sleepless in st kilda...

sleep – a casualty of living in st kilda at the moment…they’re raising the tram lines in fitzroy street between canterbury road and the esplanade and working through the night - i can’t imagine what the noise must be like closer to the heavy machinery – the noise reaching my place is constant and annoying – that pesky beeping of trucks and the rumbling and crash banging of the earthmovers and jackhammers (even shadow isn't venturing very far from home - he sits in his courtyard with his ears twitching and his eyes enormous orbs) – and this is going to be happening for the next week… which means no public transport running to balaclava or the st kilda shopping precinct… what a bummer – it’s going to be very hard psyching myself up for work this week – i’ll be walking – hope it’s not too ‘brrrrr’ chilly… but i’m not as bad off as the elderly people in me mother’s block of flats who have mobility problems due to age - there's no transport to get them to their various hospital and doctors appointments, let alone to the shops…

my weekend has been tinged with a bit of concern for me mum though - she isn’t well at the moment – she had a malignant growth removed from her face a few weeks ago that she's only just 'coming good' from, but then on thursday she had to have her cornea reattached (a quite common outcome apparently months after a cataract operation amongst the aged) - since then she's been really unwell – seems the eye drops they use affect her kidneys badly – she suffers constant nausea and fatigue – all she can do is stay in bed (which she hates) – she was almost at the point of ringing an ambulance saturday night but persevered with her pain instead… she has a fear that if she goes to hospital she may never get back home - at 82 and suffering chronic kidney failure (and her hospital experiences over the last couple of years) it’s an understandable fear…

apart from that it’s been a lovely weekend… i had dinner cooked for me last night – an array of vegies baked in a delicious garlicky tomato sauce… good, hearty winter fare – made even tastier i’m sure by the fact that I didn’t have to cook it - i did make some garlic bread to go with it though…  (nah, this isn't a photo of what we had but it does look similar - just add beans and carrots too)...

to top that off I came across a new recipe for a lemon tart I just had to try – and it was sooo lemony delicious – and so very easy to make (and yes, this is a photo of my version!)…  it comes from the sweet treats section of veggie.wedgie  but i cheated with the base... i just made a crushed biscuit base because i didn't have the recommended oats and spelt flour - but the filling was 'by the recipe' and deeeelicious, so here's how to make the lemony yumminess...

• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 400ml light coconut milk
• 2tbsp lemon zest
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1/2 cup agave syrup
• in a pot combine agave, coconut milk and cornflour. whisk until the cornflour is completely dissolved. add lemon zest. bring to boil whisking continuously and once it starts to thicken remove from heat. add lemon juice and continue stirring for 3 minutes. Let the mixture cool completely and pour over the crust. chill until set. enjoy!!

i'm sure this recipe can be adapted with many variations - any other citrus (tangello, grapefruit, lime, orange), chocolate,  vanilla bean, caramel.... yummm, the list goes on - a definite must to repeat in the very near future...

and now it's to the kitchen and a sink of dishes... and then maybe i'll read some more of denise scott's memoir 'all that happened at number 26' - or perhaps listen to a few chapters of ruth park's 'swords and crowns and rings', centred around two young people growing up in an australian country town between 1907 and 1931 and read by deidre rubenstein, a narrator i really enjoy - it also won the miles franklin award in 1977...

oh no, not the dreaded 'lurgy'...

i've had one of those 'ear, eye, nose & throat' things happening since i woke up yesterday... amazing how one day you're fine and then without warning 'bang' - you've got a fever and you feel like crap - bloody people and their germs!!! and being sick wasn't part of the plan for this weekend... the best laid plans and all that, hey...

luckily the animals are happy to just laze around with me... they've gotten used to the lounge being our 'bedsit-cum-sanctuary' with the brother still being here... don't know how long i can cope with it though!!! although we would still sleep on the couch because the bed is way too high for me old girl these days (and she's always slept with me) - it's much easier to have cushions placed strategically for her to use as steps' to climb onto the couch... she is amazing to watch getting around without sight and sound to guide her - such perseverance without complaint - animals are certainly superior to humans where adapting to their situation is concerned (doesn't mean that some aren't sooks though, hey loudie-dude!!!)...

it is a bit of crush on the couch though - it's not a bed couch, it's just a couch couch... and it seems the warmer the weather to greater the need for the gang to either be sprawled out across me, or tucked up tight and leaning right into me!! oh to be able to stretch out!!! but we are close to the courtyard - and without fail the boy is hassling at 5am to get out... which is a good time to wake the girl up and take her outside too - it 'circumvents' the bed wetting - but it does take her a while to get it together - she's very disoriented and very wonky and feeble - you do have to stay with her and let her know where you are and that everything's okay... what is this thing called sleep i've heard people allude to???

the medication i was put onto by a friend seems to be helping with the incontinence luckily - bio-organics' "bladder care" - a pumpkin seed and soy bean extract - it does get a tad expensive over time considering how much she has - then there's the garlic caps and the soy milk (but don't bother to offer that to the boy - that's where he draws the line... the look on his face says it all - 'what the fuck is this crap??!!' - a bit like the look he gives you when he sees you approach with the camera!!!)... at the moment the girls eyes are all 'gungy' too so they need to be bathed with chamomile... and you still have to 'be alert' because she still heads off in the wrong direction when she wants to go outside sometimes (well, a lot of the time actually!!!)... ahh, the trials and tribulations of caring for the infirm elderly - she is such a tolerant, easy going babe considering all the 'poking and prodding' she has to endure...

hopefully the rest of my day will be spent absorbed in my book... that's so long as the puffy eyes, sore throat and earache allow me to concentrate...

i've had to put aside "Cooee" for the moment - i just can't get into it (but it's not highly reserved so i can maybe 'revisit' it sometime)... i'm currently 'immersed' in Anne Summers' memoir "The lost mother: a story of art and love" described as "..a gripping narrative that is part art history, part detective story and part meditation on the relations between mothers and daughters." i am thoroughly enjoying this one...

 

i've admired Anne Summers ever since i read "damned whores and god's police" in the 70s - it's about the role of women in Australian society and was considered a landmark publication at the time (and still is!!)

i do hope i'm over this 'bug' by new year's eve... my brother's going to be around to look after the boy and girl and i'm heading off to my niece rebbecca's 'gathering' in kyneton, then it's on to malmsbury to spend the night with my loudie-dude, irene and the rest of the gang... i'll be back on friday though 'cause i 'drew the short straw' and have to work on saturday morning - bummer - but overnight is better than nothing i guess - and any longer than that and i'd just be worried about allie...

i'm not gonna write about it again...

but i'll mention it's that christian 'pagan celebration rip-off' time - easter - and if you weren't following my blog last year you can check out my previous post "another stolen fertility celebration"... oooh, but when you've got the bottomless-pit munchies, walking through a supermarket can be a dangerous thing - all that chocolate on display - forget the shopping list - you can live on chocolate can't you - found the aisle, now where's that fair-trade chocolate???"



caught up with larry-the-librarian the other evening... had a very pleasant 'chin-wag'... shared some organic home produce with him - so nice to be able to share something you grew, made, cooked, whatever, with friends...




hoping to catch up with sailor lily week after next sometime... 'tis her birthday on the 18th april and mine on the 21st - i'm on holidays for the week then, yes!!!! - so can't wait to see her and meet the wee baby Finn...

i finished reading The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale - i really enjoyed it but it did take a while to get into...

have another book by the same author - The Queen of Whale Cay : The Eccentric Story of 'Joe' Carstairs, Fastest Woman on Water - that might be my next read when i finish my current book...

i've been having a nice relaxing weekend so far... almost finished an easy to read (and follow) mystery - Hidden by Katy Gardner - watched an interesting movie last night - 1408... not bad at all if you're into supernatural phenomena etc. - based on a stephen king story....

i've been thinking about what to write about next... thought seeing as how last year on my birthday i started a series of reminiscences of the 60s, i might tackle the 70s this time... an exciting and interesting era - from protests, gough whitlam, disasters to disco (or was disco a disaster too?) - but more of that closer to my birthday!!

i've just finished watching a really, really good movie...


The Bank job ... "Based on the true story of the 1971 Baker Street bank robbery which was hushed up at the time by a Government gagging order. The real story of how one of the biggest robberies in British history took place." read more here.

talk about fucked political morality, graft and corruption... i highly recommend it!!!! one of the best movies i think i've seen in a while!!! brilliant!!!!



just a wee digress before i finish... we're coming up to 12 months in this house - waiting for the agents to let us know when they're coming to inspect the property (they've already bailed once!!!) - hope we get an extension on the lease... this is a grouse house to have two living areas - it's like having your own large flat (duplex?) or half-house - with outdoor areas - and neither of us has to deal with the other human house-dweller if we don't want to (and that happens a lot more these days!!!) - or we can have companionship if we want it... the animals have a wonderful time going between living spaces and different human contact - i luv it, and they luv it... and of course me old girl Allie would find it very difficult (not to mention traumatic) to have to get used to a different place...

since turning 50 a few years ago i just luv having my own space - i need it... solitude is not a dirty word - it's a necessary, sanity-saving interlude to the hustle and bustle of dealing with the outside world - if you work with the public you'll know what i mean!!!!

on that note, it's ciao for now...

Melting moments...

Did your world feel like this the last few days???

I know I felt like this after 3 days of 42+ degrees!!!!

far out, let's hope no more melting temperatures... I don't cope very well... neither does me old girl Allie!!!! and that sort of heat can wreak havoc on a person's thermoregulation...

on the relaxing, leisure side of life....

I've been reading a few biographies lately...


Cups with no handles : memoirs of a grassroots activist by Carolyn Landon

The true story of Bette Boyanton, born in St. Kilda in 1921, feminist and activist -she tried to organise the Commonwealth Match Factory women (girls would probably be more apt for that era) into the union in the late 30s - a fighter against social injustice all her life - in her later life, having, for health and family reasons, moved to the country and, having been inspired by the women's liberation movement’s campaign for women’s learning houses where "under-educated women organised their own classes in craft, drama, creative writing, first aid, nutrition, cooking, history, art, politics, health and other issues" - she was instrumental in setting up the first rural neighbourhood house - the Warragul Neighbourhood House, now called Warragul Community House.

I loved reading about her life and nominated this as my favourite summer read on the SLV voting site!!!

Connie's secret : the true story of a shocking murder and a family mystery at a time when appearances were everything by Anne Lovell

It was February 1939 when Connie Sommerlad was butchered and her brother left for dead in their family farmhouse in rural Tenterfield. The murder was brutal... Jack Kelly, a worker on the Sommerlad property, found guilty of the murder, was to become the last person to be hanged in New South Wales... but there's more to Connie's life than her death!!!!

There's a secret involved - but I'm not going to tell it here!!!! This is a real family-saga-mystery-thriller... let's not forget - it's 1939 Australia - women's place in society was that of 'damned whore or god's police' - so it's a really big secret - so read the book and find out about Connie's life - it's interesting, and very, very sad!!!!

The Lucy Family Alphabet by Judith Lucy

What more can I say??? It's Judith Lucy...

I love her dry (and dark) sense of humour. She says in her postscript that someone said to her after seeing her perform and telling jokes about her parents that she "must hate her family"... she was horrified - she loves them but has no problems seeing them as a bit weird - don't we all feel that way about our families - at least some of the time????

I think my family's weird - but it's weird in a good way - I'm sure there's a lot of comedy that could be found in most family situations... anyway, I got quite a few laughs and some nostalgic flashbacks from her memories...

if only I could stay at home all summer and read... oooh, and maybe watch dvds tooooo....

I watched a documentary - Taxi to the dark side - about the inhumanity and brutality of the torture and interrogation policies and practices of the american "intelligence" agencies (a misnomer if ever I've heard one!!!) and the military (heavily 'encouraged' by a conservative Bush administration!!!) perpetrated against those considered 'terrorist threats' by christian zealots - from Bagram to Abu Ghraib, to Guantanamo Bay detention camp... it's disgusting... it's powerful - I highly recommend it...

I was reminded of a book I read some time ago... "The men who stare at goats" by Ron Jonson - it's along the same theme... and I just discovered while googling that it's being made into a movie, 'in production now', with George Clooney, Ewen McGregor, Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges and a cast of 1000s apparently (not really - but there's a helluva lot of names in the credits on imdb... now that will be interesting - due out in December 2009!!!

all I need to do now is decide what to read...

just finished The keepsake by Tess Gerritsen for a quick, edge of seat mystery...

Sailor 'Lil has recommended Poppy Z. Brite... her writing is described as 'dark fantasy' and 'vampiric erotica'... one of my favourite books has been "The witching hour" from the Mayfair Witches series by Anne Rice... I'd call that dark fantasy - it was definitely erotic... so if she writes in a similar vein (huh!!!) to that, I think I might like her... anyway I've decided to read "Love in vein" - edited by Poppy with a few fantasy writer's I like (but never saw as writers of erotica) in the mix... so I'll let you know what I think...

#11 - LibraryThing... it's done!

Well, I’ve done the LibraryThing task… not a bad tool… much the same as iRead in Facebook... this is one of the blurbs from their site about LibraryThing for Libraries – I can see the possibilities:

"How can libraries use LibraryThing?

Fully integrate LibraryThing's social data into your catalog using LibraryThing for Libraries. LTFL lets you add tag-based browsing, book recommendations, ratings, reviews and more to your OPAC, by integrating with LibraryThing and its high-quality book data.
Use a LibraryThing widget to display new books or featured books on your library's website. You'll have to create a LibraryThing account, and add the books to it. Then use one of our widgets to generate code that you can just copy and paste into your website.
Small organizations and libraries can use LibraryThing to as a catalog for their collection."

You can see a random list of titles from my library in the sidebar on the left of the page – this is just a small selection of books I’ve read and enjoyed over the past 30-odd years.

And these three books, the Tomoe Gozen Trilogy, are definitely some of my favourite – if you enjoy things samurai, like a bit of fantasy with some mythology thrown in, this is a brilliant series, based on a legendary female hero.