Blogging Break

Will be away from blogging and the internet over the holidays.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Dinner Out

George technically finished work on Friday for the holidays so we celebrated with dinner out that evening. We ran into a few stumbling blocks during the day and I almost cancelled but with faith persevered and had an absolutely lovely time.



We hopped on the ferry for the half hour ride up the river and admired all the lights. Who knew a ferry ride with a boat load of passengers could still be romantic. The meal turned out to be average but spending the evening with my husband was wonderful.

Dinners with George

George prepared some delicious meals last week. We had everything from green curry chicken to scrambled eggs and toast. We tried a new salmon recipe that we both enjoyed and decided to add it to the "regular dishes" list. I've included the recipe at the bottom. It's really easy.

I have a sore foot (which is the reason for the cooking holiday) and George has been busy studying for an up coming exam this week so we've tag teamed dinners. It's been a week of looking in the frig, freezer or cupboard and throwing something together. So far so good chicken pesto pizza, chili and good old scrambled eggs yet again. They never get old in our house. We didn't plan the kitchen team work but helping each other has helped each of us as well. George gets back to his studying quicker and I'm not on my foot as long.

Friday is his last day of work before Christmas holidays. We've decided to go out to a fancy restaurant to celebrate. I'm usually in casual clothes and flip flops so it will be a nice change to get dressed up.

Here's the recipe.
I received it from a friend but I believe it originally came from a Nigella Lawson cookbook.

Spiced Salmon

1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cayenne powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cocoa powder (optional)

Mix the above ingredients together.
Dredge salmon fillets in mixture.
Wrap in foil.
Bake or grill

Menu Plan Monday

I'm on holidays from cooking for a couple of weeks, so no Monday Menu Plan.

George is looking after the kitchen and he's more of a "What do I feel like eating tonight" sort of guy as opposed to to a scheduled menu.

He's actually been in the kitchen now for a couple of weeks. It's just taken me this long to figure out that when he's in the kitchen I don't need to be planning what we are having. He's quite capable of deciding for himself. :)

He's a great cook, can't wait to see what we're having tonight!

Monday Menu Plan

Well, last week was pretty much a write off after Tuesday so a few meals are being carried over.

Monday: Lime Chicken Picante with Cucumber and Coriander Salad
Tuesday: Riverboat Shrimp, Long Grain Rice and Roasted Veggies
Wednesday: Spiced Salmon, Green Beans, Baked Potato
Thursday: Phad Thai
Friday: Left Overs
Saturday: Company - away for the day
Sunday: Chicken BLT Salad

You can find lots of new menu ideas at orgjunkie

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Lamb Burritos (didn't end up having them last week)
Tuesday: Steak, Tossed Salad, Spicy Sweet Potatoes
Wednesday: Spiced Salmon, Green Beans, Long Grain Rice
Thursday: Left Overs
Friday: Date Night- dinner out
Saturday: Lime Chicken Picante, Cucumber and Coriander Salad
Sunday: Pepperoni, Bocconcini and Basil Pizza

You can find lots of new menu ideas at orgjunkie

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Dinner out with friends
Tuesday: Turkey Chilli
Wednesday: Bacon Avocado Burgers
Thursday: Lamb Burritos with Corn Salsa
Friday: River Boat Shrimp and roasted veggies with rice
Saturday: Left Overs
Sunday: Roast Chicken Dinner

For more menu ideas check out orgjunkie

Craft and Quilt Fair

A couple of Fridays ago I ventured out on the ferry. I headed across the river in pursuit of the Annual Quilt and Craft Fair. It wasn't to hard to find as there were lots of ladies heading in the same direction. I had never been to a quilt fair before so I was quite excited and I certainly wasn't disappointed. There were so many beautiful quilts.

Block Quilt

Memory Quilt

There was also a display of quilts made by the partners or family members of veterans. Each quilt was full of memories of a lost and loved soldier. Each one had a write up beside it, a tribute to the soldier, a loving story or a poem. Some spoke of fond memories others of the difficulties faced after returning from war but the recurring theme in each was love.

After the quilt section was the guild section. A long row of stands that looked to be never ending; cross stitch, embroidery, paper making, lace making, quilting. I was in search of the rug hooking guild but never did find it.

Next....... all the vendors selling their wares! Wow was this part fun. There were crafty people everywhere! There were elderly women, middle age women, young women, mom's with children, moms without the children, mom's with their moms' and even a few supportive husbands. Everyone was chatting eagerly about the crafts/quilts they had seen, what they would buy and what they were going to do with it. It certainly was a place that would get the ole' creative juices flowing.

After awhile all the booths started to look the same but I discovered that most had an eye catching name which helped me remember which row I was in. There was Peppermint Stitches, Thread and Ginger, Giggle Buttons, Pickle Mouse Corner to name a few. They were just fun names!

It was a wonderful day but as a rookie quilt fair goer I learned a few lessons for next time.
1. Go with a friend, as much fun as it was on my own I think it's a must with friends. I missed you MiPa.
2. Take homemade craft bag to hold stash.
3. Take lunch, it really is a day trip and energy is a must!

Time Flies

Five months between posts..... I didn't intend to leave that length of time between enteries but here it is October already.

Here's an update.

Since May, George's parents have been to visit, I've been home to Canada to visit a family member who's been in the hospital (she's still ill but on the slow road to recovery) and upon returning to Australia we moved house. We are still in the country, just a few hours drive up the coast, well quite a few hours drive up the coast.

Here's a bit of our journey over the past 2 months.

We started with a yard sale. George LOVES going to yard sales and I think he liked having one almost as much.

We had loads of fun that day. Our plan was to get started at the usual yard sale start time of 8:00 am but by 7:15 there were knocks on the door. I found this quite funny...people knocking at the door so early. After the 6th time I answered the door (it wasn't funny by this point) we decided to open up shop. Apparently with the city being so transient there is quite a market for yardsale items and it has become a business venture for quite a few people and as they say...the early bird gets the worm!

We met some lovely people that day. There was the gentleman who's son was moving into his first apartment and he was out picking up some things to help him out, then there was the little boy who's dad got him the homemade bean bag chair that we had also picked up at a yard sale and then there was the lady who had this wonderful Scottish accent. I mentioned to her that she sounded just like a friend of mine back in England. She asked where my friend was from and as it turned out this lady I had just met was from a neighbouring community. It really is a small world.

A few days later, after cramming everything we could into suitcases and cleaning the house we were finally ready to head out on our next adventure. The car was over packed and loaded down but we were on our way! It was a couple days drive, we took our time and after a few stops along the road, including the Macadamia Castle..... a must for any macadamia nut loving tourist, we arrived at our new home town. Well I guess I should say new home city. We have never lived right in the middle of a city before so this is a new experience.

Monday Menu

After a two week holiday from work, routine and regular eating habits we're getting back into the groove.

Monday: Anniversary - out for dinner - Moraccan
Tuesday: Greek style Chicken with tzatziki, spinach salad
Wednesday: Steamed Sweet Chilli Salmon, brown rice and peas
Thursday: Beef Stirfry over rice
Friday: Chicken, tomato, basil and feta spaghetti
Saturday: left overs
Sunday: Pizza

For other menu ideas check out: orgjunkie

Happy Anniversary

13 years ago today I married my best friend. Happy Anniversary George, I love You!

Power Lifting

George competed in his first power lifting competition last weekend. It was held at our gym. He had an adrenalin filled afternoon of squats, bench press and dead lifts and came home with an award for "up and coming power lifter." Way to go George!

Monday Menu

Monday: Turkey Meatloaf, brown rice, steamed asparagus, peas
Tuesday: Salmon, baked potato, steamed carrots, broccoli
Wednesday: St. Tropez Chicken, roasted veggies
Thursday:Tortillia Pizzas
Friday: out for dinner
Saturday: away for the day
Sunday: Grilled flathead, steamed potatoes, brocoli and carrots


For other menu ideas check out
orgjunkie

Rain

It rained the other day, for about 30 minutes, hard at first and then a sprinkle before it disappeared all together. It was wonderful but in a country that is in the middle of a very serious drought it wasn't even a drop in the bucket. Although it didn't last long it was a time to be savored. Hearing the rain hit the roof, seeing the droplets on the windows, the sound of the water on the streets as the cars drove through puddles,the fresh smell in the air after it was all over. I wanted to go out and join the birds who were thoroughly enjoying themselves. It must have been "bird bath day" They were so happy you could hear it in their chirping. I haven't heard so many birds singing for ages. It was beautiful!

Monday Menu

Monday: Green Curry Chicken
Tuesday: Lamb Burritos with Corn salsa
Wednesday: Roast Beef, Sweet Potato, Green Beans
Thursday: Left Overs
Friday: Dinner Out
Saturday:Greek Chicken with Tzatziki
Sunday: Pizza

Stitches

I've made a major discovery of late, well major in a crafty sense....if I take my quilt blocks with me when we are traveling in the car, I can get a lot of stitching done!

Company's Coming!

George's parents have been talking of coming to visit Australia since we arrived last June. It's now official, they arrive May 6th and are here for two weeks. It will be a few long flights for them but they will make a couple of stop overs to visit family along the way so hopefully that will break up the flying portions of the trip. It's a great opportunity for them to see this part of the world but we really appreciate them making the effort to get here. Thanks guys and see you soon!

Balloons Balloons Everywhere

Orange, red, green, blue, mulit colored, different shapes.....one thing they all had in common was their size, BIG!
This past weekend was the Hot Air Balloon Festival. Each morning for 4 days the city skyline was filled with balloons with the rising sun as their back drop. It was majestic.
George and I ventured out early Saturday morning to take in some of the festivities. Armed with coffee in the thermos we drove down to the Old Parliment grounds where the balloons were launching from. We had originally planned to be keeners and get up bright and early and walk down, however.... the eyes just didn't want to open.
We arrived just as the first balloons we taking flight. It was only 6:45am but there were people everywhere. The kids were so cute, some stood gazing at the balloons with their mouths wide open while the younger ones were fast asleep in strollers. We stayed for awhile, had coffee and raisin toast from a vender and after a quick tour through the rose garden (had been meaning to get there) then headed home....for a snooz.
For anyone who has been to the Albuquerque NM Balloon Fiesta this one was smaller but just as enjoyable....we missed you all!
That evening it was out for supper at a local Chinese restaurant. The Night Balloon Glow happened to be at the Cricket Oval across the street. We ate outside and had a great view of the balloon light show.
It was a great day from start to finish!

Monday Menu

Gee, just realized I haven't posted for a week. Hope to get a couple of entries up in the next few days.

Monday: Turkey Chili
Tuesday: Marinated Steak, roasted potatoes and steamed beans
Wednesday: Pork chops with fruit sauce, steamed potatos and broccoli
Thurday: Sweet Potato Red Lentil Soup, Honey Oatmeal Bread
Friday: Dinner Out
Saturday: Marinated Chicken and Veggie Skewers, brown rice.
Sunday: Pizza

Floorball 101

Wednesday's are George's night out with the boys playing floorball. He started a few weeks ago and really enjoys playing. The easiest way to describe it is to say it's similar to ice hockey but played with shorter sticks with plastic blades, smaller nets and a plastic whiffle type ball. The sport is about 7 years old and has really taken hold in the Scandinavian countries and gaining popularity elsewhere (mostly Europe). Canada has a team...ranked 22nd in the World. You can check it out here Floorball.

George's team is made up of Sweds, Fins, Aussies and George, the lone Canadian. They go by the name of "The Moose Hunter's". Why you ask...... because minus the Aussies they all come from countries that have...... moose. They played a solid game last Wednesday winning 8-2 . With some fancy footwork and stick handling George managed a hat trick, he was in the groove!

Aussie Slang

Just like moving to England there was a whole new language of "slang" to learn when George and I arrived down under. Words and phrases that made no sense last June/July are slowly becoming part of our vocabulary; sunnies - sunglasses, wettie - wet suit, docket - bill/ receipt, brickie - brick layer (ok so that one's not part of our daily lauguage but it's fun), chewie - chewing gum. One of the girls this morning at ladies group said a phrase I had never heard. I didn't get a chance to ask her about it so when I got home I found this
Aussie Slang site online. Check it out if you want to brush up on your " Aussie Talk".

Happy 40th!

Last Thursday was our friend Hessams 40th birthday. We celebrated with dinner at an Italian restaurant in Kingston, not far from us. The girls were so excited about eating out for dads bithday and getting all dressed up, they were full of giggles which was fun to see. We finished the evening off with chocolate zuchini cake and tea at our place. The girls had brought over Cludo (Clue back home) so we had a great game of "who dun it" with lots of laughs. Derek ended up winning.... Mrs White, in the hall with the rope!

Spring Forward, Fall Back

In the past few weeks Daylight Savings TIme and British Summer Time have started in North America and the UK. Their clocks have been set ahead one hour. Here in the South Pacific we have just done the opposite. This past Sunday our clocks were set back one hour. I was just starting to get a handle on the differences in time for calling friends and family when this happened, now confusion has set in! The clocks on the right are an easy way out (computer power instead of brain power) oh well, maybe I'll have it sorted by the time we "spring forward" in September!

Autumn

March 21st was the first official day of Autumn here in Australia. After years of spending the month of March anticipating spring, green grass, crocus, daffodils and tulips, we are now looking ahead to the changing colors of leaves, the harvest of crops and cooler temperatures.

Welcome

I started tossing around the idea of setting up a blog when I first found out George and I would be moving to Australia. It seemed like a good way to keep in contact with friends and family who would be half way around the world and to share a bit of Australian culture at the same time. That seems like ages ago now but better late than never.
My hope is that this blog will grow and develop over time as I do. So come along and join the journey.....Along the Road