POTN in the City

I spent the better half of yesterday tramping round Brisbane with a tripod on my back and a camera bag on my side with nine other like minded people who I met through Photography on the Net, which is a Canon-centric message board. It was such a delightful day spent chatting, sharing tips and of course taking photos that I was sad to leave after lunch when the others were heading over to the Roma St Parklands but I had books to read, notes to make and granola muesli to cook.

We had arranged to meet at 5:30am at Kangaroo Point to take photographs of the cityscape in early morning light and we were all wishing for clearish skies and sun. We were not that lucky but at least we didn’t have rain like we had been having for the last couple of days.

#1

Once we had had our fill of the view from that area we boarded a cross-river ferry and headed to the Eagle St Pier/Riverside area to play along the boardwalk and between the buildings in the morning light.

Riverside Water Feature Riparian Plaza Water Feature Will it fall? Physical Activity

The Jogger
Running
Every morning she pounds the footpath,
Every morning she takes the same route.
She sees the same thing day in, day out,
Perhaps she notices the changes that appear,
Or maybe she doesn’t.

By now it was close to 8ish and we hopped on a CityCat to take us up to New Farm Park and the Powerhouse where we explored the industrial elements of the Powerhouse before sitting down for a warm beverage and hoping for the clouds to part again and give us some sun.

The Magnificent Seven walking through the park with the Rose Garden in their sights. Three of us were not in the shot.
The Magnificent Seven

In the Rose Garden I spent my time searching for fairies but yet again they let me down, I did find evidence of their life though in the following photos.

First we have some Fairy Tables.
Since the rains have finally started to come to Brisbane, the fairies have been praising the clouds as they bring mushrooms with the rain; growing in little clusters they are just perfect for a Fairy cocktail party.

Hello Fairy

Second is a newly opened Fairy Fabric Store. Have you ever seen a flower where a petal might be missing or a branch with a few missing leaves? This is prime evidence of Fairy life. Petals and leaves are excellent sources of high quality fairy cloth. This Rose store I believe might be a special occasion fabric store as the petals were all intact. Perhaps they are waiting for more mushrooms to pop up and then they will have a Fairy Ball.

Rose

After more chatting and photographing we hopped back on the CityCat and cruised the Brisbane River up to Bretts Wharf, pointing out good spots for photos along the way and then exploring the river bank at Bretts Wharf.

Then it was back on the CityCat to head back into the city for lunch and the Roma St Parklands. However, myself and three others started on the trip home after lunch instead of going to the parklands :(. As we walked through the city streets back to the ferry stop to take us back across the river to our cars I snapped this last one of the Brisbane buildingscape.

Brisbane

21 today :)

Sometime round 3:00pm this arvie I entered my twenty-first year of life.

Twenty-One years of been Helen Thura Palsson or Helen Þura Pálsdóttir depending on where you are in the world.
Twenty-One years of been the littlest sister to Karl, Anika, Herdis, Hafthor, Toti and Palli.
Nineteen and a half years of being the older sister to Matthew.
Almost at the end of seventeen years of schooling.
Three trips overseas.
Countless km’s spent on foot, bike, canoe or car exploring this Great Southern Land.
Friends made, friends lost and friends re-united.
At least one computer around for almost as long as I can remember.
Close to eleven years of orthodontics.
Four different musical instruments.
One broken arm, two broken toes, torn ligaments in my fingers and my ankle.
Countless trips to the library.
Four different jobs.
Three cameras of my own.
And countless other little bits and pieces that make me who I am.

I went to work as usual at 5am this morning and had the most delightful shift. When I rang the bell to be let in I was greeted with a big “Happy Birthday” from my closest friend at work so that was very nice and then as I moved through the store getting ready for work more people came up and wished me a good day. Then about 7:30am (30mins before the store opened) my line manager put a message over the PA system telling everyone it was my birthday and they should find me and wish me Happy Birthday.

Every Monday a lot of people start work at 5am, whereas on other days they would start between 7am and 9am, this is because of all the things that need to be done to set the shop for a new week of trading; display ends need to be built and tickets need to be changed (that is what I do). Because of this every Monday a group of us have morning tea together and we have a little roster set up so we all take turns brining in something to share. One of the other girls who I am also close to had her turn today so she made me a white chocolate mud cake with Happy 21st Helen on it as well as 22 little tiny cupcakes that spelt out Happy 21st Birthday Helen, it was so very nice! There was of course singing and chatting and people trying to remember how the tune to Happy Birthday Helen goes.

Yep, there is a song by the pretty classy Australian rock band Things of Stone and Wood called Happy Birthday Helen and every Aussie worth their salt knows the song. Of course the lyrics may not be totally relevant to my life but still it is Happy Birthday Helen.

Happy Birthday Helen
Things of Stone and Wood
[audio:Things of Stone and Wood – Happy birthday Helen.mp3]

Let’s not forget last night
Yeah, how we drove along the Yarra
How we sang harmonies
To Carole King

These three years now just gone
They are the legends of my mind
We both kneel at these rocks
To drink of the mem’ry

You are the tunes in my head, the fire in my ribs
You are the voice in my heart that whispers compassion
Happy birthday Helen
Oh-oh…, oh-oh…, oh-oh…

We kissed on that bridge that fell down
While we held hands at the Taj
We’ve been stuck in a cave
With that bloke who says Oi Am

And when I cried for my cruel heart
You rubbed my back ’til I felt better
We ate bread on the lake
And yearned for the seasons

You are the tunes in my head, the fire in my ribs
You are the voice in my heart that whispers compassion
Happy birthday Helen
Oh-oh…, oh-oh…, oh-oh…

You are the tunes in my head, the fire in my ribs
You are the voice in my heart that whispers compassion

You are the storm on the ocean, poems in the trees
The smell of the winter that haunts me each autumn
You’re my everything
You are my everything
You are my everything
Happy Birthday Helen
Oh-oh…, oh-oh…, oh-oh…
Shake

Oh-oh…, oh-oh…, oh-oh…
Oh-oh…, oh-oh…, oh-oh…
Happy birthday Helen

Tonight for dinner I made Roast Chicken with Sultana and Almond Cous Cous (from the Claudia Roden book) and Mum made Mulberry Crumble with the Mulberries I picked at the farm yesterday on our way home from having a birthday afternoon tea with Grandad. It was all just so very nice!

M’Hencha

I had a 20% off borders voucher last week so I spent some time looking at the shelves to decide what I wanted and after comparing many Moroccan cookbooks I eventually decided on Claudia Roden’s Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon (I have linked to amazon.co.uk as it is the version I have, look at that pretty cover, it is not released in the USA until October, 11mths after it was released everywhere else round the world). This book is gorgeous, I have only really had a good look at the Moroccan section but I have already planned future meals.

Helen's Birthday Snake

M’Hencha
A Moroccan pastry filled with almond paste and coiled into a snake shape which is what gives it it’s name (m’hencha is snake, I have also seen this called M’hanncha so I guess it is just variations of the word).

Since this recipe can be scaled very easily and depending on what you are making it for you may only want a small snake or perhaps you will want a large snake that could feed a hoard. The recipe in the book called for 1.5kg ground almonds to serve 30-40.

Filling
1.5 parts ground almonds/almond meal
1 part sugar (caster is recommended but I just used plain)
1 tsp or so ground cinnamon
2 tblsp rose water (orange blossom is called for but I only have rosewater at home)
few drops almond essence (optional)
I only used 1 tblsp rosewater and then used some water and a bit of butter to form it into a paste.

Pastry
filo sheets
1 egg beaten
melted butter

Preheat oven to 170°C and line a baking tray with al-foil.
Mix together the dry filling ingredients and gradually mix in the rosewater to form a paste. If it is dry, mix in a little bit of butter and water.
Lay down a filo sheet with the long side facing you and brush with melted butter. Pick up a small lump of the paste and in your hands roll into a snake that is about 2cm in diameter. Place this down on the filo sheet about 2cm in from the bottom and the edge, continue doing this till you have filled the length of the filo sheet, butting together each snake so you have no gaps and leaving about 2cm at the other end as well.
Roll the filo sheet and place on the baking tray. Carefully and gently curve the roll into a coil. The filo needs to be curved gently so not to tear.
Continue with more sheets until the paste has been used up, each time butting the ends of the rolls together to continue the coil. Brush the top of the snake with the egg and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the top is crispy and golden.
You could sprinkle the top with some flaked almonds before putting it in the oven.
Serve cold cut into wedges like a cake or break off bits of the coil.

All in all it was and still is very very nice 🙂

Go Blood Go

Tonight is the last night of The Chaser’s War on Everything. 🙁 The Chaser is the best show I have watched on TV for a while now. Those guys have me cracking up from the get-go to the very end of the weekly 26 minute episodes and tonight is the last night 🙁 and the best thing is re-watching the clips either via the ABC or on youtube, it is just total gold.

That doesn’t explain the post title though does it?
This afternoon I picked Mum up from her school and we headed to the Blood Bank to donate 🙂 Since my blood likes to be a total drama queen when it comes to donating I was not that hopeful that I would be able to donate the 470ml, especially as we had a slow start with my veins playing hide and go seek and then my blood only wanting to come out at a snail’s pace.

In an effort to get my blood pumping I started whispering ever so quietly to my arm “Go Blood Go” and after much whispering the buzzer went that said my time was up and I thought what a bummer I didn’t get the full amount but as the nurse came over to disconnect me she told me that I had in fact reached 470ml just as the buzzer went.
It worked!!! All that quiet whispering worked!! And to make it even better I received a lapel pin since it was my fifth donation!

I went to the local fruit store today to get some goodies to make goodies for my birthday picnic on Sunday, one of the things that happened to catch my eye when I was there was Rose Petal Jam from Syria! I plan on having some on my toast in the morning 🙂

Fireworks at the Ekka

Helen + Fireworks = One very happy Helen.

Really enough said. Fireworks have put a grin on my face and a twinkle in my eye for as long as I can remember and I can assure that is a very long time because I can remember things that happened years before my birth 20 years and 3 weeks ago 😉 … well not quite.

Fireworks Over Sideshow Alley II

I remember going to the Ekka when we were younger and sitting on Machinery Hill watching the entertainment after a long day of fun at the Ekka and the hush that came about when the fireworks started. I remember racing out to our back balcony on New Years Eve catching glimpses of the fireworks over the tree line. I remember going to RiverFire in year 9 with Mum, Karl and Grandmum and having a blast watching the fireworks and then ripping a ligament in my ankle (playing silly buggers with Karl) which still gives me trouble today. I remember spending New Years Eve in Germany ’02/’03 and watching fireworks going off meters in front of me and then finding rocket sticks in the backyard in the morning and thinking to myself, gee imagine if you were a dog in the back yard and got hit by one of these? I remember leaving a NYE party early this year with Mum to drive back into Hobart to take photos of the Fireworks. When it comes to Fireworks I will go just about anywhere.

I love Fireworks.

Just as we did last year, Mum and I made the trip into the Kings Parking across the road from the Ekka to enjoy the show and what a show it was. A good variety of fireworks and a clear night with just the right amount of wind to carry away the smoke.

Fireworks Over Sideshow Alley VI Fireworks Over Sideshow Alley V Fireworks Over Sideshow Alley III Fireworks Over Sideshow Alley I Ride at Sideshow Alley

Advance Australia Fair

I reckon our national anthem is a pretty good song, however there are just some cases when you wish the anthem was, say, slighlty more progressive, so when I came across a reference to ABC Comedian Adam Hills perfoming such a version this morning, I had to find myself a copy. A quick search of youtube and there she was in all her beauty 🙂 enjoy.