Nearly There

We're in! It sure is lovely to be back in our own house after two years. The tenants left the house looking okay - there are a few small issues that are annoying and irritating but nothing heartbreaking (thank goodness) - but the yard looks terrible. There is so much work to be done and it will literally take me months to get it all done. BUT... we're home.

I have four boxes left to unpack (and they are full of teapots!) and my bedroom to finish sorting out and then I'm done. Not too bad considering we moved on the weekend (with the help of some very wonderful friends who we quite literally could not have doe without - thanks guys, you know who you are!), I spent several hours cleaning the other house, I've nearly finished unpacking and have already fitted in a trip to Port Red Dirt this week.

What have you been up to?

Moving House

'Nuff said?

I'll see you on the other side, in a week or so.

Thanks Little Brother!

My younger, but very much taller, brother sent us home a present last week. Some people might consider it kind of odd but we LOVED it! Can you work out what it is?

What if I give you a clue? He has a farm...

I'll give you another clue. Offspring #2 has taken to singing (*note - this is her version, in her own words LOL):

"Uncle M has a farm, ee-di-ee-di-oooooooooo

And on that farm he has some... seeeeeep! ee-di-ee-di-oooooooo

With a baa-baa here and a baa-baa there..."

Yep, it's some lovely fresh lamb! We got about a quarter (I think) of a sheep - chops, shanks, a lovely big roast, more chops, cutlets and some offcuts for the dog! He sure knows how to make this family happy.

Guess what we're having for dinner tonight???

An Old Favourite

We had Donna and her boys round for morning tea today. Although Donna and I, along with our respective younger offspring, catch up fairly regularly, the two 'big kids' don't get to see each other all that often. While we were all living in Red Dirt Central we saw each other at least three times a week and generally spoke to each other nearly every day. As long time readers would know we were very sad when they left town to come back to Perth and it has been wonderful to see them again since we've been back. Of course we stayed in touch with phone calls and emails (and she knew all about our happenings from this blog!) but nothing beats actually being in the same room. It was lovely to spend the morning catching up on all the news, sharing some yummy treats and watching the kids having a great time playing together.

I had grand plans to get up early and bake something fabulous but... let's just say I slept late then spent ages on the phone chatting to my brother and ended up throwing together an old, old, old favourite. Our after-school babysitter used to make this when I was in primary school and I loved it. I haven't made it for ages, probably 18months or more, and it was just as good as ever.

Chocolate Fruit Slice

The Australian Women's Weekly Cakes and Slices Cookbook

125g butter

1 cup self-raising flour

2 tablespoons cocoa

1/2 cup castor sugar

1 cup coconut

1/2 cup mixed fruit

1/4 cup chopped pecan nuts (I tend to use whatever I have in the cupboards, sometimes walnuts, sometimes just crushed peanuts)

Grease a 19cm x 29cm lamington pan, line base and sides with paper, grease well (um... well, I just chucked some greaseproof paper in the tin and was done).

Melt butter in saucepan, stir in sifted flour and cocoa, sugar, coconut, fruit and pecans. Press into prepared pan, bake in moderate over for about 20 minutes.

Leave in pan to cool (unless, like me, you're in a hurry - then pull it out and let it cool, still in the paper, on a chopping board). Spread with chocolate icing, sprinkle with extra coconut and slice.

Donna also bought a plate of goodies with her and they were terrific. She got the recipe for these Pick-Me-Up Muesli Bars from Ellie's blog and was very apologetic that hers weren't as pretty as Ellie's. I have to say that they tasted wonderful and prettiness, while having it's place in the world, is over-rated LOL.

Changes Part 2

Hubby quit his job today! He's been offered a new job in an entirely different field - he's got lots to learn although large parts of it are stuff he already knows or can already do. It's scary, risky, exciting, a huge decision and a fabulous opportunity. I'm so pleased for him.

Changes

There are lots of changes happening around here at the moment. I'm in the process of finishing up at work and will be starting a new job in about four weeks, Offspring #2 was 'promoted' at day-care and has moved up from the toddler room to the "little" big kids room, and we'll be moving house (again!) shortly so I thought it was about time I made some changes to the blog as well.

I gave it a little make-over, prettied things up a bit, added a few bits and tweaked a couple of others - actually there's more tweaking to be done so don't get too comfy just yet - and am reasonably pleased with my efforts.

What's your verdict?

What A Great Holiday!

We got back late Saturday night and spent Sunday unpacking the car and doing seemingly endless loads of washing.

We spent the week in Exmouth and had the most fabulous, relaxing, gorgeously WARM time. We've all come back tanned and cheery - not that anyone will be seeing my tan, it's buried under about five layers of clothes as Perth is absolutely freezing right now. We holiday-ed with the across-the-roads which was lovely. The kids enjoyed having each other for company and, for the most part, got along famously, and the grown-ups also enjoyed the company and having some-one to go fishing with (in the case of Hubby and Mr-across-the-road) and chat and drink wine with (in the case of me and Mrs-across-the-road).

And onto some pics:

We finally managed to get a pic under the 26th Parallel sign - we've only driven past it oodles of times over the last 12 or so years!

The kids

The coast

The girls playing at the beach

Offspring #1 lounging about

A beautiful pic of Hubby and his girl

Where Did The Week Go?

Another hectic and crazy week here in the hills. I've had a parent/teacher interview (school reports came out this week), did my trip up to Red Dirt Central - two jam packed days and dinner with friends in the middle, had people look through the house, loads and loads and loads of washing, got offered one job, had an interview for another job, attended #1's dancing demonstration after 10 weeks of lessons at school (we all got to do the birdy dance among other fun bits) and haven't had two minutes to myself.

When I left Offspring #1 had a 'crick' in his neck so was off school. Hubby manfully took charge of the occasion and stayed home with #1 and I believe they had a nice day together. Then #2 had an asthma/croup attack the night I was away and poor Hubby had very little sleep and another, not-quite-as-pleasant, day home from work. He was very relieved when I arrived home Wednesday night! We're hoping that some time in the warmer weather will help #2 to start feeling a little better.

Which leads me to my next point... we're heading off on holiday today. We're heading back up north for some warm weather - it's not all the way 'up' and it is somewhere we've been before. Bonus points if you can guess where we're heading! And it doesn't count if you're related to me or I saw you in person this week LOL. We've packed the suncream and swimmers, the boat is loaded and hitched up, I've been to the library and have a bagful of reading material, the dog's being babysat and we'll be off in an hour or so.

I'll see you in about a week and a half with pictures, stories and, if I'm really lucky, a little bit of a tan!