just scoooooting in the rain

raining, pouring ...

... and we're all cheering!

We're in the grip of a drought in Victoria. But today we're thankful for rain. I don't know if it's here for long but it's welcome to stay.

We've had some fierce winds to go with it and they've caused some terrible accidents, which is not good. I'll be thinking of the SES tonight.

They'll probably be very busy helping people out of emergencies.

The rain is welcome, the winds can ease to blowy, not stormy please!

Tiggy has had a ball.

It was not quite 5pm when it really got going here and that boy just ran wild

round and round the garden like a teddy bear.

Eventually I managed to call him in and get a rarely worn raincoat on him. When I was teaching we always braced ourselves on the wild and woolly days as the boys always seemed to go a little loopy.

My whacky boy did just as I knew he would, and probably many, many other little 5 years olds were around Melbourne. C.R.A.Z.Y!

Needless to say he headed to slumber early and easily!

God Bless and sleep tight Tiggy.

birthday :: decorations & cake

birthday boy board

miles and miles of bunting

banner

yummy but ugly cake!

Another reason I loathe licensed products, that candle turned out to cost $7.30!! I kid you not. I couldn't work out what had cost so much on my bill and when I worked it out I was so shocked. I should have checked I suppose. Never mind, Tigs loved it.

Tigs loved the candle, but not a single morsel passed his lips. Not a cake boy.

It's edible glitter by the way.

birthday :: goodie bags

With a serious nod to Sally Shim and her brilliant packaging and fabulous birthday parties she gives her boys, I give you the goodie bags I came up with for Tiggy's non-Ben 10 party.

goodie bags

Tigs loves Ben 10, and would quite like to change his name at the moment.

I cannot bring myself to buy Licensed products. He does have a pair of silky ‘jammie shorts but they are not to leave the house, ever, until they go to the tip!! I don’t feel mean about it, it’s just me and my aesthetic. He’s my child so he gets what I think is okay!

sidewalk chalks for the babies

stationery set

For those who have managed to escape the all consuming world of Ben 10, he’s a 10 year old boy who finds a watch – the Omnitrix. It helps him change into a range of aliens who possess a vast array of hideous physical features and wildly violent powers which are unleashed on the Dee-N’s (that’s what Tiggy calls them) they are in fact DNAliens! Oh, it’s so ghastly and I’m ashamed that he’s become so ‘into’ them. Bad Mummy, but he’s already addicted and I must be weaker than I thought.

Korean candy

more candy

Anyway I, very cleverly, I think, managed to re-create an acceptable, to Tigs and me, Ben 10 logo which I used on all the packaging for the goodie bags. Actually they seem to be pretty bad photos but you should manage to get the idea!

Some more general decoration pics on the way.

x

birthday :: flowers

hippeastrums on the kitchen bench

hippeastrums in the baby's reach!

hyacinths on the dining table

alstromeria on the side board

hyacinths in the bathroom

I love the chance to cover the house in flowers. Birthday's are just the reason. I often choose white. But like most things with me, I vacillate between cool, calm and serene and wild, loud and vivacious. Must have been a cool moment. It also went well with the non-Ben 10 theme I had going!!

Back soon with the goodie bags.

x

first time

Now those who know me would know that I'm quite patient, with some things anyway. We would never have managed to bring our two beautiful children into our lives without a bit of patience.

However, when it comes to fabric I'm not. At all. I have to have it NOW.

I'm usually restrained, empty purse and all, but every now and then I throw caution to the wind and head to Amitie or Patchwork on Central Park or, uggh, the dreaded Spotlight and sometimes out of desperation even to, gasp, Lincraft. Why do they both seem to employ the least helpful and least knowledgeable (with regard to their own products and general sewing) staff I've ever encountered? Not nice to whinge, but really, ever heard about customer service?

So back to my 'first time'. Greg was out for the evening, the house was quiet and tidy and I started to let my fingers do the walking, all the way to Heather Bailey! What lovely, lovely designs she has. I have thought and thought about ordering before. I think I've even gone through the whole purchase process and then shivered and shyed away. But with the exchange rate on the up again. I gulped and hit 'place order'. I'm seriously over-excited about the pending arrival of this package. I even got a little giddy when I found the shipping email in my inbox this morning.

Oh, all the things I can make with this beautiful stuff. I'm so blessed to have a sweet little girl who will probably have something made for her with the Paisley blue fabric. The ROSE BOUQUET in emerald reminds me of the beautiful bag I bought yonks ago from Charlotte.

Have a Happy Day Everyone!

Oh and please say, "Hello" to me if you get a moment. I'd love to know who's out there reading my dribble!! Maybe you're as dotty as me! Scary thought, hey!

*images from Heather Bailey

first cuppa

my tidy desk - only for a moment but it's a good a moment

I love my new mugs. They're from Country Road. My tea this morning tasted so good. Plus I was able to have a moment to myself before my sweet babies woke. Bliss.

birthday preparations :: mars bar crackles

First things first. The most delicious chocolate crackles.
I used the Kellogg's Mars Bar Slice recipe but I put it into cupcake holders as I thought they would look prettier on the table – and they did.

flossy is always my sous-chef, and a very good one, I might add

the cake stand with honey joys mixed in. mmm, which one should I have first?

the cake table

The candle is lit in memory of Tiggy's birthmother. It's something Tigs and I did very gently and peacefully before everyone arrived. A reminder of the extraordinary woman who gave birth to our beautiful son. I am sure it's a date she'll never forget.

Thank you Seong Jin Orma. We'll always remember you and pray that your life is good.

I had a look for the recipe link but couldn’t seem to find it again. Anyway here’s the recipe (below). In future I’d leave out the golden syrup (not sure what it’s there for and Lord knows it doesn’t need to be any sweeter) and the dark chocolate as we inadvertently added it to the melting pot (oops). It’s meant to go on the top. They are super yummy and terribly good for you … Well maybe only for your soul!

MARS BAR SLICE

3 cups rice bubbles3 x 60g Mars bars, chopped

75g Butter1 tbs Golden Syrup

150g Dark Cooking Chocolate, chopped

1. Place chopped Mars bars in a heatproof bowl with butter and golden syrup.

2. Microwave on high for about 1 1/2 minutes or until Mars bars are melted.

3. Mix until smooth.

4. Stir in rice bubbles & press mixture firmly into a greased foil-lined 20cm square cake tin.

5. Place in refrigerator until firm.

6. Place chocolate pieces in a heatproof bowl. Microwave on high for 1-2 minutes, or until melted. Stir until smooth.

7. Spread over slice and refrigerate until firm.

8. Remove slice from refrigerator about 1 hour before cutting into squares with a warm knife.

Makes 16 Source : Kellogg's Rice Bubbles

happy birthday darling!

My 'little' boy is 5. How has this happened?

More from me soon. Cut finger. Very late.
x

grey, chill, damp, misty morning

It was absolutely freezing yesterday morning, well by our standards anyway, 5 celcius at 10am and no sign of it clearing or warming up. There was no dawdling on our streets everyone seemed to be moving with purpose, positively bustling. To get to their destination and out of the cold, I imagine.

So, having dropped Tigs at creche, Twinkle and I popped into the sweet little cafe on our street, Mr Burch, maybe it's Birch, must check and also see if they have a link. It's full of vintage ephemera, old baggage racks with pork pie hats sitting jauntily next to bags of coffee beans. Shabby tin baskets holding cutlery and napkins. Slick new Caesar Stone work bench with time-worn mesh food covers over large, freshly baked slabs of raspberry-coconut slice (it was yum).

I must ask if they'll let me take some photos for the blog. I just love it. I ordered a skinny latte and there, out of this crisp, grey morning came this little pop of sunshine. Isn't it fun? I've never seen a take-away cup like it. And each in the stack was a little bit different.

Maybe I'm the last to see them, Greg saw it on the kitchen bench at home and thought I was barking mad, but then he has a lot more take-away coffee than me and I am barking mad! Usually, Miss Thrify comes home and makes her own!!

i give you my blue tongue lizard

Well that was unexpected. We were all struck with gastro except the 'machine'. She's just as tough as old boots. Finally feeling normal is wonderful.

she's so tough she has blue pens for breakfast!

It's an old one but i think it gives a glimpse into the sweet cheeky imp that is my daughter.

Back soon with the grooviest take away cup i've ever had

a natural nurturer

he really makes me laugh - a mini me!

who said her hair isn't long enough?

clean her face

pretty hair

just lovely!

Queen's birthday weekend

We had planned to go to the beach for the long weekend. Somehow we never got there. We were too lazy (me), too tired (tiggy), too unwell (greg) and just plain uniformed (twink). I started to pack and then stared at my family as they lay there, relaxed (tigs), recuperating (greg) and refueling (hannah) an decided to pop the clothes back in the drawers, the bag away and snuggle up. Lovely really.

We did manage to get out for lunch with Flossy on Sunday. We went down to the bay, it was chilly and blustery and the clouds became angrier and angrier. We did manage a quick walk and bike ride but the ominous blue/grey rain clouds chased us back to the cars. No one’s really complaining here as we desperately need the water.

We beat the rain home and were all snug and warm inside for the afternoon. Big pot of soup on the stove and some delicious homemade rice pudding. YUM!

Tigs and Twinkle played with a pile of cushions and blankets for a while. The simple things are often the most fun. I’m not sure how much Twink enjoyed it but she was rolled around a bit!

mmmmm ... mimolette!

What a find we had yesterday! It's a difficult time of year for Flossy and me. It's the anniversary of our Daddy's death. We would have thought that 5 years would be a little easier and although the day-in day-out pain eases a little the month leading up to it is still as raw and as painful as the if it just happened. Problem is that my Daddy was the most extraordinary man. We miss him so much. He lit up a room. I think he made men feel comfortable and relaxed and women feel amazing and clever and beautiful.

So rather than get too miserable we were able to celebrate our beautiful Daddy. He loved cheese, he loved a sharp cheese, the kind that would 'take the roof of your mouth off'. His absolute all time favourite - Mimolette . Flossy and I have searched and searched for this all time favourite of Daddy's for years and once in a while a fromagier would inform us that they’d heard of it, or they’d had it in the past, but we were always left a little forlorn as we’d leave with a nice, but not-quite-right substitute.

Yesterday I insisted that we pick up some cupcake cases from the other end of Chadstone. We were on a tight time schedule but I convinced her to come with me. While I was browsing through Wheel & Barrow, Floss noticed the Simon Johnson shop and wandered over. By the time I’d managed to actually get into the shop (the Fromagerie has a seemingly hard door to open!) I found Floss ordering 700 g of vieille-Mimolette at $110 per kilo!!!! The girl is mad but boy it was worth it!

floss / bliss

We really had ‘suckers’ plastered all over our faces by that stage and were effortlessly encouraged to buy some Epoisses Berthaut (in the round container), some flat 'le lingue' bread, and a bottle of verjuice to slosh over the Berthaut and bake in the oven. I have to say we reached paradise and in the making created 'un petit gourmand'. Tigs just loved the Mimolette sandwiched between two slices of beurre bosc pears. Mmmmm.

10 months already

my little helper

reading "I kissed the baby"

did you kiss the baby?

yes he did kiss the baby! his own sweet baby.

first hairclip! no hair, I know. but they're so cute.

they were given to us by a friend who went to Korea - lucky us

always waving!

everything is going on her head at the moment. very cute

Christmas is coming!

Okay well not quite, but for us Antipodeans we have to plan ahead.

I love chestnuts, as does my sister, Flossy, and I think the rest of the family quite enjoys them in the turkey. Floss and I are vegetarians so this is our big thrill for Christmas and we do Margaret Fulton’s delicious and simple Chestnut stuffing recipe as a main dish for us and the one of the two stuffings we put in the poor bird. However, by Christmas it will be hot and the chestnut season will be long over.

So, we have to 'get ahead' and prepare the chestnuts now and freeze them, where they keep very well until the festive season is really with us. One year we were caught on the hop (having failed to get organised) and ended up sourcing whole, peeled, vacuum tinned, French chestnuts from David Jones. We paid $25 for two little tins – moral of the story is we get organised NOW! This year I bought them on special - always love a bargain !

They have a distinctive, nutty/floury/slightly sweet flavour. Just look how pretty they are.

Usually, we've microwaved them to loosen the pellicle (the layer beneath the outer shell) from the nut. But this year after some research and painful memories of burned fingertips (you must peel them while they're still very warm and damp), the shells jamming further under our fingernails with each chestnut, we trialled the boiling method. Much, much, much better!!

Before cooking, the most important step is to cut the shell to prevent the nut from exploding while cooking! In the past the cutting of the shell has caused blisters on our hands, as we've cut the slit into the pale end (hilum). This year I hacked across the face of the nut, quite good if you've some anger to vent!! The cut should go full thickness through the shell, and perhaps the pellicle, but not into the flesh of the nut.

Place chestnuts into a pan of cold water, bring to the the boil, cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until flesh is tender.

It is easier to peel chestnuts while they are still warm and damp. We left them in the water with a teatowel covering the top of the pan - naturally we removed the pot from the stove! Remove the outer shell and also the inner brown skin or pellicle, as this can sometimes taste quite bitter.

So having done all the hard work and yielding many more chestnuts than we needed we decided to make a delish salad. It looks a bit funny but the taste - sensational!!

Chestnut and Crispy Noodle Salad For 2 servings (It really would have served 4):
1-2 cups (probably don't need more than a cup really) peeled, steamed or boiled chestnuts (steam 15-20 mins),1 tsp sesame oil,1 tsp soy sauce, 2-3 cups crisp lettuce strips + salad vegetables (spring onion, coriander leaves, celery, cucumber, red pepper, sprouts), about 1 cup crisp-fried noodles, about ¼ cup prepared dressing, 2-3 tsp toasted sesame seeds (optional).

Coat steamed chestnuts with sesame oil and soy sauce and quickly stir fry· Cut the crisp lettuce into strips· Place in bowl with two or three other salad vegetables cut into thin strips· Toss warm chestnuts with about 1 tbsp of dressing· Toss salad mix with about 2 tbsp of dressing· Layer the greens, crisp-fried noodles and chestnuts in a pyramid on a plate· Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds (if you wish).

DRESSING
2 cloves garlic (optional)

1 cm piece of fresh root ginger

1 small dried chilli pepper (optional)

¼ cup wine vinegar or rice vinegar

¼ cup Kikkoman soy sauce

1-2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp cornflour (about) ½ cup water

Roughly chop the garlic and ginger in a food processor. Process with all remaining dressing ingredients (or shake together), except water, until finely chopped. Add water, tip into a pot or pan. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly, pour into a lidded container and cool. Use immediately or store in the fridge. (Dressing will keep for about a week in the fridge).