Monday Menu 10 October

Mondays menu is here again.  I am linking to I'm an Organising Junkie


Monday  Sausage(from our homekill man), baked potato and mixed vege

Tuesday  Indian coconut beef curry on noodles

Wednesday  wonton soup with stirfry vege

Thursday  bacon and pumpkin pizza with salad

Friday  Freezer meal

Saturday  vegetable samosa on noodles with yoghurt

Sunday  leftovers

Have a fabulous week.

(source photo of bacon and pumkin pizza from here)

The Holiday List

I loved Melissa's idea of making a list of things to do in the holiday.  This is especially so because I am a list sort of girl.  So I thought being the beginning of the holidays I would make a start remembering we have some serious manual labouring to do to the outdoors of the house we have just bought.

1. Visit the Fan Zone at Queens Wharf, Auckland.  I guess a must do thing as the Rugby World Cup is being held in New Zealand and the finals in Auckland.
2. Take Hayden for his EDTA kidney function test
3. Go to the movies
4. make Toilet Roll Seed Starter
5. make marmalade
6. make Rocky Road Bites
7. send my scrapbooking books off for printing.  Very exciting.
8. start a photo time capsule
9. bake with the children home made bread.
10. make dinner together starting with these homemake pita breads
11. Go walking in the Hunua Ranges.
12. make Strawberry Lemonade
13. take photos for Christmas Card with this template as inspiration.
14. hire a bin to fill and take all the rubbish away from our new house.  (Ok so the bin was not nearly large enough but one bin is full and one more will need to be hired.
15. Movie and popcorn afternoon at home.
16. plant grass in my large needy spot
17. finish bracing the deck.
18. pizza garden

Lastly lots of  outside play and fun.

How much rain is too much?

I know that living on a block of land requiring rain to keep us in water is something new.  I know that we have been crossing our fingers and toes for a little rain to keep our water tank full until we can get the new one installed but really and truely the weather Gods truely took my hopeful thoughts way too litterally.  This was after about 15 minutes of really heavy rain and a dash of large hail balls.   Just take a look.

My husband out chicking the current water tank to make sure we are collecting maximum water.

A closer look and you can see the DIY moment as the water collection pipe is going to need futher repair on a dry day.  I can just see the children listening to 'dont't play with the wood please'.

Then ofcourse you find our yet to be grassed spot well watered.  I suppose when the seed goes in next week the sun will shine for weeks with no rain.

Wordless Wednesday 4 October

Another Wednesday.  This week you can see the story of this moment.

Here is father and son just last weekend.  Hayden is disabled but is paying a lot of attention to the art of DIY.

Fixing the drill bit.

Immitating fixing the drill bit.

Just check out the goggles....hair stuck inside but Hayden is oblivious to it.

I am linking this post to My Little Drummer Boys.

Monday Menu 3 October

Here I am linking again to I'm an Organising Junkie.  With in being the last week of the third term in this school year I can truely say I am hanging out for a holiday.

Monday   freezer meal

Tuesday  Herb and garlic beef stir fry

Wednesday  Ham and capsicum  Fritata

Thursday   Sweet and sour stirfry

Friday  bbq chicken with salad and vege kebabs

Saturday   chicken wraps

Sunday left overs

That Puddle

We have a puddle in our yard... well it is not really a puddle but a hole we are getting ready to put the 30,000 litre water tank in.  You can see the sence of scale when comparing the water tank to the trampoline just beside it.

Unfortunately the water table on our land is very high and when you dig down water comes to the surface and this is what is causing our puddle, along with some rain.  This photo shows what happens after you have pumped the puddle out and you can see the bottom. 

This all leads to my photo from Wordless Wednesday  .  Andre asked if he could rescue Haydens gumboots, which had been thrown in the hole when it was 3/4 full of water.  Without looking I naturally said yes.  The next moment he is there in front of me in his swim suit and goggles waiting to get wet.

So knee deep in water, in he gets and the wet gumboots are found.  We all spent the next 10 minutes laughing especially as the swim suit and goggles did not get wet.

I scrapbooked this.

(The credits for this can be found here at Nuts4Digi)

Wordless Wednesday 28 September

There is a story to go with this photo but that is for another day.

I am linking to My Little Drummer Boys

Monday Menu 26 September

I am all go this week.  It is nearly the end of the third term of the school year and we have just moved house.  On top of that I am working three days a week and life is generally busy.

My menu is my life saver so here it is.

Monday  Indian Coconut Chicken Curry

Tuesday  Homemade hamburgers

Wednesday  Thai style Beef Stirfry  (scroll down to see the stirfry sauce recipe)

Thursday  Spaghetti with mince sauce

Friday  baked flaffel on rice with salad

Saturday  beef sweet and sour Stirfry on noodles

Sunday  bbq yet to be decided

Here is mondays meal.  We have just had it and it is sure one to be repeated.  (Food photography is much harder than it looks.)

I am linking to I'm an Organising Junkie.

Travelling with children

There is nothing like a list at your finger tips of things that will help keep you children entertained when in a car travelling for long distances.  I recently had a need to think about some of these.  i know that reading a book, or colouring in do not necessarily conjure up ideas of happy stomachs so I think that simple and old fashioned are the best.

1. I spy.....great for all ages.  Starting with colours even developing into a number plate version of I spy
2. A game of 'It'.....I guess this is like playing a game of tag but with no room to run around you use words only.  The 'It' person has a phrase they must say everytime they are asked a question.  Lets us say the phrase is 'smelly socks'.  Now everyone in the car asks questions of the 'It' person who only can answer saying smelly socks.  It truely is a barrel of fun.
3. A scavenger hunt is something for all ages.  Here are a few examples from the the net.
• one from The Organised Housewife.
• Try Planning Fun Road Trips
• Even convert this idea by Martha Stewart into a scavenger hunt.

Personally anything that keeps them laughing is good for me.

Wordless Wednesday 21 September

I just could choose which photo today but it really should be entitled 'Girls can do anything'.  My 10 year old took the photos.

Mother (me) and son installing the door handle

So the existing space needed some adjustment.

Of course there is a need to pose with the tools.

I am linking this post to My Little Drummer Boys.