gingerbread houses

My friend Heather is pretty skilled-up in the culinary department! I can totally vouch for her fish curry, home-made ice-cream and extravagant birthday cakes. I asked Heather to show us how to make a gingerbread house from scratch and she said YES! I don't think I'll be allowed to attend the Heather B School of Fine Cookery ever again though. She gave me very explicit instructions for how to make the dough, and I managed to leave out not one, but TWO key ingredients. Uh huh. It's that time of the year folks, when my brain goes a wee bit mushy. Amazingly however, the gingerbread turned out OK. Not earth shattering, best-ever tasting gingerbread, but good enough to eat. And best of all, it was structurally sound! Who cares how it tastes anyway...'cause it's all about the engineering and exterior design! Harry and Till loved every minute and both mastered the piping bag. They each took a different approach to their design. Harry wanted to achieve a more classic look, while Till was inspired by Hansel and Gretel. I love them both!

NB. You can't tell in these photos so much, but Master Harry has Chickenpox (for the second time! Or did I imagine he had a doozy dose of this disease when he was three?). So I guess he can eat his all on his own.

finding pink light

Just after 7pm Ben called me outside to photograph a green parrot he'd spotted on our driveway, but by the time I'd grabbed my camera it had disappeared.  It's hard for me not to start looking through the lens once I have it in-hand though! The parrot may have flown away, but I found something equally as special - the pretty light of dusk - and I have to say, it was just delightful. These photos are unedited, which is not usually how I roll. Because I take every photo in RAW, I always tweak in some small (even a teeny weeny tiny) way. But not tonight. I haven't touched any of these...and it feels good actually. Perhaps I've taken another baby step in my photography journey!?

[stills] a weekly collection

[i] it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
[ii] there were three in the bed and the little ones said "Happy Birthday Mum"!
[iii] felt on the floor - a forgotten toy re-visited
[iv] pony club ended for the year with a camp-out
[v] twelve new feathered babies joined our family this week
[vii] isn't it a spectacular cake? Made especially for me!!

Let's see if I can maybe be a little more regular in this ole space eh?

feeling thankful [at the beach]

We hit the beach this afternoon. First a snorkel, and then a walk on the reef.

It's Thanksgiving here today. We have plenty to be thankful for!



PS Sorry if you are tired of seeing beach shots in this space. On the plus side, at least this is a new post.  Go and check out my new photograpghy blog - a word of warning though, more beach shots there too!

nine

I don't believe it - NINE!
You are one cool cat Miss Matilda. xxx

first swim

So really it was Harry's FIRST dip for the swimming season!! Till and I cheered him on from the safety of our cosy towels, which we laid on the soft warm sand, well out of the reach of those menacing chilly waves! I'll think about taking the plunge sometime in December ha ha......maybe. It must not be too cold though, Harry was in the water forever...and those skinny limbs of his usually go blue after a few minutes!!!