Day 304 - Another Rocky Road

My third Rocky Road ever is blueberry and macadamia in dark chocolate and I made it to post to Dale's Mum for her birthday. I love how the dried blueberries look so black and shiny in it! This is almost like fruit and nut chocolate, except that it has the added bonus of marshmallows. Very yummy and easy; here's my recipe:

2 blocks of dark chocolate (about 400g)
the white marshmallows out of a mixed pack
small pack of macadamias
dried blueberries - I think that I put in about a cup or so

Melt the chocolate, mix it all up and set it in a tin lined with glad bake.

Enjoy!

Day 303 - Is That You Daddy?

Dale left at about 7 this morning on his way to Phillip Island for a couple of track days and all day Henry has been on his mobile... He must be on the phone to his Dad :P

Day 302 - Coffee Time!

We went over to Civic for a bit of shopping this afternoon and decided to stop for a much needed coffee at The Coffee Club. Henry seemed to enjoy this the most out of all of us, as he got to share both Dale's blueberry muffin and my almond friand. He also got to play with our table number which somehow gave him much enjoyment! Oh, you may notice his new reversible hat, made by Nanna with fabric that I bought a few weeks ago at the Handmade Markets. He rarely takes it off these days.

Day 301 - Pink, Pink, Pink

I wore my new rose pink wedges from Zu today. These are the ones that I picked up last Friday night. I also bought the fuschia coloured pumps on the same night. They are from Florsheim. I haven't ever bought shoes from there, but quite liked this pair and the fact that they had a medium heel, as well as being heavily discounted. Anyway, there I was thinking that it was slightly over the top that I bought two pairs of shoes that were both pink and patent and then I realised that I had another pair of pink patent Jane Debster heels at home. I think that should be about it for pink shoes for now! I really need more pink in the way of clothing to go with them!

Day 300 - Munch, Munch, Munch!

1M is very taken with our new little silkworms, who arrived at school today :) They even wanted to "give them a cuddle" but I am pretty sure that these little critters are quite happy munching away on their supply of mulberry leaves and pooing! They seem to like to interact, lifting their heads when the tank is opened and if you listen very carefully you can actually hear them eating! We hope to see the whole lifecycle before the end of term is out.

Day 299 - Words with Friends

Am I the last person to discover Words with Friends? I have had this on my iPod for quite some time, but never really got around to playing it. Tonight it kept me up late as I had to check it for every little buzz to see who was beating me next! According to rumour Dani and David were hard to beat and I was surprised to keep up with Mum's scores!

Day 298 - Think Pink

This shot is of the table after a lot of the pink food was demolished from this morning's Pink Morning Tea held at work to raise money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The table looked really pretty all decked out in pink and there were some very creative pink food ideas; strawberries, watermelon, pink scones, pink rum balls, iced vovos, hundreds and thousand biscuits, pink iced oreos, salmon dip, pink lamingtons, cup cakes and more. Special thanks to Peta who took this pic for me as my little camera is drying out after I let it get wet yesterday!

Day 297 - Pink Rocky Road

Tomorrow at work we are having a pink morning tea to raise money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation and so I thought it would be a good chance to make the strawberry rocky road that I have been thinking of trying. I used two blocks of white chocolate, the pink marshmallows from one mixed packet, a packet of dried strawberries, one of macadamias, and handful of coconut, toasted and a handful of dried cranberries. I'll definitely make this one again; it was great!

Day 296 - A New Project

Inspired to make a dress this week, Mum and I went over to Lincraft this afternoon with Henry in tow, so that I could pick out a pattern and some fabric. Although Henry usually likes shopping, I have to say that it is very different now that he is walking and he is not quite so happy to sit in his stroller! Content with a vegemite sandwich after being in the store for about 15 minutes I made the 'mistake' of unbuckling him. He had the best time (practically) running around the store, bellowing and laughing, but was not too happy when it was time to get him back into the stroller! Third time lucky after Mum found a piggy bank that he could see his reflection in (seemed to make him quiet!) he was somewhat easier to 'contain'! Anyway, the above is my chosen fabric... now to get cutting!

Day 295 - Shedding Some Light

I popped over to Fyshwick today to pick up the order we placed for a new light fitting for over our dining table. It looks quite dramatic over the table and casts great shadows across the ceiling. I just need to change the pictures on the wall in the dining room and move the buffet before the room is all changed to how we want it.

Day 294 - The Return of Late Night Shopping

As it was a warm evening tonight and Henry had had a bath and dinner early, we decided to go over to Civic for a bit of late night shopping; something we haven't done in a while. Although Henry had been a little under the weather, he was up for it. Both Dale and I went shoe shopping, we bought Henry some new summer clothes and we stopped for a quick dinner at Nandos (Dale's choice). Henry enjoyed his banana and a taste of our chicken, smiling at the passers by from our window seat.

Day 293 - Silverbeet and Mushroom Pie

We brought back a huge bunch of silverbeet from the community garden after our weekend in Eden as well as some free range eggs, so I decided to put them together in this silverbeet and mushroom pie, which I have made a couple of times before. Not really a pie, because it has no crust, it is more a frittata, but worth making if you want to check out the recipe link.

Day 292 - Sage Advice

Lately when I have been taking Henry out into the garden, I have been taking him out to the herb garden for a bit of a sniff! We pinch off some mint or sage and when I put it in front of his nose he has a big sniff and a big laugh! He has it all figured out now and tonight when I took him out, he picked his own leaves and after a big sniff, decided that if it smells that good, it must be tasty too :)

Day 291 - More Herbs for the Garden

My herb garden around the garden tap is going so well, that I have more purple sage than I know what to do with. To add a bit of variety, I was given this great pot of chives by Gloria at work yesterday. Next thing that I need to get planted, is some basil in time for summer, for making pesto. BTW; happy to swap a pot of sage or apple mint for anything that is going well in anyone else's garden!

Day 290 - Curry and Chutney

Tonight we had a curry for dinner. The curry wasn't anything that fancy (although, a pretty good chicken tikka) but we tried out two of Glenda's chutneys with it, on the side with a few poppadoms.  The first was a kiwifruit chutney, which I wanted to try because I never would have thought to make a chutney with and then also an extremely zesty lime one! Both were gorgeous and really made our curry!

Day 289 - Dale's Great Shot!

Dale is my guest photographer today, because although I took a heap of photos today, this one really stands out to both of us, even though we can't quite put our fingers on why! Obviously it isn't posed, but it is somehow by a fluke, well composed, none of us is looking at the camera, but rather, we are all involved in doing something of our own. Henry is busy playing; I am trying to coat him in sunscreen, Jenna is reapplying her sunscreen and I think Glenda may be taking a photo of Henry. I love how the sky behind us is bright, yet cloudy as well. Great shot Dale!

Day 288 - Beach Baby

Cautious at first, Henry enjoyed his first real outing to the beach, letting the sand fall between his fingers and attempting to walk on the sand! We had a great day today with beautiful sunshine and gorgeous surroundings. In the morning we visited the produce markets at the community garden where Glenda puts in a lot of time, buying some delicious chutneys and jams (Glenda's Galley), free range eggs and some goats milk soap. After lunch we ventured down to the beach where Henry tried out his brand new thongs (they are blue with little crabs on them). It was a bit windy down there and we had decided to go back, but on the walk back, we luckily had a little break of sunshine and Henry wanted to play. I was pretty happy; anything to put off climbing about 100 steps to get back to the house. It's a long hike when holding a 10kg beach baby!

Day 287 - A Great Freebie!

I love getting packages in the mail and luckily Dale tossed this package into the car before we left for Eden today. A few weeks ago I took out a subscription to InStyle and this is the freebie that you get with your subscription. I am a sucker for the freebies that come with mags as Dale will attest to, but this one was a great one. It even came with a matching make up bag inside that I didn't expect.

Day 286 - More Packing

So another night of late night packing the car for a weekend away; this time down south to Eden to visit Dale's Mum, Glenda. How do you pack your bags? Folding or rolling? I tend to roll and find that you can fit more in and it wrinkles less. Handy tip for young players!

Day 285 - Dem Bones, Dem Bones...

So this is an X-ray of Dale's elbow. Over a week ago he went out on his dirt bike and ten minutes in, little did he know, but he had a fractured radial head of the left elbow. So in a lot of pain, Dale shouldn't drive his car (leaves me with a manual - lack of experience lately) and he can't lift much or ride dirt bikes for the next six weeks. It still waits to be seen if he will be fit for his trip to Phillip Island in a couple of weeks. So a day of work for today, but waiting for a CT scan next.

Day 284 - Ready to Ride!

In a previous post I showed off Henry's little wagon for bike riding. We haven't tried it out yet, mainly because of a cold and rainy weekend, but Henry has been getting used to his helmet, which at first he refused to leave on his head for more than a few seconds. He has gotten used to it now (to the extent that he will go and find it and pop it on) and seems to enjoy the admiring glances he gets when it is on his head! Henry has always liked hats and any other object that he can put on his head, especially if it gets a laugh from us!

Day 283 - Bath Time Antics

I never thought that I would put a photo online of me wearing a shower cap, but I really had to wear one tonight to cope with Henry's bath splashing. As you can see from the photo (which is a self taken snapshot) Henry was having a good old time this evening during his bath, making waves, drenching me and having a big giggle!

Day 282 - Navel Gazing

So Henry has discovered his belly button and those belonging to all the other family members as well! Many times today he pulled his shirt up and pointed to it, when we asked where it was :) Henry has given each of us a bit of a belly button prod too - always investigating!

Day 281 - Genius at Work

Okay, Henry didn't really build this himself, but Jenna did let him have the glory of putting the last block on! Of course he then took pleasure in knocking the whole thing down with gusto. It's funny how Henry's blocks keep us all entertained; I am talking about the little competition that Jenna and I had going to see who could build the tallest one, before the destructor put an end to our engineering skills!

Day 280 - Appointments, Shopping and Finally Sleep

What a long day today was. Henry had an ultrasound done on his heart this morning, (which thankfully turned out to be nothing to worry about) meaning that he had to lie still for 15 - 20 minutes while it was conducted. He was supposed to be sedated for it, but this didn't work. It actually had the opposite effect and so he was basically awake all day with two power naps in the car totalling about 15 minutes. He did lie still for the ultrasound, but for the rest of the day being still was not on the radar. After the appointment we drove over to the Canberra Centre for a bit of shopping. Nudged on by Peta, (who has already bought hers) I bought my 2012 diary; yes, I have ditched the stupid mobile phone calendar and will go back to paper. I used to live via Outlook, but having a job where you rarely sit at your desk, this doesn't work so well. So I bought a cute diary in Kikki K. We had "coffee together" which involved me having a coffee and Henry wiping a vegemite sandwich all over himself. We went shopping in SupaBarn which is where I was told I could buy dried strawberries for a Rocky Road I am thinking up (with macadamias as well). Henry toured the aisles calling out from his stroller. Loudly. In a very quiet supermarket. I also picked up a couple of books for each of us at a book sale. Henry batted his eyelashes at the girls in Zu while I tried on and ordered a pair of shoes. After an aborted afternoon sleep, another shopping trip for dinner items, a bath, dinner and much loud play (which included walking around the kitchen with a big ice-cream container on his head) Henry was finally asleep by 7.30 - Phew!

Day 279 - Leaving the Doctor + Vegemite Sandwich = Happy!

After leaving the doctor's office this afternoon, Henry spied a vegemite sandwich in the nappy bag and very quickly gestured / grunted that he wanted it. It sure cheered him up, because when I turned around to check on him while waiting at the lights, this is the face I saw!

Day 278 - Do You Think They Make Lavender Honey?

After an afternoon with some of the mums and babies who used to be my mothers' group, but have now formed a playgroup, where Henry seemingly wore himself out playing with his little friends, I sat by the car as he slept it off in the driveway. I have been watching the bees on the lavender for a little while and since I had my camera in my handbag, I took a few pics while I waited for Henry to wake up. They didn't seem to mind me getting so close, luckily and I love the detail that I managed to capture with the macro setting on. There's a lot of lavender in our front yard, so I am pretty sure that they will happily stay for some time.

Day 277 - Ring, Ring, the Happiest Sound of Them All

I was very excited to receive my new retro phone that I bought on ebay, this morning! Sick of our cordless phone set, and seeing as we don't really use the landline that much I was thinking that one of these would look pretty good at our place as more of a decorator item, rather than just something that is functional. The sound of the dialling and the clunk of the handset really is a blast from the past; and how funny that we had to show Jenna how to use it :P

Day 276 - Grab Your Clogs!

Henry and I enjoy the Dutch Street Organ Music - Thanks Mum for being guest photographer today!

Henry learnt a little about his Dutch heritage today on yet another visit to Floriade. He seemed quite entranced by the music of the Dutch Street Organ (Australia Fair which is always at the tulip festival) and didn't want to stand with his back to it either! It must have been one of Floriade's biggest days today; exceptionally crowded and we had to park all the way over the bridge in front of the Treasury Office, which meant a pretty long walk. After two wet days, the sun was out in full today and so must have been half of Canberra.

Day 275 - Feeling Puzzled

What? Doesn't everyone do their puzzles standing up?

Henry discovered an old puzzle of Jenna's yesterday and after we had to take it in the car on the way to the markets and to nappy changes, it has become a firm favourite. Each time he gets one in the right spot, he gives himself a little clap (he likes to celebrate achievement!) and tonight he discovered that if he walked around in circles with one of the pieces on his head, it would make everyone laugh a lot. Yes, I worry that he may be the class clown someday!

Day 274 - To Market, To Market

The Handmade Markets were on this weekend and so Mum, Henry and I went along for a look and to buy a few nice things. I have been after some new red beads to wear and I found this funky necklace by "Six in a Row", who I am pretty sure I have bought a similar style necklace from before. I also bought some fabric from the Japanese fabric stall for Mum to make a new reversible bucket hat for Henry and of course some delicious macaroons from the same people that sell them at the Bus Depot Markets (Curious Chocolatier). We got lemon, raspberry cheesecake and lime and coconut. The raspberry cheesecake was definitely the favourite for me.