Weekends

Coming home from Parramatta knowing that a long weekend stretched before me was so delightful. How I wish we had long weekends every week! There was no Saturday sport (a very good start, though Toby was unimpressed) and there was plenty of time to get things done and relax as well. After church on Sunday we went to the Ks' for lunch. Bethany had such a good time dressing up.

I could have taken photos of her all afternoon :)

On Monday afternoon we went to the Halbisch's and had a long, lazy afternoon tea that turned into dinner. It was such a lovely thing to do and it's a terrible shame that most of our weekends are too full of sport, washing, ironing and cooking to do it regularly.

Of course, missing out on my longest day did make the rest of the working week rather frantic. I had lunch with a friend on Wednesday at Mates Gully. The risotto was delicious as was this coffee.

Friday was open day at the children's school. I left work early (I had time up my sleeve having given an evening talk to the Family History Society on Wednesday) to go to assembly. Bethany's handiwork was in the foyer of the assembly hall. I love how she writes so boldly and then runs out of space.

In year 3 all students learn the violin and they gave a performance at the assembly. Toby is third from the left in the back row, perhaps because there isn't much love left over for the violin after all his piano practice.

The violin was just a bonus anyway as the real reason Andrew and I left work early was to see Toby receive his Head of Junior School award. Five well done cards equal a merit award and three merit awards equal a Head of Junior School award.

There were activities all afternoon but we skipped off to soccer practice before rugging up and coming back to school for the fireworks. I was expecting sausages for dinner but the excellent canteen lady had organised lots of options for us. Joss and Bethany had Thai pumpkin soup with garlic bread, Andrew and I had butter chicken and Toby had hot chips. I even got sticky toffee pudding for dessert :)

The kids all ran off with their friends. The glow stick pictured above spilled its contents in Bethany's bed a couple of hours after this photo was taken. Bethany's pyjamas, sheets and hands all glowed.

I wasn't expecting much from the fireworks but they were spectacular. I know the photo isn't spectacular but it pleases me somehow. It was a lovely night, topped off with a bit of Miss Marple. Thankfully I had already seen it as I had to make a birthday cake for a friend. One of the things I love about English television is seeing actors I know from other productions. How cool was it to see Julian Sands from A Room With a View in Miss Marple?
The rest of the weekend was really all sport, children's parties, church and washing. Poirot is on tonight and I don't care if looking forward to that makes me boring.

Parramatta

Working in a public library, the bulk of our professional development is library specific and done at the State Library which subsidises travel for regional library staff. This time, however, Chrissie and I had the opportunity to go to a conference in Parramatta on community capacity building for local government. I won't thrill you with a blow by blow description but we went to some great workshops on living library, community engagement and empowering refugees.

I haven't been to Parramatta for years. After a rather hideous flight that was delayed before departure,   had to fly out to sea to delay landing and was turbulent enough to cause someone to be violently ill in earshot, we decided to catch a taxi rather than a train. Thankfully there were four of us because it cost $90! The conference went over two days so we stayed. My room had a river view and king sized bed.

After the first day's talks and workshops we had a cocktail party with entertainment from Circus Solarus, who turned out to be massaging clowns..... The light was very dim, sorry about the quality of the photo. This lady had just massaged my back and then Chrissie's with that implement.

This man was with her and had to get a chair to stand on to service this very large back. Luckily the large man had a sense of humour.

There was a lot of food on offer at the cocktail party but Chrissie and I were on a mission to eat something we don't get in Wagga. We studied the dining guide very hard and decided on Greek food. Kouzina Greco had a very nice write up in the dining guide and I was very keen to try their slow roasted lamb. The waitress was lovely even though we took ages deciding what we wanted - we wanted all if it! We finally made up our minds and shared everything, starting with three dips. Skordalia, taramasalata and melinzanosalata (eggplant and garlic) served with warm, Greek pita bread that was both soft and crispy. We were in raptures over these dips, especially the taramasalata which was smooth and perfectly balanced.

We're both big fans of haloumi so we ordered the grilled cyprus haloumi with baby endive, vine-ripened tomatoes, steamed asparagus, kalamata olives and balsamic olive oil. The haloumi was very generous, thick and delicious.

We finished with the dish that had been described in the dining guide; Kleftiko (slow roasted lamb with fresh herbs, lemon, olive oil and roasted potatoes. I forgot to take a photo until after we had both taken some for our own plates, so keen was I to eat it. The lamb was so very tender, yet crispy on the outside, and full of flavour. The meal was so delicious we asked the owner to set up a restaurant in Wagga but I don't think he will :( We wished we had room for baklava ice cream.

I made sure that the next day I went next door to the hotel to Sea Sweet Patisserie and bought all of these lebanese delights to keep me going..... at least for a day or two.

We caught the train back to the airport (much cheaper but it took forever), ate sushi for dinner and arrived home around 8.30pm. Yay for the long weekend! Are you doing anything good? I'm planning a lot of sleeping.....

The wheels nearly fell off on Thursday when I tried to mark too many assignments, drive everyone to and from work, take Milo to the vet, make biscuits and pack for a weekend away. I did manage it however and, after work on Friday, I picked up Jossie and Bethany from school and headed down the highway. It is hard to choose a book that all three of us would like to listen to. I went with When we were very young by A.A Milne, read by Richard Briers and Felicity Kendall and Prince Caspian and The Silver Chair by CS Lewis. I started with the delightful poems which had me in nostalgic raptures. The kids didn't get them (we'll have to work on that) so we listened to Jeremy Northam read us The Silver Chair - so good! It got dark pretty much as soon the road became unfamiliar so when we stopped for dinner I rang Andrew and was only able to say that I was somewhere in Victoria.

We arrived at Phil and Kristin's just after nine and it was lovely to see Mum and Dad and then, when they came back from the hospital, Phil and Charlotte. In the morning, Phil drove in to spend the day at the hospital but the rest of us needed to wait until two so we got to explore Melbourne a little bit, which, believe it or not, I have never done. We drove to the train station, caught two trains and emerged here.

Bethany and Charlotte were boisterously enjoying each other's company in such a way that required a
lot of supervision so I didn't see all that I might have without children, but it was still very exciting. I love the narrow alleyways.

We hadn't gone far before Mum, Dad and I were in need of coffee and the children a snack. The lovely little cafés in the alleyways aren't really suited to a party of six so when I spied a  Lindt Café, I thought it might be just the thing. Check out the chandelier in the shoe shop across the corridor!

DIY hot chocolate is both delicious and fun.

Thus fortified we went looking for chocolate shops. I did like this ceiling.

And this shop with lovely, expensive matrushka dolls, across from Koko Black.

We went in to Chokolait and bought just a few chocolates to taste before having lunch, hopping on another train and finally getting to the hospital to see Kristin and the twins. I could have held them all day. Look at Henry's little fingers and I think Georgiana is looking up adoringly at her Aunty Amy ;)

I did, however, let others have a turn. This is Bethany with Georgiana.

Jossie with Henry.

Phil took this photo and it is one of my favourites. It's like they just want to be near each other.

Now we are home again and I want to go back for more cuddles.

Twice Designs

When I wear my new necklace scarf almost everyone asks me about it. I'm not exaggerating, don't wear one of these scarves if you don't want people to talk to you. I don't know why it is so difficult to get a decent photo of me wearing it. Jossie took a few that were completely hideous and this was the best I could come up with. I really love this scarf.

I also love the red woolen scarf with felted flower brooch that Sarah sent me last year. Again, I loved it so much I felt the need to take a dodgy photo of myself in it.

I also love my button brooches. I love colour, red is my favourite, but somehow I have ended up with a lot of black clothes. Perhaps it's because they are slimming or because I just can't find what I want but I really love adding colour with brooches and scarves. They make me happy.

All of these things are made by my friend Sarah from Twice Designs. She has an online shop so you can buy her things from home and she also sells at Sydney markets. Every time I have bought something online it has come straight away, beautifully packaged and with little surprises. She makes the cutest soft toys, I particularly like the bilbies.

Jossie and I are at home today as she has a fever/headache/stomachache. I need to use the time to mark assignments as Jossie, Bethany and I are heading to Melbourne after school and work on Friday to see the twins who will be born, all going according to plan, on Wednesday. Can't wait!

Haircut

When you get your hair cut as often as I do, you forget what a difference a cut can make. Here is Milo pointing his face in the direction my voice was coming from.

Please excuse the photo taken on my phone. Here is is, determined not to look me in the eye. Perhaps he feels naked.

Have you ever seen grumpier cats with squashed in faces?

After picking Milo up I went to get the hire car I am driving to Bowral tomorrow. Very nice indeed. It doesn't need a key! And it is my favourite colour. I won't want to give it back..... I am off to Bowral Library for a readers advisory meeting. I will be in this lovely car for eight hours!

As I have pathetically few songs on my iPhone I took two audio books from the library to amuse me on the journey. I have The Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan and The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton. Alain reads it himself! That makes me happy. I'll need that as I have to leave at 6am.

Sport

While Toby has always been sporty Jossie takes after me and has shown very little interest in sport. We did take her to hockey for a while but she never took to it - does anyone need a little hockey stick? During the week, Jossie told me that the school's netball team was short of members and that she wished to play with her friends. So we bought a netball skirt and showed up at the courts on Saturday morning for her first ever game.

I took these photos with my iPhone and couldn't get very close, but that is Jossie in maroon, shielding her eyes. She didn't really know the rules and was very timid at first but, in the second half, started to get the hang of it.

That's her holding the ball! They were a few players short and had more than one player just starting so the coaches weren't surprised by the result - they lost 46 - 1! Thankfully, Jossie didn't mind :) Bethany, on the other hand, was terribly bored and unimpressed with the fact that I hadn't brought anything to eat. I bought myself an unpleasant coffee and a melting moment for Bethany but I'll be better prepared next week.

Toby's second game of soccer was as good as the last. He kicked another goal and they won 3 - 0. Afterwards he went straight to a party. When we picked him up we found an echidna! I love living in the country.

Jossie also had a party so Bethany and I took Milo for a walk up the hill to the rocks.

Poor Milo, he can't really see at the moment. He's booked in for a haircut shearing on Thursday.

t was a push to get back before it got dark but the view is great.

Today we went to Liz and Ian's brand new house for lunch. I made some cinnadoodles, how I love them!
What I am cooking: I have been using my Nigellapp too, making chocolate and pear pudding (delicious) and aromatic chilli beef noodle soup (enjoyed only by me).
What I am reading: Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
What I am watching: We finished watching the second series of Ashes to Ashes and can't wait for the third to wrap it all up! We all watched Miss Potter this evening as Jossie was asked to watch it for school.

Triple-layer Chocolate Cake

Jossie has been getting lots of use from the crimper and straightener Mum and Dad bought her for Christmas. Back to the 80s.........

We had some friends over for lunch after church on Sunday and I took the opportunity to make something that caught my eye from the Delicious Sweet cookbook Mim gave me for my birthday. All the women who ate it were in raptures and I highly recommend the book.

Triple-layer Chocolate Cake
Serves 8. Begin this recipe a day ahead.
4 eggs
100g caster sugar
1/2 cup (75g) self-raising flour
1/4 cup (25g) cocoa
1/3 cup (80ml) milk
1 tbs each Kahlua and honey
Filling
100ml pure (thin) cream
110g good quality dark chocolate (I only used 100g)
225 g white chocolate (I only used 200g - if I opened another block, I'd only eat the rest)
600 ml thickened cream
Icing
200 g good quality dark chocolate
1/3 cup (80ml) thickened cream     (I only made half of this)

Preheat oven to 170C. Grease a 23cm springform tin and line the base.
Beat eggs and sugar in an electric mixer on high for 5 mins until thick and pale. Sift flour and cocoa together, then fold into egg mixture. Spoon into the pan and bake for 30 mins or until cooked. Cool in the pan for 5 mins then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
Stir the milk, Kahlua and honey in a pan over low heat for 2-3 mins until combined. Set aside.
Clean cake tin and line with plastic wrap ensuring there is plenty of overhang. Split the cake into 2 and place one round into the tin and brush with half the Kahlua syrup.
For the filling place one third of the pure cream in a bowl and the remainder in a separate bowl. Add dark chocolate to the first bowl and white chocolate to the second. Melt on medium in the microwave, stirring until smooth. Whip thickened cream to firm peaks. Carefully add a third to the drk chocolate mixture and the rest to the white mixture, stirring to combine.
Spread half the white filling over the cake case, then all the dark filling, then remaining white filling - chilling for 10 mins between each layer to firm up. Top with remaining cake and brush with remaining syrup. Cover with overhanging plastic wrap and chill overnight.
For the icing, melt chocolate and cream gently in the microwave and let cool. Remove cake from tin by releasing the sides. Place on the serving plate, leaving the plastic wrap behind - I picked it up with two spatulas. Spread icing over the top and dig in.

There was a bit left after lunch so I took it to my evening shift on Monday and scoffed it with Kate and Shell. It was just what we needed to get us through the end of a long day.