Five Random Thoughts

1.  The girls are away this week - back in our home town of Goulburn, where they are living it up with their Aunts, Uncles, Nans and Pops, cousins and second cousins!  The house is deathly quiet with them gone, and both Dave and I miss them incredibly, and can't wait for them to return home. We got to thinking that this is what it will be like when they leave home for good. Not that we don't appreciate the time alone to go out to dinner as a couple, and watch "big people" movies, we will however dearly miss them when they finally do "fly the coop" - and we hope they come home often (perhaps we will change our mind when we have two teenagers in the household, only time will tell).

2.  I think I would like one of these (or something similar):

and one of these:

I think a rice cooker and a deep fryer will come in handy for large dinner parties and functions.  Really want to do a modern asian banquet using recipes from the you-beaut Neil Perry cookbook I have!  I'm sure I could find a shelf to store them on in the garage when they are not in use :0)

3.  Really inspired by the meal we had last night at the Soju Girl in Canberra. It's on Northbourne Avenue in the city.  Dave and I enjoyed it so much that we had four desserts between us. It was very much like having Asian Tapas!  Here is a peak at what we ate:


Betel leaf with smoked trout and coconut chilli dressing
Slow braised beetroot, chinkiang, onion and candle nuts
Grilled cuttlefish with bacon jam and soft herbs
Tumeric and ginger prawns, with house satay
Katsu of Pork, honeycomb house kimchee, and pineapple caramel
Chicken with coconut dressing and an asian salad with Jasmine Rice

for dessert:
2 serves of the Raspberry shortcake, with lychee paste, rosewater mousse, raspberry parfait and meringue (divine!!!!)
Passionfruit Brulee with pineapple salsa and ginger syrup
Chocolate fondant, salted caramel and peanut butter ice-cream

We will definitely have to go again and have some of the other delicious stuff on the menu!

4.  Now I'm really hungry and want to eat something!

5.  Added this to my reading list on Good Reads. It's a debut book by an Australian Author - looks interesting and has received some good reviews so far!

June Update

Well - I'd have to say that our June has been very quiet indeed, compared to normal that is! I guess this is in part due to the fact that everyone except me has been sick.  Both girls required three or more days off school - Jazz with a chest infection and asthma, and Eliza with a virus (and later a middle ear infection).   

We started the month off with a trip to Tunza Fun in Belconnen.  I had purchased two double 3-hour passes from Living Social, and decided to use the vouchers on the first weekend in June.... and we did have Tunza fun.  The passes covered a game of bowls, a game of laser tag, the dodgem cars, 15 games on the red machines and unlimited games on the yellow machines for three hours.  I think I paid about $30 per double pass, so it was great value for money.  I'll have to keep my eyes out for more deals of this type.  We all agreed that the laser tag was our favourite - but next time I bags being on Jazz's team as she got the highest score (the Legend indeed!):

Mid June we went back to Goulburn for my Dad's birthday - which is combined with my mum's cousin's birthday.  She is 20 years older than my Dad and their birthdays are only a couple of weeks apart.  Mum and dad spend a bit of time with Barbara, and she has become a constant at family functions over the last 10 years.  She doesn't have a lot of close family left.  We had a Chinese banquet - Fiona, Hellie and I each made a shared dish each, and combined with some fried rice, as well as some fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls, it was all very filling (and much better than doing the normal run to get a heap of pizza's). Eliza was particularly looking forward to going outside after lunch to meet one of the new additions to the farm - a black and white sheep called Sam, a playmate for the existing sheep - Mary and Joseph!

We managed to enjoy a couple of trips to the movies. Once to see Brave - which the girls and Dave and I really enjoyed, and the second time to see Snow White and the Huntsman. The girls saw the preview at the beginning of MIB III the other day, and have been asking to go and see it ever since.... so we did (but only after I found out that it wasn't too violent for them to go and watch). The girls enjoyed it, but I wasn't overly impressed with Kristen Stewart's performace - looks like she can only really play one character (herself!). Lucky there was some eye-candy in the movie in the form of Chris Hemsworth!

The biggest thing to happen this month was Jazz going to school camp.  I really don't know who was more nervous - her or me?  As soon as we got down to the school lots of kids were running up to say hello to her, and her friend Cameron (yes, a boy) asked whether she would like to sit with him on the bus.  He told her that he had a bag of chocolate frogs and a bag of lollies - so of course she agreed.  He's a nice boy and we often walk home from school with him, so I know that he will take good care of her during the day. I guess the hardest things were seeing the buses driving away and knowing that not only was I not going to see her for three days, but I wouldn't be hearing from her either.  At least when the girls go for sleepovers with family they can call you!

Jazz with her friend Cam:

Jazz with all her gear - ready to load it onto the bus:

Scrapbooking and Photography

A couple of favourites this month.  This first one is a simple design using punched butterflies in three different blue patterned papers.  Kept the page to orange/blue colour scheme which I love.

This layout documents the fact that we tend to eat our dinner at the coffee table during the week (Monday to Friday):

Eliza has really taken an interest in cooking lately - so I documented some of her efforts - fantastic for a six year old. I feel quite assured that the girls will still eat well if something happens to me - they have more cooking skills than their daddy whose idea of cooking dinner is dialling for pizza, or wandering down to the local take-away or chinese restaurant!

I got inspiration for this layout from a card that I saw. I just enlarged the faux ribbon, so that I could place the photograph on it.  Used a combo of Websters as well as Echo Park:

Thought I would do a layout on my workspace - now that I have had it for a year or so! I love it - plenty of space for storage of my scrapbooking supplies as well as all my work and business stuff. I love working in this room with it's turquoise walls - I find it very soothing!

I really loved these pictures of Jasmin frollicking on the beach in January. I added some simple quilling to the page to represent waves, a shell, and some bubbles:

I finally got to use one of my Paris scrapbooking papers and a stamp I had purchased from work, to document Jasmin's newly decorated room. We have been getting bits and pieces since Christmas, as she now has her own room.  It is very pretty and cosy as well, being the smaller of the bedrooms.  We all want to go to Paris one day, the girls have been learning French since kindergarten, so I hope this will help when we eventually get there!

I created a stamped background for this layout - inspired by a Jen Gallacher Memory Keeping Monday on Two Peas in a Bucket.

A couple of my favourite Black and White photographs from the photography course I am doing:

This one is called rough and tumble - it's also looks good in colour as you can imagine - as all those leaves are autumn leaves (this pic was taken using my iPhone and Instagram):

I was surprised at how good these red roses looked in black and white.  Dave surprised me one night and bought home a bunch of 12 roses - how romantic (I did ask him what he wanted, or whether he had done something wrong?):

Reading

My favourite for this month was Lost on Planet China. As I am not normally a reader of non-fiction it was a lovely surprise.  Very entertaining read about a man's trip to China, looking at the good as well as the more disturbing aspects of Chinese culture.

43.  Fifty Shades Freed - E L James

Last book in the series done.  I probably wouldn't recommend reading them, they just needed more plot and less sex!

44.  Fever Dream - Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston

Generally a good read if you like books of this nature - crime, mystery starring FBI agent Pentagast.

45.  Lost on Planet China - J. Maarten Troost

A really enjoyable read - educational and entertaining. An insight into China, it's people and culture. The author wrote the book as a tourist, but didn't stop at just telling you all the nice things that tourism guides give you. He had a really good sense of humour as well.

46.  The Temporal Void - Book # 2 - Void Trilogy - Peter F Hamilton

Another good book in the series if you are into Sci-Fi.

47.  The Girl in the Steel Corsett - Book #1 - The Steam Punk Chronicles

First steam punk style book I have read. An enjoyable read.

48.  The Clockwork Angel - Book #1 of the Infernal Devices - Cassandra Clare.

I really enjoyed this book as well - set in 19th century London, with Nephilim, Automatons, Vampires and other creatures.

49.  Destined for an Early Grave - Book # - Jeanniene Frost

50.  This Side of the Grave - Book # - Jeanniene Frost

Nice quick reads, but I think I need a break from these as well - getting a bit same-same!

Cooking and Eating

My father gave me some quinces the other day - he has a tree. Normally I would make another batch of quince paste. Normally a kilo of quinces yields about 12 batches of quince paste, sure beats paying $5+ for a little tub of quince paste at the supermarket!  The paste stores and keeps well, and it also goes well with pork - you can coat it with the paste and grill it - gives you a nice sticky delicious outcome.  Anyway this time I didn't make quince paste - I made poached quinces in orange and vanilla syrup, and had it with Crème Anglaise - I will try this again, it was divine!

I also made a slow-cooked Bolognese Sauce during the month - 10 hours of slow cooking.  It was made with Pork and Veal Mince instead of Beef Mince.

When I just don't feel like cooking, and I don't feel like take-away, then this is a nice compromise - a platter of antipasto with all the stuff I like on it!

On the wine front this month - I scored!  Bought a case of what used to be called Montana Sauvignon Blanc for less than $10 a bottle. It's now called Brancroft Sauvignon Blanc as they now export to the US and apparently couldn't use the same name as the state of Montana.  Anyway - this wine is normally about $18 a bottle, so I was pleased with my purchase from Winemarket.com.au.

Hope everyone is rugging up - seems like the coldest winter we have had in a while. Until next time!

May Update

Well, another month bites the dust and we welcome June not so warmly - it does feel as though winter started a month and a half ago, I already cannot wait for it to be gone!

Another eventful month starting with my Mother's 70th birthday party, which we had at my Sister Hellie's place.   We both prepared the buffet lunch on Sunday, and all the family were there along with some of mum's close friends, including her very best friend which she has had since the 60's when she was nursing.  Their friendship has certainly stood the test of time.  My sister made and decorated the cake (with a little help from a friend), and I organised some hellium balloons which I tied photographs of mum to (at different ages and stages of life). Here are some pics:

Mum with all her grand children:

Mum with her best friend Sylvia - we have always called her Aunty Sylvia - she's also Hellie's God Mother:

Jazz had the pleasure once again of representing the school in the Zone Cross Country Carnival in the 10 year girls category.  Luckily it was a nice day:

During the second weekend of May we did a weekend trip down to Sydney and stayed at the Mercure Hotel on Broadway. We spent Saturday shopping - the girls had all their pocket money from last term with them so they were keen to shop - Diva, Smiggle and Pandora are their favourite shops to visit.  I also picked up some new jammies for them from Peter Alexander - the girls love going to look at the upside down bed in the new Westfield shop in the Pitt Street Mall.  The main reason for our visit however was a trip to Dave's fav restaurant - Braza, a Brazillian restaurant that serves lots of meat.  We were also lucky enough to be there for the Brazillian Dancers that night as well:

Michelle and Mark also joined us for dinner with their four boys.  I love this picture - we are all having a great time - Jazz is a little pre-occupied with her iPad though!

The boys enjoyed a few too many of these Toblerone cocktails!

Mark likes to use his hands to explain things - I like to think that he is saying "I'm going have this much meat!":

Eliza and Jazz were most impressed with the Brazilian Dancers (as were Dave and Les for some reason - not sure why? Perhaps it was the amount of cheek showing at the back!). Eliza was so impressed with the outfit that she asked me if she could have one.  I believe I said words to the effect of "Over my dead body!":

On the Sunday we did the ferry trip over to the Zoo and had a lovely day at the zoo (although it was a tad windy in the afternoon):

Julie with the girls on our walk down to Circular Quay to catch the ferry :

The crew on the ferry:

 Dave and I on the ferry:

the girls on the lizard outside the snake exhibit - it was one of our favourites as it was cold outside and the snake exhibit was warm (I'm not a huge fan of snakes but if they're behind glass it's all good!)

The girls always always get their pictures taken behind the ears - I will have to do a layout with all the pictures so you can see the changes over the years!

Daniel our Nephew also celebrated his 12th birthday - once again we joined the Holloways at their place for a family lunch and cake.  The girls are never far away, when it comes to the boys (their cousins), especially if there are birthday candles to be blown out.  We had to relight the candles for Dan - Eliza was a little fast off the mark.

Poor Dan was surrounded by all his girl cousins:

Photography and Scrapbooking

Firstly - I was very excited this month to have a bit of a feature on the Big Picture Classes blog.  As you know already - I do a lot of courses with them (I mean a lot) - keeps me motivated and inspired. So I was very excited to see this post during May.

I am doing a black and white photography class at the moment through Big Picture Classes, taking different types of pictures - here are a couple of the pics I have taken so far this month - and a little explanation of what I was trying to achieve:

Black and White Architecture:

Over exposed parts of the photographs - where they are more white and a little ethereal:

Piano Keys - Photography with Lines:

Repetition:

Texture of Textiles (this one was taken using Instagram on my iPhone):

In Contrast (this one was also taken using Instagram on my iPhone):

I continue to scrapbook.  I have at last finished doing all the layouts for the Beginners Classes for work. So now I can relax and do some of my own scrapbooking.  

I recently got the girls pictures pack from their School photographs.  I like to scrap these as soon as I get them, and this year is no exception.  I love how Jasmin has the same sweet smile on her face every year, and Eliza has the same cheeky smile on her face every year.  So reflective of their personailities!

Eliza and I came across this photograph last term, when Eliza had to do a talk each week about growing up. The first week was about what they were like as babies.  Eliza used to fall asleep anywhere - including in the middle of the playroom floor!  I realised I hadn't scrapbooked the photograph, so I did!

I loved these Autumn pictures I took with my iPhone and instagram (with the exception of the main photo which I took with my DSLR). I can't wait for the weather to get warm enough to just go for walks with the girls in the suburb taking pictures and playing at the parks!

I did this really simple layout about Eliza and her not being a morning person. Something I want to remember just in case she changes over time. 

Another Cartooning Camp layout - this one on Eliza this time.  Love the drawings that she did, I included my favourites in the journalling - I especially like Hello Kitty and Pink Panther.  Apparently both girls are keen to do a Drama Camp the next school holidays!

This layout documents the fact that I have more time with my gorgeous girls - now that I work 30 hours a week, I know that I will look back on this time of my life with no regrets! It's great working school hours and being there for my girls before and after school:

Reading

The reading continues, this month I have read:

35.  Melissa Marr - Wicked Lovely Book #4 - Radiant Shadows

36.  Melissa Marr - Wicked Lovely Book #5 - Darkest Mercy

Must admit I was glad that was the end of that series - I enjoyed the first two books, but she probably could have left it at a trilogy!

37.  John Grisham - The Broker

OK read - but not super exciting or rivetting!

38.  Jim Butcher - The Dresdon Files Book #1 - Storm Front

The series "The Dresdon Files" was based on this.  Not a bad story - but I listened to the audio book of this one and I really didn't like the narrator much at all.

39.  E L James - Fifty Shades of Grey - Book #1

40.  E L James - Fifty Shade of Darker - Book #2

This is a trilogy, which were recommended as books for mother's day.  Not sure I would want my mum reading these though.  They are raunchy, lots of bondage etc. A little too much raunchiness, find myself wishing for a little more plot.  I am a finisher completer though, so I will endeavour to finish the series (especially since I bought all three books!).

41.  Laurell K Hamilton - Cerrullan Sins - Book #11 Anita Blake

Think I'm going to have a long break from these books - getting a bit same-same. Too many other books to read I think!

42.  Paul S Kemp - Star Wars Old Republic - Deceived 

This is what is essentially another book set in the Star Wars universe.  I have read a few of these types of books in my lifetime - however I haven't read on in quite a while.  I am actually listening to this one on my iPhone as an Audio Book - and I guess the best thing about it - is not the story, but the special sound effects that they have added - light sabers, wind, space craft, battles etc etc.  Quite entertaining.  Having said that, I probably won't read any more of these books for a while!

I will admit to starting another book which I got about one third of the way through before I realised I was reading book 3 of the trilogy when I should have been reading book 2!  Thought there was a bit of a gap in the plot LOL! So I will start reading book 2 - The Temporal Void by Peter F Hamilton before I read the last two thirds of book three!!!

Cooking and Eating

We have had some many wonderful meals over the last month - but I have to say that a couple of our favourites were an All Day Breakfast - for Dinner (Eliza thought I was a little crazy as we hadn't done this before at home - but she loved it), another favourite was Eliza's dessert which she made - layers of meringue, chocolate, berries and cream. She also cooked a vegetarian pasta that night as well, which we all really liked.  Another favourite was Jazz's decision to make cold rock ice-cream one night - she went into the supermarket herself and bought the ingredients while we waited outside, as she wanted it to be a surprise.  Such a nice surprise as well!

This month we have probably gone to a restaurant once a week - I highly recommend Braza at Darling Harbour in Sydney - it's $49 a head for adults (half for children) for all you can eat side dishes as well as the meats/pineapple/haloumi/fish they bring around on large skewers and cut off at the table for you (24 in total I think).  We also ate at Ban Thai in Goulburn to celebrate one of our staffers birthday's.  It is a great little Thai restaurant.  We also ate at Alto Restaurant- Black Mountain Tower in Canberra for Dave's Aunty Margaret's birthday.  It is very expensive here, small serves - and you need to eat three courses to feel vaguely full - but the food is nice, the plus for this restaurant is the view of Canberra as the restaurant rotates around.  We also ate at Zefferelli's in Belconnen after a late afternoon Doctors appointment which didn't finish until after 6pm. A decent Italian feed - the girls shared a rather large lasagne!  And lastly, we ate at Belluci's in Dickson - we love eating here.... met Les and Julie for a Sunday lunch before ordering for the Video Shop.  I had the lamb shoulder which was beautiful - but it's hard to go past their Salt and Pepper Crusted Beef Fillet!

Well - that wraps it up for this month - hope June is a little warmer!