Weird Things I Love

Today I went to the butcher to buy a boned shoulder of lamb. When I got there they didn't have a boned joint ready but he said he could bone it for me. We started chatting when I mentioned that I had boned my own shoulder last time. As much as I had tried to do it properly it was quite a hack job (which wasn't a problem seeing that I was cutting it up anyway). He asked me if I wanted to come and watch him butcher it. Of Course I Did!!

There is something very satisfying for me about cutting up meat. I love deboning a joint, or defatting a loin. But only red meat or at a pinch, fish. The idea of doing the same to chicken or worse pork makes me feel quite I'll.

The truth is part of me wouldn't mind being a butcher!! I know weird huh! I mean I am well and truly an omnivore and have no issues with eating meat (treatment of livestock is a whole other topic) but I am also an animal lover and a pacifist so why is there something about butchering that appeals?

It made me think about other weird things that I like;

1. Popcorn and choc-tops - There is nothing that compliments watching a movie at the cinema more than a box of popcorn and a choc-top to dip the popcorn in. (especially strange because I can't stand candied popcorn)

2. The radio station next-door - It frustrates Andrew no end when the radio station next-door is blaring their music at all hours, but there is something that I love about it. Mostly it's the fact that without warning I can walk into the backyard and be reminded of the global music festival we go to. The reggae, the loud talking and the smell of ganja wafting over the fence. Not to mention that sometimes late at night I can feel a bit freaked the idea of going out to the loo. But when I get out there if the radio people are having a gathering, the music and happy chatting can help me feel more relaxed about the dark corners. Generally I love that the sounds of the city drift over my fence and remind me of why we live where we do.

3. When its so hot I can't sleep - After the week long heat wave we had last summer I was starting to tire of the night time heat but usually in Sydney those nights only happen a few times each summer. The fans are trying to lull me to sleep with their hum. The doors and windows are all open so the sounds of the city waft in to join it. I'm flipping and flopping trying to find a cool spot on my pillow but deep inside I'm feeling kinda sultry, like I'm trying to sleep beside the beach in Fiji.

4. Spiders webs - simple, I don't like spiders, but I love spiders webs.

5. Music that makes me cry - I'm a sucker for a sad song and quick to cry. But I also love those melancholy trips down memory lane.

6. Being woken by the kids in the night - Now that both kids sleep through the night most nights I can actually enjoy the once in a while when they wake me for a quick cuddle and then tiptoe back to their own beds.

7. Folding the washing - the problem is trying to find the motivation to start it. And I dislike actually putting it away. But I quite like the action of folding it. And am enjoying it more now that the kids put their own clothes away.

I'm sure there are loads of others and I can now add butchering to the list. Oh and don't worry I'm not going to run out and become a butcher ... (I'm sure I'd get stuck doing all the chickens :)

What weird things do you love?

Watching - Daybreakers, an Aussie/American film about a time when vampires have taken over the world. It had two of my favourite things, vampires and Ethan Hawke

Listening - still pretty stuck on Lykke Li. I'll Follow Rivers is a bit of an obsession at the moment.

Reading - Madhur Jaffrey's Curry Easy, hence the shoulder of lamb to make her Lamb in whole spice Indian curry.

State of mind - 15 minute massage from the kids this morning, 45 minute massage from the lady at the day spa, bikini and underarm wax and lamb curry and red wine for dinner ... Have a guess :)