Another place that we were told about when we moved in was Isola Del Sole, a Sardinian restaurant which also happens to be on our street. Kristy and I stepped up to check it out last night. Overall verdict: impressed!

Our waiter was extremely attentive – greeting us immediately when we came in, ensuring our drinks were always topped up, and always hovering around without making us feel like he was watching our every move. We ordered a bottle of Sardinian red wine, which we both found extremely nice to drink.

I ordered one of the daily specials for an entree – a beef stew served on bruschetta, whose name I’ve forgotten but sounds something like “stracatto”. To me, that was the best meal that we had between us – the beef literally fell apart in my mouth. We both had a pasta main – gnocchi with a tomato and pork sausage sauce for me, and tagliatelle with mushrooms and truffle oil for Kristy. Both meals were very good, and clearly made on fresh pasta, but neither of them lived up to my entree.

Including tip, the whole meal was a very reasonable £60, so we walked out feeling very happy with our choice. It’s easy to see why Isola Del Sole was recommended to us by so many people. I’d certainly eat there again, but with so many other local dining options to try out, I don’t know when we will!

It seems a waste to have two BBQs in the backyard without putting them both to use at the same time at least once. As such, we had Brad and Jackie, and Shaun and Robyn over yesterday for the first ever Iron Chef: BBQ. It was the classic showdown of the braai vs. the barbie, with the only guarantee being that we’d all be eating a lot of tasty food.

On the menu for Team Australia was Lamb kebabs, Prawns with Lemon and Garlic, an italian salad, and a potato salad (specifically, my Mom’s potato salad).

The South Africans whipped up a classic menu of boerewors (pronounced “BORA-vorse”, and not “Boar wars” as I learned), lamb steaks with a minty, mustard sauce, and barbequed corn on the cob. And, all served along a side of coleslaw, and Robyn’s “home made” garden salad.

Yes, it really was a tasting sensation, and needless to say we were rather stuffed by the time we’d attempted (and failed) to polish it all off. We managed to burn off a few calories with a number of rounds of croquet, with each course (and subsequent hits) become more and more daring as the recycling bin became more and more filled with empty beer bottles.

Dessert consisted of one of Shelley’s pecan pies, and a bottle of Amarula that Brad and Jackie had kindly brought along. It was such a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon, and I’m truly looking forward to Iron Chef: BBQ round two!

(As an aside: here’s what happens when animals eat marula fruit… heh heh heh)

Penny and Ben are moving home to Australia this Saturday, but they managed to squeeze us in to their busy schedule this evening!

We joined them for a pint (or two!) and a meal at our local pub, where we all discussed our recent travels. Our week and a half in Rome and Croatia paled in comparison to the six weeks of travel and various places that they’ve been to, including Sarajevo, Serbia, and Russia. Impressive!

It was great to catch up with them before they head back to Australia – such a pity that they’re leaving Putney just after we’ve moved in! But, truth be told, they were the previous owners of our barbeque, so it wasn’t entirely without benefits.

I’ve probably said it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again; I love having a back yard! Even more than that, I love having a BBQ; it has quickly become an integral part of our cooking routine.

Check out this steak sandwich and wedges that we ate for lunch last weekend.

Yes, that is a medium rare piece of rump, on top of barbequed tomato, onion, cheese, rocket, and half an avocado, all topped off with mayonnaise, tomato sauce, and Sriracha chilli sacue. Who’s hungry?

When we moved into our new place and tried to explain the location to friends, people consistently said: “Oh, you mean near the Jolly Gardener?” To which we responded, unconvincingly: “Yeah, somewhere near there!”

Turns our the Jolly Gardeners is our local. And it’s famous. As Julian puts it, people actually come to our street to be cool. You heard it here, they do.

And having tried the pub out for drinks with Brad and Jackie a few weeks ago and for a Sunday roast this week we’re pretty much sold on the place – it rocks! Good, affordable pub grub. Comfy couches. About 12 different ciders. I think we’ll be back often! And with nightly specials like Friday fish dinners, Saturday DJ, Monday night wine tasting, Tuesday quiz night and… wait for it… Sunday SOCK PUPPET MAKING… what more could a girl want?!

As promised, here’s a photo from the backyard of our new place. It goes back a little futher behind me too, where there’s a shed, and an ally to the street (which saves walking bikes through the house).

As you can see, we were making the most of a brief respite in the weather on Sunday for a spot of croquet.

Our internet gets connected on Wednesday, yay! And we leave for holidays the same day – our morning coffee will be in Rome! w00t!

We’re all moved in to our new house! And I have to say, moving day went quite smoothly overall; we had everything moved by about 3 PM on Saturday, and by about 4 PM we even had our BBQ installed on the back deck! Here’s a few photos for your viewing pleasure…

This, as you can probably guess, is the lounge. Since we already had an entertainment unit, we moved the boxes into Team Lewis’ bedroom to use as a stand for Julian’s keyboard. The garden and deck out the back is for our own private use!

How tops is this kitchen? It’s plenty spacious, has heaps of bench space, and backs straight onto the lounge for that lovely open plan feeling. And, it has a gas cooktop! The kitchen and lounge are on the second level (about three steps down from the entrance).

This is Team Lewis’ bedroom, which is upstairs. The cupboard space is gigantic! The main bathroom (shower/bath, sink, toilet) is straight across the hall from their room.

This is our bedroom, which is actually in the cellar. The mattress is very comfy! The doors at the back-left are a walk-in robe; the door at the front is the entrance to the room.

This is looking towards the other end of our bedroom. There’s plenty of space on the bookshelves! There’s also a little ensuite just to the right-hand side of the couch.

So that’s about it! I need to put up a photo of the backyard but it was night when I took these. Suffice to say it’s lovely and spacious, and we have it all to ourselves.

Yes, I think we’re going to like living in Putney…

Our internet is getting switched on next week, inconveniently on the day we all fly out of the country for a week and a half. I’m sure there’ll be lots of updates after that, but until then – no promises, sorry!