Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

What’s made you smile this week? Many things, I hope!

First on my list is this wacky sock monkey I made last night. It took me hours and his ears are crooked, but he was pretty cute in the end. Which is just as well, as I can’t see myself making another one! I’ve named him Richard, in honour of our podiatrist, the giver of socks (I’m sure he’ll be delighted).

If you’d like to make your own, it only takes one pair of socks and these brilliant instructions from Craft Passion…

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Last Thursday, we took my mother to explore the Hidden Sculpture Walk at Rookwood Necropolis.

Mum was amused and a tad disconcerted to be strolling through a cemetery, but I found it incredibly peaceful. The artworks were scattered through the old part of the necropolis – along paths and in amongst the graves themselves…

Twist of Fate (Widow-maker) by Jane Gillings was my favourite piece. The artist has turned used champagne corks back into a tree…

Lotus Labyrinth, by Diamando Koutsellis…

Peace in Death by Rachel Sheree won a prize…

Tears & Courage by Kirsty Collins sat comfortably in amongst older graves…

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Sydney University is building a brand new museum which will open late 2018 or early 2019. It will combine the collections of the the Macleay and Nicholson Museums, and the University Art Gallery.

This means the Macleay would be closing at the end of November for two years (the Nicholson will stay open until the end of 2017). I’m embarrassed to admit that I’d never been before, despite attending the university and living in Sydney all my life, so Pete and I spent an afternoon wandering around campus and reminiscing.

The Macleay is a glorious Aladdin’s cave of old natural history specimens, including large and small skeletons, specimens jarred in formaldehyde, small stuffed animals, and ancient instruments. I was thrilled to see these old Moa bones…

Specimens in jars, some dating from the 1800s…

Large skeletons, many of which were previously acquired for teaching purposes, are on display…

Old tools and equipment tell the stories of various university departments…

A wall of magnificent butterfly specimens are on display – I never knew their colours could be so bright!

If you’d like to read more about the history of the Macleay Museum, the Uni has just uploaded a PDF copy of  Mr Macleay’s Celebrated Cabinet. It was published in 1988 to commemorate the museum’s centenary.

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From the Macleay, we strolled over to the Nicholson Museum.

At present, there are a couple of interesting exhibitions there – one called Death Magic, which explores the beliefs and traditions surrounding death in Ancient Egypt. How cool is it that we can see sarcophaguses in Sydney? (For free too!)

The other exhibition which I loved was Memento: Remembering Roman Lives.

Two sections of wall in the museum are hung with Roman funeral inscriptions…

A translation of each one is offered via an interactive tablet nearby. Having spent an afternoon at Rookwood Necropolis the week before, it made me reflect on our basic human need to commemorate lost loved ones…

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From the Nicholson, we visited Floating Time: Chinese Prints 1954 – 2002.

This free art exhibition at the University Art Gallery showcases wood cut prints from the Mao era and beyond. I’m not a fan of traditional Chinese paintings, but these were stunningly beautiful. I’m taking Mum back to see them before the closing date of 25 November…

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On our way home, we walked through the Main Quad of Sydney Uni.

The large jacaranda tree in the corner is just hanging in there – it’s about a third larger than it was in our time, and looking far less robust. In the 1980s, exam results were posted on a board in that corner of the quad, and new students were always told, “once the jacaranda starts flowering, it’s too late to start studying…”

Edit: sadly, we were right and the tree really was just hanging in there – it collapsed less than a week after our visit. Thankfully the uni has a clone of the original tree ready to go back in its place.

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Earlier this week, Small Man and I sat down to a lunch of homemade sourdough, eggs from the backyard, and a family crossword puzzle. Life doesn’t get much better than that! (He looked up and caught me taking his photo!)

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Finally…it’s hard not to smile when this hottie is all mine, and has been for over thirty years. That look on his face was in response to the suggestive comments I was making about his sexy new leather jacket…

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I hope you’re all having a fabulous week! ♥

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Cousin Jono loves Laura.

We know this because he told us so on Saturday night, in a speech that moved us all to tears. Pete and I have just spent the most glorious weekend in Mudgee, celebrating their wedding with family and friends.

Festivities kicked off with dinner on Friday night and ended with brunch on Sunday. Pete’s family know how to party properly!

The wedding mass was held at the historic St Mary’s Catholic Church in town…

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At 1pm, a chartered bus picked us up from our motels and drove us to The Vinegrove for the reception. The sun was shining and the venue was stunning – elegant and relaxing and charming, all at the same time…

A large marquee was set up for the sit down meal, but it was hard to drag ourselves away from the huge roaring fire and comfortable lounges outside…

Gorgeous copper lanterns glowed with reflected sunlight…I loved these so much I wanted to steal them (but I didn’t)…

The marquee was elegantly adorned with white flowers…

We partied hard for eight hours (the first return bus didn’t leave until 9pm). The food and wine were superb, and it turns out that I’m an amazing dancer after six glasses of sauvignon blanc.

We caught up with Pete’s cousins, whom we only get to see every few years; made friends with Dave and Andy (Statler and Waldorf), the gorgeous Julia and her wee bubba; got the phone number of Bruce, who is going to be our go-to Uber driver from now on; and fell madly in love with Andrew and Emma’s beautiful children.

Without wishing to gazump the bride with photos from the actual ceremony, here’s a pic of her to-die-for Cinderella shoes…

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On Sunday morning, we drove back to The Vinegrove for a fortifying brunch of bacon and egg rolls, before making our way back to Sydney. Our new cousin Laura gave us a white bouquet off the table to take home…

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All our love to you, Jono and Laura!

Thank you for letting us share in your celebrations!

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My friend Patrick said…”Celia, you’d make a good American”.

I’m not so sure about that, but I do know that I could happily live in San Francisco.

Last month, our family of four spent twenty-six days in California, staying with our beloved friends Dan(ielle) and Patrick. It was a trip we’d planned with some trepidation – Dan and I are extremely close, but even the best of relationships can be tested by sharing close quarters for such an extended period of time.

It’s a huge testament to our friendship (and Dan and Patrick’s great patience and generosity) that we didn’t have a single tense moment during the entire stay. And after nearly a month of living with them, we found it difficult to come home. It took me five days to get over the jet lag, but a lot longer to recover from the soul lag. You see, I left my heart in San Francisco.

I bought myself a new pair of Zenni prescription sunglasses just for San Francisco!

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This was our first proper holiday in a decade, and the longest we’ve ever been away. And I fell in love with all of it – Oakland City (where we were based), San Francisco, Berkeley and the East Bay. Most of all, I adored the people.

As a generalisation, San Francisco is a city of friendly, liberal-minded extroverts. Everyone we met was cheerful, and most were happy (keen!) to engage in conversation. Whether it was at the supermarket checkout, in a museum, or while waiting for a delayed flight, the folks we met were almost universally good natured. They have a lightness of spirit that reminded me of Sydneysiders, but their gregariousness and willingness to chat to strangers took it to another level for me. I was completely smitten.

Whilst we visited all the attractions, we didn’t have an overly touristy holiday. Dan and I shopped at Safeway and Target and Walmart; we visited Mexican grocers and Ecuadorean handicraft stores; we ate at local eateries. We attended a neighbourhood 4th of July parade, and froze in nosebleed seats at a night ballgame. The fog rolling in over the Golden Gate Bridge became a familiar sight.

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We cooked dinners at home, taught Dan to bake sourdough and temper chocolate, and sat in her backyard watching for hummingbirds. And yes, I did send packets of dried Priscilla to San Fran, where it was rehydrated into Dan’s starter Johnny Cash (you were right, Emilie, King Arthur flour is the bomb. Thanks!).

Dan’s first sourdough loaf, made with her Johnny Cash starter.

Tempering chocolate with Dan and Patrick’s beautiful children – I hid the golden ticket moulds until the last minute!

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As a food lover, I found San Francisco full of surprises.

The French fries were disappointing (someone needs to introduce chicken salt to America), but there was a vast array of unbelievably good cheeses on offer everywhere, even in little corner grocery stores. Supermarket meat was almost scarily cheap. Oakland Chinatown offered live bullfrogs and tortoises for sale. And then there was the unparalleled wonderfulness of Berkeley Bowl. I have never seen produce as fresh or diverse or glorious for sale! I seriously considered moving to Berkeley, just to shop there.

I actually squealed out loud when I came across the mushroom display at Berkeley Bowl.

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It really was the holiday of a lifetime!

Dan and Patrick, Tully, Mitch and Benny, we love you guys (and we miss you desperately). Words are inadequate to express how grateful we are – thank you for making our visit so much better than we imagined it could be!

I’ll be posting more photos soon – I have over a thousand to sort through!

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