
Monday, March 30, 2009
Day 90 - Beautiful day

Day 89 - Boot camp

Day 88 - Mirror

Labels:
Queen Victoria Building,
reflection,
Sydney,
weekend
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Day 87 - Concert at the Opera House

I know this photo is blurry but it's the only one I have, and I wanted to give a sense of the size of this concert hall at the Sydney Opera House. I heard Beethoven, Haydn and Bartok - all good, but the Bartok was brilliant. We passed Earth Hour here.
Labels:
concert,
concert hall,
Opera House,
Sydney
Day 86 - City views

Our first weekend away since before the boys were born (so 19 years), and we got a city view motel room in Sydney. The first morning we were rudely awoken by massive jackhammering...
Labels:
city,
construction site,
Sydney,
views,
weekend
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Day 84 - Misshapen cake

I made a cake for my good friend Dawn's birthday (Dawn, I hope you're not reading this). It's a almond meal cake base with raspberries. We were laughing today at work about the fact that it's not the traditional round birthday cake, and hence misshapen. Isn't 'misshapen' a weird word? The more you look at it, the more it looks incorrect.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Day 83 - PLP face2face
Monday, March 23, 2009
Day 82 - Jenny Luca's talk at the SLAV Conference

There were two other speakers, Adrian Camm and John Pearce, whose presentations I didn't attend.
Labels:
conference,
Jenny Luca,
SLAV,
Will Richardson
Friday, March 20, 2009
Day 80 - Design for archway

Today my husband and I were able to see the drawing on what will eventually be a carved archway in the Russian style. Not sure which period, but I suppose it's a folk design. I can't wait for this; it was supposed to be my birthday present a year ago.
Day 79 - Back to the mundane

Thursday, March 19, 2009
Day 78 - Birthday

Missing - a significant portion of a cake celebrating a significant milestone. The missing fraction is the clue. Enough said.
Labels:
birthday,
cake,
celebration,
milestone
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Day 77 - Statues

Labels:
archway,
carpark,
Melbourne University,
statue
Monday, March 16, 2009
Day 76 - Cooking borscht

Today is my one day off in the week. I decided to make borscht which is a traditional Russian soup. Many people make it with meat but I make it without - the way my mother makes it which, according to her, is the Ukrainian way.
You chop up and fry up an onion, 2 beetroots, a carrot, 2 sticks celery, a parsnip (yuk), a green pepper (or red) and garlic. Don't overfry. Then you add a tin of chopped tomatoes, some tomato sauce, bayleaves, parsley and dill, season. I add soup cubes. Slow boil about 30-45 minutes or until the beetroot starts to face. Add half or quarter of a cabbage (finely cut up) and cook about 15 minutes more. We also add a tin of baked beans. That's instead of the potato that most people add.
You could easily improvise. I also like it without cabbage and double the beetroot. It's great with fresh dill and sour cream to serve.
You chop up and fry up an onion, 2 beetroots, a carrot, 2 sticks celery, a parsnip (yuk), a green pepper (or red) and garlic. Don't overfry. Then you add a tin of chopped tomatoes, some tomato sauce, bayleaves, parsley and dill, season. I add soup cubes. Slow boil about 30-45 minutes or until the beetroot starts to face. Add half or quarter of a cabbage (finely cut up) and cook about 15 minutes more. We also add a tin of baked beans. That's instead of the potato that most people add.
You could easily improvise. I also like it without cabbage and double the beetroot. It's great with fresh dill and sour cream to serve.
Day 75 - This is not a cat

Saturday, March 14, 2009
Day 74 - Signs of autumn
Friday, March 13, 2009
Day 73 - Rain

I thought these were interesting lines of cloud. This morning dark skies promised much needed rain, but so far it's been disappointing. This was more of a performance than effective outcome. But wait, I can hear a deafening sound, the comforting sound of a downpour, refreshing leaves and grass, and soaking the ground.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Day 72 - Reluctant pooch

My dog is camera-shy. I think she's been traumatised by the flash on one occasion, and now, delicate creature that she is, she turns away, but not only that, she slinks down low, and refuses to look my way when I want to photograph her. This shot was the best of a series of blurred black and white rejects. I had to threaten her in order to take this shot. She's a MalteseXShihtsu.
Day 71 - Doing the laundry
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Day 70 - Presanctified liturgy

Great Lent is a journey. It's many things, but amongst others, it's a time you try and see all the crap inside yourself. Sometimes, at the end of the journey, you've cleaned some of it out, or at least you have glimpses of who you really are.
Labels:
Great Lent,
presanctified liturgy,
Russian Orthodox
Monday, March 9, 2009
Day 69 - Our daily bread

Today was my day off, and after my dentist appointment, I decided to go to Victoria Market. I bought lots of bread and froze most of it. There's something satisfying about a large, fat loaf of bread, especially when you can see textured traces of the baker's touch.
I'm fascinated by what bread represents, and how it's such a simple staple, as well as being a versatile favourite. Bread is one of the oldest prepared foods, and is made in different ways by different nationalities. It's a euphemism, eg. in the Lord's prayer, and some people treat it as almost sacred. My mother always said it was a sin to throw away bread. Meanwhile, she buys more than she can eat, and throws it out, but on the grass for the birds. Linguistically, it's been used to denote money, eg. 'breadwinner'. Russians used to greet guests with bread and salt. We didn't do that, but my in-laws greeted my husband and me to the wedding reception with bread and salt (and vodka!)Wikipedia has an interesting write-up for bread
I'm fascinated by what bread represents, and how it's such a simple staple, as well as being a versatile favourite. Bread is one of the oldest prepared foods, and is made in different ways by different nationalities. It's a euphemism, eg. in the Lord's prayer, and some people treat it as almost sacred. My mother always said it was a sin to throw away bread. Meanwhile, she buys more than she can eat, and throws it out, but on the grass for the birds. Linguistically, it's been used to denote money, eg. 'breadwinner'. Russians used to greet guests with bread and salt. We didn't do that, but my in-laws greeted my husband and me to the wedding reception with bread and salt (and vodka!)Wikipedia has an interesting write-up for bread
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Day 68 - Heralding autumn
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Day 66 - Rose pink
Friday, March 6, 2009
Day 65 - Magpie waiting

You can see the effects of the drought in this photo - our grass (Kikuya) is normally green without water but now is dry as straw. First time I've seen it this bad.
Day 64 - Paper cranes

I love paper cranes. These ones came from a shop in Brunswick St called Kami (Japanese word for paper). Many years ago I was teaching English to students of different nationalities, including Japanese. The Japanese girls were lovely, and gave gifts, such as hand-written and drawn stories of exquisite detail. One student made hundreds of paper cranes, but tinier than these, and threaded them. They were made from plain coloured paper and looked like rainbows on a string. Fond memories.
Where's the green in this picture and what is the item?
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Day 63 - Goodbye sweets

Sorry about the blurry picture.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Day 62 - Fruit and vegetable shopping!

I like to make my own entertainment....
Labels:
fruit,
green,
red,
shopping,
vegetables
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Day 61 - Green month

Day 60 - Forgiveness Sunday

Taken at the evening service on Forgiveness Sunday, one side of the altar table depicting Christ being laid in the tomb, with the Mother of God, St John the Theologian and Joseph of Arimathea. The person who carved this is the one who will eventually carve my archway. This evening service marks the start of Great Lent. The sermon today reminded us that Lent is not just a diet, not just a tradition or token gesture, but a time for self-discipline and self-limitation, taking away from our habitual focus on and feeding of ourselves. Along with forgiveness of others, we arm ourselves and begin the journey, the inner process that will enable us, God willing, to meet the Bright Resurrection of Christ.
I wish my pictures wouldn't keep getting cut on the right side.
Labels:
altar table,
carving,
Forgiveness Sunday,
Great Lent,
Orthodoxy
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