Sculpture by the Sea

Already rather stunning, my morning run has been elevated somewhat this week, firstly by the sighting of wales and also by the installation of Sculpture by the Sea which opens on Thursday. Each day, I've watched the artists and dig little coffin squares of turf, and lovingly begin to place their pieces, either by hand, or by crane as I saw this morning.

There are still many half installed, which I didn't photograph, but it was lovely to meet some of the artists, watching their works come to fruition.

I think the concept is such a good one which could be adapted for many locations, including the not so glamorous.

What a tart!

Ottolenghi Cafes are like high-end fashion stores. They are all white with the odd bit of abstract wall art and staffed by the perfectly formed whose body shapes confirm that they have never even licked one of the perfect meringues that they sell, piled high on the countertop. There are loads and loads of big white bowls with delicious exotic salads, salmon wrapped in delicate tissue pastry and passion fruit cakes that whisper your name when you go in to buy your mellow latte (in a white cup). Often I’ve tried to emulate the broccoli, chill and flaked almonds but never succeeded to get it just right.

Yotam Ottolenghi writes a column for the Guardian on a Saturday, with a vegetarian slant. He’s kindly packaged his recipes up in a (white) book so that now I can try with more success. M unkindly said that the food in the pictures looked like the top of your rubbish bin when you take off the lid. They are all messy and deliciously half-eaten-looking. I don’t care, I love food like that, and Mr. Ottolenghi’s book, 'Plenty', has remained on the kitchen table permanently.

I’ve tried lots of the offerings. They’ve all come out perfectly, although some of the ingredients required are not your average. They are often a tiny bit fiddly, including the caramelized garlic tart, which I made yesterday, which took about 2 hours. Mr. Ottolenghi claims that this is the most delicious tart ever. He isn’t lying. I made mine in a massive frilly pie tin and it’s all gone now. I’m not going to bother typing up the recipe because I think you should go and buy the book so you can make lots of fabulous bin food.

Toy shop for foodies

Now that Spring has gone all summery, my food thoughts have moved to light, fluffy things, ideally that I can cook and the children can scoff when they get home from school without too much mess.

I had my eye on a tart, which required a large, frilly edged pan, and so I had chance to go down to Chefs Warehouse again to purchase. I love this store. Its stuffed full of amazing things that you never thought you’d ever need but surely I could just make room for some pastry trays? Or what about the paella tin the size of my living room? Not only does it sell tools, but also carries a small amount of specialist but of course essential ingredients such as pomegranate molasses, and smoked paprika.

Chefs Warehouse, 111-115 Albion Street, Surry Hills 2010 Tel +61 2 9211 4555

Dolphins

Saturday began as one of those perfect days. It was sunny and warm - about 27 degrees. We went north to look at a house for the summer, which was called 'Dolphin View'. The name turned out to be rather apt as out on Pittwater on our boat shortly afterwards, we were joined by a pod of about 8 dolphins. We were just about to pull out of the Heads and there they were, about a metre from the front of the boat swimming alongside us. I frantically scrabbled for my phone to take some pictures but with my excited finger right over the lens, most are unclear. I wished I could have recorded their sound which was amazing. What a treat and hopefully a sign as we're taking the house.

Apparently its very rare to see them in Pittwater - I can find records of sightings about 8 years ago. About an hour later, a big storm came in so perhaps they were seeking shelter.

Mad Men or rather Bad Men

There are many good things about Australia, but in general, I think advertising is not one of them. Unfortunately, most things incite a groan or at best, hysterical laughter, due to its badness - there is one at the moment which involves a woman remaining in a dentist chair all day to promote that 'feeling' - which always reduces me to giggles.

Here is yet another pointless ad which is supposedly selling orange juice, but it could well be petrol for the relevance of the ad. What a total waste of hoarding space!

Mitchell Road Antiques

Lazy Saturday 'doing' markets. Orange Grove in Lilyfield, followed by coffee in Rozelle (sitting next to Cate Blanchett, who is utterly gorgeous). On the way home, we stopped at Mitchell Road Antiques. Two floors of warehouse, stuffed with antiques from all eras. The top floor operates as a shop, with better quality and more expensive, stock. The lower level runs as a silent auction between Saturday and Tuesday, and we rooted around amongst fascinating pieces of old Australiana. M found the exact china of his family childhood, and we came away with a fabulous deckchair for our roof garden.

Royal National Park

Another jolly Sunday out on the motorbike. This time down to the Royal National Park, just south of the city. This park is so big it goes for miles and we barely scratched the surface. We ended up in a little beach town called Bundeena which, as the crow flies, is not that far from the city across the water. We joined an art walk along the coast and stumbled across a herd of deer, which I realise is unusual for Australia. The park was apparently run by a trust who released the captive deet in the late 1800's and they are now running riot, eating their way through fauna and rubbish bins.

The journey back was interesting as torrential rain made us stop many times for cups of tea, but we ended up back, soaked to the skin for the second time in a week.

Bright sparks

So, Spring... here one day, gone the next. I've put some shots of colour into my kitchen to keep me happy when the sun doesn't shine.

Graffiti

There's lots of graffiti close to where we live. I love it. I think its great that people are so bursting with colour and ideas that they want to put it about. I particularly like it when its just a little bit different. Or clever. This one could just as easily be a sign for a business which would make it a cool business. You certainly wouldn't miss it

What a difference a week makes

I've been meaning to visit the shop, the Society Inc, belonging to esteemed stylist and author, Sibella Court for a while now. Its everything I had hoped for, delicious things crammed into a tiny space filled with light and I came out smelling of gardenias and full of inspiration. For some reason, perhaps because its housed in a corner shop, I thought of the Cross in Holland Park but more in terms of vibe than contents. Its located in a residential street in Paddington, and I parked my car under a gorgeous tree, stuffed with pink flowers, which I think is a magnolia.

I've spent the week devouring Sibella Court's book, Etc which has opened my eyes to clutter in the nicest possible sense.

Grafitti(2)

Here's another local one which made me smile.

The world is full of interesting things

Not much blogging of late - mostly because I've been thinking about what's next and plans are afoot - more later. Meanwhile, here is something lovely to play with. Its a collection by Creative Lab of all things clever around the world, found on Google. Give it a chance to download, and curl up with a cup of tea and enjoy!

London Design Festival

Naturally I'm gutted to have missed the LDF this year, being so far away and all that. I'm a bit biased, having been involved a while back, but I think its one of the drivers in demonstrating Britain's designs talents and has set London way up front of any other city in terms of design. Luckily they have been very proactive on social media and I've been able to see lots of the highlights. Including this, featuring two of my favourite people, Jon Snow sitting in one of Thomas Heatherwick's spun chairs.