Old friends

Despite a lot of rain over the weekend we managed to have a good one. After a morning at the Carriageworks market with the girls, Rob woke up from a night shift and we went into our next door neighbours for farewell drinks before our departure on Wednesday. While Kirsty, Simon, Rob and I drank wine, the kids ran around like nutters. Afternoon drinks are all very well, but not so when you then have to cook for a dinner party for 6 later that day.  Also as Rob and I have been on the wagon for a while, we were rather unused to afternoon drinking.  While Rob took over the child wrangling, I attempted to prep for our dinner party before guests Jo and Mark , Julia and Richard came over. In my wine-adled state I forgot to serve the smoked trout dip with the pre-dinner nibbles and made a right mess of the starter. With my beer goggles firmly in place I completely midread the recipe for pan-fried prawns with coconut salsa. Rob and our guests made all the right noises, indicative of a meal enjoyed, but I remain unconvinced. I made up for it with a main of mushroom risotto but totally forgot how long it takes to make and the whole standing at the stove away from the table part, is a bit dull. Nonetheless rapturous applause greeted its arrival at the table, enhanced I'm sure by the addition right at the end of tarragon, mascarpone and a squeeze of lemon juice.  The night was great fun and pretty late for us but well worth the sore heads and sleep deprivation we experienced yesterday. Sunday had disaster written all over it as we woke to more bucketing rain. After a morning stuck indoors I forced everyone into wellies and we went for a bracing stroll in the rain around the harbour foreshore at Balmain. We were both shattered by the evening but had to find the energy to channel our inner hippies as we had tickets to see Simon and Garfunkel. Hilariously, and unsurprisingly,  the audience was made up of people in their 40s, 50s and older. S & G were still going strong at 67 and their voices were surprisingly youthful. Their backing band were absolutely incredible - a bunch of old dudes from the US and Africa - adding some electronica to 60s tunes. When we drove home, passing an ambulance going the opposite way towards the arena, we assumed it was going to the aid of an aged Simon & Garfunkel fan who had slipped and broken a hip in all the excitement.

Winter weekend

Our home has been temporarily transformed into a mini building site this week with our builder Kent getting stuck into replacing the weatherboard cladding along the side of our cottage. The sitting room window has had to be reinstalled and the area around the internal courtyard and pond has been done too. Hopefully this will now stop all the problems we have been having when heavy rainfall turns our house into a leaking sponge reminiscent of a scene from Rising Damp. 

Rob has been on day shift all weekend so it's been girls only again. Yesterday the girls and I met up with Melissa and Larry and their kids at the CarriageWorks, the former Eveleigh railyards that have been converted into huge warehouse gallery and performance spaces and also houses a weekly covered food market. We had a great time eating Eumundi Smokehouse bacon and egg rolls, cupcakes from the Cupcake Princess and drank some very good coffee. Lots of great fruit and veg, flowers, bread, cheese, wine, olive oil and more. Made a nice change from our local organic markets in Lilyfield and  after shopping we all sat in the sun while the kids ran around playing chase. This morning Melissa dropped round with the girls and after breakfast on the corner we came home to the warm house for a round of nail painting.  Florence and Lotus's 9-month age gap is rapidly reducing and they play well together. At 27 months, Flo is such a giant and is wearing size 3 clothes,  and is now taller than Lotus who turns 3 next month . On Sunday afternoon, the girls and I wen to Julia and Richard's for a late lunch with Charlie and Liv. As always it was all about the food and conversation.  Last night I hosted book club. My choice was The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. It's a right doorstop but everyone got through it and we had a very positive discussion over fish pie and a couple of bottles of white.  There's something going on in book club as 3 of the girls are pregnant and one has just given birth. Our next book is The Boat by Nam Le. Will be a good read on the plane  when our two perfect children sit quietly or sleep for 24 hours and I get to put my feet up and relax.

Women only

With Rob on nights and Richard still away on business in LA, Julia, the girls and I enjoyed an oestrogen-fuelled ladies afternoon of play, chat and dinner complete with bath and PJs.  Florence felt quite grown up next to Tess and attempted to 'read' a book to her.  
On Sunday Zoe turned 40, treating herself a few weeks ago with a trip to Thailand, sans children, with Paul whose 40th was in April. On Monday Zoe, who didn't look a day over 39,  invited 6 girlfriends to the Tearoom Gunners' Barracks for a celebration champagne high tea. The venue is in a spectacular spot, high on the sandstone cliffs overlooking the harbour. 

Finally, Flo, neck deep in bubbles, all smiles as usual.

Old friends

We had a full on weekend which took me until Tuesday to recover from. On Saturday after more cute, tutu-related action at Flo's dance class we went over the bridge to see our fantastic friends Jules and Lenka. For reasons that escape us all we haven't made time to catch up with one another since last year. Pre children, Jules and Lenka were among a small group who took part in what became known as "the best weekend ever" several years ago when Rick was over from the UK. The weekend in question involved bbqs, drinking and an amazing day in the surf at Palm Beach.

Post children we have a lots of laughs together too, but the kids don't drink as much as we do. On Saturday afternoon we caught up over a few wines and a pretty damn good fillet steak cooked by Lenka. On Sunday with more wet weather, we pottered about at home making and decorating  a cardboard castle. In the afternoon we had Julia over with the girls (her wicked husband having absconded to LA for work), alongwith Chris and Stef O'Brien and their kids GG and Harrison. It's the same story with the O'Briens, we used to see so much of each other but with the advent of kids starting school and us all back at work there never seems to be enough time.  For reasons that also escape me, I didn't take any photos of either event. As a result you will have to imagine us throwing our heards back with laughter, telling hilarious stories, pausing only to chew and sip wine. Instead here's a photo of the girls sharing a cuddle on the couch during Play School. Surprisingly there are several times a day when they stop hitting each other over the head with saucepans, which sends Flo off looking for a secret hiding place, play well and show genuine affection for one another.