Day 31 - Name This Object

Anyone know what this is? I came across it while tidying up and the only clue that I have is that it may have come in a Christmas bon bon... Anyway it has been bugging me trying to work out what it is, so I am now asking the question! All suggestions welcomed and if I had to guess who would work it out then maybe I would suggest Sue from work - she always seems to know all sorts of things like this :)

Day 30 - Black Beauty

Now that we have decided to sell the boat, we don't really need me to have such a big car anymore and so in not too long, our Commodore will be finding a new home. Today I picked up my new car after dinner! We went and had a look at this Mazda 3 on Sunday afternoon and I really did love it straight away. This is actually my 4th Mazda and second black one, having had a 121, 323 and MX5 previously. Now I just have to get used to driving a manual again... it is a good reason to get excited about driving to work tomorrow though!

Day 29 - Mum, Rex Has My Ball!

I think I was supposed to do something about this, judging by the look on Henry's face! Henry will learn eventually that he can't just play with a ball near Rex, who seems magnetically drawn to them! I should have reminded Henry that he actually stole this ball off the cat in the first place and claimed it as his own!

Day 28 - Remember What it's Like to be Ten?

Robbie and Jenna seemed to enjoy catching up on Saturday afternoon, when Jenna made recommendations on what apps Robbie just had to have! Robbie left with not only a few good ones like Words with Friends, but a bunch of others that apparently do a range of things like adding moustaches to photos and so on. I snapped this picture of them just moments before Robbie asked Jenna if she could try on her beloved headband... I do not know if she will be getting one of her own, but they sure did bond!

Day 27 - Tell Me it isn't Over?

I think it every time, but I really could have gotten so much more done if I had just had one more week! It was back to school for NSW teachers today and on the menu for us, was mostly CPR and First Aid. It was a little creepy to walk back into the library after morning tea to find these half bodies lying around everywhere, but I guess practice makes perfect. I just hope that I only ever need to do this in a practice situation.

After one day, as most people know, it pretty soon feels like you never left. Here we go again!

Day 26 - A Quiet Night with Sherlock

Dale and I had the rare opportunity to go to the movies tonight to see the second Sherlock Holmes movie, Game of Shadows. The cinema was pretty empty, actually, make that totally, so we got first pick of the seats before anyone else showed up (and there were only a few). As with the first Sherlock Holmes movie, Robert Downey Jr's character was hilarious, and although I sometimes found the special effects a little distracting, I was enjoying it, until I realised I could hardly keep my eyes open! Maybe we will have to wait for the DVD for this one!

Thanks to Mum for watching Henry!

Day 25 - Tandem Post... What's In Your Glovebox?

The other day, Dale showed me a picture on Facebook that basically pointed out the difference between how clean a woman's car is, compared to a man's, which gave me the idea for today's tandem post... who do you think had the most rubbish in their glovebox? Me or Dale? You can see the results of his glovebox photo over at Another Project 366 Sheep Joins the Herd.

So here are the contents of my glovebox in some detail.

1. Sat nav with fleecy bag, not working at the moment because I broke the cord
2. Birthday card from 5M, given to me in 2009
3. One blue biro
4. One glasses cleaning cloth
5. An unidentified charger for something or other
6. An empty chip packet, cheese and onion flavour
7. Strand of green beads from Dale's work Christmas party some years ago
8. Bart Simpson CD case (used to be Dale's - now filled with any CDs we have 2 copies of, for long drives when the iPod battery is flat)
9. Assorted plastic items - CD tray, ziplock bag and a wrapper
10. Two expired gym membership cards
11. Plastic cap for iPod cord
12. Dale's business card which says I Heart You on the back
13. Collection of shells from a trip to Eden
14. Pile of random receipts
15. Pile of random papers, including a photocopy of Mum's birth certificate and an indemnity form from Phillip Island (thanks Dale)
16. Hottest 100 Volume 15 cover, Freebie Aus Music CD that came in the SMH about 8 years ago, AC/DC Live and Gotye CDs
17. Ten Cents
18. Reflector from Dale's trailer
19. One I nearly missed because you almost can't see it in the picture... a set of Nokia earphones, which might be Dale's because I don't think I have ever owned a Nokia!

So what's in your glovebox? Feel free to share and link back!

Day 24 - Reading With Nanna

Henry is known for his love of books and there are always at least ten of his scattered about the lounge room! We have been reading with Henry since he was too small to realise and persisted when all he was interested in, was closing the book in the middle of reading. Mum arrived for a couple of days' visit today and Henry enjoyed sharing his favourite book, which we call The Puppy Book (because it is about a puppy who visits all the different animals on the farm). Henry has really been into this book ever since he got a bit more talkative and he loves making all the animal noises to accompany!

Day 23 - Mini Makeover!

Our garden has multiple little separate spaces and this is one in the backyard that I made over today. After a longer than realised catch up with Sarah in the morning (whose backyard I admired) I came home and had a very quick lunch before getting stuck in. I had been talking to Elva who does all of our garden areas at school, earlier in the week and asked her for her advice on keeping the weeds away (I seem to spend hours on it each holidays). She gave me about 100 copies of the Sydney Morning Herald to put under the bark chip and voila!

Day 22 - How Does Dr Moss Sound?

We often joke about what Henry may be some day, career wise. So far it has been suggested that he might be everything from a waiter to a builder to a comedian, depending on what he has been up to that day. But surely this picture suggests something with a more medical bent right? When Henry hasn't been well, he knows exactly what you do with the thermometer!

Day 21 - Another Item Ticked off the List

One of the big things to do on my holiday To Do list was to clean out my study. To give you an idea of how unorganised and cluttered it was, I did one day hear Jenna refer to it as 'the junk room' when giving a friend a tour of our house! How embarrassing. I have to admit though, because I try to do most of my work at school, it is more of a storage space and with floor to ceiling shelving on two walls, it really can store quite a lot! I did most of this yesterday but finished it off today so that I could take some photos in there with the daylight flooding in. Like I did in our lounge room, I have tried to move furniture away from windows to let more light in and better access. Additionally, I took one desk out because we really only need one in there. One other thing I did consider was the way the desk faces. I have read before that it is bad feng shui to have your back to the door when sitting at a desk and so I rectified that!

This is a room that we have never really done much to, like picking a colour scheme or anything, but I am a little inspired by the black and white artwork that I put up on the wall. These drawings were done by Dale's Nanna. I am not sure when as they are undated. Maybe someone could have a guess at the fashion era? I was thinking that black and white could be a good look for this room, anyway, if I ever get to finishing the curtains in all the other bedrooms first!

Day 20 - Places to Go, People to See

Henry decided to get himself ready while I was finishing off my coffee this morning, so although he had help with his clothes, he appeared to think that accessories were something he should manage on his own. Two hats later and after a bit of a struggle with the sandals, I helped him with his shoes and gave him the "less is more" talk regarding hats!

Day 19 - Look Who I Bumped Into!

Out looking at cars this morning and look who Dale and I bumped into in Fyshwick! Yes it was my actual old MX5, the car that I had before my Commodore. A few years ago, I sold her to Samantha, daughter of Gayle who I work with and I knew that she had recently upgraded, so I was only sort of surprised. For once I was pretty sure about the number plate and confirmed it when I looked in the log book and found old rego papers from my last house in Sydney.

I have very good memories of this car; we travelled down the Hume Highway and back many times, did a trip  down to Melbourne once to visit Frances, a girly Hunter Valley weekend with the roof down on a beautiful day and funnily, one thing I remember most is my final trip to Canberra with Dale in the passenger seat who had the cat on his lap. The tiny cabin was pretty much filled with cat hair for ages after that!

Day 18 - A New Routine

Henry's return to day care this year has been marked by being in a new room with some different kids and a couple of new staff members. His favourite Kristy is still there, but working in the office for the week to Henry's disappointment! The first two days were a little bit teary (even though by my return later he was happily playing or eating!) This morning he was fine and accepted a cuddle from someone he knew, straightaway. By afternoon, when I had finished at school, he was still smiling when we hopped in the car. Red faced and grubby, he happily smiled away and knocked 'Puppy' around a bit as we got going.

Day 17 - I Pick My Own Grapes, Thank You!

I thought it was about time for another photo of Henry today and I played around with the image a little using pixelmator, which is a new app that I am trying to get the hang of.

Henry hasn't eaten grapes much before so this afternoon I was extra careful, filling a little bowl with grapes plucked off the stalk and then carefully sliced in half. Of course he was more interested in my grapes because it was so much more fun picking them off the stalks! He even had a few extras after his dinner tonight.

Day 16 - Another Day in the Garden

So I spent last Monday in the front yard and today was the day to try and get the back yard started on. It isn't quite finished, but I did fill the trailer yet again for another trip to the tip. No creepy crawlies this time,  thankfully and so it was a majority of the day spend hacking, trimming, sweeping, raking and mowing. By the afternoon it was getting a bit windy, so the blower vac will probably finish the job tomorrow. Only thing is that I need to attack the big pile of 'stuff' up the back from the last garden clean up that didn't quite make it to the tip!

Day 15 - Ocean View and a Sleep In

After a fabulous night at Matt and Renee's wedding, we woke up in our room with ocean views, at Narrabeen. It was so strange to be allowed my very first sleep in in a year and a half! As I found out later on, Mum accidentally woke Henry at 5am as she felt she had to check on him, not having heard any stirrings from him overnight. Silly Nanna!

We had a very relaxed morning and had a yummy breakfast at a local cafe, also opposite the beach. Anyway, after a taste of the 'living by the beach' lifestyle, we headed back to Quakers Hill to get back to a very missed baby who had just had his first ever night away from us!

Day 14 - The Marriage of Matt and Renee

The reason for our trip to Sydney this weekend was for Matt and Renee's wedding. A fabulous wedding is a great way to start the new year and this certainly was a great one! The chosen venue, at Newport, was stunning and as we walked down the blue carpet, there were impressive water views and a lovely spot to celebrate. Renee and her bridesmaids looked gorgeous and it was a very emotional ceremony. Renee surely is great at the detail - I loved the moment when the bridal party released butterflies into the air after the ceremony. What a magical picture. Congratulations to a wonderful couple; I wish you all the happiness in the world!

Day 13 - Donna Hay's Pavlova

After being very happy with my first ever 'white' pavlova a couple of weeks ago, I decided to make another since I had 4 egg whites still left over from making ice-cream earlier in the week. I say a white pavlova because I had only ever made Nigella Lawson's chocolate pav (which I have made very regularly  over the years.) I used the Donna Hay recipe on the side of the cornflour box to make this. I am yet to try another recipe given to me by Sue at work for Flo Bielke-Peterson's pavlova, but it only needs 2 egg whites and I had 4 to use up. We took this one with us, in the car, to Sydney for dinner tonight. As I was occupied with Henry, Dale decorated and proudly presented 'his' pavlova to the table. Thanks Dale, it was delicious!

Day 12 - And The Eyes Have It

I never realised how hard it was to take a photo of your own eye (with your eye closed too by the way). My suggestion, if you ever decide to try this, is that the macro lens is not your friend either.

Anyway, the reason for the eye picture is only because Peta and I had our eyebrows waxed this morning with Henry in tow. Henry watched with great interest as Peta had hers done, intently watching Deb smear on the purple wax. However when it was my turn he wasn't so sure - bursting into tears until Peta brought him even closer for a better look. I wonder what he makes of everything.

So, two things I learnt today:

1. Babies dislike wax
2. Macro lenses take good photos of wrinkles

Day 11 - Tricky Trailer

So this morning, Jenna and I decided to brave the tip. I also had to brave driving with a trailer on the car, with the possibility of having to reverse (something I have never done before). We managed our two trips pretty well, despite all the wind and dust that was about, and got rid of all of the green waste from the front yard makeover on Monday. Getting the trailer off the tow bar was the only real challenge, as I somehow missed that part of the quick tutorial Dale gave me before he left for work. Seemed so obvious once I called him and asked what the trick was! On a day where I was aiming to be on time to a lunch outing, I was grateful, for being patiently waited for!

Day 10 - Anyone Home?

Generally, as a rule, I always try to photograph Henry at his height, but this was such a cute picture from above, that I snapped it quickly, since I had my camera out. Henry and his little buddy, Daisy were very patient waiting for me to unlock the front door this afternoon huh?

Day 9 - Just How I Wanted It... Part 2

Well the big compliment was that Dale said this picture didn't do it justice. On Saturday I started a bit of trimming out the front. Dale finished it off by cutting the tops off the way too high bottle brush trees in front of the windows which were actually touching the roof! Today another 4 hours and 2 trailer loads of clippings later, it is pretty much finished. You can see the gravel paths again, I weeded the lot and sawed off all the suckers from the base of the tree out front, that had gotten very bushy.

This time I was so careful near where I have now been bitten twice by bull dog ants, but I was shocked to see a bit fat spider poking up out of a little burrow which could possibly be a brown trap door spider. I have to say that all these creepy crawlies in the front yard are really beginning to make my skin crawl!

Day 8 - Where Would You Like Them, Mum?

So Henry and I went down to Woolworths this afternoon to do the groceries and this time we had no problems (when I say 'problems' I only refer to Henry's usual trick of asking for the shopping list and throwing it on the floor, the other trick of throwing groceries out of the trolley and trying to eat the strawberries). Today instead, he smiled at other babies, happily ate his snack, cuddled his toy and bopped up and down in his seat. He was so helpful, he even decided to unpack the groceries for me; on the front porch, of course.

Day 7 - Puppy!

While we were outside getting a start on the front yard today in the effort to tackle one area of the house at a time, Henry thoroughly amused himself by having a chat with Milly through the gap in the gate. In her excitement, Milly returned the attention by providing plenty of licks and snuffling! One of Henry's latest words is 'puppy' and he even says Moo Moo, which is Milly's nickname around here! You can see in the photo that Henry did squeal with laughter a couple of times!

At the same time, Dale massacred the bottle brush trees obscuring our windows and we made the decision to pull a couple of plants that were messy looking, cleaning up the areas around the garden tap. While we worked, I reminded Dale of the time he came over and 'cut back' my beautiful bougainvillaea... yes it was starting to touch the roof, but perhaps that did not require it to be cut to within an inch of its life. It was also hardly a vine anymore, standing at about 20cm tall!

I hope to post a photo of the front yard sometime next week, after I have cleared up all the clippings and taken them to the green waste recycling place. I also hope to do it without getting another bull dog ant bite. If you remember the post on my blog from last year they are most likely to result in you screaming and hopping about in your street and I got another bite today!

Day 6 - Just How I Wanted It... Part 1!

Have you ever seen those magazine shoots of a beautiful room where they might have a pretty, fluffy dog as a little accessory? Well our dogs are nothing like that, preferring to run around like bezerkos and finally giving me about 0.3 of a second to take this photo of our newly arranged lounge room! Somehow Dale agreed to help me with this today and I am so happy with the result.

Two things I have realised:

1. Corner lounges are super comfy but not really very versatile when it comes to rearranging furniture
2. Often the obvious way to set up your furniture does not look as good as it could when you really think about alternatives

We have lived here for about 3 and a half years and the lounge has always been in the back left corner which is where it was kind of plonked on moving day.

Our plan is to set up a tiny table in the far right corner for Jenna to have her computer (somewhere where we can keep an eye on it) and to get a few more photos on the wall that I have been meaning to get framed;  and then we will be done. I am hoping that today's photo will be the first in a series of attempts at reorganisation of our house over these holidays!

Day 5 - Lunch with George

Today we made the drive home to Canberra and stopped in Nimmitabel, where we often stop for a pie, between Eden and Canberra or vice versa. We always stop at the bakery located next to the, apparently famous, Nimmitabel elephant! Now I have always wondered why there is an elephant here... after a bit of googling I found that his name is George, but not much else! If anyone knows more about 'George', I would like to know!

Day 4 - Queen of the Castle

We hit the beach again this morning, because it looked like there might be a bit of a change in the weather by the afternoon. We built sandcastles, swam and played at the water's edge and took a stack of photos of Henry playing in the sand and Jenna having a bit of a boogie board. Having taken some great photos of each, I also tried to get a bit creative with today's photo. It's my aim this year to get a few more photos like this that I am really happy with!

Day 3 - Hi Jenna!

If you squint a bit you can see who Henry saw in the water. There is Jenna out with her boogie board and Henry is giving her a little delayed wave. We arrived at Eden early afternoon, for a visit with Dale's Mum, Glenda, and it was almost straight down to the beach to grab a couple of hours play before dinner. We dug in the sand and built a few sandcastles, Uncle Dion dug a hole to hide Henry in, Dale and Jenna braved it in the water and Sawyer (Dion's little dog) ran up and down the beach barking at the waves; a good afternoon had by all.

Oh, and as Dale pointed out - a happy 3rd anniversary to us on the third day of 2012!

Day 2 - Dad's Helper

We dropped into Dale's office this afternoon in the attempt to print our 2012 calendar, however we didn't get too far with it, due to a couple of technical problems. Henry was quite enthralled by seeing his photo on the computer screen (which is what he is looking at above) and enjoyed the rest of the time running around checking out the photocopiers and eyeing off all the buttons! Maybe Dale could do with an office assistant?

Day 1 - Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! We spent some of this afternoon out by Henry's new pool, which we have set up in the gazebo. It is funny, my photo from Day 1 in 2011 was taken from the same spot. Henry hasn't quite been himself for a day or two and was even refusing cuddles from one of his favourite people, his big sister Jenna. Out by the pool, the smiles came out and although he found the water too cold to stand in, both Henry and Jenna had fun, having a little splash.