TAKING STOCK - October 2015

How is October over already ?
I know I was busy, but come on....

I have started trying to wrap my head around the fact that before we know it Christmas will be upon us. Scary isn't it. I swear the older I get the years fly by quicker and quicker. Slow down already.

Octobers end marks the beginning of the busiest time of year. From now until the New Year its go go go. Graduations, exams, Christmas parties, Christmas etc etc. Before we know it we will be ringing in another New Year and the circus of life will start all over again.

This month I have been....

Making : A list of crafts that I hope to achieve by Christmas
Cooking : My first batch of biscotti and failing
Drinking : Chai tea for the very first time and now I cant get enough
Reading : Little Girl Gone by Alexandra Burt
Wanting : More free time to get y craft on
Looking : For an outfit to wear to my sons Grade 12 graduation
Playing : The heck out of Adele's new song Hello
Deciding : On my menu for Christmas
Wishing : I didn't have to watch another son graduate so soon
Enjoying : Pottering in my garden
Waiting : To see if we will get a good wet season this year
Liking : The fact that my creative side is making a come back
Wondering : What new and exciting recipes I can try on my family
Loving : My new salt lamp
Pondering : What the New Year will bring our family
Considering : A return to the work force
Buying : Christmas presents AGAIN
Watching : My Big Fat Fabulous Life, Chicago Fire and PD
Hoping : I can get some sleep soon before I crash and burn
Cringing : At Australia's politicians
Needing : The days to slow down a little
Questioning : Myself over and over again
Smelling : The salt of the ocean on my walks
Wearing : Dresses and skirts for the first time in a long time
Following Stalking  quite a few new blogs (to me)
Noticing : My poor old cat is starting to show her age
Knowing : That my graduating son will be okay, but worrying as a mum does anyway
Thinking : About my next project
Admiring : How some people just seem to get it !
Sorting : Out the wardrobes in our home
Getting : More paint charts in the hope I will finally decide on a colour
Coveting : Brassy Apples hairstyle
Disliking : That we only have two pay days left until Christmas
Opening : Bills
Giggling : At how my children interact with each other at the dinner table
Feeling : Overwhelmed
Snaking : On everything that I shouldn't be
Wishing : I was on the right road to weight loss
Helping : The Salvation Army with their Christmas drive for the fourth year running
Hearing : The constant meow of my kitten wanting to be fed every five minutes

Here is too November lovelies, may it be good to you all and may it go a little a slower PLEASE

Happy Halloween 

beck xx

ROAD TRIP TO MELBOURNE - Part Three

HELLO Victoria......

Four days of travel and we had arrived.  It was our first time in this fabulous state as tourists and it won't be the last. I fell in love, I fell hard. The country side was breathtaking, the city magnificent. I truly left a piece of my heart behind when we left.

Our first stop, the Yarra Valley.
There are no words that would give this place justice. I could have quite happily stayed on there forever. The sights, the people, the food and of course the wine were exceptional. Such quaint beauty like no other I have experienced. Pure utter perfection.

We took a trip to Mount Buller, and even found snow

Melbourne itself was a joy to behold.
Look out Brisbane, you have some competition when it comes to my favourite city. We walked, we shopped, we took in the sights. We traveled by tram and by horse. We crammed as much into our four day stay as we could.

Fine dining and exquisite wines. We defiantly indulged our senses.

Reliving this and trying to choose the photos to post are making me wish I was back there right now.

Linking up with the lovely Grace of With Some Grace for another week of FYBF

Have a great weekend everyone

beck xx

DIY FELT BALL TRIVET

I love me some good ole DIY/craft, but lately it's been on the back burner. Such is a busy life.
Ideas can be hard to come up with sometimes, but with the interwebs at your fingertips ideas can be just the click of a mouse away.

I am quite obsessed  partial to Pinterest. That sight can make me drool with envy at all the pretty crafts that pop up on my feed. Instagram is also an addictive fabulous source of ideas.

This idea however came from stalking the blog and of course the Instagram account of the fabulous Baby Mac ....
A pretty yet simple  DIY Felt Ball Trivet 

WHAT YOU NEED

* A wood board for the base
   I used a round wooden place mat from the craft section in Spotlight
* Felt balls in your choice of colour
* A hot glue gun

Making sure not to glue your fingers together like me and starting in the center of the board, glue the felt balls one at a time in your chosen colours until the whole board is covered.

That's it.
Easy peasy.

And what you end up with is a gorgeous trivet that looks fabulous under a beautiful vase of flowers.

beck xx

Linking up with the beautiful  Sonia  for Weekend Rewind

MONDAY MUNCHIES - Lazy Edition

I was feeling rather sluggish on the weekend, in fact the whole family was. It was hot, humid and just blah. I sat in the air conditioning watching movies and getting my craft on, and thinking about my Christmas theme for this year. Yes people it is time to start thinking Christmas if you haven't already.

It was too hot to think food let alone worry about trying new things.

So today I am calling it, Monday Munchies Lazy Edition is coming at you. Four previous recipes that had a lot of hits when I first posted them.

Monday Munchies will be back next week with another fresh new idea, but until then I hope you enjoy re-reading there old favourites.

Croissant Berry Bake
Simple Passion Fruit Slice
Lemon Tart
Chocolate Chip Coconut Loaf

Grab a cuppa and a slice of one of these. I have been dreaming of cake naughty beck

Enjoy

beck xx

FISHY MYSTERY UPDATE

So if you read my earlier post today, you would have seen that my fish "rose from the dead"  The poor thing that never had a name until today, lay at the bottom of his bowl for the best part of a week only to be "foxing" 

But as I predicted earlier today, Jesus as he was named today did flip me the bird, and prceeded to die on me this evening :(

RIP little mate

beck xx

A FISHY MYSTERY

You know how life sometimes just takes over, and some things that HAVE to get done fall by the way side. Yeah you know, you get busy, things get neglected even though you really do have good intentions.

Like lets say for instance....
Um, the dead fish that may have floated in its bowl for lets say....
Um, the last week or so.

Awful hey,
Awful for the fish, really bad on my part. Particularly since I walk past said fish bowl say like 50,000 times a day, give or take.

Every time the kids mentioned it, or I saw the cats drinking from it, I really did mean to "fix it" but I got distracted.

Every darn time !
Not intentionally, but you know.... Life

So this morning I grabbed that bowl instead of walking by, I got that fish net out ready to flush that fish to his final fishy resting place.

But guess what

That darn fish WASN'T DEAD....

Its a miracle....
I feel really awful, that poor thing without a name has not been fed in days, because IT WAS DEAD.

Maybe fish are like cats and have more than one life, who knows, but I can almost guarantee that now this fish has been fed, named (Jesus) and has a super clean new bowl, it will most likely drop dead just to give me the finger.

beck xx

ROAD TRIP TO MELBOURNE - Part Two

We spent four days on the road to Melbourne. Four wonderful days full of beautiful country side views, fabulous food and great long over due conversation. We made sure we spent time stopping to soak up the sights, camera always in hand ready to capture the wonder of our trip.

It goes without saying that just like most men, hubby loves cars. The older the better. So when we hit the outskirts of Parks in New South Wales, he was in his element when we came across a paddock full of old time wonders.

Seen the Aussie movie The Dish ? We stopped and took in the sights of the actual dish in Parks that was the star of that movie. Hubby had visited back in the olden days here on a school excursion before the movie was even made old timer this however was my first sighting of the dish. I must say it is a magnificent sight to behold.

We stayed at some gorgeous places on our way down, my favourite being this little cottage at Dubbo. It was old world and just so damn cute. The weather was a little chilly, but anywhere in Winter would be compared to North Queensland. I lapped it up, every single minute.

We were having the trip of a life time, and even more adventure lay ahead. Sunrises, sunsets, romantic dinners. Three weeks with nothing but time on our hands and open roads to take us wherever we wanted go.....

Linking up today for FYBF with the lovely Grace of With Some Grace

beck xx

3 THINGS #2

I woke up this morning thinking it was Friday.
Wishful thinking at its worst.
Iv'e had a busy week this week, not necessarily doing things I had planned, but things that had to be done. I had all intentions of setting up a new work table for my art/craft so that I had somewhere to work and keep all my bits and pieces together. My aim is to start painting again, years after I put that skill to bed, I have had the urge to take it back up again. Lets hope I still have some sort of talent left.

This week...

I read the fantastic debut novel The Lost Swimmer by Ann Turner. What a page turner. I wont give the plot away, because those of you who, like me love a good book and have not read it yet had better get your hands on a copy pronto !

Another thing that I am really enjoying this week is how my garden is coming along. Planted only a mere six months ago, the plants are thriving and the geraniums are going gang busters with their blooms.

On Tuesday, after enrolling my fifteen year old into senior high school for 2016, I have had this deep sense of nostalgia for times gone by when my babies were young. Having my youngest child begin this last stage of his schooling before heading out into the world to follow his dreams has made me realise that it wont be too long before all my babies are grown and gone. What then ?

There is always so much to think about....
There is always things that are changing....

beck xx

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Re-hydrated pizzas, self lacing shoes and self drying jackets. Today these are suppose to be part of our lifestyle. Anyone had the pleasure of trying these babies out yet ?

Today marks an epic date for all of us Back To The Future fans who back in 1985 watched Marty McFly and Doc take off in their time machine to let loose on the future....

21.10.2015 it seemed SO far away back then. I for one didn't think it would arrive so soon, but here we are.

Another date in my future is also looming its ugly head.
Yesterday we had the 'interview' to enrol our youngest son into senior high school, it was then that the years 2017 and 2018 were made apart of my vocabulary.

Why, you ask....

2017 is the year that we will watch our youngest son graduate grade twelve, after many long years being the parents of school children, it will all be over. Just like that we will become the parents of grown ups. What in the world will I do then ?

Not only will all my babies be grown ups, but if all goes according to my sons senior school set plan, 2018 will be the year that he heads off to the big smoke (Brisbane) to follow his dream of becoming a Forensic Scientist.

It is too much for this mumma to handle right now.
I know I am not ready for all of this.
And just like Doc and Marty did all those years ago, I want to climb into a time machine and go Back To The Future...

Who wants to join me ?

beck xx

MONDAY MUNCHIES - Lasagne

We had a very productive weekend in the garden, weeding, pruning, planting and mowing. And once we were finished the heavens opened and down came the rains. I love a good rain storm, I also love the easy meals we enjoy on the weekends, there is just something different about spending time in the kitchen with the family home and the bustle of the week behind you.

This weekend however I was quite naughty, serving up meals with lavishes of cheese and pasta. In my defence it will most likely be the last time we indulge in these types of meals as the weather heats up and salad become the daily ritual.

LASAGNA

* Fresh or dried lasagna sheets
* Beef mince
* Diced onion
* Minced garlic
* 1 tsp Italian herbs
* 1 tbs tomato paste
* Large tin of diced tomatoes
* Grated cheese

Bechamel Sauce 

* 60 g of butter
* 1/3 cup plain flour
* 4 1/2 cups of milk
* 1 cup grated cheese

In a large pan, saute onion, garlic and herbs till soft. Add mince and cook until all browned.

Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and stir until well combines. Bring mixture to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for a half hour or until sauce reduces and thickens.

In a separate saucepan, melt the butter for the bechamel sauce then add the flour while stirring.
Gradually add the milk whisking continuously to prevent lumps. Once the sauce begins to thicken remove from heat and stir in the cheese.

In a deep lasagna dish, layer the mince, the lasagna sheets and bechamel sauce, finishing with the bechamel and a layer of grated cheese.

Bake in the oven at 150 degrees (fan forced) for 20 minutes until cooked through and cheese is golden.

Enjoy

beck xx

ROAD TRIP TO MELBOURNE - Part one

Its been eight weeks since we abandoned left our teens at home and hit the road, just the two of us, for an adventure that we will remember for a life time.

It may sound selfish, heck yeah it was.
But after twenty two years of parenting and devoting our whole beings to our four fabulous sons, we are entitled to take three weeks off and just be a couple....

Aren't we ?

We drove all the way from Mackay to Melbourrne.

Yes my mind still boggles that we drove that far, but it was fabulous. Four days of exploring Outback Queensland and Rural New South Wales. It was a road trip of great proportions, taking in sights and experiences that we have not had not experienced before.
In the end we were ever so glad that we decided against flying, for our road trip was full of highlights and memories that will last a life time.

We even got out of our car and chased down the wild Emus, they are flighty things. We laughed and laughed letting loose and forgetting ourselves and where we were, I haven't felt so good in so long. We must have looked a funny sight to the travelers zooming past us in their cars.

We stopped for our first night in Roma, a sweet little town in Outback Queensland. It was time for a snooze before we hit the road to Melbourne again.

Linking up for FYBF with the beautiful With Some Grace

beck xx