Finally...

Busy...

I have a busy week coming up. I probably won't get around to posting another 'post' until next week sometime. 

We're attending a wedding this coming weekend and our holiday is rapidly approaching so things here have been busy, busy, busy!!! We've got friends and some family too are coming up for this wedding which we're all attending so it is an exciting time.

Monet has a new cute dress and shoes to wear to this wedding...

Lyndon has bought a brand new suit and shirt...

I have bought a dress that I purchased in Brisbane the other week...

I'll post again when things settle back down a little.

Oh, I never said, the wedding we're attending is OURS!

Easter Sky

How is your Easter Weekend going?

Ours is fine, bar the fact that Lyndon and Monet BOTH have head colds at the moment. They both have head colds, but both head colds are different. Where as Lyndon has a runny nose and headache, Monet has a throaty cough. Lucky us hey? But still, it never stopped Lyndon from going to work yesterday AND today. (Deadlines, deadlines!)

Yesterday morning it was only I who got to see the delight in Monet's face after spying what Easter Bunny had left for her. Just how does Easter Bunny work out that Monet has been wanting a 'flashlight' and a 'skipping rope' for yonks? Everything was a big hit. She's been very, very good at sharing her Easter Chocolate with her Mummy-dearest too - without me asking mind you. Sometimes Monet does make me proud...

I swear that horse she is sitting on in the above photo hasn't left her side in the past 36 hours. Nor the flashlight for that matter. It is a wonder it still works.

I have to share the next photo with you of the evening sky (about 6:30 pm) on Thursday night...

See that stripe? The bluest of blues it was. Now that photo is taken from our balcony, facing due East towards the ocean (about a 10 minute walk). East. Not west. Opposite to where the sun is setting. It would make sense if the sun was setting that way, but it doesn't. Lyndon and a friend we had staying the night, went to find out what the stripe was. It ends up that as the sun was setting in the west, a cloud was in the sun's rays and causing this stripe to reflect across the sky into a stripe. Nature never ceases to amaze me at times... I had never seen anything like it...

Six Word Memoir Meme

The ever lovely Ms Mac has tagged me for an Meme, called the 'six word memoir'. This is what you do.

1. Write a six word memoir and post it on your blog.
2. Add a picture if you wish.
3. Link to the person who tagged you.
4. Tag 4 or 5 others, with links, to keep it going.
5. Leave a comment for the ones you tag with an invitation to play.
6. And link to the original post about the Six Word Memoir meme.

Here is my six word memoir.

"My Life With My Little Masterpiece"

And now I have to tag a few of you, so I am going to tag Naomi, Kimbofo, Jeanie and H&B and like Ms Mac, you can write your own six word memoir in the comments section!

Pimped Snacks

The other night, we were watching an older episode of Gordon Ramsey's 'The F Word', when one of the regular guys on the show was talking about a website called 'Pimp That Snack'.  And me, being me, Googled and found.  And laughed.

If you want a good giggle, go here to Pimp That Snack and explore the site.  We sat for ages looking at all the creations and giggling our heads off. 

 

Basically it is every day people who 'enlarge' a snack.  For example, here is someones 'pimped' Rocher...

Photo taken from 'Pimp That Snack dot com'

Everything is made from scratch with photos of how and what they did.  Hopefully the site will entertain you as much as it entertained us...

I think I'd 'pimp' a Vanilla Slice...or imagine a giant Lamington (mmm!), or how about a Giant Peppermint Crisp?

What snack would you pimp?

Construction

Lyndon had to go into work today for a little while and I needed to go and buy Little Miss You-Know-Who, some goodies for next weekend which I can't exactly do with her besides me, like she has done previously. She's now too 'switched on'. So I dropped Monet off at Lyndon's work for an hour.

Monet has been banging on for numerous weeks now that she 'wants to go to work with daddy'. Lyndon bought for her a while back from Bunnings, one of those kiddies tool belts, complete with tools and a Hard Hat. She adores it. She walks around the apartment 'fixing' things. Well, tries to anyway.

So last night, when Lyndon suggested that Monet could visit him at work for an hour today (he works on a big construction site) she was terribly excited. It is a wonder she could sleep last night.

I dropped her off at about 11am and she didn't look back as she walked into Lyndon's office. Did. Not. Look. Back. She had her lunch box and tool belt with her. I drove off child-free for an hour or so. (Yippee!)

When I returned, she looked like she had had a terrific time with her Dad. Lyndon said that when they walked over to the construction site, the security guards on duty couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces looking at Monet all dressed up with her hard hat and tool belt on. I wished I had a photo (but no cameras are allowed on site without permission!) Monet told me about the men laying tiles, the bathrooms, the kitchen, the tool boxes. She did some colouring-in off construction plans and was very happy to have gone to work with her daddy. But she said she was tired. Apparently it was hard work hanging around with Dad for an hour.

I wonder when Lyndon is working on a Sunday again?

Just About There...

Very excited.

I now have in my hot little hand these, which I picked up this morning from the local Travel Agent...

We're off in under five weeks now and you don't half think that I'm not counting down! Now that the train tickets are here it is all coming together rather nicely.

But we've still got a couple more hurdles to travel over before we head off...

*sigh*

Big Day Out

Saturday saw me waking early and catching the 6am flight from Cairns to Brisbane airport. A two hour journey. I caught the Air Train into the city center, right at shop opening time.

I spent ages in the newly refurbished David Jones and browsing the flash designer dress stores. I lost myself in the Myer Center and all the arcades that Brisbane City Center has to offer.

Talk about a busy place to be on a Saturday. It seemed every second teenager was in the city Mall, along with older daughters and their mothers. I was amazed by how 'dressed up' a lot of the shoppers were. And I swear there are people out there who don't dress appropriately for their age (I think I've been watching too much of Susannah and Trinny!) Anything above the knee in skirts or dresses on women is a big no-no in my books. I probably say that because I have thighs like a truck, but I reckon that is a fair rule.

But anyway it was nice to go to stores, without worrying about Lyndon being bored and what Monet is up to. It was pretty much stress-free. And I honestly didn't buy much. The Credit card didn't even get a work out, remembering that we are heading on holidays in under six weeks time. It was a day out just for me. I wasn't keen on spending lots of cash.

I did think of my family at home though and bought Lyndon a book...

(we love the series shown being everywhere in Australia, except in Victoria, at the moment. But that is a separate post...)

...and I bought Monet something she's been wanting for ages...

...new Ballet slippers. Well, the closest thing to Ballet shoes, Jiffy slip-ons. I don't think they have left her feet since I gave them to her.

I bought myself something too, which I'll show you further on down the track sometime! (That too is for another post!)

Back at the airport I relaxed with a beer at the Bar. I think I deserved to sit back and relax before my flight back to Cairns, which landed at 6:30pm...

I came home exhausted.

It has been such a long time since I 'pounded the pavement' for a good six hours and had over 4 hours worth of flights in one day. My feet were killing me as I put my feet up on the couch to watch telly. My calves ached (or were 'mooing' as I usually say) and yesterday my thighs were aching.

It was good practise for our upcoming holiday. I need to start some serious walking each day before we 'head off', let me tell you.

I had a nice day all up. It was nice to 'escape' my everyday life for 12 or so hours.

Opportunity

After bucket loads of rain, yesterday saw us bathed in sunshine for a couple of hours. It didn't rain constantly for a change. With our window of opportunity, Monet and I walked down the beach for a couple of hours, to dig, to play, to make 'snow men' and 'castles'...

It was nice to be outside for a change, where we sat under the shade of one of the large Mango trees that are along the shoreline and played. And dug. And drew in the sand. And did all those things Monet had been wanting to do for the last few days after being cooped up indoors.

We collected little rocks to decorate our sand castles...

...and made a pretend tray of Sand Teddy Biscuits which Monet decorated with flair.

After collecting the rocks back off the Teddy Bears Monet proceeded to stand at the shoreline with the rocks and threw them, one by one, into the hungry dirty, sandy water.

"The Ocean's hungry," she said, "so I'm feeding the Ocean. It's pretty hungry today!" I think she was right.

After running around, doing silly activities (such as seeing if she could jump up and down whilst rubbing her tummy, for example and Star Jumps), we walked home.

"Walk slower!", Monet kept demanding. I was walking slow so she could keep with those legs of hers. But she was exhausted. I had to carry her part of the way home. "I'm so exhausted!" she exclaimed.

I know she was exhausted because our usual 9pm girl, was fast asleep and tucked up in bed by 8pm last night.

I wish the rain would go away today... This weather is too unpredictable! It's doing my head in!!

Birthday

Yesterday I made a Sponge Cake for the first time ever...

All lit up, it looked lovely...

And Monet tells me it was the best birthday party ever. Just her, Lyndon and I. Food and beer. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way...

Thirty Five

It's my birthday today.
I'm older than yesterday... (Thanks to Justine Clarke)

So today it is my 35th birthday. The big 3-5. I used to think that people who were this age were old. Really old. Ancient in fact. Obviously I don't think that any more. Because I know the truth...
I have been very spoilt this year from Monet and Lyndon for my birthday gift.

Return airfares to Brisbane for a day. A day just for me. Monet and Lyndon aren't going. It is just me. That is the best gift ever and very thoughtful too. (All Lyndon's idea - at first I thought he was joking, but he was serious!) It will be a long day with the plane leaving the Cairns tarmac at 6am and not arriving back to Cairns until after 6pm on the same day. But I will surely be enjoying myself. Even if I end up not buying anything in 'the big smoke' (*smirk*) I will have thouroghly enjoyed myself by doing what I want to do and browsing where I want to browse. This has not happened since pre-Monet days... I can't wait.

I have no plans today. Well, I did have plans to venture into Cairns Central to have a look around Esprit (thanks Marianne) and to buy Monet and I a Milk Shake each. A special treat for a special day, you understand. (Well, a special treat for me because I never get my own milk shake!) But those plans went straight out the window when I noticed a text message on my phone from Lyndon this morning (he leaves for work at about 5:45 each morning). "Road closed" it read. We've had 48 hours of CONSTANT rain here. 48 bloody hours of miserable weather. Wet weather.

Roads are closed, certain schools are closed for the day and the only University around here has closed. Flash flooding is to blame. I'm not going to risk going out (bar maybe a quick trip to the local supermarket - I need to buy party food on Monet's request) for the fact I might not be able to get home. I'm worried that even Lyndon might not even make it home late this afternoon.

Here is a photo from the local paper this morning of the Barron Falls, literally just up the road from me...

We've had A LOT of rain.

Still, I rather all this rain and flash floding as compared to last years birthday disaster. (You might remember we had problems with Miss Monet's back molars. I still *shudder* at the thought of that terrible time for us.)

A New Favourite

If you know Lyndon and I, you'd know that we both enjoy 'a drop'. We enjoy beer and sampling new ones and old ones, favourites and ones just to give them a go.

I never used to be a beer drinker. I despised beer. Found it revolting and couldn't understand how people could say they enjoyed drinking it. That was until I went to the UK in the winter of 1996. My friend, Rach, introduced me to beer with lime cordial. Not green lime cordial, but proper lime cordial, made from real limes. Oh I was in love. It was cheap to drink and I enjoyed the sweetness (rather than bitterness I always knew from beer).

In time, the amount of lime poured into my glass became less and less until about 2001, when I enjoyed a pint of beer without lime. It took me 5 years but I got there. And never turned back.

We enjoy mainly European beers in our neck of the woods, but as these beers become more popular Down Under, companies begin to brew them here in Australia and they never quite taste as good as ones brewed in their home territory. We also enjoy the Tasmania beers of James Boag and Cascade, in case you were interested. Low Carb beers are getting very popular in Australia too as the population begins to watch their waistlines. Carlton's Blonde is our favourite, followed closely by James Boag's Blonde in this category.

We enjoy Peroni (brewed and imported from Italy) and last week we discovered a Munich beer which can only be found in particular bottle shops around the country, Lowenbrau. Owww it is lovely. It's our new favourite. I'm sure we'll be having a drink or two of that in it's home country...

I read with interest today that Madonna and Guy Ritchie bought an English pub, The Punchbowl. Seeing as I am an old Madonna fan way back since her Lucky Star days, we'll be popping by this establishment when in London...

Polenta-encrusted Fried Chicken with Sweetcorn Mash, Fried Bananas and Green Tomato Relish

I have made this a couple of times and both times I have enjoyed it. Loads of flavours (the bananas are a nice addition) and really different too, however there is a lot of ingredients in it and it does take a bit to make...

*Taken from Jamie Oliver's 'Jamie's Kitchen', page 206, published 2002*

Ingredients
4 skinless chicken breast fillets
200g flour
1 tbs allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp chilli powder
2 eggs
200g polenta
2-3 tbs butter
2 bananas
-for the mash-
8 medium potatoes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
255ml milk
4 cobs of corn
1 bunch of finely sliced spring onions
-for the relish-
100ml vinegar
2 tsp sugar
2 shallots
400g green or red tomatoes, chopped
6 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 handfuls of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 handfuls of fresh mint, chopped

Method
Carefully cut each fresh corn cob in half and strip the kernels off by sitting each cob on its end and slicing down the sides. To make the mash, boil the potatoes in salted water until cooked. Drain and return them to the hot pan with the milk, corn kernels and some salt and pepper. Bring back to the boil, then turn off the heat. Thrown in the spring onions. Mash up with a masher, season and keep warm.

To make the relish, put the vinegar, sugar and sliced shallots in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and cook until reduced by half. Add the chopped tomatoes and warm through. Remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper, and add the olive oil. The herbs are added just before serving.

Take each chicken breast and make 2 slices into the meat lengthways so that the breast fans out into 3 'prongs'. Mix the flour with the spices and salt and pepper and spread it out on a plate. Now beat the egg in a bowl with a fork and pour the polenta on to another plate. Place the 2 plates and the bowl next to one another. Dip the chicken breasts in the flour first, shaking off any excess, then in the egg and finally in the polenta. This will give you a lovely polenta crust.

Heat a large frying pan and gently fry the chicken in 2 tablespoons of the butter for about 5 minutes on each side, turning it half-way through. When the chicken is cooked and golden brown, remove it from the pan and keep warm. Peel the bananas and cut it in half lengthways. Fry in a little more butter until tender and golden.

To serve, spoon a mound of mash on to each serving plate with a piece of banana on top. Place a piece of crispy chicken on top. Stir the parsley and mint into the relish and put a big dollop on top of the chicken.

Serves 4

Done and Ready

I'm feeling little sad.

I know by weeks end all our accommodation will be booked. All trains will be booked by mid week. Then, what is a girl to do? The hours and days I have spent on the net looking and searching will be over. Reading of reviews and looking at photos of probable hotels will be finished.

But that's exciting really isn't it? I honestly could shout it from the roof top. I've done it. I've booked it. We're going.

England. Look out, here we come.

France. Look out, here we come.

Germany. Look out, here we come.

Italy. Look out, here we come.

Now we are all booked, my next internet research will no doubt be working out what we'll be doing in each city. Now, there are a few hours, days gone there. And I do have my trusty Lonely Planet guide! It is never far from my reach. Like the laptop. That's not far from my reach either.

Excuse me whilst I visit this website...