Festive salutations

                            

I hope that everyone had an enjoyable (or at the very least tolerable) Christmas. 

Christmas in Leipzig has been a lot of fun. Unfortunately snow has been pretty much non-existent besides the odd flurry but there's been much to enjoy. Weihnachten Market, gluhwein, eating stollen and pfeffer nuse, I've really been enjoying Christmas in a cold climate. 

Germany has some lovely Christmas traditions with old fashioned religious undertones.  First there's St Nicholas Day on December 6th, Many children put a boot called Nikolaus-Stiefel (Nikolaus boot)outside the front door on the night of 5 December. 'St. Nicholas' fills the boot with gifts and sweets overnight, and at the same time checks up on the children to see if they were good, polite and helpful the last year. If they were not, they will have coal in their shoes instead courtesy of a goat like beast called Krampus. 

                          

pic courtesy of Wikipedia

Pretty weird! That said, Eastern Germany in general is not very religious at all. According to friends of mine who lived through DDR times, to be religious was to be viewed with suspicion by the Government and thus subject to increased surveillance. Churches in Leipzig (specifically Nikolai kirsche) were involved in peaceful resistance against the totalitarian state which of course resulted in the Peaceful Revolution of October 1989. But I digress, my point is that many more people are atheist like myself than I've met previously so Christmas is more about celebrating friends and family than a religious occasion per se. 

 It's become more of a tradition in Australia and the UK to join friends for drinks on Christmas Eve, an occasion we enoyed with some Welsh friends here, although the streets were pretty quiet as the Deutsch traditionally have their gifts and festivities on Christmas Eve (the 24th December). We did our present opening on Christmas Even in Australia when we were young children, more so Mum could enjoy the stress of cooking on Christmas Day without the added bonus of sleep deprivation. 

Christmas Day here we enjoyed leftovers from the last Leipzig Apartment Supperclub, tofurkey and Veg Wellington (which we'd frozen) along with roast veggies, red wine gravy and broccoli. Dessert was Christmas Pudding although we were too full to eat it as usual. Quite different to a traditional Weihnachten meal here which usually involves goose, potato salad and cabbage. Far more effort is put into Christmas sweet treats here, we went to Chris' coworking space Christmas party a couple of weeks ago and despite the time of 6pm, everything was sweet! From chocolate to biscuits to gluhwein. Quite different to the dip, cheese and biscuits of Australian Christmas parties but great fun. 

                             

Christmas decorations were kept to a minimum. I used to have lots in Australia but of course these went when we got rid of everything except two suitcases, 5 boxes and two bicycles to move to Germany. And as we're moving in mid February, we don't really want any excess baggage. 

It's certainly cold here (-8 today) and I'm waiting/hoping for snow. We're off to the UK tomorrow for a week to visit friends and relatives. I'm looking forward to hits the cafes and pubs to enjoy fry up and roast dinners that I haven't had to cook myself! It will also be lovely to spend time with people, and enjoy the novelty of a fully English country (in the sense that I don't have to mentally translate things). I have to stress the absolute bliss of having central heating. It makes such a difference, especially as our Apartment has excellent insulation and double glazing. I can remember winters in Melbourne where I'd work in bed with gloves and a hat, constantly freezing cold. 

It's with sadness that I write that Mr Pablo is definitely feeling his age these days. As an 18 year old senior kitty he is of course, beyond much medical help and we are trying to make his remaining time with us as warm and comfortable as possible. We're having a lovely house sitter come and stay when we're away which certainly is a great relief. 

                         

As I finish this, it's just started snowing! 

A weekend jaunt in Hobart

A couple of weekends ago Chris and I headed to Hobart for a relaxed long weekend. We stayed in South Hobart, in a sleepy picturesque area in a lovely self-contained cottage with a lovely comfy bed, a high pressure shower, well stocked kitchen (for kitchenware) and comfortable light filled lounge room. It was a much need opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle of work and spend some time together. It was conveniently located close to a gourmet food store so we stocked up on cheese, artisan bread, a plethora of dips and pickled food and fiery ginger beer and craft apple ciders. South Hobart was just simply beautiful and I spent much time enjoying looking at beautiful homes.

    

On Saturday we visited some of the usual suspects like Lark Distillery and Salamanca Markets

       

 

      

   We also went along to MONA via ferry. It's pretty much everything everyone says it is, at time dark and disturbing, at other times, light and enlightening. To be honest I found a lot of it a bit creepy and sinister, perhaps more to do with the mood I was in than anything else! 

Roger Ballan's work was particularly creepy

(images from here)

Afterwards we enjoyed a session of wine tasting at the winery attached to Mona then caught the ferry back to Hobart to enjoy an evening of telly, patchwork (well me) and gourmet pasta. 

                                       

Sunday included a well deserved sleep in, and breakfast in South Hobart. Chris wouldn't let me take a pic of my meal but whilst the menu was rather egg heavy ( I don't eat eggs) I appreciated that they tried to combine a variety of flavours and make breakfast a bit more interesting. This was followed by a meander into Salamanca where we attended March in March (yes, we're probably the only people to attend a rally on holidays). 

We also went along to The Market, a local artisan craft market which was held at a Freemanson's Hall. I've never been to one so I was rather intrigued:

I was also quite taken by this cushion but had to avoid the sale as it would be one more thing to ship overseas...

Sunday was a bit less interesting after these events as we found that most of the shops and bars were closed. Rather frustrating but we ended up at a pub a bit further out (lots of hill walking) where I enjoyed a couple of glasses of sangria and a read on a comfy couch. I enjoy reading in pubs, some people may find it a bit antisocial but luckily we both enjoy reading. 

We intended to go for a last dinner out but struggled to find anywhere open that we wanted to eat at. So it was a quick stop at the city supermarket for the ingredients for a quick veg curry. Followed by the rest of our cheese and some salted chocolate and a funny movie on the telly. 

As a pet lover I loved this front door of a local Veterinarian...

A few pictorial tales of 2013

Traveling overseas:

Visited parts of Europe for a few weeks including Hamburg, Prague, Bonholm, Copenhagen  and  a solo trip to Amsterdam, a city I absolutely adored.

 

 

 

Started working on my patchwork quilt

Read loads of books.

Became a cover girl for Australia's biggest selling magazine. Also delighted to be featured in a few others including Peppermint magazine!


Spent far too much time in hospital



Spent far too much time watching tv, videos and you tube clips online

Participated in Nanowrimo. I didn't finish my book but I will be working hard on it this month.


Spent alot of time with the lovely men in my life

Cooking firsts:

Made my first marmalade. It's funny considering I teach preserving, but I'm not a fan of marmalade although I've been told this one is absolutely lovely thankfully!








Made my first gnocchi




Made my first tofu




Made my first loaves of bread 

Work stuff:

Taught loads of classes included our jams, pickles and preserves masterclasses and a new Edible Gifts masterclass. I never take enough photos! We also did a cooking project with older people in high rise housing, taught pop up classes in Collingwood and Fitzroy at a range of venues from pubs to bookshops, share houses and aged care facilities.

Lots of projects including a Green Renting Expo for people living in social housing, private rental, rooming houses etc in Redfern, Sydney; a food waste program for a Chinese mothers' group and their kids; a community leadership program in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne (still going).






Holidayed and spent Christmas in Far North Queensland: