Neah's Ninth

Neah's choice of cake from the Womans Weekly Birthday Cake Book. The 'Party Pinata". The recipe is a 'cake' underneath a chocolate shell that the child then gets to smash open and reveal all the 'loot' (chocolate coins etc) on top of the cake. The shell (according to the recipe) is melted chocolate swirled around a pudding basin, then set, then, hopefully comes out in one beautiful and perfect shell over the cake when you rub the pudding basin with a warm cloth .

My friend Annie had a better idea - buy an extra large easter egg and cut it in half - I love cheating a recipe !

Could I say - it 'was a hit' !

The girls had fun with the photo booth application on my laptop.

And then enjoyed time spent 'scrapping' the printed photo booth snaps to take home.

We had a fire pit tea - sausages in hotdog rolls and potato gems.

And toasted marshmallows for dessert.

Neah had a Happy Birthday !

26th March.

cookie mix in a jar

Colleen T had a bunch of us girls over for lunch last week and it was the perfect excuse I needed to make up this cute gift I had seen whilst cruising around the internet.

It was fun to make, and Colleen reported it worked a treat !

I've since found another website totally devoted to this idea,

www.mixesinajar.com

If you try any out, let me know how it goes :)

Poppy, Baby & Babybaby

Very recent photo's of Marilla, Olympia and our 3 donkeys.

Poppy was so named by previous owners of this property - we inherited her & and her b/friend (who now lives elsewhere).

When Poppy had her first baby it was in the same week the twins were born - needless to say we never really got around to naming her - so "Baby" stuck.

Then before we knew it Poppy had given "Baby" a sibling - oh dear, by this time the twins were approx. 12 months old and we were .. BUSY .. and TIRED .. and who knows what else ?

Too busy to think up anther name that's for sure, so the new- est donkey came to be known as "Babybaby" !

And like all good nicknames it has just 'stuck'.

Just like ' Rilla ' and ' Olly ' .

Speedcleaning.

Speed - cleaning is what happened here early this week when friends we were looking forward to having come and stay us by circumstance needed to come a day early ! Yikes :)

Was utterly worth it, look how how adorable this little Molliella is. Very happy baby daughter of Richard and Annita.

Laundry's nearly done !

Heres a sneak preview .. the new washing machine is in, and cleans beautifully despite our only having untreated lake water to wash with, is lovely to send the girls to school with white school socks and white sports t-shirts, and white collars on their dresses !

The dryer is being put underneath the bench and is now in , but we need to finish the cabinet doors next to it, touch up a few wee paint spots - & convince Brad that new tapware over the laundry sink (why are they soo expensive ! ) will be the finishing touch.

the shower is done and the toilet. These are the area's where our visitors visit when they 'need to go' : ) So it's nice to have it looking a bit more mickey mouse !

Give us this day ..

.. " our daily bread" is what my four most favourite people have been saying.

And because I love them, I do.

Since the beautiful Kitchen Aid came to live on my bench I have been making bread nearly every day - I enjoy it - and it's surprisingly easy !

I would like to try some new bread recipes tho. I have been cutting back the amount of sugar as suggested in my recipe a little more each time. Not sure if I can drop it alltogether ? Does the yeast need the sugar ?

I bake it in the oven and it smells wonderful . like really awesome !

frightning

in exciting developments, we are finally starting to paint ! Prompted by the final death of the dryer and the dying sounds of it's counterpart the washing machine.

So what's behind your dryer ?? I had no idea that behind ours (been up on the wall for 7 years) was this ever increasing build up of lint ! How did our house not burn down ? no idea - I shall just be content with counting my lucky stars.

The washing machine has found a new home in the guest cottage - so now when ya'll come to stay you can do your own washing!

Replacements are ordered and waiting for pick-up from the Good Guys. The dryer is a 'condenser' dryer. Especially excited about that - should mean no more mould in my laundry - all the steam is condensed in a tray which you just empty at the end of the cycle.

The washing machine is going to challenge me into new modes of organisation. It's a front loader which I have never had before and I know it will take lots longer to wash. No more throwing school socks in the wash early in the morning hoping they will be ready to wear at 8 !