Stop the world, I want to get off!

Before I fall off I think.

Work closes between Christmas and New Year and I usually like to make the most of it. By keeping myself at home and living the quiet life, MOTH down one end of the house and me at the other.

The Teen is still visiting so that went out the window.

MOTH bought me a square cake pan, about the size I needed for the recipe to test the mixer. Lindt chocolate brownies.

All is measured and I'm ready to go. But WAIT! The beaters won't lock into their slots on the mixer. What good is that? I've lifted the motor head to expose the slots. They go in and *click* but then slide right back out again. Same with the dough hooks. MOTH investigates. Maybe they aren't supposed to lock in? Well, what good would that be because they would want to slide when you lift them out of the bowl. Besides, there is an eject button so they should lock in. Desperate, we check the instruction booklet. A whole four pages or so. And nothing about how to lock in the beaters. I turn to Google. And discover that this particular brand is made in India. Should I be surprised or not??

Dangit, I'll go ahead anyway and remember to be careful when I lift them out. Turns out they work fine once in the bowl but it's a little disconcerting that there are no numbers on the speed dial. Just min and max. And a turbo switch if I want to go a bit quicker.

It certainly smells good. It feels firm on the top so it should be cooked. I cool it in the pan for a little and turn it out. When I turn it back over so it rests the right way up it breaks and I discover that it's not properly cooked in the middle. Bummer.

I cut it into slices and Teen and I go at the middle bit with a spoon. Delish! We eat the final couple of pieces the next day.

Saph has come from interstate to visit relatives and we make arrangements to meet. I've warned her that I shall be bringing MOTH and she's fine with that. As long as he sits in the corner and behaves himself! He's a bit cheeky when I give him enough slack. *grins* Turns out she has to bring her parents as well, so MOTH came in handy to keep her dad company.

We met at Coffee Club close to where she was staying and of all things, parked across the road is a vehicle from a computer shop in our old home town. I didn't take a photo.

When we went our separate ways, MOTH and I wandered the upper end of the street. There were some little sculptures on the footpath and across the road a large iron gate into what looked to be market pavilions. It was closed.

This is standing at the top of the street looking back toward the Coffee Club. Annnd now that I have seen the photo, I can see that the one closest to the camera is a person. I couldn't for the life of me make that out when I was standing right in front of it...

Not feeling particularly well since the previous Friday, I didn't bother to see the New Year in.

A trip to the doctor earned me a course of antibiotics and something to stop the spinning and a measure of tired that feels like I'm swimming in treacle. And only two days off work. I think I should have asked for the whole week...