Still Life With Cat

67 years ago tonight (thanks to Persiflage for the correction to my always-shocking arithmetic), at Adelaide's first-ever Carols by Ca...

9.40 pm and the presents are wrapped and the cards written on. The prawns have been cleaned and so has the toilet. The tablecloth has been i...

Fans of Jimmy Webb might remember his 1970 album Words and Music (so vividly recalled by the magnificent Ten Easy Pieces 26 years later) o...

As is my wont round this time of year, I've been looking back at the bloggy ghosts of Christmases Past, thinking back to what was happen...

In the first of what will no doubt be several Yule-themed posts, we bring you the latest, and seasonal, tale of Simon's Cat, here . Th...

Ahhh, the signs and portents of a new calendar month. The first swooping magpie of September. The first bluetongue and redback of November. ...

As we approach the end of the first week of January I've been thinking about how often the last week of January has, for me, brought wi...

Some may remember my first-ever foray into fruitcake-making back in November when I got inspired by Deborah Strange Land and her grandmother...

Anyone who's read Helen Garner's The Spare Room will probably remember this scene. For those who haven't: Nicola is in the adva...

I spent most of the weekend in bed, snoozing, sneezing, coughing, groaning, spluttering, blowing my nose, monitoring the headache and the ea...

When writing first drafts I will usually bung in instructions to myself as I go along, most often [CHECK] where I have relied on memory for ...

TO DO: THURSDAY 17/12/09 8.20 PM UPDATE 1) Make a list* 2) Check it twice (and do naughty/nice triage) 3) Shop for cutlery for C, DO NOT for...

Quiet Friday night lull in the local big bright Coles and so when the voice starts up I notice it at once. Long supermarket experience and m...

Emboldened by the success (so far at least) of the Christmas cake, I set off into unknown waters yesterday and decided to make a Christmas P...

As threatened, I have made Deborah Strange Land's family's traditional Christmas cake, and it is in the oven. Deborah has beautiful ...

... the recipe for which is here . Stage 1: Shopping Scary, innit. I've never made a Christmas cake before in my life, but there is a fi...

It would probably have been a better idea to force myself to stay up for another hour last night and wrap the presents. But that still would...

Late cards posted: TICK Master list (of lists to be made) drawn up: TICK Tree trimmed: TICK (Why does 'trimmed' mean putting things ...

As at 10.17 pm Sunday night update : Christmas presents bought: 2 Christmas presents delivered: 3 (not the same ones) Morning coffee dates ...

Since moving back to Adelaide (eleven years ago tomorrow) and setting up house and business for myself, I've learned to tell what week i...