All about where I live...

I love where we live. It doesn't feel like you live in Sydney - the hustle-bustle. The houses aren't close together, most people have really big backyard... and it's semi-rural with many people with horses and livestock. In fact, we have a saddlery about 200m from our front door.The shops are a real community. The IGA, postoffice, butcher...

A month in Review - April 2009

What we did:We welcomed our new puppy Dougall into the familyDug out the remainder of our vegetable gardenCelebrated EasterGot a new separate freezerStarted preservingHad my mother-in-law come to stay with usMilestonesLaura - can count up to 12 unassistedOlivia - has had dry nights for the past 2 weeksEloise - has counted up to 149 (and then she got bored) is starting to copy words out of books and read th...

RealityBites: Finales and Premieres...

Biggest Loser Finale:Oh may Bob and Tiff killed it didn't they? 87.2 kilos!? Tiff looks AAAA - Mazing. Sharif looked fab, and it was nice to see Nathan happily married. It's obvious that in the majority of cases, the increment of weight lost was directly related to the amount of time in the house. That is sad, although any weight loss shouldn't...

Nitwit News: Given the finger to your employer lately?

Or maybe have you eaten it?Source AOL:BELGRADE (April 27) - A Serbian union official who chopped off his finger and ate it in a protest over wages that in some cases have not been paid in years, said Monday he did it to show how desperate he and other workers were."We, the workers, have nothing to eat. We had to seek some sort of alternative food and I gave them an example," Zoran Bulatovic told Reuters. "It hurt like hell."Some...

My Autumn Babes

With the change to chilly weather we're breaking out our winter clothes and last weekend it was finally the hats they've been dying to wear that I bought from the US in our summertime. We have also been wearing our parkas this week too!Parading our hats!Beautiful, pensive Eloise Laura - love how the light is catching her strawberry pigt...

Potatoes with a twist...

With my seasonal challenge going on I'm trying to use fresh lemons more and more. I've started having lemon water - as I'm not a huge water drinker but I should be, so to disguise the taste or non-taste of water, I'm lemon-ing it. Another thing I've been doing lately is putting lemon in my potatoes. YES. My potatoes. I cut them in slices...

Coming to the bookshelf 'Gordon Ramsay's Great British Pub Food'

Well if news reports are anything to go by, maybe everyone should just buy some healthy choice frozen meals, but in all seriousness, I'm curious to see what Gordon has cooked up with this one. I swear by his cottage pie recipe, and where cottage pie is a staple counter meal at any British Pub, I want to know what else is there.Publishers...

*thud*

That's the sound in my head.Thud, thud, thud. Hurts my eyes to look at the screen. Children seem to have found the dial that makes the thud louder. Panadol and nurofen, a sleep and lot of water are not fixing. Maybe it's a spider that's crawled into my brain and likes doof-doof music. I hate doof doof music, I hate spiders and I hate this...

Whatever happened to....the smurfs?

La-la-le-la-la-la... The smurfs conjure up many memories for me. They first came into Australia in the early 80's and I remember collecting them, I had the figurines, the drink bottle, stickers on my lunchbox, the pencil case.. oh my I think I just wanted to be blue. Remember the iceblocks? I wish they would bring those back, they were yummy.In...

Tuesday: What will they think of next #3

Now I kind of like this one, and if you're anything like me, when stirring something on the stove (particularly when it needs attention like white sauce or custard!) you get a gadzillion interruptions - like there's an alarm going off somewhere..Anyhoo - this little contraption will vibrate and spin in your pot whilst it is warming, so if...

Another of our favourite books for bedtime...

Olga the Brolga by Rod Clements..Beautiful illustrations, really rhymy and easy to animate - the little girls have got me reading it on at least a weekly basis... (this one and the Easter Bilby and the Easter Games are getting quite a workout!). It's also got a moral to it about badgering, probably too subtle for my kids -hehe.We also have...

Freaky or Fake?

I freak out when I see this show - every time I watch Lisa Williams - I mean, her hair is enough to freak out a lot of people (not me in particular, I think it adds to her persona) but it what she says and does that keeps my head spinning hours after the show is over...She's super-specific.She random reads people on the street!She wears a hat when she doesn't want to have the people from the 'other side - communicate' with her.If...

Manic Monday: Is this for REAL?

Was on the centrelink website the other day and as I'm about to head back next financial year to stay-at-home-insane-mummydom (thanks economic downturn or is OK now to call it a recession?) I know we'll be entitled to some benefits (thank goodness we're off the poverty-line---just)... Anyhoo, so I'm filling the estimator in, and I'm NOT kidding...

Vege garden update - Week 4

Well it's been wet, wet wet this week! I was expecting a few casualties, which we did have - a few of the cauliflowers have been nibbled upon, but nothing disastrous.Still growing strong and hubby put the finishing touches on the plots today..Woot! So our 4 plots are done (so to rotate). Looks amazing!Work in progress this morning...Final...

Beginnings and Endings...

With a lot of finales coming along this week my attention turns to what's the next lot of shows coming up... some I'm looking forward to:Lush House - could always use some tips from the Aussie Queen of Clean (Mondays 7.30pm Lifestyle Channel)Australia's Next Top Model: Love Sarah O'Hare - she's my drawcard to this (Tuesday nights 7.30 Fox8)Thank...

FrillyQuizSunday: Who am I?

OK this weeks' who am I is ---->OK, you didn't guess last weeks'.. it was Sigmund the Sea Monster... if you were born in the late 60's or early 70's you might remember this show - here's the open...

Seasonal Challenge Update 1

OK, how are we going?Well I've got myself some preserving jars.. that's a start!!I bought a persimmon. (pictured right) It's like a hard orange tomato. Co-incidentally my husband had tried one a couple of days prior from his work fruit basket not knowing what it was.... he described it as tasting like 'Arse'. hmm I only bought one for $1.50...

Peach Jam - made in the microwave!

Honestly, this jam-making business is MUCH easier than I thought. In fact, I don't think I'll be buying it anymore. It tastes soooooooo good. I mean REALLLLY good.I'm going to try this recipe halved with strawberries too.Ingredients:1kg Peaches ( stems and seeds removed)1 lemon3 cups sugarMethod:Cut lemon in half and squeeze juice into large...

HappySnapSaturday: Impromptu Cubby House

Weekend Cubby House using old cot quilts (which they usually snuggle on the couch with these day) lovingly made by a friend.Even though the top bunk is a pain in the derriere to make for a shorty like me (let's face it I never make it, just throw over the doona!) it's brilliant for an inpromptu cubby house and gives us at least a 20 minute...

FrillyFrivolousFriday: Have you met Saint Vivian?

Hope you're all either at the local having a well-earned ale or if you're at home with the kids, chlling with a cocktail or a glass of wine....Well I have something for you... feel no guilt - consume all you want (just make sure you don't drive!) because you can just have one of these on your beside or in your pocket for the morning: Product...

Bad taste, poor judgement or what?

Obviously the people who had devised this were either parents who felt they needed to spread their pain to their childless peers or someone who had a long flight behind a screaming baby on a plane to pitch their new game idea.The idea is the game is a baby crying and to see how long you can stand it before you shake your iPhone. Honestly, do you NEED to do this? Surely the real thing is worse enough?Seriously though, how awful...

Who needs tresillian when you've got Twitter?

Ok, you don't need to force me, I'm willing to admit I'm a twitter-fanatic. Love it. No commitment, no one needs to see you online, no feeling like you need to respond to anyone, is something you can do for 2 minutes or less, here and there - it's like one-night-stand-fest online.But that's not all - 140 characters can reveal so much. And...

RealityBites: It's time to cut the fat... Biggest Loser Week 12

Interesting times this week - and a definite goodbye to Meagan (did you hear me 'whoohoo'ing?) and Sharif is back in the game with that massive record-breaking weightloss - how exactly does one lose 11kg in one week? I need to know! A lot of us need to know!Jedda going was a huge relief, I swear my wrinkles were increasing wincing at her...

How fantastic ABC, 1-2 and soon to be 3!!

Hooray! A new kids' TV channel - and it's FREE (to all digital TV subscribers which by 2013 will be everyone anyway!)From 6am-9pm daily it will screen from sometime before Christmas - with at least 50% of the programming to be Australian. It is believed it will cost $25 million to $30 million a year. I wonder how much of that can be netted...

Nitwit News: $26K phone bill Just for Txting?

Might get the telcos to think twice about unlimited txt plans?Two guys in Philadelphia, United States sent 217,000 txts to try and beat the Guinness Book of Records attempt previous held by an indian man at 182, 000 in a month. Then they got the shock of their lives when their phone bill arrived in the post - in a box and was US26,000. (Apparently...

The Nasty Brigade

Love them. Those people who say the things that you want to say, that need to be said but you just can't. They can. Have no problem with it. Admire that. But why are 90% of them that appear on telly BRITISH? Is it the culture? We often think of the british as those with the best manners, the epitome of correctness but it's the rest of the...

Tribute and Tradition - Anzac Biscuits

I love Anzac Biscuits. They make me feel patriotic, Australian, and gluttonous because you can never stop at just one. As a child I used to make them with my Mum and as I became old enough, I made them for my family as a teen and now with my own family.Anzac Day (25th April) is bittersweet for me. For my Grandad he loved Anzac Day - he would...

Coming to the bookshelf..'101 things to do before you diet'

Well given that I am watching what I eat and I am 'dieting' or changing my lifestyle somewhat I'm still interested in this book - hints and tips for me, to more complement the dieting experience.. some of the tips:*How to find the perfect jeans *Mimi's 12-step programme to fix your fattening habits *Revealed: the true power of pants * The...

I had forgotten...

...what it was like to carry a child around on my hip all day.My little pumkin Olivia was sick today, second day in a row home from kindy. Third day in a row she was miserable and for a lot of day I literally couldn't move out of sight or moreso she wouldn't leave my lap. Lucky she's the lightweight of my brood or I might be looking at a...