A snakie start
02/01/2006 10:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaIzzie has been a good little serpent on the first day of the new year. Lazy little critter – did not get up until 10am and pottered around Cyberia on Petunia’s computer before having a shower and a glass or two of pink champagne and a pile of potatoes for lunch
Spent a couple of hours in the afternoon at the very pretty Secret Garden Cafe which since January 2002, has become our official New Year’s Day lurking ground. In the past, this was because of the limited buses on public holidays – and our favorite lunatic asylum being closed for New Year's Day. Secret Garden is not only walking distance ( 40 mins mind you) from the ma's place but Izzie only needs to catch one bus to get back from there before heading off to the river for the annual New Year's Night fireworks.
This year, for the first time since the Izzie has been lurking there – St Brutus was open today (and closed all 3 of the Christmas holidays instead of just Christmas Day itself like usual)
On finding out about these unusual opening hours two weeks ago, the Iz was in two minds whether or not to go there today and thinks – well – would be nice but Friday, Saturday and Monday should be plenty and there's also the issue of getting back in time for the local fireworks at 8pm which are always gorgeous.
But the issue resolved itself when the Iz discovers that our Christmas decadence has left us with the princely sum of 36 silver sickles which would have to last from Saturday until this Wednesday evening. (Never did mention how the buggers tried to diddle us out of the Sunday rates for that double shift we did the Sunday before Christmas – that was 7.5 hours worth of pay – got a cheque but it was still a damned nuisance – especially a few days before Christmas)
In our student days, was paying the princely sum of $$1.30 bus fare to Freo each way. Full fare is more than double that at $$3.10 so the Iz has to be less indulgent in her ventures away from the Lair.
So with fares to Fremantle now costing $$6.20 per day rather than the $$2.60 we had been used to, there's not much change out of $$36 for coffees. And priority had to go to New Year's Eve and our little Green Light Party.
New Year's Eve was just as gorgeous as last time. Perfect weather – sunny, crisp, crunchy and breezy with no hot steamy mugginess at all as is usual for this time of year. In fact, by Oz standards it was positively freezing which probably explains the absence of creatures on the beach.
Iz was most amused to see the signs everywhere “No alcohol in Cottesloe” as well as the ban on glass on the beach and in the car parks. About time too – after getting bonked on the head last year with a beer bottle – the Iz was not amused. And unlike most other days of the year – there was lots of cops around.
This is the first year the No Alcohol signs were up. Iz has the sneaking suspicion that it may have something to do with the riots in Sydney a couple of weeks ago. But that was not going to stop us from sharing a glass or two of red with our favorite rodent.
This time was also different for the Izzie. It was a crap year on the work front and all doom and gloom globally with all those tornadoes and earthquakes but unlike last not so bad that we felt the need to wish it good riddance and to devise rituals to that effect. We suspect that had a lot to do with realising that it was not events themselves so much that were the trouble but our constant rumination and reenactment of them in that ickle green skull. Once we stopped doing that, things were not half as bad.
In fact, unlike last time it did not feel like New Year's Eve at all. It was wonderful being down on the beach listening to the waves. What poddy offerings could possibly compete with the wavcs washing on the shore and the warbling of Rainbow lorikeets celebrating the sunset?
Got the bus at 9pm or so and then pottered off to the river foreshore. But for the last few years when the ma and pa have not been there to meet the Izzie at 10pm or so – had no particular interest in lurking till midnight. Been quite happy to slink back to Petunia's place and sit in the garden sitting beneath the stars and toasting to the new year with the pair of them.
Sharing the same space as a bunch of raucous drunk skunks is not exactly Izzie's idea of a good time. The older we get, the less tolerant we get to noise and bright lights and other humans in general.
New Year's Night was no beaches but some very nice fireworks on the river and a most gorgeous ickle sliver of a crescent moon followed by a walk back to the Lair through the Dead Marshes and a detour among a bunch of curly cul de sacs worthy of the Triwizard Maze. But using a bit of memory and the positions of the stars, finally got back alive and well and made some bread for our little green celebration tomorrow. Forgot the salt but tossed in tons of sesame seeds and some chickpea flour. The buggers ended up smelling like felafel. Is funny – Izzie did not evcn bother measuring the water this time which is the only thing we do measure out. Tossed in some sugar and yeast and wholemeal self raising flour. Thought we had the plain stuff but had used that last week. It turned out perfectly but the lack of salt is evident. Silly serpent. Was so nice sitting under the stars with a glass of red, the Rat of honour and fresh bread rolls with cream cheese (silly Izzie has no butter left in the house)
So, managed to get to the end of the first day of the new year doing a bit of housekeeping and keeping to our resolution to do more cooking and baking and eat a bit more decent wholesome food than we are used to.
Spent a couple of hours in the afternoon at the very pretty Secret Garden Cafe which since January 2002, has become our official New Year’s Day lurking ground. In the past, this was because of the limited buses on public holidays – and our favorite lunatic asylum being closed for New Year's Day. Secret Garden is not only walking distance ( 40 mins mind you) from the ma's place but Izzie only needs to catch one bus to get back from there before heading off to the river for the annual New Year's Night fireworks.
This year, for the first time since the Izzie has been lurking there – St Brutus was open today (and closed all 3 of the Christmas holidays instead of just Christmas Day itself like usual)
On finding out about these unusual opening hours two weeks ago, the Iz was in two minds whether or not to go there today and thinks – well – would be nice but Friday, Saturday and Monday should be plenty and there's also the issue of getting back in time for the local fireworks at 8pm which are always gorgeous.
But the issue resolved itself when the Iz discovers that our Christmas decadence has left us with the princely sum of 36 silver sickles which would have to last from Saturday until this Wednesday evening. (Never did mention how the buggers tried to diddle us out of the Sunday rates for that double shift we did the Sunday before Christmas – that was 7.5 hours worth of pay – got a cheque but it was still a damned nuisance – especially a few days before Christmas)
In our student days, was paying the princely sum of $$1.30 bus fare to Freo each way. Full fare is more than double that at $$3.10 so the Iz has to be less indulgent in her ventures away from the Lair.
So with fares to Fremantle now costing $$6.20 per day rather than the $$2.60 we had been used to, there's not much change out of $$36 for coffees. And priority had to go to New Year's Eve and our little Green Light Party.
New Year's Eve was just as gorgeous as last time. Perfect weather – sunny, crisp, crunchy and breezy with no hot steamy mugginess at all as is usual for this time of year. In fact, by Oz standards it was positively freezing which probably explains the absence of creatures on the beach.
Iz was most amused to see the signs everywhere “No alcohol in Cottesloe” as well as the ban on glass on the beach and in the car parks. About time too – after getting bonked on the head last year with a beer bottle – the Iz was not amused. And unlike most other days of the year – there was lots of cops around.
This is the first year the No Alcohol signs were up. Iz has the sneaking suspicion that it may have something to do with the riots in Sydney a couple of weeks ago. But that was not going to stop us from sharing a glass or two of red with our favorite rodent.
This time was also different for the Izzie. It was a crap year on the work front and all doom and gloom globally with all those tornadoes and earthquakes but unlike last not so bad that we felt the need to wish it good riddance and to devise rituals to that effect. We suspect that had a lot to do with realising that it was not events themselves so much that were the trouble but our constant rumination and reenactment of them in that ickle green skull. Once we stopped doing that, things were not half as bad.
In fact, unlike last time it did not feel like New Year's Eve at all. It was wonderful being down on the beach listening to the waves. What poddy offerings could possibly compete with the wavcs washing on the shore and the warbling of Rainbow lorikeets celebrating the sunset?
Got the bus at 9pm or so and then pottered off to the river foreshore. But for the last few years when the ma and pa have not been there to meet the Izzie at 10pm or so – had no particular interest in lurking till midnight. Been quite happy to slink back to Petunia's place and sit in the garden sitting beneath the stars and toasting to the new year with the pair of them.
Sharing the same space as a bunch of raucous drunk skunks is not exactly Izzie's idea of a good time. The older we get, the less tolerant we get to noise and bright lights and other humans in general.
New Year's Night was no beaches but some very nice fireworks on the river and a most gorgeous ickle sliver of a crescent moon followed by a walk back to the Lair through the Dead Marshes and a detour among a bunch of curly cul de sacs worthy of the Triwizard Maze. But using a bit of memory and the positions of the stars, finally got back alive and well and made some bread for our little green celebration tomorrow. Forgot the salt but tossed in tons of sesame seeds and some chickpea flour. The buggers ended up smelling like felafel. Is funny – Izzie did not evcn bother measuring the water this time which is the only thing we do measure out. Tossed in some sugar and yeast and wholemeal self raising flour. Thought we had the plain stuff but had used that last week. It turned out perfectly but the lack of salt is evident. Silly serpent. Was so nice sitting under the stars with a glass of red, the Rat of honour and fresh bread rolls with cream cheese (silly Izzie has no butter left in the house)
So, managed to get to the end of the first day of the new year doing a bit of housekeeping and keeping to our resolution to do more cooking and baking and eat a bit more decent wholesome food than we are used to.
Re: An Ozzie Sizzle
Date: 2006-01-02 03:17 am (UTC)Just avoid D'land in June, I've been told. I'll be there in August, just for a few days stayng with an lj-friend in Wolfsburg. People who are keen on the round ball game are already squealing about being ripped off with disgustingly inflated hotel prices, though I imagine German hotels are not cheap normally any way.