Friday Favourites – PLAYWORKEATREPEAT

Hi friends, welcome to Friday Favourites. When I sat down to write this post, I could almost hear crickets chirping, because that just about sums up my week. I don’t want to be a downer, but I think my only favourite this week is that today is finally Friday.

But in the spirit of keeping things positive and chipper, I’m going to dig deep and find some more favourites. I’m usually a glass-half-full kind of person… after I’ve had a little panic first. I guess that’s why I like this link-up—it makes me look for the favourite parts of what’s sometimes a week you’d rather forget.

More Rain

And speaking of weeks you’d rather forget—let’s start with the weather. It rained all week. All. Week. I tell you!! And yes, that’s annoying: the washing can’t dry on the line, the house feels damp, and it’s just generally gloomy. But when you work in childcare, wet weeks are a whole other level of misery. I don’t think we got to play outside at all this week. And this year, we have a bunch of lively children (read between the lines, my educator friends) who need about 50 hectares to burn off all that energy.

On the upside, even though it was a tough week with wild weather and wilder children, I work with some genuinely lovely people, and I’m lucky enough to call some of them my friends. They’re the ones I can roll my eyes at and laugh with when we’re in the trenches.

Soup

So, what’s another favourite? …thinking…thinking… Oh yes! I finally pulled out the leftover leg bone from our Christmas ham that had been taking up space in the freezer and decided to make split pea and ham soup. I had to do it before we hit summer—otherwise, what’s the point, right?

At first I was annoyed because the bone didn’t fit into the pot, so it was sticking out. And I’d started making the soup at 8 pm on Monday night. Who does that?? Me, I guess—once I get my mind set on something.

Anyway, in the end, the soft bits from the end of the bone came away, and the whole bone slid snugly into the pot. It simmered away for a couple of hours. After I pulled out the bone, I blitzed it and ended up with the creamiest soup. I’ve been eating it for lunch all week, and although it’s not the prettiest soup, it sure tastes good!

You could also call it my farewell-to-winter meal. In a few weeks, I can say, “Goodbye winter, see you later—don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

Aldi Favourites

Another favourite this week? My husband went to Aldi to buy more of the porcini mushroom Trangioli that I talked about last Friday. It was that good—he went grocery shopping! I took the chance to add a few more things to his list, and even slipped night-time face cream on there. The wonderful thing about Aldi is that they don’t stock major choices. So I was pretty sure he’d get it right.

He came home with the regular cream instead of the one labelled “mature” (so yes, technically me). I actually prefer the regular cream because it’s lighter, and when I told him I was proud he got it right, he admitted he was scared of buying the “older ladies” cream! Haha!

And that’s a few things that made this week a bit brighter. It’s supposed to be sunny and warm tomorrow—hard to imagine when it’s pouring right now. Anyway, fingers crossed the weather bureau has got it right. Wishing you (and me) a bright and sunny weekend!