The weekend that was featuring cooking deluxe, expensive hobbies and the healing properties of potato

My mother visited this weekend. I was grateful because I have been neglecting the tasks I hate most: washing dishes and ironing. My mother really seems to enjoy these chores and I returned the favour (hopefully) by cooking her delicious meals consisting of foods she's never eaten, and taking her shopping (it turned out the shopping was all too much for her. And not because I was spending vast amounts of money).

Friday evening dinner was ostrich neck with Kalahari truffles in a white wine and cream sauce, served with ol' dependable mash. Ostrich is my favourite meat followed by crocodile. My mother was weary of the truffles but was soon won over by the earthy goodness of the meal. Lessons learned: (1) Ostrich neck is best slow cooked. (2) I cannot share my kitchen with a feline and my mother.

I got paid sometime Saturday and it was time to stock up on groceries. My cupboards have been bare for far too long. I returned home with a boot full of groceries. Lunch was a rustic pizza with caramelised onions, butternut and camembert. My camembert craving has been satisfied. Well, not really. I still have to deep fry the second wheel and serve it with St Dalfour's delicious fruit preserve. Dessert was truffles, of the chocolate variety this time.

After lunch it was time for more shopping. Off to Makro, Stodels and Canal Walk. I returned home with a boot full of plants, cooking pots, and a variety of storage jars and vases. By now 90% of my salary has already been spent.

I have never fooled myself into thinking that I do not have expensive tastes. My passive hobbies of reading and watching movies have set me back a fair bit in the monetary department. The costs of tattoos have doubled since my first tat 5/6 years ago.

I can now add terrariums to my list of expensive hobbies. Two trips to Stodels has cost me close R600. I will not mention the cost of the jars and vases but I will proudly show off the first of my finished terrariums.


The terrarium second from the left is my favourite. It stars a Rabbit's Foot Fern, black grass, and some ground cover of which I've forgotten the name. One more terrarium to go before I take a hiatus due to bankruptcy.

The rest of Saturday was spent watching a pork belly roasting slowly in the oven and designing one of my next tattoos: Alice in Wonderland. I had to fork out R49.95 for a sketching pad. How ridiculous. However, I'm very pleased that I have not lost all my ability to sketch. The sketches below were drawn freehand, copying from the original drawings (excluding Alice) in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.




I decided to have raisin bread and chocolate for breakfast on Sunday. While rooting in my mother's overnight back for chocolate, I discovered a potato. I enquired why my mother had stolen one of my potatoes. Of course, she didn't steal it but had brought it with her from home. Of course. I was puzzled. Apparently, sleeping with a potato in your bed prevents arthritis. Apparently, the entire older generation of my family swears by it. I'm thinking of getting my mother certified. I've recommended my cousins do the same to their parents.

By Sunday I had had it with cooking and had the usual Sunday lunch, nap on the couch, and tea at my cousin's. And of course there was heckling of the family about their strange bedfellows, the potatoes.

The weekend that was. And the first of much randomness

I have nothing to say. No, that's not true. But what I have to say, or what I can say is not very interesting. So, I'll start with writing about the weekend.

It was uneventful and I caught up on much needed my sleep. One cannot have fun all the time, right? And there should be time set aside to cuddle with the kitty and catch up on some TV. So that is what I did. My frenzy to see that next season of Lost was subdued when I realised that season 5 is not altogether great. But I'm determined to see Lost through to the end. We have walked a long path together and Lost owes me an explanation. However crappy that explanation might end up being.

Between sleep session there was also time for a visit to the nursery and a little gardening. Which was great! Over R200 worth of plants, soil and pebbles later, I had to cut myself off. I will be back in 2 weeks though as they had no moss in stock. Also, I now have 3 incomplete terrariums (soon there will be a 4th) that are begging for more plants. I have no pictures yet due to incompleteness and a lack of good photographic light this weekend.

This is what my entrance hall looked like shortly after starting the first terrarium.

Making a mess. You're doing it right.

Sunday I went to family so they could feed me. It's also been a long time since I've seen them (2-3 weeks?) and I missed them. There was the usual: chicken curry, sugar-free fizzy cooldrinks, rambunctious kids, sleeping on the couches, tea and cake (no death, sorry) and bad taste.

At some point after tea my aunt explained that one day soon she buy a wall unit to house her television and various decorative ornaments. Wide-eyed I kept my mouth shut until her children almost yelled at her that wall units for your television are in no way and form fashionable anymore. My aunt wouldn't hear of it and insisted that stores would not be selling it anymore if it wasn't fashionable.

So, I ask the question: why are stores still stocking horribly outdated, kitsch items (the non-ironic ones)? Because people still buy them? But why? This truly boggles my mind.

New Projects

I adore terrariums. I want to surround myself with them. But I have never been able to keep a plant alive. I even killed a cactus. Well, technically U my rat ate it but that's a story for another day. As is the black lily that fell of the balcony. Nevermind that it was already dead when it fell, nay, was pushed off the balcony.

Realising that I've successfully kept a cat alive for more than a year and half, I'm now venturing unto slightly more scarier plains. Yes, I realise it's suppose to be the other way around. Keep a plant alive, you can keep an animal alive...

So this weekend will see the start of my second new project. My first was knitting. I knitted a lovely, extra length scarf that I now wear on a regular basis. At some point I will get round to knitting the matching fingerless gloves. Hopefully before the end of winter. If this at all is giving you the idea that I'm someone who starts something but doesn't finish it, you have yet to see me with a bottle of wine.

So, this will involve a visit to Woolworths where I saw the perfect first container for a terrarium and a visit to a nursery. An after the weekend I will update you regarding the terrarium and occasionally I will post about a new one. As I do intend to surround myself with them.

In addition I intend to post about utterly cute things my cat does that is only utterly cute to me and no one else, random belligerence and a good dose of whining, cool things I've seen or want to do and so forth. Until then.

How to Make a Terrarium: http://www.stormthecastle.com/terrarium/
Terrariums.com: http://www.terrariums.com/