First Meeting

I have been married for 28 years

It is more than half my life in years

I used to think that ‘marriages are made in heaven’ is a lore

Meeting the man I would love was a matter of searching and no more

To that end I joined Dateline

To get meet men with similar needs as mine

He came to pick me up for the first date

I had to first peek from the window before I opened the gate

I liked what I saw and crossed my fingers that he would too

This man with a moustache and obvious penchant for colour blue

It was strange to be going on a date

To view the Le Corbusier exhibition and walk around the Tate

Just got reminded, not Tate, Haywood

Well I at least remembered the event that I should

A wander around Oxford Circus in the afternoon sun

I thought was fun

Wondered what he thought of me?

Would he ask for another date with me?

He was going back to West Country by train

But waited till it was time for my train

At the local pub in the station

Trying to think of ways to put this relationship in motion

I asked him out right, since I am the extrovert

Are we meeting again? Is this pay dirt?

You could see the relief in his eyes

For he did not have to verbalise

Yes we will meet again soon

He would come to meet me at home and I was over the moon

We married in a few months

The saga turned to years from months

But that’s a tale for another day

With short poems to mark the pleasures along the way

What are the chances of and Indian girl finding a Australian /Welsh man

Across the country in England

For across the seas we travelled since fate intervened

To affirm that marriages are destined

What you make of this gift is up to you

For living together is building a life with you.

Communication Gap

Using words is an art some say

It helps to use the right words I say

Something simple can turn complex and confusing

Often people make things worse in explaining

Maybe it would be easier communicating in points

Rather than complicated sentences with complex joints

The conversation can be at cross- purposes

When reading is only for response purposes

Taking time to read and understand the message

Formulate a response addressing the questions in the message

Seems to have been brushed aside in the haste to respond

We are flitting from message to message like insect from puddle to pond

The speed of communication seems to have taken over

At the expense of quality and clarity forever

Surprising to see how many cannot write

Put forward their viewpoint in a manner that is understood right

Is it their ability to write or lack of understanding?

Or is it their ego and self-belief that their knowledge is all encompassing?

The short hand in communication is wide

Texting words and emoticons leaving room for meaning to hide

Leaving both parties confused and cross

For neither have got their message across

Leaving a feeling of something missing

A disappointment in coversing!

Winter in my Garden

Down Under we are topsy-turvy and I still am amazed after 4 years that flowering of plants is right through the year and even at different times. Now I can hear you think, ‘they would follow your seasons… duh!’ This does not hold much water as it probably is more to do with temperatures and rainfall. So let me just start with winter – a good weather and time of year as any to start this journey in my garden.

The tree at the end of the garden with large seed pods  from one of the creepers. With so many of them about it is hard to say which one these belong to as this is the first year we have seen them.

Winter begins on 1^st of June and around that time I found some buds showing up on the daffodils and snowdrops. This is a different variety of daffs than I have seen before and must have been planted by the previous tenant. For the first year I had no leaves even to indicate there were these blubs in the ground. 

The daffodils actually show up as clusters on a single branch. 

The snowdrops are in a small patch round the back next to the water boiler and were a pleasant surprise.

We did get a few roses growing in the single bush by the kitchen window. The opening of the buds catalogued by my husband is included here.

In the front garden there is a bush / creeper. Well I was not sure what it was as it sent out these long branches that reached up to the roof pretty fast and I had to keep cutting them back. The first year there were no flowers, so I had no idea what the plant was. The next year there were one or two small yellow flowers and looked like roses. This year, after good pruning of last 3 years, there was a explosion of beautiful pale yellow almost creamy roses and it turns out to be a rose creeper that could cover the walls if I leave it to grow. But then I do not think it would flower so well.

Another surprise was the nistercium plant. There is a small plant growing next to the thorny pink rose bush and in the past I have had a few nicely orange and yellow flowers show up. But strangely this year, most likely due to large amounts of rain through summer and autumn, I believe, there has been an explosion of this plant. It had sent out creepers all around and flowered like crazy. The leaves growing large also like the lily pad leaves. 

The blue flower in here is from another plant. There was a nicely branching plant I saw at the edge of someone's garden. I picked a small branch to pot to grow this succulent type of plant and I got these pretty delicate blue flowers.

The other one that sends vines all around the garden, across the fence and on to the neighbour’s and our garage is the morning glory. 

The white flowers are fromanotehr creeper and I have yet to find out what it is!

There are also a couple of bulbs of spectacular orange-flowered amaryllid. There are some pretty delicate purple / blue flowers that I am sure are a kind of weed.

The grass is green and full of clover especially when the sun warms up the ground after heavy rains. The rain and odd hailstorm are wonderful to watch.

The winter time is when we get our harvest of limes. There tree has huge thorns and was badly in need of a prune. Having cut it back for the last 3 years we got a decent harvest of about 15 limes this year.

Finally, also this winter we discovered out resident blue tongued lizard. Seems to be living under the house and comes out to bask in the winter sunshine.

Sushi Story

I discovered sushi last year! And before you fall about laughing at this statement I need to explain that I am allergic to soy and its products and for a long time have not eaten any food that contain soy. I used to love Chinese food and had to cut it out of my diet. Now I am not sure if you are aware as to how many products in the oriental recipes have soy as soy sauce, miso, tofu, edamame beans, Tamari, Tempeh as well as being used as meat substitute and emulsifier. In fact, now days it is hard to pick up a product in any supermarket without any form of soy in it. It is used to enhance protein content cheaply and also as milk supplement, cheap oil and emulsifier.

But I digress and so back to finding sushi. I had not come across it as such when I lived in UK and never had an opportunity to try it. Also I was concerned about soy that could be in it. While in Australia there are so many sushi bars and I managed to look at the menus and think, ‘oh yes there is some veggie ones here that I could have’. A year on here and my husband started work in a place where there are some food places for lunch in the building. Yes, you guessed it he started having sushi for lunch and telling me how nice it was. I wanted to try some but was hesitant and wanted to be able to talk to someone who was making it before I ate it.

Then, one day at my supermarket there sprouted a sushi kiosk! Right there in the middle between the fruit and veg and the bread areas. There are couple of staff making fresh sushi and the counters display all the beautifully made sushi. Of course there were vegetarian sushi as well as all kinds of fish and meat ones. In the first week or so they had a try-me table with tuna, salmon, chicken and veggies sushi. Staff promoting the sale was helpful and explained the ingredients and whether any soy was in the recipe. They assured me that there was no soy sauce used in the making and was generally provided separately. So I was able to try the veggies one and was hooked.

The sushi can have separately or in combination carrots, cucumber, avocado, tomato, peppers, lettuce (another thing I have to avoid), asparagus ……things I have got so far. It can come as wrapped in nori and rice or with rice outside, white, brown or red rice or even soft rice paper, indeed now I also get quinoa instead of rice. There white or black sesame seeds sprinkled over it. The strangest is small bit of fried onions sprinkled on it. Well why I consider it strange I have no idea but I guess have not heard that one before. Must say it does have a nice crunch to it. So I bought the first round of veggie sushi with pink pickled ginger and wasabi sauce. Best meal ever …………. the sharpness of ginger with the heat of wasabi was all perfectly balanced.

And rest as they say is history. I was telling my niece about it and she was not very enthusiastic. Then one day at the airport on her way to visit me she tried some in the restaurant there. While she is not a fan of fish she was taken with the veggie, chicken and beef ones, and so started her love of sushi too.

During her time here, we went to one of these sushi bars where the small train goes round the table and one picks the plate of what they want. Since there was no rush (we started one by going in there) the chef was able to explain what the dishes were and assured there would be no soy in the veggie dishes. In addition to the sushi there usually is a seaweed salad and boiled edamame beans which my niece and husband had. The seaweed is generally shredded and sprinkled in sesame seeds. So nice to pick a dish….. have a few morsels… then pick the next one… something of the tapas effect I should think. Finally it was topped off with black sesame ice cream. Oh My! Again something that was so delicate not very sweet and yet delicious.

The only other variation I have had is a sweet one and you could say it would do nicely as dessert for it had fruits in it. The flavours were clean and that pickled ginger just gave it a nice touch. 

What can I say about wasabi? It is one of my favourite heat producing root right there with chillies but a little different. When I first got the taste of wasabi it was from wasabi peas that I bought as a snack when I came to Australia on holiday. You can also get wasabi roasted beans and macadamia nuts. So when I saw a sauce bottle of wasabi in the super market I thought, ‘oh yes that will do me fine!’ Oh boy was it terrible - very much a mayonnaise like sauce with barely any heat of wasabi. Needless to say that whole bottle was trashed. Then I found the authentic sushi wasabi which is good and now a permanent resident in my fridge. I found that some sushi places have even hotter wasabi sauces. The heat just explodes at the top of the mouth and flashes through the nose and into the sinuses. Even though it is strong enough to clear your sinuses and bring water to your eyes it is momentary and does not stop you from taking that next bite.

So that is the story of my love with sushi. Many people do not like the idea of cold rice but eating it on a hot summer afternoon or evening it is just right. It is filling but not heavy. There are a variety of fillings for all to choose from. My niece has already invested in paraphernalia for making sushi and is urging me to do the same. I am seriously considering this and will share with you the outcomes and recipes – if and when. If you have never tried sushi for whatever reasons, do not hesitate at the next time you come across this dish. Take the chance and tuck in and let me know if you enjoyed the experience.