[ddot]

so, a little over 15 days ago i made a list of things to get done around the house. there would have been more progress if i hadn’t hurt my foot {excuses, excuses}. anyway, lots to do this weekend with a little one’s birthday on friday, a party on saturday and a big one’s birthday on sunday. lucky for me i have three days off next week, so i’ll be combining rest, relaxation with a little re-organisation. beat that martha!

1. separate and arrange wardrobes

2. book a carpet cleaner

3. book mr. oven to clean stove and oven

4. go to the beach {maybe on monday}

5. purge shoe and bag collection

6. set up separate work area for myself

7. find the perfect mop for the kitchen/laundry {i found the beautiful orange mop you see above. it is the mop of my dreams}

8. sort out my study plans for 2007 {maybe on monday afternoon, after the beach}

9. research early bird specials for europe trip {hooray, i have found a travel agent who can give me a good deal for a return ticket to london town }

10. play a game of tennis with L {tomorrow!}

11. find some artwork for the bedroom wall {this was on my list of things to do this month}

12. find a bedside table for L’s side of the bed {in the end he didn’t want a table so we went with an ikea stool, which sometimes gets moved around as a mobile ‘reading nook’}

13. sort out laundry room shelving

14. organise balcony and plants

15. find new outdoor seating (second hand if possible)

16. find three new salad recipes and add to rotation {strangely enough we’ve been having soups for dinner, pea and ham and tomato and bean soup}

17. go swimming at least twice a week {i did this more than twice in week, and amazingly i managed to find the time for a lovely breakfast afterward}

18. make party favours for devni’s birthday {i love the reject shop for making cute red plastic chinese takeaway boxes so i can fill it up with headache inducing lollies, erasers, pencils, notebooks and hacky sacks. i still have to shop and make the food for the kiddies table}

19. buy or make new cushion covers

20. fix kitchen tap {will be telling the landlord about this on saturday}

21. buy new shower caddy

22. trade in vacuum cleaner for a smaller one

23. make a plastic bag holder {i’m realistic, so i bought one at the supermarket}

24. find soups for cooler month {see number 16. a tin of tomato juice does amazing things when people pop over for dinner and the soup is already on the stove. well that and a heaped teaspoon of smoke paprika and butter beans}

25. re-start organic vegetable boxes for 2007 {back to my $10 boxes, however still stopping by hfm on occassion}

26. buy a new filter for the brita water jug

27. get a steel trolley or bookshelf for the kitchen

28. send out care packages {photos printed, jam packed, cookies baked - all sent out today}

29. set up an etsy account {i forgot that i had an account, but i set up a store and will update it with my new lino prints and everyday postcards}

30. re-organise bookshelves

31. buy two area rugs

best line from my rss reader today:

“so many choices, so little stomach space” by the girl who ate everything.

{nb: makes me want to have a yum cha breakfast v soon and look at those fries!}

best link to another site from my rss reader today:

“i thought michael pollan’s article from yesterday’s magazine section would be linked all across the blogosphere today, but alas it hasn’t (as far as I can see.) it’s a wonderful article, incredibly smart and incredibly useful: i’m often debating my friends and family members about my peculiar notions of what’s healthy…”

unhappy meals via the amateur gourmet.

{nb: sad to say, but i don’t think the majority food blogosphere looks at nutrition and eating in an effective (too much fluff) or realisitic (truffles and foie gras are nice, but really - come on!) way. and seeing as i was part of it, i couldn’t add to it anymore (enough of the bracket within brackets already)}

yesterday after a tasty chicken roll from little devil’s bakery at broadway i wondered down to harris farm markets to see if there were any good things in the fruit and vege boxes. there were; blueberries: 2 punnets for $10, blackberries: 2 punnets for $7 and limes: 10 for $3. i have been eating a lotta berries recently so i went with a bag of 10 limes. and today after work, after a bowl of lj’s tasty fried rice i made a carafe of tangy lime juice. cold with lots of ice cubes.

taking me back to sri lanka. the time we were on our way to dambulla and we sat on the beach with sand between our toes and salt water matting our hair, and the lime juices were super sweet with sugar syrup and came in wide tall glasses. and also the time when we stopped on the way to colombo, a long drive, but we stopped just twenty minutes out of kandy, because of that light blue coloured tea house which served such good lime juice. you could have it salted or sweet. i had it sweet, and it was so heavenly that i ordered it whenever i had a chance. freshly squeezed lime juice is always on the menu in sri lanka.

i have a few more limes left. this time they will accompany a plate of club sandwiches; another lost and found love of sri lanka.

what is it about tall men with southern accents. kinda made my afternoon when one walked into my office and said “excuse me mam“.

a four day week again. hurrah!

up at the crack of dawn with a walk around the park. i ruined all feelings of health with a wedge of laughing cow cheese, but i couldn’t resist. hmm.