Girly Weekend

Opa Kraal, Annika and Sanne came to stay with us this weekend. It was a lot of fun to have the two cousins here and the three girls had a great time together.


Catherine and I made a yummy lunch, and Christopher and Catherine made a Four Minute Brownie Pie for dessert. I also baked a date slice that went down pretty well. There weren't many leftovers!


Garry and Christopher made the most of the weekend also, hanging posters in Christopher's room and shopping for a second hand ride-on mower. Altogether, a nice weekend.

Potatoes and Point

I came across the quaint phrase "potatoes and point" in the Anne books and decided to Google it. This led me to a funny little blog called The Moon by Night. I am not responsible for what you may stumble across if you follow any links from The Moon by Night, but I personally enjoyed my little blog crawl very much!

In Our Home This Week

Lots has been happening around here this week:

* University classes finished on Tuesday, leaving two weeks to study for the exam, after which I will be halfway through my nursing degree.

* I slipped away for two nights at a B&B for a much-needed mini-break - now we need to find time for Garry to get away also!

* We returned to Australia Zoo once again, and were fortunate enough to see the constrictor snakes being fed their weekly rat - a fascinating spectacle. Our photos didn't come out very well, but perhaps someone with good eyesight can just spot the rat's tail hanging from the snake's mouth...


* The rain is steadily filling the lake which thankfully has its dam(n) liner in place (due to much hard labour by Garry).

* I baked a dozen of Catherine's all-time favourite breadrolls this morning, and she ate three for lunch then returned for more an hour later (see recipe). These are so easy to throw together, and smell divine while they bake.

Put in the bread machine in order:

1 c. warm water
2 T. oil
3 T. brown sugar
1 t. salt
1 egg
3 c. bread flour
2 1/2 t. yeast

Hit dough cycle. Let rise in machine until doubled. Take dough out to a floured counter, knead well, then divide into 12 equal pieces. Place on baking tray and allow to rise until doubled. Bake at 190 Celsius (375 F) for 15 minutes.

* I have started re-reading the entire "Anne of Green Gables" series, which always makes me want to spend more time in the garden and kitchen (hence the breadrolls).

* No doubt there is much more that has been going on... but that's all for now, folks.

Garry at Work

Here Garry is using a ride-on mower and trailer loaned to us by our very kind neighbours. We are looking into buying a secondhand ride-on ourselves, as the path to the lake will require constant maintenance!

This is also a test of how well the video footage works, so please leave feedback in the comments section if you have time.

Blog Action Day

Today, 15 October 2007, is "Blog Action Day", when over 15,000 blog sites are talking about one issue - the environment. Together, they reach 12 million readers!

I don't actually have much time to write about anything today, but I really liked the concept. So I'd encourage you to click the link in the sidebar and explore some of the other blogs taking part in today's action.

I guess this is cheating, but hey - that's my prerogative! Also, I've done my bit with the cloud formation, hippiastrums and tawny frogmouth lately :) Just read the rest of my blog!!

Tamara slinks quietly from her computer keyboard, hoping not to be hit by any rotten tomatoes, and heads straight for bed.

Unusual Cloud Formation

Taken from our back deck late this afternoon, as thunder rumbled menacingly in the distance, this reminded me a little bit of the movie "Independence Day":


(You should be able to click on the photo to enlarge it). When I checked again a short while later it had transformed into a camel-like shape.

Hippeastrum Splendour

Our garden has been unveiling all sorts of delightful surprises now that it's Spring. These colourful Hippeastrums are putting on a spectacular show around the driveway.

In Our Home This Week

School holidays are over and we're all back into our regular routine. Christopher and Catherine have each finished writing a book for their homeschool work this week. Christopher's is called >"The Boy and the Sword" and Catherine's is "My Pet Cat". Both stories are outstanding (of course!).

We've had several thunderstorms, resulting in a small puddle of water in the newly excavated lake/dam. Unfortunately we don't have the dam liner in place yet, so this water will have to go to waste. My tomato, lettuce, chilli and capsicum seedlings are enjoying the extra soakings.

On Friday, work finally begins on a ramp between our garage and the front door - a great relief, as getting the wheelchair and walker up several steps has not been fun (nor has it been very safe). Due to ongoing delays with council approval we have decided to go ahead and build the ramp without a roof, so that no approval is needed at this stage. The roof will become a separate project.

My university studies are hotting up, as the exam period is approaching rapidly. Between now and then I hope to find at least *some* time for study each day, but we'll see how that unfolds. The kids always say I become like 'Hermione Granger' around exam time (Harry Potter fans will know at once what I'm talking about).

In Our Home This Week

A very busy week, as school holidays continue but university starts up again...

• We have six house guests staying over for a couple of nights


• There are a bobcat and an excavator building wheelchair paths and a small dam on the block - so Christopher is beside himself with excitement


• My oral presentation was due at uni Tuesday night (I'm so glad to have that over with!)


• The children's cousin, Emma, is staying with us until Friday - so she and Catherine are constantly on the go with countless games and projects


• We hope to have some friends from Toowoomba drop in for a visit on Thursday


• We'll be travelling to Toowoomba on Friday to take Emma back, go to bookgroup, visit my parents and visit Garry's parents