Sunday Barbie, Part 2 …and other stuff
Last night, around 9:15pm while I was in the middle of posting, we had a power failure. Our whole street was affected. Since there wasn’t much to do other than sit around with torches or candles (Jac had been relaxing on the couch watching X-Files on dvd; I had been in my study sitting at my computer and watching Futurama on dvd) we decided to just go to bed. Pixel seemed a little confused as to why I was brushing my teeth in a dark bathroom with the torch on, and Billy Lee couldn’t work out why I was sitting on the toilet having a pee in the dark (even when I get up in the middle of the night I usually switch the toilet light on). She gave me a puzzled “Meeeeoooow”.
Anyway, here are the photos from the barbie at Lou and Dan’s which I meant to post last night.
As I was saying yesterday, Lou and Dan really know how to feed their guests well. They especially excel in putting on a yummy variety of salads. Here’s their famous thai beef salad. Being a chilli wuss, I didn’t have any, but Jac ate lots of it and really enjoyed it.
This was a new salad Lou wanted to try out, a roast vegetable salad. Apparently it’s a Weight Watchers’ recipe, and quite healthy. The roasted pumpkin was lovely and sweet, and of course I loved that it featured my favourite, green beans. The tomatoes were just encrusted with garlic. It was very me, this salad. I loved it.
This prawn salad was yummy too, very refreshing.
Amanda brought along a Caesar salad, which was my favourite of the lot. I ate more of this than any other. I loved those big thin pieces of toast and the shaved parmesan.
Sascha made a pear, walnut, spinach and parmesan salad. I asked if she got idea for the salad recipe Jamie Oliver; she said she got the recipe from another friend. I remember in The Naked Chef, Series 2, Episode 6 “A Bun in the Oven”, Jamie invites his pregnant sister and her hubby over for dinner, and the starter he serves up is quite similar: watercress, rocket, sweet pear, walnut and parmesan salad Whatever or wherever its origin, the salad was delicious. I love spinach, raw or cooked.
And here is a picture of my plate, round one. I enjoyed a total of two and a half rounds. The scallops really were a treat.
Just as with the Friday Night Birthday Surprises, Sascha and Lou surprised Jac with a birthday present – a Medi Rest Pillow. Jac has been telling me for ages how much she needs a new chiropractic pillow, and I just happened to mention that to Sascha when she rang me for birthday present ideas. :) She told me she bought it at the Myer Stocktake Sale, which would mean she got it for 30% off, a very good purchase! Jac had a big chuckle when she saw what her pressie was, as she realised that once again a little birdy had been busy whispering in her friends’ ears!
We all had a champagne toast to Jac (Even me! They kindly poured me a half glass as they know I don’t like alcohol at all – since they were thoughtful enough to do that, I actually drank it all! I really don’t like the taste of champagne!). Later when we were driving home, Jac said she’d had a strange sense of de ja vu when Lou and Sascha disappeared into the house just before coming back out with the present. On Friday night, RH, KO and MT had mysteriously disappeared as well, just before reappearing with Jac’s present. I hadn’t told Jac anything, so they were both lovely surprises for her this weekend.
Tomorrow, Jac’s mum and I will be going shopping for her whipper snipper. My family have also chipped in for it, which is wonderful. Jac will be taking Friday off as that’s her actual birthday, and then her family will be coming over in the evening for a spa and simple dinner of cold meat and salad (which is Jac’s all-time favourite meal).
My beloved Targus Matrix notebook backpack is being sent off today for a warranty claim. It has a lifetime warranty. This is actually the second warranty claim I’ve made; I originally had a Fusion backpack (mine was bright red – they don’t seem to have the red ones anymore). Not long after I’d bought it, some of the stitching started to come undone. I brought it back to the shop I bought it from, and because I’d bought it less than a year ago, they swapped it for me on the spot. They were out of Fusion backpacks that day, so I paid an extra $20 and got the Matrix instead. This time, the problem is with the Matrix’s small front pocket – the zipper teeth aren’t working properly any more, which means the pocket remains open even when zipped up, rendering it useless. Not the end of the world by any means, but I figured since it would cost me maybe $20 registered mail to send it back to Targus it was worth doing (the price of the backpack when I bought it was $129). I’ve already spoken to Targus via email and confirmed that this is indeed covered by the warranty, and a replacement will be sent within 3-4 working days after they’ve received and inspected the backpack.