Artist or chef..

Little Man J was here after school again today and after playing with playdough we headed down the backyard to the fire pit. We'd been talking about charcoal (he'd seen one of my charcoal drawings on the wall). I had explained what charcoal was but decided a demonstration was far more valuable a learning experience. We squatted at the pits edge and messily searched for pieces of charcoal amongst the ash. After a successful hunt we ventured back to the 'art studio' and set to work creating a masterpiece. There's so much movement in it, I think it's brilliant!
On a previous visit Little Man J helped me to prepare a piece of lamb for roasting. He picked the herbs from the garden and helped me prepare the vegetables. He learned what a leek was and how to use it. I talk to the kids in terms of foods being friends in order to describe flavours that go well together and it seems to be something that is working. This particular roast I slow cook for 3 to 4 hours and it just flakes off the bone. Delicious.

A busy day for Little Mr R (and Aunty Sandy)

Little Mr R(2 1/2) is having a rare day at Aunty Sandy's today. It's been a very busy day and it's not over yet. We started our day by reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I made some finger puppets some time ago to accompany this book and we put them in order, and then role played parts of the book.

We had a very looong play with play dough after cooking some on the stove. Birds nests, butterflies, frogs, snakes and eggs featured highly in our creative endeavours.


We played in the sandpit and ran around the yard like mad things. Then we came inside for another story. This time we read Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See also by Eric Carle.

We then started out painting the yellow duck from the story and then descended into crazy painting!

Cooking after school

Today my nephew J came after school and wanted to cook chocolate biscuits. He loves cooking and the obligatory spoon and bowl licking. First we mixed the sugar and butter with some egg. Then we added some flour and cocoa.
We kneaded the dough and then rolled it out with the rolling pin.
We cut out shapes with the biscuit cutters and then put them in the oven.
Yum, they tasted good.

Written by J and Aunty Sandy

The mango thief, a retrospective

Here you see one of our lovely mango trees. For many years there has been no fruit to be had from them. This season we had lovely, large fruit but did we get any? Nope. Not a one. Mysteriously we kept finding the seeds all over the yard. What was eating them? Possums? Flying foxes? Hmmm. Our puzzlement was solved one day when a very satisfied Miss Jess came up to the house carrying her harvest.
The greedy (and obviously underfed and neglected :)) girl then devoured this in a most disgusting and unladylike manner. We had video footage but it's not for the feint hearted.
How pleased does she look with herself!

Kids art

Wildlife in the garden

Living in amongst the trees, and having extensive gardens means that something is always going on just outside our door. A couple of days ago I caught this stick insect being born at our front door. I'm amazed that he fit inside that little cocoon!
The King Parrots come daily to the bird feeder on our front verandah. These photos are taken from the lounge room through rather grubby windows. We can sit on our lounge and look at them as they feed. I love it. We also get galahs, cockatoos, rosellas and even the odd magpie or two at the feeder. Will have to remember to clean the windows in order to get better photos!
This photo was taken at Christmas a couple of years ago on the fence that divides our back yard from our section of land that is bush and holds a dam. The snake is a carpet python and is a very healthy specimen. They are non venomous and we see them off and on in the garden. They sometimes sun themselves by hanging in our hibiscus plant.

Rare morning out

It was a glorious day yesterday and I was able to have a rare morning out. I met a friend for coffee at our local shopping centre. I don't get there often as the 40 minute drive has been not possible for me in recent times and I am not much of a recreational shopper.
The centre is built over and on the banks of a creek. Cafes, restaurants and public spaces with chairs and shade line the creekside and it is such a pleasant place to sit and enjoy a chat. There are paddle boats for those who are so inclined (I'm not). I did a small bit of shopping before losing interest and energy and heading home.

Heart of our home

Finally, kitchen photos for those of you have been so patiently waiting for them. Old kermit green kitchen above (sorry, had the shakes the day I took this).

Tada!! My new kitchen - so exciting, even though it's not really 'new' anymore.
We chose to use caesarstone for the benchtops and it's been a choice we are really happy with. It is white but full of flecks of glass in all the colours of the rainbow. The main bench is 1m wide and about 1.5m long, yep, you read that right. It gives me heaps of room to cook with the kids. It gives us room for chairs to be pulled up to make kiddlings tall, and room for high chairs for the even smaller people. I've cooked with my nieces and nephews since they could sit up and they all have a love of cooking and are developing some pretty good skills. We cook everything from roasts (after foraging for herbs in the garden) to cakes, biscuits and breads. Bread making is so much fun with kids.
After such a long wait it's been an absolute joy to have a new kitchen. A cook top that works, drawers to maximise storage and to make low cupboards more accessible to me on bad body days. On the advice of friends we installed an induction cooktop and are very pleased that we did. It's fast, efficient, gives even heat and doesn't heat the kitchen up so much in summer. One of my favourite things is our dishdrawer (dishwasher in a drawer). Love, love, love it.

Looking back towards the fridge, pantry (which was made 5 inches too narrow, grr) and my recipe book/office/organising bench. It was a looooong wait but most definitely worth it. Walls will be eventually painted for those who noticed that bare board above this area! :)

Colour in my garden

See I do have a little colour in my garden! Cheerful dahlias by the bird fountain in the front yard and a mystery plant down the back near the swings and playground. Don't you hate it when you can't remember the name of something.

P.S. I posted another entry today but it's turned up way down the page so you'll need to scroll down to read it. It's called Scribbly Gum. Sorry, still working out how to drive this page.