Wagging school

After a very big weekend of partying, Spunky Monkey was a little overtired and crazy. By Tuesday he had hit rock bottom (disruptive, not listening, etc) His teacher asked me to keep him home for a day of rest.

What a lovely day it was, just us. We pottered about some op shops, getting some great bargains, 10 books for $9.00, you’ve got to happy with that. Back at home, we hung out, eating chocolate chunk cookies, reading, drawing, chatting. It was just so delightful to just be with him, with nothing else going on, no disruptions, no agenda. It seemed as if I heard him for the first time in a while. Clear your schedule and spend a couple of hours (at least) with your child, one on one. I highly recommend it.

A Medical Note: this will definitely cause your heart to swell.



This was my favourite find at the op shop



This was Spunky Monkey's choice, one for him and one for Miss Moo Moo



And here the others.

I was looking for some books that we didn't have on our shelf at home. They were: Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Billy Goats Gruff. I found them all today (and then some) Yay!

Party food

When asked what kind of food Spunky monkey wanted at his party he said:

• A Toad cake
• Chocolate cupcakes
• A big bowl of gummi bears



No problem, well except for the cake. I thought I was making a Toad cake until Saturday morning when I was informed that "No mum, I said a Frog cake, it has to be green". So a frog cake it was!

I thought I would share some of the other party food we enjoyed.



Sausage rolls

for the filling:
• 500 grams beef mince (or half beef and half pork)
• 1 onion (finely diced)
• 2 rashers bacon (finely diced)
• 2 carrots (peeled and sliced)
• 2 zucchinis (sliced)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 tables. parsley (finely diced)
• 1 egg
• 2 tables. worcestershire sauce
• 2 tables. tomato paste
• salt and pepper to taste

for the pastry:
• 3-4 sheets of pre-rolled puff pastry
• 1 egg (beaten)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. In a small frypan gently saute the onion and bacon. Meanwhile in saucepan, cook the carrot and zucchini until tender, puree and allow to cool. Put all of the filling ingredients into a large bowl and mix well. Cut each puff pastry sheet in half. Divide the mixture between the sheets, placing the mixture down the middle of each pastry portion. Roll to enclose, with the pastry seam underneath. Cut to the required length (I do party size) and place onto a greased tray. Brush with the egg and bake for 30-35 minutes. Serve with tomato ketchup.



Honey soy chicken wings

• 1.5 kilo. chicken wings

for the marinade:
• 2 tables. honey
• 2 tables. light soy sauce
• 2 tables. dark soy sauce
• 2 tables. sweet chilli sauce
• 2 tables. tomato ketchup
• 2 tables. sesame seeds

Mix all of the marinade ingredients in a large bowl and marinate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Place the chicken wings on a greased tray and cook for 45 minutes.

Birthday Bliss

Our little Spunky Monkey turned turned 5 yesterday and what a wonderful day we all had.



We spent the morning with Poppy and Tiya Ning, as they could not make it to our afternoon party. There were pancakes and presents and exploring at our favourite beach. Spunky Monkey loooves exploring, especially with his Daddy and Poppy.



The afternoon was spent at our local park with cousins and friends playing, climbing, bike riding, running, getting wet and getting dirty. Good pure 5 year old fun. A great afternoon.

After all the excitement, and there was a lot, it was lovely to be home in the evening, bathed and playing quietly with his Daddy, sister and new toys.

Thank you to all of our friends and family who shared this special day with us.

Of course I went to bed with a tear in my eye. Five! Who can believe that!

Flashback: Our little monkey turns one

A trip down memory lane.... Sorry it has to be done.



Our little boy’s first birthday. Blocks and books, cake and friends.

And our first ever Banana and Milo cake, now our birthday cake of choice. This recipe makes a large quantity, it's quick to make and easy to cut into shape. It tastes pretty darn good too.



Banana and Milo Cake

• 350 grams unsalted butter (softened)
• 300 grams caster sugar
• 6 eggs
• 3 ripe bananas (mashed)
• 350 grams self-raising flour
• 1/2 cup milo

Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Grease and flour a deep 25cm round cake tin. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until well combined. Fold in the bananas, then sift in the flour. Mix well and spoon into the prepared cake tin. Sprinkle the milo over the cake batter and swirl through the mixture with a butter knife. Bake for 1 1/2 half hours. Allow to sit in the tin for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Five days until five!

Here he is, Spunky Monkey, just 2 days old in the arms of his Grandpa. It seems just like yesterday, or does it?

In the last 5 years we have moved house 3 times. We have bought and sold 3 properties. We renovated 1 house (while 8 months pregnant). Mr Moo has changed jobs twice. Not to mention a few other major personal upheavals.....And all the while, this little one has been growing, growing, growing and will turn 5 years old on Sunday!

More like, where has this time gone? I feel as I have missed so much of it.

It's all to quick. STOP NOW and smell the roses.

True love

There wasn’t a lot of romance in our Valentine’s Day, but there was still a lot of love. We had a lovely lazy day spent with family and friends. A relaxing brunch at our favourite café and a fun afternoon at the beach.

When it was time to leave the beach, I told Miss Moo Moo we were going home for sausages and candles, because it was Valentines Day. She looked at me and said:

“Mum every day is Valentine’s Day when you are with people that you love.”

There you have it. LOVE, in it’s purest form.

Happy Valentine's Day

(This image is from this blog. Check out Leslie's beautiful collection of images)

Happy's Valentine's Day to all you lovers of love out there.

I hope you have a lovely day with the special people in your life.

Chicken soup for the soul

I just can’t seem to shake this flu. I am over the sore throat and head cold bit and now am just sooo exhausted. How to make myself feel better?

• I made a large pot of my Nana’s chicken soup. Homemade chicken stock (from the freezer) potatoes, onions, carrot, peas and macaroni. I know it is summer and 30 degress outside, but this is pure comfort food. My cousin’s and I ate this daily whenever we stayed at my Nana’s farm, which was often when we were all children.



• I made my children sit down and watch the “Sound of Music” with me. Well most of it anyway. I always, always watch this movie if I am sick or feeling sad.

• Went to dinner with my cousin and her husband. It was a stretch to get off the couch, but they were visiting from out of town for one night only. We had a lovely evening, a rare night off for all of us (no kids). I miss her dearly, she is like my sister. She is always a wonderful tonic to lift my spirits.

What things make you feel better on a blue day?

English love

I made this cushion (Project 35) on Friday out of an old British Naval Flag that I bought many, many years ago at Portabello Road Markets. It was very large and very fragile (the old linen tearing in places) I have never known what to do with it. Then I saw somewhere, or was it everywhere, pillows made from the Union Jack, so why not. I love it. And every time I see it, it seems to bring a little piece of England into our home. I met Mr Moo in England and I thoroughly loved the years I spent living there. It shaped who I am in many ways. England holds a piece of my heart, it always will.



10 things that make me feel warm and fuzzy inside when I think of England:

• My beautiful street filled with white cherry blossoms in the springtime.
• The lovely people I worked with, I was so lucky and blessed to have you in my life.
• Apple crumble and custard at the Chelsea Kitchen after a day (window) shopping on the Kings Road.
• The friends I made and the things we discovered together in London. Wonderful shops, bakeries, markets, galleries, coffee shops, restaurants, delicatessens. We shared some amazing theatre experiences and saw some great movies.
• Walking through Red Lion Square to work, kicking my way through the piles of autumn leaves.
• Cold Christmases. Mistletoe hanging in the doorway. Waking up to snow on Christmas morning. Picking out a live tree and lugging it home along the icy road. This is the way Christmas is suppose to be.
• Spending Saturday mornings at Portabello Road Markets, usually cold, then coming home to watch old movies and drink hot chocolate all afternoon.
• My English relatives. Very dear to my heart.
• Spending hours and hours in this book shop on winter afternoons
• Spiros (the chef I worked with) having a ham and swiss cheese croissant and coffee waiting for me when I arrived to work at 6:30am in the morning

More making

Still working on my ‘Things To Do’ list while the kids are at school.

Project 24: finished making Miss Moo Moo’s Valentines Day present
Project 25: made a Valentines Day present for Spunky Monkey
Project 26: made Mr Moo a Valentines Day present
Project 27 and 28: put new elastic in Spunky Monkey’s boardshorts and play shorts
Project 29: mended another woolen doll, who had lost an arm
Project 30: unpicked and remade a bag with bamboo handles and vintage fabric. (I’ve stolen my mum’s overlocker – very professional!)
Project 31: finished making a rattle as a gift for a friends little girl
Project 32: made a fabric love heart garland to hang in the study
Project 33: made Spunky Monkey a birthday present
Project 34: made new dresses for Miss Moo Moo’s fairy dolls.

Feeling under the weather

I have been feeling a little under the weather the last few days. So, I have been taking it easy, alternating between pots of ginger and honey tea and spiced ginger tea, nana napping and watching bad telemovies. (I couldn't be bothered putting in a dvd)

But I did manage this:
Project 22: 4 new blankets for the barbies
Project 23: mended a doll
Project 24: started Miss Moo Moo’s Valentines Day present

And…Oiled the wooden arms of my new (old) bedroom chair with this polish. Not because I wanted to, mind you. But the upholsterer rang to say my fabric has arrived, he was now ready to recover the chair. Mr Moo sanded the arms back and it was my job to oil it. So it had to be done.

The smell of lavender and rose furniture oil and pots of spiced ginger tea bubbling away on the stovetop made my house smell amazing. Add some soft jazz music and I was almost cured.

Ginger and honey tea

• 1 x 5cm piece of fresh ginger (peeled and thinly sliced)
• 3 teas. honey
• 1 lemon (juiced)
• 500 ml water

Add all the ingredients to a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain and serve.

Spiced ginger tea

• 1 x 5cm piece of fresh ginger (peeled and thinly sliced)
• 4 cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 5 whole cloves
• 500 ml water

Add all the ingredients to a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain and serve.

I'm off to make some more now.

Accomplishing

I thought that once Spunky Monkey went to school I would be out, shopping and lunching and going off to the movies. But instead I chose to deal with a rather large thorn in my side, our study. Mr Moo and I have always unaffectionately referred to it as the junk room. No matter where we have lived or how many times we have moved house (6) it has remained the same. Well no more, I have time to kill and all of those unfinished little projects will be finished.

I spent last Wednesday in sorting mode and finished the day with 4 large boxes of I don’t know what (I’ll deal with that later) and a row of projects stretched out across the lounge room floor. 41 sewing projects to complete! Hmmm, that’s just one cupboard. I don’t think I will look in the other cupboard just now.

But the good news is that 6 days later I have done this:



Project 1. Finished making a mummy lazy day skirt.
Project 2. Hemmed this blue and white fabric I got for $2.00 at the markets and now have a new tablecloth.
Project 3. Turned this aqua linen (bought 9 years ago) into 6 placemats
Project 4. A belt for me made out of Sprout offcuts.
Project 5. Turned this vintage tea towel into a simple grocery tote, just like the one here.



Project 6 and 7. Finished making pillowslips for the children’s bedroom’s. Miss Moo Moo’s red floral fabric was bought from a lovely old lady in the Hanoi Fabric Markets (Vietnam). Spunky Monkey’s is made from more Sprout offcuts.
Project 8, 9, 10. Changed the handles on these kindy/daycare bags from a drawstring to tape. This has been on the ‘to do’ for at least a year.
Project 11. Turned Miss Moo Moo’s too short dress into a skirt for daycare.



Project 12, 13, 14, 15. Cut out and overlocked projects for craft night (more about that later)
These will be 2 sets of placemats, 2 cushions and 1 embroidered cushion.
Project 16, 17, 18. ( also for craft night but not pictured) an apron, an embroidery and coasters.



Project 19 and 20. Doll blankets, one for Woody, an extra blanket, as it can get very cold when camping out you know. And a little quilt, started when Miss Moo Moo was one years old, for her then new baby doll.



Project 21. Made a tote bag from a Kristen Doran craft panel that I bought over at Kelani. ages and ages ago.

OK, so only 20 more to go. A walk in the park!

A big school boy now

We picked up Spunky Monkey from school today. Day 5. Straight away he said:

“Miss Moo Moo come here quick and watch this, you’ll really like it.” He then proceeded to show us how easy it was to jump the fence. Then…. while waiting to cross the road to our car he said:

“Mum, we can cross when I say bum, OK.” When it was all clear he did indeed yell bum! And ran across the road.

As Miss Moo Moo and I walked slowly along the footpath behind him, watching him running zig zag up the hill. She said:

“Mum, that doesn’t even look like Spunky Monkey” I had to agree, who was this masked man? Hmmm, the transformation into a big school boy. He definately is growing up.

Books I don't want to take back

We have had rain for the last few days, which has been such a lovely change from the heat. Perfect for lazy days reading. Here are a few books I just don't want to take back to the library.



The Toymaker and the Bird. I have a thing for children's stories set in deep dark European forests. I think I like this one much more than the kids actually do. Spunky Monkey is prefering to read a slug book right now.



It's a Secret. I so want to be out all night with the cat!



Snowflakes and Schnapps. Looove this book. However, I have cooked only one recipe from it, it is filled with winter recipes and it has been 35 degrees here most days. So, I have put it on my birthday wish list, next to the book below.



Winter in the Alps. Lucky my birthday is in June! Nice and chilly.