Day 10 - Michelia

The Michelia hedge is flowering well this year. I love the furry brown sepals almost as much as the creamy flowers.
A quick post, we've been grocery shopping, the double trolley ride is still a highlight for the girls, and they receive a lot of attention as we go around the aisles. A visit to my parents to say hello to Grandma and Gramps and then the girls fell asleep in the car on the way home. So I've unpacked the car and done a few jobs and have lunch ready for when they awake. I even have managed to write this blog post!
Happy weekend!

Day 9 - Sunrise

Sunrise is at a far more respectable hour for the next couple of weeks.
After my shower this morning I was treated to this.

Day 8 - Boots

My Blundstone boots have finally bit the dust. I bought them nine years ago when Rob and I first moved in together.
The soles have disintegrated and are hanging off in one big piece, tripping me over when I walk. Sadly they no longer make Blundstone boots in Tasmania so I'm reluctant to buy another pair. Not sure if I'm posh enough for RM Williams, or can afford the price tag, besides I think they've sold out too. Might have to investigate Rossi boots instead!

Day 7 - Life

Alarm.

Grab phone before it wakes the others.

Ease out of the firm grip of Maggie.

Shower.

Let dogs out.

Espresso machine on.

Heat pump up.

Unpack dishwasher.

Wash bottles. 

Pack lunch and snacks for girls and Rob.

Lay out breakfast. 

Pack bags.

Let dogs back in out of the rain.

Go back and encourage the others to wake up.

Wrangle girls into high chairs.

Look away for a moment and find they are painting with their yoghurt.

Clean up.

Offer them bananas.

Pick them off the floor.
Get them back out of the chairs.

Pay bills online.

Thankfully sip the coffee my dear husband makes me everyday.

Herd girls into bedroom and change nappies and dress them with Rob.

Brush my teeth, encourage them to do theirs while Rob showers.

Watch them play hide and seek in our wardrobe.

Dress in work clothes.

Cajole girls towards the car dragging bags and baskets. 

Say bye to dogs and lock them up.

Drive to family day care.

Drop girls in, laugh as they greet their baby friend and wave us happily goodbye.

Spend 20 minutes alone with my husband as we drive to work.

He drops me in Battery Point then heads to uni to give a 9am lecture.

I visit the post office and buy 1kg of coffee beans.

Walk down the road to work.

Computer on.

Email open.

Greet open plan cubicle mates.

Catch up on a week's emails.

Walk across the road for a coffee.

Wish I'd walked a bit further for a better one.

Wrestle with our website content management system.

Walk across to Salamanca to buy veggies and bread for dinner, and soup for lunch.

Catch up with friends as I eat.

Start planning my timetable for the rest of the work year.

Realise that it is only 24 work days.

Feel tired thanks to the change to daylight savings.

Check and see a Facebook update from their carer.

Laugh as I see Maggie covered in paint.

Melt as I see Elisabeth's sweet smile.

Count the minutes down until home time.

Head out the front and wait in a cool spring breeze for Rob. 

Head to care.

Rush in to see them.

Hear about their great day.

Cuddle them as we head to the car.

Drive home.

Unpack car.

Let out joyous dogs.

Rush girls in through the rain.

Unpack.

Amuse girls with Shaun the sheep on my phone while Rob cooks stir fry noodles.

Eat.

Drink wine.

Clean up girls.

Remove their dinner covered trousers.

Police the trike riding.

Practise their yoga moves.

Run their bath.

Wash the girls.

Dry shivering girls as they stayed in their bath too long.

Convince them to put a nappy back on.

Teeth brushing.

Sleeping bags on.

Bottles.

Sleep.

Move them into their cots.

Smile as I watch them sleep.

Blog.

Chocolate.

Whisper goodnight to dear husband.

Sleep. 

Well for 3-4 hours at least.

Day 6 - Baked eggs with chorizo, and Lumberjack cake

Now we don't have the luxury of taking photos of our dinner anymore, so I'm afraid my Monday Menu posts have faded away. We count ourselves lucky if we get a moment to eat our dinner at a slower pace before having to clean up one of the girls sitting next to us in their high chairs.

But the other day when the girls finally went to sleep I had a moment to start cooking something for dinner (it was just going to be scrambled eggs) and I quickly grabbed the Blue Ducks cookbook off the shelf.



An Instagram friend Charlotte a publicist at Pan MacMillan has sent us a few generous boxes of books. Cooking, gardening and children's books for the girls. I haven't had the time to cook many things but I have poured over the pages, tucking away recipes to try.

The baked eggs are really a breakfast dish, but I love eggs at any time of day. We had some free-range eggs from a friend so I was set.

So easy, quickly fry a chopped onion and some garlic cloves in a pan. Add 250g of sliced chorizo sausage (I used a can of Manolete chorizo which locals can pick up at Bottega Rotolo), and fry until the onion is translucent. Then add a sliced red capsicum (I had some pre-roasted in a jar), a sliced chilli (I omitted this!), a 400g can of well rinsed and drained cannellini beans, a 400g can of diced tomatoes (or whole baby romas like me), a tablespoon of paprika, stir and simmer for 10 minutes. The mixture should be thick but still saucy, season and add a handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley. At this stage I paused to wait until dinner, but you can press on if you are hungry.


Preheat the oven to 200 deg C. Our fry pan is oven proof, so I just cracked 8 eggs in dents I made amongst the tomato/bean mix. Alternatively you could spoon the mix into the middle of individual terracotta bowls and crack an egg either side of the beans.

Place the eggs in the oven and bake for 6-8 minutes, depending on how well cooked you like your eggs (we like them runny). I served it with Pigeonwhole sourdough, and we all enjoyed it immensely.



I even got a moment to bake on the weekend, quickly making a Lumberjack cake. I used the Woman's Weekly recipe, but made it in a 20cm square tin and doubled the topping mix.


What's been on the menu at your place recently?