No. 28: Pay a compliment to a complete stranger

Even though I regard Valentine's as a Hallmark Holiday, it does provide the perfect platform for compliment giving.

So, I bought 12 long stemmed, red roses, attached little notes to them, sat in the centre of Perth and gave them to random passers by along with a compliment and a seasonal felicitation.

The first one I thrust through the open window of this campervan and scared the living crap out of a lad.

The highlight was when I gave one to this little old lady, she turned to me and said "Thank you so much dear, I was just thinking about my late husband and how I've lost my Valentine, then you came along."
Needless to say, I nearly sobbed.

The Big Issue man was cool, sharing an anecdote about his lack of women. I left a couple as surprises too, on a car window and for the waitress who served the very lovely coffee.

Random acts of kindness. FTW.

No. 94: Make something yummy in a Thermomix.

"Autumn Cake" by Nigella Lawson or as I like to call it; Maple Syrup Cake with Italian Meringue Frosting because I tend to make it for my birthday and it's in February.

It is utterly decadent. It contains a truck load of maple syrup which does make it a quite expensive endeavour, it is so worth it though. Making it in a Thermomix takes the pain out of making the Italian Meringue. Completely hassle free.

Ingredients

For the for the cake

175 gram(s) butter100 gram(s) golden caster sugar3 large egg(s)350 ml maple syrup500 gram(s) self-raising flour175 ml water (hot)

For the for the icing

2 large egg white(s)125 ml maple syrup125 gram(s) golden caster sugar¼ teaspoon(s) cream of tartar¼ teaspoon(s) salt1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract¼ teaspoon(s) maple extract (optional)125 gram(s) pecans

Method

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4.Beat together the butter and sugar until very pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating in well after each addition, then gradually add the maple syrup to make a smooth mixture. Finally, spoon in the flour alternately with the hot water, beating gently until smooth again. Divide the batter between the two tins, and cook for 40 minutes. A cake-tester, inserted, should come out clean when they're cooked. Let the cakes cool in their tins on a rack for 10 minutes before unmoulding them, then leave them to get cold before you get on with the icing.Put everything except the pecans and extracts into a glass or metal bowl that fits over a saucepan to form a double boiler. Fill the saucepan with enough water to come just below - but not touching - the bowl when it sits on top. Bring the water to the boil, set the bowl on top and, using an electric hand-held whisk, beat the mixture vigorously for 5-7 minutes. It should stand up in peaks like a meringue mixture. Take the bowl off the saucepan, away from the heat, and add the extracts, beating them in for another minute.Cut out 4 strips of baking parchment and use to line the cake plate. Using your dreamy, ivory-coloured meringue, ice the middle, sides and top of the cake. Give the icing a swirly effect rather than smooth, letting the top have small peaks.Chop most of the pecans finely, leaving some pieces larger. Sprinkle over the top of the cake, and throw at the sides. This cake is best eaten the day it's cooked.

No. 97: Make an ice cream float for someone who has never tried one.

They enjoyed it. Very much so.

Ice cream has a mind of its own in Australia. As soon as you take it out if the freezer it immediately begins to lose all of its composure. It must be enjoyed with great haste.

This particular one was made with Kole Beer (which tastes just like Dandelion and Burdock). Very yummy.

No. 23: Meet someone at the airport with a placard

No. 43: Celebrate a birthday

Celebrated 26 orbits around the sun by having a pool party/barbeque. Nothing like combining beef and bathing.

No. 12: Watch a Grand Slam. Live.

That was amazeballs!

Genuine awe and wonder. Melbourne Park is huge, having two arenas in one place is pretty epic, almost a little decadent. Certainly very impressive.

The atmosphere there is brilliant. Very jovial. Loads of people dressed up in various fancy dress. There were three girls dressed in kangaroo costumes who had brass instruments. They walked around the park all day playing things like 'Waltzing Matilda' and 'Tie Me Kangaroo Down'.

You get offered plenty of swag while your wandering. In the end I came away with 4 scroll banners with various encouraging slogans, 2 brilliant Jacobs Creek/Aus Open wine glasses, 2 sweatbands, a pair of comical sunglasses, a folding seat cushion, chocolate, Dove cosmetics, and a fan.

I got my official players towel. So pretty.

They do well to keep the masses entertained. When you're not watching matches you can get your face painted, have your caricature done, test the speed of your serve, go water zorbing, have a massage, relax in an anti-sauna, or play video games. All for the very reasonable price of zero dollars. Though you do have to queue a bit.

You don't realise the etiquette involved before actually going to see a live match. I did get told off for walking around the Margaret Court Arena while they were playing.  I wondered why people were standing in the entrances when there were loads of seats...

Definite highlight was seeing Serena and Venus play the Doubles number 1 seed, Errani & Vinci, who wemt on to win the championship. The sisters really were something special. It was a really good match. They are very intimidating to watch, sort of conspiratorial in a way. Most doubles kind of do a high-five or pat on the shoulder each point, but they have a little discussion almost like they are plotting the demise of their opponent. They did lose though. Haha.

The Legends Doubles matches were fantastic. They were really hilarious. So much fun to watch. They have a laugh on court which is quite refreshing. Martina Hingis, Navratilova, Ivanisavic, Mauresmo and Davenport all played at some point and were really brilliant.
Bradke and Stubbs were definitely the most entertaining, I saw them play a couple of times. One was playing awfully so the other made her sit down and got one of the ball boys to play instead. Well I thought it was funny. Haha.

The practise courts were packed. I did manage to see Serena, Djokovic, Ferrer & Federer there though. No Murray. Apparently he's now so good he doesn't need to show up for practise.

The final is tonight & I'm back in Perth. Can't believe it's over. I'll definitely be going back next year.

No. 51: Place humorous flyers around town.

Went to Freo today for the Australia day fireworks. Decided that this would be the perfect time & place to put the flyers up that I had made.

It was so much fun spying on the people who noticed them and seeing how they reacted. A brilliant random act that made people grin.

I was really pleased that I had to put more up. All the chances had been taken, lots of people needed moustachios too.