Simply Me

2012-01-26T09:24:00.000+11:00

Have a great day everyone!

Catch up.....

2012-01-24T13:25:00.000+11:00

A long time has passed since I have been here:0)

The spam comments were really annoying even though it wasn't

published ...luckily.

I will try again and see if it happens again.

Since the last time here we have had a Christening

The Christening dress was originally DiL Mothers and it was short so

I made an over skirt and a bonnet.

The day went well and she was well behaved.

We also had a 30th birthday party to go to

which was dress-up

so we went a Fred and Wilma Flinstone, lol.

This is Strawberry Shortcake, the hair is attached to the hat.

Very cute!!!!!!

Then there was Christmas and I had all my family

and the boys here for lunch it

was a great day and not too hot

which was wonderful.

The little Princess had a wonderful day

and got heaps of presents.

She is crawling around now (not the conventional way

but with one leg under her).

She is pulling herself up on everything so won't be long

till she is running around.

Two teeth are through and

she is always smiling and happy.

We have also sold our 4 wheel drive

and bought a car.

This is still big enough to tow with and

it runs on gas so very economical

to run, we are happy

with it so far

The weather this summer has been very strange indeed.

We have had a very cool Summer so far

and only the odd hot day.

There is still humidity in the air but not

as bad as most Summers.

We had a fair bit of rain before Christmas and the

garden didn't like it,

most things this year are not doing too well.

Beans are about the only vegetable

growing non stop.

I also gave up my morning cleaning for the time being.

Will find something again when I am ready.

That will do for now, you all know now

what has been happening in my world :0)

comments

2011-11-15T21:51:00.000+11:00

Is anyone else getting spam

comments on their blog?

They are even coming linked to other

blogs on my list.

They aren't published but I was just curious

Declutter the Linen cupboard.....

2011-11-12T07:22:00.000+11:00

Thursday I decided that the Linen cupboard

needed sorting out.

Things were starting to fall out when

someone opened the door.

I decided to buy some Space Bags to pack

the winter sheets and blankets

in to give me more

room.

This is how it the top 2 shelves

looked before I started :0(

This is after....looks better.

The bottom 2 looked like this

and now look like this.

the bottom has my winter woollies

packed neatly in their

Space bags.

The bags aren't cheap but I found these on EBay

12 for about $30.

I am going to do our wardrobe next and pack

our winter clothes in the bags.

Should free up lots of room....well I

hope anyway.

I have wanted these bags for a few years and

now I will be using them all the time,

Our house is only small and I need all the space

I can find.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Rememberance Day.....

2011-11-11T10:26:00.000+11:00

Lest we forget!

My Garden....

2011-11-09T11:30:00.000+11:00

I was slow starting my garden this

year as the cats next door put me off.

They haven't been near it yet this season.

This is a couple of beds that were planted 3 weeks

ago

and today.

and 3 weeks ago

and today.

They have grown so well.

the rain we have had has helped heaps and far better than

watering with the hose.

The weather has been really warm this week

and so humid already.

We had a good thunderstorm on Monday afternoon

and one threatened yesterday

but went around, another is forecast for this afternoon.

Our weather here is getting more tropical

than it used to be

which is good in a way but I don't like

the humidity.

These are my Chrysanthemums flowering again

for the year.

This is a very pretty variety but don't know

what its name is.

As today is going to be in the mid to high

30's I have got all my jobs done early

and might sit and sew today.

Hope you are all having a good day!

Sewing...

2011-11-06T09:00:00.000+11:00

I have been sewing lately

and making some little outfits for

the little Princess.

The first one is a nappy cover or

bloomers to go with the little knitted top.

The second is a little nightie

DiL bought some material and

asked if I would make some little summer

nighties for her

and this is the first one and

of course has Princesses on it.

I have a lot more sewing jobs on

my list and will be doing them

as I have time.

This last photo is of my little Princess

but today she is not a princess

but 'Wonder Woman'

Wonder Woman is Pappies favourite

character and I think he loves this Wonder Woman

more.

The weather this weekend has been

beautiful and perfect for being out in the garden.

I will show some garden photos

soon.

I was late getting it in but the rain we have had

has done wonders for it.

I hope you are all having a good weekend and getting

all the jobs that need

doing Done:0)

muesli........

2011-10-11T11:33:00.002+11:00

I have been having muesli for

breakfast lately and it has been very tasty.

I made my own by just throwing in what

I thought would be nice.

I put in

rolled oats

shredded coconut

flaked almonds

sunflower seeds

sultanas

dried pineapple

and everyone says how tasty it is.

I have it served with Greek yoghurt and

honey....yum.

I will be adding a few different ingredients from time to

time but I am enjoying my breakfast.

The sun is shining here for a change so had better go and

do somethi8ng outside:0)

Have a great day.

Knitting...

2011-10-08T07:15:00.000+11:00

We have another rainy day here

so it will be a quiet one at home.

I have made the little princess a few more cardigans and

am in the middle of a top

for her.

This first one is a cardigan for her on those cool

spring evenings, it is a pretty pink and I need to get

some pretty buttons to go on it.

This is a little top and is the most beautiful

aqua blue, the photo does nothing for the colour.

will take another pic when it is finished.

I have made a few other colours in

both the top and cardigan and my DiL

just loves them.

I had better go and get the bread on and

I am going to cook some

condensed milk in the slowcooker

to make some caramel (cooked in the can),

it is much easier that way

then boiling on the stove.

I will be spending my day indoors and

maybe watch a movie

and get that little top finished:0)

Have a great day everyone!

Oranges galore....

2011-10-07T10:42:00.000+11:00

Our local fruit shop had oranges cheap

so I bought heaps as we all do if something is cheap:0)

I have spent the day in the kitchen making

all things orange.

I made a whole orange cake from here and

orange cordial from here. Both are very nice

and will be made again.

Also in the jar behind is orange cleaner

and the recipe is

here.

I am hoping this is good and it should smell

amazing.

While the oven was on

I decided to cook a lasagna for

dinner as it is S2 favourite dinner.

Every time I cook spaghetti bolognaise

I cook double and the sauce

gets used in a lasagna.

I use red lentils to stretch my spaghetti bol.

and make it do 2 meals.

It is not till people ask for the recipe that they realise

that the lentils are included.

no one has ever complained;0)

I finally got the pics to upload, have been trying for 2 days

have no idea what the problem is...just hope it doesn't happen

to often.

I have finished work for the week and

looking forward to the weekend.

We are supposed to get rain again

for the weekend...hope they are wrong.

Have a great weekend!

Can't load pics.....

2011-10-05T16:12:00.000+11:00

Is anyone else having trouble loading photos?

I have been trying all day.

Daylight saving....

2011-10-02T10:04:00.000+11:00

Daylight savings has started again here in NSW.

I don't really like it but majority of people do.

We also have a long weekend but ours is spent

indoors as it is pouring rain outside.

So far we have had 3" rain and our

backyard is full of water and puddles.

The wedding was good yesterday

and the rain held of till they got their photos done,

but they have a very black sky

in the background:0)

I am off to cook some pancakes

for breakfast.

Hope you are all having a great weekend.

My Orchids........

2011-09-30T12:07:00.000+10:00

These orchids have come

from my Grandmother

and have been split up and given to my sister and me.

My sisters' have no luck getting

theirs to flower but

mine flower every year

without fail.

I do nothing to them just leave them

to do their own thing and

this is what they reward

me with.

They do need splitting up again

as they have split their pots so will

have a few of each to flower next year.

I don't know the names of them but will have to find

out one day :0)

This weekend is a long weekend here

and I am looking forward to it.

we have a wedding to go to

tomorrow and was hoping for the weather

to be nice but at the moment it is blowing

a gale and rainy.

It is not looking good weather wise

but it will still be a good day.

Have a great weekend!

I am still here!

2011-09-20T13:22:00.000+10:00

I am still around and reading every ones blogs.

I comment when I can,

I was having trouble but have now worked it out,

just don't tick the 'stay signed in' box

when you do sign in.

I have been sewing some

little summer outfits for my

little princess.

I just used scraps of material I had here and

it turned out so cute.

It has a crossover back and is lined so it is reversible

I just have to make some white

bloomers to go with

the lime green and white.

The pattern is from here if anyone is interested

There are a few little outfits.

I have also been making some little cardigans for her, but in short sleeve

for the warmer weather.

The weather has been just beautiful and I do love

Spring.

My garden has been neglected because of the

cats but I haven't seen

them in it now for a while so may

plant it up again.

It is spring and I have to have a garden:0)

Just dropping by.....

2011-07-16T14:58:00.000+10:00

There hasn't been a lot going on here lately

just everyday stuff that gets a bit boring sometimes.

There has been the normal baking and cooking, work and house cleaning

and even babysitting :0)

Also i have been knitting and crocheting some

props for a photo shoot S1 and DiL

were having done of the little princess

This is just a colourful jumper and hat

it also has little Mary Jane slippers (shoes).

This is a gum nut baby sack and hat and doesn't

she look so peaceful.

The last one was a stork sack

and it was a little on the small side but worked

anyway.

She is the spitting image of her Daddy :-)

*****

there hasn't been much gardening going on here at the moment as the

cats from next door dig everything up that I plant

or sow and use the garden and yard as their

litter tray....grrrr.

Will have to devise something before Spring as we have

tried just about everything.

*****

I have been saving madly trying to save up a deposit

for a home and would like to buy something

around this time next year or before.

I have taken up selling

Nutrimetics

to make a little extra money

and have been doing well.

*****

The weather here has been freezing the last week or so

and winds that make it seem even colder.

Then yesterday bought rain and I thought

that it might warm up a bit but

it hasn't.

Days like these I wish we had a wood fire

they seem to make you feel warm just looking at them.

The air-conditioning isn't the same.

I had better go and make a slice or two,

I will try and blog a bit more regular.

Have a great weekend.

P.s.. I am still reading every ones blogs but am still having

issues with blogger sometimes

Winter is here...

2011-06-05T17:48:00.000+10:00

Winter is here and the weather is getting

colder, The days have been not too bad but

the nights are getting cool now.

We have had rain and wind for

some of last week but the weekend

has been lovely.

We had our eBay account hacked into this week and

someone bought a 2005 Jaguar car

in our name so the whole

day on Wednesday was spent on the phone trying

to sort it out.

Once that was sorted our Internet would no longer

work so we don't know if our computer

was hacked.

Because we have wi fi we think someone has

got into our account by working out our passwords.

Our bank accounts are OK and nothing was taken.

Yesterday we went and bought a new

modem/router and changed everything.

today had been good and have had

no problems at all.

We had a family BBQ today but I forgot to take the

camera, but my little Princess was a bit miserable

and she is chewing everything that

gets near her mouth (teething)

I will put a photo at the bottom of

a throne Daryl made for his Princess and a pic of her on it:0)

Now stupid blogger has put them sideways

don't know what the problem is with blogger

but hope they work it out soon.

I can't comment on a lot of blogs

and I feel like I am ignoring people but

I do try to leave comments but just can't.

I think it is all the blogspot ones,

I am still reading all of your blogs just not comment on some of

them.

Sorry but will leave comments when I can.

Hope your weekend was good

Little Pony....

2011-05-29T16:05:00.000+10:00

Our Princesses first pony

that Pappie done up for her.

We bought it at a garage sale across

the road and it was not in good condition.

The varnish was all chipped and it had no mane,

tail or eyes and the seat

was old and ripped.

She now has hair extensions for a mane

and tail and fake eyelashes

just to make it look pretty :0)

She will love it but will

probably drive us mad wanting to be rocked

on it till she learns how to do it herself.

We are so pleased how it turned out and wish

we had of taken a before pic.

Have a great week

Just a catch up...

2011-05-22T12:43:00.000+10:00

Not a lot of interesting things happening here

at the moment, well

nothing really interesting to blog about.

The garden is not doing too well as the neighbours cats are

using it as a litter tray and digging

everything up.....grrrr,

They are outside cats and don't use their own

yard .

Just been doing the normal housework things

and just everyday life seems

so busy, I have been trying to read every ones blog

when I get time.

I realised I was spending too much time on here

and not doing everything that needed doing,

as the computer is on all day, I would just check the

emails or face book as I walk past

and would then sit here for an hour or more.

You don't realise how much you use it.....

well I didn't:0)

My little Granddaughter is growing so much

and she smiles continuously.

She is such a good baby and sleeps about 7 hours

a night, so content.

I see her every couple of days and just love it.

Here is another pic of her

Daryl has made a few things for her for

when she get a little bigger, will post pics soon.

I had better get off here now and go and do the ironing,lol.

Hope you are all having a great weekend.

Bargain Recipe Books...

2011-05-02T16:21:00.000+10:00

These recipe books are on special

at Australia Post shops.

I have read a couple of them from the library and

they have good recipes in them.

I think normally they are about $15 each

you get the 4 for $14.99

I have been wanting the slow cooker one so

I sort of got the rest for free.

They would make a good Mothers Day present

if you like cooking and making

jams and preserves.

*********

The recipe I used for the Rosella Cordial

is from Down to Earth blog here

Have a great week

One Month Old....

2011-04-24T16:17:00.000+10:00

Today my little princess is

1 month old.

Isn't she adorable?

She is the best baby and so good

she doesn't cry unless she is hungry

(which she is often).

We went for a BBQ today out at Hunter

Valley Gardens and she just laid and watch the leaves on the trees

it kept her mesmerized.

(the happy family)

We walked around the shops after lunch

and she slept the whole time.

Just a Perfect day......Family and food.

I have had a wonderful Easter

hope you all have too.

Happy Easter.......

2011-04-22T16:55:00.000+10:00

Wishing you all a happy Easter

and hope the Easter bunny comes.

If you are going away please travel safely

and take care.

Using Rosellas ....not the bird kind :0)

2011-04-20T09:23:00.000+10:00

I have been busy using some of my rosellas that

I have growing in the garden.

I will have heaps more

to pick each week I think.

This is what they look like and

the green looking ones are the seed pod from in the middle

of the red calyx.

For jam you use the seed pods as they are full of pectin.

You boil the seed pods in water till soft,

then strain and discard the pods.

The calyxes you use in the jam and cordial

and that is what gives it

the beautiful colour.

Here are the calyxes cooking in the sugar mixture

and simmering away nicely.

I first made jam, then I made some cordial.

For the cordial you strain the calyxes out at the end.

I used some in muffins and the rest we had with

ice cream for dessert.

I like the taste of the cordial and will make heaps

as the rest ripen.

I will grow these again next year.

Hope you are having a great week so far.

Hot Cross Buns...

2011-04-18T20:41:00.002+10:00

I found a new recipe for hot cross buns

and had to try it.

Here they are cut into the right size pieces
of dough after the first rise.

here they are shaped and put aside to rise again

At last they are out of the oven.

and ready to eat :0)

They turned out great and this is the recipe

I will be making next weekend.
I think they were the nicest I have made
and so much better than store bought.

Here is the recipe if anyone is interested.

1 sachet yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk, warmed
4 cups plain flour
3 tsp mixed spice
2 Tab margarine
1/2 sultanas or raisins
1/4 cup mixed peel( I replaced this with more sultanas)
1 egg
1/4 cup plain flour
1/3 tsp gelatine powder
2 Tab sugar

Whisk yeast with milk and sugar and leave aside till frothy.
Sift flour and spice into a large bowl. Add
margarine, sultanas, peel,yeast mixture and egg .
Mix well and turn out onto a flour surface
and knead until smooth.
Cover and leave in a warm place to double in size.
Punch down and divide into 16 pieces.
Shape each portion into a ball and place on a greased tray.
I place them almost touching, place in a warm spot to
double in size again.
Combine plain flour and 2 Tab water to make a paste,
pour into a piping bag or plastic bag and cut
the corner off.
Pipe a cross on the top of each bun and bake in a 180c oven for 25-30 mins
until they sound hollow when tapped.
Dissolve gelatine and sugar in 2 Tab boiling water
and brush over the top to glaze.

(I never glazed mine but will for Easter)

I hope you all have a lovely week

Pear chutney recipe

2011-04-16T10:20:00.002+10:00

Here is the recipe for those that wanted it.

1kg pears

1 1/2l vinegar (I used 1/2 apple cider and 1/2 white)

2kg sugar

1/2 cup sultanas or raisins

1/2kg onion Finely diced

2T salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp chili

cook the pears in vinegar until soft and I mash them with

a potato masher so they are not

too chunky. Then add all the other

ingredients and simmer till it is the correct consistency,

not too runny or too think.

You can leave the chili out if needed or use what you think is

suitable for your family.

I have made this recipe with other

fruit as well.

Enjoy!

No computer :0(

2011-04-12T13:35:00.000+10:00

Our computer is still in getting fixed could be another week. It is only something simple wrong with it( the 4 and 6 key don't work).
It is still under warranty so we put it in to get fixed. It is so hard trying to read blogs on my iPhone but I am reading all of them but haven't commented. I will be back online soon.

Pear Chutney..

2011-04-04T20:21:00.001+10:00

Today I made some pear chutney, I have a stack

of pears as they a good price at the moment.

I didn't have a recipe so found a couple

on the Internet and sort of made my own recipe up.

It turned out very tasty and

will be great on cold meat

sandwiches.

Not too spicy, just right.

I had to include another photo

for you all

just because I can :0)

She is such a good baby and

is sleeping better.

She is putting on weight and growing

beautifully.

I might be off line for a bit as

this laptop has to go to get fixed

but hopefully it isn't too long.

Have a great week!

A bit of everything today :0)

2011-04-02T14:50:00.001+11:00

I have been busy this morning, I have done the washing that was in the basket,

S2 has been away in Qld for a week so when he gets home

this afternoon my basket will be full again :0(

I made a new batch of washing powder, this is a different one

than I normally use so

will see how this one goes.

I only made half a batch just to see.

All my photos went on wonky today

except for the last one and have no idea why.

I cooked a batch of choc chip muffins

and as you can see my choc chip ones fall apart.

The chips stick to the muffin pan

and I have all sorts of trouble.

Does anyone else have this problem.

I made another choc slice, these are made in

the microwave in 5 mins......so simple.

It is a recipe from 'Simples Savings' and there

are 25 different flavoured slices all using the same basic

recipe. I have made about 5 of them so far

and all turned out very tasty.

I have been knitting also for my little princess.

This is for next Summer and is a lovely soft cotton

knit. It is the Spring Garden Tee from

Never Not Knitting.

I think it will look very nice on her later

in the year.

I might go and watch a DVD now and do some more

knitting.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

A little cooking...

2011-03-31T10:46:00.001+11:00

Yesterday I did a little cooking for my Son and Dil

just to help them out a little.

I asked if they would like a lasagna and

the answer was yes.

After work I came home and made it for them,

I put a bit much in the dish as it overflowed

but I was assured it tasted yummy.

I also made a spaghetti bolognese and gave them

a bit of chocolate

slice too.

They are all well and bub is doing fine she just has to work out the

difference between night and day,lol.

She sleeps fine all day and nothing wakes her up

but at night she is awake and hungry

several more times then she is

of a day.

Her father was the same :0)

She is a week old today and is more gorgeous everyday.

A couple more photos :0)......

2011-03-28T10:20:00.001+11:00

Isn't she just the most beautiful baby :0)

She is just so perfect.

This is my Dil and her beautiful little bundle of joy.

I will probably get into trouble for this

picture as she has no makeup on

and has just twisted her hair

up roughly.

I think she still looks good.

Having a Grandchild is like no other love

and the most amazing feeling.

I get teary just thinking about it.

There will be a few photos every now and then for

you all to see how she is growing.

Well I am off to do some housework

hope you all have a great day.

Rosella Plants..

2011-03-27T17:08:00.001+11:00

This is the first year I have grown

Rosella plants it is a native hibiscus and am just

wondering when the right time

to pick them is.

I have read that you pick them about 3 weeks after they flower

does anyone know if this is correct.

I want to make jam and cordial,

might even make some tea.

It is supposed to be very good for high blood pressure

and a lot of other things.

I have had them in champagne before but they are

very expensive like that :0)

If anyone knows can you please

help me out here.

Thanks

Introducing my Little Princess :0)

2011-03-25T13:37:00.001+11:00

As promised here are some photos of

my gorgeous little Princess.

Her Daddy keeping her nice and quiet.

Those fingers are mighty tasty.

She is such a beautiful little baby.

She is 6lb 11oz and 49cm (19") long

and just perfect in every way.

I have been in to see her this morning

and apparently she didn't sleep much last night

(but then neither did nanny:0) )

but hopefully she will settle more today.

She seems to settle well for her Dad and cries

when females nurse her, seems she likes males

( her Dad hopes she grows out of that,lol).

Her Mum (DiL) is doing well and hopes to

come home from hospital tomorrow

providing Bub is feeding well.

I am sure there will be heaps more

photos in the future for you all to goo and ga over,

hope you enjoy them.

I had better go and have some lunch

as I promised my two nieces that I would take them in to

see the Bub after school today.

The screams of excitement I got over the phone last night

when I rang each of them to ask if

they would like to come to the hospital today

was amazing. They are 10 yrs old and can't wait for when they are old

enough to babysit.

Have a great weekend ....I know

I will :0)

She has arrived....

2011-03-24T17:57:00.001+11:00

Just letting you all know she has arrived safely

and both Mum and Bub are great

and so is Dad.

I can't get the smile of my face

a bit like this

Photos to come soon.

Still Waiting......

2011-03-18T09:51:00.000+11:00

Just letting you all know

that we are still waiting for

my Granddaughter to be born, she is overdue

and will be induced next Wednesday

if nothing happens before then.

There are contractions but a

not regular and far apart so hoping it will be soon.

Will let you all know the minute it happens.

Blog problems

2011-03-09T15:40:00.000+11:00

My background has a photo bucket

pop-up on it and it is because the

background designer.

The person who designed the background

apparently doesn't have enough

photo bucket bandwidth.

Well that is what google tells me anyway.

So if you see it changing

I am fiddling with it

to try and find a new one.

We are still waiting for the bub, Dil has had a few

pains but nothing happening.

Trying a new recipe!

2011-03-04T10:20:00.001+11:00

Last weekend I thought

I would try a new dessert.

Berry Bombe Alaska and it was

very nice.

I had never tried this before and there was a little fiddling

but it was so worth it.

You have to mould the ice cream (which had

mixed berries stirred through it) into cups and refreeze

then cut sponge to size

and spread a little jam on it

and then unmould the ice cream onto the cake.

Then bake in the freezer till nearly ready to

eat.

Then just before serving you coat it with meringue and put

in the oven for a few minutes.

I expected to open the oven and it

would be a puddle of melted ice cream and meringue

....but they turned out great.

They are the perfect dessert

for a special occasion.

I followed the recipe out of this months

recipes + magazine (birthday subscription).

Still no baby and all is well.......but

won't be long :0)

Quiet and Peaceful...

2011-02-24T10:02:00.001+11:00

It has been really quiet around here lately and

not much going on.

Some would say boring but everything seems to be

humming along nicely and

plenty of time to get my jobs done around here and some time to

relax a little.

the print is from here

I have been doing the daily cleaning and baking and cooking.

I will sit and knit for a little bit,

I have done some sewing and mending

and just normal stuff on a day to day basis.

It is all a little dull to blog about but just letting you

all know I am still here and

PATIENTLY waiting for my little Princess

to come into this world.

My DiL is just about over being pregnant :0)

remember those last few weeks

and how you just want it over and done

with,lol.

She is lucky the last few days have been fairly cool

and the mornings a little chilly when I go to work.

I had better go and do some ironing and think what will be for dinner.

Have a great day.

Book Review and Catch up....

2011-02-17T13:54:00.001+11:00

I have been reading this book and have enjoyed it.

It is 'A Home Companion- my year of living like my Grandmother'.

It was interesting to the end and has lots of recipes for

homemade cleaning products,

body products and products for animals.

It has organic gardening sprays and

even a homemade sunscreen without

all the nasties.

I has become my bible and I grab it everyday to look

up a recipe for making something,

well nearly everyday.

I have made the washing liquid, face oil,

cleaning spray, fly spray,

lemon cleaning cloths, tooth powder

and have found them all good.

They have been better than a lot I have tried.

For the year she lived like her Grandmother did,

a nice simple life.

Grew her own vegetables and tried to only eat what her

Grandmother did or things with ingredients

that her Grandmother knew.

She continues to live this way.

Her name is Wendyl Nissen and her website

is here.

She has included most of her recipes here

as there are quite a lot.

*********

There is not a lot going on here at the moment.

The heat killed most of my garden and

I will wait a few weeks before I plant more stuff,

I still have beans and silverbeet.

Once February is over it should start

to cool down or the worst of the heat will

be over.

I will then get it going again.

********

All is well with my DiL and she has only got a

few weeks to go now and the heat is knocking here around

a bit. We all can't wait for the bub to arrive.

I am wondering if she will be fair haired and blued eyed like my Son

or dark haired and brown eyes like my DiL,

will find out soon enough :0)

I had better go and do a bit more knitting

as I am knitting something for a friend.

Have a nice day.

Happy Valentine's Day....

2011-02-14T13:43:00.000+11:00

Hope you all get lots of love today.

We don't buy each other gifts for

Valentine's Day, we used to years ago

but stopped a while ago now.

Have a great day!

Happy Birthday to you.......

2011-02-11T14:45:00.001+11:00

Today in S2 birthday

he is 25yrs old.

It is also his Girlfriends birthday too.

I hope they both have a wonderful day

and a year where all there wishes come true.

Happy Birthday to both of you....

Our Weekend......

2011-02-07T17:49:00.002+11:00

We enjoyed our weekend away and all went well

with the camper.

The only problem was the heat it

was so damn hot 46c (114f)

and no sea breeze on the Saturday.

We ended up going for a drive to see if we could buy a

bigger fan for the van

but every shop had sold out.

As it is never that hot there most shops don't carry

a lot and they didn't last long the

ones they had.

Every shop told us we would have to drive for about an hour

to get one, so we gave up and went back

to the van and had a swim.

We were on a peninsula and had water all the way around us,

lake on one side and ocean on the other.

The lake side had a marina and there

were heaps of nice boats and yachts.

This is just some of them.

The beach was really quiet and not many people around

I think they were all in air-conditioning

at home.

It was a nice quiet park and we had a lovely relaxing time

away.

The next time we go I will make sure it is not going to hot

and make sure I buy a better fan for when it is.

There are only a few things we need to do to make

it a bit more comfortable and

a few things we need to buy but will

do that before we head away again.

I am so glad the weather is cooler today and it is so much more

comfortable (21c/70f) and will stay that way till

the end of the week.

Hope you all have a good week.

Weekend away........

2011-02-02T17:14:00.001+11:00

We are finally heading away in the camper!

On friday morning when I finish work we will be heading

to Soldiers point for

a couple of nights.

We are hoping the weather is cooler by the water

as it has been over 40c (104f) all week.

Each night when we have gone to bed it has still been

in the high 30's and so

uncomfortable to sleep in.

Sea breeze here we come :0)

.....fingers crossed.

Will take lots of photos to document our first

vanning experience,lol.

I am hoping the storm warning we have at the moment brings us some

rain and cooler sleeping weather.

All the people in Nth Qld in the line of Yasi.....stay safe!

Homemade night cream ....

2011-01-30T09:13:00.001+11:00

I found a website that has heaps of

good green recipes for the home, beauty and all sorts of stuff.

I decided to try this night cream.

It is very oily and I though my skin

wasn't dry but it

soaks this stuff up and it

makes my face seem so soft in the morning,

not greasy at all.

I am loving it (well my face and neck are).

It is basically a salad dressing in my mind but it works.

This is the recipe and more recipes

can be found here

1/2 cup olive oil

3 tsp apple cider vinegar

I tbsp water

3 drops of lavender essential oil

Mix oil with vinegar slowly add the water, mixing the whole time until a smooth

white cream forms. Then add lavender oil.

You will need to shake it every night as it settles.

I don't think mine mixed quiet well enough but it works fine :0)

I have ordered her book (A Home Companion) and am waiting patiently

for its delivery.

I am hoping they are a good source of information.

Will let you all know.

Just waiting for the cool weather:0)

2011-01-29T13:17:00.001+11:00

Seen it has been hot around here and

we have finally got Summer, I

have been sitting inside in the cool doing

some knitting.

I have two pairs of socks

done now just waiting for the cold weather to come.

Each year I make a few

new pairs and usually in summer

when you don't want the weight of large knitting sitting on

your lap.

These are the ones I had started.

and these are the latest ones.

They are a pretty mauve colour and such a pretty

lacy pattern.

Both of these patterns can be found here

My toes will be toasty warm on cool mornings:0)

Have a great weekend

Happy Australia Day ....

2011-01-26T06:22:00.000+11:00

I would like to wish all of you a very Happy Australia Day!
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie
Oi,Oi,Oi

It has been very hot here the last week and today is going

to be over 40c (104f)

We have no plans for today

just try and stay cool!

Power Bill.......

2011-01-18T15:20:00.001+11:00

I received my power bill today and It is good to

see the total payable.

I thought it might have been in credit as I pay

some money off it each fortnight.

It used to be in credit but with the price

of electricity going up it is not going to happen,

I had to increase the amount I was paying

and it has nearly doubled in the last 12 months.

I know a lot of people dread their bills coming in

the mail but I don't for this reason,

each pay day I pay some of each bill

and that way I don't get any surprises when they come.

I used to use the envelope system but if I really needed the money

I would use some from one of my envelopes.

This way I can't touch it and if need be I have to find it somewhere else,

or I can stop payments if I really have too.

Does anyone else do it this way?

These are my thorn less blackberries I have growing and this

is the first year to have berries.

I will enjoy eating them when they are ripe.

I had better go and make the pastry

for a pie for dinner.

Have a great afternoon.

Sock knitting.....

2011-01-16T11:18:00.001+11:00

I have been knitting a pair of socks for myself

as my Granddaughter-to-be has plenty at the moment.

I enjoy knitting and socks are a

favourite and I usually knit

a few new pairs each summer to

have when the weather turns cold.

I found this pattern over here

This pattern is knitted toe up and I have never done them that way before

have always down top down.

I knit all patterns that require sets of four needles on

circulars.

I find it is far easier than having to handle

all the needles .

This method is called 'magic loop'

if you google it you will find YouTube videos to watch

and show you how it is done easier then trying

to explain how.

I used a pretty pale sky blue.

There is another pattern on that site and

I will also make those.

My DiL bought me this pretty plant for all my

help with the baby shower.

It is so nice and the top is a bright pink and the tips of

the leaves are green. I am just

wondering whether they change to green as they age,

will have to keep an eye on it.

Victoria now is starting to flood also and

not looking good for some towns.

I hope those in Qld are slowly

starting to dry out.

I had better go and hang this load of washing out

so you all have a great Sunday.

Camper Update......

2011-01-14T06:30:00.001+11:00

I have been slowly working away on the camper in between

Christmas, New Year and the Baby shower

organising and I think it looks a lot better

and just about ready to have

a weekend away.

This is the dining end before and after.

This is the lounge end before and after.

This is the fridge and cupboards, amazing what a coat of paint

and new knobs do.

and The kitchen sink.

I will be trying to get into a caravan park not too far away for a weekend

soon and we can work out what we need to

add to take with us in the future.

The first couple of trips will be a learning experience for us

as we get used to setting up :0)

Have a great weekend!

Decluttering.......

2011-01-13T10:51:00.000+11:00

These last couple of weeks I have

been going through some of my cupboards.

I am getting rid of what is not used and

sorting out what is left.

My Linen cupboard was first with

a good clean out and some towels,blankets and sheets put in

the camper.

I forgot to take before photos but it was a mess and things were just shoved

in where they fitted,lol.

The kitchen was next with some of the

drawers cleaned out and

made look a lot tidier.

I love this expandable bamboo cutlery organiser it

will fit any size drawer.

The Tupperware cupboard was next, it was getting bad

with everything just getting thrown in

there and the door

slammed shut:0)

So much better and I put all my

lids in the black basket and my cup measure and sifter and

baking stuff.

*********

The Queensland floods have been devastating to all of us and

My heart goes

out to all that have been affect.

I think all my blog friends are safe and dry.

It is going to be a long hard road to

clean up and get things back to normal.

I think the economy is going to suffer a badly.

There is going to be hard to get fresh fruit and

vegetables for months I would say, as

a lot of the growers have been flooded and will

be months before they have crops again.

I am trying to work out how I can fit more in my garden

and what other things I can grow to help

us out. I will also stock up on frozen vegetables when I am at the supermarket,

may also get tinned fruit for the coming months as what

the supermarket have will be

so expensive :0(

I had better go and hang this load of

washing out and do some work around here.

Have a great day

Baby Shower Game....so funny

2011-01-09T12:24:00.002+11:00

This was one of the games they played.

They conned me and Daryl into it

without us knowing what we had to do.

They didn't believe we would do it!

If we had of known Daryl wouldn't have:0)

The men had to crawl to their wives and be feed a bottle of juice.

without touching the bottle themselves.

It was so funny!

video 1

the second part.

Hope it made you smile for the day!

DiL's Baby Shower.......

2011-01-09T09:18:00.001+11:00

Yesterday was Dil Baby Shower

and it was a great day.

I had been busy all week cooking and making things.

It was all worth it!

My Darling Son and Dil.

These are the cupcakes I made, the cakes were pink and

white and then the pink icing.

Everyone loved them.

Then there was pink punch .

There was tons of food and we all went home with some

but it will get eaten:0)

Actually there was a lot more put on the table after these

photos.

The Dil in her princess chair :0)

with her butterfly wings.

This was one of the games, you had to cut a bit of wool the size

of the baby bump. her niece won but I think she was at

that height when she gets a cuddle,lol.

The presents, they got so much and all will be

used and appreciated. There were only a couple of double ups.

Which will get a place here:0)

(all these gift bags were full)

They have all the big things already and now I think they will only

need to buy basics.

It was a great day and she has a wonderful friend who

organised and done the decorations.

She allocated each of us things to make and do,

very organised.

It was such a wonderful day!

Only 9 weeks to go ( I can't wait)

Our wedding anniversary......

2011-01-06T18:36:00.001+11:00

Today we have been married 27 years

a bit of a milestone these days.

We normally don't buy each other presents but

Daryl gave me a present this morning

a lovely gold locket so

I shouted us out to lunch.

We went to the Windsor Castle pub and

had a very yummy meal.

I had the chicken schnitzel and vegetables

with a garlic sauce and bacon.

Daryl had a mixed grill with vegetables.

not a very good photo but it was very yummy.

I have been busy baking stuff for the DiL baby shower on Saturday.

Tomorrow I have a full day making the things that can't be done ahead of time.

I have a long list :0)

Well I had better go and do a bit more.

Goals for 2011.......

2011-01-02T08:19:00.001+11:00

My goals for 2010 have mostly been

completed (I didn't get chooks maybe this year)

I done some embroidery and made mozzarella cheese

I didn't expand my garden but built a new one at this place.

I also made pasta and sausages, I lost some weight with more to go

(which is at a stand still at the moment,lol).

All in all a good result.

My goals for this year are:

*To get chooks...finger crossed

*To learn to make wine

We used to do home brew beer so now I want to learn to make wine

the easiest way possible ...if anyone has ideas:0)

*I would like to make a pizza oven for cooking in.

It will have to be made on something that is movable

so I will be looking into that.

*I will be expanding the garden so we can grow more of our food.

*I would like to cut out a lot of disposable stuff I buy and have reusable items.

*I have always been wise and frugal with money but would like to tighten

the purse strings a little more :0)

I would like to have a bigger emergency fund for

just to be safe.

*I want to read more books as I haven't been reading much lately.

and the last one

*To spoil my little granddaughter when she arrives in March

........I can't wait.

My DiL had one of those 3D scans done and

they are so good.

You can actually see her face and she is

moving around in the video and actually waves to

the camera....so cute.

That is my list what have you all got planned if anything?

Happy New Year!!!!!!!

2011-01-01T07:57:00.000+11:00

Wishing you all a great year and hoping all your goals

and dreams come true

Christmas is over......

2010-12-26T13:24:00.002+11:00

Christmas is over for another year and it was a great

day. The weather was lovely and about 30c+

I even got a little sun burnt.

Santa came to all of us

and everyone went home chock a block full;0)

This is what my fridge looks like.

There is so much food leftover we will

be eating it for a week or more.

I think I will go through it and freeze what I can.

Is everyone else's fridge looking like this too?

Merry Christmas........

2010-12-25T06:05:00.001+11:00

Christmas lights.

2010-12-24T11:33:00.001+11:00

Last night we went for drive around the

neighbourhood to look at the

Christmas lights.

There are not as many big ones this year

as a lot of them were vandalised

last year, and I think the

cost of electricity is holding a lot back.

These were taken from in the car.

These are only a few of the best ones

but the photos don't really

do them justice.

When the boys were little we used to go Christmas eve and walk

around and let them look at them all.

It used to tire them out :0)

Only one sleep till Santa comes

"hope you have been good"

Better go and finish the cooking for tomorrow.

Have a great day!

In the kitchen...

2010-12-19T08:57:00.001+11:00

Yesterday was spent in the kitchen getting

some goodies made for Christmas.

I made some chocolate balls (rum less balls)

for the little kids that will be here for

Christmas lunch.

I also made some Choc Marshmallow Christmas Puddings

thanks Joolz

They turned out good and

I know these will be devoured

probably before Christmas,lol.

I might even take these tonight as we have a street

Christmas party to go to.

These are Cookies and Cream Truffles

and OMG they are so yummy.

here is the recipe if you want to try them

but don't blame me if you eat them all:0)

150g Oreo cookies or similar

150g cream cheese

200g dark chocolate

In a food processor, mix your cookies and cream cheese

together until smooth. Roll the mixture into balls

and refrigerate while you melt the chocolate.

Roll each ball in the melted chocolate and pop in the fridge until needed!

( you may need to refrigerate the mixture a little longer before you dip in the choc)

Here is the beetroot I bottled yesterday

it is an amazing colour and

it taste so good.

Will be better the longer it sits(if it gets to sit)

Here is the recipe I use

it is spicy and sweet.

Well I had better go and do something around here

and not sit here all morning.

Have a nice day!

Garden update...

2010-12-18T15:12:00.001+11:00

An update on my garden

as I haven't done it for a while.

The beetroot are going crazy and I will bottle some this afternoon.

The silverbeet we are eating nearly every

night with dinner, as well as giving it

away to anyone who eats it,lol

The tomatoes we have just picked

the first of them for the season.

Can't wait to have it on fresh bread.

This is a spaghetti squash and very tasty

indeed. I eat them either steamed and

forked to make spaghetti threads or it is nice with a

little butter and salt and pepper.

my Aunts used to grow these when I was

little and I loved them then too.

The little yellow squash are growing well too and we eat these nearly every night too

when we get too many I usually make a zucchini

slice using these instead.

Beans are cropping well now and we have yellow, purple and snake beans.

I think my favourite are the purple ones.

This is just some of what I picked this morning.

Also had silverbeet and beetroot.

It is so good having so much of our own food

and it does taste so much better:0)

Well I had better go and bottle the beetroot

and will post photos tomorrow.

Have a great weekend

Impossible pies........

2010-12-17T10:43:00.001+11:00

I suppose you have all made Impossible pies

before but these two are a little different.

An impossible pie for those who haven't made them

before are very easy and

all ingredients are mixed together.

When they are cooked they

have a pastry bottom and some have a topping as well.

Last night I made a savoury one for dinner and a

sweet one for dessert.

The savoury one was

Impossible Bacon Pie

12 rashes of bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled
1 cup shredded cheese
1 med chopped onion
3/4 cup SR Four
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 200Â°C. Grease pie plate. Sprinkle bacon, cheese and onion into pie plate.In medium bowl, beat remaining ingredients until blended; pour into pie plate.Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

I also threw in a couple of leftover sausages and a bit less bacon

and it was very yummy.

Dessert was Banana Cream Impossible Pie

Impossible Banana Cream Pie

1 cup milk
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup SR Flour
2 medium bananas, sliced
1 cup whipping cream, chilled
2 TBS icing sugar

Preheat oven to 170°C. Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl & beat until smooth, 30 seconds in a blender on high or 1 minute with a hand beater. Pour into a greased 10 inch pie plate. Bake about 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely. Arrange banana slices on pie. Beat whipping cream and powdered sugar in a chilled bowl until soft peaks form. Spread over top.

We have leftover for lunch today

I hope the rain is slowly easing for those

that have had more than enough, and the sun

is shining to dry it up for you all.

I hope you all have a great weekend

The pop top camper...

2010-12-14T10:09:00.001+11:00

This is the camper we bought on Sunday,

it is an older one and is structurally sound.

It needs my touch on the inside.

I will make new curtains and cushion covers and

clean it up before we go away in it.

It has a double bed and

kitchen table up one end, the table also

folds down for another double bed.

The opposite end has a double bed and a u shaped lounge.

the lounge can also be a double bed.

I think I will paint the cupboards white and get

a nice green for the cushion covers and a matching

floral for the curtains.

Then some doona covers and we will be set.

The fridge and stove work well and they even gave us the microwave

that was in it.

It comes with an full annexe and I think was a bargain for $600.

We are hoping to have many trip away :0)

A Cute Christmas card for you all.....

2010-12-13T10:40:00.001+11:00

Here it is

Hope this works for you all

Bits and Pieces of my week...

2010-12-12T08:07:00.001+11:00

There has been lots of things going on

here and Christmas jobs to be done.

I thunk everyone is busy these last couple

of weeks leading up to Christmas.

I had a Christmas dinner last night with the girls I

used to work with and we meet up

a couple of times a year and

have heaps of gossip

to tell each other:-)

it was a lovely meal too at one of our local pubs.

I have been baking goodies to eat for the week and

the cookie jar is full

These are just my choc chip biscuits with Smarties added

instead of choc chips.

I have started cleaning my antique sewing machine.

I was told to use linseed and turps

to remove the build up

of years of dust and grime and polish.

It is coming up nicely.

This is the machine before I started to clean it.

This is the cover that goes over the machine.

I thought i would start with the top and see if it was

going to make a difference.

It did make a difference and really bought the colour and

grain out.

The top is done and I only have the

machine to go and

will finish that through the week.

This morning we are off to Sydney to pick up

a pop top camper that we bought

on eBay very cheap.

It needs some TLC but is in good order.

Well that is what they told us

so finger crossed.

Will have pics when we get it set up.

Hopefully it will be good for many weekends away.

I had better get going and get on the road.

Have a great Sunday.

Colourful Jelly dessert......

2010-12-05T14:49:00.001+11:00

I was reading some blogs this morning and came across this

colourful dessert.

I thought it would be great for the family on

Christmas day.

I think for Christmas maybe I will just do green and red jelly.

I think it looks very effective and

my nieces will love it for Christmas day dessert.

Well not only my nieces:0)

With all the different flavoured jellies

it is so tasty.

Me and Daryl had some last night but

and I am sure when S2 sees it in the fridge he will

help himself to it too.

Hope your having a good weekend.

It's starting to look a bit like Christmas.....

2010-12-04T21:26:00.001+11:00

On Wednesday I put the

Christmas tree up and a few other decorations.

It is slowly looking Christmassy here :0)

I have the wrapping to do

as I already have most of my presents.

I have a lot of the food shopping done too.

We have everyone coming here again this year

so will have a house full on Christmas day.

How is Christmas coming along for all of you?

First Trophy.......

2010-12-04T09:25:00.001+11:00

My S2 went to a car show last weekend

in Singleton and

won the first prize trophy

for his car stereo.

It is so loud that the panels on his car

ripple with the noise.

If you want to watch the video he did go here.

It only goes for a few seconds

but I don't know how metal can move like that.

His car will never be the same.

Can't be good for the hearing either.

Tortilla recipe ......

2010-12-03T12:17:00.001+11:00

Here is the tortilla recipe

(for Joolz and everyone else) :0)

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1tsp salt

3 tablespoons oil

3/4 cup lukewarm water (approx)

I put all ingredients in the food processor with enough

of the water to make a soft dough.

Then knead for a few minutes and let rest

(I usually leave it for about 1/2 hr)

I divide the dough into 8 but you can make up to 12

depending on the size you want.

Roll out the dough quiet thinly.

Cook quickly in a hot oiled pan for about a minute on each side.

maybe 30 secs, watch they don't burn.

Wrap in a tea towel till they are all cooked to

keep them soft.

hope you all enjoy.

Homemade tortillas.......

2010-12-03T11:28:00.001+11:00

Last night we were going to have tacos

but I had no taco shells.

I ended making tortillas to have instead.

Everyone I think enjoyed them better.

They are very easy to make

and don't take long at all.

Here is mine ready to roll up and eat.

All these went into our tortillas.

The tortillas made and ready to use.

I have a couple leftover for lunch today.

Tacos are a favourite in our

house and these will be too.

I have finished work for the week and

am looking forward to the weekend.

Nothing is planned but I am sure I will find

heaps to do :0)

Garden Produce....

2010-11-29T11:46:00.001+11:00

My garden is starting to produce

lots of food for us now.

I have heaps of silver beet

and lettuce which we are getting daily.

This is the first squash and many more

on the plants.

The tomato plants are covered with fruit

and I can't wait for them to ripen.

We have small beans on and the beetroot

are growing well.

All the rain we had has done

the garden great.

We had visitors at the weekend which was great,

we hadn't seen them for about 12 months.

I had better get of here and

go and do some housework.

Have a nice week.

Peachcots.......

2010-11-25T11:54:00.001+11:00

Mum's peachcot (a cross between a peach and a apricot) tree

is covered with fruit

this year and she has been giving heaps to

bottle and make into jam.

Last week I got this bag and stewed them

and put them in bottles

and gave them a water bath .

these are just 2 bottles

Tomorrow I have to go and pick some more and these

will be a better colour. All the rain

was starting to rot them

so we picked them just in case

the whole crop was lost.

The weather this week has been hot and

they are ripening nicely.

tomorrow will have me in the kitchen cutting and preserving

the next lot.

Hope your week is coming along nicely.

An Award :0)

2010-11-21T11:24:00.000+11:00

I have been given an award

and it is so greatly appreciated.

Mel passed on this award to me

and thank you so much

My Son's Car ......

2010-11-20T16:59:00.002+11:00

S2 put his car in Auto Salon in

Sydney this weekend.

It is a show to display cars that have been

done up to look something special.

One of his suppliers wanted them to enter

as they are really impressed with my Son's work.

Here is the outside of the

car with all his stickers on

and his wheels painted to match.

The colours are great.

The squiggly lines go right up and over the roof.

This is in the back

(the doof doof part),lol.

My Son's speciality.

He has spent weeks getting this ready to

go and only finished working on it

at 8pm last night.

He designs and builds these all by himself , he even made the infinity

mirror. That is the mirror at the back with the lights around it

that makes it look like it goes on and on.

His back doors even open automatically

when you open the hatch.

This is not something I would have in my car but

I have a very talented Son,

(actually both my boys have talent,lol.)

I may be a little biased though :0)

Hope you are enjoying your weekend

A hospital visit.....

2010-11-19T21:18:00.002+11:00

Yesterday morning had a little emergency at our place.

Daryl was feeling a little dizzy when I went to

work each time he got up.

After I went to work he got up and passed out at the sink.

when he got up his toe was bend out of place and bleeding bad.

An hour later

S2 turned up at work.

He said Dad is in the car

he has broke his little toe.

I said go to work and I will take Dad up to the

emergency dept.

His toe was bleeding pretty bad

and sticking way up in the air.

It was x-rayed and showed no break but the said

definitely tendon and ligament damage.

Under his toe had split nearly to the bone.

The Doctor put 2 stitches in where he could as

it is not an easy place to stitch.

His toe has a splint to hold it in place

so it will stop bleeding.

The slightest movement and it bleeds again.

The Doctor wanted him on crutches but Daryl said

he would stay off his foot.

They run tests on him to find out why he was dizzy

but they all came back good.

Probably low blood pressure, he has been fine since.

If it doesn't heal they may have

to remove the toe.....fingers crossed

that doesn't happen.

It was an eventful Thursday

(and 4 hours in Emergency dept.)

Who knew doing the dishes could be that dangerous:0)

Mint Slice recipe

2010-11-17T13:37:00.002+11:00

I was surfing the blog world

this morning and

found these.

They have a few other Arnotts biscuit

recipes , check them out.

There goes my healthy eating this week :0)

Letters to Juliet....

2010-11-15T10:19:00.001+11:00

Yesterday I watched this DVD and I thoroughly enjoyed

it. It is a story trying to find a long lost love.

Synopsis: When a young American travels to the city of Verona, home of the star-crossed lover Juliet Capulet of Romeo and Juliet fame, she joins a group of volunteers who respond to letters to Juliet seeking advice about love. After answering one letter dated 1951, she inspires its author to travel to Italy in search of her long-lost love and sets off a chain of events that will bring a love into both their lives unlike anything they ever imagined possible,

I would watch this again :0)

Time is flying by :0)

2010-11-14T15:24:00.002+11:00

Where has the week gone?

Not that it has be busy at all but just seems

to pass by so quickly.

This week the weather has been better with nice warm

days and the odd storm at night.

That has made it humid and stuffy.

I guess we are finally getting

Spring.

My good eating has made an exit the last couple of weeks

but I haven't gained any weight which is

good.

Tomorrow I will try and get back to it

before I do put weight on :0)

My garden is growing well with

the rain we have had and we are eating silverbeet

and lettuce.

My beans have aphids which I have never had on beans

before and it has stunted there growth.

Hopefully they will start growing properly again

soon, if not I will pull them out

and replant some more.

It is not long till Christmas now and

I have a few presents bought, but more to buy.

I had better get and do it soon as the

way the days are flying past we will

have Santa here before we know it.

Have you all got your shopping done?

PS I have got to send out my Christmas cards too ........ I would like to send you all a card but don't have your addresses :0) ( if you would like a card email your address to me)

New glasses.....

2010-11-07T14:18:00.003+11:00

I had to get new glasses as my eyes were getting worse.

I couldn't see much close up even with

my reading glasses on, in fact

I could drive the car with my reading glasses on.

I now have to wear my glasses all the time as my long distant sight

is weaker now.

It is hard to decide which ones to pick so

I ended up with new purple frames.

They had an offer of 2 pairs for the price of one,

so had a pair made into sunglasses.

As you can see I have also had my haircut

shorter for Summer (if Summer ever comes) :-)

It was coloured again too and with it short needs doing

more often or the greys come back.

How often do you get your hair coloured?

or are you going grey gracefully?

Latest knitting project......

2010-11-07T14:04:00.001+11:00

My latest knitting project finished

and from now on they will all be for a little girl :-)

This little cardigan is so pretty.

It is white with little pink hearts and an eyelet pattern

and I put pink heart buttons also.

I found this pattern in a bag of old patterns

my Mum gave me that

belonged to my Aunty Fay.

They are far nicer than some of the patterns

you can by today.

Here is a close up.

I have quite a few things knitted now an

will give them to my DiL soon.

I will wait till the baby's room is finished.

We are still getting rain and have had enough for now,

though today and tomorrow are supposed to be nice.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

My Garden is doing well :0)

2010-11-03T09:19:00.001+11:00

With all this rain we are getting

the garden is loving it.

It gets a good soaking far better than

what can be done by watering.

I have taken a some photos as I walked

around the garden this morning.

These are the scallopini squash

that I had growing last year and I am

hoping I can keep the mildew of them this year.

Next are my tomatoes and this year I have grown three different varieties.

Only a couple of them need staking the others

are only about 30-40cm high.

These seeds were from the Burkes Backyard Magazine

and are heirloom varieties.

The beetroots are doing well and I can't wait for more of

the pickled beetroots that I made last year.

This in silverbeet and behind it some lettuce.

I also have beans (3 varieties), spaghetti squash, parsley, basil

a few Rosella bushes and capsicum.

There is more but can't think of them at the moment.

I had better go and hang some washing out

while the sun is shining as it wasn't out for long

yesterday.

Hope you are all having a good week.

Raining Yesterday...

2010-11-02T07:35:00.001+11:00

Yesterday afternoon the rain came in

and it poured for hours and

overnight.

We had just over 2" of rain and that nice BBQ area on Sunday

is now a swimming pool :0)

But as you can see the sun is shining now so hopefully it stays

out to dry the water up.

S2 shop got flooded when the guttering couldn't cope with the

amount of rain or that is what the owner says.

There is about $20,000 worth of damage.

They are hoping it doesn't happen again.

Good luck to anyone who has a bet

on the Melbourne Cup today.

It is so hard to pick a winner.

Whatever you are doing today, have a good one.

Family BBQ......

2010-11-01T06:23:00.001+11:00

Yesterday we had a family BBQ and the weather

was wonderful.

Our local butcher has these Flinstone cutlets

and I just had to get them for

the boys.

These are sitting in (on) a really large baking dish

they were huge.

They were enjoyed by all

S2 eating his, he finished first but didn't eat

any salads with his.

S1 wasn't leaving any of his,lol.

It was a good lunch and it is great to have everyone

together even if it is only occasionally.

There was heaps of leftovers so that was dinner last night.

I had a great weekend hope you all did too

Sweet bread....

2010-10-31T09:21:00.002+11:00

Yesterday I made a lovely sweet bread

that the recipe calls Monkey Bread.

The dough is rolled into little balls and

then the little balls are rolled

in cinnamon sugar.

They are put in a ring cake tin with layers of nuts.

Then left to rise.

Before it is baked you pour a butter and brown sugar mixture over the top

and bake.

It comes out of the oven with a gooey buttery caramel sauce

that runs down over

the bread and coats it.....(not low fat)

but very yummy.

It was very moreish when it was warm straight out of

the oven :0)

Daryl and I then spent a couple of hours

putting up our portable awning

over the BBQ table.

We have had this awning for about 4 years now and it has

been great and saved us from rain and burning sun

a few times now.

It is bolted down so it won't go anywhere in the wind.

I need to get some pots to put around the edge now.

We are having the kids here today for a BBQ lunch

which will be great to all get together

at one time.

With everyone working it is hard to find a time that

we all are free and today lunch was it.

Will post some photos tomorrow.

Happy Halloween!
or
Happy Beltaine!

It's going to be ............

2010-10-30T17:22:00.003+11:00

Our Son and Dil

had another ultrasound yesterday

and found out what they are having and

it is a little girl :-)
They are due in March 2011.

This will be lovely for me as I had two boys and

to be able to do girly things

with her.

She will be a little Princess

and probably

spoiled rotten by me..........

isn't that what Grandparents do,lol.

Undecide Weather:0)

2010-10-24T11:59:00.002+11:00

The weather here the last week has been

so silly.

One day it is freezing cold and about 12c like

it was last Saturday and then

it has been lovely and in the high 20c's.

Then Tuesday morning the weather was lovely and then by

10am it was freezing.

The rest of the week we have had lovely Spring days

and then today it is raining and windy.

Can't make up its mind what it wants to do,lol.

The rain today will do the garden good after the

windy weather we have had.

I don't have to work this week well so far

anyway so can spend some time in

the garden and get some more seedling in. The housework

will get up to date also.

*********

This morning I made a Tomato and Olive Scone Loaf

and we will have it for lunch.

S2 has a piece when it come out the oven and says it taste like pizza

so we will enjoy this for lunch

(and yes it is low fat)

just can't have a lot of butter on my pieces.

This week I plan to get back up to date with this blog and everyone

elses........

I hope you all having a great weekend

Flat out still :0)

2010-10-17T15:24:00.001+11:00

I am in demand at work as I am just filling in while people

are sick or on holidays,

people keep asking for me to do their work.

Maybe I should do a crappy job and they

will get someone else;0)

I have been busy so busy working and catching up at home

that I haven't had much time

to blog or catch up with

everyone.

This week is no different, I have all day Monday, Thursday, and Friday.

Also Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.

They tell me I can have the following week off,

I bet they call me.

The weekend has been busy

cooking snacks for the

next few days.

These are cheerios biscuits with choc chips.

These are choc chip muffins.

All low fat too.

My weight is still going down and

I have lost 12kg (26lb) all up

so far.

I am cooking a baked dinner for tonight and have the

legs of lamb in the slow cooker

so they will be ready for later.

I will then put my vegetables in the oven to bake

later.

I promise I will catchup with all your blogs soon

and get back to posting regular here.

I hope you all have a wonderful week

A new list gadget.....

2010-10-10T09:59:00.001+11:00

As you all know now that I am list person,

I have a new gadget to show you all.

My old phone contract was up and my old

phone had just about died

so I got a new i-phone4.

It is so fun to use and it

does just about everything :0)

It syncs the computer with the phone and

puts all dates and reminders from the computer

and reminds me of all I have to do.

I found some apps (applications) to

add to it and one of them was

a shopping list.

When I am out of something I just add it to my phone

and when you go shopping

it enables you to cross them off the list.

I also got a menu planner which lets you list

what meals we are having for the week and

save bits of paper all

over my fridge,lol.

I also got a spirit level download

which is so cool and I can check if things are level,

and Daryl shows everyone he talks to :0)

I put everything in my phone it even has a

notes section to keep notes

of things I have remember.

As you can see I am really happy with my new phone.

My big work days are over and I will only have

a few days here and there now.

Daryl is feeling a lot better and is getting back to normal

after the hernia operation.

Have a wonderful Sunday

I have an award!

2010-10-04T15:05:00.000+11:00

I received this award this week

I received it from Granny.

I have to list 7 things that you might not know about me.

1. I write lists for everything and if I don't have a list I

don't seem to get things done

2. I have an obsession with cookbooks and love new recipes

3. I am a chocoholic and will eat any kind of chocolate

4. My favourite season is Spring as I love the beautiful days

and cooler nights.

5. I have an allergy to the sun and if I feel the sun heating

my skin up I come out in itchy little blisters.

(Well that is what the Dr thinks anyway)

6. I don't like being untidy and I like things

organised and labelled.

7. I love making anything from scratch be it craft or cooking.

I will pass this on to anyone who wants to

participate.

Still so busy...

2010-10-04T14:50:00.000+11:00

I have had another busy week with work and home.

I was so glad we had a long weekend I needed

it to recover.

I am glad that I only have this week to go on this

job and it will be back to a few hours here

and there.

I am feeling a bit over-whelmed at the moment

not used to working such long days.

I have spent the weekend doing things here at home

and looking after Daryl

as he had a hernia operation on Friday.

He is OK but sore and will feel better soon.

I have planted some of my seedlings out into

the garden finally and the rain we are

getting will do them good.

I am slowly catching up on my

blog reading and all that I have missed

while I have been working.

I have an award and will post that later today or tomorrow.

Hope you all have a great week.

I have been busy working......

2010-09-26T10:46:00.000+10:00

I have been so busy the last week or so

and have not had time to blog or

read many other blogs but I promise i

will catch up in a couple of weeks.

I have been doing some builders cleans

and It is a big job and will last a few weeks.

They are 8 hr days plus about and hours travel either

way.

It is a new cinema centre opening on the 7th of October

and it is so dusting and the workmen are still there working

as well, which is a real pain in the butt.

If you have been wondering where I have been,

you now know:-)

************

My weight is still going down but is slower now.

I have lost 8kg(17lb) so far.

I have not had time to exercise but have done

my exercise at work as we have 80 steps to go up and down about

4 times a day if not more (I hate those stairs and have nightmares about them).

************

Here is another knitting project finished

The photo is a little pale but it has blue, green and white

and is cute.

I have 2 more little jumpers to show you another day,

one variegated pink and one green.

************

The garden is coming along nicely not that I have had time to

do much outside.

Daryl has been keeping the water up to them for me.

It might be a couple more weeks before things get back to normal

blogging so bear with me.

I hope you all are having a great weekend

New Garden Beds :-)

2010-09-15T09:57:00.001+10:00

Here are my new garden beds

that are ready to plant out.

I will build more as they are needed...well

a few more:0)

As you can see we have dug 3 beds, I would like 6

all up but will get these growing first.

I have planted seeds for corn, beans little yellow

squash and am waiting eagerly

for them to emerge:-)

I have seedlings up in punnets that will be

transferred when they get bigger.

these are just some of them.

The tree that Daryl pruned down the back is covered with flowers

and looks so pretty.

It is a grevillea and here is one of the flowers.

This year only one of my orchids

are going to flower

and it has 3 flower spikes that

will open soon.

I love orchids and they last for ages in

a vase.

I had a quiet day yesterday and didn't do much at all

which is nice now and again.

Today I will make a slice and do a

little washing and ironing.

Have a nice day

One knitted Baby set....

2010-09-13T07:08:00.001+10:00

This is the first outfit I knitted

and it is pink even though I

have a feeling it will be a boy:-)

I love knitting baby clothes and they are

finished so quickly.

I have been knitting a girl then a boy colour

and whatever colour isn't needed

this time will

be put away for the future ;-)

Will post more later in the week.

Week 5...:-)

2010-09-12T11:55:00.001+10:00

Week 5 is finished and I am

down another 1.3kg...... am so pleased.

I have kept up the exercise and nice yummy food

and even went out to lunch with

some girlfriends on Thursday.

Here are some of the yummy food I have had this

week.

Symple Jumbles(like honey jumbles)

Custard Tart (Daryl's favourite for fathers Day)

with a baked dinner.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Baked Apricot Rice Custard

Chinese Beef

and

Potato Lasagne (made with potato slices

instead of pasta)

All my meals have been so yummy and I haven't felt deprived at

all:-)

We will see what this week brings,lol.

Tomorrow another baby outfit photo.

I hope you are all having a great weekend.

Baby Knitting....

2010-09-06T11:01:00.001+10:00

I have finally uploaded some knitting photos.

This is the baby shawl that I knitted first

and I will make a couple more over the next few

months before it gets too hot to

knit big things.

I have it pinned out blocking

which brings it into shape

properly.

As you can see I don't have enough pins to

pin each little peak around the edge

but I hope it dries OK.

Here is a closer look

at the pattern.

It is very pretty and so soft:-)

I have also knitted a baby set for a boy and one for a girl

and will take photos of them shortly.

I bought heaps of baby wool from Spotlight

when they had their wool sale.

I bought a nice mix of boy and girl colours.

that way I have outfits for either.

Yesterday was a horrible day weather wise here, we

had gale force winds that nearly blew me over

and that is a strong wind, lol.

Today is going to be a nice day, well it is at

the moment but wet weather is coming back.

Have a nice week.