Night Shift

@Mazarita I was thinking of you as I was walking to the railway station today ... its about 25 mins not even the girlfriend can do it in 22 mins ... unless she runs.

@eth I bought some chorizos and we are set for huevos ranchos tomorrow .. its how I encouraged him to cook for me today

He cooked for me, once per week, for a bout a year then stopped ... the little rascal

Wow that is hot .... we had some crazy weather here in Melbourne .... humidity and showers and heat and then a wind with a cool bite to it ....

Maybe my last post wasnt clear .. I have only been North up to Noosa ... the west and the whole top end are a wonderful mystery for me ... I used to love the slides we were shown in Geology ... and I still havent been to Uluru ...

Good night @Mazarita ..no I did not remember any dream ... but I needed to crash for a few hours.

It sounds like your partner has similar tastes to my son ... I ended up phasing out curries except for satays ... but have been told that I am allowed to laksas again ... He is growing and maturing and rapidly increasing his vegie intake in the last 2 years

I won him over with hearty chicken and lamb soups after I had done a roast ... and then chicken or beef stirfrys with various sauces ... black bean ... sweet chili ... not too exotic ...

5 years ago he would only eat Iceberg lesson, cucumber, tomato, carrot and broccoli ... now he eats almost everything.

@Appleblossom hoping it was the recipe on Friday Feast that has inspired you with the huevos rancheros for tomorrow night (I think it translates as ranch eggs!)

What did your son make tonight?

As far as travel goes I haven't been north of Perth in the West and have seen almost nothing of SA but have lived in Vic, Qld, NSW and PNG and the NT. It was definitely time to stop moving when I settled here. This is the longest I've lived anywhere - 14 years now.

You know what they say about Melbourne - "4 seasons in 1 day"!

yes @eth ...you gave me the idea .. I hadnt heard of the recipe before and we have done a lot of Mexican ... but I am lazy and careful .. to try and meet needs of developing palates ... if using the packets gave my kids the idea that I was cooking right and they were happy to keep asking for more then I gave it to them .... the girls are more foodies than I am.

I actually had a Mexican brother-in-law ... but my sister has moved on to a new bloke ... who I havent met.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I and my kids did last time I visited them. They (mine and husband - I call them both my kids) live in Canberra with my first granddaughter. So far away. I am lucky if I can save enough to visit them twice a year. The little one is growing so fast. At least we have skype to keep in touch.

I think I'll spend some time tomorrow going through all the recipes I've collected and look for something new that works for me and my mate. I'm not a confident foodie either, always need a recipe to follow if cooking for others. Have eaten so little meat for so many years that I don't know how to do much with it, even the basics. Don't really like using those packet sauces as they have so many preservatives, flavours etc in them, but they are good to get ideas from sometimes.

How old is your grand child?

My son used a Mongolian flavoured sauce packet and chicken and endive ... he has decided he likes it so YAY for Endive ... last night I put orange in the salad to offset the bitterness ... eventually I think we will be able to drop the packets ....

Before marriage I used to do everything from scratch .... but hubby had particular tastes and it was more important to get food down all the neccessary holes rather than worry about sticking to any food regime ....

I had never bought baked beans, tomato sauce or made packet custard but as my step daughter loved them from visitng her mum ... I included them ... trying to please others .. the new foodie approach is a bit stricter than I am ... how about they try to pleeze me

My son ... on his first hospitalisation ... told the psych off about the lousy quality of food so that was interesting and a female doctor decided I was ok after that.

My granddaughter is 18 months old now. Just learning to make sense when she talks. So cute. Yesterday when we spoke on the phone she said "Hi gorgeous" - made my heart melt.

I can't even imagine having to feed 4 other people all the time. I would've done all those things too no doubt.

The dinner sounds yummy - what sort of flavours is Mongolian? I've never seen it.

You deserve to be pleased by others for a change. Sounds like you've really earned it.

Good on your son for telling them off about the food in the hospital - I've done the same thing. I studied nutrition and natural therapies for a couple of years when I was younger (before I specialised in bodyworks/myotherapy) and a lot of what we learned there is still only now being accepted in the mainstream.

I guess you've gone @Appleblossom Hope you have a good sleep.

I'm wide awake so will leave this on for a little while in case anyone comes back or joins in.

Up at first light after the earlier sleeptime last night. Dawn air and bird song now coming through the open door.

@Appleblossom 25 minutes is a good amount of walking, sounds like you might be enjoying it. I go very slow on the beach, a bit faster around streets but I'm not usually in a hurry. Thoughts aren't so intense for me when walking. Combining them with physical activity seems to make my perceptions a bit more grounded.

Interesting to have lived in those different places, @eth. I was also interested to hear about your earlier studies. I have been engaged with the arts in my life (on a break from it at the moment). It has rarely been a paying job but has given a sense of purpose and meaning at times.

Good morning @Mazarita ... lovely "dawn air and birdsong"...2 of my favourite things. I'm awake early too but it's not dawn yet. I've always loved dawn, it's so peaceful and quiet. I love watching the sky change pre-dawn and the sunrise but can't see much of it from this little flat. When I wasn't living alone I always made sure I was up early enough to have it all to myself. Do you get sunrise over the beach?

I've always envied people who are artistic, having been put into pure sciences through school made it hard for me to express that side of myself. I do love working with colour but tend to use 'forms' designed by others, like mandalas, colouring books (adult ones) and zentangles. These days cooking is my main creative outlet. My Mum says my massage work for many years was a good blend of science and art. What sort of art are you into?