Saturday, August 11, 2007 - Weekend Reflection

Sunday, July 22, 2007 - Weekend Reflection

This is a short weekend reflection. On Sunday our eldest son was home.  I took him out to the bus stop.  School started again on Monday after a two week break.  We had a new ballet roster or timetable.  One included an early morning.  On Thursday three of us had our hair trimmed.  We also got a wheel alignment on our car, and a valuation done on our house.  That is a lot isn't it?  We had our week of snow.  Not underfoot but up on the surrounding hills.  Some of it is still there.  We can see it from the house.  Out of town you can see snow on the mountains, but this is special because it is nearly on the ground, maybe a 1,000 feet higher than where we stand.  Two days this week were 7oC, today 14oC and hopefully warmer early this coming week, which is the winter temperature I am used to.  I am reading a nice book by Jane Peart, a more modern book.  My big blessing is a visit from our first ever King Parrot to our feeder.

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Saturday, June 2, 2007 - Weekend Reflection ~ June 2

My week started with Australian Thanksgiving.  I am not sure we have any traditions yet with food, but I am glad we have started to celebrate it.  It was foggy and cold where we live on Thanksgiving.  Dh and ds16 collected wood. dd13 and dd5 baked chocolate chip cookies/biscuits. I have did two ballet buns for the girls hair in the morning.  I put some winter clothes away in the drawers with a little help. I also gave dh some clothes to drop in to the op-shop. Sunday there was a nice aroma of cooking jam or citron melon chutney in the house. It is a bit modern with chillis in it. It was foggy until after lunch, very wintery. The girls have been playing outside, and I have been reading a little and cutting up just a few onions and taking the seeds from the melon. Also peeling a little garlic. ds19 watched a visiting AFL football teams play in his city. I ended up finding the last items for dd5s costume for school and I was really happy when she tried it on. We are taking off some of the embroidery to help it look more oldfashioned. Sunday I managed to see parts of Follow The River movie, then some on Monday, and taped the end bit that I missed while I picked up the kids from school. I thought it would be horrible, but it was nice. I talked on the phone to Mum, and not much else, except it was a little cool and we put some extra wood on the fire. After a still day, Tuesday was windy, and the rain came before 6. There was a blackout as well, but it came back on. It was a good practise run. I have put my emergency canned food back.  I heard people in town half expected to see snow on the mountain out the front of most homes this week.  We were going to have corn chowder, but opted for the easy spaghetti bolognaise after all that. I had been to the library, did some dusting and organised something for Christmas. Wednesday I washed the basin and put on a load of towels. I will got dd10 ready for ballet, and before that picked them up from school. I made damper. It was sunny first thing, then I noticed the ground was wet, and there was a fog. Then sunny but cool now. I watched a little of The Waltons, I really enjoy that show. Damper is a biscuit or scone dough.  We all decided it didn't match the corn chowder, but we did have some before the soup earlier and we enjoyed that when it was warm. The girls played on the playground for a little while before we came home. Thursday I was able to pick up the girls just before they started home in the light rain after their after school activity.  There are two books for me to pick up at the library.  I started making my speckled cake by soaking the fruit in tea.  ds19 got a job interview for part time work Friday I organised for ds to buy a suit for his job interview today. It is winter! It was warm this morning here, but has been so cold, yesterday I was so worried about dd5 as she has had a runny nose. But she is going along well. She loves school. So we'll see how cold it is outside when I pick the girls up. It has been hat weather sometimes. I went to the library and pick up two books that I know I will enjoy. Then hopefully have some fruitcake, or an Irish Speckled Cake that I had planned to make ages ago, in the meantime lost the recipe. Not even sure if it is the same one lol.

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Sunday, May 20, 2007 - Weekend Reflection ~ May 26

On Sunday I realised it is only 12 days until winter here in Australia.  It was the temperature of a winter's day here.  I noticed my first jonquils and violets.  They seem a little early, but it is lovely not to have to wait for them to flower this year.  The wallflowers seem to be coming along nicely as well. It is so special as it has only been a few weeks since we had our drought breaking rain.  In many places they did not get that rain, we had many inches of rain.  Fortunately it was raining throughout our State the a few days before last Sunday.  So our garden has lost its drought look, or will when the last patch of dead lawn recovers.  The lawn daisies have plumped up, and survived, they were transplanted here 3 years ago from our old house. Today Saturday 26th it is Thanksgiving here in Australia.  We have only been celebrating it a few years. We harvested our crop, the jam melons on Sunday and put them in a cool place until we can finish preserving them.  Saturday we made an Apple & Pie Melon Chutney which we think was a success.  We used a combination of two recipes.  Our girls took out a book and made a lovely chocolate cake decorated with a candy or lolly called freckles.  Chocolate discs covered with 100s & 1000s or non perils.  Sometime not long after, dd got out a pretty cookbook that was a kindergarten fundraiser the Christmas before last.  She made a chocolate cake again, this one was very rich and beautiful.  I had a reaction to it later, but I was still very happy it looked stunning and I was happy for dd.  Her friend at school said it was her best cake.  She was making these cakes for school snacks.  Sunday our second eldest son was washing all the drought dust from our car.  We still have to use buckets to rinse it.  Prior to this we weren't allowed to wash it at all.  On Tuesday it was so cold.  Windy with snow the forecast said on the internet.  Much colder than where we used to live, 2 hours away.  On Wednesday I found a recipe for Golden Syrup Dumplings that is a family recipe.  On the weekend dd10 had some at a friends house.  She was really taken with the whole idea.  So she actually made some for dessert.  I mixed the dough, and dh helped a little too, and it worked out really well.  I'm sure it would have made a big impression on dd10.  She wrote the recipe into her recipe book. Thursday I made my trek to the grocery shop out of town.  I tried a different place to shop. It is about 1 hour from here, where I usually go is 50 minutes so I thought I would give it a try. The checkout was a lot faster.  I am not sure what the weather was like, at the shop it was warm, and on the way home I stopped to pick what I thought were mushrooms and it was freezing there.  The field was completely covered with what I thought was kangaroo droppings.  It was like a well used sheep field.  I had a parcel waiting for me on the doorstep a shawl for dd5s costume for school. It is from ebay, and needed a wash, but apart from that it was a good buy. It was only $1 plus postage. I did check out the plant nursery there, it was very pretty.  It was set out more like a display.  Friday it is a foggy day here. We had 5 boxes I think of fruit and bread etc. delivered early this morning, including a large bag of onions 10kg or 20lbs for our preserving. They were very cheap. dd5 has gone off to school with part of her costume which is nice. dd10 happily went off to school with her tooth fairy money. It was very cool here, so I slowly got myself going. I did some more pay day jobs.  Another parcel arrived.  The brown skirt dd needs for her costume.  It fitted perfectly.  Now I just need to find her blouse.  I took these pictures for my online friend two years ago, maybe a few weeks earlier and they fit the post.

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Saturday, May 19, 2007 - Weekend Reflection ~ May 19

On Saturday I finished taking the seeds out of some slices of jam melon that dh sliced. I had a large soup bowl full, they are very slippery and green.  It was a really nice day weatherwise, very pretty. In the morning I had got the girls ready for ballet. We just did jobs around the house, and helped ds16 with his homework. dd10 bought her friend a present and made some hand made paper and it looked very pretty. Sunday I was blessed with soft boiled eggs and a cup of tea and breakfast in bed, and a present of a much needed nightie that I love. DH started off Lemon & Melon Jam in the morning. We prepared it the night before. He says chopping it is quite difficult, especially since our wooden boards are slightly warped from the dishwasher. DH collected wood with ds16 and added the lemons to the jam when he came back. I stirred it and watched to see if the fruit was cooked. It goes clear when cooked. A quiet day at home. Monday DH did some cleaning Sunday night and I really appreciated it the morning.  It wqs a dull day here, but I saw the sun shining through later on. DS19 is off and busy, he is tried out a new uni library. I think that is exciting. I did a bit of dusting and moved the girls playhouse and put away some novels I was given. The uni library is still suffering from the storm they had during the summer, that damaged the buildings. The damage was from hail stones. So not many books if any to find in ds's subject, at least the ones he was after. Did lots of folding of clothes. Tuesday, we had a short black out. I replenished my book supply so I can read if wish to, which is good as this is my quieter week. ART PRINTS - Art.com! We used up some brown rice. It is a yummy recipe. I hope to read some of Henry Morgan's diary I have printed 25 pages.  He lived in America then moved to Australia in the 1850s. We had a light sprinkle of rain, as far as I know it wasn't any heavier. I finished one of the books I borrowed yesterday Follow Your Heart by Rosanne Bittner, it was a lovely book. I read Henry Morgan's diary that I found on the web, the first 25 printed pages, I enjoyed it. I got dd10 ready for ballet today. I talked a little on the phone. Thursday We had a very foggy morning this morning, the fog looks like it is still up in the sky, but not down low any more. I have just had a walk around town buying a fitted king single sheet and some fizzy panadol for dd13. We split the bunk and get more use out of the beds now, so need an extra sheet for a spare. There was another one but it is worn out now.  I was happy with the colour of the sheet. A late lunch. Friday  Overnight we got the rain that was in other parts of Victoria yesterday. It was still raining during parts of Friday. I had a windfall at the library so I am set for the weekend, although I would like to do some tidying or weeding or something like that. It is very quiet here Friday night, only 2 of my 5 children at home. Still it always feels the same no matter which ones are here. Maybe a bit quieter at tea time. I was so tired this week I allowed myself a nap.

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Saturday, May 12, 2007 - Weekend Reflection ~ May 12

On a cloudy Saturday I got the girls ready for ballet. I think we all had the start of a cold, but that seems to happen in our home in autumn, I think last year we were lucky.  The positive thing is that my cold didn't develop much further and everyone seems healthy enough. Saturday we started the first stage of pie melon chutney.  I cut up three onions and took all the seeds out of the slices dh cut for me.  He then cut the seedless pieces into dice, and cut up three onions of his own.  The seeds were slippery like pumpkin seeds and they seem to shoot every where if you are not very careful.  The seeds were lovely and big, so I was happy.  We kept the seeds in a paper bag for sowing next spring.  It is autumn here at the moment.  Dh and ds16 collected firewood on Saturday.  I enjoyed the smell of the wood they were stacking in the driveway.  Sunday we finished up making pickles from a 5kg jam or pie or citron melon. We wanted to use the whole melon up as they don't seem to last long at all after being cut. They get a red mould. DH did some overtime to catch up on his work and dd10 had a friend over. Monday morning ds18 got a call to say he had been chosen for a job interview.  It is a very nice job so that was really a great blessing.  I had been hanging out washing and wishing the lawn was cut, the wet grass was a little cold on the feet lol. Talked a little on the phone. I hoped to finish a book, and also pick up a novel at the library for dd13.  She was so happy to get this book.  She was very passionate about the story of Ned Kelly a bushranger.  He was from a poor family and treated badly by some people.  DD had seen some interesting exhibits in a museum that related directly to his story a few weeks ago.  We got 16 jars of jam melon pickles made. They taste not too bad, and we think that will last a year. Last year we made green tomato pickles, 12 jars and that was nearly enough, we have only been without some for a little while now. We love pickles for ham sandwiches and with cheese. Tuesday I think I checked my washing that wasn't dry the day before. I did a little banking, a little reading, did dd's hair for school, nothing else to report. Wednesday it was the shopping list day here. I was a little behind, I had a lot of it done, but have made headway on the menu. Usually I do most of it after shopping. I  bought a little extra to make lemon and jam melon preserve as well. I just realised how much sugar I will need for that.  I did buy something to start off next week's menu.  Ballet. I did dd10s hair in a bun with a hair net.  It always seems dull here in the morning lately, but not too dull, as in the weather. I bought some fruit today and started on the types of pay day jobs. I did read a little in the morning which probably explains why I was a little behind. Thursday was shopping day, and I was armed with a good list. Still filled the trolley to overfull, but this time that was because of the extra sugar and vinegar to make preserves. They are quite bulky and heavy. I followed two logs trucks, when through three roadworks and three mobs of cows, which is 6 times altogether. I was glad to get home. The two little girls had an after school activity and dd13 had a cooking project and made tea for us.  She photographed the results. Friday was a quiet one here. It was cold early in the morning, need to change to winter nighty or pjs or put an extra cover on our beds. Thursday it was a glorious morning when I drove out of town at 9am. Friday was special because it was sunny, up until yesterday it was quite dull. Some of the trees are bare of leaves. I talked to a Grandma of my daughter's friend, talked to my Mum, went to the library. I still had some more things from shopping to put away, we had a fruit and vege delivery. I finished a book called The Sacred Shore by Janette Oke and T. Davis Bunn.  It is the second in a series called Song of Acadia. Far Away by Michael Wood Save on Prints & Posters!

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Saturday, May 5, 2007 - Weekend Reflection ~ May 5

I have been looking around to join another great blog carnival.  I chose Weekend Reflection. I start out on the simplest part first, naming three things that were positive this week. The first big thing was that it rained last weekend.  You wouldn't beleive what a difference this has made to us.  Firstly on Sunday dh didn't have to water the plants.  That weekend the water restrictions meant that he would have been bucketing out water from our washing machine.  The grass that was dormant in the backyard came to life and new grass shot under the clothes line.  I have had a moonscape for a back lawn, we weren't allowed to water it on account of severe drought. Saturday dh was away in our hometown 2 hours plus away picking up our dishwasher that was broken.  It was free because of the warranty.  So my second positive thing is that we have been able to use our dishwasher this week.  It is very clean because our hometown has great shops and we were able to buy a cleaner for it. He was also able to buy pansies and some much needed hay for our guineapigs.  We live in a farming district but find it difficult to get hay for them.  The pansies have been my third positive thing.  They look very cheery to me and helped me move out of drought mode.  They are purple and are in a recycled wheelbarrow with red accents.  I noticed a few minutes ago the pansies match the lavender in the background.  I found it hard to get enthused about the garden before the rain, although it did have some lovely bits, so I looked at those. I think ds16 did a reasonable amount of homework this week and we had help from the teachers to keep him on track.  He is studying at Year 11 level.  DH picked up a car that the people at his work use when they go away.  We got to check it out, it is a new car.  The first thing I noticed is that if I owned it I don't think I would be able to put the groceries in easily lol.  We have 4 children living at home atm.  The outside of the car looked lovely though. We had two nice lunches this week.  One lavash bread with salami and hummus and sundried tomatoes.  The other rye bread with roast beef and mustard and pickled cucumbers.  I enjoyed the Irish Speckled Bread, but I should have allowed for the faster cooking in the fan forced oven. On Thursday our daughter 5 went to an afterschool activity offered by the school to boost fitness in the children.  The kids made positive comments about dd5 to her older sister, so it was a lovely time for them.  Our daughter started school in February.  She is my baby.  Yesterday I tried Chai Tea.  I was so blessed by that.  It has such a lovely smell.  My daughter 10 went to the opportunity shop.  She found a beautiful cardboard house for $1.  It is a Enchanted Forest Cottage, and they have been enjoying it thoroughly, coloring it in and enjoying the desk etc. inside.  Yesterday we were blessed by a gift of a lovely pumpkin, an unusual one for us.  My computer wasn't working yesterday.  DH even though he had a busy day was able to get it working again for me. Also this week I was reading two lovely books.  One by Jan Karon and one by Philip Gulley.  Very similar books about life in small towns, something I can relate to lol.

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