masterchef?

Apparently this was delicious! I wouldn't know as I don't eat meat.

Inspired by Masterchef I thought I'd alter my usual recipe and made the chicken pie in a spring-form cake pan.
I have to say it really looked pretty and the family all loved it.




If you're interested I'll happily share the recipe. It's easy and not quite your standard chicken pie.

I hope your bellies are full and that the week ahead is a good one for you.

E x

my sweet loves

Happiness is a lovely day together,
ending with a sleepy snuggle safe in Daddy's arms.

crackling

Oops! I had a boo-boo in the kitchen.
Having prepared a scrumptious roast dinner for my family I accidentally forgot the crackling 'crisping' under the grill.

Smoke billowed from the oven. Front and back doors were thrown wide!

Tigs, somewhat embarrassingly, seemed to know what to do.
He ran and found his safety ear-muffs he uses at the Grand Prix and then grabbed a towel and began flapping wildly at the alarm lest it sense the smoke and screech in all our ears.
To assure his auditory security he continued to wear his throughout the meal.
Miss Mimic as usual, excitedly followed suit.

Oh the humiliation!

dig a hole

We had more than our fair share of drizzly cold days while we were away.  There is only so long you can either entertain children or ignore their whining.

I read Enid Blyton books over and again when I was little. 

In most there is some reference to Mummie sending the children into the garden.  In one I recall the children telling "Mummie" that it was raining and asking if they could come indoors now.  "Presently, my dears.  Put on your Macintosh coats and Wellington boots and Nanny will call you in later for Tea".  The children happily skipped off in the rain and not another word was said. 

No, "But that's not fair", or "I don't like the rain", or "It's cold" to be heard.

So by the second week I completely gave up and ordered my children O.U.T!   Delighted, they were!    They were instructed to, "Dig a hole!".

'See Tigs dig. Tigs digs a big, deep hole'.

'Oh, no Tigs lost his boot in the big, deep hole'!

As ever Woo has to keep up.

The second she saw Tigs lose his boot hers was royally kicked off and up she got to plunge her delicate little toes into the oozy, gooey mud.  She's wacky!

I popped back inside for a while and enjoyed the squeals of delight outside.  Mmmm.  Can you see that syrupy sludge dripping down my baby's forehead?  Courtesy of her charming brother. 

And so on yet another glorious, wintry, drizzle-filled country day my babies played and played and were bathed, dried before a roaring fire and slipped into fresh warm 'jammies by 2pm!

I hope the sun is shining wherever you may be.

Thanks for coming over today,

E x

cold and frosty morning

A day too beautiful to waste and not to share.

We decided to keep out of the way of Sonia as she tried to clean up after us - no mean feat.  Woo in particular has the ability to undo faster than anyone, or even a team of housekeepers, can redo!

The last of the fog rolling away and a big ol' jet airliner roared out from within it.

I often forget this view of the property but actually it's very beautiful, not as broad a perspective as my usually favorite view but stunning actually.  I love the hills folding across each other, like origami.

The fog may have lifted over us but their was frost to be melted first.  The pups helped by racing like mad things across it in zig-zags following the bunny tracks.

I love how we've only just arrived at the bottom here and Woo is saturated.

The back of the dam up to the top.  I love every square inch.

I have a grand idea for hosting a summer party down here.  Hay bales, a banjo player for the first couple of hours and a crooner with a guitar for dusk on singing Pete Murray songs that we can all join in with - actually Pete Murray himself would be better!  I picture big old dressers laden with food and pitchers of cool homemade lemonade.  An old reliable tractor to ferry guests dressed in their finest cotton summer dresses and sandals.  Sunhats for everyone,  big floppy ones for the girls and debonair fedora-style straw hats or even cool straw cowboy hats for everyone.  I'll think about that part a little more.

There will be paper pompoms hanging from the bottom of that big old tree and lanterns lining the way from the tree to the house.  It would be so beautiful.  I'll be sure to let you know the date - bit don't hold your breath.  Dreams can be big you know.

Magic dew drops.

Boy and Dog.  I just love this image.

Rocker!  Actually he was explaining something to me.

Proper bush-bashing and brotherly help.  Look how filthy she was by this stage.  Only Woo.  Tigs is still relatively clean.

Shouldn't every child be able to run free and happy and uninhibited?

Miss Mimic doesn't want to miss out.

Dear old ancient Pippy having a ladylike paddle - a rare treat for her.

Ambushed!  Those beastly pups stalked her for some way around the dam and then ATTACK!

The morning was so perfect that even the dratted thistles looked glorious.

And as we sang our usual Grand Ol' Duke of York up the hill Tigs, with his grandfather's supervision began noticing these adorable little webs. 

No bigger than a 50c coin. 

I'm sure they were actually fairy sheets hanging out to dry.

fairy houses

dog days

Ned and Woo love each other.



Lexi loves everyone and is either the most daft dog around to allow this to happen or a sad sad loss to a vision impaired person.
She is the most gentle, trusting and responsible dog I've ever met. And she also knows how to have fun.




She just needed the finishing touch of a Woo's vest! And note she still hasn't moved! Amazing.

See Momo they're not missing you at all. I bet you don't give the puppies this sort of attention!