Day 91 - My Kitchen Helper

Henry often loves to 'help' in the kitchen and I have to say that at least doing so, keeps him semi-occupied while I try to cook dinner. He loves to empty the drawers of plastic utensils, laying them out across the floor. My favourite part is when he gets to a big serving spoon (and he pretends to eat with it, like in the photo) or a measuring cup (which in his mind is for drinking from). I can't wait until he is big enough to really help, so that I can teach him to cook.

Day 90 - Cross Country Carnival

I hardly spent any time at all in the classroom today and I am pretty sure that on a Friday in week 10, that wouldn't bother many teachers. In the morning was the senior cross country event, which was followed later in the day by the junior carnival. By the second phase of carnival day it was turning out to be a pretty hot one. I was lucky enough to be appointed photographer which meant that I could spend a lot of the time wandering around the course snapping away. I would love to be able to show some of the intense running faces that I shot but will have to settle for this one instead.

Day 89 - Long Awaited Mail Arrives!

Having my book printed was part of my motivation for blogging for every day in 2011. Tonight when I got home to find that my blog book had arrived in the mail I was so glad that I stuck with the blogging for last year. I was also kind of reminded why I decided to continue with the project this year. If blogging my post for Day 365 last year was satisfying then this was almost more so. In a way, I have written and published a book!

Day 88 - Everything in its Place

One of my missions this year to reduce clutter, involves finding proper places for everything. My new key holder arrived in the mail today after I ordered it on ebay over the weekend. I couldn't believe how hard it was to find something that wasn't colonial or printed with frangipanis! I knew I wanted something modern in aluminium and here it is, all ready for Dale to hang up on the weekend :P

Day 87 - Old Blue Eyes

Just mucking around with my camera tonight before Henry went to bed and although there were a few funny faces and a number of discardable ones, couldn't you just sink into those blue eyes?!

Day 86 - Spot the Difference

I have been known to buy the same shoes in more than one colour before if the shoes are really great ones (it is one of my personal rules of shoe buying). I couldn't resist buying these in black and white (I already have the french navy blue) to match a black and white striped top that I have. Particularly I couldn't resist the 30% off. As an added bonus, when I placed the order they somehow came up as more than 60% off! I cannot work out why, but I certainly will not be complaining! The colours aren't great in this photo but the foreground shoe is the black and white!

Day 85 - Birthday Cake Baking

I decided to bake this month's birthday cake for work instead of buying it. As one staff member who is dairy intolerant, had a birthday during the month, this presented a small challenge. I could find a couple of recipes for dairy free cakes, but couldn't think of any icings that would be dairy free but still taste good. After finding a recipe for and making an almond meal and orange cake, I was left with some cooked pureed orange which made a wonderful addition to a plain sugar syrup to pour over the cake. Problem solved!

Day 84 - Helping Daddy

Dale went and bought a high pressure hose this morning and this afternoon he tried it out on his dirt bike. Henry loved catching the fine mist of spray and hung around Dale and the bike for quite some time having a few giggles. I have many plans for Dale's new toy! Already I have cleaned some of the sandstone around the steps and the back of the house and have firm plans for the patio and the gazebo for a big cleaning day in the holidays, which aren't far off!

Day 83 - Mystery Bottles

Strangely, we have had three bottles of red from Brokenwood sitting in our wine rack for some time. I do remember meaning to save one of these, but as they all have similar labels, I can't remember which one it was, why I saved it and how long I meant to! We opened the 2009 one tonight and luckily for us, it didn't seem to have gone past its peak. There is also a couple of bottles of shiraz from 2005 and 2006 out there, which are possibly from our last trip to the Hunter when we did all of our family tree research around Maitland. Next time I decide to save something like this, I really should write down a few extra details!

Day 82 - One for the Collection

Already Henry is enjoying his latest Nanna created hat. Arriving in the mail yesterday, addressed to Henry, it has already become one of his essential wardrobe items. Henry was wearing his hat as I snapped him indoors, reading at his little red table.

Day 81 - Liquid Gold

After a much needed coffee with Peta this afternoon, (a stressful day and 4 hours sleep the night before do not a happy teacher make!) I dropped into Coles before leaving to grab Henry some goat milk to try. As he is often a bit congested and did not sleep well the night before, unless sitting up, I decided to take some advice and try Henry on goat milk in the evening. We are yet to see if this makes any difference, but on one hand, I won't mind if this particular solution isn't the one, at $4.50 per litre!

Day 80 - Chocolate Macaroons

This is my second attempt at macaroons, and although they never seem to turn out nice and shiny like shop bought ones (I have heard that this is because almond meal that you buy in supermarkets is coarser than the stuff the pros use?) these ones tasted very decadent. They were all squishy on the inside and extremely chocolatey. Now for next time; Caroline at work gave me a tip - you can use your finger with a bit of water on it to smooth the peaks from piping the mixture onto the baking tray. Armed with this, my next attempt is going to be limoncello macaroons. It's another item on my holiday to do list!

Day 79 - The Lucky Black Cat

It's not often I catch Daisy sitting still enough to take a good photo of her, but when I caught her posing in the garden, I thought it would make the perfect shot. She quietly sat here for quite some time, watching Henry run about picking flowers and generally making noise (including his cat noise which kind of goes, "Yohhh!). I call her the Lucky Cat, because sometimes I think she is lucky to live with us, due to her early behaviour which elicited many threats from Dale to send her back to where she came from!

Day 78 - Great Meal to End the Great Weekend

Prawn and Asparagus Risotto... ok, no more risotto photos :P

A great weekend this week, where it felt like we got a  lot accomplished. Firstly Saturday when the house was all clean at the same time (major feat with Henry about) and many other little chores completed. Then today, with Henry fitting in an almost 3 hour sleep, we had a relaxing morning playing outside and mowing the lawn, followed by a post sleep visit to DFO where I bought a fabulous pair of jeans and a gorgeous pair of boots which we additionally on sale. To end the evening; a prawn and asparagus risotto and a lovely sauv blanc. Why can't every day be like that?

Day 77 - Future Husband Material!

Check out Henry in the kitchen this morning, who decided that sweeping looked kind of fun! First giving flowers and now helping with the housework, I think that Henry will be such a catch one day! Oh, as long as he stops wearing his tracky daks so short...

Day 76 - Summer Almost Over

Although it was nothing fancy, it really was pudding weather tonight and we did enjoy a nice hot self saucing berry pudding. Henry is in his winter jambes, the mornings are getting colder and things are generally cooling down. I really do love the change of seasons.

Day 75 - I Really Can Take Better Pics!

Now, there is a reason for this photo being so blurred and I guess it is because I really didn't want to get my hand too close to this red back that I found in the garage. It was quite huge and one of many! If you want to see a way better photograph than mine, you really would have to refer to Dale's blog here. I think all the rain we have had in the last month or so really has encouraged the creepy crawlies to move in and I really don't like it!

Day 74 - 2M's Birthday Layer Cakes

2M has been doing a bit of work on the topic of celebrations this term and what better way to celebrate than with birthday cake! Here are a small selection of some of the decadent birthday layer cakes that 2M created last week, in the foyer at school!

Day 73 - Playing His Own Tune

Every so often, Henry discovers a toy that he has had for a while, but hasn't really gotten into yet. After listening to Dale play some 'music' last night, Henry decided that he would rather play his own tune and so he grabbed the xylophone beater from Dale and got right into it! He may need some practice yet though.

Day 72 - Dale's New Car for 2012

After a long day driving home from Melbourne, Dale finally arrived home with the BMW that he has waited weeks for. As always we needed the traditional car photo to be taken and I have to say that I am sensing some deja vu. Check out a very similar post to one I wrote last year here and you will see that Dale is still keeping up his average of one new car per year!

Day 71 - A Play in the Park

First idea was to visit the Tuggeranong Homestead Markets, but when we arrived they were almost at the end of packing up, so we decided to try the Picnic Markets at Tharwa (mental note to visit next weekend when they are actually on). Another option was to take Mum to the fabric shop she likes in Tuggeranong but that closed early being Sunday, so we went to the park instead! Henry and Jenna enjoyed chasing the big black swan around the grass area, feeding the ducks and swans in the water and playing on the equipment. Henry had his first go on the swings, but mostly loved the slippery dip!

Day 70 - On Tour in Canberra!

Some days it is hard to think about what to blog about and what on earth to take a photo of, but today was the complete opposite. With a day out to see the hot air balloons, followed by a walk to Questacon, the Portrait Gallery for coffee, the sculpture gardens at the National Gallery, a stop by the lake and a walk through the above spot (please someone remind me of what this is called?!) we also followed up later in the night with a first visit to Enlighten, where they light up all the buildings with projected art. If you haven't seen this I really recommend the visit. It is well worth it, particularly if you like photography! With about 300 shots to choose from today, I chose this one, because I just love how Henry is marching along in it. Without a stroller he kept up with us all morning and had a great day out!

Day 69 - Family Dinner

We had a late dinner tonight after Mum, David and Dani arrived at about 8.30. Jenna and Henry ate earlier and were in bed when we enjoyed a chicken korma, with a nice little range of chutneys on the side. You may remember I posted last week about the apples that we 'grew'. I made a nice sweet and spicy chutney with them last weekend and it went very well with the curry!

Day 67 - For You!

This is one of Henry's latest little rituals; when we arrive home he runs to the daisies growing along the side of the driveway, calls out 'flower!' in a delighted little voice and promptly picks one for me, or whoever else happens to be with us. Henry... you have already realised the power of giving flowers!

Day 66 - Photo Day

I think when we get our school photos back then I may swap my picture for the above one, which really isn't very exciting. After a morning of running late, with an extra nappy change thrown in that was a bit unexpected, followed by Dale's missing keys, I jumped in the car knowing that I would be late. Staff photos were at 8.45! Finally I got to school, no parking spaces out in the street, none left in the staff car park which wouldn't have resulted in my standing in mud up to my ankles, I had to drive around the corner to the small carpark at the sports field. I finally got into the school hall as the photographer snapped the last picture. He kindly took another, so that I could be in it :)

Day 65 - Interesting Bargains

Anyone else like shopping at Aldi? For me it is akin to hunting through $2 shops and reject shops. As long as all the stock is all laid out properly I enjoy hunting for an interesting bargain. It is the total opposite of hunting though jumbled sales tables, such as the shoe ones that some stores set up and all the sizes are mixed in together, or like the ones some clothes shops do, where they set up a table of mixed discounted clothing and it is like going through the basket of unfolded washing at home!

Today at Aldi, a packet of coffee pods for work, a recipe journal that I will supposedly fill out with all of my favourite so called 'signature dishes' and a proper bath toy for Henry (no more old tupperware for him!)

Day 64 - Big Boy in his Onesie

Somehow Henry looked too big for his onesie last night when he got ready for bed! It is a size one, but after seeing him in his trendy little jeans and sneakers yesterday, he really looked like a baby again in these jammies. I do remember seeing a website where you can buy adult onesies a little while ago. They kind of look comfy don't they!

This is Henry, in his jammies, eating his third piece of toast for the morning!

Day 63 - Lemon, Pea and Mint Risotto with Goats Cheese and Crispy Pancetta

I am on a bit of a roll with risotto lately. After not making it for years because I thought I couldn't, a little while ago I gave it a proper go again. Apparently patience is the key. Now this one was supposed to be an oven bake one, but when I took it out of the oven the majority of the liquid had not absorbed. With a hungry toddler in the vicinity,  and with the risotto not looking like the one in Donna Hay's book, I decided to take matters into my own hands and finish it off by doing it on the stove. After straining it off, I called upon my patience and slowly did it spoonful by spoonful... delicious :)

Day 62 - Dinner in the City

As it had come to me to find somewhere to eat for a dinner with a few girls from work and since I was feeling like something Italian, I booked a table at Tosolini's in the city for dinner. We had a great meal! I love going somewhere where you can have three courses and not feel like you need to roll home. I shared an entree of natural oysters with lemon and lime, enjoyed a ricotta and sage gnocchi for mains and a lemon cream with shortbread and strawberries for dessert. After a good couple of hours catch up (certainly needed by week 6 of the term) we ventured back out into the cold (yes it appears to be winter all of a sudden), debriefed and ready to start the weekend.

Day 61 - We Grew These!

After dinner tonight when the rain subsided slightly, I went outside to the apple trees. We had noticed during dinner that the downpour of the day must have caused all of the apples to fall off the tree. Many of them were a bit soft and had been attacked by parrots, but I gathered up the ones that seemed decent. I hope to make an apple chutney or sauce on the weekend and somehow use them. Although we didn't do anything to assist with the growing, I still find it great that we grew them!