I was full of ambition to clean while the Bear was out shopping but my back was screaming so I did non-bending-over cleaning, made a pot of green tea, put the bread machine churning Italian country style. We are madly in love with the bread machine mixes from You can Bake it but discovered them just as they left Canberra. Now one of our stops when in Melboourne (besides USA Foods) is their shop. Wonderful pumpernickel, mixed grain and the Bear's favourite crusty white. I know I can put their yeast in the bread machine with their mix and 300ml of water and 4 hours later a gorgeous loaf of bread will pop out. We have a constant battle over bread. I like chewy; he likes crusty.

Book report: I have almost finished Maximum City and have decided it was well worth it. Becaus the author is an ex-pat Indian, he was able to get inside the culture, to mingle with the gangsters, the police, the sex workers, even work on a Bollywood movie, and describe it in a way that a Westerner, even Eric Newby or William Dalrymple, never could. I love reading about India because I know I will never go there. It is the same as my fascination with China, especially how the new China has transformed itself. I am always insterested in cultures changing and clashing. I like reading about that in Japan as well but I don't much like the patriarchal old Japan, despite its beautiful art and craft. I have Silken threads checked out of the library as I continue to plunder the riches of our collection. Unfortunately so many of the things I want are in Asian languages and are the property of the Asian Collections people.

Swannies play Richmond today. Paul WIlliams' 300th match.