Harry Potter experience......

The 'horsey' one is having a great time still, not in touch with her mother as often as perhaps I'd like but happy and settled which is great. Losing her enthusiasm for the snow after it took out the Internet for most of last week ( teenage girls LOVE the Internet!) and she took a snowball to the nose! Has just had her second lot of days off and travelled to London to celebrate Australia Day. A wild time was had by all and a bonus was catching up with some school friends there. Before heading back to York the girls had a day at Harry Potter world and loved it! They got some great photos! Love the one of the 'horsey' one having a 'butter beer' and yes it is non alcoholic!!

Anyone else remember this?

Today there was a farewell lunch at work for a staff member with the surname 'Roll'. Everyone had to bring a plate of 'roll' food! Took a lot of thinking then I remembered the Apricot roll that my Nan, Mum and I used to make a long time ago. A lot of digging in hand written recipes and I found it. I made it this morning and even without specific quantities and the end result looking a little rustic it went down a treat. The ingredients are dried apricots, marshmallows, mixed nuts, crushed biscuits and condensed milk. You shape them into logs then roll in coconut. It made 6 logs. Each is wrapped individually and then kept in the freezer until needed. A nice trip down memory lane.

Proof!

Proof that there has been some crafting happening here however mindless it may be! Over New Year I found a skein of bamboo/soy Moda cotton in the cupboard and needing a small gift for a workmate started knitting face cloths to give with a cake of soap. I got 3 out of the skein so 2 have been given and the last one is winging its way across the world! They were lots of fun to knit.
Next on the crafting list is my Fat 1/4 shop mystery bom, a Birthday quilt or 2 and some stitching! Won't be without a job any time soon!

Purr...

Isn't this how everyone spends a public holiday (especially when the weather changes) ???

Lamington muffins

SH went to baseball out of town yesterday so we had our belated Austalia Day lunch today. A friend of Mums had given us a leg of lamb at Christmas and we were itching to have it. With only the two of us home we invited some friends around to share , happily I can report we will still be eating the leftovers for the next week! For dessert I made lamington muffins.it is a Donna Hay recipe and I couldn't be happier with them. I have always wanted to make lamingtons but have to admit they scared me. For some reason these looked easier!! They had a secret spot of jam in the middle. I served them with cream and they got a tick of approval.
The roses are from our garden :)

January 26 2013

Happy Australia Day! How lucky we are.......

Date night!

So many resolutions for this year and the biggest is to make time for family, friends and all those things that would sometimes be easier to make excuses why not to do them.....
Remembering this and putting it into action SH and I had a 'date night' while we were in Geelong and went to the baseball to support the Melbourne Aces in the Australian national baseball league. It is played at Laverton and I can highly recommend it as an affordable, entertaining family outing. I was promised a hotdog and coke and with the Aces winning it was a fun night out. Not quite like the Angels games in the USA but not far off!!

Who would of thought?

Who would of thought I would get so excited about a new vacuum cleaner? We bought this baby on Saturday but it had to be ordered in. I picked it up this afternoon and can't wait to try it out tomorrow!
Not quite the new phone I had top of my 'to buy' list tho :)

Pear shaped...

Well I planned to show completely different photos today but my cooking all went a bit pear shaped! One of my New Years resolutions is to cook a new recipe each week. Today I attempted individual sticky date puddings with caramel sauce. What a disaster! Still edible but not pretty! I will have to find the recipe I used to use quite a few years ago. This one had some chocolate in as well and came recommended but I won't try it again. For our main evening meal I have made slow baked lamb chops with sweet potato and lemon. It is still in the oven but smells amazing! The photos I am sharing today are our Christmas baking, we didnt manage as much as normal but still got some done. Cranberry and pistachio biscotti, shortbread and chocolate peppermint creams! We only got one batch of the peppermint creams made but can't wait to make some more, they were really good! Lets hope my baking mojo comes back with some successes!!

Trying anything!

Back to work yesterday and really struggling, really could think of so many other things I would rather be doing!! The brain is struggling and I have that exhausted sluggish feel so this morning we had a ' Brain boosting' juice for breakfast. Ingredients are apple juice, blueberries, banana, white chia and linseed. Delicious and we will have it again, didnt notice any difference with the brain power ( or lack of) though!!!

Bon Voyage...

Well the 'horsey' one left on the 2nd of January for the adventure of a lifetime. She is doing a gap year in the UK working at a school near York. What a year she will have. She is determined to make the most of it and grasp any opportunities that come along with both hands. Already she has made new friends, experienced snow for the first time ever, explored York (including lunch at Jamie Oliver's Italian restaurant) and worked insane hours and become bone tired (welcome to the real world!). She is off to London on Saturday to celebrate Australia Day with a group of friends and then during half term she will do a 'Paddy wagon' tour in Ireland. I am so proud of her for stepping outside her comfort zone but gosh I miss her badly! I am not ashamed to say there were a lot of tears when she left but they were all mine. She was far too happy and excited. As a Mum I can ask for nothing more......

Happy New Year! just a little late!!

Welcome 2013!

Well it is heading towards the end of January already! and I have been noticeably absent for quite some weeks. Sometimes life has to be prioritised and my blog which I love and have no intention of giving up had to take a back seat.
SH started 4 weeks of daily radiation treatment the week before Christmas. Because of public holidays this was spread over 5 weeks and an added bonus of this treatment was that we could come home on the weekends. We finished this on Friday and are so happy to be home. We seemed to be constantly on the road and had to juggle many important happenings during this time. The 'horsey' one got her year 12 results, had her braces off (finally) and left for 12 months in the UK. HS lost his job the week before Christmas due to a downturn in the economy. We celebrated Christmas and the New Year. SH tolerated the treatment really well and continues to have an amazing positive attitude. He has now been given 12 weeks for the body to recover before he has more scans and tests to see the results of the stem cell transplant and radiation. We are so thankful to have this time to return to work and some type of normality , something which is often not appreciated. We plan to take time to be a family and 'smell the roses' ...... I am hoping to implement my 'new years resolutions' and take the time to enjoy my craft, blog and friends.
For all of you that have kept my family in your thoughts and prayers, thank you from the bottom of our hearts xx