That’s a Wrap: February 24, 2019

Okay, I’m in one of those moods today. To be honest, I think I’ve been leading into being in one of “those” moods for the past three weeks and the day has arrived where I’ve decided to indulge my bad mood for a few hours – I don’t really have the focus required to keep it going for much longer than that. Anyways it really is just the day job that’s causing me more than the usual amount of overwhelm at present and given that there’s very little I’m prepared to do about that at present, I need instead to change my attitude. Besides, I’m taking a week off in 2 weeks time, so really, when you think about it, I have absolutely nothing to complain about.

In any case, that’s all rather boring so let’s unpack the week instead.

What I worried about…

Sarah has been in Queenstown, NZ for the week with a friend. Although she’s travelled plenty with us, this was her first solo overseas holiday so naturally, I worried about her. She is, however, back safe and sound having had a fabulous time.

While she was over there she did, however, do this.

It’s a Canyon Swing and in the pic above she’s the one who’s hair is flying up in the air. In the pic to the right is the two of them being catapulted across the canyon. Yeah, nah…not for me.

Cyclone Watch…

Cyclone Oma has been lurking off the South Queensland coast for most of the week. At first, it was just stoking up some pretty interesting looking waves. By Wednesday, however, they (being the weather gurus) were forecasting it to cross the Queensland coast somewhere between here on the Sunshine Coast and a couple of hours up the road on the Fraser Coast.

It would bring with it, they said, huge dumps of rain, lots of wind, and plenty of damaging surf.

Oma, however, didn’t do what it was supposed to do and turned around again. So, cyclone watch cancelled, but still some massive surf and the biggest tides I’ve seen on the coast.

My Instagram feed has been full of wave photos (#soznotsoz) but the 3 pics below are my faves. I took these on Friday morning and got smashed by this wave. Fully soaked from head to toe. It was pretty funny but like the true professional I am, I kept on clicking the shutter.

What I want to join…

The wibbly wobbly wonky cottage club brought to you by @photosofbritain. They meet every week and visit tumbling down cottages (like the one below), eat piles of scones and take long naps. Apart from the naps, it sounds like my kind of club.

What I grew…

Ginger.

For the past 6-8 months, I’ve been popping the little green bits on the nobbly part of ginger root into whatever pot or patch of soil I can find. Yesterday I harvested my first ginger. It had taken up most of the pot it was in so I halved it and put the rest back into the soil for a little bit longer.

Here on the Sunshine Coast we’re spoilt and can buy ginger cheaply all year round from the farmer’s markets – usually harvested just the day before. I use it in so much that I cook and also chop it up with lemon to have in hot water while I work during the day. I have something special in mind for this – a Vietnamese chicken and ginger stir-fry.

What I cooked…

My healthy recipe of the week was Bang Bang Chicken. It comes from Adam Liaw’s Asian After Work, but you can also find the recipe here.

You could express-style it up a bit by substituting the ground toasted sesame seeds for a couple of spoonfuls of tahini, but after the day that I’d had on Tuesday (and Monday, Wednesday and Thursday), I needed something to smash and sesame seeds were the best – and most appropriate – option.

We served it with some fresh rice noodles, cucumber and spring onions. My photo was terrible, so this is what it looks like in the book.

From the Nigella files, I also made a Bakewell Tart and real custard – but you’ll need to wait a few weeks until I blog it for that. Again, the pics are dreadful. I blame the lighting.

What I read…

Anthony Horowitz’s House Of Silk. This was my first ever Sherlock Holmes and I picked it up only because Horowitz had written it. I did, however, enjoy it immensely.

What I wrote…

Real life novel words. I’m supposed to be working 3.5/4 days a week in the day job, but for the first time in I can’t remember how long I actually took Friday off. Sure, there were work phone calls, but I took myself down to the Surf Club, watched the waves roll in and wrote some words.

I also finally booked myself and Christmas at Curlew Cottage into my editor’s diary so now I have a deadline that I’ve committed to.

What I’m looking forward to…

A mini road trip through New Zealand’s north island in 2 weeks time. We need to be in Martinborough (the wine region just outside Wellington) for a birthday party so are making a proper break of it. We’re flying into Auckland and making our way down from there – it’s fair to say that Auckland isn’t my favourite place in NZ…sorry. Anyways, it’s been about 10 years since I last had a look around the Bay of Plenty, Rotorua and Taupo so it should be good and the party will undoubtedly be fun. Speaking of which, I need to organise a costume that will fit into our luggage allowance!

Okay, that was my week…how was yours?