Oct 6 - Art, Life and Loss

  I was woken at some time during the night by a persistent miaoing at the door of Mr Smart's room.  It was Pizza Cat demanding that we let her in.  'You foul usurper," she cried, "get out of my bed!"  Her yowling was ignored and eventually subsided.  In the morning she was all smiles and cuddles and did not complain too much when picked up for pats while I drank my enormous coffee.  Mr Smart only told me it was a double-shot after I'd drunk it all!  Pizza Cat continued to purr about while I finished off yesterday's blog.    After I posted yesterday's entry, I had a shower and set about making breakfast for Mr Smart, Mr Smart Snr and myself.

  Last night on our way home we had been feeling a bit peckish and went to Woolworths to search for Kefalograviera to make Saganaki for a late night snack.  In the end we concluded that they must not stock it so we purchased a piece of Halloumi cheese instead.  By the time we got home at 11pm, the idea of cooking it up seemed a little less appealing so we put it in the fridge to have with breakfast.  I cooked up that, some shortcut bacon and some eggs and we enjoyed a fry up brekkie.
  For once I managed to coordinate all the items to be ready at the same time.  The eggs got a teensy bit mangled because I suck at flipping them but it all tasted good.  Mr Smart decided he liked Halloumi, but still preferred Saganaki.  After breakfast Mr Smart got started on some work he needed to finish and I set about doing a chapter or so of proof-reading on a novel draft (not mine, looking at it for a friend).  Proof-reading is very slow going as you almost need to read each word aloud.  I was quite pleased that I was able to finish a chapter and get a few pages into the next one before Mr Smart finished his tasks.

  Once he was finished we donned jackets, as it was raining, and walked to the train station.  A short but pleasant train ride later we found ourselves at Flinders Street Station.  We meandered about, trying to decide if we wanted lunch or not.  As I've mentioned before, this kind of decision tends to take a lot of time for the two of us.  Eventually we settled on a burger at Grill'd in Degraves Street, a little iconic Melbourne laneway.  I had the Baa Baa Burger and Mr Smart had the Crispy Bacon & Cheese Burger.  For once, I have hit upon a place who's food Mr Smart instantly liked!  We debated the possibility of waffles across the lane for afters, but decided to head to the NGV instead.

  During the week we had booked in for the Napoleon 'Revolution to Empire' exhibition which closes tomorrow.  The flow in the exhibition was at times grating; seemingly short-sighted people simply jumped in front of whatever you were reading in order to see better themselves and the exhibition was filled with rooms which gave no indication as to the direction in which you should follow them around.  In general though, the exhibition was crowded but moving, interesting and contained some amazing items.  There was a lot of art obviously, but also many historical artifacts.  It was astounding what had been preserved.  We saw one of Napoleon's actual hats; the famous dark felt bicorn with a tri-coloured cockade pinned to the left of its front.
  There were many other items:  A lock of Louis XVI's hair wrapped in notepaper in a presentation box, given to Marie Antoinette as he went to his demise on the guillotine, an exquisite gold and blue Egyptian inspired tea set, uniforms, weaponry, jewellery, furniture, books, sheet music, recorded music from the Coronation of Napoleon as Emperor, and a startling portrait of Joseph Cange, clerk of the Saint-Lazare Prison in Paris.

  About two thirds of the way through the exhibition I was stopped at a series of nicely illuminated plates when my phone rang.  It was around 4pm, and it was my mother calling to let me know that my Granny had passed away at lunch time.  I cried a little, sad but relieved that her recent turmoil was now at an end.  I have written a separate blog entry in memory of her.  By this time, Mr Smart was some way ahead of me in the exhibition so I moved on slowly, still taking the time to view each art and artifacts before me.  I would catch up to him when I caught up to him.

  One item caught me by surprise.  It was quite ornate which is not usually to my taste, but for whatever reason I found it appealing, and in my current state, somehow comforting too.  It is a clock called L'Amour conduit par la Fidélité,: The chariot of love, led by fidelity.  I caught Mr Smart up in the NGV Gift Shop and gave him the news.  He immediately wrapped his arms around me and allowed me the time to have a cry.

  We walked back to the city very slowly.  My mind was a blur thinking about Granny, my family, how to get over for the funeral and a million other thoughts.  I was distracted to say the least and very grateful Mr Smart was there to shepherd me.  We walked into Flinders Street Station and then out again when we remembered we were planning to catch the tram home instead.  We took our time, slowly taking the scenic route to Bourke Street.
  Up Degraves Street, through Centre Place, across Collins Street and left a bit to be sure of going through the Block Arcade.  We did stop at Haighs in the Block Arcade and I definitely gave it a good looking over.  It was only when a friendly shop assistant offered me a free sample that I imagine the chocolate in my mouth.  The thought made me feel queasy so we continued on unchocolated.  Further on up Block Place and into the Royal Arcade, a brief stop to view the wooden forms of Gog and Magog and a quick look in at the Babushka shop and the boardgames shop then out into the Bourke Street Mall.  The tram was along in less than three minutes.
  I think Mr Smart must have realised that I needed a little more distraction and so he suggested we see if the Masterchefs had plans for dinner.  We had yet to try Wild Yak in Northcote together and I'd been assured that there was a good meal to be had.  My earlier feelings of queasiness dissipated at the thought of something savoury.  It was decided that due to the care required for the three Minichefs, Mr Masterchef would drive to Wild Yak and meet us there where we would order and take away our dinner and Mrs Masterchef would wrangle the boys, steam some rice and get the table ready.
  We ordered one serve of Shat Khatsa (spicy marinated beef entree), one serve of steamed Momo and two serves of fried Momo, one serve of Sha Thukpa Ngopa (special fried noodles with beef and vegetables), two serves of Chasha Nyamo-Kyurmo (chicken fillet cooked with lemon, honey, tomato and herbs - my personal favourite for the evening), one Lamb Curry, one Tingmo (a type of steamed bun), one Baklap (roti) and some yoghurt.  They also gave us a taste test of the Tibetan Green Salad, which was a lot more orange and white than it was green.

  The Minichefs tucked into their fried Momos with great gusto and were coaxed into telling me about their school holiday activities.  The youngest was quite pleased that it turned out I liked the movie Despicable Me too.  I ate a big plateful and then I picked at a few more things and washed it down with a larger than usual for me glass of Brown Brothers Moscato.  A fair bit sweeter than the Moscatos I've had previously.  I didn't bother with a blood sugar reading tonight.  For one thing, I didn't have the monitor with me.
  The Minichefs went to watch a movie before bed while the four adults enganged in banter and more wine.  I stuck with water for most of the time.  A little while into their movie, the littlest Minichef came through to inform me they were almost up to the 'boogie robots bit'.  It is one of my favourite bits in the movie and the darling things had paused it so that I would be able to see it.  I watched it then returned to the adults.

  More banter, laughter, and discourse on vaccinations (we are pro-vaccination) and somewhere along the way Mr Masterchef mentioned Baileys.  Everybody's ears and eyes perked up.  So tumblers were got, ice was issued and Baileys was poured (mine was half Baileys and half milk).  Then the Tim Tams arrived.  I had two Tim Tams and used them to suck up my Baileys.  I also managed to pour some of the drink all over myself but that just led to laughter.
  The nett result of the evening was that although I was saddened by my Granny's death, I was happy to have great friends around me giving their support and love and sharing their lives with me.  When we got back to Mr Smart's it was also time for me to head home.
  It was a big day, doubly so due to the unfortunate news, so I am just finishing off a lot of typing.  It is 6am now (instead of 5am, thanks to daylight saving kicking in tonight) and I doubt I am going to sleep tonight.  My neighbours are already awake and talking boisterously in their driveway and my nephew is due to be dropped off for babysitting in two hours time.  Maybe I will just watch TV instead.
  Be sure to love your families.
  Jess