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| This is the day we brought our very first pickle home from the hospital. Nine years ago on the Gold Coast. Time is flying by and he has grown so much. I can remember it like it was yesterday. |
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| This is pickle #1 today. |
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| Now you'll have to excuse me while I go and have a little mummy cry. |
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| It's 39 (103 Fahrenheit) here in Melbourne today, for the second day in a row. Feeling a little nostalgic and homesick for the Gold Coast today. These photos of my 3 Pickles were taken last Christmas while we were visisting my family on the Gold Coast as part of our Christmas Road Trip. Taken at "the spit", just next to Sea World, it was a very, very hot day and despite all the sunscreen and hats etc and the fact we didn't spend a long time on the beach, we all got burnt. I'm talkin' crispy people! |
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| They had a great time and only had a supervised paddle on the edge as there were no flags or lifeguards where we were. |
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| That's the sandpumping jetty in the background where I used to go fishing when I was younger. We used to catch a lot of whiting there. |
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| Surfers Paradise in the background looking south.It was so hot, the air was misty as you can see. |
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| Playing with the tide. Wish I was there right now. Where would you like to be today? |
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| We spent Australia Day in a very casual fashion. Mr 3P had to work, so me and the 3 Pickles hung out at home. |
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| Mr3P brought home flags and tattoos for the boys. |
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| And one for himself. ;) |
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| For dinner we had some "fair dinkum" Aussie tucker. I made meat pies and for dessert we had lamingtons. I've made these pies many times but I threw the recipe out (accidentally) in one of my occasional cleaning frenzies.I was so happy to have found the recipe on taste.com.au. I followed the recipe from the ipad, where it sat happily on the recipe book holder in the kitchen. I'm lovin this ipad thingy. |
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| We made 4 regular sized pies and 4 little "party" pies from the recipe. For the little pies, I used a cupcake pan. The recipe is really easy to follow and the results were yum. |
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| Mr 3P got all patriotic and creative with his pie. Hope you all had a happy Australia day! |
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| These cute little guys have been visiting everyday since the plums have changed from green to yellow. |
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| They are very welcome to snack, as long as they leave me enough to make a little jam. |
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| I'm loving these groundcovers we got recently from Bunnings. Called Portulaca, "Mexican Doll", by Floriana. They love the heat and are drought hardy, this punnet have spread really well. They should produce a mass of double flowers in cotton- candy clours of vanilla, musk pink, fruity mango and lemon. Sounds tasty! |
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| #3 |
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| The first of our "harvest". You just can't beat the taste of a home grown tomato. Unfortunately, pickle #3 picked the green one way too early and it won't sun ripen on the kitchen window sill. |
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| More roses, this time for my bedside table. |
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| It has been a big weekend here. Mr3P has spent his "days off" working on the extention. Alone. I have never known anyone who can/would lift, place and nail 100kg beams onto a second storey building, by themselves!! |
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| This one was the trickiest, but he"nailed it", evetually. It is the bit that overhangs at the front and side of the roof (technical terminology......lol) |
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| I find it very difficult to watch him up there as I have fear of heights by proxy. |
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| Cuteness. I wish I could tan like that. |
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| This is a view of the back of the extention, where a courtyard will be. Do you like how I just moved on into the garage before the house was finished? |
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| The top floor will be an attic, apparently with some great views. |
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| Get that sucker nailed down fast. Ah, smiles. |
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| The 3 pickles spent a warm, sunny, Melbourne afternoon with their cousins at a nearby train park.There are still 2 weeks left of the school holidays, so I'm sure we'll be back. |
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If dandelions were hard to grow, they'd be most welcome on any lawn. anon
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| I'm running out of ideas.What do you do on school holidays to entertain the kiddlywinks..that doesn't cost the earth? |
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| This is my "skippy" twist on the traditional Greek Spanakopita (Spinach and Cheese Pie). |
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| Traditionally made with filo pastry (lots of butter) feta and spinach. In my version I use silverbeet (I'm told by my American friends that this is also known as Swiss Chard) as it grows in abundance in our garden. I sometimes use the filo, but today, I used regular, ready rolled puff pastry. For the cheese I used an Australia feta and fresh ricotta, but you can use any type you like. It's very quick and easy to make. My measurements are general guides, as I see this recipe as "a bit of this and a bit of that". |
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| Fold over long sides |
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| Spray with olive oil or brush with a little milk. |
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| Place on baking sheets that have been lined with baking paper. And bake for about 20 - 30 mins till golden and puffy. Times will vary with different ovens, but you can see when they're ready by the golden colour. |
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| Let cool for a while and so the egg sets. |
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| Slice, serve and enjoy. |
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| This recipe was brought to you today by : Our veggie patch and..... |
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| The girls.............. |
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| I'm linking this post to Friday Fun Finds at Kojo designs. How to - The Lettered Cottage The Friday Flair - Whipperberry Mouthwatering Mondays _ A Southern fairytale It's a blog party |