Re-Using Success.

I still have a lot of plastic in my cupboards.

I have been making a real effort to re-purpose a lot of it because I don't think there is any sense in just throwing it all into landfill. It defeats the purpose.

Slowly but surely I have been changing over some of the storage containers in my cooking cupboard, a cupboard I have above my main prep area so I can just reach up and grab everything I need.
The large glass jars are from buying coffee in bulk and the smaller jars are from local oysters. They have a plastic lid unfortunately, but I still like to re-use them.

I have labeled the jars very simply with a permanent texta.

I enjoy opening the cupboard and looking at all the cooking supplies. I can see at a glance what needs to be topped up, often from a bigger supply in the pantry. I especially enjoy decanting the farmer's market honey into my little pour bottle which makes it easier to manage and easier to pour out a little for a cup of tea or to add to a recipe. I also like having my spices in bigger containers because I use so much of them.

But most of all I love the fact that the containers are NUDE. There are no brand names, no bold colours and no in your face slogans. It makes me feel all 'Little House on the Prairie -ish' LOL or maybe even a bit 'Waltons-ish' - knowing I can send John Boy to the store for a pound of sugar any time soon!

- Gotta love a spoon full of madness each and every day.

Garden Update

JOY !

{CLICK} {CLICK} Hello .... Are You There ?

Gremlins have been in my system!

The first few times I had emails asking me to give 'permission' to read my blog, I thought they had me confused with somebody else!

Then more emails came...... then more...... then more.......

It seems I somehow defaulted to a 'permission only' blog that would default back, even though I would untick the box.

Anyway........ enough of all that boring tech stuff.

I am just popping my head in to say the following:

- hello

- no I haven't abandoned you

- thank you to all the concerned emailers. Sorry I can't answer each of you individually, but take this as a collective {hug}.

- and most importantly..............................

holy crap - check out those crows feet in that untouched photo. I could sit here for four hours and 'photoshop' them out, then again I could post the photo as is, for all the world to see and claim them as a trophy of a life well lived and know that they came about after chasing two beautiful boys around the place.

So.... if you can read this..... send me some lovin' via comment or email so I know that you can read me loud and clear.

What To Do On A Dreary Day ?

It was such a dreary, miserable raining grey day. I just had to search out some colour to brighten up my world.

So, when it's rainy and dreary - what do you do ? You jump in the car and drive up to the lighthouse and run around like mad people because it is so windy and cold and everyone is hyperactive and the wind somehow gives you permission to yell and scream and let out all the energy that builds up when a storm is approaching.

Don't you love this mural ?

As the rain eases and the sun breaks through you get back into the car and drive home like a 'normal' family and become 'normal' and refined and well behaved once again.

You drive back up the driveway and the neighbours will never know how crazy you all really are.

Friday Night = Pizza Night

We always whip up some yummy pizzas on Friday nights. It is much quicker than driving to town and picking them up or having them home delivered. Last time we had pizzas home delivered we were SO disappointed with them because we are TOTALLY spoiled after having home made ones for so long now.

The basic dough recipe is:

1 cup plain flour
1 cup of self raising flour
pinch of salt
rounded teaspoon of yeast
teaspoon of honey
1 cup of lukewarm water.

Because we try and make most of our meals low GI, I double this recipe and use a mix of wholemeal flours - so that's 1 cup of wholemeal plain flour, 1 cup of white plain flour then the same with the self raising flour.

There's nothing fancy to the method. I mix all the dry ingredients together before pouring in the water and roughly combining it with the other ingredients. Then I just let it sit for a while - sometimes ten minutes sometimes an hour - just depends on how side tracked I get! lol You can see when the yeast has done it's job because it roughly doubles in size.

I then plonk it onto a floured surface and tumble it around a little - I won't say kneed because there is not really a lot of effort involved. I cut it into three and roll them out to the size of the round pizza trays. I use olive oil on the trays and then hammer the bases with a fork to allow the heat to penetrate through when cooking.

Depending on how thick you like your pizzas you could make more or less. I make one thick pan style with just olive oil, herbs and tomato paste for son number one. Son number two and I share a thick base and then I make Hubbie's a thinner one.

Next we start chopping up the 'whatever' to go on the top. Last night I had king prawns, coriander, basil, chicken, pineapple and onion. Let me say ...... yum yum yum !!! ( Mine is the left hand side of the pizza on the right)

The pizza on the left is Hubbie's. He is a chili freak and he has various versions of homegrown chili, capsicum, olives, pineapple, onion, salami etc etc. His chili is so potent he has to have a separate chopping board, knife and other tools. I also make him put his on the bottom shelf of the oven so there is no contamination dropping onto my pizza!!

They take about 12 minutes to cook in a very hot oven.

We look forward to Friday nights. Some nice music, a glass of wine and the feeling of accomplishment when you sit down to these little beauties knowing that everyone has given a helping hand.

Our Grandparents Never Went to the Gym

Can you imagine trying to set up a gym or fitness centre in 1940. You would have to convince people that it was of benefit to them to come in and use the equipment.

I can imagine a farmer being told to get onto the treadmill so he can walk to get some exercise. He’d be saying – he get his exercise in the paddock thanks!

What about the gardener. She would be told to get on the weights machine, but she would argue that she gets enough of that pulling weeds and digging potatoes.

What about the woman told to jump on the bicycle to ride her way to fitness, she’d be saying that there was no point in doing that because she just rode four miles to get here on her own bicycle and still has the return journey ahead of her!

Yes, I agree with you that the 1940’s gymnasium would be a total flop!!

But, as a 2010 girl I have a gym membership. We have a community owned aquatic and leisure centre about half way between my house and town.

Sure, I could get my exercise walking in the paddocks, digging potatoes and riding my bicycle like they did in 1940, but there is one big difference. They never allowed do get themselves overweight in the first place.

Have you noticed when looking back at old photos and hearing people’s recollection that very few people were overweight ? I believe it is a combination of an active lifestyle and limited food variety and quantity.

Today we lead a more sedentary lifestyle and have an abundance of food all around us, and like any cow on a good pasture we are bound to add a few kilos each year until you hit middle age and ........... Last week I read that obesity is now the biggest health problem in Australia and is responsible for all kinds of preventable diseases and conditions.

If exercise was a pill it would be a wonder drug. It reduces stress, makes you feel very very happy, reduces blood pressure, corrects type 2 diabetes, makes for strong hearts, great skin, hair and nails. Who wouldn’t buy a box of that pill ?

So. Quite ironically I drive to the gym to get on the exercise equipment. One of the trainers told me I am close enough to ride my bike there and back, which I am… but if I rode my bike there, I wouldn’t have to go inside!!! ( That’s my logic …..and I am sticking to it for now!)

Is it worth the money ? I think so because I use it almost every day so the actual cost of each visit is less than a cup of coffee and I feel so damn good after a class. Today during a bodypump class with the music blaring I had a massive rush of endorphins and could barely stop myself from yelling out ‘damn…yeah!’ as I threw that weights bar over my head.

You can check out all about bodypump here.

A Day In The Life Of.....

A friend and reader of my blog gave me a very stern talking to the other day. She said I am not updating my blog enough. I explained to her that my excuse, um I mean reason, was that I have been so busy living the life that blogging about the life had not been taking such a priority.

I do understand where she coming from though. I am always looking forward to the next post of some of my favourite sites as well. I have enjoyed the new frequency with which Libby blogs and I love that she writes about her ups and her downs and makes the rest of us feel so normal !

So, just for my friend and blog reader ( you know who you are!) I will write a post detailing all the in and outs of a day in my life. Switch off now for those of you who may be totally bored with this, lol.

Saturday 10th April.

I got out of bed at 4.30am and snuck into my office for some quiet time. I read, updated my list of what I was going to do for the day, downloaded some photos and checked my menu plan and shopping list.

Once the sun was up I got ready and went for a walk down along the river bank and watched a lonely rower make a small but rhythmic wake along the water. When I got home I did some weights.



After a shower and some breakfast I made beds, vacuumed rooms, did all the washing and tidied the kitchen. My eldest son helped me vacuum.

Next I went to IGA supermarket for some groceries and came home and baked cup cakes.





After hanging out all the washing on the line ( it was a perfect drying day) I came inside and set a timer for 15 minutes then I put my feet up and had a little power nap to revive me because I had started so early in the morning.

Once the timer went off I sprung back into it again.

I finished doing a few jobs round the house, said goodbye to the boys who were going off to ride their scooters and organised myself ready to go to a scrapbooking workshop.

I had stopped going to workshops for a little while, but found that I didn't devote enough time to really keeping my albums up to date. I love to record our family story and write letters to the boys about photos I have taken of them.



Here's a photo from my youngest son's album. He was a scooter freak even way back then!
So after a couple of hours of chatting and cutting up pieces of coloured paper for therapy I headed home.

The place where the workshop is held is way over the other side of town. I always take the back road home because it is a dirt track through farming land and I dream of what it would be like to live out there.




It's about 5.30pm when I get home and I make some pasta for dinner while the boys play ball games in the front yard. I call them in for a bath and notice that their feet are so black they have to take to them with a scrubbing brush! School holidays always means no shoes and lots of play!



Hubbie and I sit down to some cheese and biscuits and a glass of wine and then we all have dinner.

The boys go to bed and read/ play. The youngest one camps in the eldest boy's room when it is a weekend or school holidays. On school nights he sleeps in his own room because they giggle and fool around and don't get much sleep otherwise!



We sit down to watch a DVD. At the moment we are watching ( and loving!) the BBC's series, Life on Mars. I fall asleep while I am getting a lovely foot massage. When the end credits roll I wake up and hop into bed. By this time it is about 9.30pm and I am asleep before my head hits the pillow, ready for another bright and early morning.