Happy happy birthday!

I realised today that I'd missed my blog's first birthday!

What a year it's been.

I've travelled to Europe for the first (but not the last!) time.

I've discovered a love and talent for photography and participated in my first exhibition.

I've adopted a cat.

I've seen some awesome bands.

I've met some lovely new friends.

I've cooked and eaten some yummy food!

Though not 100 percent yet, I've come out the other side from an incredibly intense, debilitating period of depression and grieving that's consumed me for most of the past twelve months. I'm now medication-free and starting to look forward and enjoy living again. It's pretty exciting!

The next year is going to bring some interesting things too, I think. Hopefully this time next year I'll have finally finished my degree. I want to keep developing my photography, and participate in a few more shows, and start getting my name out there. I want to take a holiday to somewhere tropical and warm where I can lie on the beach and drink cocktails from coconuts! I want to keep meeting new people, and listening to new music, and discovering new places to eat.

I want to find that special someone, too, but one of the things that this past year has taught me is that I have to be happy with myself before I can even begin to think about being happy with someone else. I've still got some work to do yet!

Thanks for reading this past year.. here's to the next one!

Liz xoxo

Caught in the act!

My cat, Bella, tries to pretend she's cool. Aloof. Doesn't need humans, not she.

This morning, though, I came home from the milk bar and found her deep in conversation with the toddler from a couple of houses down. Totally stretched out on the pavement, while he gently patted her head and babbled to her. As soon as she saw me, though, she jumped up and ran back into the house, totally embarrassed to be caught out!

Then, later, I heard some funny scuffling noises. I quickly grabbed my camera in time to catch her red-pawed in my craft basket.

The evidence:


Proof that even the most stand-offish of felines turn into, well, pussy-cats in the presence of babies and raspberry-red yarn.

E xo

What do I know, then?

Way way back in December, I saw a band play in Oxford. I didn't think they were that good (though the keyboard player was CUTE).



Shows what I know, though - they've just popped up on Perez Hilton!

(I still don't think they're very good, but you can listen to them here and make up your own mind...)

xxx

Moon.

Moon, Manly.

A community service announcement.

My dear friend Anne had her bag stolen at the Forum in Sydney overnight. She was working the merch desk at the Tech N9ne show when it happened, at around midnight.

It's a white canvas bag with "The Who" on a target logo printed on the side. It had everything in it - keys, wallet, uni work AND her wages for that night.

If you were there and saw what happened, or maybe you know someone who suddenly has that EXACT SAME BAG, email me and I'll put you in touch with Anne.

And pass it on! This kind of stuff REALLY makes me mad.

xox Liz.

What am I, five?

Today's afternoon tea:



Mexican hot chocolate snickerdoodles from the forthcoming Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, and homemade rosewater lemonade.

Inspired by the lemonade at Mezza, my rosewater lemonade is so easy to make. I don't have an exact recipe, but I dissolve about a third of a cup of sugar in some boiling water in a two-litre jug, then add the juice of three lemons and a decent slosh of rosewater, then fill the rest of the jug up with cold water. I like my lemonade to be nice and tangy and not too sweet, so this recipe works well for me.. it can obviously be adapted to suit your tastes.

Yum!

(PS.. do you like my special favourite HSM glass?)

Maps.

This post from Design Is Mine made me remember a photo of my own that I took while in Sydney recently.



I found this map at Susannah Place in the Rocks - I'll have to do a proper post on it soon. It was probably my favourite of all the places I visited while I was away.

Vouyerism.

Blurr.

On the Manly ferry.

Bella.

The past week has been a bit dramatic! Poor Bella has been in the wars - a bite from another cat developed into a nasty abscess which was operated on on Friday. She's coping well and the vets are pleased with how she's healing.



The only tricky bit is giving her antibiotics - it's normally a two-person job but because I have to get up so early every morning I have to do it myself! I've become very adept at wrapping her in a towel, pinning her to the floor and shoving pills down her throat twice a day.

Here she is with her new sockette friend, Stripes.



xox

Abandoned fairyland.

While staying in regional NSW, I visited this abandoned magical land with my hosts Adam and Pene. It's so strange to see ruined gingerbread houses out in the bush!

Australian War Memorial.

While I was in Canberra recently, I visited the Australian War Memorial. I went there a lot when I was young, but it's safe to say that as an adult, and as a student of Australian history, I saw it through completely different eyes.



I didn't actually get to see a lot of the museum, because there was a power failure and we all had to leave! One of the displays that affected me most, though, was a series of seven etchings by a British artist named Percy Smith. The Dance of Death was inspired by Hans Holbein, and Smith has reworked the theme in stark modern tones. One of the prints, Death refuses, depicts a soldier, surrounded by his dead comrades, reaching out to Death, who has his back turned as if to say, "Sorry, it's not your turn yet." It's completely heartbreaking.


Percy Smith, Death forbids, 1919.

I've been searching online for more information about Percy Smith, and I've been having no luck at all. I'd love to know if these prints have been republished since their original run - they're just incredible.

A thousand uses!

(seen in Glebe a few weeks ago.)

I'll be back soon.

I've been on holidays, but I'll be back home tomorrow night.

In the meantime, here's a photo of the lambs I've been hanging out with here in Nimmitabel.



xx