platypus joy! I held a baby platypus today. I watched her sleep and when she woke up, her minder gently passed her to me.

she was ever so soft and still very sleepy. she made the smallest of whinges and then kind of curled over my hand. she wiggled a little and smelt like the river.

this is one of the small but overwhelming joys of working in a radio station. look at her!

I've had a good week, I spent yesterday in batlow, which is essentially apple town and I have lots of funny photos to share. our fridge is also now stocked with fresh fruit and veggies from road side stalls.

I'm making pizza tonight and tony is going to try making croissants this weekend. and then we welcome a friend to stay on sunday night.

have a wonderful weekend.

 this morning I shrugged off the sleepiness and sadness that's been slowing me down this week and went running. and then I felt like I owned the day.

today I'm excited about:

• this gorgeous video that I worked on with sophie and blake for abc open. it profiles talented  spoken word poet zohab khan who lives in wagga wagga. I especially love the performance at the end, shot at the top of willans hill.
• a new valentine's day episode from this american life. last year's episode made me cry from laughter, maybe because I grew up listening to phil collins, second hand in my dad's car.
• the prospect of eye-bombing, this diy gallery cracks me up. and conveniently I recently discovered that you can buy giant stick on eyes.
• valentine's day tomorrow. I like love and I love any opportunity to give a gift. I'm going to try this choc chip cookie recipe that yields just two cookies! (via a cup of jo)
• eating outside. inspired by pink ronnie's family beach picnics, we packed up our dinner tonight and went to eat by the lagoon. we had fancy homemade sandwiches, fresh fruit and juice and lingered over dinner. here's the view from our picnic tonight.

I'm on the road early tomorrow morning and I'm really looking forward to getting out of town for half a day, visiting a new place and listening to some music and stories along the way. and I have a sneaking suspicion, I'll arrive home to a small gift.

another new year. last night we celebrated chinese new year in our own small way. it's been our third away from my family and next year I hope to go home for the feast, it's been too long. I would also like to receive a red packet from my younger brother who is married now and according to tradition needs to give me some lucky money.

we started the night by the river, which was very busy with families having fish & chip picnic dinners and a group of teenage boys who sat neatly in a row on the beach, an esky shared between them. we were there to remember my late grandparents, or ama and agoong as I knew them. they lived in indonesia and their ashes were scattered out to sea last year, together. and so as a family tradition, we leave some flowers in the water for them when we can, usually on the anniversaries of their passing and on occasions like chinese new year. I brought these frilly flowers from home and found a quiet spot to leave them. it's only the second time I've done it, the first time was surprisingly confronting and I put it off all day until it was getting dark. it was winter then, and once I'd made it down to the river I found it hard to leave. I wanted to watch the flowers float away until I couldn't see them anymore and I wanted to make sure no flowers got stuck along the way.

I haven't cooked for chinese new year since my first year in wagga wagga, when I thought it would be a great idea to cook a feast for 30 new friends. that year I spent a whole sunday making dumplings by hand and though the party was fun, it was so daunting that I've never contemplating doing it again. last night our favourite chinese restaurant was packed, not because of chinese new year but because of a few birthdays and the region-wide sports carnival that was happening down the street. we took the last free table, tucked away in the corner. I've never had fried ice cream before and we took a gamble and shared one last night, in the name of new year's festivities. it was sweet and creamy and crunchy but I don't think I'll be doing that again anytime soon! we went home and watched the ai wei wei documentary, which we were excited to discover at our local library.

and then it was sunday.

we've cooked a lot this weekend and stayed close to home. tony smoked some salmon and eggplant and I had a go at making bread again. some sad news we received from home on saturday came to dominate the weekend, in its own quiet way. it made me feel like I had a quiet week at work last week for a reason. we're sticking together, having small chats when we can and hoping for the best.

lovely little things. it's been a quiet yet productive week and I've been appreciating some everyday luxuries, like snacking on mango at work, the rainbow pencil I use to write shopping lists, pretty notebooks, homemade bread and spreads and my morning coffee that my boyfriend doesn't let me leave home without, even if I need to leave home before 6am.

I made these cupcakes for an annual amateur table tennis competition we're heading to tonight, at my friend's house. it's a competition for his work friends, who are awesome, and this year tony and I scored an invite. I've already told everyone that I am going to win, I am actually really uncoordinated but have a competitive streak for the silliest of things.

it's chinese new year this weekend and we'll do something small on saturday night to celebrate. other than that I'm planning to make a couple loaves of bread and watch lots of louis theroux, who I've become a little obsessed with.

one other good thing from this week, I've been swapping music with a friend. we'd agreed to make each other 2 cd samplers with the rule that if we liked what we heard, we would go and buy a cd from that band. and through her, I've discovered chairlift.

have a good weekend!

sunday snacks. only a few words today, I've spent most of the weekend in bed, fighting off a persistent migraine and am still pretty sleepy.  I'm feeling a little better this afternoon thanks to a small collection of sweet snacks.

when tony came home from making beer with a friend around the corner, I made him a snack plate too. his is the boy/savory version.

I'm reading 'the atlas of experience' at the moment, a book I discovered a couple weeks ago when my uncle came to stay and showed me the copy he had borrowed from a friend. it's a thoughtful and philosophical read and I especially enjoyed the chapter on home.

I'm secretly excited about valentine's day in a few weeks. tony and I have hatched a plan to make a  surprise dessert for each other on the day. I had really wanted to organise a packed lunch exchange but I'm working out of town on valentine's day so swapped desserts it is!

wishing you a good week ahead!

cushions, chocolate cake & the not-too-distant future. this year I've been starting and finishing projects at home. maybe all the cooking has taught me a bit of  patience. I am pretty proud of this cushion I made for a friend who is leaving town tomorrow. I bought a copy of find & keep just before we went away and am only just having a go at some of the projects. I made a bigger pillow with a bigger and brighter pom pom for us to keep. tony thinks it's the best pillow he's ever seen!

at home we've been quietly thinking and talking about some big-ish plans for the next few years, nibbling our way through a chocolate cake and admiring these flowers from friends. I am listening to this song endlessly, which you can download for free (!)

the sweetest garden party. our friends tim and sophie threw a housewarming party for their beautiful baby blue home in north wagga wagga this weekend. we played swingball until our arms hurt (or rather awoke this morning to discover that our racquet-holding arms were aching), drank homemade lemonade, feasted on the most delicious homemade dips, quiche and potato salad and dipped our toes in the kiddie pool. we even went home with small packets of sunflower seeds in our pockets.

it was a amazingly styled and really thoughtful party. I thought the pale blue plastic cups were especially cute and then I realised halfway through the night that they, along with the napkins and ribbons on the food flags, matched the colour of the house.

the dessert was also baby blue. tony helped me colour the icing for these little cupcakes that we brought, I am really fearful of using too much food dye.

and finally here's sophie and tim's shed at night - look at all of the lights!

it was so nice to be able to celebrate the house and its lovely owners. sophie and tim are the kind of people that inspire thoughtfulness and generosity in others and we are so glad they moved to town.

p.s - how exciting is this? beci orpin's homeware range for urban outfitters. and kyary pamyu pamyu has a silly new video complete with a multicoloured furry monster in a top hat.