Weekend Wanderings - Brooklyn on the Hawksbury

Wow. It feels like forever since I have done one of these posts. I'm sure we must have taken trips out and about, but I obviously never paid them much mind.

Our destination this time was Brooklyn, on the Hawksbury river. It's a gorgeous little spot, and one that has always made me sigh with pleasure when I drive by.

We did a section of the Great North Walk. It's the first time baby Starfish has gone under his own power, rather than using the pram or the child carrier (We still had to carry him part of the way back, but it was way past his nap time, so I think that can be excused, ;) don't you? ). Some of the walk was really steep, but all the boys did splendidly. I am so proud of them!

We walked along until we hit the dam that supplies Brooklyn's water. The reflections were Monet-esq at that time of the day - I can only imagine how good they would have been earlier in the morning. We found animal trails in the sand, and there were ants galore. On the track. Beside the track. And lets not forget to mention termite nests in trees. Hubby showed the boys how to collect nectar from the bottle brush flowers and eat it... which they loved so much it took an age to move up the track. At least until they spotted the next plant anyway - then they ran up the track till they arrived at "honey destination". There also was this little cave off to the side of the track about half way along that opened from both sides, which we had to stop and have our photo taken in. You should have seen the masterful way hubby manhandled some fallen branches and twigs to set up an impromptu camera holder (that was about as high as he was) so we could all be in the photos.

We capped off the day at Pie in the Sky for lunch (near Cowan). If you are in the area, and you've never been before, the pies are yummy, and well worth stopping for. I had a Lamb, Honey, Chili and garlic pie. You might think that it sounds a quirky mix, but trust me, it works! They also do a couple of different salads, and wedges/chips/mashed potato etc. If you are a motoring enthusiast, it's also a bonus. We didn't see any noteworthy cars while we were there, (much to my Top Gear UK loving sons disappointment), but there were plenty of incredible looking bikes parked in the car park, which got their attention.

Chalk it all up to a fun-filled, memory-making day - one I hope we repeat again soon!

How did you spend your long weekend?

   Sheree xxx

Aspirations - and what happened instead.

At the beginning of this month, handsome hubby set off to Fiji for work for 11 days. While he was away I had the greatest of aspirations to spin out a few catch-up posts of an evening while the little people slept. Instead I played host to a friend for 10 days, supported my beautiful next door neighbour after her husband died, and in general tried to hold down the fort on my own. I don't think I even got to sit at my computer. I checked email on my phone, and chatted with hubs using the phone as well. Between the never ending cycle of cleaning, cooking, homework, and tending the garden, I think I fell into bed around midnight each night, and woke again around 6:30 - 7am each morning (aside from the nights the kids were unsettled, and when I got up at 4:30 one morning to take my In-laws to the train station so they could fly to WA!).

So here is a little photo recap of some of the things that have been happening around here.

Roses Valentine's week

From top left: Banana and Wisteria flower; Seedling sprouting; French Lavender; Baby Purple Potato plant.

1. I've never had my mint flower before. Probably because I usually eat it all before it gets that far!
2. Produce freshly dug - Purple Potatoes, Orange Sweet potato, and Fijian Sweet Potato (White on the outside, Purple on the inside and Oh. So. Sweet).
3. Basil and Parsley going crazy.
4. Evidence of my little helpers in the garden - there is something about seeing their little boots lined up that just melts my heart...

Heart craft. 

One day I might actually get this one finished, as well as some finished photos of the other ones.

Experimenting with Watermelon and Lime Granita

Developing a new-to-us cookie dough

So there you have it. One small slice of what has been going on. Oh but there is SO. MUCH. MORE. I'm not going to promise that you will get to see it (cos every time I do that, I fail miserably at it!), but I hope to share some more small tastes of what is going on in our world very shortly.

On that note, I'll leave you to your musings. Hope you all have a brilliant weekend!

Valentines Sneak Peek

I've been working for a little while at night on some of these...

I don't know what is going on with the colour... the red is more of a deep crimson.

Twenty Three little hearts. Hopefully I get them all finished tonight And I can show you tomorrow how it all turns out.

And on another note of beginnings, here is something else that I've been working on. Still in it's early stages yet, and the kids will be getting involved with this one! :)

Hope your day is splendid!

   Sheree xxx

Cleaning out the Fridge

I can't believe we have been home almost a month, and I'm only now just getting back into my blog space! The Jelly fish is back at school for his second year, Swimming lessons are just kicking off again, and there has been a parade of visitors through our front door ever since we got home. But what I really wanted to share with you today was this little bit of tastiness...

The Roast Pumpkin and Beetroot Wrap.

It's what you do when you arrive home late in the day from holidays and couldn't be bothered dragging yourself to the shops for groceries and everyone is hungry AND the fridge is basically empty. It's just a layer of mashed white beans (tinned) with some herbs/garlic salt mixed in, some thin sliced "fingers" of cheese, grated beetroot, some thinly sliced fingers of pumpkin that are fried in olive oil till just soft, and some shredded sweet potato leaves (because you don't have any lettuce in the fridge, but you DO have sweet potatoes growing out the back!) all wrapped up in a multi grain tortilla. YUM.

If you give it a go I'd love to hear what you think.

Bon appetit!

P.S. Sharing here:

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