We’d been blessed with bright, sunny days and cloudless blue skies the whole week sans today. The weather is having a pick n mix moment. It was drizzling when I went for my walk this morning. The sun came out to play when we went shopping with the roof down. On the way home, it started spitting. It’s getting dark now and I think I just heard a thunder rumbling.
We’re having a chill out day today. This whole week our life swings between the sublime and the ridiculous, just like today’s weather. It’s also Anzac Day today. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. It is probably Australia's most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the WW1.
To celebrate the day in this gloomy weather, I’ve baked these iconic biscuits which were originally made to send to the ANZACs serving in Gallipoli
Anzac Biscuits
- 85g porridge oats
- 85g desiccated coconut
- 100g plain flour
- 100g caster sugar
- 100g butter , plus extra butter for greasing
- 1 tbsp golden syrup
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- Heat oven to 180C. Put the oats, coconut, flour and sugar in a bowl. Melt the butter in a small pan and stir in the golden syrup. Add the bicarbonate of soda to 2 tbsp boiling water, then stir into the golden syrup and butter mixture.
- Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the butter and golden syrup mixture. Stir gently to incorporate the dry ingredients.
- Put dessertspoonfuls of the mixture on to buttered baking sheets, about 2.5cm/1in apart to allow room for spreading. Bake in batches for 8-10 mins until golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
A reminder. They do s-p-r-e-a-d and my first batch 
got attached to each other that they looked a bit wonky. But, hey, it’s not the look that matters. It tasted divine. Do give it a try…
Yesterday, CC and I took the train to Birmingham for a shoe shopping spree. We intended to clear the racks at Schuh :-). We arrived at the train station in the dark. They had an electrical malfunction and everything was shut. Lots of policemen around just in case.
We walked straight to where our favourite shop and it’s not there…Huh!!! They had moved to the Bullring, phew.
We did checkout a few shops here and there and we stopped to watch this tin man tap dancing. He was soo cool and very entertaining.
We quickly marched to the Bullring and found what we were looking for. Tried and trotted on dozens of shoes and none that we liked or fit us properly. Honestly, we were gutted. We made this trip just to get at least a pair of shoes each.
The shopping complex was getting too warm and crowded by this time that we practically ran out. We decided to end the afternoon by having lunch in Chinatown. We went to the Acadia Palace and sat at our favourite corner. We ordered the special prawn fried rice and kailan in oysters sauce all washed down with mugs of steaming cha. We knew how to drown our sorrows :-).
After a long, leisurely lunch we dawdled slowly to the Chinese bakery where I bought fried lotus cookies and coconut buns. At the Chinese supermarket, I bought baby mooncakes in various fillings and a cool can of coconut water.
It was chaos at the train station. Commuters were standing in long, long lines to find out what time is the train arriving and on which platform to wait. We’d a good laugh on the train when the manager made this announcement. The train was delayed in departing because they were waiting for the driver. Oh yes, we wouldn’t want to be in a moving train without the driver, do we…
Friday was St George’s, the patron saint of England, Day. 
It was also Shakespeare's birthday. We drove past this house daily and today it was adorned with St. George’s buntings and flags. Lets quote these marvellous, stirring words from Shakespeare’s play, Richard II.
This royal throne of kings, this sceptr'd isle
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars
This other Eden, demi-paradise
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in a silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands;
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England...
To those who are English, they now have two very good reasons to celebrate. Happy St George's Day! Why wasn't it a holiday, then!!!
Babe and I marked the day by popping to 
our favourite playground after work. We were greeted by these beautiful pair of Sandmartins making sweet music. I hoped they will be using the nesting castle by the lake. We have seen a few flying in and out.
We were walking past the sheep field when Babe alerted me to something under an aluminium sheet. Carefully he pulled it up and I was ready with my camera. 
Tadaa…it was my first encounter with a grass snake. Wow, isn’t he just gorgeous???
We then stopped briefly at the Wright Hide. It was very quiet as the natives were winding down for the night. We walked back to the car park when we were greeted by twitterings that I was not familiar with. Quietly, I looked up and there they were, a pair of Blackcaps. Another first sighting for me. It was really my lucky day. I felt so blessed.
On Thursday was Earth Day. 
It went quietly, unlike the return of the aeroplanes back into the airspace. I took my usual walk at lunch time and saw this amazing sight. A family of coots with babies among the reeds. The babies stayed hidden while their parents scavenged for food. It was heart warming to see the parents swimming back and forth, feeding the chicks. I could have observed them for hours.
On the Queen’s official birthday, I was in London.
To have tea and scones with the Queen, you guess??? Alas no. It’s work as usual. I attended a half-day workshop at CILIP on “Moving on in MARC 21: potential impact on RDA”.
The R word again. The successor to AACR2, RDA will soon be the bible for the library community. That said the basic amendments to the MARC21 format have already been agreed. They are still talking and still testing. Even the trainer said that he won’t be teaching this until it became an accepted and recognised tool. Still a long way off, I guess.
Usually, I had already started with my gardening but not this time. We are back to casa hunting again. Our landlord wants to sell this casa. Oh well, its his to do what he likes. Babe wants a casa with a garage/own parking and moi wants one with a garden. We are checking one tomorrow after office.
I’ve started emptying and cleaning the pots. 
The shrubs will be dug up and they go where I go. At the moment, this magnolia tree is flowering profusively. We have lived here 4 years in June. I guess it’s time for another adventure and make another casa our new home. Wish us luck…
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