sporty kids

Oh where does the time go.......
Life has been busy here with the 3 children and their sporting prowess.
Millie and her oztag

That's her second from the left.  I was so proud of her.  The conditions were the worst ever, cold, raining, muddy and just miserable.  The girls were determined and put everything into it and won the series against NSW.

Then my two champion climbers off to Sydney for a whole week.  Battling against other states and climbers and just enjoying the competition.

day 1- los angeles

There was a surprise when we got to Los Angeles....a big stretch hummer to take all 9 of us.

Very comfortable with drinks and music, thanks Pop.

We had a few hours to kill before checking into the Grand California Hotel so of course we were off to the shops in downtown disney.  Nice hat Millie!

Found a Hagen Daas shop with ice cream and more. 

 Beautiful coffee, hot chocolate and hot fudge sundaes.

up up and away

Our plane trip was pretty uneventful.  Movies, food and a little sleep.

 

Mum hadn't been been on a plane for at least 15 years so she was a little anxious.

We were all so proud of her because we know the only reason she made the trip was to see her grandchildrens faces light up with all the new experiences she knew they were going to have.

2012 only just getting into it now....

I really must be showing my age because I really can't believe it's April already.
My blog has been very neglected. 
I am going to try to blog some memories from our family holiday to USA a few months ago.
The school year has been a smooth transition with all of my 3 teenage children at high school together.

I feel very contented being home here in Australia after our 4 weeks away.
The vegie patch has been quite productive with eggplant, tomatoes, capsicum as well as rocket, chives and basil.  I love pottering about down there and getting into the garden.  The passionfruit vine was laden and we have a bunch of bananas almost ready to cut down.

Felting with my little friends

I have been having a wonderful time passing on a new skill to a group of 11 and 12 year olds.

Felting is a very old craft.  

We lay 3 layers of wool fleece and then place a design on top.  

We then wet the fleece and work it - roll it and rub it to make felt!

These wonderfully talented kids worked through this process with me and designed some fantastic pieces.

Vibrant colours beautifully blended.

I bought them home and rinsed  and dried them and put them out on the grass on a rug to make a collage.

It is a very special feeling you get when you share things you love and value with others.

Thank you Amber and Jen for being my inspiration and giving me the love of felting.

What do you think?

Everyones creations

beautiful colours

toadstools, faces, apple trees, oceans....

butterflies, sunrise, LOVE, 2 green frogs....

yummy rice paper rolls

Pork and vermicelli rolls with vietnamese dipping sauce

This was my lunch today.

I had leftover pork and vegetable curry and rolled it up in rice paper with some fresh mint and a dipping sauce. 

Sooooo tasty.

Here is the Pork curry recipe

1 onion

garlic

500g pork mince

2 teaspoons red curry paste or yellow curry paste

1 cup light coconut milk

1 cup shredded chinese cabbage

1 tabsp shredded coriander

125g rice stick noodles

1. Saute onion and garlic in oil.
2. Add mince. Brown well. Mix in curry paste. Cook for 2 mins.
3. Blend in coconut milk cabbage and coriander. Simmer 2 mins
4. Stir through rice noodles. Simmer for 5 mins.  Serve topped with lime juice and chilli if desired.

Enjoy!

making damper

Balls of dough

Backyard fire

yummy damper

Jace cooking

damper cooking on stick

What fun these 2 had on the holidays.
They googled a recipe for damper.
Collected twigs from the backyard and found a spot to clear for a fire.
Rubbed their damper mixture and kneaded the dough.
Started the fire and let it get hot.
Wrapped the damper around a thick branch.
Turned it over and over to cook in the fire.
When the outside was golden they broke it of and smothered it in butter and golden syrup.
This was a real success boys, you planned it well and showed great initiative.