In our home this week

I thought I'd offer a snapshot of what's been happening in our household recently.

Family/Celebrations: my lovely SIL visited from Indianapolis - she was in Australia for her dad's 80th birthday party, and we were lucky enough to have her stay with us for a while. Leisa joined us for Christmas celebrations with my parents on the 23rd. A wonderful meal as always - I'll be attempting to make the Pearl Couscous with Prawns and Avocado sometime soon.


Bill's 80th birthday was a very special occasion - I particularly enjoyed catching up with family, as I wasn't able to make it to Toowoomba for Christmas this year. Bill's fame is such that the Toowoomba Chronicle paid a visit to the restaurant - another newspaper clipping to add to his extensive file. Garry wrote a poem for his dad, which I'll upload in a separate blog post. Garry's been writing quite a lot of poetry since I bought him a copy of Stephen Fry's "The Ode Less Traveled".


Catherine spent most of this week in Toowoomba, catching up with her cousin Emma. In between social outings, they traded their latest obsessions: Cate made sure Emma saw as many Glee episodes as possible, while Emma taught Catherine to appreciate the humour of Hamish & Andy.


Christopher spent quite a lot of time refining his search for a High Definition video camera, finally deciding to purchase one through Amazon rather than from a local store - the price difference was significant. That took care of all his Christmas cash and leaves him indebted for a couple of months' worth of pocket money. He's also been enjoying the latest iPad app - a car-racing game of some description.


In the Kitchen: my Christmas presents this year were Moroccan-themed - two tagines and a cookbook full of great recipes. I cooked a Lamb Tagine with Dates, Almonds and Pistachios - the first time I've bought red meat in almost ten years. I was taken aback by the price of lean lamb - being largely vegetarian sure helps save money on the grocery bills! The lamb was beautifully tender, although the spicing of this particular recipe was a touch bland.



Off the Bookshelf: Christopher bought me "The Dragonriders of Pern" for Christmas - a trilogy by Anne McCaffrey, who died earlier this year. I'd never actually read any of her work, so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I greatly enjoyed the world of Pern and the dragons she originally created in 1968. I zipped through the three books - finished most of the last one in the car on the trip to and from Toowoomba yesterday.


On the Goban: I'm still playing lots of Go games - mostly via my iPhone. This snapshot is of a smaller game. My favourite board size is 19x19. I love the intricacy of Go. Even now, the best computers in the world cannot beat a professional Go player (unlike chess). Yet the rules are simple and can be learned very quickly. Studies have shown that playing Go reduces mental decline.