Eat Your Heart Out Willie Wonka!

We went into Melbourne yesterday to go to one of my favourite spots, The Queen Victoria Market. We go there once every 1-2 months to get our meat in bulk because its so cheap, along with fruit and veg. The first time we went there nearly 2 years ago David's sister-in-law Kim showed Spen and I the candy store.....BIG MISTAKE!!! You can actually stand there and watch them make the candy, if you can see over the crowd!! We usually only buy one bag, if any at all, Spen just likes trying the bits they put out for taste testing, but yesterday we kind of went overboard......

Orange Candy

Tia Maria Candy

Strawberry Hearts Candy

Passionfruit Candy

The big chunks in the bags in the first picture are off cuts that you can get very cheap, one is Passionfruit Fizz and the other one is Choc Kahlua. Spencer can't wait to take to them with a hammer but I think we will leave them wrapped for now as there is plenty of other candy to start with!

I would have taken some photos of the market itself but the camera was in Samantha's nappy bag, in the pram that Spencer was pushing and he went with David to the meat area so I was left camera less for most of the time we were there, oh well there's always next time.

I love going to the city, seeing all the gorgeous town houses with there simply stunning fretwork and the sexy or subtle colours the lucky owners choose to paint them....

I just adore them!!! David and Spencer thought I was a nutter taker photos of them from the car as we were waiting at the traffic lights! I just told them they had no sense of creative genius or eye for detail.

I have done a little bit of baking today, I made my sister Diane's Date and Pecan Loaf....

Does anyone else have certain foods that when they eat them they sort of travel in their head back to their childhood and happy times with family? Well that's how I felt when I had a slice of this loaf for afternoon tea!!! Thank you sis this will be a much used recipe and passed down to my children as well.

And a mushroom, salami and cheese focaccia....

And I made Mocha Slice....

I found this recipe on Emma's blog "Sew Recycled", and on behalf on my partner David and my son Spencer we all say a huge THANK YOU to Emma!!!! Spencer LOVED it!!! It is as you said very sweet, but a little slice with a cup of coffee is a little slice of heaven.

I tell you we had the best afternoon tea in Melbourne I think thanks to my sister D and to Emma. The joys of family and new blog friends.

And to finish with I had to show this photo of Samantha I took the other day. I had been lighting our fire and she had strolled off to her room to play, but when I went to find her she was no where to be seen!! I had one of those Oh My God Where Is She!? moments!! Then I heard a little noise and this is where I found her......

Baker's Delight

I made 2 loaves of Focaccia the other day, found some yeast in the pantry that needed using. I love kneading the dough it's very therapeutic and calming I find.

The smell of yeast is one of the most comforting smells to me and homely for some reason. I love watching the dough rise and always think what a wonder yeast is and how someone discovered the effects of yeast, oh how I thank them. Then punching the dough down and lovingly kneading it bit more.

The boys (David and Spencer) were most impressed when they came home and saw it, and enjoyed eating as well.

We had ham and cheese focaccia sandwiches for lunch for the next 2 days, YUMMY! Even Samantha thought it was great!

I am planning on doing a bunch of baking on Sunday (all going to plan), I want o make my sister's Date & Walnut Loaf and Mocha Slice I haven't tried before and probably some more bread seems it went down so well with the family.

And I must say a big thank you to my sister Diane who is the person who really taught me to bake and always inspires me (and makes me salivate) with stories of her baking and adventures in her lovely little kitchen. Thanks sis xxx

Snow Bunnies

We had a big extended family outing on Sunday. David, myself, Spen & Sam along with Danny , Kim & Jessica went up to the snow!!! YAHOO!!!!! (Do you get the idea that I like snow?). It takes a 35minute drive in both cars then about a 20minute drive in Danny's Land Rover, a ride that Samantha thought was so great, almost like a roller coaster ride really, but Danny is a skilled 4x4 driver so we were safe at all times. Samantha laughed and smiled the whole ride in Uncle Danny's Landy!

Sam and Jess were our little snow bunnies and looked so cute (if not like mitchilin babies) in their snow suits....

Samantha's suit, gloves and gumboots are all to big for her, but trying to find gumboots in her size is a mission that I am getting very tired of! And the gloves were to dam cute to leave in the shop (something I do on a regular basis when it comes to Sam). The girls were not to sure about all the cold, wet white stuff to start with, but then Sam realised she could pick it up and eat it! She love it (it was pristine untouched snow no one had been there but us)....

Spencer didn't really have much fun, he complained how cold it was and spent most of the time eating the snow and dodged the crossfire of snowballs between David and Danny.

The only reason David is smiling in this photo is because he has a snow ball behind his back which her threw at me once I had taken this shot! Got me right on the chest and let me tell you the snow was very hard!!

I made or should I say attempted to build a snowman, but no one wanted to help me, and with my back still in a bit of pain (not helped by sitting in the back of the Landy and bouncing around the place) it was a sad attempt! I did take a photo but upon looking at it when we got home i deleted id, it was a bit pathetic!

I love the trees up in the National Park area, they grow so straight, like they are going for their life reaching for the sun, not wasting any time bending or growing branches, it's almost like a race between all the trees to see which one can get to the sun first!

Samantha has taken to hugging Jess when ever she can, it is so cute, seems almost like she is trying to protect Jess and comfort her.....

We all had a great time then came home to warm up and had a spit roasted lamb roast and chicken YUMMY! David and Danny love doing their spit roasts and I have to say they are dam good at them!

Samantha's new jumper

Samantha received a new cropped jumper from her Aunty Diane in New Zealand the other day. It is so CUTE!!!!! Aunty Diane made it for her and knitted a hat for me... Thanks sis, we love you xxxx Doesn't she just look so cute in it.......

Thank you Aunty Diane

xxx

We have had a cold blast coming through the last few days, we thought we might get a bit of snow down as far as us, but all we got were a few sleet showers!!! We could see snow on Mount Little Joe and Mount Donna Buang up behind us. Tried to take a few photos but fog kept getting in the way this is as good as I could get...



We are planning on going up Mount Donna Buang on the weekend (if it doesn't rain) so will take some more photos up there. All I can say is I am glad we got our wood heater put in when we did, not a moment to soon I assure you!!! GO EBAY!!!!!!


Oh yeah... little miss Samantha has just discovered, much to her pleasure and our horror, that she can climb onto the dining chairs and then onto the dining table!!!!! Oh the joy!! She is climbing, or trying to climb everything at the moment, chairs, sofa's, coffee tables, dining table, cot, even windows and doors!!


Here are some some photo's of her trying to do Spen's homework....







Sadly for Spencer she wasn't much help and he had to do it himself, but she made us all laugh and made the chore of doing homework a little bit more fun for Spen. Hopefully she will be this enthusiastic about homework when it is actually hers and it's time to do it, ha ha ha!

Pat a cake ...Pat a cake.....

Spencer and I spent Sunday after noon baking, a good thing to do when it's raining and freezing outside!!

We, or should I say Spencer made a chocolate moon cake....

It didn't turn out exactly how we wanted but Spen thought it was great, and it tasted great, except the icing which I thought was way to sweet, so we let David take the rest of the cake today to share with the boys at the golf course, (much appreciated so David informed us when he got home today).

Then I made double chocolate chip cookies......

These are DELICIOUS!!!!! Had some melted chocolate left over from the top of the cake so me spread that on some of the cookies!!!

Then came the low-fat (ha ha ha after all that chocolate!!!!!) apple and cinnamon muffins.....

Samantha shared one of these today and they are really good, I thought they might be a bit dry or tasteless but no they turned out moist and full of flavour.

I had to show this picture it shows a little more of my gorgeous tablecloth. I love it so much, little holes (only two) and stains included, and would you believe it only cost me $1 at the op shop in Woori Yallock when we lived there. Oh the stories it could tell if could talk!!!

All and all a productive day, and plenty of treats for my two men (David & Spen) to take to work and school for lunch this week. Samantha and I will probably end up with the muffins.... But hey I need to lose weight any way!

This is a photo of Samantha with her cousin Jessica who came round to play today, not that Jess can do much at the moment, she can sit up but is not crawling yet. Sam tries to play with her and Jess giggles a lot at her but when Sam walks away she expects Jess to follow and can't work out why she doesn't! It's kind of cute. I have a soft spot for Jess as she has red hair like mine, if you saw Sam and Jess with me and Jess's mum Kim together you would thing Jess was mine, both red heads, and Sam was Kim's, both blonde!! Oh Jess is 8 months old, and she thinks Spencer is the funniest thing she's ever seen!!! She cracks up laughing when ever she sees him!! Very cute!

My Garden

I don't proclaim to be an avid gardener but I like getting out and sinking my hands in the dirt, pulling weeds, pruning and especially picking and admiring some of the gorgeous blooms that appear. When we moved into our house, a little over a year ago there was no garden out the back but a garden patch that was bare, so we planted things donated by David's mum, Angela, and moved some plants that were over crowding the front garden...


First there's the Dahlia, that Angela gave us and which also reminds me of mum and dad, as they had them in their garden when I was growing up....

Then there are the Nasturtium's that I grew from seed, that remind me of my sister Diane who grew them and after some time convinced me to eat the leaves on bread with cream cheese... YUMMY!.....

Then there are the Koru rock patterns I made out of stones. We discovered a dis-used septic tank which would take a lot of effort to dig out so we are just working with what we can so I got these rocks and made designs over the tank. A reminder of my Kiwi home land......

We have now planted a magnolia tree, moved hydrangea's, and ferns from the front as well as a climbing rose and some jasmine. Will post photos as things establish and bloom.

We have a rose garden out the front, of course they are bare at the moment but they are gorgeous when in bloom. We also have 4 of my favourite plants Lavender, I love picking the flowers and drying them, have made a lavender wreath the is in our room and I love it.....

That's David's dragon collection in front with my candles and wreath the even it out. We have a pink room that we both hate but are waiting for the weather to warm up again and then try and agree on colour that we both like to paint it.

I think if David had his way he would have ripped everything out when we first moved in, but I convinced him not to, as I like having flowers inside. Of course the garden has been a bit neglected over the last week or so thanks to the bad back, but hoping to get back into it and get those nasty weeds soon!

Family Day Out

You know how during holiday's everything seems to cost you every last dollar and cent you have in your purse? Well we decided to do something today that cost us $2 for two bottles of drink and that's all! Can't get much cheaper than that for a family of 4!

We all had a family day out today, as Spen is on holiday and David has a week off work we thought we would get out of the house and make the most of the sunshine, it has been in short supply lately!

We went to the Upper Yarra Dam, yeah I know doesn't sound that exciting but trust me it was a great family day.

We went to the top of the dam and had a look around, the water level is low ( hence the restrictions we have ) but it's not as low as it has been! Sam thought it was great running around the place and playing in the gravel...

And leaving her mark..... huh you thought these marks were made by some wild animal didn't you?

We had a picnic lunch and found ourselves with some extremely friendly and cute lunch guests.....

There were two of these gorgeous Rosella's but this one in particular was very inquisitive and kept getting closer and closer, until it flew out and landed on Spen's hand....

As you can imagine Spencer thought this was a dream come true!!! He actually had tears in his eyes because he was so overwhelmed.Of course we all took turns at feeding our gorgeous visitor......

And David....

Sadly it wouldn't land on Samantha, but hey would you if you were the Rosella... a big ( to them any way ) yelling, giggling, arms flaying kid..."you can keep it" thought the bird!

But Samantha had a great time as well.......hanging out with Dad.....

And trying to climb up a tree after her big brother......

We headed home after Sam tripped over a tree root and bashed her knee on it, not a happy camper after that! Two minutes down the road in the car and she was fast asleep, she had run all the energy out of herself!

All and all it was a lovely day had by all. And all for only $2!!!!!!!

Just Call Me The Hunchback Of Millgrove!!

What a week I have had! Went to Dr's on Monday Spen's tonsil's are all better (for now), I have a viral infection that is making swallowing a bit difficult but nothing major and I have a small growth on my eye socket near my nose that Dr Hanna wants to SCRAP OFF!! Nothing serious just one of those annoying bumps.
Got up one Tuesday, got Samantha dressed and fed, I had a shower and got dressed, did a bit of house work, went to change Samantha's nappy and half way through changing it I got excruciating pain in my lower back!!! I couldn't move, I yelled for Spencer to come and finish the nappy while I tried to stand up. I have never felt so much pain in my life!!!!!! Child birth, epidural needles and c-section had nothing on this pain!!!!! I couldn't get comfortable and was crying my eyes out because of the pain , poor Spencer didn't know what to do, but he just kept an eye on Samantha and kept trying to help me. Standing hurt, sitting hurt, so I thought I'd try laying down and see if the pain would go away...... WHAT A MISTAKE!!!!! Laying down did nothing at all so I tried getting up again, what a nightmare that was! It took me about 30Min's to stand up with lots a screaming, swearing and tears involved! Finally got up and Spen and I realised that this wasn't going away and we needed help. I rang David at work, speaking to the lovely Claire ( the office girl ) who radioed David to come back in (he works on a private golf course ) and them talked to me trying to make me feel better until David got there. My huny buny came home and we rang my Dr who said go straight to hospital because it have been something connected with the viral infection which could have gone to my spinal cord ( yep that scared me!!!! ) or it could be a pinched nerve. He mentioned x-rays, spinal taps etc which of course really reassured and calmed me!!!
After a very long uncomfortable 1 hours drive, felt like 3 hours, I had to wait an hour and a half to see a Dr!!! Sitting hurt, standing hurt, everything hurt so I just walked back and fourth until I finally got to see Dr Wilson who was very nice and checked me over then informed me that it was just a sprain/strain of my lower back, mainly just wear and tear, 2 pregnancies haven't helped. Nothing they can do except give me pain killers. Pain should sub-side over the next 4-6 weeks! Well I have to say I was relieved that it was nothing serious but knowing that I was in for weeks of pain wasn't a fun prospect!
So I have spent the last 4 days at home in constant pain, even with Seriously Strong Painkillers. Have spent 3 nights on the sofa watching crap TV and trying to sleep, not really succeeding. I told David I'd sleep on the sofa until the pain went a way a bit or else I'd keep him up all night with me moaning and groaning every time I moved.
Spencer has been a god send!!! I am very proud of him, he has spent his first week of his holidays at home looking after Samantha and his mum! He has been great with Samantha, getting her up and playing with her, picking her up when she's upset, as I can't ( which I hate! ) He has been bringing firewood in for the fire, helping with house work, just been a great help! Thank you my darling son I appreciate all you have done over the last week. I love you xxxx
Well hopefully I start feeling better soon, because let me tell you I"M SICK OF THE PAIN!!!!