all good

On Friday night we had a very last minute catch up with a friend for her birthday which had been buried under the silt & sediment of real life.
So it was belated & all the usual crowd were not in attendance. The birthday girl was about to have a big drive so couldn't indulge heartily.
BUT...
The weather was kind & lovely enough to permit getting together outdoors in our close & favourite little park (scene of MANY a Friday night pizza & beers event).
Kids and dogs ran amok and nibbles were nibbled.
I had to make a cake. It would have been poxy not to have had a cake, so I used a recipe (yes, I really did) from the Delicious magazine which promised "idiot proof" yumminess. It was delish indeed, especially covered with lashings of fresh cream and sparklingly luscious strawberries!
Then Saturday was my darling Dad's birthday and we celbrated by having a roast chicken dinner with him and then rushing out to celebrate another friend's 40th (and leaving Dad to babysit!)
Sunday, Father's day, was a lavish hot brekky with bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomato & spinach. Yum.
Stomachs still groaning, we headed off to a family late lunch and got to meet the newest arrival, baby James! And the last, I promise, photo of his quilt.
It was a great weekend! Hope yours was too.

Everything is beautiful...when the sun's shining

I feel so uplifted by this beautiful sunny sunshine and blue sky.
But strangely unmotivated to go outside.
Yesterday, Pepper and I made some completely decadent bikkies. They are Chewy Choc Chip and halfway between a meringue and cookie.
D and I have both been required at our various jobs this weekend, so the down-time has been spent in a fairly slack arsed fashion. The obesity epidemic will be setting down at our place pretty soon.
A little sewing, a little cooking, a smidgen of Nintendo (that's the kids..not me) and a bit of quality surfing and visiting folks in blogland. And take away, because I resent having to cook on the weekend when I cook every meal during the week as well as makes school lunches, blah blah complain complain.
Kids are still "coldy" but are having a lovely play with their fab mates Maddy & Dylan this arvo.
In fact I can hear them now..."GO AWAY" The boys are trying to terrorise the girls who are playing beanie kids.
The GoGirl event at Dymocks went well this morning, with lots of happy girls thrilled to meet Ash Oswald, one of the illustrators. Happy kids, happy parents. Thanks to all who attended.

disappointed

I am so crapped off.
Jacinta, Clare and I were hanging out for Sunday this week. It was the end of our wait for our CAE cooking class dreams to come true. Now, its the end of our cooking class dreams.
Today we received in the mail notification of the cancellation of our course due to LACK OF ENROLEMENTS! Well it certainly couldn't have been lack of interest because we were interested enough for a whole raft of people.
Anyway, I'm happy that I finally managed to make something cute with kimono fabric scraps for Clare's birthday and she loves it.
And here's a glorious tray full of utter puffery badges ready to find a new home. Maybe in Meet Me At Mikes or Lulu. Or maybe I'll just festoon myself with them

coming up soon...three crazy chefs!

My dear girlfriend Jacinta had her 40th recently and instead of a pressie, Clare & I decided to give her (and ourselves) a one-day cooking course at the CAE. It's going to be a girly day of fun with some Indian delicacies thrown in; which we are going to learn how to prepare.
As much of our interaction with eachother over some 10 or so years has involved thinking about, talking about, shopping for, cooking and eating FOOD, I think this is quite an appropriate gift.
I can't wait to get stuck into it, and as a memento of our day I decorated us some chef's hats which I categorically refuse to wear on the day. That is now "on the record" okay? Not wearing it.
I am a bit tired of coughing like some middle aged 40-a-day smoker and apologise in advance to my stitching companions for tonight.
Also, to all those under-six year olds that I probably scared the bejesus out of this morning at our Where The Wild Things Are morning...sorry. Hope you enjoyed seeing the old girl dancing to the Monster Mash.