On this lovely Sunday morning I'm joining Kate from
Foxs Lane and sharing ten random tidbits of information about my life right now. If you have a moment, drop by Kate's blog. It's hands-down one of my favourites! Kate is a wise, practical, thoughtful lady with a bucket load of skills. Her photos alone will draw you in, I promise!
one
I just read the most wonderful, imaginative, magical, bizarre (seriously) book to Harry and Matilda. Published in the 1970's,
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles is a novel written by none other than Dame Julie Andrews, although the book is published under her married name, Julie Edwards. It's a tale of courage, risk-taking and persistence. My children loved every minute of the story, as did I. Next on our list of "read alouds" is either
The Animals of Farthing Wood or
The Borrowers.
two
Big changes for me this year. I'm no longer working full time. You can't imagine what this means to me, I have so many plans and a list of 'Must-Do's' as long as my arm. Ordinarily I don't mention my work here, I prefer to keep my personal and professional life separate. But this is such a positive change for me and my family, so how can I not let you in. And here's the best bit, Ben and I are job sharing! Yep, two teachers, same school, one class. Ours together. Cool huh.
three
Being a part-timer, I'm totally making sure I get my craft groove on this year.
That is, as soon as I put all the cupboards to rights. When I can find my way through the linen press, I'm dusting off the
sewing machine and raiding the craft books. I started this week with two of the worst cupboards: under the
kitchen sink and the laundry cupboard. At least I'll be crafting in good conscience soon!!!
four
I started this blog a few years ago mainly to keep family in the loop, but as it turns out, it's strangers (who now feel like friends) who drop in, follow along or leave me comments. You inspire me to keep blogging and I really appreciate you all! Let's face it, anyone writing a blog hopes that someone out there is reading!
five
A friend loaned us her ThermoChef, it's just like a ThermoMix. Boy have we fallen in love. This bit of kitchen gear does everything and quite frankly we don't want to give it back! With ease and sophistication the ThermoChef weighs, chops, cooks, blends, steams, boils, purees,
kneads....and cleans itself. Nah, just kidding. BUT, it is very simple
to clean. So far we've used it to make meringue, custard, rice, boiled eggs (yeah, yeah...how hard is it to boil an egg?), soup, beetroot dip, more soup, corn fritters, hot chocolate, fish and veg, mushroom risotto, meat loaf...oh and more soup. Today I'm going to make fig jam à la carte ThermoChef style. Wish me luck, I've never ever made jam before!
six
Speaking of figs, our enormous tree is providing a bountiful harvest this year. We do battle with the birds most days despite Ben netting a small part of the tree (they still find a way in). I wouldn't mind if they just feasted on the figs up high, but the naughty scavengers even nibble on those within my reach!
seven
My parents are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary this year. That's quite an achievement wouldn't you agree? I've been thinking a lot about marriage lately, mostly how great it is and how lucky I am to have such a wonderful husband. At Christmas time when I was home at Mum and Dad's, I tried my wedding dress on and Ben took some photos - talk about a trip down memory lane. My Mum thinks she might put hers on this year and take some photos too!
eight
Our family is planning a return trip to New Zealand this Winter. I know what you're thinking, WINTER! Well we survived NZ's cold last year and even got to ski. We will be meeting up with some mates from Oz and together we plan to motor-home our way around the South Island. I can't wait!!!! Cold weather and all.
nine
We always write messages to each other on the blackboard attached to the wall on our verandah. I was cleaning off Happy Valentines Day yesterday when Matilda suggested we write Happy Easter. Give me break kid, I'm still getting over Christmas. You gotta love her enthusiasm. And I hate to admit it, Easter will be here before we know it.
ten
Oh Matilda. You are a little testing at the moment. I'm not sure why exactly, perhaps you're having a growth spurt? Or maybe it's because you're finding your feet in year 3. You did crack me up the other night though, when you arrived at the dinner table with a fake nose ring stuck on your face. Good grief. What will the teenage years be like??
NB. A blog post about random things wouldn't really be complete without a few random photos too! All of these were taken back in January during our visit to our nations capital city, Canberra. Have I told you how much I love Canberra?
See you soon for Weekly Stills x
