Moron Central

Hi readers

What a week of Techno Trauma!  I have foolishly, stupidly and regrettably switched to Telstra for my 'phone and have experienced one techno disaster after another.  Part of the problem, I concede, is that I am technologically challenged (believe it or not) and have stuffed up my iPhone sync BIG TIME so have lost all my phone numbers and addresses and then, when moving to my new phone, have done it again. I have no idea what the @#$%^& is going on.  I need to Rent-a-Teenager, stat.  None of this has been helped by the complete lack of help I have received from the salesman in the Telstra shop.  Just about every thing he has told me has been incorrect.  The real cherry on the top was my being thrown out of the network because he dodgied up the sale.  Big sigh.....  As I type, I am on hold for technical support for the second time today - but the man helping me now is BRILLIANT so my faith in humanity is restored (what a Drama Queen).  I am wondering however, if there is some kind of new psychiatric syndrome for those suffering Techno Trauma.  It's quite stressful and leaves you yearning for smoke signals and cave paintings.

Here is Tim, photographed this morning, lying On Top Of the carrots, prompting cries of alarm and distress and cat hatred from Spud.  I thought it was kind of funny but was soon set straight by The Gardener as Tim was sent packing, with a flea in his ear, across the yard. 

Speaking of veggies, this week we ate our first zucchini - delicious! 

... and then it was time to try the tragic little broccoli heads that never seemed to really take off.  Well, I love a good brasilica as much as the next person but ewwwwwww!  This broccoli, whilst looking gorgeous, was hideous - and not solely because of the multitudinous green caterpillars secreted amongst the florets.  It was so.... so.... agrarian.  I felt not dissimilar to a cow in a paddock of fresh lucerne.  Yuk.  Now I can understand the passionate distate some feel for this vegetable.

On the food front, I am very excited to tell you about my friends Sally and her husband Guido who run a cooking school in Toffia, Italy.  This weekend, in the Traveller section of the Sydney Morning Herald, there is an article about their school, which is called Convivio Rome.  Next time you fancy a morsel of gnocchi and you have a few thousand bucks to spare, whip on over to Italy for a lesson!  I would LOVE to go but never seem to get there.  Sally & I were at school together and have known eachother since 1976.  She is probably my oldest friend.  I am very happy to see their article because this might be a real boost for business!

Regarding travel, Spud & I are flying off to the UK on Monday night for just one week to attend Spud's mother's funeral.  She died suddenly of an undiagnosed abdominal aneurysm, despite six weeks in an NHS facility.  However, she'd just had her hair done and was enjoying her life and she WAS 89 so all in all, it was the best outcome.  Not thinking it will be a truly great journey but I will attempt to blog and will take some snaps.  It is my birthday while we are there so I've been promised a visit to "Chatsworth" where I can pretend I am Georgiana, The Duchess of Devonshire, for a day.