Weekend links

Hello, did you have a good week? We spent part of it in the Blue Mountains, relaxing at Tony's parent's holiday home. I'd planned a hike with a friend and a big cook up but ended up coming down with a cold on the first day of my week off. Still, it was the perfect place to chill out, catch up on some reading and venture up the road to visit a much-loved bookshop.

At the village shops I picked up Joy The Baker's latest cookbook (it has a recipe for sausage and egg breakfast muffins!), along with some supplies for a simple salmon dinner. One nice surprise - our favourite cafe opened a sister store, five minutes down the mountain. We visited twice for gruyere and greens sambos and immunity boosting tea.

On Wednesday, we drove to Sydney for the opening of Tony's exhibition at Galerie Pom Pom. When we met, Tony was still in art school and would go to openings at the gallery whenever they were on. A year or so later, we lived in in an apartment across the road from the gallery, so some nights, we'd peer out the window and see a group gathering and head down.

That made the exhibition extra special, as did so many of our friends, family, colleagues, and Sydney friends from back-in-the-day coming along to show their support.

It's really nice to be back home with a few more days off. I've lost my voice but my energy is slowly returning, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a walk in the sun and some french toast before the weekend is out.  And now - some suggestions for the long weekend:

I loved Laura Jackson's beachy wedding dress (she also served lemonade and crab claws after the ceremony for snacks!).

"When you're out on a morning hike and pause at a beautiful overlook to pull out your thermos of hot chocolate, it's nice to have a bag of breakfast cookies. When you're flying by the seat of your pants out the front door with your hairbrush still in your hand, it's most definitely nice to have a container of breakfast cookies (even if they are lost at the bottom of your bag for a bit)." - Four breakfast cookies and when to eat them

Homemade blueberry ripple ice cream, for cheats :)

I watched I Am Not Your Negro earlier this week and highly recommend it. The doco is based on the published and unpublished work of James Baldwin. It's chillingly relevant and yet inspiring too.

Pitch-perfect - "I'm racist on the inside."

Two fun movies to watch if you're at home sick - Bridget Jones's Baby and Iris (which is on Netflix).

Plus... 10 things you might not know about me.

See you soon!