nishatalitha

Today is my last day of leave; back to work on Monday. As much as I enjoy mucking around and doing nothing in the summer, it's probably time that I started using my brain again. The hard part is going to be knocking my sleeping patterns back into whack - I have become accustomed to going to bed around 1.30am and getting up sometime around 10.00am for a leisurely breakfast. I could try starting tonight, but I'm not sure it would work.

I haven't done much with my leave since I got back to Wellington. My parents will be most disappointed - they kept asking me what I was going to do in Wellington and I felt I had to keep coming up with yet more things to do and I haven't done any of them. Well, I went to see Tangled in 3D (which was fun and Disney although I'm still not hugely fond of 3D) and went out to callie's for house stuff, but that's about it. I said I might go out to the Wairarapa for a day trip and planned to go to the beach at least once.

Oh well. I tended to already have plans for the days when I would have wanted to go to the beach and not feel like it on the days when the weather wasn't so good. And there was one completely blah day (fortunately the weather was also blah). I did manage to do some house things and went out to see some friends who recently had a baby (their little girl is adorable). I've read a lot. At least it was cheap?

I did manage to go for a few walks and take some pictures (colour for the Northern-hemisphere folks) under ( the cut )

However, I do feel relaxed and ready to face another year. More or less.

Photos, as promised. Although while looking at them, I noticed a missing stitch in Winter, so I guess I'm not quite finished after all. This has been on the go for a bit over two years (I really started it in Raglan when I was there for Grandad's funeral), with six months or so off for study and doing thesane's wedding present.

( Lots and lots of pictures )

I have one more day of holiday and the weekend and then it's back to work for me. Since I finished Perdito Street Station (one of my to-read list these holidays), I clearly haven't been reading anything with a high enough level of mental challenge, as I'm actually starting to look forward to the work.

Not the getting up early, I should note.

I was asked to come into work for a bit this afternoon to do a couple of bits and pieces that could not wait (client needed it by tomorrow). Work will make this time up to me. I also went in last Sunday for a couple of hours (unpaid) to clear my desk some, since it will be crazy-busy when I get back on Monday.

Haven't done much handwork, but have watched a bit of M*A*S*H and random other tv, and read a lot of fic (been working backwards through my delicious account reading anything on it that takes my fancy and deleting some of the to-read tag).

Spent half an hour on the Terrace on the way home today, what with traffic, and got home to find the weather had turned to a light misty attempt at rain. Nonetheless, I refused to be put off my plans for dinner (barbeque) and went ahead regardless and it was good.

Dinner consisted of shrimp in a Cantonese marinade as a starter around 7.30pm for maudlinrose and myself, since tamarillow was working until 8.00pm; and for mains, once she got home, edamame with a ginger/rice wine vinegar and sugar/sesame oil dipping sauce, chicken on a stick in a thai coridander marinade, mushrooms lightly bbq'd in the remains of the shrimp mariade, plain white rice, and a green salad (well, lettuce, red capsicum and blueberries) with an asian style dressing. We have some leftovers of all except the shrimp.

The Cantonese marinade was perhaps a bit overpowering for the shrimp, but tasty nonetheless - I think it would be better if done as a stirfry and egg noodles mixed in at the end. The edamame dipping sauce is something I really like. The thai-coriander marinade tasted very strongly of the lime juice that was the base and I'm quite glad I added the extra teaspoon of sugar. The other flavours were more noticable when the outside was turning black - something to keep in mind. The aisan style salad dressing tasted a bit strongly of fish sauce (a key ingredient) and I will be interested to try it with a salt-reduced fish sauce when we've finished our current bottle of the stuff.

The various recipes came from a couple of Annabelle Langbein's cookbooks.

I have just finished a mug of hot chocolate which I adulterated with caramel flavouring, about half a teaspoon cinnamon and a quarter teaspoon each of mixed spice and powdered chilli. It was good.

Walked into town most days this week for various reasons and here are assorted pictures:

( click for the pretty )

I am practicing my photography skills some lunchtimes by taking my camera and wandering the waterfront. Of the 45 or so photos I took on Monday lunchtime, I really like two (interestingly, they're both the first ones in the sequence I took of those objects). Of the rest, I think about maybe a third, I got the shot I was thinking about. Most of those are okay photos, but nothing spectacular.

Interestingly, none of them are close-ups, which is probably my favourite thing to play with on the camera at the moment.

( the ones I like )

This winter has been cold, grey and miserable so far. Where are Wellington's wild winds and glorious storms? It's nearly a month since midwinter and I only just noticed that it's starting to get lighter earlier and darker later. The only vaguely sunny days seem to be midweek and by the time the day ends, it's raining again. I haven't dried washing outside for months and everything is constantly damp. I might as well be back in the 'tron!

I did go outside for half an hour at lunchtime today, wandered around the waterfront, took a few photos and it conveniently started raining again just as I was about to head back to work. Most of the photos didn't quite come out like I intended (and to get the shot I want for one of them, I really need to be either half a foot taller or stand on a box), but a couple are okay, even if not what I was after.

( Photos under cut )

I get to play frisbee tonight, since it's still school holidays. Hopefully someone has a spare Dreaming Creature/light blue shirt, or I will be playing in either my white Lone Creature shirt or my old Planet Hollywood t-shirt. The real trick is going to be not to let my fingers get too cold to play.

With all the heavy rain over the past day or so, our backyard has flooded quite impressively. There is only a little bit of actual grass left above water. I took some photos, but the device I use to upload them to my computer appears to have broken (at least, the computer knows it's there, but doesn't know anything else about it), and I think I'm going to have to replace it. It is physically broken, and I haven't used it for months. The last time I used it it was broken, so I don't know what happened in the meantime. Gah, windows.

However, not only is our backyard flooded, but also the access paths. And since the path was sealed recently (which is wonderful, generally), the flooding is worse than ever, requiring actual use of the other path down. Seriously, I inched my way along the second rail of the fence to get past the three metre long, ankle depth stretch of water blocking my way out. WCC will be notified about this.

maudlinrose and I had to go out in the pouring rain this morning to pick up C's birthday present, which we'd more or less decided on, but had to actually purchase. I also bought myself a shiny gold coloured bracelet with purple and green flowers on it. But we were at the shop as it opened (dripping wet, both of us), and the guy was really nice, and let us pick through things, and didn't make us feel silly because we don't know anything about antiques and very little about jewellery. I've bought presents for other people there which have worked out well.

Then we came home and I had quicksies and she had toasties, and I lit the fire and did hanwork, while maudlinrose went off to a work do. C. came home from work then, and I did some more handwork. The sampler - nearly finished. I have three squares and three small hearts to do out of a total of five squares, seven small hearts and one large heart, and then it's onto the beading. Hopefully, I can get a bit done tomorrow, as well.

I also got two bunches of Early Cheer to go on the table, because I really like the smell, and it was two for $5, which is quite cheap for those flowers.

Last night was kinda funny. maudlinrose and I got home at the same time, ate cheese and crackers and pastrami, along with half a bottle of wine (the pinot noir chardonnay that I won at work last week - it was fizzy!), and then cleaned the lounge, before having pancakes. Of course, while the other two went to bed at normal time (around eleven or so), I then felt wide awake, so I spent the ensuing three hours or so cleaning and tidying my room. All that still needs doing is the vaccuming.