I had a great weekend! The rain stopped and it felt like summer again. Saturday was very hot and windy. We started the day with breakfast at Tiger Mottle in Paddington. It might be my new favourite cafe- amazing coffee and delicious food. Jonathan had the bacon and egg sandwich, which he said was the best he had ever eaten. I had the macadamia toasted muesli with rhubarb compote and yoghurt. Yum, yum, yum!

The guy who was sitting next to me (we were on a bench-like table since all the other tables were full) gets up to pay and Jonathan casually turns to me and asks “Is he on TV?” When i heard that, my coffee was quickly forgotten and i had to turn (very subtly, of course) to see if my breakfast partner was indeed someone on television.

Oh my goodness. He was. And not just anyone but TOM WILLIAMS from The great Outdoors!! Ok, i have to admit that i really like Tom. He is very, very attractive. Being married doesn’t make me blind! So, Tom (i heard) used to live pretty close-by to where i live and does the coastal walk that i do. I think i saw him once but he seemed to be running intently and i couldn’t be sure. Since then, i have been looking out for him during my walk but never saw him. And then, to see him at breakfast, sitting so close to me! I cannot believe that my husband, who is most definitely not into celebrities, was the one who pointed it out to me. He said he thought it was Tom pretty early on but didn’t want to make me nervous by telling me so as i would probably get star-struck. AS IF!

Of course, the rest of the day was spent telling my very accomodating husband, “I cannot belive i was sitting next to THE Tom Williams!” Ah, what a way to start the weekend.

Jon and i went to the bookstore after that, which made me even happier. In the evening, i made a sweet chilli tofu burger for dinner and we sat outside with a glass of sparkling wine and enjoyed the sunset. It was 8.30 when we went in, because that’s how long the days are now. I love, love, love summer.

On Sunday, we went to church, had lunch with some friends and then came home to watch a Christmas movie. We also walked hand-in-hand to the beach, looked out into the ocean and chatted about dreams. That was so very lovely. On our walk back, we thought we saw Roshani from Australian Idol!

Oh dearie me. I’m not sure if it was her but it was a very amusing way to end this particular weekend.

And now it’s Monday and 10 days to Christmas! I can smell the hazelnut coffee brewing, a sure sign that i must have breakfast.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

It was a beautiful evening and pre-dinner drinks were held outside on the balcony. Some red wine and crackers with camembert were perfect accompaniment to the sunset. I flipped through the pages of a magazine but never got very far, distracted instead by the serenity of the moment. A light, warm breeze was blowing. My husband joined me outside and we chatted about our day. When dinner- lentil cottage pie and a simple spinach, tomato and fetta cheese salad with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and freshly ground salt and pepper-was ready, we took it outside. We lit a candle and said grace, so very thankful for the moment that we were in.

Our trip to the Snowy Mountains was fantastic and i wish we could have stayed for longer than a weekend but the seven hour drive (with an awesome music playlist consisting of Dar Williams, Eva Cassidy and many, many more) was worth every minute. Jon and i threw snowballs at each other and went toboganning on the slopes. No one had warned me how heart-stopping toboganning can be and so i foolishly went down with Jon. I saw a two year old attempt it with his dad and bravely thought i was up to it.

Of course, we flipped and went backwards. I remember screaming “I CAN’T, I CAN’T!” the entire time because i was certain we were going to be seriously hurt. Yes, that was enough excitement to last me for a while! We did it a couple more time after that (because, you know, there’s nothing like thinking you were going to DIE two minutes ago to make you want to attempt it again.)

I enviously looked at the skiers and snowboarders who seemed so graceful and fashionable. Yeah, SO not for me although the ski lifts looked like lots of fun!

Me looking so happy to finally see snow!:

Jon with the infamous toboggan. He looked so yummy in his ski jacket and pants. Glad i married this boy!:

The very isolated stone cottage we stayed in (complete with fireplace), surrounded by eucalyptus trees that smelled so fresh and clean. Even now, if i close my eyes, i can remember that scent. There’s nothing like it.

Our delicious home-cooked Sunday breakfast. Jon made everything apart from the scrambled eggs, which was a nice treat for me.

And finally, the rainbow that appeared after the sunshower we had 5 minutes after arriving at the slopes. What a blessing!

We hope to return to the snow next year, with toboggan in tow.

Hi everyone, I upgraded to a new version of wordpress and my template got wiped out! My husband makes this blog look beautiful so i’m waiting for him to have a bit of free time to get a new template up for me. I have been very busy teaching and working at the university and reorganising my house (and life, it seems). Maybe this involuntary blog break was necessary for me to focus my attention on other things that needed to be done.

I hope to be back soon with stories and photographs to share. Take care, friends.

To me, an ideal summer afternoon would go something like this: Walk to the beach in my white kaftan, swim in the ocean, walk back home all wet but feeling strong and invincible, have a long shower, bake some cookies and then sit down with some tea and a favourite magazine. The sun will warm my face and the smell of saltwater will linger on my skin as i flip the pages and dream about country homes.

With the magnolias blooming (and now the jasmine and cherry blossoms as well!), i can always pretend it’s spring, which means i can pretend that summer is not too far away. I love everything about summer, especially the long days, abundance of nectarines and peaches and the feeling of happiness that is evident on everyone’s faces.

But it’s still quite startling to see the flowers in bloom and i actually wish they would bloom when they’re supposed to, in spring. At the end of every winter, i walk past the jasmine bush and see the tiny white flowers blooming one by one; and then one day, almost overnight, it’s an explosion of white and i pluck some for myself. This is my ritual and to me it heralds in the start of a new season and the promise of warmer days.

But now, it’s the middle of winter and today, it’s so cold. When i see the jasmine, nothing makes sense to me. I feel disturbed. And for some reason, no one else seems to be as disturbed as i am. Jon listens to me rambling on about “The flowers! Why are they blooming now? They’re not supposed to!” every night and shrugs. He doesn’t have an answer that will satisfy me. He wants to offer sympathy but knows it is pointless.

It’s more than just being worried about climate change. It’s as if nothing is certain anymore. Last night, in bed, i told Jon that i’d like us to spend a year in America. Just like that, an out-of-the-blue-where-is-this-coming-from statement that i like to make right before we fall asleep. This morning, i thought more about what i has said and envisioned putting all our things in storage and leaving Australia. Just the thought of it made me anxious.