Tuesday 15th June - a white frost in our part of the world. This is the closest we get to knowing what snow would be like (I do know frost really isn't anything like falling snow) but you get my drift (no pun intended!). This is sunrise looking out my front door.
It was bloody cold!
Our cars had thick ice on them...
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The lawns were completely white. I think it got to 12C for the day.
Last Monday we had a public holiday for the Queen's Birthday so we decided to 'hit the beach' even though it is winter here and we had had some shocking cold weather of late. This was our first glimpse of the Southern Ocean as we came over the hill. We are very lucky that this coastline is only a 2o minute drive through some sand dunes from where we live.
This spot is called McIntyre's Beach - a sheltered little spot where we have had some lovely barbecues.
First Gus got the fire pit ready...
...bear in mind that it looks warm but the temperature was actually about 13C (55F) but with the sun out and not much wind, it was just perfect for a campfire and barbecue.
Ahem ... er, the Pioneer Woman regularly had gratuitous shots of her Marlborough Man's... um, Wranglers (here)... these are my man' Levi's!
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Entree - sausage with sauce in bread.
It's lovely just to sit and watch the sea, waves crashing, barbecue sizzling...
This is Ruby...
Main course - steaks and shasliks...(normally I would do some salads but we kept it simple)
Uggies kept our feet warm around the fire...
I went for a walk along the beach. There was so much stuff washed up which must come off boats out at sea. Quite disgusting really - I found a large light globe, a paint roller covered in barnacles, plastic detergent bottles, rope, lots of bits of plastic which I suppose came from plastic containers...
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... a Coke bottle covered in shells...
... cuttle fish...
Now onto dessert - S'mores (because when you have one, you want s'more!)
Sandwich marshmallows between two biscuits, wrap in foil and place near the fire where it's hot enough to melt them a little...
... waiting, waiting, waiting...
Voila! Yummy hot, melted marshmallow, choc and crunchy biscuit!
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With the sun starting to set, we packed up and ...
...left only footprints.
The track home. A lovely way to spend a holiday Monday.
Wednesday, 9th June - wet, wet, wet weather...
We haven't had good heavy showers like this since April so it was lovely to hear it bucket down.
Granny's Garden featured some Freckle biscuits here (Granny has a lovely blog). I had a recipe for them so I whipped up a batch. Seriously, these are so goooood! Buttery, crunchy and chocolatey all at once!
(click to enlarge map)
This is the cut of meat we in Australia call a Scotch Fillet.
(click to enlarge chart, then click again)
Angus prepared a small fire to cook our lunch. Wayno and Coral came over to join us.
Snags and onions on the griddle...
Juicy Scotch fillet steaks over the coals...
This is part of our 2.5 acre block...
'Ruby' our adventure wagon (Adventure before Dementia)- a Land Rover Defender. In two weeks we are off for a weekend camping trip.
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Angus & Wayno let the cooking fire die down and started up the larger bonfire to get rid of some dead, fallen wood.
The rain stayed away and later in the day the wind dropped right off so it was very cosy by the fire.
A weird cloud hanging over our town. All in all a lovely afternoon - we even managed dessert - Cinnamon crumble muffins with caramel sauce and cream. Very decadent for the back yard!
Sautee onion, carrot & celery in a little olive oil...
... add chopped pumpkin, zucchini and parsnip...
... add 2 litres of chicken stock, can of chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste and (not pictured) 1/2 a bag of split pea soup mix...
... pull up a chair and spoon and dig right in! Crusty bread mandatory!
I made these berry swirl (I added choc chip) muffins this morning. We had some visitors come for morning tea. These are Betty Crocker packet muffins - very easy and very yummy.
I've been enjoying the music of Miranda Lambert...
...and Colbie Caillat...
...and Lady Antebellum. Love this music. I came across them on someone's blog (can't remember who) and then I actually bought their CD. I've been listening to it since about February. I said to Bri how I thought it was only a matter of time before they broke into the Australian charts and I just heard one of their songs played on the radio yesterday. It was funny to hear the DJ announce them as a new group when I've been singin' their songs for months.
I also made a big banana cake this week, smothered in chocolate icing. I had 2 bananas that had gone brown and over-ripe. They make perfect banana cake. I was a nice boss and took a big plate of cake into our workers.
This is my crazy cat, Bonnie. This is what she does when she 'wants in' and feeding. She rumbles on the screen until I let her in, get some food then let her 'out' again. She is an outdoors moggie.