scentsations

If I lost my sense of smell I'd be pretty darned devastated. Fresh scents make my day. The gardenia by my front stairs is currently covered in glossy white blooms and the fragrance is big, blowsy and utterly beautiful. I've mentioned before how I love my fleurs to look and smell pretty and it's days like today that I'm reminded of why. 

When spring is heralded by the sweet scent of jasmine and closed with gardenia's rich perfume - how can that not make you happy? I can also see that the 100+ year old frangipani trees next door (one of which comes onto our yard by a good metre and a half, so I see it down the end of the veranda from my study door) have tightly furled buds that will open and tickle my senses for the summer season. Bliss.

Add these to the various blooms of roses, lavender and orange blossom and you've got a garden of scented delights richer and more exquisite than any fine perfume. Le sigh...

frugal bugle

I've been having a think, and realised that I already do quite a few thifty things. So I thought I'd share them with you. The nice thing is, that as well as saving you money, they're often earth-friendly tips that help you become a little greener with each step.

1. Once a week have a 'pantry meal' where you buy absolutely nothing new but have to devise a meal out of whatever's in the cupboard, fridge or freezer. This could be a chore, but I like to turn it into a Masterchef Challenge to see what amazing dinners I can create with a few key items.

2. Extend your meat. Regular readers will know that I'm now a carnivore after 20 years as a vegetarian, and as such, can't bear to go a meal without meat. However, I will pad it out a little. Obviously fresh, seasonal veg is a cheap way to do so, but legumes are even better thanks to their high protein quota which helps keep you fuller, longer. Lamb and french lentils are the perfect pairing, but I'll also throw some chickpeas in with a curry, or add red kidney beans to a plate of spicy beef.

3. Switch off. Getting into the habit of turning off lights and non-essential electrical appliances (such as microwaves and DVD players) at the wall, it not only gives you a green glow - it cuts your energy bills by quite a bit too.

4. Halve it. Whenever I wash clothes, dishes or my hair, I halve the recommended size of the washing suds - that way, I only need to buy them half as often!

5. People power. Whenever possible these days I try to walk, rather than drive. The price of petrol is scary and I'd rather expel my own hot air than stinky fumes from my car.

food fight

Tough economic times, and a backyard renovation that's escalating in cost every second or so, are making me rethink my shopping budget. In winter it's easy to cook cheap and easy meals - as I do so love slow-cooked cheap cuts. However, in summer I spend most of my time firing up the bbq, and I've yet to work out an alternative to salmon or thick, organic steaks. Stir-fries perhaps? What's your best frugal tip for the food world?

salt and pepper

I'm a huge fan of salt - particularly Maldon, Murray River Pink Salt and the pretty grey french salt. And peppercorns, oh I adore them, couldn't make a meal without them. However, in my hair? Not so appealing. 

I've been dying my hair a glossy raven hue for more than half my life, but it's really starting to fight back now with the white hairs outnumbering the brunette, oh, by about a million to one. I'm sitting here now with my head fill of dye, showercap on, hoping the builders don't decide to wander past my study window and peek in - cos it's not pretty.

Touching up the regrowth every three weeks is an ideal I never attain, but what are my options? I've already stated that I'm only embracing the platinum on my 60th birthday - and I can't go lighter - can I? I love chocolate locks on others, and I'm sure it'd make the greys less Bride of Frankenstein obvious (hey, shouldn't that be Bride of Frankenstein's monster...) but I'm still a fan of being back in black. 

j'adore

At the moment I'm totally crushing on Dior. It all started with the new campaign featuring Marion and has escalated to dizzying heights. Therefore, I had no option but to feature these as my shoe of the week. I know it's late, so late that it actually qualifies as Saturday's Shoe, but I adore its simplicity and style. Glossy red toes, with a touch of sparkle, would beg to peep from these. Non?

book shelf

Obviously the grey skies have me in a cocooning frame of mind. Here's another book I'm just desperate to read. I am bewitched by Maggie Alderson. I pounce on her columns and avidly read her books over again. She has such a perfect tone. And look at this cover - it's perfection. I'm pretty sure that when she saw it her heart leapt with glee - as did mine. Hope my hubby's got a few ideas for my christmas stocking by now. Any gaps? Fill 'em with boxes from Tiffany & Co I would imagine...

pour moi

Here's another book that's making me sigh. I got my little hands on a copy last week (thank you Nicola xx) and it's bliss in hardcover. So many shoes to sigh over. I also found out that my favourite French red suede shoes (mary janes, with a double straps and a cute black heel) were made by Charles Jourdan - which is a pleasant surprise, but they're so comfortable and stylish I'm hardly surprised.

I was continually amazed at the level of experimentation in shoes going back to the 30s and 40s when there was some pretty avant garde stuff happening. If you see a copy snavel it up. In Aus the cover has a pretty pale pink champagne background which melts my heart and would look amazing on a glass-topped coffee table. If you're a shoe gal, this is a must-have.

wish list

For Christmas I've got a hankering for this book. I adore Tessa's book Apples for Jam, and think Venezia could float me back to the grand canal and the tiny, cobbled streets of Venice. Look at those scallops served in their shells - nature's provided the perfect serving dish and my mouth's watering in anticipation. Should I unwrap this little beauty I'm bound to hug it close to my heart, and yes, little claps of glee are bound to spring from my joy.

try hards

Yesterday I went with my daughter's class on an interesting excursion. She's in year 3, so it was a class of eight and nine year olds, and they went on a bus down to Sydney to Centrepoint Tower for a trip through the kitchens and coldrooms before heading to the restaurant for a buffet meal. The kids were rather interested in the massive pots of bones and vegies used for making stock and sauces, and by the sheer size of the vat used for boiling up the ravioli. I was curious to see how adventurous these children would be when confronted by a range of foods, and being allowed to pick and choose.

I'd expected that there'd be some adventurous eaters, but I guess that when you point out the chicken nuggets and fries, that's what most kids will load their bowls with. I must say I was impressed with my gal, who tried the salad leaves, a few king prawns, ravioli, spring rolls and a singapore noodle dish with glee. She also loaded up on some lovely rare roast beef and tried the kangaroo too. Obviously my adventurous eating's rubbing off on her!

making me happy today

• Gardenia blooming by my front steps

• Friends popping in for morning tea

• Roses kissed by the rain

• Coffee in a pretty cup

• Ham and cheese toasted sandwiches

• Sheets swirling in the washing machine

• Fence posts ready to go in the ground - to create a nice high fence to hide the neighbour's house

• Giggling over funny bits on the Rachel Zoe Project (new obsession - and a serious one)

• Tom Ford's sexay perfume

• Tiles being laid in my pool, hinting at the icy blue water soon to follow

no boys allowed

Gentlemen, tune out now, 'cause you're not going to care for this rant. Ladies, may I have your attention. As a woman I've spent years being bemused by products being aimed at me. Lately it's the deodorant aimed at keeping your underarms pretty (seriously - do I CARE?)... But the most recent one is a doozy - tampons with wings, designed to catch stuff the others miss.

Um, I don't get it. Aren't tampons meant to be, well, you know, snug and stuff? How exactly are these wings going to help? 

You know what? I have to buy tampons, I'm not happy about it, but I do. I don't need a ridiculous, superfluous reason to buy them (that said, that tampon ad, with the beaver? Funny)

Wings? Fly back to the starting board buster, you need to try harder than that.

oh my

I do believe I'll be adding the December issue of British Vogue to my wishlist. While I'm not a fan of Kate Moss (call me a prude but I do believe that the only white powder a mother should use is talc) I do so adore Dior, tulle, cream and black, Karl, disco glam and ooh, the Tim Burton + Helena Bonham Carter shoot? Goodness gracious me. 

it's all about me... or maybe not

It takes some people a while to move from the egocentric toddler phase - you know, the one where they honestly believe the world revolves around them. Apparently it's taken me over 30 years. See I've always thought that if a salesperson gives me cruddy service, it's my fault. If I don't hear from an editor that I've pitched story ideas to, it's because my stories just weren't good enough. A friend doesn't seem friendly? Obviously I've done something to offend. Now, I finally realise, it's not all about me.

That salesperson could have had a fight with their partner that morning, or they're wearing poorly fitting shoes, or they just hate their job. The editor's flat out and has received over 100 emails that morning and the phone won't stop ringing. The friend's child has wet the bed again, another child has a fever and their husband's job isn't as secure as they'd hoped. Or they're just grumpy.

A more positive, optimistic frame of mind would help us all move through life easier. Obviously if you don't remember doing something to offend your friend, you haven't (or you need to revise your drinking habits). Thinking to yourself "This ALWAYS happens to me!" is the shortest route to assuring that crappy things will continue to be attracted to you. If you shrug, brush them off and move on, chances are things will be better tomorrow.

Change can often be a shock, but chances are it'll open your eyes to a whole new life.

on ice

I don't know if it's my fridge, but I'm not good at freezing. No matter how well I wrap items, they seem to come out coated in ice crystals, freezer burnt, dried out and tasteless. Until recently, I've only had luck freezing vodka and limoncello (what's that you say about priorities?)

However, I know that a full fridge is an effectively running fridge, so short of stocking it with a range of flavoured vodkas (however tempting that may be...) I've found a few items that work for me freezer-wise. I keep rice in the freezer as I've found rice to be weavil's best friend. I can't abide larder moths, and have found since popping the flour into the freezer for a week, and storing my rice in there long-term, I've had nary a moth flutter in my face. I also store the grated cheese in the cold zone. I've found that pre-grated cheese tends to mould faster than the regular kind, but I don't use enough of it to justify using it before it turns a greenish hue. I'll also pop the ends of bread in the freezer in a big bag too, so they're nice and solid when I need to grate them for fresh breadcrumbs. I've also taken to storing the wrapping from butter in there, so when I need to grease a tin, I'll take it out and within a few minutes it'll be ready for spreading.

Oh, and there's always plenty of ice cubes in there of course... A vodka tonic needs a few cubes to clink against.

on the cards

We're going to a wedding this afternoon, and excitingly, I'll be wearing heels with my physio's blessing. I've got the pressie and the paper, but oh my lord - the cards! Now, there are plenty of lovely cards around at the moment for birthdays. Pretty, fun, tasteful... but for weddings? Zilch. The only card I found vaguely appealing was $10. Yes, $10 for a card. I'll pay that for a glass of champagne, but not for a card, that's just silly. Luckily I fell back on my old standby of a pretty floral card with a blank interior. I'd much prefer to add my own words than fall on the twee offerings of the card companies. I'll raise a glass to my lovely readers this afternoon, and promise to tread carefully!

red hot

Making me smile today are these utterly adorable Betsey Johnson shoes. I love that woman, love what she does... and now need a pair of her heels. How perfect is the polkadot lining? I adore attention to detail and these are lacking in nothing. I'm also trying to ignore what I'm pretty sure is the most perfect thing I've ever seen - that little bow on the sole. Oh my...

model behaviour

Self-esteem and girls is a major issue. Speak to most adult women and they'll tell you they had major self-esteem issues as a teen - and some even as a pre-teen. There's a half a dozen reasons, or more, why this happens. Peer pressure, unrealistic images in the media... and your mother's attitude to her body and looks. 

I've always made it a point to never express any negative comment about my body - no matter how enormous or unattractive I may feel on any given day. Generally I'm pretty okay about it all. You know, my body holds all my organs in, my legs move me around, hands help me type... I scrub up okay, particularly with a smear of make-up. But I don't comment negatively about myself, or others, to my daughter. Hopefully this'll help her a little with her self-esteem. We also compliment her regularly on her intelligence, her sporting ability, her dancing - not enough to allow her to become deluded about her abilities - just enough. 

She's also got me as a role model for what a 41-year-old woman, who's had a child, looks like. She's seen my stomach and the rest of my body, and knows that this is normal - for me. So I pity Sunday Rose. In what I swear will be my final comment about Nicole Kidman (or She Who Must Not Be Named, Ever Again, Without Changing The Title Of This Blog To Nicole Kidman's Bad Plastic Surgery) what is Sunday Rose going to think when she looks back on pictures of her mum? She'll see what used to be a gorgeous red head, with a mass of curls, full cheeks, a normal nose and lips that tended to the thin side. Then, after Sunday's birth, she'll see a blonde generic glamazon with lips that now look like the love child of Angelina Jolie and Jamie Oliver. A girl will have to be pretty strong and well-adjusted to feel confident in her own looks, whether quirky or conventional, to overcome the impact of a mother who's constantly altering hers.

balancing act

In exciting news I went to my physio yesterday and have undergone a healing of miraculous proportions ankle-wise. I'm off crutches and able to drive again - two weeks early! Apparently I have the strongest ligaments he's seen in a while, which I must say is probably due to my flamingo impersonations. No, seriously, whenever I have to stand, I try to stand on one leg. I don't want to be one of those un-balanced senior citizens, so I've been studiously working on my balance for the past year and it's paid dividends with my speedy recovery. I mightn't be able to wear heels to the wedding on Friday (although I might, if they're tightly laced and my ankle's strapped...) but I'm free to leave the house which is a bonus. I make a mighty cranky shut-in.

movement at the station

On the list of women I love I can now include Diane Lane. She's a touch older than me, and, happily, looks it. She's utterly gorgeous, and yet capable of expression - and it's so nice to see that hasn't stopped her from being cast in films - playing a sexy woman.

I read a piece by Mia Freedman the other day where she said she walked out of a screening of The Women and the serious plastic surgery on many of the leading ladies' faces had a fair bit to do with it. Acting's a subtle craft. A good actor has great intonation, knows how to manipulate their body to convey expression and most importantly, can reveal so much with a raised eyebrow or furrowed brow. Take away that ability to raise said eyebrow or furrow aforementioned brow and you're taking away a fair chunk of an actors ability to craft.

I've stopped buying a lot of magazines as I feel they don't respect my intelligence and seriously, if Hollywood doesn't lay off the fillers, lifts and jabs, I'm going to refuse to see some films. That's why tonight I'm going to see Nights in Rodanthe as it stars Diane Lane in all her natural beauty. That's also why, despite my love for all the films of Baz Luhrman, I am staying away from Australia - and am boycotting a large chunk of mags featuring plastic Nic in their pages. 

I really worry that with all this emphasis on surgery, kids these days are going to grow up without a sense of what's real. Will boys and girls expect that breasts are perfectly round objects that sit on chests like a  halved melon? Check out the cover of any men's mag - not a real breast to be seen - just these 'perfectly' spherical creations deigned as 'sexy'. 

While Hollywood and the media have always thrown out ideals of beauty that many of us can't fit into, at least they've been diverse and somewhat real. Now they're generic and totally unreal. When you spend a few minutes staring at a cover trying to work out is that her, or that other actress, or that model you know things are getting mighty similar. 

The only way to get them to stop, is for us to hit them where it hurts - in the bank account. Just say no to botoxed beauties in blockbusters.

manic monday

Oooh, some days are tough. Today's one. It's a monday, I had a touch too much champagne at a friend's house yesterday, the builders have come in today and have pulled down and are rebuilding the walls the bricklayers spent two days working on last week and blogger won't let me comment on my own blog. Rude!

Luckily, hangovers pass (especially when bacon's involved...), there are a half a dozen blokes out the backyard doing what one guy spent two days doing (poorly apparently) and I can state in my blog - "Yes Sara, I must borrow Big Fish on DVD as it was one of my favourite books - and if Marion Cotillard is in it it's now a must-see. And hey, is Ewan McGregor in that - or is that my hangover/fantasy self talking???" Obviously I can't change the fact it's a monday, and I can't drive for another two weeks or so, but I can put a positive spin on it. So here it is

Making Monday a Fun Day

Today I'm thankful...

That I don't have a plaster cast on my ankle

That I have lovely, utterly divine friends who care for me

That I have a husband I still love to bits and pieces

That I've been blessed with a very special daughter

That I have a roof over my head - and a very nice one at that

That I have fabulous readers who share so much with me

That I discovered a divine, cheap, French sparkling wine (Veuve Amiot... and you can always just say, "Would you like a glass of Veuve darling?")

What are you thankful for today?