The Midnight Train

It was a full year in Benalla before I heard it. The sound of the train chugging along the railway lines, followed by its horn.

It can only be heard during still nights - and to me, it's a very comforting sound. I'm not sure why that is. Perhaps it's the steady rhythm and the accompanying knowledge that the train is headed to its destination.

Am I romanticizing? Lol.

Lazy Evenings

Brought Milton to the Benalla skate park one very quiet evening.

Look at him winking! He does that very often - not sure if it's a Milton thing or a Cavalier thing.

P/S: We didn't really want to take a photo of our feet due to our unsightly pedicures. However, we took it anyway. Milton's paws included.

My Weekend In The Country

For the past few weeks, I have not been in the country for my weekends. Even when I am in the country I never stay in town - I head to some other country town to see what's going on there.

This weekend, we decided to visit a friend in Shepparton. Saw a jigsaw puzzle sitting around in her home and before you knew it, we were hard at work.

It's a 750 piece puzzle of the Sydney Harbour. Several times I wanted to just quit - the colors all looked the same. However, we persevered and 3 and a half hours later, we finished it!

My accomplishment of the day.

Fresh Fig Tart

One of the dental assistants at work brought in a bag of figs and innocently offered me one.

I went into a ramble about how I've always wanted to make a fig tart but never had enough figs to do it. Before I knew it she gave me a whole bag of them.

Dashed home and churned this out of my kitchen before anyone could stop me.



This is the 26th new recipe out of the 50 on my 101 list.

It's very simple, really. Just a shortcrust pastry base topped with fresh figs and a drizzle of honey. 20 minutes in the oven and that was it.

It was excellent, even if I do say so myself.

Sleep

I've been oversleeping for the past few weeks.

I guess when I have nothing to do I just lie in bed and read and before I know it I turn over and go to sleep.

And when I wake up in the morning I think... 'Why bother getting up when there's nothing to really do?"

Anyway, I think I should snap out of it and start doing more productive things with my time instead of just sleeping it away.

Bought a few more toys for my kitchen. Shall start experimenting soon.

More Watermelon Carving

We had purchased a watermelon for this purpose a couple of weeks ago but just never got round to carving it. However, last night we dived into it.




I know for certain that every time I carve a watermelon in the future I will always remember my Benalla days.

The days are long and warm this time of the year.

Brought Milton to the Benalla Rose Gardens. There's a playground there, where I chose to relive my youth. There's something about a swing that just begs me to get onto it.




It's quiet and we get the whole park to ourselves. Very serene. Exactly what country life should be.



I take the long way home. After all, what's the hurry? I have all the time in the world.

Wangaratta Jazz Festival

When I suggested to my housemate that it would be a good idea for us to go away somewhere during the Melbourne Cup Weekend because how often do we get 4 days free of work - what did she say?

"We came to work in this area because of the Wangaratta Jazz Festival! So I'm definitely staying to experience it."

"My career path was determined by the Wangaratta Jazz Festival???"

Had a small mental breakdown over it.

Anyway, I was too sick to go anywhere anyway this weekend so I guess it all worked out. Went to one of the local wineries to see a live performance.



See me looking so happy there? That was before I tasted one of the worst ravioli I ever paid money for. For the astronomical sum of $15.

Never going back there again.

That said, the jazz performance was good. It was held in one of the barns and that was when I realized that small twinkly lights can be very effective in dressing up a place.

No. 43 - Try 50 New Recipes (19/50)

Just a week ago I was complaining that it was still too cold and will summer ever come?

Suddenly it's 34 degrees now and me and Milton are just languishing around the house, longing for cooler weather again.

Where did the days with 20+ go to?! I think we only got 2 of them and suddenly it was just straight up to the 30s. Am I asking for so much when I request for moderation?

Anyway, because of the extreme heat we decided to make a watermelon basket. By we I mean me, except I badgered my guy housemate to do all the initial hard work of getting the shape of the basket right and dicing all the fruit. Oh, and going to the grocery store to get the fruit. Then all I did was decorate the edges and dropped the blueberries in.

In my defense, I have been very sick for the past week, which is why everyone has been extra nice to me. I haven't even had the energy to fully unwrap and show you guys the latest additions to my kitchen and house. I will - later.




Isn't it pretty? I was so proud of it and wished we had a party so that more people could appreciate it. As it is, it's sitting in our refrigerator, where it will stay and keep us busy for the next couple of days.

Milton's Playdate

Milton's only friends have been human so far. Decided to bring him over to visit another dog to see how they would get along.

At first, Milo wasn't so excited about having another dog on his turf. But after he realized that Milton was friendly and easygoing, they got on really well.



Here they are walking together like best friends and playing chase-me-sniff-me.




Mommy, I'm exhausted! But I'm having sooo much fun!!

My Saturday In Shepparton

Went down for the day to visit my friend in Shepparton. She had promised me a fun-filled day.

The first thing we did was to seek out the best vanilla slice in Victoria - or so they claim. It's in the town of Tatura, about 15 minutes out of Shepparton.



Vanilla slice and my steak and mushroom pie - Vanilla slice was good. Steak and mushroom pie nothing extraordinary.



We then went to seek out chocolate coated toffee apples. The store was quite interesting - particularly the pear in the bottle (picture bottom left). Turns out they pop baby pears into the bottle while they're still small enough to fit through the neck and then hang the bottle up with the pear until it's fully grown.



Anyway, here's the chocolate toffee apple. Very sticky - idea better than the actual thing.




Also went to a lavender farm, which did not have much lavender.

All in all, had a good day. Went shopping as well and bought my first dress in like... 2 years or something like that. Felt good. Then went home to drink white nectarine wine while watching The Proposal. Easy viewing, but very predictable.

Thus ends my Saturday.

Red Rooster and Dominos

In the town of Benalla, there is no Red Rooster. Or Dominos. We had to travel all the way to Shepparton to fulfill our desire for some. After months of sitting in front of the tv at night, getting bombarded by their advertisements of their pasta in a puff pastry bowl (you can actually eat the bowl), we decided to see what the big fuss is about.



Have eaten Dominos in the past, but never Red Rooster. Verdict?

KFC is still my official favourite.

Every morning on the way to work, I see this tree.



It's completely covered with pink blossoms now. Makes me smile every time.

The Playground

The playground has always fascinated me. Love swings in particular. While waiting for our pizza we decided to relive our youth.

Frolic

The sun was out the sky was blue - the only thing to be done was to enjoy life.



Yes, we are dentists who are very serious about our jobs.

Bedtime Reading

Every night before I go to bed I take a recipe book and decide what's the next thing I"m going to cook.



Sometimes I feel like there's too many things to try out and too little time. Actually, most of the time. And the fact that there's only 3 of us in the house - when I'm really in the mood there's not enough space in the fridge to accommodate my frenzy.

Spring is Coming!!

Blue skies, sunshine and trees starting to put out their buds.



Waiting for the weather to warm up.

My Hyacinth

My hyacinth has been transported out from the depths of the cupboard under the sink to the confines of my room.



It's starting to turn green and I keep checking to see if it's growing. It's taking forever.

White Frontignac

Went wine tasting. The winery was really nice - love the barrels!



Me: Mmm, I really like this one.
Housemate: Me too! Shall we get two bottles instead of our usual one?
Me: Two? But there's so many other wineries, seems silly to put all our eggs in one basket.

In the end we bought 6. In my defense, it was good value!

Morning Frost

I never understood the meaning of 'frost' when I was growing up. The way I never understood why guys in movies would give girls their coats when they walked out of a building at night. But now, I can fully understand the concept of bitter, bitter cold.



Waiting impatiently for spring.