Throw another shrimp on the barbie

Being born in October and growing up in the northern hemisphere, the concept of being able to celebrate my birthday with a BBQ was something I had never even contemplated.  Yet here we are living it up in the southern hemisphere, swapping the unpredictable Autumn weather of Bath to the equally unpredictable Spring weather of Melbourne.  So as a combined birthday and very belated housewarming celebration, we opened up our house and garden to around 50 of our friends for a BBQ of epic proportions.



A selection of Barnadi's baking

Barnadi went all out in preparation, baking, cooking and decorating to create an event that was so well prepared it seemed almost effortless.  A clever illusion.  All that preparation payed off as the weather not only stayed dry, but it was the hottest day so far this Spring, the only downside was the insatiable wind that insisted on either popping or blowing away all the balloons, and removing all the table cloths.  The turn out was much better than I could have expected, with several friends we hadn't had a chance to catch up with since we first moved to Australia making the effort. 


Still in order to keep with tradition for my birthday itself, it rained.

Life goes on

Nine months ago I started taking Isoniazid to treat latent TB that was diagnosed after I started working at the Alfred hospital.  Today I took my very last dose, my liver is still intact, I still have complete feeling in all my peripheries and I can finally start to enjoy the pleasures of alcohol again.  But did the treatment work or do I still have latent TB?  The answer to that question is something I will never know, as I now have antibodies to the mycobacterium that causes TB I will always give a positive result to the Quantiferon Gold test.

With the mixed sunny/wet weather our garden is going crazy, with the lawn needing mowing almost every week, all 45 rose bushes coming into bloom and a never ending supply of limes.  We have even set up a small veggie patch at the back where we are growing 4 varieties of tomatoes, courgettes, spring onions, carrots and radishes, add this to the banana plant, rhubbarb, 2 chilli plants, peach tree, lemon tree, lime tree, passion fruit vine, cherry tree and plum tree we are well on the way to becoming self sufficient, at least in the way of fresh produce.

Barnadi is becoming increasingly addicted to Groupon, spotting deals for items he has never even thought about wanting before, and instantly realising he can't live without them.  It is not just items that Groupon sells, but tickets to events, activities and experiences.  It was on Groupon that Barnadi found a deal for a half day photo tour, which we both attended on a beautiful sunny Sunday.  Starting at Federation Square and ending along Southbank, the course covered all the basics in exposure. We both learnt a lot on the course and I have definitely noticed a change in the quality of both mine and Barnadi's photos.

With the financial security of having a permanent contract, and no longer needing to save every penny to put into a deposit on a house, Barnadi and I have started to exploit the cultural offerings that Melbourne provides, going to the theatre twice in the last week.  On Wednesday we went to watch the Graduate at her majesty's theatre, which was an unfortunate disappointment, much better was the Opera Cho Cho we went to see on Saturday at the Arts Centre.  Cho Cho is a collaborative piece sung in both Chinese and English, and is a reinvention of the classic opera Madam Butterfly.