stolen engagement ring

some bastard stole my mum's engagement ring whilst my parents were staying with my brother and his family at their home in Bulimba, QLD. Actually, the bastard stole money, her keycard and other items of jewellery, but the engagement ring was the one that really causes the most grief. For what it is worth I am putting mum's drawing of her ring 'out there'.

Julies Ring

The items were stolen from my brothers home on Monday, 23 January around lunchtime from a downstairs bedroom whilst the family was upstairs having lunch. Mum had unfortunately taken off her ring because of the heat and put it with her other jewellery.

a very bad week for cats

this week we farewelled Mottie my 16year old moggie. Although this was sad, she died peacefully and at a ripe old age. Passing away quietly in the front yard of my parents house mid afternoon.

Mottie is fondly remembered as being the last kitten left at the RSPCA and almost not making it out of there alive, for she was a little bit too quick with the claws. This however, was soon forgotten and I put it down to being more a product of that environment; a bit scary for a tiny kitten. Better remembered for her support whilst many an hour was spent studying for my undergraduate degree and just being there, I hope you are chasing plenty of mices in pussy heaven.

Our thoughts go out to A, S, M and W for the passing of Wallace, truly the fluffiest feline that was. And thumbs down to Virgin baggage handlers for what can only be guessed was leaving him out on the tarmac for 90mins in 40 degree heat. You bastards.

And for Molly the cat even though we didn't know you, our thoughts go out to you, and your owners A's dad and L. Your fateful demise really did surmise that this was a VERY bad week for cats.

a donna hay day

my new years resolution may have been for more craft but I have had a constant calling for all things creative in the kitchen of late. This weekend saw the creation of split pea, barley, lentil and ham soup which was ready for consumption today, and at the same time the fruition of lemon cordial.

I have not made either before, the soup was the inspiration of the ham bone from Christmas and a packet of McKenzies Soup Mix that had been sitting in the pantry for quite some time that it was nearing its use by date. The soup was actually intended for Friday night's dinner however, I hadn't anticipated the lengthy soaking the soup mix required, which is why this became a weekend long creation. The end result was great though not quite the same as pea and ham which was also the original idea, I guess this was more like a minestrone. I also hadn't expected that we would have so much soup - we will be eating this all week. Before I attempt this again I will be purchasing some suitable tupperware for freezing leftover soup.

Our super productive lemon tree inspired the lemon cordial- we have had so many lemons, bagful after bagful in the last few weeks that we have been giving them away by the bagful to anyone who so much as glanced in the trees direction when they came for a visit. The lemon cordial was so easy to make and really delicious that I think it will become a burntofferings kitchen staple.

lemon cordial in the making

lemon cordial made

new years resolution

more crafting

Happy new year!!!

Our special friend P sent this, and we loved it so much we have borrowed it to wish you:

12 months of happiness

52 weeks of fun

365 days of success

8760 hours of good health

525600 mins of good luck, and

31536000 seconds of love.

Happy New Year everybody!!!

activity advent in review

it was just too frantic to report on the activities as they happened, so instead here they are (even though some marked '*' didn't actually happen), and the double ups will be explained here, although a quick reminder B is the odd numbers and I am the even numbers:-

1. lets go shopping at Castle Hill
2. DVD Night choosing from list on L's PDA
3. Breakfast in bed and Christmas Cards
4. Breakfast at Summer Hill
5. Give L a massage tonight
6. Have a picnic in the Backyard (this was great fun but I think the neighbours and their friends thought we were mad, it looked like they had the bible reading crowd over)
7. Give each other their favourite flower (I really liked this one, I was suprised with a hand delivered bunch of Oriental Lillies mid morning, as B was passing through on his way to a meeting, he really lucked out on this one though I couldn't find a heliconia anywhere. B ended up with a printout from the computer)
8. Take Macc for a walk to see Christmas lights and special garden *
9. Milkshakes at Cronulla *
10. Fish markets for breakfast, lunch or tea *
11. Spoil L
12. Do Christmas cards and tree
13. Put up the Christmas tree
14. Go out for Gelato
15. Walk Macc down and around the Park*
16. we seem to have lost the envelope for this one
17. Gelato in Parramatta *
18. again, we seem to have lost the envelope for this one
19. Paint our nails (toes) *
20. Go our for Gelato *
21. This ones a secret, this is a PG site, and besides it didn't happen *
22. Paint each others toenails *
23. Christmas lights * we had already down this a couple of days before with the favourite brother, nephew and mum
24. Christmas lights * same excuse as 23

In review we didn't seem to get round to quite a few of the activities, however it was a lot of fun doing the ones we did, and opening the envelope each morning. Definitely something to do next Christmas.

I'm loving these activities

Day 3 called for breakfast in bed, except the pantry was bare, so we had a cup of tea in bed and got breakfast on the go instead.

Day 4 called for breakfast in Summer Hill. I had French Toast Brioche with raspberries, mascapone and maple syrup (yum), and B went for the usual big brekkie fry-up minus the mushrooms which he gave to me. I don't mind saying myself that this was an especially good advent calendar activity as it gave me the chance to check out Reclaim.

Apart from our advent activities we achieved a fair bit this weekend - the side of the house got painted in murobond banksia and the back doors undercoated.

I passed

1 subject to go!

lunch with A

today I had lunch with A, she had a free day and chose to share a couple of hours with me. It was great, people should have their friends visit them in their lunch break more often. We went to a new noodle place where you choose the type of noodles you want (in my case Hokkien), style (thai), and protein (combination seafood, chicken and beef). We sat and talked, and talked and watched the pedestrians pass by, then had a quick look at the new shops in Westfield.

This evening B and I will be undertaking Day 2 of the activity advent calendar - a DVD night watching a movie from my list of movies to see.

PS. the movies for our dvd night were Mona Lisa Smile, and The Notebook

borrowed ideas

those who know me, know that I am a bit of a bah humbug when it comes to Christmas. Having a birthday exactly two weeks before Christmas day, I have a few simple rules; we don't do anything Christmassy, put up the Christmas tree or send out the Christmas cards before my Birthday, and I will not be grateful for a combined Birthday/Christmas present unless you make it really, really good.

This year however, I have softened, we have adopted the idea of an activity advent calendar. I first saw this in Notebook (my new fave magazine), and was prompted into action after reading Loobylu's list which B had also read, and was extremely keen to do. So with a slight twist, I was allocated the even dates (Dec 2, 4, 6, etc) and B the odd dates (Dec 1, 3, 5, etc) to assign a specific activity, that remains a secret until the envelope for that day is opened.

So unlike those from whom we have borrowed the idea, I cannot list the activities upfront, instead I will reveal them as they happen. I can see that this may cause us some problems, particularly if we get an invitation to do something, as I have already forgotten many of the activities for my days. So we shall see how we go....

Today, being the first day of the activites, I can reveal that a trip to Castle Towers Shopping Centre was undertaken with the highlight of the evening being coffee and cake at Gatoni's, and what a cake... Raspberry Delight, we are off to a good start and I am won with this activity advent calendar. I think this could be something we do all year around.

Rasberry Delight

Rasberry Delight 2