Australia Day 2011

I can't think of anything more Aussie to do than spend an hour or so at Gino's watching the cars go by. Driving up and down South Terrace in the noisiest and flashiest car you can lay your hands on has long been a right-of-passage for generations of, well...let's just call them young men.

We could have sat there for hours, watching the spectacle of passersby. The highlight for me was the motorcycle rider with a blow-up doll riding pillion. And yes, I do believe her mouth was open to catch the wind. Unfortunately no photos of that as I was too busy munching on my Gino's fries to take my camera out (see how I now refer to my phone as a camera...very sad indeed.)

Today is Australia Day here in the land of Oz. Seafood barbeques, fireworks and girls walking around dressed in a bikini and a flag. There is also, of course, a healthy dose of denial about what this date really commemorates. (What could be more Australian than that?)

Wherever you are, however you choose to mark this day, have a good one friends.

x

Island Life

Back from a week spent on a boat moored off Rottnest Island. Lazy days of swimming and snorkeling, with long afternoon walks and board games in the evenings. 

I'm already missing the slower pace of Island Life. Wouldn't it be great to bottle up a little bit of that feeling and take it out just when you need it? 

I hope you have had a little bit of that Island feeling lately.

x

Twenty20, a guilty pleasure and some lovely links.

Summer surely has to be about sitting on the grass watching the cricket. We went along to the Twenty20 match last night and had a wow-of-a-time watching the ball being hit over the boundary countless times. I think if I asked my youngest she would say that the best part was being in the Mexican Wave - the cricket match being an extra bonus.

These pics were taken again on my iPhone. I have a nagging sense of guilt about how often I am using my phone to take photos - as if I'm cheating on my Nikon with a younger, sleeker, easier model. Perhaps it's just a summer fling...

Lots of blog-loving lately - here are some faves...

this tiny house

this beautiful shop

these crafty pics

...and feeling for all those who have had their lives turned upside-down by the Queensland floods. The might of Mother Nature is hard to comprehend. Check out A-M's experiences here.

x

Gone Bush

Last weekend we 'went bush', just for a day. It was hot and dry for the most part, but we found signs of life down by the river. So nice to be away from the urban buzz.

I am already hoping for a new adventure this weekend!

x

A little bit of magic...

...Photoshop magic that is. I am such a Photoshop novice. About six months ago I downloaded a trial and played around with it for a month. It has taken me until now to buy it, and I am in equal parts rapture and despair. Adobe, do you have to make it so difficult to use? After struggling on for what seemed like days (ok - I'm over-dramatising... a few hours) I have taught myself how to use a couple of Photoshop tools - badly use them, but use them nonetheless.

Check out the photo above. I have cropped it and added a border to make it look a little bit polaroid-esque. I have removed the back of Alex's head (sorry Alex, nothing personal), the corner of the boat and the dinghy rope using some rather poor colouring-in. I then added a filter to give it a dated look, and hey presto, new photo. Lots of fun!

x

P.S. Below is the original.

A cool change...and some silly names

A cool breeze blowing down at the beach this morning...hooray! It is lovely to start the day with a visit to the beach. We have given names to the bays near our house...sadly not very creative names. There is the 'Dog Beach' - fairly self explanatory, that's where you can take your dog. It's a lovely little bay full of people who love dogs, and of course, dogs. I think that in all the time we have been going there we have only seen one or two small fights (dog fights, not people fights). It seems to attract 'nice' dogs. Last week we went there for a swim and saw a Labrador puppy frolicking up and down the beach, as if it were in some kind of toilet paper commercial! Very sweet.

Moving on, the next bay is, by default, the 'People Beach'. Probably doesn't require explanation (but if you need one, there are no dogs there, just people. I did say these were not very creative names.)

And our favourite spot, right at the end of the beach, is 'Secret Beach'. A tiny little bay that is only there once-in-a-while when the tide goes a long way out, leaving rock pools and a beautiful sandy bay. We like to refer to it as being 'open' or 'closed', as if it were a shop.

These pictures are of 'People Beach', taken with that wonder-of-wonders, the iPhone.

Have a great day.

x

Play Point and Shoot over at Fat Mum Slim. Lots of fun!

Summer Lovin'

The colours of the Australian summer are so lovely...all brown and burnt. But don't worry, I'm not about to go all 'Dorothea Mackellar' on you. 

This was taken with a 50mm lens, which on my camera means manual focus only. Aaagh! I got the lens way-back in May 2010, and, lots of blurry shots later, I am finally getting the hang of it.

Wherever you are, be it this 'sunburnt country' (oops...sorry) or somewhere snowy and white, I hope life is good.

x

Hello reno!

My tiny terrace house is bulging at the seams trying to accommodate a family of 4. We love where it is, so close to the sea 'n all, so there is nothing else to do but give this baby a makeover (of the adding an upstairs variety). We spent some time on the weekend measuring up so that we could start the process. Our new favourite toy is a laser measuring tool - very nifty and fun to use.

x

Picnics by the river...

...are all about falling out of boats and hanging your clothes up to dry. We ate jam buns and shoo-ed the flies away. 

Good times.

x

Spicy Jam Buns... (actually not spicy at all)

Gripped with some primeval need to bake, I came across a recipe for sweet and soothing jam buns. These are easy to bake and taste good - the kind of good that nurtures you, body and soul.

First mix dry yeast with warm milk and sugar. I left it on my windowsill to bubble for 5 minutes or so.

 

Too lazy to mix by hand, I used the dough hook of my Kitchenaid to make the dough. You will need flour, an egg yolk, sugar and your yeasty mixture.

(I truly love this machine...)

I did need to add a little extra flour. 

Next you make some little dough balls. Roll them out and add your jam. 

Pinch the dough together and put each little bun onto an oven tray, pinch-side down. Leave them in a warm place to rise. (Seeing as I had the air-con cranked up there were no warm places inside, so I left them on the table outside for an hour and took myself off to the beach...happy days...)

Last of all, brush them with a cream and yolk mixture and put them in the oven. Yummo! We are taking them with us for a breakfast picnic by the river tomorrow.

Thank you to my new favourite blog Pinecone Camp for this delicious recipe! 

x