What A Cold Couple of Weeks We’ve Had

Tassie winter morning in Hobart.

I am a bit behind in my posts as I’ve been busy while Mr P is in Canada and I have 4 little furry guys following my every move as they know something is different. They don’t miss much.

It has been down to 2 degrees C (35F) overnights and only gets a handful of degrees higher during the day time. Although the sun has been out quite a bit. My best purchase of the week was a polar fleece throw to put on my reading chair. However when our cat Cousin Eddie claimed it I went back to the end of financial sale and bought a second one and put it on the bed. Now there are two dogs and two cats taking turns on it.

I have been listening to audio books in the evening while I work on a puzzle. I finished Rebecca by old Daphne and we will discuss that at our book group this Wednesday.

I began the book Everyone in my family has killed someone by Benjamin Stevenson. It centres around a family reunion in blizzard conditions and the ramifications of the ostracised brother because he turned his brother in to police for the murder he committed. But of course another body turns up in the blizzard conditions. There are more entanglements and after getting through a bit over half of this book I tossed it into the charity box. I was just over it. DNF.

I am now really enjoying the memoir of Gina Chick. People overseas may not know who she is. The book is titled Gina Chick: We are the stars. She was the winner of a show here called ALONE Australia. Several contestants are individually dropped into very remote locations in the southwest of Tasmania. The contestants don’t know how the others are doing. They all give it up, one at a time for various reasons of not coping. The one who lasts the longest wins. It is a very gruelling competition but the money is great if you win. I don’t normally watch this show but because it was in Tasmania I did. Gina won it. She was quite the tomboy as a child and she loved nature. Her parents encouraged her in all her adventures growing up. As an adult she lost a very young daughter and she is also grieving for this child in the isolation of Tasmanian wilderness.

She is a remarkable woman. I love stories about strong women who participate in big adventures or travel.

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My social life picked up this week after spending a couple of weeks at home just being a quiet homebody.

A friend of mine had a small birthday lunch at a local Vietnamese restaurant and it was a lovely time. The dessert was amazing. Wish I could have this every day but then it wouldn’t be very special.

Ice cream rolled in coconut, with chocolate sauce over it. Cream on the side and a shot of Kahlua to finish it off along with a raspberry.

Yesterday was spent having lunch and doing the Salamanca Saturday markets with another good friend. She had to find a gift for a long time family friend who has her 103 rd birthday. Then we toodled along in her Tesla (which she wants to sell since Elon became so crazy) to the university oval is to watch the last half of her son’s AFL football match. We caught up with her husband too. Nice chatting while watching a game in cold weather.

So today I am having a quiet Sunday with the slow cooker. I saw an easy slow cooker recipe for a chicken dish but not having all ingredients I changed it a bit.

About 500 grams (1 lb) chicken thighs, no bone. 1 brown onion cut up. Some crushed garlic. One jar of Sherwood butter chicken sauce and almost 1/2 cup peanut butter. Swish the Sherwood jar out with water after emptying the contents and toss that in. Stir it all up. Put cooker on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours. You could use cocoanut milk or add chilis or doctor it up anyway you want I guess. You might need to add salt and pepper but I don’t add salt until I eat it, if I need it. Anyway, I’ll thicken it up a bit and put it over some rice I think, it should give me a few meals this week. I’ll probably top it with plain Greek yogurt or sour cream. We’ll see how it goes.

Well this sums up my life recently.

I haven’t downloaded my Bruny Island photos as my desktop is in the spare bedroom and I have that room closed off because of the cold for a bit. I’ll get to those photos soon but I will add a Bruny Island sunrise for you below.