the last days of june

goodbye june, it's been a productive month and it was especially nice to spend a whole month at home.

everyday giving

something really nice has started happening in my office, a small exchange of gifts has started up, with most presents being given for no reason at all.

last week I found a party bag on my desk, filled with homemade butter cookies and a fat slice of butter cake with bright red icing. my friend had carried it home from melbourne, it was a souvenir from her niece's 5th birthday party.

she's a fellow sweet tooth, so I love to leave cookies or slices of cake on her desk when I bake.

we're a small team, and it was a big change for me to come from a 800+ person office in sydney to an office with around 9 people. but in lots of ways it is really nice. in a small space, it's impossible not to know what's going on in each others lives, big or little.

we know if someone's been too busy to eat lunch, and sandwiches are bought. when I went into work after finding out that my aunt helen had died, I just had to look at one of my friends and she knew right away what had happened.

in the last few months, there's been a whole cake made for one of the girls who has received some sad news about a sick family member, a bunch of homegrown parsley for a colleague recovering from a cold, a bunch of flowers to bring some brightness to a tough week, and cookies, lots of cookies changing hands.

this week I was inspired by this blog to pack a dinner for one of the new girls in the office. she's been with us for a couple of months now and the job is her first full time gig. she moved from another town to take it.

talking to her about her move and settling in, I was reminded of a few things like how my first job coincided with moving home a few times, which made it an exciting but also a confusing time. I was also reminded of all of the little things people did for tony and I when we moved here to make us feel welcome and included.

I packed her a  box of risotto and a tub of my favourite chocolate mousse from the deli in town and was so excited to give it to her.

and now to choose what to bake tomorrow. I'm tempted to make this choc chip bundt cake, a marble cake or a chocolate coconut slice.

one week until I take a little holiday! have a good weekend.

good things from this weekend, in no particular order:

• my new elephant shaped watering can (it's yellow!) for tending to our small but growing collection of potted herbs
• a shared square of chocolate coconut slice
• seeing a sydney dance theatre production on friday night, g was amazing
• more dancing at the refugee family dayi n town
• a new striped t-shirt for $2.50
• sleeping in
• cheese
• stocking up the fridge
• finally sticking a huge pile of cut out and printed out recipes into my book
• supplies for a small sewing project
• my favourite super easy pasta dinner on sunday night
• daydreaming about a future trip to france (I want to stay here - it has a kitchen in a cupboard)
• new colourful socks
• good news from sydney after a bit of a hospital scare
• and custard made from scratch (I've only been craving it for a week!). we ate it with this yummy rhubarb tart

and something from this week, a story I helped produce was on life matters on radio national this morning. you can read about the project, or listen to the story. it's a first-person story read by the writer, based on the theme 'someone who shaped me'. I worked on the soundscape for this project a month or so ago, when I spent a few weeks working in sydney. there will be more to come!

and something for next week - kitchen cabinet returns! I can't wait!

 

 

meeting matilda. today, a midweek day off to make up for working over the weekend. tony's marking uni assignments at the moment and was able to work from home which meant we could share a few meals. it is suddenly freezing in wagga wagga, the morning fogs seem thicker and tends to drag into the day but we're better prepared for the cold, this being our third year in town.

in the afternoon, I visited my friend janine, who I haven't seen since the end of last year. which is shameful considering she's a 2 minute drive from my house. she has a brand new puppy called matilda, and we caught up while matilda jumped around us, peed on a cushion, and fell asleep on janine's lap and then mine. apparently when she drinks from her doggy bowl, her little ears get wet. so sweet!

my first ever book of poetry arrived just in time for my day off, so I had a lovely afternoon snacking on biscuits and reading. I made these lemon meringue biscuits last night and highly recommend them, they're super straightforward to make and light and airy. back to work tomorrow!

mini weekend. just lots of fun little things this weekend, coffee and a cookie to celebrate the end of the work week yesterday afternoon, then pizza and onion rings at the new-ish place in town and woody allen's latest movie. 

and then this morning, I made some wholewheat lemon and blueberry scones and enough sourdough mix for two loaves. I'm planning to make potato and leek soup this afternoon and then call it a day.

I'm enjoying this blog and hinting at tony to plan a trip with me.

when the internet makes you happy, and then sad. I fell in love with this yay cake the other week, I looked at it multiple times the day I found it and was determined to try it. I bought a huge chunk of peppermint flavoured black fondant and some letter cutters from the special cake decorating store in town. I hoped to make the yay cake for a friend but wondered about whether every slice would have a yay on it and how you would know where to cut.

so I made a practice cake mix cake. here are my yays cut out.

and here's what it looked like on the inside. like a total failure.

it was funny in a way and I'm not completely deterred. I'll have another go, maybe I'll cut the letter thicker this time, make a lighter cake like a sponge and double check that the icing won't melt.

anyway there are plenty of things on the internet that still make me happy. like:

• this really cute story of a little girl fundraising for an iPad
• super easy one ingredient banana ice cream (two if you want to be fancy)
• star snoods
• a pop-up bakery/cake stall
• I love lunch bags, especially this spotted baby baggu
• this baggy fruit print dress
• and a small glimpse into working life at the new yorker

three photos from sunday. I love long weekends. when I got my first full time job I had to work all public holidays, in exchange for 6 weeks of leave. the extra leave was great but if I could choose, I would take public holidays any day. an extra day here and there makes a huge difference and means I'm never on the train to work while everyone else is sleeping in or on their way to a bbq.

I had a quiet home day yesterday with lots of snacking and a little bit of baking. it was sophie's birthday and after much deliberation and one failed practice cake, I made her a lemon and coconut sponge cake. below is a pretty posy from her garden that we received last week. so pretty!

have a good week!