The week that was...and a lovely Mother's Day...

The week started with me getting an early start on some baking for the girls - first off - sausage rolls. I freeze them then they can have them when they like...
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Wednesday night at our Weight Watchers meeting we had a tasting night - 3 of our committee made low fat soups for our members to try. We had Annette Sym's creamy Chicken & Vegetable soup, her Pumpkin soup and a Sweet Potato and Quinoa soup which was yummy and spicy! All were enjoyed by our group!
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Woolworths had these giant chocolates so I couldn't resist buying one for Brianna!

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On Monday, I had said to my Mum - Gee, I don't reckon I've had a proper cold for over 2 years! ... I jinxed myself!
Tuesday I woke up with a sore throat so I dosed up on Nurafen, sucked Butter Menthols and gargled Betadine throat gargle and put Vicks Vaporub on a hanky around my neck when I went to bed. I must say I kicked it in the pants because by Thursday the sore throat was gone and the head cold has not been too bad. I have a bit of a cough but I'm okay.
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Breezi posted this picture of her dissecting hearts! Glad it's her and not me!
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Thursday night we had Gus' Mum for dinner ( for her birthday on Saturday plus Mother's Day) - I made her some Golden Syrup biscuits to go with her manicure voucher and bottle of wine and also a framed picture of our girls at Kirby's Grad. I then made from scratch bread rolls, prepared the curry for Gus to cook and made Annette Sym's Sticky Pineapple Pudding - yum! Phew, I was knackered after that!
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Friday morning, I made Choc Chip Cookie Bars for Brianna and Oaty Cookies for Kirby...
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Friday, we headed to Adelaide to have the weekend with the girls. Kirby prepared this platter ready for us to make our own pizzas. What a spread!
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These were mine, on pitta breads.
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She made dough from scratch and made chicken satay pizzas for her and Gus...
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Brianna topped hers with chicken, tomato, cheese and olives...
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On Saturday, we were lucky to be invited to a corporate box at the Geelong v Adelaide Crows match... it's a very civilized way to watch football.
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Lunch - a beautiful cold salad of schnapper topped with seasonal vegetables...
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A lovely potato salad...
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Beef in red wine/bacon sauce, sweet potato and tomato pasta and the salads - absolutely delicious. Beats a pie with sauce any day!
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Sunday morning for Mother's Day we dined at Stamps Restaurant for breakfast (10.30am). This quaint little restaurant is tucked away in the back streets in Mitcham. We had sparking wine for starters...
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I had the lot - poached eggs atop a crunchy piece of toast, hash brown, bacon, mushroom, pork sausage and the best homemade baked beans!
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Bri chose the Belgian Waffle with cinnamon icecream and strawberries and maple syrup...

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Gus, the smoked salmon and poached eggs...
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Kirby had poached eggs, bacon, tomato and a side of field mushrooms...

We will definitely have to go back there for dinner one day - it was all absolutely delicious!

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My girls spoiled me with a voucher for a foot massage and pedicure at Endota Spa (I may have hinted for this!) and a sweet little recipe box (from Kikki-K) to record my home cooking in. Can't wait to go back to visit and have that pedicure!
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So that was my week - I think you could say it was quite hectic! It was lovely to see our girlies again!
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Cheers - Joolz

In the Christmas spirit...

I did some baking yesterday and while they are not Christmas recipes per se, the end result looked Chrismassy! Cherry Shortbreads...
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Anzacs made with dark treacle and brown sugar - crunchy and chewy at the same time...
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... and ginger snaps...
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I also made some Rocky Road. I bought round Christmas boxes from the $2 shop (ours is called Absolutely Anything) to put them in.
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We had dinner at Angus' Mum's new unit last night. Her sister is visiting from Bendigo so I made up a box for each of them. They were super pleased!
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Do you have any good Christmas recipes which make good gifts?
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Joolz

Lucky me...and poor Bri...

I had a lovely birthday and was thoroughly spoiled with some great gifts. My friend Helen gave me this stunning planter with even prettier tulips in it.
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Angus and the girls gave me a big bottle of my favourite perfume, Flower Bomb. Smells like floral fairy floss to me. Angus also bought me a lovely big new suitcase for when we travel overseas later in the year.
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Sister Sue gave me this candy bowl with more chocolate than is pictured here (someone has been helping themselves)!
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Sister Janine made this mosaic pot for me in my favourite colours of blue and white china. She bought a few old plates from antique shops (.50 cent plates) proceeded to smash them then covered a terracotta pot.
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Sister Maz gave this memo folder with sticky notes & seven day reminder sheet so you can write up what's happening for the week ahead. The little angel is a fridge magnet for memos too.
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Sister Leanne gave me this lovely planter with a huge Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily) and the Sisters coloured plaque in the photo above and some chocolates (which I. do.not.need!!!).
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My Mum gave me this Mary Gregory glass vase. She and my Dad used to collect this glass and this piece was bought in 1984 on their travels. It dates back to late 1800's - early 1900's and is American. A lot of this glassware is known as ruby glass but this piece is clear glass.
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I finished a busy week at work by going out for dinner again on Friday night with our friends in Mt. Gambier.
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Brianna has been feeling off colour over the past week so I took her to the doctor on Friday and he ordered some blood tests to check her levels. She has been low on energy, has no appetite and been a bit head-achey, sleeps a lot but is still tired too. Anyway we fronted up for the blood tests yesterday morning at our medical clinic. The lady sat Bri in a chair and we were all chatting away, talking about netball then she took the blood sample and was putting it in the phials when Bri decided to pass out!!! One minute she was okay then the next she had her head in her lap, out cold, then we had to get her onto the floor, in the recovery position. Quite scary for me but she came around quite quickly and we reassured her that she had just fainted and she was soon okay.
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Needless to say we didn't get to netball. I kept Bri home on the couch and we spent the day watching movies, taking it easy. I wasn't feeling too good myself so maybe we picked up a bug or something.

Christmas presents...

This first gift I received is super exciting - not! A Hills Extend-a-line - but I did need a new line for under the pergola for rainy days ...
~This box was more to my liking...
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... and finally, my new Le Creuset Dutch oven in beautiful cobalt blue. Mmmm, I can smell the lamb shanks cooking now.... I'm a happy little clam! What did you get?
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Joolz

Christmas gifting...

(click on note to enlarge)

There are rumblings on several blogs that Christmas is just around the corner and yup, its true! It will be here before you know it.
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Each year, my 4 sisters and I exchange gifts. They had to be homemade and inexpensive. Each year, one sister would choose the criterior for the following years gifts. At Christmas '08, Sister Sue handed us each a piece of paper (pictured above) which set out what we could give for Christmas '09.
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My question to you, dear bloggers, is what would you choose as the gift? Price bracket - $10 to $15
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Just thinking about round and shiny articles is hard. This glass door knob is nice.
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These bangles are round and shiny.
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I quite like this round and shiny ring.... hmmmm.... bit pricey!
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Coins are round and shiny.
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A nice crystal plate....
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Ooh, pretty pearls...
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Colourful glass marbles....
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Glass baubles....very festive....but no.
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Let me know if you come up with any ideas, its got me stumped!
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Cheers - Joolz

Productive Sunday...

I finally finished putting together my sister's presents (x4) - lavender fragranced wheat heat bags and draw string lingerie bags. For a giggle, inside each lingerie bag is a pair of Size 28 big undies with their initial appliqued on the rear! Should get some laughs on Christmas Day!
The theme for the presents this year was 'fabric' and must be home made. I attached a verse for the heat bags and I found cute little silver charms which came in organza bags which say 'Sisters...best friends always'.
I am really pleased with how they turned out, considering I don't sew.

I also got creative and made this Cookie Christmas Tree. It was quite a tedious task as it took over an hour to ice. Each biscuit is individually drizzled with icing then decorated with cachous balls. It looks really cool!
My family were not that thrilled when I said "I think I'll take this to work tomorrow for the staff for their morning tea". The staff really enjoyed it.

I plan to make a Gingerbread one and go all out, decorating it with different lollies on each branch. You'll need an insulin drip to eat it!

I have it in my head that I am not going to stress now that there are only 10 days to go. I have most presents organised, I know what I need to cook for Christmas Day so that's set and my girls are home now so if I need chores done, they can help out.
Stress less and enjoy....

Cheers - Joolz

A day of sewing....

Can you tell that we have a Year 12 student living at our house. This is my 'good room' table, littered with K17's study gear. This has been here for several days now, hence the untidyness. She is quite organised, usually! She has her final exams on Wednesday and Thursday this week - Georgraphy and Chemistry. Then the pressure is off a bit until results come in and Uni offers are received. Roll on December! Gee, did I just say that?? :0)

I am still having a bit of bother up-loading photos. Thank you to Pip for a bit of tuition. Yes, it worked for the photos above but I think my Internet connection must be dodgy at the moment because when I tried to do a second photo, it wouldn't even bring up the Add Image screen so I could select a pic. I will persevere, none the less!

Being Sunday morning, I was up at 7.30am (a sleep in for me), I have had a cup of coffee and a 1/2 hour read of my new book, 'You Sexy Mother' . This inspired me to get up and attend to some laundry that needed folding and then some ironing (school uniforms for B15 and shirts for A) while still surfing some blogs. It is now 9.04am and I have a load of towels in the machine, the laundry room is clear and it's time for toast.

Saturday was spent at my sewing machine again today and have produced a two part present for K17's teacher. She has had Ms M for home group, maths and pastoral care and they get along well. I also produced this pin-cushion - not bad for a first effort. I can laugh now, but I really should follow patterns better. I cut the material out then didn't leave enough for seam allowance so it was a bit smaller than it should be and I could have followed instructions better. Ooops!! Overall, it looks like the picture in the tutorial. Success!

Enjoy your Sunday,

Cheers - Joolz

Accomplishments...

I have planted some tomato plants and lettuces out in foam boxes. 'A' has planted oregano, basil, coriander, parsley and chives in pots. They are out under our pergola area. This is the first time I have tried lettuces and tomatoes. We had our first salad with the lettuces earlier in the week. I just picked about a dozen leaves and added them to some iceberg lettuce I had. They were nice and sweet and tender. Job done!

A few weeks ago I started my sisters Christmas gifts. I am not a sewer by nature or talent so when things came together quite well, I really felt I had accomplished something. Here is the fabric that I chose to make them with. Pretty greens and apricots. I got them mostly finished and was so pleased with myself. Today, I hope to complete them to a stage where they are ready for wrapping. Can you guess what I made? I can't wait to show you a photo of them totally completed...you will laugh!

Now I need to down load some more tunes for my playlist. I am so happy with it! :)

I'm in for a busy day - I'll let you know how it all went later.

Cheers - Joolz