Kookora Street 1962 and 2013

 

1962 Dad, little sister, Mum and my Dear Husband is almost 2 years old

 

2013 and still functioning as flats

 

Moving to the country was a little bit easier for Dear Husband, he was born in this town and lived here until he was 29, other than the years he spent at university.  He doesn't have any family here now but he has a large circle of great friends who have made our move so much better.  Dear Husband's dad and his bride arrived in this town in 1959 and moved into this red brick block of four flats and they raised a family of 4 children within the two bedrooms for 6 years until they moved out into their brand new family home in 1966. 



Ruby and the frog in her water bowl

 

Ruby is a movie star now thanks to my daughter operating the camera and me for finally working out how to upload it and post it on here.  She is a four year old chocolate (liver......chocolate sounds so much nicer!) spotted Dalmatian who is pretty timid when she encounters anything new and a frog in her water bowl was certainly new to her.  We heard her crying and we came running out the back door to find her a quivering mess, we raced back in and found the camera and sadly missed her most scared moments but I'm sure you get the idea.  Darling Daughter was really worried that she would eat the frog............she didn't, no harm done at all.  We moved the frog into a big water filled pottery bread crock in our garden and he stayed around for a few days safe from Ruby's slobbering mouth. 

I live in the country now.................

...............and this is what I see when I'm travelling to my shop.  I had to stop yesterday on my way home to photograph this ewe with her triplets.  We've had a bit of rain this week so the paddocks have a tinge of green and they are full of little white bundles of joy.  This is where all the wonderful Australian wool I love knitting and crocheting with  begins it's life.  These aren't the best photos, they were taken out of the open passenger window with a zoom lens, I didn't want to spook the new mum too much.  

A new twist on curried sausages in the slow cooker

As you have probably worked out I love Dear Husbands slow cooker.  Yesterday I decided to give his favourite cold weather meal a trial in the slow cooker, I didn't use his old recipe of curry powder, boiled sausages and rounds of carrots either.

1 tablespoon olive oil
8 butcher quality low fat beef sausages
2 brown onions sliced
2 teaspoons of mild curry powder
1 cup of beef stock
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
400g tin cannellini beans rinsed well in cool water
4 medium potatoes peeled and quartered
1 cup frozen peas
1 handful of sultanas

Fry onions and sausages in olive oil until onions are soft and sausages are browned on stovetop.  Add curry powder and cook until it becomes fragrant then add beef stock, tomatoes, cannellini beans and potatoes. Cover with lid and place into slow cooker and cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.  When cooked, removed sausage skins that have separated from the sausages, add peas and sultanas let them warm through then serve sausages on a warmed plate topped with the vegetables and sauce.  Beautiful meal and so little washing up!

Happy, happy, another Liberty tana lawn shirt

This is one of my favourite old Liberty patterns. I found a whole long sleeved shirt at a small country town charity store to add to my collection of shirts that one day will become a quilt.  

Surfer Boy was born to surf

I've just come across these fabulous photos of Surfer Boy in action when he went to Indonesia last year with a group of mates on a month long surfing holiday.  I hope he's heading over there again this year, boys surfing trips are just what young men need.  He's away surfing this week with the Navy surf team at the inter forces surfing comp, not bad being paid to surf.  Surfer Boy has been surfing since he was about 11 and he is addicted, he lives to surf.

UPDATE - Surfer Boy came in 4th overall in the comp.  He improved on his result last year so he was very happy.  Apparently the Navy won the comp overall, great result.
 

Pea and ham soup in the slow cooker

Dear Husband wanted a slow cooker for Christmas and he got one, it's the best appliance I've used for along time!  This one you can brown onions/meat in the removable non-stick metal pan on the stove top then add all the other ingredients and pop it back into the slow cooker base.  Fantastic and so easy to clean.  

I made this fabulous soup last week and it was so good I have to share my recipe with you.

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 medium brown onions finely chopped
3 sticks of celery diced
3 carrots diced
500 g green split peas washed very well in cool running water until water runs clear
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 kg of ham hocks  (I used two and they were about 1.3kg)
2 litres water

Fry garlic and onion until soft then add all the other ingredients and cook in a slow cooker with the lid on for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low setting.  When cooked removed ham hocks and carefully with a fork and tongs remove all the tender ham and return it to the soup.  Serve with crusty bread and its a hearty complete meal for a cold winters day.  Enjoy!

Missing my favourite daughter

choosing her kitten 14 years ago

rocking it

year six formal

most recent

365 days old

a water babe

12th birthday

a broulee nipper

I've just had my first Mothers Day without any children and it wasn't the best one I've ever had.  Darling Daughter is overseas holidaying and I'm sure she's having a fabulous time but I do miss her cheeky face.  Surfer Boy winged his way to the Gold Coast for a birthday celebration and a bit of warmer weather, he flew the coop a few years ago.  I guess I've had my kids for almost 21 years now and sadly I have to accept that we can't all be together on special occasions like we once were.  My favourite son sent me a beautiful bunch of flowers on Sunday and that was a most welcome surprise.  

We are good friends........really

not happy

that's my comfy and warm cat bed

i'm sulking

i fit in here perfectly

not happy

so comfy and warm inside

How wrong I was...............

.......this sight made me very sad on Friday morning on my way over to our shop.  It's almost all gone.  Demolished!