Farrer Ridge Nature Reserve - Morning walk

Kangaroo - always an early morning visitor

It's quite unusual for me to rise before my children, but I did so this morning.

My Dad is visiting and has been walking around our new neighbourhood each morning.

Today I decided I should join him, particularly as he spoke of heading to the Nature Park nearby.

We spent two hours wandering, chatting, taking in the sights, exploring nature and stopping to take in the finer details of many things through my camera.  The photos will tell much of our story.

Come enjoy a refreshing little walk with us through this reserve.

Everlasting Daisy

Cauliflower Bush - Cassinia ?

Cauliflower Bush - Cassinia aculeata (I believe)

It seems there's a natural spring here, my Dad thinks, 

or perhaps the water is flowing due to the excess rain we have had.

All in all it's a very pretty spot.

Next time I will bring my girls.

They will adore all the flowers,

and the kangaroos will be a treat for them also.

Playing Battleship

It is one of man's curious idiosyncrasies to create difficulties for the pleasure of resolving them. ~Joseph de Maistre

Do you remember playing Battleships as a child? I remember drawing up my battleground on grid paper, strategically positioning my battleships, then once prepared, hiding it all from my opponent and trying to find new strategies to win the game. It was a great childhood strategy game encouraging us to think in order to win rather than just be subject to chance or luck after rolling a dice.

So when I spied this modern version of a fun childhood game at our local thrift store (for only $3), I knew it would please my Ess who'd likely play along with her Dad. Sure enough, they were both seen over the weekend with their heads behind their radars striking each other's ships as they battled to win in naval combat.

The only problem is that there are two ships missing - an aircraft carrier and a little patrol boat I think. We used lego pieces (see left container in top pic) to substitute but one needs to be rather delicate to have them balancing in the right position. We'll have to see if we can find the missing pieces to complete the game.

What are your memories of Battleships?

Tweet and Toot announce my 100th post and a little giveaway to celebrate

One photo out of focus is a mistake, ten photo out of focus are an experimentation, one hundred photo out of focus are a style.  ~Author Unknown

Tweet and Toot, inspired by Jikke and Lila, are here to announce that Cee has finally written 100 posts.  It has taken a while but I think I have finally got some blogging mojo this year.  I'm not sure whether I'm at the 'experimentation' or 'style' stage with my photos but at least now I'm in the running for 'style' with posting :)

Little Tweet has found a home on Ess' school bag and she proudly carries him to school each day.  She did not appreciate me removing him in the morning so I could take a photo for this post during daylight hours. 

Little Toot has not yet found a home. So to celebrate 100 posts and to express my gratitude to family, friends and new blogging mates, as well as to give my desire to increase my generosity a boost, we are having a little giveaway.  We hope that soon Little Toot will find a home at your place.  Or maybe you have an appreciative little family member who'd enjoy him.

The two of them will hate to be parted but that's OK.  Toot's new owner will be most caring I am certain.  I have met some lovely lovely people in the blogosphere.

As an addition, I will also giveaway a recipe of mine.  Yes I know you can see them here and copy and paste and print or whatever but I want you to have something real and tangible of me and my place.  In this case, my handwriting.   So I will contact you and we'll negotiate a recipe you'd like to have which I'll handwrite for you and post off with Little Toot.  My handwriting is quite stylish I think and a little more sophisticated than my five year old daughter's.

I value handwriting very highly and am sorry that we don't use it as much these days.  There are so many things we can do with our handwriting to add a special touch.   I remember a tea party held by a friend of mine (who'll read this) who had written the names of all that she had baked and displayed the tags beautifully on the table with her wares.  I remember feeling lost when the handwritten labels on my father's client's files were all replaced with typed ones (unbeknown to him). I would find files by the sight of the handwriting rather than reading the label.  That soon changed.   These days you can also have your own handwriting made into a font to use on the computer.  That's a bit construed I think but at least it reinforces the value of handwriting.  Maybe one day there will be a font named Pea Cee.  I just need to get a scanner to complete that task on my list.

And my recipe book!  I have a few, but my fondest one I started when I was just 10 years old.  Wrapped in Mr Men contact ;), it contains recipes I've written over the years.  It also has recipes that were written by my Mum, my Dad, my Aunty and my best friend from school.  My sister-in-law recently wrote in one for her Tagine.  I remember each one by the individual's handwriting.  Seeing the handwriting reminds me of that person, the times we shared together, enjoying a delicious meal together.  Do you  have a similar recipe book?  Or is your recipe collection like my newer books - display folders showing printouts from the computer and pullouts from magazines?  Each has its own merit, yet there is something extra special about a handwritten collection built up over the years, do you agree?

So to be eligible for this little giveaway, I urge you to leave a comment (about anything at all). I know I have a lot of readers there who are not commenting so now is your chance.  I'd love to meet you and get to know you and I really am very lovely... at least I don't bite - usually!

In a short while, when enough of you have commented, I will randomly choose someone to win and advise you who that is, in another post soon.

A Valentine Beach Outing

Who, being loved, is poor?  ~Oscar Wilde

Our Saturday was quite busy so we enjoyed Valentine's Day with our lovely little family on Sunday afternoon at Semaphore Beach.

Spade in hand, sand in our toes... who can resist...dig, dig, dig...

We cannot visit the beach and not dig a hole, especially when Daddy is there.

The hole just got deeper and deeper and deeper...

We reached water at the bottom of it.

Pavlova Magic

"In 1929, Herbert Sachse, the chef of the Hotel Esplanade in Perth, Western Australia, created the dessert Pavlova to celebrate the visit of Anna Pavlova to Australia. This dessert later became Australia's national dessert." http://www.centrew.com/quote/authordisplay.php?Id=166

"This was made by a Chef to give to a famous Ballerina who visited Australia as he wanted something as light and dainty as her."

I'm not sure how much "light and dainty" there is about my Generous Gentleman, or whether he could be considered a "ballerina" (except perhaps when he is washing dishes for me!), but this is what I whipped up for him recently upon request.  We also had lots of freshly picked strawberries from Beerenberg Farm, Hahndorf, which needed to be used in as many ways we could think of.  We have eaten lots of fresh strawberries, lots on the top of pavlova and also lots as Strawbet, a favourite dessert of Ess's which we make with our Extraction Juicer using pure strawberries - yes strawberry sorbet with no sugar.  It is absolutely delicious and yet another "miracle" produced by my wonderful Generous Gentleman.

The Pavlova was magic!  I was very pleased.  Despite it being Australian and my husband's passion for them, they are not something I make often.  In fact this may be my first - or my second.  To be honest I simply can't remember the last time I made a pavlova. They can be temperamental.  You want them to have a crispy outer shell and nice marshmallow centre.  So to a recipe in his "Essential Dessert Cookbook" I went and proceeded to beat away as follows.

I placed 4 egg whites in a large, very clean and dry glass bowl with a pinch of salt.  I let them reach room temperature and then beat slowly till they were a frothy foam.  The speed was gradually increased until the bubbles in the foam became small and evenly sized.  1 cup sugar was added gradually and beaten until it dissolved.

Using a metal spoon 2 tsp cornflour and 1 teaspoon white vinegar were folded in to make the desired marshmallow centre.  The mixture was smoothed onto a baking tray lined with paper to 1" high.  The baking in a warm oven 160degC lasted an hour until it was pale cream and crisp on the outside.  Mmm.  

It rose while baking but sadly sank on cooling. I believe this is normal and evidence of the lovely meringue centre.  Can anyone correct me on this?

Nevertheless, the pav was devoured and deliciously enjoyed by my Generous Gentleman and little Eee. Curiously Ess was not so fond of it - we cannot work out why. Perhaps she does not like the flavour of the egg whites.  She and I don't fare too well with eggs and I could concur with her that it is not MY favourite dessert.  Still I really enjoyed the fruit and the crispy shell.

Yet we dedicated this to our Generous Gentleman in honour of his birthday - yes it is never too late to celebrate.  His was mid-winter while he was away and we never really did get to celebrate properly as the house returned to a state of new order on his return.  He loved it - over and over. I was very impressed when he offered some to our guest as well.  That's self-sacrifice for you.  The meringue will last for ages so I only prepared half at first.  I don't think he wanted it to last at all.

It looks somewhat Christmassy, perhaps I'll revisit it then.   But onto my Christmas cake next - possibly the world's best Christmas cake containing dark chocolate, apricot nectar and some sweet sherry.  Oh yes and some fruit as well :)

Mysterious Giggles and Sparkles

In Honour of the creative, playful spirit of my Generous Gentleman and my delightful 4 year old daughter Ess.

And as the seasons come and go, here's something you might like to know.

There are fairies everywhere: under bushes, in the air, playing games just like you play, singing through their busy day.

So listen, touch, and look around - in the air and on the ground.

And if you watch all nature's things, you might just see a fairy's wing.

~Author Unknown

When Daddy first went away on his working trip he told us he was hearing lots of giggles in and around his building. He was very curious about where they might be coming from so he snapped some shots everytime he heard a giggle or saw a sparkle and this is what came up in them.

I see something there!

A fairy ring!

One day Daddy heard a giggle coming from inside the sock lying underneath his bed.

He decided to send the sock home to see if I could find out what made the giggle. When the parcel arrived at our house I opened up the package and found a fairy. Her name was Lily. I tried to turn Lily into a real fairy (because she was a doll). First I tried dipping the edge of her wing into the water. Then when we rang Daddy he said that when you catch fairies they turn into dolls until you're not looking. Lily must be a real fairy because she lives in the cabinet but every time I'm not looking she gets out and flies around. I keep discovering her in other places. Now she has a friend, Prilla, who arrived in another package in another one of Daddy's socks I wonder whether any more fairies will arrive in the mail from Daddy's work.

Do you believe in fairies?

[E]very time a child says, "I don't believe in fairies," there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead. ~James Matthew Barrie, Peter Pan

My Parting Gift

Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity.

~John Ruskin

Isn't this rose exquisite!!

The photos don't clearly show just how long the bud is. It just extends and extends. Such simple beauty. I absolutely love it. So when my beloved Generous Gentleman bought it for me from my favourite florist at the Central Markets I was delighted, as were many passers-by who saw me proudly sporting my gorgeous rose.

It is however a parting gift. We will be separated for around 10 weeks due to his work. Despite the fact you expect this in his work we have not experienced much of it since we have been together. I don't have years of experience becoming accumstomed to what it is like to be apart. We have been lucky, as he has enjoyed so much family time to date. However, for me now, with two little ones to care for and no one to share the load and "adult converse" with in the evening, I find it is exhausting work. I really feel for all single parents out there and those who have lost loved ones. At least I know my Generous Gentleman is coming home.

So, inspired by our friend Imogen's paperchain, we have made one to count-down the days to Daddy's return. Boy, look how long it is! You can't even see the end in this photo! It has been good for Ess to gain a concept of the length of time, and also to see the days written as dates. She has had to decipher which link comes next in the chain as they are all printed with a day and date. It has taken her about three days to make the chain so at least we have been able to shorten it by a number of days in one go. It won't be so easy from now on.

Slowly, slowly the days will pass... and we will attempt to fill them with fun!

All visitors welcome!