Today marks six years since I started my career as a mother. The Big Sister and I have come a long way since I carried her gingerly out of the hospital and, blinking, we stepped into the bright light of the big world. Last month, saw us pack up the nursery and return it to an office. In the draws on the lowboy where I’ve kept our babies’ clothes, I found so many reminders of the past ...
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I’m Pinning Around Pinterest Link Party
The Big Sister went back to school this week. As I arrived home on Monday afternoon after picking up the girls, a massive rainbow appeared directly above our house. Some people would have marvelled at the refraction of light through water droplets, but I knew better. This was a divine sign from the Gods of Getting Stuff Done.It's excellent timing - we're celebrating another birthday this week. ...
how to make toad in the hole
I’m not sure exactly when I became a sausage snob. I suspect my days at school when no one seemed able to raise a dollar without rolling a thin brown snag across a just-warm barbeque contributed to my fussiness. I’ll eat most things, but I cannot understand how the lure of a beef sausage cooked to the consistency of petrified wood served upon a piece of dry bread. At University while my mates ...
dishing the dirt on strawberries
This time last week, I loaded the girls in the car and under my friend Soni’s directions navigated forestry tracks and dirt roads to Di West’s strawberry farm. We sat around her kitchen table and while the kids ate their body weight in strawberries, I asked Di and her sister Jodi your questions and a few of my own. Have you always been a farmer? Di and Jodie were born into a farming ...
feeling lucky
Today is the Little Sister's third birthday. Both the girls are spending the day with the Little Sister’s day care mother. The Big Sister will be assisting (and I’m using that term very loosely) throw a little party for the Little Sister and her mates. They will play pin the tail on the elephant and eat the fish cakes that I was up before dawn icing. I should clarify that these are cupcakes ...
I’m Pinning Around Pinterest Link Party
Tomorrow is the Little Sister's third birthday, so I'm spending today baking. I love looking back at photos from my childhood birthdays and seeing how much effort Mum put into my cake. I want the girls to feel the same, so every year I sit them down with a few birthday cake books and let them choose whatever captures their imagination. Then I say silent prayers that Dad will materialise from ...
how to choose great strawberries
Di West has been farming since she was a foetus. She thinks strawberries are best enjoyed raw and her favourite variety is called Splendour. We sat down at her kitchen table on Saturday, and while my kids pigged out on strawberries, she shared her top ten tips for choosing great strawberries. how to choose great strawberries 1. strawberries don’t continue to ripen after picking. Look for ...
crunchy choc honeycomb biscuits
It’s a bit of a significant day in Casa de Cooker. Today the Little Sister is 2 years, 11 months and 3 weeks; the exact age the Big Sister was when she became the Big Sister. The day started with cuddles in bed. I explained what today was and I had a quiet talk with the Big Sister. Looking back, I expected a lot from her at just two years old, so I told her what a great job she'd done. I ...
I’m Pinning Around Pinterest Link Party
How are the school holidays treating you? The Big Sister has a three week loooong break and I'm reaching the end of my craft quota for the century! It wouldn't be so bad, but between the end of financial year farm stuff and taking on the redesign of our website, I feel like I could lock myself, uninterrupted, in a room for a whole month and still not get everything done. Yesterday afternoon saw ...
stone the crows & starve the lizards rum cocktail
Last week we had a week on Bribie Island. Woorim, the suburb where we stayed, has a very rowdy crow population. These black bandits voiced their opinions about just about everything during the week. In our hurry to get to breakfast on the first morning, the lid was left off our tub of food supplies on the deck. When we returned home, the entire upstairs veranda was covered in white powder. ...
I’m Pinning Around Pinterest Link Party
Hello from beautiful sleepy Bribie Island! Welcome to this week's I'm Pinning Around Pinterest Link Party. Last week's party saw some lovely new blogs join in and some cracking posts shared. The Windmill Paddock shared tips for pruning and propagating roses. Even if you don't grow roses, I suggest you pop over and check out what I suspect may be the most beautiful blog header I've seen. ...
pea and ham soup with parsley oil + breathing out
Did you hear that whooshing sound this morning? It was the sound of the collective sigh of relief that mothers all over Australia breathed out as they packed the last school lunches of the term. Tomorrow marks the start of the winter school holidays, and despite how much school the Big Sister has missed this term, I’m looking forward to three whole weeks of not searching for her infernal ...
I’m Pinning Around Pinterest Link Party
I spent Monday night at the dentist having my front tooth fixed. Since then I've been speaking like Ita Buttrose. If we were to meet in person today I'd likely invite you to "join this weekssss I'm Pinning Around Pinteresssssst Link Party". Here are some of my favourites from last week.... There are approximately one million things you can do with Washi Tape. Lucky for us My Brown Paper ...
Girls just wanna have Passionfruit and Lime Brûlée
An SMS in the afternoon light to a mate who I knew would understand my plight. Oh Susan dear, you were once a stay at home Mum remember girls just wanna have fun adult conversation? The phone rang in the middle of the school pickup fight And Susan says, Amanda I remember that life. Oh mummy dear I know you’re coming undone and girls just wanna have fun adult conversation. That’s all they ...
postcards from the edge, the Marseille edit
Dear Mum and Dad, Thanks for the postcard you send the Big Sister from Marseille. I'm relieved to learn that you have not fallen and hit your heads. Thank you for going the extra mile to find an RSPCA approved card for the Big Sister to share with her Prep class. I'm sure her French teacher will relish the opportunity to teach the children the phrase 'grosses bises de ...
fig and yoghurt cake + for figs sake!
There's some bad business going on in the blogosphere at the moment. A business has bought up similar domain names to popular blogs and has rerouted the traffic to their own site. I'm outraged on behalf of the bloggers affected. They have spent years building loyal followings through doing what they do really well and doing it at a pace that makes my head hurt. Now by registering similar ...
I’m Pinning Around Pinterest Link Party
Happy Wednesday everyone! Time for another I'm Pinning Around Pinterest Link Party. Last week saw some cracking posts linked up. Some of my favourites were.... Mrs D plus 3 had me rethinking my anti-glace cherry stance with her thermomix Fruity Yorkshire Tea Cake. One Mother Hen was reading my mind with her self-saucing passionfruit pudding - I have a fruit bowl full of passionfruit at the ...
how to make an elephant from a surgical glove
It's a well known fact that I suck at craft, so no doubt many of you will wake this morning to a craft tutorial from me and wondering if our recent house arrest was enough to let the kangaroos loose in my top paddock. Bear with me, I wrote a craft tutorial that no one follows. The girls have been spending their fair share of time at the doctor lately. On our last visit our clever GP made the ...
postcards from the edge
Dear Mum and Dad, Thanks for the postcard you send the Big Sister and her class. It's good to hear you're enjoying Arles. Did you by any chance partake of a few too many French Burgundies, fall and hit your heads? Was the Moulin Rouge out of bum titty bum bum postcards? Seriously this is the only chain of events I can come up with that might explain why you chose a postcard of ...
I’m Pinning Around Pinterest Link Party
What a difference a week makes! This time last week, I was bunkering down for a week of house arrest, while the Little Sister was treated for whooping cough. The treatment is finished and she's no longer infectious, so I'm hopeful we may rejoin the real world today. Both girls still have terrible coughing bouts, so we'll be taking baby steps. Wednesday is fast becoming a day to look forward to ...
why I write
Last week Kirsten from Kirsten and Co. invited me to take part in a blog baton race called Why I Write. I agreed happily, it seemed like a bit of fun. Four easy questions to answer, except I didn't find them easy to answer at all. Last night, I threw the towel in and hoped fresh eyes would help me this morning. I probably don't have answers because I'm still shocked that I enjoy writing. ...
things I learned from Jane Goodall
I had an awkward chat with Steve Irwin about Jane Goodall once. (In hindsight, it was probably only awkward for me really, because I was not quite twenty and not fond of being wrong.) I was living at home with my folks in Brisbane, studying Science during the week and working at Australia Zoo on weekends. Steve was flying in from overseas and I was waiting at home for the call to collect him ...
the sound of my own voice + a thank you note from quarantine
Firstly, thank you for the outpouring of support for our family after yesterday's post. I'm touched and humbled by your messages. There's a lot of love out there on the inter web and we were lucky enough to be on the receiving end of it yesterday. Thank you all. The girls had an OK night, they still coughed and cried but not any worse than last night. The cheery lady from Public Health told me ...
my fully immunised daughters have whooping cough
I’m lying on a mattress on the floor, next to a fire engine bed. Above me are five glow-in-the-dark stars arranged in the shape of the Southern Cross. I’m having flashbacks to childhood sleepovers - late nights spent talking and giggling in the dark. But this is no laughing matter. I'm sleeping on the floor because the Little Sister has whooping cough. At the other end of the corridor, ...
I’m Pinning Around Pinterest Link Party
If you heard that thumping sound about 3am Tuesday morning, that was me crashing back to earth after my girls weekend on Fraser Island. I returned home to the news that the Little Sister has contracted whatever frightful freaking lurgy that has plagued the Big Sister for the past three weeks. Since then, I've spent my day jamming fresh fruit and veg into their gobs and my nights in one of their ...
how to make piña coladas + make an escape
I was tired of my husband, we've been together so long Like a worn out recording of a favourite song So while he lay there sleepin' I text my girlfriends bed And in what seemed like an instant, there was reply and it read If you like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain If the theme song from Frozen has made you completely insane If your children whinge when their toast’s the wrong ...
I’m Pinning Around Link Party
Yesterday I discovered the Little Sister brushing her teeth with glue. The Big Sister had decided to do some Tuesday morning crafting on the sly and had left the tube of glue in the bathroom, next to the toothpaste. Is it any wonder I abhor craft? The crafting gear has been moved to a higher shelf, for fear that glue becomes a regular part of the Little Sister's diet! Luckily there were some ...
quinoa goreng + permission to stop reading this blog
Yesterday I activated almonds. I suspect that sharing this contentious piece of information will result in a large exodus of readers of my blog. You have my permission to click away and never return. Fair play. I’d leave me too. Casa de Cooker is at serious risk of overdosing on super foods this week. The kale planted in the veggie patch is finally ready to pick. The new asparagus shoots ...
sago and stewed prunes + bats in my belfry
By my calculations it’s been 8 days, 2 hours, 14 minutes and 3 seconds since I was alone, even for one waking minute. The Big Sister has a cough which draws uncomfortable stares and inspires old people to cross the street. We’ve been laying low at Casa de Cooker, not leaving the house except to buy groceries and drop the Little Sister to her day care mother. The Big Sister loves school, so ...
I’m Pinning Around Link Party
Happy Wednesday and welcome to the second I'm Pinning Around Link Party! A big thank you to everyone that joined the party last week, here are some of my favourite linked posts. Jodi from Fresh Home Cook linked her spiced pumpkin and poppy seed muffins. I spent the rest of the afternoon day dreaming about lemon cream cheese frosting. Seriously, I'm yet to meet a lemon cream cheese frosting I ...
soy poached salmon with soba noodles + a few things I learned at university
This post is brought to you by Origin Energy Even at University I knew that studying zoology was going to be a niche market. I knew there wouldn't be loads of application to real life. Sure, sometimes while watching the girls squabble over the last biscuit, I think I could be watching a nature documentary. But really, there’s not a huge crossover in knowledge between my studies and my real ...
the world is still a good place, the 16/05/14 edition
I’m hesitant to write another The World is Still a Good Place post. I wrote one on David’s birthday back in February. While I was busy concentrating on being grateful, I denied myself the chance to be sad. In the days after his birthday, my body struggled. I tried to keep going, but I didn’t have the energy to get through the day. At the gym, weights I normally lift with ease seemed ...
I’m Pinning Around Link Party
Sitting on the couch last night, I handed Bearhands the remote and started catching up on the day's social media. Joe Hockey was handing down the budget and the inevitable commentary started to appear in my Facebook feed. The unsolicited political rants and the shame of having made an arse by sharing a story about a Chinese miner who supposedly survived 17 years trapped under ground earlier in ...
vanilla braised beef cheeks
On the weekend, while no one (including me) was looking, Cooker and a Looker turned two. I went back to my first ever post to check the exact date; the post was vanilla braised beef cheeks and it was cringe worthy. Re-reading my original post made it clear to me that my blogging style has changed in two years: I put down my iPhone and found my camera, I removed the stick from my arse I became ...
homemade pizza pockets
This post is brought to you by DON Smallgoods. Being a school mum is taking some getting used to. When will I adjust to being the mum and not the sitting-in-the-front-row-raising-my-hand-so-high-my-bum-leaves-the-seat student? I felt nervous waiting outside the Big Sister’s first parent-teacher interview a few weeks back, my nerves were probably not aided by the incident. In many ways the Big ...
where babies come from
There's a particularly rough bit of track between Orchid Beach and the calm side of Fraser island. Coming home the other day, the rest of our crew pulled up on the other side to make sure we got through. They noted the grave look on my face and figured I was worried about Bearhands' driving. Inside the car, the sisters were having a conversation. The Big Sister asked the Little Sister if she'd ...
Moreton Bay Porridge | ANZAC Traditions
Greetings from Fraser Island! Our convoy travelled up here yesterday ladened with enough food and grog to keep us amused for the next ten days. When we cater the trip we always plan as if it's raining and the fish aren't biting. I'm very pleased to say, so far, I'm wrong. We always make the trip this time of year to join in the Dawn Service at Orchid Beach. This morning, kids from our tour ...
famous friends + cool companions: Stoffel the Honey Badger
I was scrolling through my Facebook feed this morning when I noticed a post from I really really love science* going viral. I knew instantly that the amazing Honey Badger Houdini was a little mate that I met in South Africa. Bearhands and I had our first big overseas holiday in September 2004. He met me in Johannesburg after I finished a stint in Madagascar for work. We hired a little car, ...
Goan Fish Curry + the numbers game
I can wrap up my week's accomplishments in numbers: 7: hours spent last Wednesday in a round-trip to Ikea 45: dollars spent on meatballs, cheese and reindeer-shaped pasta 2: constructions with Bearhands' assistance 4: unaided constructions 9 ½: toes remaining after repeatedly kicking my toe on a suitcase that I wasn't clever enough to shift after the first injury countless: tears at the ...
six things I learned this weekend – Voices of 2014 launch
I was sitting having lunch with family after Ant and Flic’s wedding a few weeks ago, when my Aunt, Merilyn, asked if Mum and I would be heading to Sydney again this year for the launch of Voices of 2014. I shook my head, we weren’t. The Launch was just two weeks away and I’d decided that we simply had too much on April. Merilyn didn’t say a word, but she sat back in her seat, tilted her head a ...