On being Doris Day

I have to confess I'm turning into a bit of a nanna at the moment. Still in my post-festival energy-drained downtime, I feel like I've been warding off an impending cold for two whole months. It's always on the brink of taking me over, but I've been successfully keeping it at bay. Unfortunately, in order to achieve this, I've had to abandon all hope of a social life, in favour of staying in, sleeping lots, overdosing on hot lemon and ginger tea, and watching endless episodes of TV series on DVD clutching my ancient M&S hot water bottle. Yes, folks, isn't my life thrilling?

Hearty winter walks on the cliffs


Having made a good inroad with season 5 of the West Wing, I've temporarily been sidelined by a marvellous 2004 British TV mini-series called Blackpool -- a musical comedy cop mystery story (?!) starring David Tennant as a cop investigating a murder in a casino owned by David Morrissey. It's bloody brilliant, and Tennant is as watchable as ever. It's only marginally making up for me being a little bit too far away to go and see him in Hamlet at the moment. (He's currently playing the Dane in Stratford.)

Dashing Scot in hilarious drama


Last Sunday a gang of us went to the 50s fair at Rose Seidler house. This was about an hour north of Sydney, an original modernist house built in stunning grounds, which hosts a 50s fair each year. I refrained from spending any money but adored the dresses and fabrics and homewares on the stalls. When I do get my own place I'll be 50s-inspired when I kit it out. There were so many gorgeous narrow-waisted red-lipsticked women hanging about too, and stylishly-quiffed men.

Another reason for my lack of a social life is I'm completely skint, due to saving up for two exciting impending trips. On Monday I set off for the Toronto Film Festival, via Vancouver, and when I return my dad will be arriving for a month's visit. We'll be heading off to New Zealand for a couple of weeks, where I hope to escape the world, go tramping in the hills and recreate Lord of the Rings on a camcorder starring John and Carmel. Woo hoo. So despite my boring posts now, just think what gems await you when I blog about my travels.

The view from Kirribilli where I dined last week

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