asian or french – so on the weekend I crossed the Pacific to Cuba with a can of Frijoles Negros and some juicy prawns.

Blanched sliced onion pickled in lime and mandarin juice

Black beans boiled with freshly made sazon powder

Roasted almonds

Fried garlic and eschallots

Salad ingredients combined

Prawns fried by The King with mild chilli sauce

YUM (sorry it's a bit blurry)

Please remove the contents of your brain before starting work.

Recently, I ordered a special boxed set of Ben Hur as a gift for a friend (by his order request).

This is the box it arrived in.

Now, sorry, but is this telling us something about US sales assistants?

Princewilly vs. the Moon Unit

No royalty was harmed during the making of this video. Much.

I love a sunburnt (arse) country

It’s hard to describe what it is about Australia that I love so much, but I think it is summed up for me in this quote from an official, happily published in a major Sydney newspaper.

“To be quite frank, I think the problem is everybody is arse-covering,” Mr Murphy said.

I have a lot of problems with the rest of the article, but bless you Mr Murphy. You made my day.

Pool ponder

Last night, the new Uni-students-who-party-every-night next door intrigued us with the sound of splashing and diving in between the usual bad drumming and clinking of beer bottles at 2am.

Intrigued, this morning The King and I climbed to the top battlement and looked down on the neighboring castle.

Apart from being impressed at the sheer unapologetic pardy-ness of their back verandah, we were gobsmacked to see that they had rented a huge blow-up pool.

The View from the Battlements

The Royal Handmaiden assures me that we wouldn’t be able to fit one on the carriageway for our next soirée – dang.

But now my ever-present desire for a lap pool down the side of the castle has reared its head again (quote was hideously expensive, even though I did not reveal the true horror to The King).

I am now wondering about pulling the duranta out of the middle of the royal courtyard and installing a small round plunge pool instead.

Castle Grounds

Royal plan below.

Opinions?

Complex Plan

Farewell Steve Jobs

How strange that you don’t realise you have a third parent until you lose them.

Thinking about beauty

I’ve been lucky enough to visit some wonderful places in the world.

There are so many countries I am yet to see, but I’m not complaining by a long shot.

For some reason I was ruminating on “what is the most beautiful place I have been”? It’s a hard choice.

But I think I would have to vote for a lake I went to with my sister in 2001, quite by chance, when our car took a wrong turn.

This is Bled, in Slovenia. And none of the photos can really do it justice.

PS. I don’t know what to think. I just looked at the date, after posting, and realised it was 10 years ago this week.

What do puppies love?

The office recycling bin!

Maggie Moon Unit

Busy in the office.

"My work is done."

So happy together!

The front cover of a brochure sent to me in the mail.

Hmmm…

 

Apologies for the Interregnum – again!

But you will understand when you see this sign.

The Count postulated that it might be for a money exchange outlet – but no, it is for a clothes shop in downtown Sydney.

I have been in therapy since I saw it.