What have you been doing this weekend? I've been painting my Dad's beautiful new house extension which was really fun and inspiring but not for the reasons you would imagine. You see, my Dad's wife was in a terrible car accident at the end of May. She is now ok (ish), but will still be in hospital for quite a few months yet. The small town my Dad lives in has really pulled together for him and have been cooking for the family (he still has three young children at home), driving them all around the state, doing their house cleaning, throwing fund raisers for them and this weekend, the neighbours all helped paint the entire interior of his new house extension.
I should have taken a photo (but didn't) because it looks fantastic. It was sooo much fun chatting and laughing with everyone which made the work easier. Meals were shared around a rustic table and was made up of yummy things like fresh bread, home made sausage rolls, quiche, biscuits, cakes and lots of cuppas.
It was truly humbling having everyone spend their precious weekend helping my family and was an even more special thing seeing the weight of the task lift off my Dad's shoulders as the weekend progressed.
Anyhoo, now home and a bit stuffed, I've rehashed an old fave soup recipe in order to get a quick meal on the table.
Creamy Cauliflower and Blue Cheese Soup:
1 head of Cauliflower
1 large Onion, chopped
1 Garlic clove, crushed
1 litre of vegetable stock
6 sprigs of fresh thyme, chopped
100ml cream
100g blue cheese (get a good quality one)
Saute the onion, garlic and chopped thyme in a bit of butter in a deep saucepan until the onion goes transparent.
Add the cauliflower, stock and cook for approx 20 minutes or until the cauliflower is nice and soft.
When cooked, puree with a stick mixer, add cream and cheese and simmer for a bit longer until the cheese melts.
Season with salt and pepper and serve with some bread. Enjoy!
This is a nice rich soup and reheats quite well if you're lucky to have some left over for the next day! I served mine with some home made garlic and herb bread.
Nice and full, I'm now sitting down and having a quiet moment to reflect on how well the weekend went and just how wonderful the human race can be. I've been lucky enough to have lived in a community previously where we were embraced and supported, not in a time of crisis but when we were new to the area and were undertaking a live-in renovation.We had the best neighbours who fed us, let us use their showers, loaned us tools and generally gave us their support and encouragement. We will always love them for it.
My task for you all this week is to wave and say hi to your neighbours. Such a small gesture but it might make "the old guy on the corner's" day!
Oh I'm so sorry to hear about your stepmum's accident, I had no idea - I don't hear much "gossip" from back home. I hope she gets better soon. I'd love to see a photo of the extension - it's been years since I saw the A-frame! Sounds like a wonderful weekend.
ReplyDeleteBeen meaning to ask - what do you do for child care now you're back at work?
I'll get a pic for you next time I'm out there, I can't believe that I forgot to get one on the weekend!
DeleteI'm only back at work 2 days a week so Mum looks after Ewan one day and Roger's Mum does the other day. We're pretty lucky in that sense as it's expensive for child care in Tassie and not always easy to get a place in a good centre. If I want to go up to 3 days work next year I might put him in a family day care type centre for a day just so he gets to play with some other kiddies.
What is your plan? Are you going to go back to work in Sept or will you keep caring for the extra children like you've been doing? I imagine Canada's child care system is no better than ours.
Georgi has a long road ahead of her but she is a really strong woman and she'll get through it. It's only been 2 months and she's already come so far. I imagine in a few years, it will be hard to tell that she ever had this blip in her life's journey. I'm hoping so any way.
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It's nice to hear your workplace is so flexible like that. I don't think many places in Toronto would be keen to let you do part time. Not mine, anyway, but then I did quit!
DeleteNah I have no interest in doing child care beyond this stint, it's mostly because it was the best option for me right now. I will be trying to get a teaching job somewhere, anywhere really, and if I can't for a while I'll think of something else. I just don't want to do admin anymore, I really hate it!
Yes working for the government has it's perks but need I remind you that I work for Centrelink...the calibre of people I have to deal with is at best, tolerable! Two days a week is plenty enough for my sanity!
DeleteI think what you're doing is great, you get to spend time with your little fella and at the same time, earn a bit of $$. I couldn't imagine it to be a long term plan for you however given your intelligence. Teaching will be a much better option. I can't wait until October 2013!!! Maybe the new start will also inspire a new career. Admin certainly is pretty dull, you need to be expanding someone's mind ;)
We should definitely have some kind of "welcome home" party at Mum and Dad's, don't you think? Bit of a lazy day get-together or something. You have to email me your address/phone number/email or something so I can get in touch with you! (mine's still summer_on_jupiter@hotmail.com)
DeleteI didn't much like working for the government either (it was great when I started, but by the time I went on mat leave I fast coming to hate it), but at least I worked with super intelligent people, many of them good friends. It was more the fact that I was an assistant to two stressed-out managers that I hated: I can do admin work, I'm good at it, and it's a handy fall-back job, but oh do I chafe at it! No room to use your brain at all, and being someone's bitch isn't fun. Much better to be in control of your own work, I always find. I'm sure you do too! :) I get the impression that Centrelink is a handy day job that gives you time and money for the things that matter more to you, yeah? You have to have these more important interests to survive those shitty jobs. But I reckon you'll probably get to the stage where you can make a living out of your hobby! Tassie's a good place for that I think.
I'd love to have a welcome home party for you and would love it even more if it's at your parents place. That house still appears in my dreams, I love it! E-mail is alexdavis80@gmail.com and number is 0438343213 but if you lose them before coming home, I'll message them to you again when you get closer to coming home.
DeleteYep Centrelink is a good flexible job that is ok for stimulating but not my dream job. HOWEVER it pays well and allows me to do all the things I like to do out of work. I've not ever been very career minded which I think is why I never went to Uni. Never too late tho if something comes up!
I hope that one day I can make money from what I like to do but I still have to come up with an ingenious idea! haha, I'll keep working on that!
BTW, I can't imagine you being "someones bitch"! You're made to be the boss, not work for the boss! Maybe Tassie will give you more options....lets hope :)