My Mate Heston

'
Mills, Mills, ya wouldn't have my mate Heston's email address handy would ya?'

'Err no MOTH & I'm almost too scared to ask why you need it.'

'Well love, I need to let him know that he's a bloody legend!'

'Um, do explain MOTH.'

'Well ya know how much I love a boiled egg for brekkie & ya know how much grief it's given me over the years.'

'Yes, I do MOTH. The kids & I have all been on the end of your rants in the kitchen when the boiled eggs haven't come up to your rigorous expectations.'

'Yep, but my days of chucking a wobbly are over. Didn't you notice me in the kitchen for ages this morning.'

'Well come to mention I did think it was the longest time you've ever spent in there since I met you 20 years ago.'

'No need for sarcasm my little Pirhana Fish, you know the kitchen & I aren't compatible. But thanks to my mate Heston those days are over. I loved his way of thinking - no fluffy cheffie stuff, just good old physics!'

'How fascinating.'

'I'm just rapt that I've finally cracked it -  ha, ha, get the joke love, geez life's good!'

 

HESTON'S RECIPE FOR THE PERFECT SOFT BOILED EGG

 

INGREDIENTS

4 large eggs (55-60g.)

salt & black pepper

 

INSTRUCTIONS

 

Standing time: 6  minutes

 

Place the eggs in the smallest pan available and only add enough cold water to cover them. Put the lid on the pan and place over the highest heat possible.

When the water comes to the boil, remove the pan from the heat and wait for 6 minutes.

After the time has elapsed, remove the lid and carefully remove each egg. Cut the top of each egg before serving in egg cups. Season to taste.

 

NOTE TO HESTON:

MOTH's sitting in front of the computer, trawling through your recipe archives. He's just used 'Explosion' in his key word search. Should I be worried?

It's the weekend dear Hedgies, so go enjoy.

Images: SBS
 

Oh The Pressure!

MOTH reckons old age & a nagging wife have slowed down the completion of the upstairs home office to an elderly crawl. That combined with the fact that I ripped down the rubbish window coverings & tore up the carpet last year & binned them, has left the ambient temperature in the room during a bitterly cold Hills winter at about -5C. And with no heating whatsoever, we could have stored a dozen bodies in there in tip top condition for days!

However after a 'pleasant' domestic discussion recently, he's back up there trying to make some progress. It's a strange room & we've spent many an hour pondering over it's provenance. With a big separate side entrance leading outside & a sturdy lock on the outside of the door into the upstairs corridor of bedrooms, like a lot of other odd things here, it's had us scratching our heads. All we can conclude is that the original owner/builder back in 1972 was one of Stirling's GP's & due to the large size of the room, we think he may have used it to consult from.

The large bank of original bookshelves span an entire wall & that's where the present trouble is centred. Prior to the reno, all our files & work stuff were shoved willy-nilly into it. A disaster of odd 3 ring binders, old manilla folders, boxes of discarded computer cables etc - it was a real mess. All our books were in a big old bookcase on the opposite wall.

 

In a fit of pique I had a melt-down & decided massive rationalization was needed. 7 boxes of books went down to the Stirling Charity Book Hut & the bookcase has gone on Gumtree. I took the pic above as I was about to start sanding the wood back after MOTH had painted the back walls the standard Solver Parchment. I can't show images of the rest of the room 'cos it's a mess of ladders, paint cans, discarded power tools & general reno junk.



They've had a million coats of Zinsser to stop the old stain bleeding through, MOTH's over it. Zinsser's Sales Manager must be busting to put up his Power Point presentation at their next Sales Meeting showing 609% growth for Q2!

 



A before shot looking towards the big window at the other end of the room.

 

Staring at them, with just some touching up to be done on the wall, I had a horrible thought. As this is supposed to be a blog about our reno & may be viewed by at least 3 people & their dogs, I'd better lift my game. So I turned to that fountain of all things 'housie' Pinterest & did a search for 'Bookcase Styling'. I got the shock of my life - 56,791 pins loaded!  

 

It appears I will need to colour code everything, pull in unique pieces of objet d'art, channel Nate, Bunny, Suzanne et al & then arrange everything just so. All indication of our current Tax receipts, Super & Insurance stuff & general detritus of everyday business life must be hidden in something called a Kikki-K box. Above all it must look like I just casually tossed it all together in about 30 minutes. Oh, & then when that's all done, I need to upload it to my Pinterest boards & wait anxiously to see how many repins it gets. Geez life in 2013 is complicated!!