Welcome to my humble abode

So, we're house-sitting at the moment, for two weeks total.

My boys are in love with the place, they know it well already and seeing as the usual inhabitants aren't around, they have the complete and total devotion of the two delightful canines that reside here.

I'm enjoying it too, although I am considering getting a pedometer to see how much actual mileage I am putting in per day. This place is huge. Think renovated mansion type of thing.

Oh the hardship!

Just a quick couple of photos of my boys outside, there actually is an outside here, as opposed to our place where there's barely even an out. 

I took the above photo, then spun around on the spot and took this one:

Can you see the scale of the place? 

Ooh, it will be hard going home!

(Just a note: I'm using my laptop for the two weeks, so if my photos look weird/bright/dark, blame that ;b)

I'm sewing...

Well, cutting out at the moment really. 

But I'm doing it ALL BY MYSELF.

With no one else around at all.

Woohoo!

Hubby and his brother have taken themselves and the boys off to the Melbourne Grand Prix for the afternoon.

I get a whole 5 hours to myself!

So I am making upon request....

A Great White Shark.

Well two of them of course, how could I POSSIBLY make something for only ONE of my boys?

Ahh, the peace and quiet.

 I can feel my batteries charging.

Oh la la la, it's luverly!

2 weeks condensed

It's been a busy week, as I've been working evenings again, some with the kids in tow, some not. What that translates to is money in my pocket and the house in a shambles, as it turns out it's evenings when I get things done.

Well, the 'lil guy has turned 2 now, so I can officially call it the terrible twos, instead of just thinking it.

For his birthday he received a totally cool duplo castle set which I have taken a totally crappy photo of, so you get to see the dragon, knight and his horse instead.

Which are all pretty cool too.

We've had the most disgusting looking water in Australia...

which required the water company to come out and flush the pipes up the street.

We've made voodoo dolls, or boodoo dolls as Mr nearly-5 calls them.
(Don't ask, just blame watching Scooby Doo again.)

There's been a lot going on in the kitchen but very little of it to do with me...

Including this 'potion' which was served at the table and which hubby and I were required to eat. I managed to escape close scrutiny and thus the eating of  aforementioned potion, however hubby did not.
It was  made of all edible ingredients, just not perhaps ingredients you or I would generally put  together.

My kitchen contribution has been to try out Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day.
Check out the results:

I wrote it up here and there is a link there to the recipe and method.
I'm having much more success with this than with sourdough, though I do let it sit out of the fridge overnight instead of the recommended 2 hours to work on the phytic acid.

The next two weeks should be fun as we are house sitting a 5 bedroom, 4 bathroom house (mansion!)

with a commercially outfitted kitchen. Our entire house and property would fit into about 1/3 of the downstairs space of this house. Or possibly into 1/4 of it.

I don't even need to bring my thermomix as here is one already in residence.

Oh life will be difficult...

Sugar - tell me it's not addictive

It's 10pm and I am dying to get up and raid the freezer for my homemade-with-coconut oil-and-really-dark-choc cookies.

I have discovered that when I have some sugar (or rapadura), I really, really, really, really, really want more.


But when I manage to abstain for 2-3 days, the insane must-have feeling dies right back and I can by-pass sugar no problem.


Until I decide to indulge again next time, and it starts again.

So instead of going to the freezer, I'll put this scrummy looking pic here and retire to bed.

More book woes

I exited the shower this morning wondering why it was so quiet. 

Usually when I try and grab a shower I park my little darlings in front of Playschool, where it's mostly guaranteed they'll stay put for the required amount of time and not get up to any wickedness.

Well, this time I didn't do that and Mr I'll-be-2-next-week got up to said wickedness.

How am I going to explain that one away at the library?

How to give your child hysterics at bedtime

By reading them this....

A Cautionary Tale...

Jim, who ran away from his nurse and was eaten by a lion.

There was a boy, his name was Jim, his friends were very good to him.

(blah, blah, blah missed some pages in here)

Now this was Jim's especial foible, he ran away when he was able
And on this inauspicious day, He slipped his hand and ran away!

He hadn't gone a yard when BANG!
With open jaws a lion sprang,
And hungrily began to eat The Boy:
Beginning at his feet.


NOW, just imagine how it feels when first your toes and then your heels

(This is the fold out flap from above)

And then by gradual degrees your shins and ankles,

 calves and knees are slowly EATEN bit by bit,

No wonder Jim detested it!

The Honest Keeper heard his cry,
Though very fat he almost ran
To help the little gentleman.
"Ponto!" he ordered as he came
(For Ponto was the lion's name)
"Ponto!" he cried, with angry frown,
"Let go, Sir! Down, Sir! Put it down!"

The lion made a sudden stop,
He let the dainty morsel drop,
And slunk reluctant to his cage,
Snarling with disappointed rage.

But when he bent him over Jim,
The Honest Keeper's eyes were dim.
The lion having reached his head,
The miserable boy was dead!

(missed some more pages here, about the odious Jim's not-too-distraught parents)

ending with.....And always keep a-hold of Nurse

For fear of finding something WORSE.



This book is now looooong overdue back at the library, because since it's first reading it has been hidden from apparently sensitive eyes in the small cupboard beside my bed.

Where I leave it every time I go to the library.

Around the traps

Just a quick funny while I think of it...

Master 4 (nearly 5) is obsessed with traps. 

Trapping people - bad guys mostly.

I blame the watching of Scooby Doo reruns.

So following are a couple of simple-to-rig-up-in-the-house traps:

This one's the old rabbit under a box type trap. 

Very effective for capturing soldiers who have come to investigate the roll of sticky tape that's been left for bait. 

(You work with what you've got, right?)

 

And here we have poor Spiderman, about to be hoisted unsuspectingly towards the ceiling.

 

Prior to making these traps, I commented on how fun it was to be making booby traps. 

Mr 4 said "but can't we make leg traps mummy?"

Uh, poor kid....... 

Batten down the hatches...

After this much hail in the storm yesterday,

Look what's on the weather radar on the edge of the city...

Art, a wet towel and safety in the car

An interesting day with just my youngest today. 

He's about to turn two, so I suspect today was just a sneak preview of what might be round the corner...

While I was packing the dishwasher, he drew on the wall. 

The white wall. 

With a 4b grey lead pencil. 

He was outraged when I confiscated said pencil but quite happy to join me with an eraser frantically trying to bring my white wall back to white.

Now, can I just say, DO NOT bother with the extra expense of wash and wear paint or whatever it's called. 

'Nuff said on that one.

After lunch he had WORLD"S BIGGEST TANTRUM while I was trying to get him in his bed for a nap. The phone rang about 10 minutes into our wrestling match and my first thought was someone had called the police, or maybe child protection services.

Then there was the wet tea towel shoved inside my shoe.....

And the coin carefully slotted into the spot my seatbelt is supposed to slot into, to latch correctly.

On the other hand, he can be very industriously cute, before he's even out of his pjs.

So I'll keep him. 

Latest from my beloved Thermomix

Ok, I've decided to keep my blog mostly as is, there is just too much out there and I know most of it I'll get sick of shortly after I've changed it. I'm a bit of a Plain Jane when it comes to decorating. If you could see my house, ALL of the wall decorations are pics from the kids. So before that, it was just a tad bare. From a trained photographer, that is dismal I know...to be remedied one day in the distant future.....along with actually shooting more than happy snaps again....But for now, it's clouds and I need to shoot me a header pic.

I digress.

Now check out this drool worthy bowl of yum...

Oh my, was it good??

Well, the kids and I ate it straight from the thermomix bowl, despite the fact there is a dirty great sharp four pronged blade in the bottom of the bowl, if that tells you anything, feral mother that I am.

And yes, I made them use spoons so no one lost any digits.

I found this recipe on Quirky Cooking labeled Berry Foam, but the name does not do it justice. Foam reminds me of something scummy on the seashore and Mr 4 asked if he could paint with it in the shower.

He's thinking of, uh, shaving foam..

Which I cover the shower base in and tint blue to get a bit of relief from Mr 4's never ending energy and questioning on a rainy day. Thanks to my older sis, mother of three that she is for that idea.

I'll put the recipe here, as I changed it just a smidge from that which Jo on Quirky Cooking made, and she found it on a forum and changed it just a smidge from the original. (If you want a picture of how this recipe should be presented, please check out Quirky Cooking, Jo is much more civilised than I)

Berry Foam

• Whiz about 80 grams of rapadura on speed 9 for 20 seconds:

• Add 300-400 grams of frozen berries or other frozen fruit chopped up. Whiz for 30 secs, speed 9. (I found I had to insert the spatula and help it along as per making sorbet)

• Insert the butterfly, add 2 egg whites and 2 teaspoons of orange juice and whip for 3 mins on speed 4.

Done!

But none left now...