Catastrophe in Perth

We had a freak storm in Perth today.

It was… in a word… freaky.

At around 4.00pm, the lights in our office started flickering.

Minutes later it was as if someone had switched the lights off outside, and a blanket of darkness swooped over the city.

The sound of hailstones pattering on the windows made us jump out of our seats. Everyone left their desks to stare outside the windows as we watched the ice pile up on the pavement below us and on the roof of the smaller building next to us.

Apparently the hailstones were as big as golf balls.

Image from perthnow

The hailstorm ended as abruptly as when it first started. Then came the rain, pouring down in torrents.

This is so totally the wrong day to leave my umbrella in the car. But I managed to tumpang under my colleague’s umbrella up to the turn off to the busport from the terrace.

The scene along the terrace was crazy… people tearing frantically down in the rain, most of them, like me, were caught unprepared. In some spots, we were wading ankle deep in water. I noticed some ladies were holding their shoes in their hand and just braving the puddles barefoot.

Through friends’ sms’es and twitter updates, we learnt that there was a power outage affecting the greater part of the Perth metro.

We were bracing ourselves for another romantic evening of dinner by candlelight but it seems our area was spared tonight. That is why I am able to sit here in front of the laptop to tell you all this.

Down to the last drop

I used every bit of that buttermilk down to the very last drop in the form of buttermilk pancakes with caramelised bananas.

At first I thought of making it for breakfast this morning, but eventually the craving last night won over and I found myself in the kitchen whisking flour, eggs and buttermilk.

I had already flipped over four ladlefuls of the gooey buttery mixture before I stopped with an inspired idea... why not go easy over supper and make mini size versions instead?

These portions were perfect for a nightcap without having to go to bed feeling bloated.

And the next morning I heated up the remaining standard sized versions and served it up for breakfast with more bananas, drizzled with honey.

I like buttermilk.

Baby buttermilk cookies with sugar on top

Sometimes I'm beset with this urge to bake something... sometimes it's because it's because I have a craving for something warm, sweet and crumbly... but sometimes it's just because my hands are itching to create something.

In keeping with my current side obsession with buttermilk, I decided to try my hand at making these buttermilk cookies with lemon zest



The texture of these cookies are softer from most cookies and are quite light, without being crumbly. The cookies themselves are not overly sweet, but rely mostly on the buttermilk glaze drizzled on top for that touch of "sugar on top".

I plated up a couple of these little babies and set it in front of hubs. He smiled delightedly and exclaimed "Eh, so cute! They look like mini buns"

I'm now indulging in one of these cute little button-like cookies, whilst sipping a cup of organic Sabah tea.

The week should have ended yesterday

It’s been pretty intense past few days at work.

My colleagues and I are pretty zonked to day.

Comment from colleague: "It feels like the week should have ended yesterday"

Then that voice in my head came on and I started singing to myself (in my head):

…If I were the boss

Work will start on Tuesday

We will end the week on Thursday

And every day will be half day…

From the Hitz FM Parody

I amused myself so much I giggled out loud. So of course everyone asked what was so funny.

And so I repeated the lyrics to my colleagues, sans the singing.

TGIF.

An account of what I did this weekend

It’s Sunday evening. I’m now winding down as the weekend comes a a close and mentally preparing myself for the start of a new work week tomorrow.

One of the classic ‘water cooler’ discussions at work is the “watcha’ get up over the weekend, mate?” conversation.

I don’t think I ever have anything terribly exciting to report. However my dad says it’s the mundane things he and my mum like to read about too… so in light of that, here is an account of what I did over the weekend, dedicated to my dear parents:

Saturday

7.00am: Woke up to Mishu meowing for breakfast. Hubby gets up to feed him while I go back to slumberland.

8.00am: Get out of bed, do the usual morning bathroom routine, gather dirty laundry and dump clothes in the washing machine.

8.30am: Prepare breakfast - buttermilk oatmeal pancakes.

9.15am: Enjoy leisurely Saturday morning breakfast with hubby.

10.00am: Clear away breakfast dishes, hang up laundry, put in second load into the machine.

11.00am: Chill out for a bit, surfing the net, facebooking and reading blogs.

2.00pm: Head out for weekly grocery shopping.

3.20pm: Arrive home with groceries and quickly put them away while hubby loads bikes on the car for our next activity.

3.50pm: Head out again for cycling with friends, Jon and Naryn. Stop by Maccas for some nuggets along the way.

4.20pm: Meet at Naryn’s place, unload bikes, gear up and venture out on our chosen cycling route… circling Carousel Shopping Centre and then around Canning River Regional Park.

6.00pm: Back to Naryn’s place. We stay for dinner. Naryn wanted our help to cook and eat food in her freezer.

8.05pm: Head home after remembering that we need to feed Mishu.

8.25pm: Mishu greets us at the door. Hubby puts away bike gear while I prepare Mishu’s medicine and food, then spoon feed him the first half of his dinner while hubby showers.

9.00pm: My turn to shower.

9.30pm: Hubby and I settle in on the couch to relax with a movie - 'Up'

Midnight: Head off to bed.

Sunday

7.00am: Mishu meows for breakfast. Hubby gets up to feed him. I sleep.

8.00am: I get up, do the usual bathroom routine.

8.30am: Cook breakfast - sausages, eggs and toast.

9.00am: Eat breakfast with hubby.

9.30am: Change and get ready for church.

10.00am: Head out for church.

10.30am: Church service starts.

12.30pm: Church service ends. Hang around, chat and catch up with various people.

1.30pm: Head off to friend’s place for bbq.

2.45pm: Say goodbyes and head off to another friend’s place to see their baby.

3.00pm: Wave hello to Dave and Lyndt. Sit down to adore and coo over their happy, cooey, smiley little Zac. So caught up in conversation and baby adoration that I forgot to snap photos. Sorry!

4.00pm: Wave good bye to cute little Zac.

4.30pm: Arrive home, wash, change into my comfy ratty T-shirt

5.00pm: Chill out for a bit… it’s been a long day. Hubby and Mishu nap while I read a magazine.

7.00pm: Hubby goes outside to potter around the backyard and clean Mishu’s litter box. I hang around outside and watch as Mishu explores the backyard.

7.30pm: Prepare and eat dinner.

8.30pm: Set breadmaker to make a loaf of oatmeal honey bread.

9.00pm: Wash dishes.

9.30pm: Blog this post. Hubby wants to use the laptop and I’ve finished telling you about my weekend.

I’ll end with this pic of Mishu… how nice it is to be a cat, always get to be manja-ed…

Hope your weekend was good.

Milking the sympathy

So what has it been like having Mishu back home again?

Well we just love the little bugger to bits! We’re so happy to have him around looking up adoringly at us at breakfast and dinner time…

And our little invalid is really milking the sympathy… look at him! This is his “I’m DYING of hunger, feed me!” pose…

We also need to spoon feed him his dinner now… must be something he picked up during his stay at the hospital.

Mishu is a rather distracted eater. He will chomp on a few bites, then after a while he will walk around or go investigate something. If I’m the designated ‘feeder’ that day, I’ll eventually need to follow him, coaxing him to eat some more. Makes me feel like a parent of a fussy eater kid who can't sit still at the dinner table.

We have now transitioned to spoon feeding him only the first half of his meal to make sure he swallows the antibiotic pills in the food. After that we will remove the cone and let him finish the rest of the food at his own leisure.

Apart from that, lately he’s also into hogging half the space on the couch… I tell you, this fella’ really know how to enjoy! This scenario reminds me of this story I heard about a kid who sleeps in the same bed as his parents but eventually hogs the bed until the parents have to sleep on the floor.

OK, need to end this post now. Mishu is pawing at me to scratch his ear and explaining in piteous meows that he can’t reach it as long as he has to endure this plastic bowl around his head.

Toodles!

We mish’ed u!

Guess who’s home and gloriously happy to be done with needles and drips and tubes?

And I have my little friend back to keep me company on the couch…

He still needs to wear his cone a few days more until he is fully healed. He doesn’t like it but he puts up with it somehow, the good little boy he is.

First time cooking with buttermilk

On Saturday, during our weekly grocery shopping expedition, I added something new to the cart, something I’ve never bought before in my entire life…

Hubby was curious? What is buttermilk? I duly explained the process of churning butter and how the liquid leftover after the butter formed in the cream was known as buttermilk. However I just wiki-ed it and found out that the supermarket version was essentially cultured buttermilk by adding lactic acid bacteria to milk.

I was more curious about the taste. Although I may have partaken it as one of the ingredients in many a muffin or pancake, I’ve never tasted it straight out on its own.

All I can say is… the lactic acid really explains that distinct tangy taste.

Anyway, I didn’t buy one litre of buttermilk just to drink, but I had intended to try out this recipe for oatmeal pancakes. The recipe called for soaking one cup of oatmeal in one cup of buttermilk overnight.

The next morning, I added an egg, a quarter cup of flour, half a teaspoon each of baking powder and bicarb soda and a pinch of salt. Mixed it into one gooey batter and spoon out generous clumps of it onto a hot pan.

It’s pretty easy to make and absolutely delish!

Going at it like adults

I have a delicate ache all over my thighs and calves.

The previous week’s cycling session was not that straining as we were pedalling at the same pace as five- and six-year olds.

However this week, Diana was all equipped with this contraption…

So with no further excuses, we had no other option but to go at it properly like adults. We cycled from Fraser Point to UWA and back. ~30km in total.

For those still wanting to take the relaxed approach, there’s always this option…

(The ‘M’ Family’)

Aaahhh… muscle aches… makes me feel like I’ve really achieved something!

Mishu the patient

After work, we dropped by the vet hospital to see how Mishu was doing.

He was definitely looking much better and appeared to be feeling perkier… a very good sign.

They attached a catheter to drain out any fluids in his bladder… at the same time they also had to fasten a cone thingy around his head to prevent him from licking/biting the catheter.

I burst out laughing the moment I saw him.

The nurse let us spoon feed him because he doesn't know how to reach his food like this. Sheesh... sooo pampered kan?

He seems to be doing well but will need to stay one more day just to make sure the infection is fully cleared. They will do a blood test on him tomorrow to check that his vitals are improving.

Mishu is ill

Mishu is the darlingest kitty cat. It’s really nice to have a living creature who greets you affectionately every day when you come home from work - even if he’s only thinking of dinner.

But after dinner, on our free nights when we’re settled in on the couch, watching TV or browsing through facebook and various blogs… Mishu will jump up and perch on the armrest, meowing gently at us for some TLC.

If I’m pretty focused on the TV or the laptop to pay him too much attention, he’ll walk up along the edge of the backrest, stop right behind my head and start licking my cheek.

Usually that works… it depends how exciting the scene is on the screen or how interesting the blog article is. Recently he has this new trick of nuzzling in right up next to me and putting his paw on the keyboard.

Cute kan? Told ya he was the darlingest cat!

Sadly Mishu is presently sick. It started yesterday. He only ate half his breakfast, barely touched his dinner and was listless all day. This morning we did not even hear him meowing at our bedroom door (he does this without fail EVERY MORNING. He doesn’t even care if it’s the weekend or a public holiday!)

We took him to the vet today. The vet diagnosed it as UTI and a blocked urinary tract. So he is now being hospitalised overnight for treatment. The bill will probably be something atrocious but we really hope he gets better soon.

Prosaic dinner by candlelight

Public holiday in WA yesterday. The hot summer weather was holding up relentlessly. Instead of moping about at home complaining about the heat, we decided to embrace it and go outside. Cycling!

I anticipated that we would be pretty knackered by the time we got home after our afternoon activity. So I had made advanced preparations to make some homemade pizza for dinner. With hubby’s help, all the ingredients were chopped and sliced. Just before we headed out the door, I set the timer on the breadmaker to finish kneading the pizza base dough by 6.00pm.

We ventured out on our bikes with Diana’s brood. Here is Christopher all geared up and ready to go.

We cycled by Swan River, stopping by three playgrounds which was absolutely essential to the little troops. By the time we decided to call it a day, it was already 7.00pm. The yeast would be working overtime by now… time to head home before my breadmaker is completely submerged under all that dough.

But when we reached home, we found the garage door not working and all the power out in our area. We groped around in the darkness and with the aid of a mini pen-torchlight I managed to locate some matches at the bottom drawer of the kitchen counter.

This was also a time to be grateful for all those scented candles I received at Secret Santa gift exchanges.

Sadly my dough was in a disparate mess of flour, water and yeast. So instead we settled for a prosaic dinner of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup with cheese sandwiches, by candlelight.

And where was Mishu all this time? It appears our night prowler seems to get extra prowly in the dark…

(Caught in the camera flash)

As I ate my soup and bread, I thought of all those power cuts in KK when we would bundle together in my parents’ room and just talk in the dark. Power cuts seem to set off a feeling of cosiness and a sense of family closeness.

The power came back on within the hour… which was good, because as much as I like the cosy feeling it brings on, I did not relish the thought of taking a cold shower.