Thursday, February 28, 2008

Fun at 40

H has been celebrating for quite some time now and his birthday happens tomorrow!

The theme this year was/is homemade gifts or time from friends and family (which we all seem to run short of). The girls and I have contributed so far by washing his car twice, cleaning his wardrobe including all his shoes, ironing all his shirts, letting him have 2 hours additional sleep every morning, driving home from my sisters at Newport (I absolutely hate driving so to do that and in the dark is big for me).

Additional gifts will be displayed over the next few days... there is the continuing big project of the jersey. Sleeve one now measures 16 inches, only have 3 more to go before I join it with the body. But I still have to start sleeve number 2. Totally confused about the pattern for body and sleeve at this stage so RR will get you to help me on Saturday pretty please :-)

Anyhow getting back to the event that went with these pics.

Last Saturday we got together for a birthday brunch BBQ with 2 families who we know via Hs work. The sun was shining all looked good in the world. I had purchased the food for everyone and excitement was high with our munchkins. YOU can feel the but in the air, we arrived at the location to find a notice saying all BBQs had been removed until further notice, so quick thinking and we managed to relocate everyone to another park not as scenic but still followed the need to entertain and restrain small children all in one.



There was yummy barbie food and rhubarb and apple cake, which both big and little kids enjoyed. The best part of the gathering was all kids played nicely and no negotiation skills were required, BIG smiles for that.



Both families obliged with great handmade gifts.

AB as I fondly call them, themed their handmade food gift as ABC foods. It included homemade pasta, chocolates, biscuits and card. All beautifully presented in a wicker basket. B also took H out for lunch this week, a lovely surprise which made his somewhat hectic week (has seen R for less then 1 hour since Sunday, which is very sad - bring on his hols which start tonight!). We have been enjoying our nightly yummy biscuits and glass of milk, slowly getting ready for middle age!



The paras as I will call our second family (well he is a paramedic) also made biscuits, also very yummy and we have been having one AB and one Parra a night. There were and I say were (still going but started with 40 biscuits) and a bottle of red - which has been cellared. The card was for a 10 year old as of tomorrow H will have only had 10 birthdays! May we all never loss sight of the child at heart!



We finished our lovely lovely day with a visit to the harbour to see the Queen Victoria. A wander round Luna Park and loads of wedding girls as the girls shout out when they glimpse a bride. Well R is always the king and E is always the bride so we have had a lot of weddings in our family so far! All in all a lovely day fingers crossed tomorrow will continue the happy happy joy joy theme. Will post about Sunday later... that is another story!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Tetsuyas



My H turns 40 on the 29th February and to mark the occasion and the fact that he actually has a birthday this year we have a few celebrations happening. Last night we went to Tetsuyas in town for a 12 course degustation menu. We had a lovely evening with my twin sister and her h. Excellent service, table, food, company and night. I arranged for my parents to babysit as part of Hs birthday present. The kids went out of there way to show of and do any possible circus trick to get their grandparents attention!

We arrived at the restaurant at 6.45, and left after midnight (got to bed after 1am on a school night R had me up from 3-4 and then E was up for the day at 6) it took us along time to eat the following:

Cold Corn Soup with Saffron & Vanilla Ice Cream
Smoked Ocean Trout & Avruga Caviar
Leek & Crab Custard
Sashimi of Big Eye Tuna with Wasabi & Eschallot
Confit of Petuna Tasmanian Ocean Trout with Konbu, Daikon & Fennel Seasonal Green Salad
Ravioli of Queensland Spanner Crab with Tomato & Basil Vinaigrete
Fillet of Barramundi with Braised Baby Fennel
Twice Cooked De-Boned Spatchcock with Olive & Caper Jus
Grilled Wagyu Beef with Lime & Wasabi
Comte with Lentils
Marinated Peach with Vodka & Peach Sorbet Summer Pudding
Banana Mousse & Caramel Ice Cream
Chocolate Terrine with Mascarpone & Cognac Anglaise
Coffee or Tea & Petit Four



We mentioned that it was Hs birthday and they bought out a surprise cake which was lovely. The smile says it all!



I purchased some new/old shoes in the morning, really comfortable and made me feel tall and lean, gave me a couple of inches which I usually don't have! The shoes were the least expensive item of the night at $3 from my local charity shop, leather uppers etc and such lovely lines and a simplified bow at the front. I also used a grown up bag for the evening - how exciting and one of my old-time favourites.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

A lovely day of family fun

This morning I was woken at 5.30 by youngest daughter R. I dressed her but decided to hang out in my pj's and at 8am I thought I would get dressed only for the doorbell to ring, uh oh the kitchen guy, who I thought was coming at the earliest 9 was here. H jumped out of bed, we will always remember what we were wearing when we officially signed up for our new kitchen. Scary stuff, but oh so exciting... winter roasts... yum yum.

E decided she wanted to wear the dress that mummy made, my heart sang at this choice. I loved watching her twirl and whirl around in it all day.



We decided spur of the moment that we would go and visit my younger sister who lives in town and as I mentioned earlier is not well. At present she has been diagnosed with Graves disease and faces further tests at the end of next week to determine that it is not anything else more sinister.



So we drove into town walked to Harry's Cafe de Wheels with her and the kids and sat on the wharf and ate tiger pies (Younger sister G had made her own lunch so it was only H and I that sat stuffing ourselves). Basically potato top pies, with gravy and mushy peas. The kids had hot dogs. Walked on to the Art Gallery - it has been a few years since I last visited the AGNSW but Art Express was on it was great fun explaining artwork to the kids and seeing their delight in some pieces. We then went back to my sisters and decided to detour on the way home, we went to our favorite Gelato Bar (Cake shop) in Bondi. R fell asleep en route so I sat in the car knitting while H and E went and purchased some evening treats. It is so much fun these little additional excursions, H decided as it was nearing the end of Chinese New Year that we should also have Chinese BBQ, so we got 3 different dishes to take home: Char Siu (BBQ pork), Soy Sauce Chicken with garlic and shallots dipping sauce and Roast Pork. Still feel fat and full as I type.





We put the kids in bed and H decided to go and do the grocery shopping, went 1st time and I thought gee that was quick, he had forgotten his wallet, so decided to try again only to return again, the shops now close at 9 and it was just after...poor thing but thanks heaps for trying H another reason why I treasure you oh so much. Happy going steady Anniversary 16 BIG years fun and challenging all in one.

Progress Report on special project



I have not been able to blog as I have been immersed in my special project for my very special H. Last night I started on sleeve one using dpn (double pointed needles). Very exciting as I have never knitted like this before so 2 new things so far in this project: knitting in the round and dpns.

I have the body on hold while I do the sleeves, RoseRed is trying to help me understand the wonderful world of patterns. Still a bit foreign for me to understand or it could be that I have had 14 hours sleep in 3 nights. Poor R has had a cold and so sleep has alluded her and me. Fingers crossed tonight will show a marked improvement!

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

My first knitted project especially for my beloved

My lovely H is turning 40 on the 29th Feb. He has asked for handmade presents, I am obliging with my first ever knitted project. Other new things to my life as a result, the purchase of new wool, knitting in the round and following a pattern!



The wool is Jo Sharp Aran Tweed in Wintergrass. Needles are size 5 courtesy of RoseRed. Pattern also loaned by RoseRed on her advice this was deemed something that I could manage as my first project.



Progress picture attached, it is not perfect, but H said he loves that. He just loves that I am trying, and as my friends know I am very trying at times! Unpicked it once, do not have the heart to do that again, lets call it rustic for now. Upto my fourth ball of wool, this is what excites me in this project the wool disappearing ever so slowly, small children do not give much time for knitting.

Colours to brighten my day

Last Christmas I had these Pantone mugs on my wishlist. The wonderful Miss F obliged and bought me my 1st one. My parents-in-law obliged by giving me some Christmas money towards the rest. I now have 10 wonderful colours which make me smile when I open the cupboard in the morning.



You may wonder why were they so important and why replace perfectly good mugs in your cupboard? Why because they remind me of my other identity apart from a stay at home mum. I design. I have been doing design for years and could feel that part of me slipping away as my identity became reshaped. So I have them to remind me that I am an important part of my family.



My eldest daughter also has fun deciding what colour mug I will drink from in the morning. I highlighted the red mug as a present to RoseRed on her Anniversary. Happy Anniversary!

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Back Camera not great but taking pics again, had to post to mark Rs second birthday

Our beautiful little girl turned 2 yesterday. It was a very special occasion and a day that we look back with both fondness, happiness and wondering why her arrival was so awful. R as most of our friends know was born in a very very distressed state, instead of the initial joy and elation we had with our eldest daughter we were left praying that she would breath, cry and show signs of life. She was totally blue had an apgar of 2 and that was for tone, life stood still for a moment (they had to resus her heart massage, oxygen the works) and I kept saying this can't be happening. It has been 2 years of watching and waiting to make sure that she was not affected by her distressful delivery. I had a slight insight into how parents must feel when faced with a stillborn delivery but thankfully this was not us. We could never imagine when we arrived that it would be so traumatic and scary. Anyhow so much to celebrate and I really must remember this when she displays her tantrums!

A friend reminded me that we should measure R on her birthday I did and she is 98cm (7cms taller then her sister was at the same age) and E is 107cm so even though there is 25 months difference there is only 9cm between them. R is right off he growth chart and E is in the 95th percentile. I do not know where they get their height from as H and I are average height. Well H is probably a bit above average but not much.



We stopped into see Auntie A and the kids could have spent all day looking at the fish in her pond just loved it.



R was delighted with her cupcake Cake, wait till she sees her ice cream cake. We are having a family birthday BBQ next weekend to mark the special occasion of R being born on her Great Aunts birthday. GA turned 85, only 83 years between them!



We were going to take the kids to a wildlife park but the weather was not in keeping for walking round in the rain. The kids would have loved the muddy puddles I am sure, but we have unfortunately outgrown that sort of adventure. Fingers crossed for next Sunday. Took R out for Japanese has acquired a taste for Sushi since an early age, very daring young miss. Anyhow Happy Birthday Beautiful R so glad you are in our world you make me a better person.