November round-up

NaBloPoMo, Day 30!! Finishing up with a few more items of note:

I stumbled across this bon appétit non-recipe recently (for a quick Thai-ish dish inspired by pork larb) and decided to try to wing it from the description. A keeper - I especially liked the contrast of the cold, crisp, uncooked vegetables with the cooked rice and pork mince. A good, quick summer dinner for the next couple of months....

I found this bookcase on the curb in my neighborhood and brought it home for DP, who was in dire need of more book storage. It looks somewhat fragile in the picture, but it's made out of good-quality wood and was actually quite heavy - luckily, I had my bargain hunter/home organizer adrenaline to sustain me. (Also, luckily it was in front of the house directly behind ours, so I didn't have far to go.)

Another weekend of solo parenting, another attempt at crumpet-making - still not satisfied with my results, though. Anyone have a tried-and-true crumpet recipe they'd be willing to share?

Part of yesterday's farmers' market haul macerating before being turned into a batch of mixed-berry jam....

McClure's - makers of the famous gold-plated pickles - turns up in Canberra! At my local shops, no less! (No pickles in sight, which might be for the best - I shudder to think how much they'd cost down here!)

And the last, but probably the most important event of November 2014 at casa RL: Miss B masters riding a two-wheeler. Not only that, but it happened in 3 weeks, with no drama and no training wheels, thanks to some expert support and instruction from a local "learn to ride a bike" program. It's especially amazing and wonderful when I think about how anxious we both were about the process going into it, and how well it's turned out - and especially when I see the confidence boost acquiring such a major life skill brings.

Thus we come to the end of NaBloPoMo 4.0; I missed 2 days of posting this year, but I don't think the internet docks points for that or anything. Thanks to everyone who's followed along!