Things an accomplished modern gel should be able to do

Thanks so much to you all for the delightful birthday wishes for yesterday. It was quite overwhelming, really. I had a fabulous lunch with my parents at Kafe Kara and then my sister and nephew arrived, bearing gifts and another birthday cake for the pixies to help me blow out! Mr PB finally returned from his day over in Melbourne at about 10 pm so it was a long day. Here I am with the pixies and the cake they made.

Cake with the pixies (Sammy was asleep)

Okay, so how are we going? Have you been thinking about your bucket list? Before I start compiling mine, I want to complete following this list Maggie Alderson wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald a few years ago. It appealed to me so I stashed it away. Now is the time to dust it off and see how I'm going, now I've hit the big four-oh.

1. Toss a pancake (I can cook them but haven't successfully tossed one yet so a half tick.)

2. Make a birthday cake without stress (Tick)

3. Make a soufflé, pavlova and chicken stock (Tick for pavlova. Let me know if you want my failsafe recipe.)

My latest pavlova, complete with raspberries and blueberries

4. Understand the scoring of the major sports (with some leeway for cricket) (Tick. I am a cricket tragic so that's not a problem. Soccer and rugby union can be a bit complicated, though.)

5. Swim (Tick)

6. Ride a bicycle (Tick. I haven't done it for years, though.)

I want one of these!

7. Drive a car - both manual and automatic transmissions (Tick. I have my manual licence but loathe driving one. Automatic for me!)

8. Eat dinner alone in a restaurant (Tick. It's not fun, though.)

9. Play poker and backgammon (Not at all keen.)

10. Grasp the basics of at least one other language (Tick x 4 - German, French, Spanish and Indonesian)

From one of my favourite childhood books, Richard Scarry's European Word Book

11. Predict what manner of wine most grape varieties will bring you (Tick. I adore wine although we don't seem to drink as much on PB as we did pre-PB.)

12. Open a bottle of champagne (Tick. And another one, please! Moet Imperial will be just fine, thanks.)

A favourite

13. Host a dinner party (Tick. I'd love to do this again - it's years since our last one. Yes, pre-PB.)

14. Sew on a button and shorten a skirt (Tick to sewing a button)

15. Thread a sewing machine (Tick. Now I just need to buy one - any suggestions?)

Maybe this Brother machine would be good

16. Have several dishes you can cook without looking at a recipe (Tick)

17. Know when to clap during a classical concert (and when not to) (Tick)

18. Waltz or at least know how to be led by a man during same or similar (Tick)

19. Write a letter of condolence and know what to say to someone recently bereaved the first time you see them after the sad event (Tick)

Ooh, I'd love a Mont Blanc fountain pen

20. Know how to act around a famous person (Tick. We had to do this in Sydney.)

21. Have at least one restaurant where you are known (Tick. Le Provencal in Hobart.)

I love the trompe l'oeil painting on the walls at Le Provencal

22. Be on genial terms with your neighbours and the people in the corner shop (Tick. On both counts.)

23. Remember to pay your bills on time and very rarely run out of toilet paper or milk (Tick)

24. Make a store-cupboard dinner at 10pm after a bottle of wine or several (Tick)

25. Shuffle a pack of cards without dropping them (Tick. The pixies think that is fancy.)

Fancy a hand?

26. Enjoy being alone for a whole weekend (Tick. Gosh, I can't even recall when this last happened!)

27. Knit (Tick. But not for years. I'd like to start again.)

28. Go to the cinema alone (Tick. That is one of my favourite things.)

29. Go to the theatre alone

30. Have a birthday book and use it (Tick. I love mine - I'll post about it one day.)

Given to me on my 10th birthday

31. Say no (Tick. I need to do it more instead of over-committing.)

32. Say yes (Tick. I need to embrace the spontaneous.)

33. Read a newspaper most days (and always at the weekend) (Tick. The Sydney Morning Herald, of course.)

A front page to keep for the pixies

34. Serve a tennis ball (Tick. I must take it up again after not playing for years.)

35. Set your video recorder (Tick. We do need to buy some more tapes, though.)

36. Work a digital camera (Tick. I love my new Sony  DSC W310.)

37. Surf the net (Tick. Constantly.)

Keep your balance

38. Send emails (Tick. All the time.)

39. Make pastry (Tick. Although I do still buy my frozen shortcrust.)

40. Ski (Tick. Oh, yes, take me back to that holiday in Lech, Austria!)

41. Recite at least one poem by heart (Tick. Several, thanks to my Grade Five teacher.)

42. Have legible handwriting (Tick)

Learning cursive

43. Balance a chequebook (Tick. Yes, I have one. It's a bit retro but handy.)

44. Know roughly how much is in your current account at any time (Tick. As the holder of PB's pursestrings, I have to.)

45. Pay your credit cards by direct debit

46. Remember to put the rubbish out (Tick. On Monday night.)

47. Recycle (Tick)

Reduce, reuse, recycle

48. Grow fresh herbs on your windowsill (Tick)

49. Know how to grow something from seed (Tick)

50. Hold your drink (Tick. And, yes, I'll have another glass of Moet Imperial, thanks!)

So, PB is beckoning again - feeding time at the zoo awaits. I'd better go. Do let me know how you fare with Maggie's list. Do you think she's missed anything out? All ideas welcomed!

Jane


This post was rewound for the Weekend Rewind at Life in a Pink Fibro on 17 June 2011.