Are you glad you came?

January, an interesting time of year for me.
It all started back in 1975, January 31st. I was born.
I arrived in Sydney 20 years ago today. A week later was my first day in an Australian school. I caught my first wave on a boogie board that afternoon and three years later, I started dating my husband (late January). I started my last job in Sydney, that I really enjoyed, in January & left in January, 5 years later. I left because I moved to Cygnet, yes, again, in January, on the 18th. I took over the lease of our shop in January last year. So here I find myself, 20 years after stepping off the plane, with two beautiful children, a lovely man on my arm & happy as can be.
Every year my mother asks me, 'are you glad you came?' This morning in my driveway, I messaged my sister with , 'are you glad you came?' From the time it took me to drive from my house to the post office, I got a message from hubby saying, "Kitty (mum) just rang to ask, 'are you glad you came?'" & in between I'd rung her to ask the same question & she told me how she had just rung my sister to ask her the same question & her reply was, "I was just thinking about that. 'Twas a momentous occasion. We left Ireland in -2 degrees and arrived in Sydney to 36 degrees. Am I glad I came?
Oh yes.

New Bed

happy new year

Resolutions begin

end of day one

1. give my daughter a new bed. Check. She's been sleeping on a fold out couch for about 6 months. Now she's in a purple paradise.

2. spend more time with the kids & less time at the shop. Spent all day at home today, first day in 3 weeks. Check. (At least until this weekend when we get hit with the Cygnet Folk Festival)

3. don't twitter while drinking. Check. Easy, I'll just blog instead & watch Rana take a few more wickets. You beauty. He's done it again

4. find out if Rana's married

5. if Rana is married, find out if Brett Geeves is. He's pretty funny.

6. remember I'm already married

7. and that my husband's a pretty nice guy

8. and the kids are just lovely too

It's a big world out there

I'm discovering how small this world is, or perhaps it's not so small, rather it is just that many of the people I have met in Cygnet hail from the same areas of Sydney that I used to frequent. Take Giselle & Alex from the Lotus Eaters, they used to live in Marrickville, next suburb to us in St Peters. I often liken Mary Street, Cygnet to Marrickville Road, Sydney. Full of great food experiences, excellent delis, multi-national grocers and fruit & veg shops, with people happily looking at their destination across the road but forgetting to look for cars on the way.
Simon the Baker, at Yo-Yos Bakery next door to us, used to play in a band called 'Cult 45'. "'Cult 45', you say. That rings a bell. Hang on, did you rehearse at Troy Horse studios in Redfern?". "Yeeeaaahhh???" was Simon's curious & suspicious reply. "I used to work there, I thought the name was familiar, I reckon we've met before, about 15 years ago". Well I'll be.
And speaking of Sydney's inner west music scene, Nikki, who has worked with me for the past couple of years, is married to local Cygnet poet & playwright, Gary Hemmings, who also hails from Sydney. Gary & David (husband, father of two gorgeous sprogs, altogether cool-guy) as it turns out frequented the same Sydney pubs, gigs and nights-on-the-town for about 20 years prior to moving to Cygnet, unbeknownst to either of them One night in our lounge room they start piecing it all together and reminisce over their favourite nights out, "yeah, I went to see them, and them and them..I was there too....Landsdowne, Hopetoun, Sando, Annandale.... "

Silk Swan by G G Hemmings

I loved living in Sydney and now I love living in Cygnet. There is something about this little place on the bottom edge of the map. It's full of possibilities.

Everyone's out of step except for my Johnny

Oooh, it has been a while...an on-again-off-again love affair with this new shop of ours...dramas of my own making and some from others, just to keep me entertained.

Very expensive induction hob stove with $20 camp stove

I dutifully purchased an oven with an induction hob because it is the best thing for making chocolate etc. as it is so sensitive to temperature control. Great, cost a bit, but that's o.k. I'll be able to control the temperatures of caramels and honeycomb instead of them controlling me. Dum-dee-dum-dee-dum, something's wrong with my thermometer, buy another one, something's wrong with that one, borrow three, something's wrong with all of them...

My dad has a story and it goes like this; Johnny, not the brightest young man in town, comes back from the war and his doting mother gathers all of her friends and relations to watch as Johnny makes his triumphant return marching through the main street with his battalion and she pipes up, as proud and gloating as can be, "sure would you look at that, everyone's out of step except for my Johnny".

So, induction hobs work on magnetism. digital thermometers are magnetic, allowing them to pick up instant heat changes. Great, positive magnets are have opposite charges. Excellent, after much research I can buy a $780 induction thermometer or I can go to Bunnings and pick up a $20 gas stove thing with a $3 gas canister and bobs your uncle.

The Nou Swear Word

Well I'll be...
We had planned to make nougat for months, nuts at the ready, dried plums from my next door neighbour, Miellerie Blue Gum honey, local eggs (some from our chooks), excitement building, my beautiful Ferrari-red Kitchen Aid plugged in and looking brilliant, we were set. Two hours later, we had marshmallowy mess bubbling like a volcano out of the Kitchen Aid, our hands were burning with splashes of hot honey, nuts flying everywhere and the language was coming out of us at a rate of knots. Nougat will be no more, get it while you can. We're outsourcing it. I can't believe how little you get from so much effort, a bit like Shirley Valentine's description of sex, "there's a lot of pushing and shoving and you still come out with very little in the end". (sorry mum, if that's a bit rude)

Next stop nougatine, hot sugar syrup (176 degrees) added to roasted nuts and cocoa nibs, poured on to the table and Nikki and I whimpering and squealing with excitement, pain and panic as we ripped and rolled these DELICIOUS blobs of smokey nutty delight. Yummo, salted caramels move over, there's a new Sherriff in town. We'll have these with almond in milk chocolate and hazelnuts in dark. Yum-yum-diddy-yum-yum..........

It's competition season again, Tuesday will be mould spraying day, chocolate moulds sprayed with cocoa butter & food colouring, that is. Nikki, being an asthmatic, isn't allowed in. I, on the other hand, will be dressed up like a ghost buster with goggles, face mask, air compressor in hand and a cloud of cocoa butter filling the air. Plays havoc with my lungs, but my skin and hair will look and feel fantastic.

A glass o' Jansz in me handz

Display Counter

And so we have our counter, from Phoenix Creations, a couch, a shelving unit, from Southern Design Centre, a table and cushions from Cathy at Cygnet Market. It's all coming together, but now what do I fill this enormous space with????

Easter has been and gone, next year we will be making eggs from Christmas onwards though, crazy stuff.

Dark Chocolate Easter Egg

Now I am waiting for the end of the financial year to splash out on more of everything! oooh! 90 minutes and too many chocolate sites later, my eyes are agog and my glass is empty.

Must learn to concentrate on one thing at a time. Is it too late or too early for a New Year's Resolution? Or perhaps a New Financial Year's Resolution?????