sallysetsforth

Tim recently complained about me steaming up the bathroom with my hot shower. Fair enough too - the last thing you want in this humidity is to have more steaminess added on top of it. Except I hadn't had a hot shower. I'd had a cold shower. Just like I have every day for the last 2 or 3 months (though the cold water is never really cold at this time of year). Darwin is a very hot and humid place right now.

This wet season has been disappointing - not very wet at all. We've had one really lovely weekend of monsoonal rain ... and that's it. The last I heard, we're not expecting any more serious rain until late February. There's a few showers scattered about, and plenty of teasing thunder. But I am aching for it to rain!

Tropical downpours are the *best* part of the wet season! After so many dry months, it's wonderful to have a change in the weather - the frogs come out, plants grow crazily, everything becomes lush and green. Most importantly, the rain provides temporary relief from the neverending humidity that starts in October and doesn't go away until April. And when you're sitting inside with the aircon on watching it rain, you can even kid yourself it's cool outside :)

Ah well. Here are a few photos of some of the nicer aspects of the wet season, including a rare spot of rain ...

Another year begins, and I'm hoping that 2013 will be a good one! 2012 was a challenging year in many respects, but of course there were plenty of highs to balance out the lows. Mostly it just felt really busy - moving interstate (again!), lots of visitors, lots of work. The year seemed to pass in a flash.

My blogging frequency dropped off a cliff after the #blogeverydayofjune challenge, as per usual. My PC was out of action for much of the year, and I don't really enjoy blogging with my netbook's small screen and keyboard. I wonder if I would blog more if my website provider had a mobile publishing app ... I often lack the energy to turn on a computer at the end of a working day, but I find I now use my mobile phone to do a lot of the activities that I used to do on a PC (eg. tweeting, emailing, uploading photos, reading news, watching videos). I also tried to spend more time doing "offline" activities in 2012 - especially reading novels, crafting, and getting out and about during my downtime.

I'm in Melbourne at the moment, having a rare day off amongst a busy schedule of visiting family and friends. I've managed to catch up with some of my favourite places too - parks, shops, and restaurants :) We'll be back in Darwin next week, but hopefully we'll be returning to a wet season with some real rain to provide a bit of much needed relief from the humidity. The build up seemed extra long this time around, with very little rainfall in the last few months.

I hope that my readers can also look back at the past year with fondness and/or perspective, and I wish you all the very best for a successful, happy and healthy 2013!

Talk soon :)

The 1st of July is Territory Day - the only day of the year when any man and his dog can buy fireworks and set them off to their hearts' content. Which is why it's also known here as cracker night.

There's a big official fireworks display from Mindil beach, but the main event is really happening all over Darwin (and the rest of the Northern Territory too). Pay packets are blown on pyrotechnics, and the sky is filled with bright lights and the smell of gunpowder.

We went along to Fannie Bay, where we could see the Mindil beach display as well as the fireworks that were going off at East Point and all along the coastline in between. We arrived in time to see a beautiful sunset too.



I took a short video of the amateur fireworks along the beach. They're not as spectacular as the professional fireworks, but it gives an indication of the enthusiasm shown on the night! I've also included here an audio capture of the crackers that were going off nearby :)

Yes, it's that time of year again. Late nights watching bicycle wheels turn, close-ups of exhausted faces, tension-filled race finishes and lots of beautiful French scenery too. It's the Tour de France :)

My own race preparations have included:

• Reviewing the TdF stages and dates to see which nights are going to be late ones
• Clearing space on the hard drive recorder for the crucial mountain stages and time trials
• Updating my favourite TdF mobile apps: SBS Tour Tracker; Sportal Tour; and the Tour Horn
• Creating my SBS Cycling Central Fantasy TdF team to take part in my workplace mini-league
• Checking that my Twitter list for cycling is up to date and includes current teams
• Admiring the line-up of cyclists in Australia's first pro team in the TdF - go Green Edge!
  

Vive le Tour!

On a recent visit to East Point Reserve, I picked up a pretty shell and got quite a shock when this little fellow crawled out to say hello!



Tim is much braver than I am around creepy crawlies, so the photo is of his hand of course. It was quite fascinating to watch the hermit crab pop in and out of its shell, and explore Tim's hand freely. I filmed a short video of it, which I've uploaded so that you can watch it too :)

A Christmassy/crafty post in June - why not? ;)

Each year for the last few years I've made little ornaments for my sisters' Christmas trees. Photos of some of my previous efforts are on Flickr HERE. For Christmas last year I didn't have much time to put something together, so I decided to make something I'd been wanting to try my hand at for a while - pom poms! It sounded so simple :)

I soon learned that there are a few important things to take into consideration when making yarn pom poms. The process was very much a case of trial and error, and fixing up mistakes was not much fun. I used Clover pom pom makers, which I thought would make it a breeze. It was probably much easier than using a cardboard template, but wasn't idiot-proof by any stretch of the imagination!

The first lesson I learnt was to use lots and lots of yarn! And when you think you couldn't possibly add any more - add some more. Secondly, it's important to choose the right thread/yarn for tying the pom pom off. For large pom poms, I imagine it would be fine to use the same yarn that the pom pom is made from. But for small pom poms like the ones I made, a finer thread was required, otherwise it would look split in half. I ended up using a fine metallic embroidery thread. Finally, the right knot is key. A double knot just won't work, as you can't keep the first knot tight enough while tying the second. I had to learn to do a slip knot for this.

Once I'd figured all this out, it was pretty easy from there on in. The finished pom poms just needed a little trimming to neaten them up, and then they were all ready for the Christmas tree. Except that then I came down with the flu and was quarantined for Christmas :( But my family got their pom poms eventually!



It turned out pom poms had another tricky aspect - photographing them. They're really hard to get the camera to focus on them properly!!

P.S. Yes, the title of this blog post is a poor attempt at a Star Trek pun ;)

Time for some poetry (another daily blogging challenge tradition!) -

Of pygmies, palms and pirates by Mervyn Peake

Of pygmies, palms and pirates,
Of islands and lagoons,
Of blood-bespotted frigates,
Of crags and octoroons,
Of whales and broken bottles,
Of quicksands cold and grey,
Of ullages and dottles,
I have no more to say.

Of barley, corn and furrows,
Of farms and turf that heaves
Above such ghostly burrows
As twitch on summer eves
Of fallow-land and pasture,
Of skies both pink and grey,
I made my statement last year
And have no more to say.

While I was out walking this morning, I came across some startling red seeds amongst the leaf litter. I just had to collect a few, they were so pretty - hard, shiny and very colourful!

I asked a friend on Twitter - @lokilovesyou - who makes beautiful seed jewellery if she knew what they were called. She told me that the seeds are from Adenanthera pavonina, also known as the Red Bead Tree (fitting!), Saga Tree or Red Sandalwood.



I'm not sure yet if I'll try making jewellery with them in future. For now I'm just happy to admire them in their little dish on the side table :)

I know, I know! You've been waiting *all year* for another instalment of vintage craft! Well, I try not to disappoint ;)

"Creative Needlework" (1974) by Jo Springer is another gem from my Mum's collection. It has some fantastic retro styling that is quite on-trend at the moment.









But then it starts getting a little iffy ...





Until eventually - dear God, won't someone please think of the children!?!?





Luckily, there are a couple of dapper chaps playing with model trains to rescue us all at the end ;)



No copyright infringement is intended.

It's been a while since I posted a recipe on this blog. This polenta dish is one of my favourite treats, inspired by a menu item served at Il Tempo in Melbourne's DeGraves Street.

This isn't an exact recipe, as it can vary depending on how much polenta and mushrooms I feel like on the night. But the sauce makes enough for 3 serves (or 2 very generous ones!). It's also a bit of a cheat's recipe, because I like to save time by using pre-cooked firm polenta rather than making it from scratch ;)



Polenta with mushrooms and blue cheese sauce
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• 250g blue cheese
• 300g pure cream
• 10-15 button mushrooms
• 1 package pre-cooked firm polenta (or home made)

Method:

• Cut the pre-cooked polenta into 1cm thick slices, and quarter the button mushrooms. Cook them in an oiled frying pan, over medium-high heat. The mushrooms are ready when they are browned and juicy. The polenta just needs to be heated through, but it should have some colour on it from the cooking.
• While the other ingredients are cooking, heat the cream in a small saucepan. Crumble or chop the blue cheese and add it to the cream. Stir over low-medium heat until the cheese has melted into the cream to form a sauce.
• To serve, place several slices of polenta on each plate, scatter with the cooked mushrooms and then pour over the warm blue cheese sauce.

P.S. I've also added this recipe to my Recipe Box page.