Tuesday 1 December 2009

Well, I'm back.

Happy December, everyone!

We're on for the count down to Xmas, and all the foodie stuff that goes along with that. I've ordered a free-range turkey and half a ham from Eco meats; the cake has been soaking up its weekly dose of brandy for almost two months now; and the Farmers' market special Xmas times have been scheduled. I'm annoyed that I forgot to pick up a leaflet, since they haven't posted hours on their website. I'm pretty sure there's an evening market on 23rd Dec.

In the market, it's cherry season. You pay from $6 to $12 a kilo, depending on the variety and quality. So I simply have to go to the market every week for a couple of kilos. I have sweet black rons and sharper bright red merchants in the fridge right now. So good! Blueberries are also pretty good, though not as cheap - I got 500g for $12. I've been eating them straight, and I made some blueberry muffins on Sunday.

The garden's doing alright. A few things got crisped in the week of 30-38 degree heat, so I've replanted a bit. I've been picking rhubarb and herbs, and the apricot, tomatoes and boysenberries are setting fruit. A few redcurrants are nearly ripe, though there won't be enough of those to do anything with except maybe adding to the breakfast cereal. Or perhaps to the rhubarb.

In personal news, I'm starting a new job next week. The Public Service has got me at last! It's actually my first preference out of all the public service jobs I applied for, so I feel pretty lucky. I got the job offer officially on 19 Nov, and we went off and bought a new car the same day. I'll be working in Bruce, near Cafe Momo and Ellacure, neither of which I've managed to get to yet.

So hey, I'm not DOOOOOOMED to useless unemployment and depression (well, duh). I have recovered some cheerfulness and enthusiasm. Recently I've been thinking of blog posts that I should write. I'm planning to get back to this more regularly, maybe twice weekly or so.

The cats are OK. Plummet is cheerfully getting fat on his renal diet food and Shadow's leftovers. Shadow is still alive, bright eyed and bouncy, though he's taken up a few odd habits. Sleeping under the car is the most annoying. He has to be coaxed to eat, and won't touch anything but real meat and tuna. He got some fillet steak trimmings a week or so back, and I was thinking how extravagantly cat-tragic a thing that was. And then I worked out the price of the k/d tinned food that Plummet is supposed to eat. The steak was cheaper. Lucky I've got that job, now.

5 comments:

Jens Knudsen (Sili) said...

Congrats on the job! (And the harvest.)

I just had three rejection emails.

jess101things@blogger.com said...

If you do find out the Farmer's Market Xmas opening hours, please post them as I normally can't make the Saturdays.

Cath said...

Sili, thanks, and don't worry - I had several of those, too. In fact I got two more on Monday. Ha! Rejected for lower level jobs than the one I got.

Jess, I certainly will.

Liz from Melbourne said...

Good to see you back blogging. I popped in a few times while you were away, wondering about how your cats were doing.
I had an elderly Persian who was hard to feed due to a bacterial infection of the nose. I think she was on valium to increase her appetite. I think that strong smelling foods are good for stirring appetite - tuna, sardines, roast chicken. I also believe there may be a supplement you can give which is a sprinkle to put on their food to make it attractive. Maybe your vet will know of it.

infoaddict said...

Ooo! Local to me!! Momo's coffee is dire, but do-able if you really are desperate for espresso coffee. Plunge's coffee, two doors down, isn't much better, although it produces less indigestion.

Momo has solid takeaway sangers, reasonable eat-in meals, good crinkle-cut chips, and excellent-value bacon'n'egg rolls for brekkie. Plunge doesn't do deep-fried'n'crunchy but has a reasonable range of salads and sangers. Plunge also does food after 2pm, which Momo's doesn't (without exception, and 2pm on the dot, which is sodding annoying if you've been head-down on something and only remember about lunch when you faint at the keyboard, which is generally about 2:45pm for me).

Ellacure is the cafe down the road toward the AIS, yes? I've heard of it but not been there. From all accounts it's actually pretty good, and I really must check it out. It's a bit of a walk, or a short drive, from the immediate Momo's cafe area.

On the whole, if I want a nice lunch, I'll hop in the car and head to Belconnen - or else bring it from home ...