Thursday Thoughts # 49

Two quotes from "The First Third" by Will Kostakis

"We'd been friends long enough to catch each others bad habits. We weren't the exact same person, he was three times four and I was two times six. We both equalled twelve; we were just made of different parts."

"Mum had peppered framed photographs throughout the house. Visitors could trace my evolution from a dimple-cheeked, big-eared young boy with wild, curly hair and a gap between his front teeth big enough to slot a two-dollar coin through, to a dimple-cheeked, big-eared young man with wild, curly hair and an excellent orthodontist."

I found this book in the teen section of my local library, read the blurb on the back and knew I had to read the rest of the story. It took me two days; I almost could not put it down.

Set in Sydney, Australia, it's about a young Greek boy, almost a man at seventeen, whose yiayia, (grandmother) falls ill and requires an operation. When he visits her in hospital, she hands him her 'bucket list'. 
It has only three items on it, but they aren't three things she would like to do before she dies. They are three things she would like Bill to do to bring the family back together. Yiayia would like Bill to become the glue that holds them all together. 
A big ask for a young man not yet old enough to vote.

The beginning of the book is funny, I laughed on every page. The rest of the book has funny moments, quite a lot of them, but the undercurrent is emotional as Bill finds out things about his brothers that he hadn't known; he also finds out that his father, living in Melbourne, has a new, younger family.
I would happily recommend this book to anybody, teen or adult. 

The First Third by Will Kostakis

Today's thoughts:

Polar fleece fabric.
Zipped jumpers, sleeveless vests, hoodies made from polar fleece were very popular when they first arrived on the market. Available in several styles and colours, they were comfortably easy to wear and I loved them. 
I had one jumper and two sleeveless vests.
I soon discovered the flaw in this wonderfully thick and warm polar fleece fabric. 
It is a lint magnet! A fluff magnet!! A hair magnet!
Without brushing it down extremely thoroughly after each wearing, it soon looks as if you let the pets sleep on it. 
When I got AngelBoy, I had to remember to put it away properly after I'd worn any of the polar fleece items I had. 
If I forgot and laid it on a chair, it would be covered in cat hair in no time. 
Angel didn't even have to lie on it, the hair would just gravitate to the polar fleece. 
Aaarrggh!

Way back in days of yore, aka before I moved here, I would leave work and pass by Uncle Albert's bakery cafe on my way home. Sometimes I would stop in and buy a slice of their apricot/almond tart and take it home for afternoon tea. 

Just lately, I'd been thinking about that yummy tart, but didn't want to go all the way to Norwood just for a slice, so decided to make my own.

I bought this:

apricot pie filling, and these:

flaked almonds. they come in a packet, this is the leftovers.

I mixed the pie filling and about a third of the flaked almonds in a saucepan, added a thin paste of water and cornflour, cooked it over a medium heat until thickened, then poured the mix into two sweet pastry flans. Bought, not home made.

ta-da! apricot/almond tarts.  I let them cool, then put them in the fridge to get properly cold.

I wrapped and froze one and ate the other for dessert over four days.

yum.