Zali's Christmas To-Do List

Friday, 24 December 2010

Zali has been very busy lately - her to do list must look something like this:

1. Wrap Presents

2. Write Christmas Cards

3. Tidy Room

4. Give little brother a late-night haircut (ensuring to hide evidence under bed)

This isn't the first time it has happened either.  This time though, we couldn't live with the results so Jonno had to take to Jett's lovely stripey strawberry blonde hair with clippers...I couldn't bear to watch. It's ok now.. sort of. I can't bring myself to post an 'after' photo quite yet though.


Snapshot : 7.14pm

Thursday, 23 December 2010

Normally our house would be a hive of activity at this time of day. The kids would be somewhere along the dinner, bath, book, bed assembly line, and Jon and I would be cleaning up or making new messes in the kitchen.

Tonight though, we're clearly in holiday mode as the house is silent except for the occasional exploding sound effect from Jett as he destroys his lego creations with the swiss excercise ball. 

 

Happy Hikers

Wednesday, 22 December 2010

Married happy hikers would be more correct today. I delivered this cake yesterday to a venue 30 minutes south and up a long long very steep and bumpy gravel road.  Happily there were no mishaps and the hikers got their cake in tact. 

Lovely Jett

Tuesday, 14 December 2010

Today was our lovely Jett's last day ever of Creche. He's only been going one day a week this year.

I was actually a bit sad when I picked him up today as he's been at the creche since he was just 6 months old and it really has been fantastic.   I won't miss the bills though! Roll on free childcare! I mean school.

Creepy

Monday, 13 December 2010

Nope this isn't the arachnid display at the museum, these are the invitations to Zali's Spooky party, lined up ready to be delivered. The magnets(hot glued) onto the spiders were handy so we could arrange them on the fridge in the same order as her school photo to make sure we hadn't missed anyone.   The tags were made out of old manilla folders, printed with the details. Then I put the holes in them with those rivet thingies which we had on hand from some other project.  Then some ye-olde-style string and presto - creepy invites I'm sure you'll agree. 


The Garden

Sunday, 5 December 2010

Jon has been doing more than just purchasing Christmas lights this weekend though. He's been mulching, weeding, clipping, netting, mowing and fertalising up a storm and the garden looks fantastic. Also this year we are going to get our first bumper crop of raspberries - horay! We've also got a lot of passionfruit flowers which are just amazing when you see them close up.

Do not leave this person unattended.

Sunday, 5 December 2010

This is what I saw when I returned  from an overnight trip to Devonport with mum. And that's only part of the new Christmas decorations which have suddenly appeared all over the place.


Zali

Friday, 3 December 2010

There are many ways in which Zali and I are alike... from looking at baby photos we certainly looked alike.  We both keep messy rooms, we both love craft and we both do our best work late at night when we really should be asleep. And I suspect when she is older Zali will also worship the twin gods of sport and questionable television.

This however, is where we are not the same... Firstly, I have never held a fish like that. Certainly not one that I caught at After School Care that afternoon. I would never ask if I could hold it on the way home in the car. I would never watch Jon doing his fish filleting from about an inch away (in fact I found this so gross I had to go outside while this was happening).  And I would certainly never, ever, finish up the afternoon by eating the fish and lamenting that there was not more.

I think this is probably a good  thing.  

But as a side note, how cool is it that they can do that at After School Care. The beach is 30 seconds walk away and apparently every kid (of about 20) pulled in a fish that afternoon although only a couple were big enough to keep. Yay Hobart. Oh apparently this is an Australian Salmon and according to Zali and Jon, it tastes great. ugg.

Two Colour Success!

Saturday, 27 November 2010

Regular readers will know that I've been dabbling in screen printing lately (heaven knows I really need a new creative outlet). Anyway, up until now I've had mixed success with two colour printing, in fact not even mixed success, I've had no success. I have trouble registering the stencils and the shirt resulting in the 2nd colour being about 1 inch away from where I had planned.  I've washed away the results (also with mixed success) so I can't show you any examples.  However in the last few days I've managed to get a system that works - at least when I'm only trying to print one shirt at a time - i.e. if I was printing a run of 10 the 2nd colour would still be so far off I'm sure it would end up next to the letterbox.

So here are my recent prints -the space invaders for Jon, and a jet t-shirt for Jett. 

 

 

 

Lamingtons

Thursday, 25 November 2010

From thoughts of Norway it's back to Australia and how Australian is making lamingtons. Actually it's probably more Australian to buy lamingtons from Coles as they are actually quite tricky to make - really!  Our first batch is there on the left on the left behind the nice fluffy looking cake - they didn't rise at all and were so rubbery they could bounce.  Take 2 was better (it turned out I needed to whisk rather than beat the eggs, and do it for twice as long) - and the end result was delicious.  Zali made lamingtons almost by herself a few weeks ago and I must say her first try was somewhere between take 1 and take 2 today - so I'm even more impressed with her efforts now.

Skating

Thursday, 25 November 2010

It's pretty close to 20 year ago since I last went ice skating. It was during my Lillehammer au pair days and I was lucky enough to get a fantastic winter working on my ski-ing and skating skills.  I even joined the Lillehammer Womens Icehockey team and progressed from the person going hand-over-hand around the side-rails at training, to being on the 2nd (of 4) string lineup (just) which meant I would get about 1/3 of a game each week. Anyway - it's all so long ago it feels like a dream. An idyllic dream. One of the really fun things was taking 5 year old Bjorn up to the local ice hall (and at a 10 minute walk away it was very local) to skate around on beautiful freshly laid ice in a huge hall. I think it cost about $1 for a session like that.   At the start of winter, our skills were pretty similar! By the end of winter, as I would skate 3 or 4 times a week, I'd manage to kick on a bit skill-wise.

So anyway today, roughly 20 years since last time, I took Jett for a skate. To tell the truth I didn't think he'd even dare to go on the ice but in a turn-up similar to Zali's sudden little-athletics urge, Jett was keen to have a go and wasn't bad at all - easily equivalent to where I was 20 years ago.  It was fun. The ice was um.. not quite the same standard as the olympics primed venue I'd been at, it cost $26 for both of us and it was about 1/4 of the size - but still it was fun. In fact it was probably good 20 years had passed since I was such an ice-snob when I got back from Norway I probably wouldn't have deigned to set skate on such conditions.


Huon Show

Monday, 15 November 2010

The other exciting thing about last weekend was of course the Huon Show.  I was delighted to win the decorated Christmas Cake first prize, and the froggy cake was 2nd in the special occasion cake section which was cool.  Most excitingly was Jon's cake, which, after leaving a trail of kitchen mess, took out equal first prize in a big field. So cool!  Our floral efforts were not quite so successful though - but hopefully the kids still thought it was fun to exhibit.

We love Sheffield

Monday, 15 November 2010

..and we love Silver Ridge Retreat. It's not about the cabins themselves (although they are cosy with wood heaters), it's more about the location - at the foot of Mt Roland and on land with horses, ducks, a pond with lilypads, an old silver-mine, walks, a swimming pool etc etc. Also the owners are really nice - last time we stayed (almost 2 years ago)  we left Zali's mattress protector on the bed and about 4 days after I rang them to ask if they could send it down, it turned up hand delivered on our door step. This is in stark contrast to the place we stayed at near cradle mountain who refused to give let us use a dvd player despite our desperate pleas and they also had a big mean sign up saying 'WE WILL ON NOT SEND ANY LEFT ITEMS'..  blurk.

Anyway - Sheffield is in the north west of tassie. Close enough to cradle mountain to do some long day trips, and also close to tonnes of other activities and walks and runs and rides and caves and things. We spent the drive home thinking of ways that we could come back and stay for longer.   We were there for just one night because Jon was doing the Mt Roland race which I did a few years ago.  He did well despite constant rain and a 10 minute detour up the wrong track. 

Today

Friday, 12 November 2010

Today was quite a day.

  • It started at 1am when I was still awake after a close basketball game that only started at 10pm the night before.
  • Then at 6am I had to get up to go for a paddle.
  • Paddling was nice, then I rushed home, so I could rush out the door and be at work by 8.30
  • At 11.30 I left work and scootered up a long hill to get to Zali's swimming class on time.
  • After watching the class I was back at my desk by 12.15
  • Which meant I was had a little bit of time before I had to leave for Royal Tennis at 12.45
  • At tennis I played the first round of the Australian Amatuer Ladies Championships and was duly (yet courageously if you ask me) knocked out 6-1, 6-1
  • I was back at my desk, still very sweaty by 2pm.
  • I put in a whole 1 hour and 50 minutes of work before scooting off to the car and then to mum's to meet Jon, the kids, the cakes and the flowers which were bound for Huonville Show's Hall of Industries. Luckily we could leave the mess behind.
  • We made it to Huonville with a whole 10 minutes to spare before entries closed.  Jon was excited to discover that the 'Cake Made By A Male' section was very popular this year. His twitter feed describes his day of baking.
  • nb: There should also be a 'Cake Made by a Group of Males' competition although they'd probably all miss the deadline. ha ha ha
  • And now we're home again we've just got to pack for a busy weekend. Although compared to today it will probably feel quite slow!

before & after #20

Friday, 12 November 2010

 The bit of cake decorating that I like the most is the 2nd last bit, where all the bits come together to make the final product. It normally takes way less time than the rest of the process and the result is generally really satisfying. The very last bit is delivery and normally that is just a pain!

Anyway - this is my 2nd cake destined for the Huon Show. It's called 'Kiss Me'.


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2010summary
Zali's Christmas To-Do List Friday, 24 December 2010
Snapshot : 7.14pm Thursday, 23 December 2010
Happy Hikers Wednesday, 22 December 2010
Lovely Jett Tuesday, 14 December 2010
Creepy Monday, 13 December 2010
The Garden Sunday, 5 December 2010
Do not leave this person unattended. Sunday, 5 December 2010
Zali Friday, 3 December 2010
Two Colour Success! Saturday, 27 November 2010
Lamingtons Thursday, 25 November 2010
Skating Thursday, 25 November 2010
Huon Show Monday, 15 November 2010
We love Sheffield Monday, 15 November 2010
Today Friday, 12 November 2010
before & after #20 Friday, 12 November 2010
before & after #19 Thursday, 11 November 2010
In2aNest Sunday, 7 November 2010
In2Cricket.. Sunday, 7 November 2010
Sunday Drawers Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Silk Screening Sunday, 31 October 2010
Unusual Goings-On Sunday, 31 October 2010
LeBron McComb Thursday, 28 October 2010
Light and Space Wednesday, 27 October 2010
Cake me Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Home Jewellery: Day 4 Friday, 15 October 2010
Home Jewellery: Day 3 Thursday, 14 October 2010
Home Jewellery: Day 2 Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Home Jewellery: Day 1 Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Busy Busy Sunday, 10 October 2010
Beautiful Green Adelaide Wednesday, 29 September 2010
kaboom.. Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Sculpture Park Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Meerkat vs Panasonic Thursday, 23 September 2010
Pleasing the little people Thursday, 16 September 2010
Supermarket Rage Thursday, 16 September 2010
Letterbox man part III Monday, 13 September 2010
Shopping List Friday, 10 September 2010
Someone stop me.. Friday, 10 September 2010
Pirate Iconology Friday, 10 September 2010
Treasure Chest Thursday, 9 September 2010
Catching the winter sun.. Wednesday, 8 September 2010
and meanwhile.. Monday, 6 September 2010
Be afraid.. Monday, 6 September 2010
Reedip Friday, 3 September 2010
Amplified Friday, 3 September 2010
Snow day Friday, 3 September 2010
Cake Basics Friday, 3 September 2010
Dexter goes to the circus Friday, 27 August 2010
Cooking Adventures Thursday, 26 August 2010
Winter Challenge Sunday, 22 August 2010
Bad Fairy. Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Party On. Sunday, 15 August 2010
A rambly story with no real point told in 3 parts. Tuesday, 10 August 2010
T-Rex overload Monday, 9 August 2010
Morning Views Monday, 9 August 2010
Some things never change.. Monday, 9 August 2010
Distractions Monday, 9 August 2010
.. Thursday, 5 August 2010
Home Decorating 101 - Part 2 Wednesday, 4 August 2010
Home Decorating 101 - Part 1 Wednesday, 4 August 2010
Ok this really is exciting Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Exciting News.. Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Voila! Wednesday, 28 July 2010
Mystery Present! Friday, 23 July 2010
Kids Art Tuesday, 20 July 2010
Ice Patterns Monday, 19 July 2010
Happy Birthday to Me! Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Botanicals Monday, 12 July 2010
Yay ! CakeWoman courses are go! Monday, 12 July 2010
Weekends Sunday, 11 July 2010
Test Kitchen Thursday, 8 July 2010
Visitors Thursday, 8 July 2010
Tramway Trail Thursday, 8 July 2010
The McComb Show Thursday, 8 July 2010
It's time to leave... Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Gnot Gnocchi Again! Monday, 28 June 2010
Outdoor projects Saturday, 26 June 2010
iSkillMe Friday, 25 June 2010
How to play in the World Cup Thursday, 24 June 2010
Sculpture trail Tuesday, 22 June 2010
My Dad by Jett Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Little craft moment Tuesday, 22 June 2010
House News Thursday, 17 June 2010
Toofless Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Cake Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Isn't this how you are supposed to do it? Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Hair Cut Sunday, 6 June 2010
Road Trip Monday, 31 May 2010
coolness Sunday, 30 May 2010
bowling Thursday, 20 May 2010
before & after #18 Thursday, 20 May 2010
Clarification.. Friday, 14 May 2010
Still looking good Friday, 14 May 2010
My Homage to Norwegian Grass Roofed Houses Thursday, 13 May 2010
Unfinished stuff Thursday, 13 May 2010
What the.. Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Now where did I leave that baby? Sunday, 2 May 2010
Cakes Saturday, 1 May 2010
On the topic of food Thursday, 29 April 2010
Pies vs Tarts Saturday, 24 April 2010
What day is it? Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Luna Park Monday, 19 April 2010
Snake Handling Monday, 19 April 2010
Holidays Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Bush : 1 Cathy : 0 Tuesday, 13 April 2010
What's on the box? Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Back on the chain gang Saturday, 27 March 2010
Fresh Flowers Saturday, 27 March 2010
Afternoon Activities Friday, 26 March 2010
Milestones Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Surprise Camping Sunday, 14 March 2010
Nice recovery... Thursday, 11 March 2010
help.. Thursday, 11 March 2010
More Guests! Tuesday, 9 March 2010
Soggy Sunday Sunday, 28 February 2010
Huntsman Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Gorilla Knitting Monday, 22 February 2010
Tropfest 2010 Monday, 22 February 2010
Finally! Saturday, 20 February 2010
Not like the olden days Sunday, 14 February 2010
Back to School! Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Product Review - Gelli Baff Monday, 8 February 2010
Success! Monday, 8 February 2010
Cupcakes anyone? Sunday, 7 February 2010
Craft Corner Sunday, 7 February 2010
Stripey Cake Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Holiday Part 2 : Hastings Caves & Thermal Pool.. Thursday, 28 January 2010
Australia Day 2010 Thursday, 28 January 2010
Holiday Part 3 : Cockle Creek Thursday, 28 January 2010
Holiday Part 1 : Ida Bay Railway.. Thursday, 28 January 2010
beware innocent looking babies.. Thursday, 28 January 2010
Summer Holidays Friday, 22 January 2010
Local Flowers Thursday, 21 January 2010
Zali's Party Sunday, 17 January 2010
Not quite the Australian Open Sunday, 17 January 2010
Love that floor Sunday, 17 January 2010
Working Out Sunday, 17 January 2010
Scooter Adventures Thursday, 7 January 2010
Pirate Beads Thursday, 7 January 2010
Old School Thursday, 7 January 2010
KI Photos Sunday, 3 January 2010
SA Road Trip Sunday, 3 January 2010
Happy Birthday Zali!! Sunday, 3 January 2010