venetia_sassy | Entries tagged with teh random

Chicken baked with Lemon, Feta and Oregano. Easy, quick and very nice. I don't even like feta particularly but I put most of it on Mum's plate and the the remaining bits added a good texture. I only made half the recipe and it was quite enough for the two of us.

I have been continuing my obsessive clean out of my bedroom today but focusing on the window. How is this a day-long task? Well ...

I unhooked the curtains, took them outside, draped them over the clothesline and beat them with a broom. Then left them to air for a while (keeping a nervous eye on the sky and an ear out for thunder.) Then I took down the vertical blinds and dumped them in the bathtub to soak with some NapiSan.

I did not know there was such an easy way to clean vertical blinds! I thought I'd have to scrub each one individually. If I'd known, I might have cleaned them ... er, before they reached the state they were in.

I still had to wipe each one down with a green scratchie after soaking (instead of a nail brush) but the grot came right off, no scrubbing, no worries. Then rinsed, wiped them off with a towel and hung them up again with another towel over the windowsill to catch any stray drips. That was it. (Mum is Getting Ideas. Yeah, okay, the kitchen blinds really do need a wash.)

And while the soaking was happening I cleaned the tracks, the frame, the windowsill and the actual window (really the fastest, easiest part.)

Only part that didn't get cleaned was the flyscreen and the outside of the window. Maybe with a stepstool ... but honestly, we need to get the window cleaners out here again. Between my CFS, Mum's wrists, the height and awkwardness of various windows, the outsides just don't get cleaned by us. It's worth paying professionals.

Excuse me now, I need to hang the curtains up. Brought them in about five seconds before it started to rain. *pleased with self*

Current Mood: productive
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/196960.html

Finally figured out how to clean the track of my sliding shower door without ridiculous amounts of effort, contortions or missed spots.

Shook bicarb soda over the exposed track, closed the door to get to the rest of it. Left it to sit for awhile.

Came back and poured white vinegar over the track and let it bubble, then drain away. Gave all of the track I could reach a brief scrub, a bit more vinegar, then poured hot water over all of it to flush away any remaning dirt.

The door tracks are a magnet for mold build-up and they're so awkward to clean. But this is the cleanest I've ever managed to get them and with the least amount of effort!

My exciting triumph for today. Tomorrow I go to the dentist.

Current Mood: pleased
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/195687.html

HIPSTER UNICORN EXISTS!

I believe the correct tag would be: Your argument is now invalid.

Current Mood: amused
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/175911.html

Internets! Do not leave me again!

(There was an incident with a browser hacker yesterday. Not good.)

So I stayed off the computer but didn't do much as I'm still recovering. Finished reading Bright Earth: The Invention Of Colour (dense in places but very interesting. Painters can only use what pigments they have so how does that affect style?), then read Girl in a Green Gown: The History and Mystery of the Arnolfini Portrait (on the lighter side but also very interesting. The amount of detail in that portrait!), then took a turn into fiction and read China Mieville's Embassytown (fantastic and fascinating. Mum tried to read it today but couldn't get into his style which I can understand. But if you can, it's worth it.)

*
Today I've mostly been trying not to melt. 30C+ days, I have not missed you. Made Shanghai Chicken Salad (halved the recipe, quartered the chicken, be careful of the amount of sauce) for dinner, good for a hot night.

*
Mum showed me an article that made me laugh myself silly. Comedian's account of her daughter asking The Question - But what do they do with their legs? Conversation goes from tadpoles to human reproduction to cats mating to a nine-year-old working out the possibility of anal sex.

*dies*

*
With my sad lack of internet yesterday I couldn't see any reports of the Melbourne BDO until today. It seems I missed Frank 'reducing' his layers to a t-shirt (which had 'fuck your tanktop' written on it ... okay?) and cardigan, then tweeting about how hot it was. *facepalm*

Gerard has informed us that he can't skate. No, really. "I can't skate, I dont know how to skate at all. I've tried many times in my life, I break my ass. That's why I wear such big boots on stage, cause I have no balance or equilibrium."

... what can you even say to that?

Current Mood: melting
Current Music: My Chemical Romance ~ House of Wolves
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/168710.html

bsc_snark has solved a mystery for me! Sometimes I get little bits of dialogue or part of a scene stuck in my head. Ususally I can figure out where they come from pretty quickly but at some point last year, I had this memory flash into my mind of a book in which a kid (I thought a girl) was building a 'time machine' with a (possibly misspelled) flux capacitator wrapped in toilet paper.

Why this came to mind, I have no idea. I knew it wasn't a movie memoery and I didn't think it was Calvin & Hobbes because I was seeing it in words not drawings. Looking over the children's books still on my shelves, I couldn't get the memory any clearer but I thought it might be a BSC Little Sister book. But that still didn't seem quite right.

Every now and then the memory would pop up and annoy me again. Then the other night, I was reading a snark of Mary Anne's Makeover. My recollection of the book was that Mary Anne's dad was pretty great in it and all Mary Anne's so-called friends were utter shits.

These recollections were accurate. But it was the babysitting subplot that made me sit up. Carolyn Arnold was building a time machine. Necessary components?

Top Secret
Chek List for Time Mashin
Dr. Carolyn Arnold, Scientist

Flux Capasitatter
Warp Consol
The Hands from A Brokened Clock
Unpluged Telephone
Old Blankit
Dish Towl
Some Toylet Paper
One Curtain Rod

Mystery solved! That was really a very cute subplot. I wonder what my brain will dredge up next?

*
Last night involved a spectacular headache that lasted until well after dawn. Sleep was less than restful thanks to be woken up by the dogs greeting three visitors in quick succession (garden guy, pest control guy and neighbour from across the road who found and returned our cat's brand new collar and expensive tag. That's the second time he's lost a collar over there. He likes to visit and lord it over their cats.) Got up to take more headache pills, went back to bed, woke up around 5p.m., got up but had to go back to bed after an hour or so, had a nap while Mum went to aquarobics, got up again when she got back and I made dinner. And now I'll probably go back to bed soon and try for better sleep since I have an acupuncture appointment tomorrow.

*sigh* I really don't think it's helped. Or if it has, the effects don't last.

*
I had something else to talk about. *draws a blank*

P.S. Hah, I remembered one thing. Dee asked if I was okay with a local prayer group praying for my recovery. Um, yes? It's not something I believe but if people want to think good thoughts for me, that's very kind of them. I'm not going to say no.

Current Mood: crappy
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/167151.html

Okay, still with the exhaustion, the headache, the brain fog ... but not as much! I am feeling better, so I'm trying to answer comments tonight.

Made Stuffed Prosciutto-wrapped Chicken with Tagliatelle tonight (one chicken breast and 75g pasta between us and I added some chopped baby spinach to the passata.) Turned out quite well! And I made the Spaghtti with Meatballs again the other night, adding about a teaspoon of soy sauce to the mince and it did improve the flavour.

*
Anyone else read the Babysitter's Club books as a kid? Because I just found

bsc_snarkand I am laughing myself silly at some of the snarks. Also, flinching in horror. I never thought the books had much connection to reality but holy shit, there was some epic bad parenting going on at times. Not to mention the Cult of the BSC.

Current Mood: hopeful
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/166116.html

I'd never heard of More Joy Day before (and it's now Friday here, anyway) but in the spirit of things:

Puppies make everything better!

I've been feeling a lot like this puppy today - but I didn't look nearly as cute. :)

Hope these make someone smile.

Current Mood: exhausted
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/165379.html

I don't know why but the chocolate caramels are softer than last time - much easier to cut but I think I preferred the chewiness of the last batch. I think the raspberry caramels taste like a mouthful of jam but, as tastes differ, Mum thinks this is a good thing. *shrugs* As long as people enjoy them! The lavender shortbread remains successful and I remembered to process the sugar and lavender this time which distributed the flavour more evenly. And this orange and ginger shortbread has turned out pretty well! Even if I did underestimate how many oranges I'd need, had to use a lemon as well and still didn't have the full amount of zest. But they taste good.

*

Have you ever seen hip-hop dressage? This marvellous vid sets some of Blue Hors Matine's fabulous performance to hip-hop music and it works amazingly well! As it happens, the music for the original performance included Lady Marmalade and what sounds very much like Keith Urban's Jeans On. Seriously, don't just watch the hip-hop vid, watch the whole performance, it is magic. Mum, who has knowledge of horses and dressage, actually gasped several times watching this. Matine just dances. You'd swear she's listening to the music.

*
This is the first song I heard from Sarah McLachlan's Wintersong before I knew there was such an album!

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: Sarah McLachlan ~ River
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/159637.html

Okay, so LJ was being horribly slow because they were rolling out an incredibly ugly and irritating 'redesign'. WTF, LJ? So glad I'm over here more.

Feh, forget LJ, it is time for happy things!

This vid is making me laugh so much. Various big (and smaller) cats apparently lip-syncing to Jingle Bells - with bonus footage of them going nuts over catnip-filled boxes (meanwhile our housecat couldn't care less about catnip.) Merry Christmas to them! Ooh and check out the melanistic Geoffroy's Cat and the panther and the caracals and the little sand cat ... if I'm ever in Florida, I want to visit this amazing sanctuary!

And Yellowstone is in repeats on the ABC at the moment. I'm not sure if I've missed the amazing fox snow dive or not but since I feel it is worth being shared ...

Current Mood: indescribable
Current Music: Don Henley ~ Taking You Home
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/158590.html

Seal pup wanders into house, takes a nap on the sofa - to the considerable surprise of the homeowner

All together now - awwww.

I love the Carol of the Bells and this version take my breath away.

Current Mood: productive
Current Music: Trans-Siberian Orchestra ~ Carol of the Bells
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/158007.html

... since it was 36C. Officially. I suspect it was hotter here. I mostly sat around, read and tried not to dissolve into a puddle of sweat. Blech.

The change came through around midnight and it was wonderful. The rest of the week is supposed to be ... not too bad. Not thinking about the weekend.

And since it was cooler tonight and we had appetites again, I cooked spaghetti with artichoke hearts, baby spinach, lemon, parsley and capers. I hadn't tried marinated artichoke hearts before (they really don't look very appealing.) They're ... quite okay? I don't know, the pasta was nice and Mum really liked it but I found the combination of flavours to be a bit too sharp towards the end.

I just made another double batch of lemon curd and now I'm going to make a chocolate and vanilla angel food cake with all the egg whites. Flora's coming by tomorrow afternoon so this will work for afternoon tea.

*
On a completely different note, I watched explicit (gay) porn for the first time yesterday (living with ones mother does tend to make certain things awkward) and apart from thinking that film is more appealing than stills, I was mostly thinking 'bodies are weird.' I don't think I'm really a visual person. Or possibly I've been spoiled by fic.

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Music: The Corrs ~ The Right Time
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/150999.html

Thanks to acupuncture yesterday, I now have a small oval-shaped bruise on my forehead, right where a bindi would go.

Sadly, the bruise looks like nothing so much as a smudge of dirt. But a perfectly centred smudge of dirt!

Doesn't quite beat out the bruising a couple of years ago that looked like lipliner.

Current Mood: mellow
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/147849.html

I was flicking through one of those discount coupon booklets that arrive amongst the junkmail - nothing, nothing, hmmno, nothing, WTF?!

Say hello to BRAZILIAN BUTT-LIFT JEANS.

Possibly this is more amusing when one is still only half-awake. They might even be good jeans but really, I do not find the name appealing.

*
Laundry, double batch of lemon-lime curd, washing up, dinner, more washing up. It was a nice day though and the babiana has a new blue & purple flower and the ixia is starting to bloom (after all these years, some botanical knowledge had to sink in.)

*
That is the last batch of lemon-lime curd for at least three weeks. Yes it is! (Stop laughing.) But Mum will not be here to act as courier and I will have the excuse of being too tired from housekeeping (perfectly true, unfortunately.)

Dinner was surprisingly good. Wood garlic tagliatelle with cavolo nero, pancetta and parmesan. I had the pasta sitting around for ages (someone gave it to us.) I'd never even heard of wood garlic - or so I thought. I have heard of ramps, also known as ramsons, buckrams, wild garlic, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, and bear's garlic. The flavour of the pasta was quite mild and it went well with the other ingredients. Speck isn't much seen here so I chopped some pancetta, fried it, then followed the recipe.

Mum and I definitely enjoyed it but then, pancetta, garlic and parmesan are usually a pretty good combination!

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: The Hush Sound ~ Molasses
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/138289.html

I feel better today. Not a cold, it was just post-exertional fatigue thankfully. I'm laying low today, no pushing.

I didn't get uninterrupted sleep however. Mum was out this morning when our former neighbour stopped by to say hello. It was nice of her to want to catch up, not so much that she came by even though she knew I would be asleep (yes, she said that.) I would have been quite happy to wait until her next trip down here. The dogs made a hell of a racket when she knocked so I had to get up, staggered to the door and we had half an hour of conversation (fairly dazed on my part) and then she left and I went back to bed.

*
Dinner tonight was baked pumpkin, pancetta and sage risotto from Donna Hay's No Time To Cook. Supposedly it made two servings. Hah. We have dinner for tomorrow night as well! It's a very nice dish although I did overcook it slightly (I got distracted.) I've been meaning to make it this winter and now that the weather's starting to warm up, I thought I'd better get on with it!

*
My copy of The Hush Sound's Goodbye Blues arrived today! I'm enjoying it muchly. A couple of the songs aren't quite my thing and the intro was a trifle alarming but overall, I'm glad to have it. So far, Honey and Medicine Man remain my favourite songs but I'm liking Hospital Bed Crawl as well.

*
An item in the local rag today that made me laugh disbelievingly: Basically, a rock fell on a local road and had to removed as rubble.

I don't think I would describe an eighty tonne chunk of stone that took six truck loads to remove a 'rock'. I think I would describe it as a bloody great boulder.

Current Mood: lethargic
Current Music: The Hush Sound ~ As You Cry
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/133817.html

I'd seen the stalking cat before but not with the Don't Blink accompaniment.

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Katherine Jenkins ~ Nessun Dorma!
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/129788.html

I made this Beef and Sweet Potato Stir-Fry on Monday and I really liked the flavours but Mum and I were still hungry afterwards and decided it needed rice. So I made it again tonight, added a bit of water and cornflour so there would be more 'juices' and served it over some basmati rice.

Oh yeah.

I wouldn't have thought to use kumara in a stir-fry or add cinnamon and cloves to garlic, ginger and soy sauce but it's a excellent combination. And the green beans we had were so fresh, they were lovely. Green beans are one of those vegetables I like well enough but they're not my first choice. But these were good.

*
I meant to post this yesterday and completely forgot.

The 'transcript' from Huffington Post:

Well sir, it looks like you have a, uh, busted valve cap here. I don't mean to throw around the lingo like that, but it's basically just a cap for the uh-- the valve. Ahem. And so all of the air has just been leaking out of this thing for God knows how long. Days, maybe. It's very technical, but what I could do for you is order the part and replace it and it'd be good as new by-- hey! Hey, what are you doing with that thing? HEY SIR, DON'T TOUCH THE TIRE! I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU WHAT'S WRONG. YOU'RE AN AMATEUR, YOU SHOULDN'T GO IN ALONE!

Okay, I am easily amused by baby animals.

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Panic! at the Disco ~ Mad as Rabbits
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/127569.html

Australia's most decorated World War II servicewoman, Nancy Wake, aka the White Mouse, dies aged 98.

*
According to our last census, Australia has 58,053 Jedi Knights.

I wonder how many we'll have this year. And it that a profession or a religion?

Mum and I were decidedly less creative (read: truthful) in our answers. And filling out online was very quick and easy. Much less fuss than on paper.

And now I have to look up squid jiggers. Why do we have 12 of them?

*
Gerard has been writhing around stage in a poncho. Why a poncho? We do not know. See the Poncho Fic Meme for possible answers! Or if you feel there are other members of bandom in desperate need of their own ponchos ...

Current Music: Katherine Jenkins ~ Ar Lan y Mor
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/127347.html

A couple of weeks ago, our clothes dryer stopped working. We called a technician to come take a look but we had to take the dryer off the wall first . Brother came over to do this, discovered that the dryer was pulling out of the wall anyway (whoops) and said that he would bring some ... coach screws? (I have no idea) when he came back to put it up again.

(Tech came and apparently whatever was wrong with the dryer was fixed by the jolt of getting it off the wall. $175 later. Damn dryer.)

Anyway, brother finally came back today and we were going to have a dryer in the laundry instead of the dining room! Except that after a number of tries, brother couldn't find the wall stud and is going to come back later with his stud-finder.

... really, all of this was just to say that you know you've been reading too much fic when hearing the words 'stud finder' makes you want to giggle and imagine the bad jokes of bandom boys.*facepalm*

*
Yeah, that neon orange mullet I saw? The I'm-not-sure-that-color-exists-in-nature orange? Well, Mum brought home some lilies today and they are nearly that colour.

I am concerned.

Yes, they are very pretty but I am looking at them suspiciously and wondering if they are radioactive mutant lilies which will EAT US ALIVE.

*
Violets are less worrying (so far.)

When we got back from the nursery the other day, I saw there were some violets blooming near the carport. I tried to crouch down to sniff them but my jeans made that a little tricky. I was going to go back out once I'd changed my clothes but I forgot. However, on Sunday morning I woke up to find a little vase of violets on the dining room table. I've been sniffing them whenever I walk past.

*happy smile*

*
Have you seen the pictures of Frank on a bike? Mikey doing the walk of shame? Have you seen the new Mikey/Ray comm?

Just checking!

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Katherine Jenkins ~ Ave Maria
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/127196.html

We went to the nursery briefly today (spring sale!) and ever since my body has been screaming (or whimpering) at me, 'Too much! Too much this week! Slow down!' Fine, fine, I hear you.

*
At the nursery, I saw a woman with an orange mullet.

It was a mullet. No ifs, buts or maybes, it was a mullet. Very short top and sides with a wide tail at the back.

It was orange. Not ginger or copper or even carroty. It was neon, I'm-not-sure-that-color-exists-in-nature orange.

Her cardigan almost matched.

... uh, good for her?

*
That reminded me of some epic hair I saw a few months ago. We were in the pet store, buying a new coat for the dalmatian, and I saw a young bloke, tall, thin, with the most amazing bird's nest of hair I've ever seen. EAT YOUR HEART OUT, MIKEYWAY. If Mikey's ever managed that level of bird's nest, I haven't seen the picture.

I just glanced at him at first (we were almost finished) and then I had to take a second look because I wasn't sure what I'd just seen. And no, it wasn't just really messy hair, it was the kind of volume and deliberate tangling that could only be created by considerable backcombing and applications of hairspray.

I really wanted to get a longer look but it seemed like bad form to stare, particularly since the guy was an employee.

I'm trying to imagine washing and detangling that would be required with that and just ... no. *shudders*

Current Mood: lethargic
Current Music: Katherine Jenkins ~ The Flower Duet
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/126581.html

The suburb that never existed

Fearful of Japanese bombing raids during World War II, plane manufacturer Boeing's critical Seattle factory, known as Plant 2, was hidden in spectacular theatrical style - beneath a fake suburb.

That is amazing.

Current Mood: enthralled
Crossposts: http://venetia-sassy.livejournal.com/123861.html

Consistently, predictably, dependably, unwaveringly ERRATIC

There's logic in here somewhere ...

Bad time to discover a cut: while squeezing lemon juice

Hah!

Gotta love Etsy

clutches computer

yawns

My childhood!

More Joy Day

Christmas is coming, let us enjoy happy things

Christmas is coming, let us enjoy happy things

Christmas is coming, let us enjoy happy things

Good thing I wasn't planning on doing anything much yesterday ...

I feel like I should add sparkles to it

Started the day laughing

Goodbye Blues and boulders

You don't even need to be a Doctor Who fan to laugh at this ...

Is this your kitten?!

The White Mouse, Jedi Knights and ponchos

Studs, lilies, violets and boys.

Slow down & Epic hair

Suburbia as camouflage

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