Night time painting

Anyone would think Jason was a competitor on The Block with his irregular painting hours. He likes to start painting in the late afternoon for an hour or so.... For me, the dilemma is whether to watch a TV renovating show or watch him.

As a wise woman just told me via the magic that is social media, it is best to stick with the TV. At least you can shout abuse and pass on your two cents worth without any real repercussions.

night time painting by Jason
Painting under the deck

And in other big news...I fell down the crack house side steps yesterday while it was raining. It was like someone pulled the rug right from under me and I fell flat on my back. Yikes, it really hurt. Thank God for my excess padding.

Today the bruising came out on my right butt cheek. It has to be the biggest, angriest bruise in the world. Don't look if you don't like people over sharing...

For someone who is shy about showing her face on the blog*, I'm totally at ease showing you my butt. 

* The vote for my avatar is leaning towards a photo. I'll be getting a better photo to put up as my new profile  picture soon. Thanks for all your very nice comments...and you too Tom. xx

If there's a way to renovate in the rain...

...odds are Jason will find it.

It's been raining incessantly for the past 24 hours, ruining what would have been a very productive weekend.

New weatherboards under the deck. Hopefully it will be ready for painting next week.

Jason was determined to work around the Sow's Ear, so he took on the task of filling all the gaps in and around our new weatherboards located under the deck.  He's been focused on filling and sanding the boards exposed to the weather but this weekend he had no choice but to work undercover.

sikaflex pro which we use to seal the gaps in the weatherboards

His favourite new-to-him product is Sikaflex which he's been using to seal the gaps between the weatherboards and to cover up the nail holes. It is polyurethane based and allows a great degree of flexibility for when the weatherboards shrink and swell. (He loves the stuff. Disturbing. Let's hope he doesn't start chroming it.)

I think life is too short to be gapping every nook and cranny, Jason thinks otherwise. Obviously.

It will take a while for the Sikaflex to dry with all this rain about, but it will be a nice neat finish. After all, it's all about becoming a silk purse.

Jason in gapping action

QX16895

This ANZAC Day we remember QX16895 Private Jim McCreath, 2/25th Australian Infantry Battalion who was killed in action in Gorari South, New Guinea on 10 November 1942. He was 29, single and had no children.

The Battle of Gorari was the last major engagement of the Kokoda Trail campaign.

His baby sister and last surviving sibling, Belle died last year, aged 92. She was Jason's Nana and she kept this photo of Jim on her wall for her entire life.

It is important to keep on remembering them. They were much more than just their serial number.

Private James McCreath, 2/25th Australian Infantry Battalion

McCreath Family in 1920s in Mitchell Qld
From L to R:  Percy, Belle, Jim, Elsie and David

Vote for my avatar

I need your help. I'd like to put a real profile picture of me on this blog. It's probably about time I stopped hiding behind the sketch and emerge like most bloggers do. Also, most first time visitors who read the blog think I'm a guy. Ha! Seriously.

So, you the readers can decide on whether I use a real photo or retain my existing profile picture. I've already started using the real one on Twitter as an experiment but I wasn't sure about using it on the blog.

Your mission is to vote which one I use from now on.

1. New Brismod avatar...trying hard to look like the old avatar. I'm not quite as serious as I appear in this photo...much more charming in real life, if I do say so myself. And I generally wear my specs when I cruise around the burbs...

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2. Old Brismod avatar - I'm very attached to this. I guess people can't relate much to a sketch when they read this blog though...You can read the story about this avatar here.

 Let the people speak. Vote away!

Pineapple Series: Sausage Tropicana and Grill'd Wintergarden

I'm resurrecting the Pineapple Series on the blog. Consider it my service to all of you stuck on quick easy meal ideas. Now that winter is fast approaching, we all need the sunshine that is contained in a tin of pineapple.

I was in a quandary about what to cook one evening. I had some sausages in the refrigerator and not much else. What could I make? Then I remembered the pineapple in the pantry and referred to the pineapple bible that is the Golden Circle Tropical Recipe book circa 1960s. Surely, it would have a recipe?

And sure enough, there was Sausage Tropicana (page 23 under Sunny dinners) screaming out to be made.

Sausage Tropicana waiting to be cooked in the oven.

Sausage Tropicana
Ingredients:
15 oz can Pineapple pieces or crushed pineapple
3 cups boiled rice, drained
1lb. cooked beef or pork sausages
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
salt, pepper, mustard


Method:
Place the rice in a well-buttered casserole. Arrange the browned sausages over the top. Drain the pineapple and to it add the brown sugar, vinegar and seasonings. Spoon the seasoned pineapple over the sausages. Moisten with a little of the pineapple syrup. Dot with butter. Bake in moderate oven for about 20 minutes.

Verdict: This dish is essentially rice and sausage with pineapple, so it was quite bland. The kids didn't mind it but it needed more of a flavour boost for my liking. This could have been a winner with gourmet sausages, like spicy chorizo or a herby vegetarian sausage. It was however a wholesome, filling meal that Betty Draper would have been proud to serve to Don and the kids.

And on a slightly different tangent, a lot of Brisbane bloggers around the traps get invited to some very la dee da events and launches.

We don't.

But we were invited to the launch of a burger joint in the newly-opened Wintergarden in the City - Grill'd

I was so excited! Sadly, I couldn't make it... but I did send my commissary, Jason to move it and shake it with Brisbane's 'Burgeratti' elite earlier this week. He took along Mr D the builder as his date (Mr D worked as builder on the Wintergarden site, so it was an inspired choice).

As my blog correspondents, they were entrusted to deliver me feedback (as well as return sober) and take some usable photographs. They had to work for their junket.

This was their masculine take on the evening:

"There were a lot of glamorous looking 'modelly' types with severe expressions. They needed to eat more burgers. The men were small and wore their pants too tight." (Jason's words...)

That's Mr D, the builder, cutting a rather fine figure with his Grill'd burger.

"The burgers were good. They cut them up into bite-size pieces and we could try all the different types. And they had all this nibble food. Really good olives."

'WTF is that?' I asked. "I don't know...I think it was spicy meatballs," Jason replied.

"The staff were friendly and they kept us well-supplied with food and drink at our table all night."

Jason said Mr D pointed out some of the flaws in the building finish and wasn't a fan of a large concrete post that was used as an architectural feature in the restaurant.

Anyway, the boys had a good time rubbing shoulders with the movers and shakers and have given the new joint the thumbs up. Thanks to Grill'd Wintergarden for the invitation to their launch!