Blue Monday

I  borrowed the title of this post from legendary musician Mr Fats Domino

[born and raised in the 9th ward -

a short crow flight to the east from where i am working now]

after finding a very pleasant surprise in a bundle this morning.

the berries of Solanum nigrum [a "nightshade" but not to be confused with Atropa belladonna, "deadly nightshade" which is distinguished by its mauve striped flowers] yielded a delightful blue print. at home in Australia i've not had such good results, mostly achieving greens or muddy purples, suspect it's something in the water...

a lot of which fell from the skies yesterday, leaving mud to play in

evidence of much higher waters some seven years ago

in the washed out railtracks

that constitute my happy hunting ground

it being such a good Monday i made it even better

by wandering along to one of my favourite eating houses

[Schiro's, corner of StRoch and Royal]

for the traditional New Orleans Monday dish

red beans and rice

 which proved the perfect internal fortification

for cycling home in pleasantly warm rain in the afternoon

+++

those words of wisdom above

found in the window of a metal fabricators

on Royal

shifting shapes...and other things

i suspect most of the students of the Shapeshifter class

did not sleep much last night

all arrived with garments ready to bundle

one in particular is on a mission

meet Chelsey Green

who went to San Francisco on a brief vacation

a few weeks ago

decided it was where she needed to be

and was taking a couple of classes from me

on

her

way 

to live there

+++

i think you'll agree she will be appropriately dressed

i had a similar dream at 17

but it fizzled

wishing you stardust and sunshine, Chelsey

and a happy life in my favourite city!

called by the wild

i abandoned the city [and the hotel bear] for one night
in order to immerse myself in the forest
and help a friend with a project

the colours of the Australian landscape
are truly wondrous

third time lucky photographing the splish

some quiet stone-stacking

and what i used to call a 'bird bridge' .....when i was four.

back in the big smoke now and ready to be a quiet student in Velma Bolyard's shifu class tomorrow...

other nourishment

breakfast, as Maggie Smith's character famously said in the delicious film "Keeping Mum"
is the most important meal of the day.

and in the interest of improving my health and well-being, i've been making changes to mine. it's so good [both tastewise and in terms of how it makes me feel] that i thought i would share.

although as you see from the bowl above, i've already eaten it.

sometimes i have banana smoothies. most folks know how to put those together so i'll spare you the details

but my breakfast salad is something else entirely
and can be different every day

first
decide on the bowl. it's size will determine how much of this stuff you consume.

then
splodge a few spoonsful of unsweetened yoghurt into the bowl [here in South Australia we are blessed with Farmer's Union Greek Yoghurt. those with a cow or a sheep or a goat can make their own]

add
some nuts [this morning i had cashews, linseeds and sunflower kernels], a selection of chopped fresh vegetables and fruits [the bowl looks pink because today i grated beetroot, chopped tomatoes and fresh spinach and hacked up a tiny zucchini]

season
with whatever you like. i use Pacific sea salt, Tony Chachere's seasoning and a good splash of Crystal Sauce

mix
and savour each delicious morsel

the cocktail recipe

for those who missed the most important part of the talk i gave at Surface Design
here it is

the recipe for my new cocktail - invented out of necessity when the tonic tide was ebbing after store hours -
and for which i still have to dream up an appropriate name -
more on that later

in a chilled glass
slosh a bit of Bombay gin
add
a healthy splash of Concord Grape Juice [sugar free, of course]
squeeze in a wedge of fresh lime
and then drop the squozed bit into the glass as well
throw in a few rocks
top up with tonic [Schweppes for preference]
muddle a bit
and
enjoy

feel free to contribute to naming suggestions...