30,000 odd feet

No, not caterpillars. Flight TT424 to Melbourne. 1 am in the morning Perth time. I've given it a red hot go at sleeping (l even bought a neck pillow) but I think I'll just concede defeat now and scribble random thoughts until I either get bored or fall asleep midsentence.
As per usual, I have two sleeping beauties next to me (lucky things) and I swear the seats get smaller every time. Thank God it's only a 3 hour flight!

Just about to reach cruising altitude on the flight home. I copped a window seat again and one sleeper so I guess I'm stuck again. l believe they're expecting turbulence on the way home as the Seatbelt sign is still on. It's a slightly longer flight home but it should be more tolerable as it's afternoon not late night (more people awake).

The next post or two will be about my 'Mummy freedom' trip to Melbourne ...

Melbourne / Healesville

Arriving in Melbourne with Tiger airways is interesting. They're currently building a new terminal, so arrival consists of a small tarmac walk, and a long freight container tunnel stroll to baggage collection. This is in a large ex-hayshed (air-conditioned though!). l met up with Mum and dad at the hotel there, rental car pickup after that, and then off to Healesville.

Healesville is a very pretty, small town approximately 1 hour's drive from Melbourne. If you go, please drop in to Mocha and Lime cafe, as their food and drink is amazing! Healesville is part of the Yarra Valley wine region and just a few k's from the wedding location that was hosting the wedding we were attending.
Oakridge Estate is massive but very well run as a function venue, so kudos to the staff there!
The wedding day was very warm but bearable and of course the bride was beautiful.
The estate doesn't provide accommodation, so we all stayed at Healesville apartments. These consisted of several small apartments/cottages that were decorated in varying styled themes. Ours was French provincial I think. The bed was a little hard but it was intended for children so I just hauled the mattress onto the foldout bed for extra support, problem solved!

The bed I had in my Melbourne hotel was much better, however the room had no bedside lamp, towel rails on the opposite side of the bathroom to the shower, and no window except on the door. I left the door window ajar for 'natural light' as the hotel hallways were open to stairwells and the elements. For one night it was just fine though.

This morning l caught up with my brother for coffee and a wander. l rarely see him of course so it was wonderful to spend some casual time with him. We went for coffee at a place l can't quite remember the name of; something to do with manchester and bedding. Definitely a good coffee shop and very popular. I'll label it to this post when l can find the name. After that I was able to check out the Princess Theatre and the Royal Exhibition Building, two beautiful iconic buildings in Melbourne, among others. l love wandering a city's CBD and snapping photos of their beautiful or infamous places and structures.
Hopefully l can get into my own city again soon and snap away there, as there have been quite a few changes in the past few months, with more promised to come.

The project....and some more projects

Myer, I officially hate you. For subconsciously reading my mind. Stocking Creator Lego, putting it on sale and also offering a 10% further reduction in sale price was just mean.

Three projects for Christmas. What a shame.

The dollhouse is going well. Not completely painted yet, so photos will go up once that's sorted. Hopefully this Saturday afternoon, if my daughter can be distracted elsewhere. I think it's going to be a huge hit, as I spied her playing with a doll house at playgroup the other day and chattering away to herself.
I love watching kids when they're partaking in 'imaginative play'. I go completely into reminiscing mode!

Christmas project...the doll house refurbished

Which of course is a great excuse for a trip to a certain hardware store...I was able to find everything I needed, plus a few 'just in case's' that I didn't end up using of course. It did look odd to see the old doll house so bare and, well, old looking.

I approached the tiling with some trepidation, but it did turn out all right in the end. 

Ramblings about food

Again, it's been awhile. Obviously we have been eating, and my daughter even more than usual as she keeps growing.
I found it hard for a few weeks to decide on a menu for the week; I kept bogging myself down with the 'didn't we have that last week' spiel in my head. It is all about me though, as I'm sure my husband and daughter don't care if they have the same meal twice in two weeks! As long as it tastes good.

I keep trying to buy as much as possible from the veggie store and the butchers and therefore limiting what gets purchased at the supermarket. This is rather hard though when you need stuff like dishwashing liquid, toilet paper and clothes wash. I know, they don't count. You're not eating them. Still, I like the feeling of spending as little as possible at a supermarket.

This winter I have tried a couple of new food things - rhubarb and kale. Although I think I tried using kale earlier on in the year. I found a recipe for meatball subs with kale topping. Sounds unappetising, but surprisingly good. The kale is blitzed in a food processor with parmesan cheese and pine nuts (I think) and makes for a really nice semi-crunchy topping to the meatballs in sauce. Good hearty winter food. The recipe was in June or July's copy of Coles magazine.
Rhubarb has been a favourite of mine this season thanks to Jamie (again!). He had a 'recipe' - really just an assembly job - for a rhubarb 'tart'. Cook down the rhubarb with a bit of caster sugar and vanilla essence, brown up the puff pastry and put the two together. Serve with cream/custard. Messy, but tasty.
I've been dining out on the rhubarb with some custard for a few nights now, but with less sugar in the rhubarb mix for that extra bite.

*sigh* back to the menu planning for the week...

Sydney, The Rocks - one of my favourite spots.
My husband is on the stairs if you need a perspective.

No excuses and Chocolate Oranges

I have no excuses for my blog absence. No, I wasn't busy with my little girl. Or with my family in general. I just had other things to do with my precious 1.5 or 2 hours when she naps instead of blogging.

Yesterday I pinned a photo of my Chocolate cake in an orange experiment, courtesy of 'Camping Hacks That Are Too Genius' via Facebook.


Super easy to do. Just cut the top off the orange, core out the middle and pour in your choice of chocolate cake batter. Here's the recipe I used:

1 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar (or just 1 cup, or whatever you like to use. Less is more!)
4 large tablespoons of butter/marg
2 large tablespoons of cocoa

Put all of the above into a pot on the stovetop and stir over low heat until the butter/marg has melted.
Bring it to the boil and then simmer for about 5 minutes.

Let it cool, then add:

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups of SR Flour
1/2 teaspoon of Bicarb Soda

Mix and distribute between oranges/cake tin. I only used two oranges, but with the amount of mix I had you'd probably make around 8-10 oranges of average/large size I guess.

Sit the top of the orange back on and wrap them up individually in alfoil (normally you'd throw them onto hot campfire coals).

Just keep a spare cake tin handy in case you've got too much cake mix left over! Or a small child ready to lick the bowl.

I put my oven on 160C and left everything (cake tin and oranges) for 30 minutes. Perfection. To be honest, the oranges would be even better if you used Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals brownie recipe (posted here somewhere) and undercooked it so you got a lovely semi formed gooey mess of chocolate infused with orange. Need I say more....

The beginning, again.

It is the beginning of another 12 week journey at my gym. Last year's event saw me lose 5 kgs I wasn't expecting,  so this year it's going to have to be a mental challenge. The goal is to keep away from emotional eating. Sure, I don't do it in its extreme form but it's still not a healthy habit.

The hardest part of the challenge is counting all the kilojules. Writing down what you eat is easy, doing it with scales and a calculator is monotonous at best. However, as the challenge progresses I can get away with guesses as I tend to eat similar things in similar amounts regularly.
I'm using My Fitness Pal app on my tablet as a kilojule counting measure, and so far it's good.

My daughter is not going to make it easy as she constantly pulls me away from the computer when I want to enter foods into the app! Currently she's going through a phase that involves changing her nap time daily. But at least she has a nap or two still! Lord knows what I'll do when she won't have one anymore. I might reevaluate the whole child care centre option then- find out what flexible options they offer. I'm not sure if they do half days and cool things like that.
I don't want to stuff up the toilet training though, so perhaps child care visits will have to wait till after the toilet is mastered.

It's a perfect morning...SBS Chill are playing Enigma and I have a coffee and a few moments of peace...or not. Maybe time to go for a bike ride?

Tidying up

Every now and then I get this overwhelming urge to tidy up stuff. You know, all those little projects that take a few minutes but you just never get around to them?

Our beach bag is way too full as the towels just take up way too much space. Often all I need is my daughter's stuff and a towel for me. So I've put her stuff all into a bag and that way I can choose to take a big or small bag for myself depending on the swimming location.

The next 'project' is ripping a few of the CDs we've bought recently and popping them on the Ipod and computer for car playing and back up purposes. Of course, as soon as you connect the Ipod you get the 'hey, there's a new software update available' message and the whole shenanigans begins.
Thankfully it has downloaded ok and now I just have to re-boot the computer...I'll do that after I've used the safe and reliable WMP to rip my CDs thanks!

Speaking of backups, the Powerhouse museum had a fascinating display on recording information and retrieving it in the future. It really highlighted the fact that you need to keep backups and update the way you back up with the technology changes or else you'll lose your information. As my hubby pointed out, a lot of the tablets we're growing used to don't have USB ports. You have to buy a connection cord of some sort. Got to wonder what's going to replace the USB. Whatever it is, it will probably happen before I'm 40. Goodness knows how many times electronic storage will change in my lifetime.

I forgot to post this yesterday!  So, two things to be thankful for then. Let me see...how about good workplaces and organised mums. I am very lucky to have and be both.

A morning in the life of my 1 and a 1/2 and a bit year old

Morning:

Get up at the respectable hour of 6.30/7am. Might have a shower with Mum or Dad.

Play with my toys for a bit, especially if Mum is still at the gym as you can't start breakfast without her.

Eat breakfast with Mum and Dad. Spoons are a bit tricky. Especially if you get the handle wet 'cause you dunked it into the bowl by accident. And why can't I shake my water bottle? It makes a nice noise and looks really cool...
Yes, I want toast. Vegemite please. No, wait, Peanut paste please. Um, maybe, I don't know? Yum, thanks mum.
Ok, now I want to sit on your lap Dad. You haven't finished eating? Good, I'll have some too then to help you.

I'll play with my toys now. Mum, Dad, do you want a taste of my Lego soup? It's really good. Oh, you think it needs a bit more Lego? Ok.

Kiss Dad goodbye. He's going to 'work'. No Mum, don't do the dishes. Games Mum. Games. On your tablet computer thingy. Yay! No, not the Sims. Noooooooo! Ok, yes, that game with the apples (acorns, Candy Crush Saga).

Story time? Yes, yes it could be. Nap time, maybe? Ok, tuck Teddy and Miffy in too and you've got a deal.

Sleepy....

Saturdays

A wonderful day where I am free to enjoy my family. Sort of. Sometimes! Today the hubby and his nephew are going 4wdriving leaving myself and our daughter to our own devices. She's currently sleeping, and appears to be transitioning to one nap a day. But I did think this a while back, so I won't place bets just yet.
She was very patient at the shops today, especially as there was no apple for her to snack on! I am so lucky to have her temperament and personality.

Dinners have been a lot healthier lately as I don't want my daughter seeing too much junk food just yet. I tell you, the best 'diet' you can have and stick to is by having a child. Of course, that only works if you're wanting your child to eat healthy all the time. Which I do. And consequently I've been a lot happier lately since writing this blog and being verbally grateful for my life.

So it seems it's a case of 'happy mind, happy life, happy tummy'!

Mondays

I believe a fair few people will hate me when they read this next bit. I love Monday mornings. I still have to haul myself out of bed at 6am to ride to the gym, but after that I can sit back and breakfast with my family. Then my daughter has a nap and I get time to assess the day and week ahead.

Today I was able to get into the garden for the first time in a while.  There is a decent breeze blowing this morning which makes it pleasant to be out of doors. Net result?  Ineke 1, weeds 0.
The kangaroo paws look so small without their flowers now. I always dead head them because the flowers look very scruffy when left on the plant. Sitting down to a lukewarm coffee after the whirlwind gardening is very satisfying.

On the creative front in my household, my daughter has started drawing. She's been at it for about a month or so now, and loves her crayons and pencils. We often colour in together. I also picked up the latest Lego creator set - the Mountain hut. Short and sweet build, but then I guess anything is short and sweet compared to the expert series! They've also released the Parisian Restaurant inthe expert series, but that won't attach to my Emporium or Fire Station apparently. I'd have to get the Town Hall to go in between. Guess I'll have to save up for Christmas!

Thankful notes:

- good weather
- peaceful mornings

Dinner

Thank goodness for easy cooking! Chicken kebabs with rice and salad. I threw chicken stock and thyme  in with the rice for added flavour.

Yesterdays post

Whoops! I was too tired to do my daily post yesterday (in the disguise of a travel journal) so here it is now.

Better late than never!

Nah, just kidding.

Today I'm grateful to my mother in law for offering us dinner this evening. It was very yummy and saved me from cooking at home. Thank you!
Amazing roast potatoes.

Final Day in Sydney

Awoke to the sounds of the council cleaning the streets. At least, I think that's what it was. When we went out later the streets and footpaths were certainly wet and it hadn't rained. They cleaned up very fast after the Australia Day festivities.
It was also the end of the Sydney Festival, of which they were shutting down and tidying up when we walked through contemplating our breakfast. I made the mistake of leaving the hotel a touch too early, as the few places that were open for breakfast didn't open until 9 or 10am.

I've just thought of something I failed to mentioned the other day. After the trip out to Bondi beach, we got off the bus at Hyde Park and had a wander around to look at the ANZAC memorial and the Archibald fountain. Both monuments are impressive, but of course they were what you would expect to see in the middle of an iconic park in the middle of a city. What you wouldn't expect to see would be something like, say, a blow up massive Stonehenge. Yes, that's unexpected.
It better come to Perth, that's all I can say! We didn't want to queue for over an hour to go for a bounce, so hopefully it does make an appearance here. Looking at it all deflated on the lawn after Australia Day did raise a giggle or two from me.

STOP PRESS! It is coming to Perth, thank God. Along with some other fantastic works of art and entertainment.

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/your-perth/ten-things-to-look-out-for-at-the-2014-perth-festival-20131108-2x5jm.html

After making bad inflatable jokes, we wandered off to the The Rocks in the hope of finding breakfast there and luckily we weren't disappointed. It was a cafe just next to the entrance of Suez Canal laneway, so we wandered up the lane after breakfast as we'd seen it on the first day but didn't want to deviate from our main street wander then.
I just love The Rocks for all it's twisty winding lane ways. Just when you think you couldn't find another one, there's an archway entrance with a bar or restaurant just around the corner.

I would recommend you pop into the Susannah Place museum and The Rocks Discovery museum. Unfortunately we only made it to the latter, as the SP museum only opened at 2pm and we weren't sure where we'd be then. The SP museum comprises of a corner shop circa 1800's with 3 houses attached. I will have to put it on the list for another Sydney trip another time.
The Rocks Discovery museum is a nice little place to explain the local Aboriginal people's culture and the significance of the area to them. Plus there's a bit on some notorious English blokes who made a name for themselves back in the First and Second Fleet days.

Bottom line, The Rocks was originally a small village which then turned into a bit of a slum and then a lot of it got knocked down by the government early on due to fears of the plague. I can understand why they did it; seeing the close quarters living and imagining disease being spread in the early days was quite scary.
Thankfully they didn't get too carried away with the demolition, and quite a few beautiful buildings still exist to wander into and around.

After checking out the local markets at The Rocks (some nice locally made stuff), we wandered back through Circular Quay to the lift that takes you above the station there and then a short walk across to the Royal Botanic Gardens.
The weather was quite warm, so I was taken by surprise and unfortunately got a tad burnt. By this stage though we were quite tired and footsore and in need of food and drink. So we only saw the Governor's House (from the outside) and some of the gardens before exiting and walking past The Domain (concert area) back to the CBD.

By this stage all the shops and food courts were open so we ended up in the Westfield Tower Eye complex for a bite to eat.
After that, a little shopping was required. Although I didn't find my new favourite store until after our afternoon coffee and cake. It took me about 10 minutes to find a heap of clothes I liked, try them on and pay for them. Whew!

We had a shuttle bus pick us up and take us to the airport, and this time we had a larger plane which meant two aisle four aisle two seating. The plane on the way over was smaller and we had another person sitting next to us (which was fine!). We also had no entertainment screens/options, so it was a good thing we bought magazines/books/tablets.
The larger plane on the way back had everything we've come to expect from flying, so I have no idea why we got such a crap plane on the way over. Thankfully Sydney is such a short flight that it doesn't matter.

Back to reality today - what to eat this week...fresh basil, tomato and pasta dish?

Australia Day Sydney

But first, the Lion King. The most amazing musical l have seen to date. l will waste no words more other than 'go see it'. The Capitol Theatre ain't too shoddy either! The interior is so glitz and glamour as to be almost camp; naturally I fell in love with it. Unfortunately they do tours on Mondays and not on public holidays. Ces't la vie.

Just got back from the fireworks for the 25th Australia Day celebrations here in Sydney. It was so crowded. I couldn't believe the number of people flooding down to Darling Harbour. For the actual fireworks they used classical music instead of pop songs which gave it all a really formal feel. To top it off, they sang the national anthem twice and both verses too! I can't remember the last time I heard both verses!!
So I feel very Australian right now, especially with all my newly aqquired mozzie bites.

Most of today was spent at Bondi beach townsite and surrounds, and it was very beautiful. We actually had a bit of drizzle and the rain clouds over the bay made for great photography. Despite the weather, there were plenty of people around for the annual floating Haviannas record attempt down on the beach. We wandered along the cliff side path past Bondi Icebergs and round the corner to views of Tamarama, Bronte and the infamous Waverly Cemetery which is precariously perched on the edge of a cliff.
Had I bought sensible shoes with me, we would probably have walked to Coogee, but I was very satisfied with what we saw. Wandering back from our turn around point, we walked through the suburban streets to check out the local properties. I loved the eclectic mix of buildings - more old than new and sometimes with just as eclectic paintwork.

There were also some local markets on at the Bondi Beach Public School which were excellent. There were heaps of locally made things so I'd definitely recommend it as a spot for some souvenir shopping.

Food notes

Lunch - a little pizza pasta and salad bar in a side street just off the main drag. Very nice. A little like Stuzzico, if you're looking for a comparison.

Dinner - Jamie's Italian! Very good. lncredibly efficient staff, fantastic food and a great atmosphere. We went in at about 5.30pm and didn't leave till 7pm.

A day of reflection

Today, the Powerhouse museum and the Chinese Garden of Friendship. Later, the theatre to see 'The Lion King'. Lovely mid weather again which made pounding the pavement more pleasant.

Breakfast was at a cafe in the QVB, but not quite as nice as we'd hoped. After wandering through a few more shops, we made our way down to Darling Harbour and the Powerhouse museum. It has a rather ordinary looking entrance, but an amazing interior. And it's huge. I got museum'd out by the end of it and we didn't even try to see all of it.
The cafe at the entrance makes it's own pies and tarts; l had the onion quiche which was delicious. My husband chose it for me so I'm still allowed to sleep in the same bed tonight.
Speaking of food, last night's dinner was at the food court in the Sydney Eye Tower at Dergarah (l think). We shared a plate for two of chicken and beef with side salads dips and bread.

Anyway, after the museum we spotted the old monorail station just next door and starting to look the worse for wear. There was no way to guess if it will be taken down or just stripped back to make a sort of memorial. 

On the retrace of our steps back to the hotel, we entered the Chinese Garden of Friendship (see below photo) which was incredibly elegant and serene. Even with a steady stream of fellow tourists! I think I managed to get some shots that were different in their perspective along with the expected photo opportunities. The 'take photos of stairs joke ' has now extended to taking photos of my hubby with his back turned. Makes for a nice photo in all seriousness. 

We wandered through Chinatown, then Paddy's markets (wonderfully tacky) and then past the Capitol Theatre on the way back to our hotel. We've scoped out a place for dinner called lzukaya Masashi so we shall see...

Sydney- Day One

Aways press the save key! Blogger app doesn't like you switching screens.*Sigh* Start again!

Flight perfect, weather perfect, Sydney perfect.

We did a massive walk after we checked in this afternoon - Town Hall, past the glorious and gorgeous Queen Victoria building shops, George street (slow incline), The Rocks (cool waterfall stairs), Harbour Bridge, and Dawes Point. Then the Sydney Observatory (steep incline, top of a hill!), Circular Quay, Sydney Opera House (more stairs), Pitt street, and the Sydney Tower Eye (elevator, yay!) to finish off the day.
Sydney is such a joy to walk around though, despite the stairs! And the weather is perfect, warm without being too hot. Perfect walking weather.

Sydney is a real eye opener to a Perthite, as it's so big and appears to have everything and at least twice of it. We spotted 4 or 5 McDonalds,  3 Telstra shops and way too many tacky opal jewelry stores for tourists. I can only assume that Sydney people exercise a lot as I'm sure they don't need quite so many McDonalds stores!

So I find myself in awe of Sydney and completely happy with it.  I can't wait to get out to the parks and the Powerhouse museum tomorrow. 
If my legs have recovered...

Travelling

In 9 hours or so I'll be on a plane to Sydney! Yay!
I am looking forward to seeing a little more of my wonderful country. So today I'm grateful for the ability to travel; physically, mentally and financially.

Food!

Today I'm grateful for food. Specifically the amount of food we can afford to buy, and therefore I can share my plate with my daughter and neither of us go hungry.
The stirfry tonight went down a treat!

Positive thought attempt

I am tested quite strongly with coming up with a  positive thought tonight as my daughter is currently screaming her head off for no reason. Why she can't throw tantrums in the day is beyond my comprehension. 

So tonight I am grateful for doors and a daughter with healthy lungs.

New Year's resolution

Dangerous subject, I know. I've never bothered before, but seeing as I've kept this blog mostly alive for the past year I figured I might just have the discipline for a resolution this year.

So, the resolution? To post positive things/thoughts for the day. But they will be my own, not something I've grabbed off the net. I find myself too often depressed,  stressed or grumpy and that's quite pathetic considering the great life I have. I guess that's today's positive thought then; I have a great life.

On a food note, I'm currently baking some orange and lemon biscuits ... http://more-to.org/2011/03/09/orange-lemon-cookies/.... with sr flour instead of baking powder, salt and plain flour. I will buy some baking powder. One day!
They smell amazing. Just waiting to see what the first batch come out like size-wise.

I'm also mixing up a batch of turkish apple iced tea, courtesy of T2. I've used two tsps of Turkish Apple, with two Bushells Extra Strong tea bags in 450mls boiling water. I'll wait till it cools down a bit then I'll give it the taste test.
The Turkish Apple is a bit pricier than their usual teas as it's a flavoured sugar mix more than it is a tea. So I'm going to attempt to stretch it out by using normal tea bags for added strength and flavour.
Gotta love experiments!