GROWN UP AND READY TO FLY

And just like that, he is gone.

The room that I complain about daily for being  messy, is now empty.
When I tidied up last night before going to bed, there were only three wet towels on the boys bathroom floor instead of four.
When serving dinner from now on, there will only be five plates not six.

It just doesn't seem right.

My boy is all grown up, and has moved out of home. I'm so very proud of him, and know that he is doing what is right for him, he is ready to take on life and all its responsibilities, ready to prove he is all grown up, to show that I have taught him well enough to tackle life without me always looking over his shoulder.

 I know it's time for him to fly, but at the same time my heart is heavy.

He only left yesterday, but I miss him already.

beck xx

TEARS

As a child, when I pictured motherhood, I thought of pigtails and tutus. All things pink and sparkly. 

I never once thought of myself as a mother of boys. I don't know why, it just never crossed my mind. I just couldn't picture myself amongst sweaty sports, smelly socks, skate boards and dirt, SO MUCH DIRT !

But here I am a mother to four fabulous and I wouldn't change a thing.

Sure, there are days when I still ache for the daughter that will never be, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. My lot in life was dedicated to raise caring, well mannered, well balanced men, and to be honest even though we have "our moments" I think I've done a pretty good job so far.

A lot has happened over the past few weeks. 

Finally after months of applying and getting knock back after knock back, my oldest son got a job. He starts Monday, I'm so proud of how he has conducted himself over the past few months, and I am ever so thankful that his time of unemployment has ended.

This crazy kid, teen number three turned seventeen.

 I still quite can't believe it. Seems only yesterday this kid was making mud pies and bringing them inside to show me his "dinner" currently studying grade twelve, he is "finally" finding his way through his English class and passing.

And finally, the biggest news of all, one I've been trying to ignore. My second son is moving out of home THIS WEEKEND I'm totally not ready.

I've been a bit teary, watching all the photos of new mums bringing their tiny bundles home from hospital on Instagram while I am preparing to send mine off into the big wide world has hit home more than once this week. If only I could talk him into staying a bit longer.......

I have been consoling myself with these.

Naughty Beck !

I will be spending next week sorting out a few rooms, cooking some more in my fabulous new pressure cooker, and pouring myself into some DIY. 

MONDAY MUNCHIES - Choc Chip Bundt Cake

CHOC CHIP BUNDT CAKE

Everyone loves a slice of good chocolate cake. And when I tried this choc chip bundt cake, the first word that came to mind was YUM,
My obsession with chocolate is something that I just HAVE to give in to sometimes, just like many women, I cant help myself.

This bundt cake is simple to whip up and tastes delicious. Made from things you most likely already have in your pantry. Delicious with or without icing, the chocolate flavour is the perfect way to curb those chocolate cravings.

Ingredients

* 1 cup of self raising flour
* 3 tbs cocoa powder
* 220g soft butter
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 tsp vanilla essence
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup of choc chips

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees

Grease a bundt cake pan well

Throw all the ingredients into a large bowl and beat until well mixed and fluffy.

Carefully stir in the choc chips, and bake for 35 minutes or until the cake is cooked through.

Enjoy

beck xx

A COOL CHANGE

We are just relishing the cool change in our weather, after such a long hot and humid Summer, the cool breeze and drizzly rain is very welcome. We had a power outage on Sunday which was the perfect excuse to snuggle back down under the quilt to wait it out.
A lazy start to Sunday.

The cooler change makes it perfect weather for slow cooked roasts, curries and soups. There is nothing better then the smells of cold weather comfort food. The smells are amazing, baked veggies, fresh home grown herbs, chunky cloves of garlic and lashing of red wine. Mmm my mouth is watering.

The only down side to the rain is trying to get all the washing dry. Our dryer went on the blink about two years ago and I have so far refused to replace it. Since getting our solar panels put on, the savings we have made have been huge.

Did anyone watch Wayward Pines ?
What did you think ?
This thriller has me sucked in after the airing of just one episode. With chilling characters, Wayward Pines evokes a handful influences of Twin Peaks. I can't wait to see how this one progresses.

I'm off this week to finally get some paint for the house. I've been tossing up colours for a while now and have finally settled on a selection. I look forward to sharing the progress with you.

Linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT

beck xx

MONDAY MUNCHIES - Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder

SLOW COOKED LAMB SHOULDER

Cool weather brings the need for delicious comfort food, and there is nothing better then sitting down to a Sunday family roast. The smells and warmth coming from our kitchen yesterday were simply the best and the result delicious. Even if I do say so myself.

This was my first attempt at slow cooking a lamb shoulder, but it wont be the last.....


*Lamb shoulder
*Brown sugar
*Garlic
*Onion
*Red wine
*Rosemary
*Salt and pepper
*Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 260 degrees

First I rubbed the lamb all over with a good amount of brown sugar, then I deeply scored the skin of the lamb filling the cuts with garlic and rosemary then setting aside at room temperature for half an hour.

Next in a deep baking dish, I placed long stems of rosemary, halved garlic bulbs and quartered onions, topping it off with at least two cups of good red wine.

Place the lamb in the dish. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil, and cover tightly with foil.
Place lamb in the oven and turn the temperature down to 140 degrees and bake slowly for 4/5 hours.

When the lamb is done it should fall easily from the bone.

Serve with all the trimmings, golden Yorkshire pudding and crunchy potatoes.

beck xx

THIS AND THAT...

Its been a very hectic couple of weeks around here. Hubby has been away for work Monday through Friday, which leaves me to do all the weekly running around with our boys and generally taking care of everything, well try to at least.

I haven't had the chance to get any new projects underway, though I do have a list as long as my arm that I am itching to get stuck into. So since my list of  "to do's"  has been on hold, today's post is a list of all sorts of, well, stuff.

I've ......

BEEN living in my car for the past couple of weeks. Teen number four has just completed his grade ten work experience. His shifts were split in two EVERY day adding four extra car trips to my day for an entire week. I am REALLY glad that for now its over.
READING I am happy to report that I have my reading mojo back. I have been going through books like my boys go through toilet paper {that's a LOT people} In the past couple of months I have read and enjoyed The Girl On The Train, The Lie, Left Neglected, Still Alice, What Alice Forgot and a few others as well. I am currently reading In Her Shoes.
ENJOYING the cool Autumn change that has finally found its way to North QLD. Long sleeve PJ's are now a must, and yesterday the fans were off for the first time in what feels like forever, prompting a fan "cleaning frenzy"

WISHING I could pack up and move.
WANTING to get stuck into the last of our home renovations.
WONDERING if our Overseas holiday will actually happen.
CONSIDERING a return to some kind of work.
HOPING that 2015 continues to be kind to my family. So far 2015 has been smooth.
LOVING all the beautiful images coming through on my Instagram feed
STALKING Sonia of Life Love and Hiccups and Beth of Babymac just cant get enough of these ladies blogs and Instagram feeds.
OVERJOYED to the point of tears that my boy finally got a job A JOB PEOPLE.
UNSURE how I feel about my second son moving out of the family home soon.
SHOCKED that in exactly one week teen number three will be seventeen.
EXCITED AND THANKFUL that today the beautiful Lisa has featured Craftypjmum on her Blogroll.

I hope your week has been a happy and fulfilling one, and that you have a fabulous weekend with your families.
Linking up this weeks This and that post with the lovely Grace for FYBF

beck xx

MOTHERS DAY 2015

I hope you all had a wonderful Mothers Day, and got to spend beautiful quality time with your family. This year, for me the day couldn't have been anymore perfect. I got to spend the day with my four amazing sons, and this year my husband was actually home. Yes, he was HOME people. I couldn't have asked for more.

I had breakfast cooked for me, did you ?
It doesn't happen to often round these parts, so when it does I lap it up, enjoy the brief moment, and relish the fact that no matter how much mess the kitchen is in, I don't have to clean it up.

We spent most of the day just being with each other lazing around the house, reading, watching movies and napping. Okay, I did the napping but hey it was Mothers Day.

For dinner we decided to order in pizza, while I enjoyed a bottle a glass of red wine which of course led to me getting out the "selfie stick" much to my boys disgust delight.

The end result was this.....

Slightly blurred, a glassy eyed mum and a crazy bunch, But I wouldn't have it any other way.

How did you spend your Mothers Day ?
I hope your day was filled with lots of love, hugs and craziness as mine.

and just so you know that I didn't let you down. I was in my PJ's.

Linking up my Mothers Day post and crazy photos with Essentially Jess for this weeks IBOT

beck xx

MONDAY MUNCHIES - Jam Drop Muffins

Monday munchies is becoming quite the hit much to my surprise. I don't claim to be any type of food guru, nor am I anything but a home cook trying to feed the hungry mouths that always seem to be "starving" but thank you for showing interest in these weekly posts.


JAM DROP MUFFINS

These little gems are delicious, simple, tried and tested by the teens and have their "seal of approval"

* 1 cup of self raising flour
* 1 cup of thickened cream (not whipped)
* 3 table spoons of sugar
* Jam of your choice

Put all ingredients into a bowel, and mix well with a wooden spoon.
The mixture will be thick.

Place a teaspoon of mixture into a greased muffin tin.
Add a drop of jam then top with another teaspoon of muffin mixture.

Bake at 150 degrees until cooked through and golden.

Enjoy

beck xx

MONDAY MUNCHIES - Chicken & Fennel Seed Sausage Rolls

CHICKEN & FENNEL SEED SAUSAGE ROLLS

With the cooler weather comes the want to snack on something warm and delicious. And what better then a good old home made sausage roll.

These chicken sausage rolls are popular around these parts as they offer something a bit different. Tasty and moist on the inside, crispy on the out, these sausage rolls are the perfect snack to munch on any time.

Ingredients

*Chicken mince
*Fennel seeds
*Onion
*Salt & Pepper
*1 egg white
*Puff Pastry

In a large bowl, add the mince the egg white, fennel seeds and diced onion. Add salt and pepper to taste, and mix well until all the ingredients are mixed well.

On one sheet of thawed puff pastry, spoon the mixture across one edge, then carefully roll.
With a sharp knife, cut the rolls into the desired size and place onto a baking tray lined with grease proof paper. Continue to do this until all mixture has been used.

Spray lightly with olive oil and place into a preheated oven of 180 degrees for about half an hour or until they are cooked through and golden.

These sausage rolls are delicious or cold which make them a perfect lunch box snack as well.

Enjoy.

beck xx