the boys

had to capture a photo of "the boys" before we farwelled kenny today. girls are typically easier to photograph because they’re happy to snuggle/get close, boys are another story!

but these shots really captured their relationship & personalities - gotta love that!

flowerpots & fencelines

saw it, loved it, bought it! my treat from todays shopping trip:

NB. hoping the colour looks OK - we’ve got a new computer/monitor & its taking a while to figure out monitor colour vs true colour.

last friday, our friend kenny came for a visit (& to help DH build a new fence). they couldn’t get started straight away because the weather has been so cold & rainy & wet (over 2 inches for the week)!! it cleared up by wednesday, so they had a chance to go & cut gidyea posts & get onto building the fence. some images from the fenceline:

 

kenny

DH

a gecko bear found

PS. i used this free lomo action on the fenceline images.

what’s for dinner??

our neighbour loves to cook, loves to try new recipies & loves to plan special dinners … i, on the other hand, prefer something quick & easy, rely on old favourites (like my special mince) & would LOVE to eat out/have takeaways more often (BUT living 150km from town makes that impossible!)

but guess what?? today dinner is planned & i’ve even baked dessert!

so what’s sparked the change in habits??

well, my MIL stayed with us recently & everyone LOVED her double decker chocolate pudding … & since she emailed her special recipe, there’s been a little ‘pressure’ to cook it

so - today was the day!

here’s the recipe:

Double-Decker Chocolate pudding

50 g butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 T (tablespoons) cocoa

1 egg

1 cup self-raising flour

1/2 cup milk

Soften or gently melt the butter and beat in the sugar and cocoa. Add and beat in the egg, then add the flour alternately with the milk.

Pour into oven-proof dish (make sure it’s big enough to take the topping too).

For the topping:

2 T cocoa mixed together with 1/2 cup sugar (I like brown sugar)

2 cups boiling water (edited: more than 2 cups water will make more choc sauce)

Sprinkle the cocoa/sugar over the cake mixture, then gently pour the boiling water over the top - be very careful !

Bake in moderate over (180 degrees) for about 40 minutes.

It’s magic! It goes into the oven with the water on top and comes out with the cake on top!

enjoy!

party planning

… for my girl who’ll be 7 next week. 7!! how did that happen?? the years have flown by so quickly … it seems like only yesterday that she was like this:

& now she looks like this:

so … onto the party plans

inspired by this gorgeous retro daisy style flower pinata, i decided to have a floral theme. coincidentaly, the colours of MM simply fabulous maddi line match perfectly, so i’ve used them for the invitations. i’ve also ordered adorable 12cm balloons in fuschia & yellow to make mini balloon flower decorations like these. doesn’t martha have the coolest decorating ideas??

i’m still trying to decide on an idea for the cake - any suggestions??

that’s it for now - thanks for stopping by!

new lens = new banner

yep … i know its been ages (like 6 months) since i posted. its been a tough year & i retreated into my shell - but i’ve missed blogging & making connections. so … i’m back … again!

this photo of the moon:

with captured with my new lens - the amazing 50-500mm sigma (affectionately known as the "bigma"). the reach on this baby is awesome - like looking thru a telescope!  i love the fact that its 200mm longer than most zooms & a subtle black. i love the fact that one lens covers such a wide range. although its quite heavy, it fits perfectly on the 20D (with a battery pack). the 50mm lens will always be my favourite for low-light situations, but this one (esp. with a monopod) will be the star outdoors. i can’t wait to try it out on our next trip to the beach!