July 21 - A Half Day

  Last night (and a good portion of today) were lost to a determined sleep.  I awoke groggily with only ten minutes of morning remaining.  Apparently my body doesn't like living on 6 or 7 hours sleep a night during the week, either that or the quality of the week night sleep has been poor.
  I didn't much feel like exercise when I woke but after a while sitting on the computer checking emails and things and wondering what I would do with the day I suddenly felt more like it, so I got on the cross trainer after all.  I figured that while it's ok to have the occasional day off, if I've any urge to do it at all I should grab that desire with both hands.  It is helping me develop a good exercise habit after all.

  After that of course I showered, got dressed etc. and by then it was 2:30pm so unsurprisingly I was feeling a bit peckish.  I had a toasted english muffin, one side spread with pate and one side spread with Vegemite and a slice of Bega Tasty cheese.
  Then it was on with bringing in the laundry from last week and balling up hundreds of pairs of socks!  While I was outside doing this I could here the sounds of children rather closer than normal.  I stood on tiptoes and spied some unfamiliar faces in my next-door neighbour's yard.

  When I got home last night I noticed that this sale board had been erected on their property (which adjoins mine), so I put two and two together and realised that it must be an open inspection!  So I pootled over to see what they'd done to the place and what the asking price was.  It's going to auction in three weeks time and they are wanting bids above $290,000.


  After that I went off to the local Super AMart furniture store.  I've been thinking about a new couch for a while and they had a corner lounge with a chaise that looked good.  It wasn't too bad; firm enough, wide enough, nice colour (raisin/brown).  The only thing that put me off was that the non-chaise seats aren't very deep, mind you that does mean my back is kept from slouching.  I was also looking at a new mattress since I've been sleeping on the same cheapy now for about 10 years and it's definitely seen better days.  The sales man Brian was very helpful and answered all my questions so I made sure I got his card so I could be sure to return to him when I'm ready to make my purchases.
  When I got back my new load of laundry was ready to put out so I got a little more sun time for the day.  I really like these cool sunny days.  I don't burn in them so readily and it's surprisingly refreshing to be outside.  I wish there were more days like today (and that I didn't sleep away half of them).
  I then set about getting ready to make dinner.  Seasoning my mini lamb roast (366g raw) with rosemary, lemon and garlic, peeling and slicing up pumpkin and sprinkling it with cumin seeds.  A granny smith apple cored and halved but not sprinkled with sugar though the urge was there.  I let that all cook away for about 50 minutes at 180°C (350°F).  The lamb was a perfect rare!

  I sliced up all of the lamb and put about half into a plastic container with some of the juices and put that into the fridge for tomorrow's lunch.  I quickly steamed a pouch of Steam Fresh veggies and pulled the smallest bit of pumpkin out of the oven and added them to my plate. Then the finishing touch was a small dollop of Masterfoods Mint Jelly.  It's just not roast lamb without it.

  The remainder of the pumpkin had stayed in the oven with the apple to continue slowly cooking at  130°C (265°F).  Once dinner was demolished, the apple was removed and became dessert!
Baked apple with yoghurt and berries.  It was delicious and though ice cream might've been more decadent, I barely noticed the acidity of the yoghurt once it blended with the sweet self-caramalised apple.

  Dinner over, appetite well and truly sated, I returned to the kitchen once more to finish up the pumpkin.  With the addition of 500ml stock, half a teaspoon of crushed garlic and a generous sprinkling of dried rosemary it was whizzed into pumpkin soup in a manner of minutes.  That will be my dinner tomorrow night and lunch on Monday most likely!
  It's only 7pm now so I'm not sure what I'll do with myself for the remainder of the evening.  A load of dishes perhaps, cleaning up the spare room for the arrival of my parents during the coming week, pottering about my house and desk trying to sort out the various piles of crap that keep accumulating.  Or perhaps I'll just go to bed and read my book.  Only starting something will tell!
  Have a lovely night all, and a happy Sunday,
  Jess