Saturday shopping - 5th January 2013

Got up relatively early this morning (just after 8), trying not to be dismayed at the fact that it was still dark.  I thought the dark evenings would be a bit of an adjustment again after returning from the southern hemisphere but it seems it's the mornings I'm going to struggle with.  I've taken an executive decision to set my alarm clock for 8 for the next couple of months and to not put myself under pressure to get up earlier than that to do things like go swimming or get some cleaning done before work, not to mention the elusive "I'll go into work early today".  8 is time enough to get ready for work without rushing too much, including time for a quick breakfast and still being on time for work at 9.

I was going to go straight to the market but ended up instead giving the fridge a thorough cleaning.  I'd emptied it and switched it off while I was away but ran out of time before I could clean it properly.  So that's all done and it's switched back on again.  Let's see if I can keep it clean and tidy this year.  I had four open jars of chutney and I really need to not do that kind of thing anymore.  Two of them have gone in the bin this morning as they didn't smell quite right but the other two, as well as the jam and mustard, seem to have survived quite well.  Since the heating was off while I was away as well, the temperature in the kitchen will have been fairly low most of the time anyway.  I've started the freezer off with a few ice-cubes and the ice-pack but want to really think about it before anything else goes in there.

I took the time to write out a meal plan for the week and set out for the market. I stopped first to put some empty bottles in the recycle bin and headed for the greengrocer on the corner to get some lemons and oranges (planning to make some ice-lollies as well as lots more lemon and honey hot drinks for my cold).  Both were on "special" offer, although if I remember the prices from last year correctly, more expensive than before.  Oh well.

I headed off to the market only to arrive and realise they must be taking their usual holiday.  I can't remember how long it's for and because I was away for all of December, I missed out on any signs they would have had up.  Presumably they'll be back next week but I have to admit I was momentarily confounded.  Something of a salutary lesson in taking things for granted, I suppose.

I walked back around to my street and stopped at the Reformhaus.  A Reformhaus is basically a health-food shop.  They all have the umbrella term Reformhaus in their name but are independently run shops and although my local one is not the biggest there is, it's a decent size and the people are nice.  I got eggs there and picked up some Detox Tea that was on offer as well.  Can't hurt.  And got a freebie sample of an elderflower and apple teabag, which smells so delicious I'm going to make a large cup of tea later and then freeze that as ice-lollies, too.

After that I headed into the SuperBioMarkt (organic supermarket, probably something similar to Whole Foods in the States, I think).  I normally don't buy veg, or anything much, there because the veg tends not to last very well and be mostly imported from afar and the prices can be steep.  However, I do need to eat this week and I should count myself lucky that I have the opportunity and the money to have the choice.  I tried to restrict myself at least to German produce and got some potatoes (selection was not good, three types and almost all with only very small ones left), a couple of carrots, an onion and some leeks.  I also picked up two sweet potatoes, which were from Spain.  I am growing very fond of this vegetable but the only ones available most of the time are imported from the USA.  If I have a chance to talk to one of the farmers at the market next time, I want to ask them if they'd consider growing them.  I don't think it's that easy to do so in this climate though.

In the SuperBioMarkt I also got some milk, raspberry joghurt and cheese.  I was able to get mostly what I wanted to get from the market although I decided not to buy any chicken or apples and didn't get any salad either, so will need to rethink my menu a bit. 

On the way back home I stopped to get some bread and a couple of bread rolls (which look like they're double the normal size) and also popped in to the bookshop to spend some of the lovely book token my boss gave me for christmas.  I hadn't gotten a diary for 2013 yet and was spared the agony of decision-making as they only had one left in the size and type I like.  I also bought Eating Animals, which is a book I've wanted to read for a while.  I love, love, love book tokens.

Price list for today's shopping
SuperBioMarkt (all organic stuff, all prices in euro)

1 litre milk - 1.35 (plus 0.15 deposit on bottle)

Joghurt - 1.79 (plus 0.15 deposit on jar)

Leeks - 2.96 (3.79/kg)

Sweet potatoes - 2.65 (3.49/kg)

Potatoes (have forgotten the type) - 1.23 (1.99/kg)

Carrots - 0.28 (1.29/kg)

Onion - 0.73 (2.49/kg)

Cheese - 5.19 (14.90/kg)

Reformhaus

Detox tea - 5.65

6 eggs - 2.10 (0.35 each)

Bakery

2 spicy rolls - 1.20

Half a Delikatessbrot - 1.55

Greengrocer

6 lemons - 3.90

3 oranges - 1.95

Bookshop

Paperblanks diary - 12.95

Eating animals - 9.95

Total spend today: 32.17 cash, 22.90 book token

I'm going to try and start doing proper meal plans and tracking what I eat again, which I will post about on the other blog, for anyone who's interested in that.

2012 - the year in books summary

Here's the summary of totals for the books that I read during last year (here's the link to last year's for anyone who's interested):

• Books by male authors: 53
• Books by female authors:59
• Plus one book written by both a man and a woman
• Fiction: 86
• Non-fiction: 27
• English books: 108
• German books: 5
• Books re-read: 22
• Bookclub books: 7

 I had a somewhat vague aim to read 12 non-fiction and 12 German books in 2012.  Didn't manage it with the German but more than doubled last year's amount, which is something.  And I have several books on hand that I didn't get around to reading last year which will give me a good start on German reading this year.

I read a lot more non-fiction although there are a couple of very short e-books included in that total.  Seven of the non-fiction books were auto-biographies but even taking both of those things into account I still read more than my aim and hope to continue with that this year. 

A few more photos from Oz

Hyam's Beach, Jervis Bay - I would happily go back and spend several weeks just in this spot.  I miss the sea where I live and have never enjoyed swimming in it as much as I did here.  The power of the waves is immense and I now more fully comprehend what my therapist was talking about when he spoke of an epiphanic moment he experienced standing in the ocean once.

The Three Sisters - taken from Echo Point, Katoomba, Blue Mountains

Part of the rainforest beneath the Three Sisters - no photo can ever capture the immensity of this place (I checked, even the professional photos on sale in the souvenir shops just couldn't do it justice).

A park in Brisbane - I was captivated by the beautiful trees I saw in Australia

Another view, taken from the same spot as the photo above - had been enjoying the view and glanced down to see that, sad though it is, some things will always be the same, no matter where in the world you are.

Another tree, different park in a different part of Brisbane

Koala bear in Taronga Zoo

I'm behind the times as always - but here's Imelda May

I'm hopeless when it comes to keeping up with what's current in music.  I did start listening to the radio a bit more during last year so at least I'm a bit more up to date these days.  On the other hand, German radio plays an awful lot of (my beloved) 80s hits as well as an awful lot of horrible summer DJ type music so I cannot claim to have been exposed to an awful lot of good music.  I caught a glimpse of Gangnam Style on one of those review of the year programs last night.  Even though I've seen take-offs of it a few times, that was the first time I'd actually seen what those were based on.  I don't really get it but am fairly used to that feeling.  As someone who loves the llama song, I can't really claim to necessarily know what's good or not, I suppose.

How and ever, I just came across an interview for Irish television's new year celebrations with a singer called Imelda May.  I've never heard of her before but she seems like a lovely down to earth woman and, having found a few things on youtube, I'm liking her stuff so far.  Here's a clip of her singing on the Graham Norton show, followed by a short interview, in which she talks about the honour of having her photo placed on the wall of the martial arts studio above her local chipper next to Bruce Lee, Elvis and Jesus.

2012 - The Year in Books

For the third time, I am posting no big list of what the year brought me or what I plan for 2013.  Instead, you get just the year in books (here's 2010 and 2011's lists).  This year again I tried to remember to write down each book on a list whenever I finished it, or at least every three or four.  I haven't added the numerous gardening books, cook books, preserving books, simple living and general craft books that I dip into regularly throughout the year.

If you fancy posting something about your reading in 2012, hop on over to clickclackgorilla and join he book lovers' blog hop.  Simply add a link to your post at the bottom of this post and include a link back to that post from yours.  Sounds confusing but it's easy really.  I promise.  Thanks again to Nikki for the inspiration to keep a list of books during the year, not to mention for running a round-up for everyone to join in.  I do find it really interesting to see what others are reading but more than that, I have to admit that I find it really interesting to look back over what I've read.  I sometimes find myself wanting to re-read a book that, if I look at my list, I've just read recently.  And sometimes I look at some of the books on the list and it seems like years ago that I read them.

I'll follow this post in a day or two with a summary of totals for the different categories and plans for next year's reading. I failed totally in my intentions to actually post a bit more about the books I've been reading this year - will have to work on that next year I think.  Having a laptop at home again should help on that score though.

(BC) = Book club books
(RR) = something I've re-read - there are some books, such as by Georgette Heyer, that I invariably read every year when the escapism of new fiction isn't enough and I want to escape into familiar stories that always make me laugh or cry.

1. Jeder stirbt für sich allein - Hans Fallada (BC)
2. god is not Great - How Religion Poisons Everything - Christopher Hitchens
3. The Fry Chronicles - Stephen Fry
4. More Than You Can Say - Paul Torday
5. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
6. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
7. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
8. Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong
9. Lark Rise - Flora Thornton
10. Living with the dead - Kelley Armstrong
11. Over to Candleford - Flora Thornton
12. Something Rotten - Jasper Fforde
13. Candleford Green - Flora Thornton
14. Sylvester - Georgette Heyer (RR)
15. Funny Boy - Shyam Selvadurai (BC)
16. A Civil Contract - Georgette Heyer (RR)
17. Charity Girl - Georgette Heyer (RR)
18. Trainspotting - Irvine Welsh
19. Sprig Muslin - Georgette Heyer (RR)
20. Arabella - Georgette Heyer (RR)
21. Bath Tangle - Georgette Heyer (RR)
22. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows - J.K. Rowling (RR)
23. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
24. April Lady - Georgette Heyer (RR)
25. The Unknown Ajax - Georgette Heyer (RR)
26. Paradise News - David Lodge (BC)
27. Heidi - Die Lehr- und Wanderjahre - Johanna Spyri
28. Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt
29. A Monk Swimming - Malachy McCourt
30. Emma - Jane Austen
31. Men of the Otherworld - Kelley Armstrong
32. Frostbitten - Kelley Armstrong
33. Second Coming - John Given
34. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - Deborah Moggach
35. A Dance with Dragons 1: Dreams and Dust - George R. R. Martin
36. A Dance with Dragons 2: After the Feast - George R. R. Martin
37. The Summoning - Kelley Armstrong
38. The Awakening - Kelley Armstrong
39. The Reckoning - Kelley Armstrong
40. Half-Blood Blues - Esi Edugyan
41. This Champagne Mojito is the Last Thing I Own - Ross O'Carroll Kelly as told to Paul Howard
42. Mr S. and the Secrets of Andorra's Box - Ross O'Carroll Kelly as told to Paul Howard
43. The Oh My God Delusion - Ross O'Carroll Kelly as told to Paul Howard
44. NAMA Mia! - Ross O'Carroll Kelly as told to Paul Howard
45. The Pope's Children: Ireland's New Elite - David McWilliams
46. Follow the Money - David McWilliams
47. The Speckled People - Hugo Hamilton
48. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
49. A Long Way from Penny Apples - Bill Cullen
50. The Emperor Wears No Clothes - Jack Herer (RR)
51. Do you come here often? - Alexandra Potter
52. Heat - Georg Monbiot
53. E-Mail an Alle - Matt Beaumont
54. Knight in Shining Armour - JoAnn Ross (RR)
55. Germany and the Germans - John Ardagh 
56. First Among Sequels - Jasper Fforde
57. One of our Thursdays in missing - Jasper Fforde
58. Merde Actually - Stephen Clarke
59. Children of Men - P. D. James
60. Xenophobe's Guide to the Aussies - Ken Hunt
61. Down Under - Bill Bryson
62. Hope and Glory - Stuart Maconie (BC)
63. Room - Emma Donoghoe
64. Ein Mann für jede Tonart - Hera Lind
65. The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
66. Making History - Stephen Fry (RR)
67. Lobsters scream when you boil them and 100 other myths about food and cooking...plus 25 recipes to get it right every time - Bruce Weinstein + Mark Scarbrough
68. Great Irish Love Stories - Una Morrissy
69. These Old Shades - Georgette Heyer (RR)
70. The Masqueraders - Georgette Heyer (RR)
71. The Edible Woman - Margaret Atwood
72. Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
73. Devil's Cub - Georgette Heyer (RR)
74. Curly Girl - Lorraine Massey with Deborah Chiel
75. Tipping the Velvet - Sarah Waters
76. Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
77. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
78. Waking the Witch - Kelley Armstrong
79. Two Sisters - Gore Vidal
80. The Kin - Suth's Story - Peter Dickinson
81. Sylvester - Georgette Heyer (RR)
82. Dime Store Magic - Kelley Armstrong (RR)
83. Industrial Magic - Kelley Armstrong (RR)
84. The City and the Pillar - Gore Vidal (BC)
85. Irisches Tagebuch - Heinrich Boell
86. Tales of the Otherworld - Kelley Armstrong
87. Spellbound - Kelley Armstrong
88. Thirteen - Kelley Armstrong
89. The Protector's War - S. M. Stirling
90. Jewel Garden - Sarah and Monty Don
91. The Sunrise Lands - S. M. Stirling
92. A Meeting at Corvallis - S. M. Stirling
93. Off the Grid without a Paddle - Lynne Farr
94. The Scourge of God - S. M. Stirling
95. Food Self-Sufficiency: Reality Check - Susan Gregersen
96. A Modest Proposal - Dr. Jonathan Swift
97. Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood (BC)
98. Friday's Child - Georgette Heyer (RR)
99. 7 Myths about Aquaponics - Michelle Booth
100. Grand Sophy - Georgette Heyer
101. The Talisman Ring - Georgette Heyer
102. An Only Child - Frank O'Connor
103. My Father's Son - Frank O'Connor
104. Venetia - Georgette Heyer (RR)
105. Cotillion - Georgette Heyer (RR)
106. The Convenient Marriage - Georgette Heyer
107. Cousin Kate - Georgette Heyer (RR)
108. Coming Home to Eat: The Pleasures and Politics of Local Foods - Gary Paul Nabhan
109. The Sword of the Lady - S. M. Stirling
110. The High King of Montival - S. M. Stirling
111. The Tears of the Sun - S. M. Stirling
112. Dead Aid - Why aid is not working and how there is another way for Africa - Dambisa Moyo
113. English As We Speak It in Ireland - P. W. Joyce (okay, I'm only halfway through this but I may finish it this evening so I'm going to go ahead and include it but leave out the other three or four books I've started but not yet finished this year :) )

A few random things

For no particular reason I was thinking of this X Factor audition recently and have just re-watched it (again).  Brings tears to my eyes every time as well as a huge grin.  Jonathan has such an incredible voice and I can't wait to get my hands on their album (I just googled it and there is one, called Together). 

Christmas in the middle of summer is kind of wrecking my head.  Hearing ads on telly for getting great christmas deals to start your summer off with a bang is rather disconcerting.  As is seeing things like this (taken at Darling Harbour on Saturday):

And this (ditto):

Of course, after a couple of weeks of regular 40 degree sunny weather before I arrived, Sydney seems to have decided to be a bit Irish in terms of the weather now.  This is what Manly Beach looks like at the moment:

 And the Opera House was somewhat overshadowed by those clouds. 

Everywhere I've been is, understandably enough, fairly touristy but still I've been in one or two nice shops, including braintree hemp, which was selling real soap, something that isn't as easy to find as one might think.  Now to find a lovely piece of aboriginal art to take home with me that won't break the bank.

I slept the night through last night for the second time since getting here, although I didn't actually get to sleep until about 2 o'clock.  Jet lag is kind of kicking my ass but that might also partly be just trying to relax after an extremely busy few months.  Hooray for long holidays!

Holidays - at last

In the way that these things often happen, the day of departure for my visit to Australia seemed to be impossibly far away and yet has arrived far more quickly than seemed possible.  I think I've barely even mentioned it here.

Regardless, tomorrow I head for Frankfurt, a German book club meeting (still haven't read the book, oops) and then some Glühwein at the Weihnachtsmarkt.  And it's gotten cold enough over the last couple of days that drinking mulled wine will be even more of a pleasure - the year we had to take our jackets off because we got too warm while drinking it just wasn't the same.

Then on Sunday morning it's off to the airport for a flight to Kuala Lumpur, where I'll spend nearly two days before heading on to arrive in Sydney on my birthday.  My sister and her hubby will pick me up from the airport and after dinner that evening I suspect the next item on the itinerary will be sleep for at least three days.  At some stage I'll head up to Brisbane for a day or two.  My sister has a few days off before christmas and we're going to stay in the Blue Mountains for a couple of days as well as a night in a place called Jervis Bay, which she has wanted to go to for a while.  BiL is going to do a full traditional Irish christmas dinner, complete with turkey, ham, mashed and roast potatoes and all the other trimmings.  Sounds lovely.  Except that it's 40 degrees in Sydney at the moment.  Still, eating is the easy part, at least I don't have to cook all that. When I come back at the end of the month, I'm going to stay in my friend's place in Frankfurt for a few days and then I'll come back home.  All in all, I have FIVE weeks holidays and I cannot wait.  Just a few more hours of work (with twice as much to do as it should be possible to get through in those hours, naturally) and I can go home and start packing.

We got paid yesterday, including our bonus for this year (the last one - they're doing away with it next year). I didn't really manage to get my finances back under control quickly after the events of last April and May, so I've used my bonus to clear the credit card which I had used to book my flight and have paid a chunk off my old credit card and overdraft balances, too.  Debt balance is still five thousand, which is about where I was this time last year, if I recall correctly.  But my trip to Australia is paid for now and I have cash saved to spend while there (about what my sister recommended, which is three times what I would have thought necessary).  Sensibly speaking, I should have postponed it for another year but for one reason and another (not least that the bank holidays around the end of the year mean less holiday days used up to take a long time off work) I decided to go ahead with it and I am really glad.  I really need a break, I think it'll mean a lot to my sister that someone from her family is finally going to visit her and it's a once in a lifetime trip that should be lots of fun.  I don't much like the heat but I do think a few weeks of sunshine in the middle of winter is going to do me a lot of good as well.  Maybe I'll even start to get my vitamin D deficiency under control. And my sister's going to lend me her camera when I'm there so you might even get to see a decent photo or two.  Hooray for holidays!