How many slices for that pizza?

A couple of nights ago we (Jane and I) had the funniest conversation, and despite her protests I think it needs to be recorded for posterity. She and Clare are in training for the 14km City-to-Surf fun(?) run and wanted to try the distance last weekend (for the record, they did brilliantly well). She suggested that I load Hugo into the bike trailer and that MacK and I cycle around the local lake to meet them if it wasn’t too cold.

I asked her what direction they would be travelling in (anti-clockwise/clockwise) so we could plan our travel route. Jane’s response was that it would depend where she started from. Granted, she was tired after a particularly grueling day of study, but she momentarily lost sight of the reality that the clockwise direction is an overlay, and doesn’t matter where you start from.

Reading the above, it doesn’t seem anywhere near as funny as it was in the kitchen when we were both tired but how we laughed! If laughter is truly a medicine, then we don’t need to take a flu shot this year or next!

Food, glorious food

We have been lucky enough to share great food with friends and family over the last few months. For those who might follow us on Facebook also you might have seen some of the fun stuff we have been doing. These have included experimenting with a ‘Violini de Cerva’ – a venison air dried prosciutto styled charcuterie, a 13 course dinner for Leigh’s birthday and Jane’s high tea – which has now morphed into more of a Te’apas type of thing.

I lost my phone to internal gremlins without transferring photos off it (idiot) so have lost many of the memories. Please see below a collection of some of the pictures we have been able to capture celebrating our food journey over the past few months.

Clockwise from top left: Toffeed stout ice cream dipped in chocolate with hazelnut praline and freeze dried strawberries; A late night study break cheese plate for Jane and me; Chocolate dipped honeycomb; Continental breakfast done right!; Vietnamese caramelised pork with pickled vegetables, hash brown with sauerkraut, chorizo and dijon mustard; spit roasted pork leg with an 8-day kim chi on baguette.

Jane's 2018 High Tea tribe. The girls had a great time, managing to nibble their way through 19 courses or so!

Is it July already??

For those of you who may have wondered if we had fallen off the face of the earth, rest assured we are still here. Since I last wrote (March!!!) my broken finger has healed enough for me to be able to whack it with out it hurting too much, and our lives have been consumed by work, study and the build. I don’t think I was aware just what the academic commitment of a Masters program would entail, but it is huge! I am enjoying it, and getting good results though.

As a gross catch up:

• Jane is still studying, and getting good results. She is absolutely looking forward to April when she gets to rest her brain.
• I have just commenced Semester 2. I have now completed five subjects, and aim to graduate in December. True to form it looks as though I will spoil Jane’s birthday again – this time by having a graduation parade on that day!
• Jane has picked up a couple of days work each week, and is working close to the team she hopes to join when she completes her studies.
• Hugo is in daycare for those days and loving it. He is everybody’s favourite with that super cheeky grin he has.
• MacK is growing up far too fast. Despite his unwillingness to practice he is playing some lovely music on his ukulele, and we trust the desire to get better will just kick off in him at some point.
• MacK must have inherited a running gene from anyone other than me, as he came second in the school cross country.
• The build is progressing well. A fair portion of that stack of Gyprock has made its way onto walls, and we are about to connect the house to the grid. Having electricity in every room will be a blessing and we look forward to rolling away the electric cables.
• We have bought the kitchen for the granny flat (currently in flat packs) and will install that when the rest of the room is complete as a priority. Cooking over a BBQ and in a slow cooker is fine – but I look forward to running water in a sink, and generally just being more comfortable.
• Jane’s next priority is in the bathrooms. She wants running water. Can’t say I blame her, and I am definitely looking forward to trying out the amazing bath we bought!
• Winter is cold – who would have thought! After a couple of years in the tropics I am surprised at how well we are coping with temperatures as low as -6 degrees Celsius overnight. The Canberra days are lovely though and more than make up for a little chill.

L-R - Slicing the 'violini de cerva' - venison prosciutto; Hugo enjoying the clothes of Winter; and Jane and Clare - Clare with proper shoes on at the High Tea

Clockwise from top left: The Hebel walls go up internally, and the stacks of Gyprock go down; Fire is just the thing when the morning starts off at minus six degrees; Where once was eleven pallets there are only now three; The sunsets are as beautiful as ever; I have now framed out the slaughter room on the Eastern side of the kitchen.

 While I would like to be a little more regular with our posts over the next three months, I fear that study will again take over. We will post where we can – and next year I promise we will have much more time on our hands!