Date with a Bottle...

I've listened to the Hawaiian Islands album that J sent me (Live Fast, Get Tropical) perhaps 50 times in the last couple of days. It's definitely got a distinct sense of humour (perhaps a little too juvenile in the filler track, which I always skip) but the rest of it is awesome. Brutally honest in places, with lyrics that make me grin wryly and want to dance. I told L the other day that this album was making my rainy day feel decidedly tropical, and he seemed pretty pleased. His vocals are awesome, too. Wish I could sing like that, but unfortunately, I'm a woman. Damn.

Anyway, I'm enjoying a lazy Saturday at the moment. I was up at 6am this morning (ok, admittedly I didn't get out of bed until 6:30) and I went to the markets at about 7:15. Today I came home with a few less things, because I still have some longer-lasting staple items (savoy cabbage, beets, a handful of beans) from last time. I also did a naughty thing and went to Real... my reason for being there was that I'd seen, when I was there with Ta, that they had jars for canning. And, seeing as how I'm taking an interest in food preservation, I bought a few. I know that I can only can in a water-bath at home, which is useless for non-acidic (read: non-vinegared) pickles and preserves, so I bought glass jars that have those metal clip-top lids for use in the fridge. Today's haul is going to be roasted apricots, and maybe lightly vinegared carrots. I don't have any dessicated coconut or maple syrup (my usual decorations for roasted apricots) but I intend to eat them on my morning oats, or mixed in with natural (soy) yoghurt. I also want to make soy yoghurt, but that's a project for a slightly warmer day. I'm also going to roast hokkaido pumpkins (or are they squash?) later on... that was another score from this morning's markets. I'll probably go back on Wednesday for another one.

Anyway, markets aside, I'll have the usual this-is-my-life update. Last Saturday I went to the markets and stocked up completely. I decided that I'm going to avoid supermarkets as much as possible in an attempt to eat more locally... could be interesting. Of course, that project went to hell with Ta visiting, because I'm not one to tell my guest that she can't eat Turkish watermelon (which was much better than any other melon I've eaten here!)... but rest assured that it's back on track this week. I'll be blogging about it soon.

So... no idea what I did last Sunday. Can't have been too exciting. Anyway, on Monday night I picked up Ta from the Bahnhof. We sat in the kitchen catching up for ages, and I finally found out the reason for her impromptu visit. It's a little depressing, actually. To begin with the back-story: she's only a year older than me, but she has breast cancer. It runs in her family, and both her mother and grandmother have died of it. She's handled it with incredible grace, and with the same black humour that she's had in all the years that I've known her. We don't keep in touch as often as we should (does anyone, really?) but we still hang out easily when we're together. So, when her doctors told her that the expanding tumors were pressuring her lungs and that she was only allowed to travel by plane for the next 6 weeks, she promptly booked a 5-week holiday across the world. Smart lady, that one.

So, I was pleased to be on her list of people to visit, and hopefully I wasn't too boring. Having a visitor is always a little bit of a struggle for me, because I need a lot of alone time... and the more I'm alone, the more I want to be alone. I go through phases, and let's just say that lately I'd rather read blogs than make conversation. It happens. Anyway, I had German course from Mon-Thurs. Tuesday evening we just hung out, went to the Asian Supermarket and the giant Marktkauf nearby. Ta insisted on paying for groceries, which was awfully sweet. We had Bahn Mi with tofu for dinner... deliciousness. Wednesday I think we had a look around the Dom and the river and a few other bits and pieces, and had dark beers at Tuba, bought a couple of things at Real, then made tofu burgers for dinner. Thursday we went on a hike to the Turkish supermarket, collected berries on the way, and stocked up on a few things. We went there in the hope of finding Persian Fairy Floss for Ta to try, but they didn't have any at the time. She was, however, pretty happy about the cherries, watermelon, and assorted "eurocreme" faux-nutella products, so it was still worth the walk. We had a beer at Tuba again, and had satay for dinner.

Friday morning I dropped her at the Bahnhof, and lazed about for a good portion of the afternoon. Caught up on my daily reading and cleaned my room again. I should really do some laundry... it feels like Sunday, because I'm still unused to the new novelty of the three-day weekend. It's not as good as the 4-day weekend I'd organised whilst at Flinders (which I promptly squandered by working too much in order to save money to get here) but it'll do. Oh, what a hard life! Ha. In other news, I bought a saddlebag for my bike, which is appropriately designed to double as a handbag, simply by being cute and red and having white polka dots. Win. I still need a pump for the tyres, but I'll buy that soon.

I'm presently having a very confusing conversation with Sd, who is up and leaving, in the middle of the course, for the sake of some travelling. I knew he was unhappy here, but I'd thought that he'd at least finish the course first. He said he doesn't know when he'll be back, but I think he still plans on making the prufung in September, so the longest he can be gone is two weeks. Still... it's a bit crazy, and a bit concerning. I guess everyone goes off the rails sometimes, and I don't think there's anything I can do to help this time. I think he does need the time away, to reassess what he's doing with his life, but I guess I'm just not approving of the timing. I get more like my parents with every passing year... I suppose because I always managed to stave off my impending implosions until I'd finished whatever I needed to do, and then just collapsed at the end of it. I don't feel like I have the luxury to potentially give up early. I'm too lucky to have the chance to begin something to just throw it in.

Speaking of lucky, A has asked me to be one of her bridesmaids for her wedding. Yep, that's right, my sister is getting married. She has an incredibly expensive, diamond-studded ring to show for it, too. I'm always so happy for my siblings when these things happen. She and Tr have recently bought a house, so it looks like everything is falling into place. I'm the only one of our family not to own a property of some sort, and quite convinced that I'll probably never have the money. Not at this rate. Also no intention of getting married (not now that we can get the tax breaks without it!) so I'm definitely heading down quite a different path to the rest of the family. But that's ok, because I look enough like them for them not to worry that I got swapped at the hospital as a baby, etc... so they're ok with me being crazy. It keeps the family entertained, at least!

Anyway, I think I've rambled enough. I'm either going to type out more entries from my excursion into Poland, or go to find enough lemons to make pumpkin preserves...