In which my insistence on the Whole Truth leads to an awkward moment

- Mummy, you're playing with my zizi*!

- No I'm not, I'm washing you.

Hmmm, this could be a good teaching moment.

- You know Lukan, it's OK for me to touch your penis while I'm washing you in the bath, but it's never OK for anyone to play with it. Not me, not anyone. OK?

Oh cripes, I don't want him growing up thinking it's off limits for ever.

- Well, until you are an adult. When you're an adult it's OK. 

Wait, that's not entirely right either.

Well, if it's your choice. It's only OK if it's your choice.

Jeez, this is not exactly very coherent. Let's get back to the main point.

 But it's never OK when you're a child.

OK, well, hopefully he got something out of all that.

- Mummy, do you let papa play with your zizi sometimes?


* French for willy, as well as female genitalia.

Interlude

So that last post was a little disingenuous, me moaning about the cold and grey when in fact I was only days away from escaping it. And a lovely escape it was, a solo trip to Sydney for a wedding and some one-on-one time with my Aussie family.

I got back on Tuesday. It seems even colder and foggier... but over the muted grey I see the blue of jacarandas and the light of a stronger sun... which should keep me going for the next 3 weeks, until I return to Sydney again.

Schism

I've mentioned this before, but late autumn leaves me feeling deeply divided.

On the one hand is the cold and the grey and the fog. These are unwelcome enough by themselves, but knowing they are merely a mild harbringer of what's to come makes them even more unpleasant. My thoughts don't easily skip to joyful anticipation of snow and skiing and chalets and wood fires - which is kind of sad, as I love all of these. Instead, I find myself hunkering down, steeling my mind for the long wait until winter is over. Or else actively planning for spring:

But then, when the sun finally clears the fog, the sheer beauty is undeniable. And for a couple of hours - or even a whole day if we're lucky - I wouldn't change anything for the world.

Recipe: Curry pumpkin soup with chicken skewers

So the thing is, I'm very proud of my new recipe blog, and I'm even using it quite regularly, and some of the new recipes I'm trying are just so yum that I can't help but want to spread the yumminess even further. Maybe you've already used the site yourself - and if so then I thank you for maximizing the energy usage that goes into running the servers on which those recipes reside (energy use for which I feel more than a twinge of guilt, especially if I am the only one actually using it) - but even if so perhaps you'll find a few recipe highlights useful? Or at least more welcome than no new blog post at all?

Anyway, here's the first: curry pumpkin soup with chicken skewers. 'Tis the season for pumpkin soup around here, of course, but this is THE yummiest pumpkin soup I think I've ever had. Ever made, in any case. And adding chicken skewers is sheer genius. What is not sheer genius, is my forgetting to take a picture of said soup with said skewers, because recipes are so much more inspiring with a good image. Hopefully my artistic rendition will do the trick though.

Bon apetit!

Snapshot: Last Friday night

It looks glamorous, I know, and it was fun - and a nice change from a night in front of the telly - but we were really only there as bums on seats. Minority bums too, making sure all the linguistic groups of Switzerland were adequately represented. Which always strikes me as odd, that the people from where I live - predominantly white, and not really that different from how I identify myself - are considered a minority. But it does have its perks!

Snapshot: Outside, right now

No denying the season any longer...

Snapshot: Halloween

Saturday at friends'














Monday at ours:

A talking jack o'lantern
Scary sound effects
Flickering lights
Bats and spiders
A swooshing ghost
Dried flies and bugs as treats (Real! No marzipan!)
And best of all, slightly spooked kids!