Moving, moving, moving

Since we still don't have approval for our renovations we decided to move places in a rather slow pace. Every weekend we pack a few boxes, clear some space in our friend's place and store our stuff there. While packing boxes we also sort out bits and pieces and throw them out if we won't use them again or if they are not worth keeping. It is actually really satisfying to get rid of old crap. At first I would hesitate to throw it out but once it is in the bin it feels soo good ;-) It makes live lighter and easier.

Not So SmartRider

In 2006 the Public Transport Authority here in Perth introduced the SmartRider - a "contactless electronic ticketing system using smartcard technology" (cite) But since I am riding a scooter and hardly use the trains or buses I didn't see the point in spending A$5 for a card I hardly use, until recently ...
On Friday I went to the train station and I bought a concession ticket from the ticket machine. But when I was asked for my ticked and concession card I was told, that my student ID is no longer recognised :( On the way back on the train I actually nearly got a fine for that! According to this page only war veterans and Health Care Card holders are entitled to buy concession tickets from the machines, everyone else needs to buy a concession SmartRider. But the joke is, in order to get such a student SmartRider I need to present my student ID to proof that I am a student. So I did just that and bought one of these "Smart"Rider.

Unsettled

It has been nearly a week now that we moved in to our friend's place. It is a huge place compared to our 1-bedroom unit ;-) We quite enjoy cooking in a big kitchen and relaxing on a comfy coach in the big living room. In fact we decreased our internet activities only to increase our TV consumption ;-) But this is not our place and I feel like I am living between houses with half our stuff still in our unit, kind of unsettled. So I am really looking forward to move back into our freshly renovated & cosy home after waiting for almost 3 years for approval! But we still have to be patient...

Engagement

We finally managed to design, print and actually send out our engagement notifications. They mainly go to our Australian friends and Ian's family so that they have enough time to plan their holidays/flights. Another tick on the list-of-things-to-do-before-the-wedding :-)

New Home

We were actually planning to go down south this weekend but Ian had back problems since the beginning of the week so we decided to do a quiet weekend. But we also promised friends to house sit their place while they are away. So we had to move on Sunday; but we took only our clothes and toiletries. So for the next weeks and/or months we will reside in their little attic flat :-)

Rainbows - the only good thing about rainy winter days :-)

City to Surf

After an exhaustive week supervising highschool students and doing hardly any sports :-( I finally started again last Sunday with a 40km ride along the river. I went for a 5km run on Monday as well as today. Yes, I started training for the City to Surf 12km fun run. After I chickened out last year because of the bad weather I am keen and confident to participate in this years event.

rainy winter days let the moss grow under our tree in the front yard

Linsensuppe - German Lentils Soup

Yep, it is winter and I feel like cooking again :-) The other day I was craving for a hearty winter soup and I remembered this German dish that I haven't had for ages - Linsensuppe. After a quick google search I found this really easy recipe
200 g lentils
300 g potatoes
100 g carrots
100 g celeriac or celery
100 g leech
500 ml vegetable stock
500 ml beef stock
1 tbs butter
3 tbs balsamico bianco
boil the lentils in the vegetable stock until soft (about 30 - 45min)
chop carrots, celery, leech and the potatoes into small cubes
melt butter in a big pot and add the vegetables and sweat for about 5min. then add the beef stock, boil for 5 min.
add the lentils with vegetable stock
add vinegar to taste
I also add Wiener sausages from the German butcher - yum!

Saturday Night Out

We went out to a Indian restaurant in Leederville on Saturday. Karen had invited us for her 30th birthday. Great people, nice atmosphere, yummy food - all good :-) I sat next to some guys that seemed to know me and it was actually quite embarrasing that I couldn't remember them :-( It turned out the last time I saw them was a year or two ago at the same birthday party. I definitely need to train my memory for names and faces!

Our Garden in Winter

trying to catch the last sun rays

Salmon Dinner

Ian cooked this fantastic meal tonight. Salmon with dukka, steamed broccoli and asparagus and butter sautéed turnips and squashes with a drop of honey - just divine!

TV or not TV

We don't have a TV and for the last 2.5 years we lived rather happily without one. But last weekend Ian bought himself a new laptop which came with a TV card... So when we got it working we sat infront of the laptop-TV like little kids - caught by the novelty of watching TV :-) We switched through the channels and found series like Southpark, Top Gear but we also quickly realised why we don't actually need a TV - all these dumb TV shows and brain-numbing adverts... no thanks!

Chocolat Night









One of my friends had the fantastic idea of doing a chocolate night. We had a chocolate fountain and lots of fruit to dip into it - after all I had to be healthy ;-)Ian and I made chorizo with chocolate - balsamico - sauce. This does sound very wired but it was actually really good! And after we filled our bellies with chocolate cake, chocolate cookies, chocolate covered fruits... we watched 'Chocolate' and ate more chocolate :-) I actually forgot what a lovely movie that is.

Sporty

After being slack for quite a while I decided to do some more sports. So I started last week with a bit of running, swimming and I also joined a yoga class here at uni. This week looked like this: Monday - running 6km with the running club, Tuesday - swimming 30min in the pool, Wednesday - yoga 1,5h at uni. Yes, I am a bit proud ;-) I just hope that I can keep this up ;-)