Whirling week

Greetings everyone! So glad that I could find some time to drop in on the old blog. It’s been a crazy week this week, between the absence, and just-in-time return of DS1, to an impromptu-ish dinner for 8 and our very first soft-shelled egg! So, let’s recap.

It’s been wonderful weather here this week, great for getting a few things done, but otherwise for just making you feel that there IS an end in sight for winter. As always, multiple loads of washing have been done, but the folding is getting behind.

Several cups of coffee have been consumed catching up with a couple of friends. Good times.

We held a dinner here for the 3rd 2012 NRL State of Origin game Wednesday night. Some good friends invited themselves over, and then invited their visiting brother and his wife over. We had 8 including us, fed them on homemade pizza that rocked everyone’s world. Dessert was really the triumph of the evening. Thanks to my chickens! I used 5 egg yolks in a batch of passionfruit gelati (which we didn’t even GET to after dinner), and the 5 whites went into Meringues. Yes, DH came into the house, saw them, and was overcome with traumatic flashbacks to my last attempt…. which ended in a massive temper tantrum by yours truly. However, I have mastered them!! They were perfect. Crisp, sweet, and gooey all at once. Each dessert bowl contained broken up meringue base, topped with sliced strawberries that had been soaking in their own juice and sugar, whipped cream, and a drizzle of passionfruit. Individual, rustic pavlovas. And it was goooooddddd. No photos, too busy eating. Wish I could take the credit, but it was all Donna Hay’s idea. Thanks Donna 😉

By the way, the Maroons won by 1 point. 7 out of 8 guests were overjoyed. Sorry Pauline, maybe next year!

School holidays are proceeding as normal, but without the ghastly July weather. Lots of computer games and chilling out. Flavour of the week is The Settlers. They are empire building strategists these boys of ours.

Also they did a whole stack of work helping me get ready for our big night on Wednesday. Very glad for their help, very happy that the night went off without a hitch.

Other holiday entertainment has included hatching a dinosaur egg. I’d love to say we dug it up in the backyard, but actually DS2 and I picked it up in a shop for a bit of boredom busting. Had all the guests fascinated too as we are cheering on this little guy breaking out of his shell. Been going since Tuesday afternoon now….

Also fitted in a trip to the library, where I finally succumbed and borrowed some Elm Creek Quilts books on recommendation of a dear friend. Yes, I did enjoy them. Although somehow, after having cut my teeth on masters such as Tolkien, Austen, Gaskell etc, they were a little too fluffy for my current mood. But still, excellent fun, obviously targeted at a niche quilting market, and why not? Although I had DH in stitches reading him the last couple of pages of Sugar Creek Quilts. Great book, just a little teeny weeny bit inspired (ahem) by Pride and Prejudice. Including matching dialogue. Sorry, but Jane wrote it better.

Left without a car today, but with no need to go anywhere, so I walked to the post office and back – a couple of kilometres or so. It was a gorgeous walk. Freezing cold this morning, but blue sky and sunshine all the way. Not going to argue with that this time of year. I was very excited to get my art package order from last weekend – can’t wait for the kids to go back to school so I can play!

We also scored a major discount on a Colour Laser printer last weekend. I have had my eye on them for ages…. with kids doing more school work ON the computer, and it being so frustrating to have to make last minute trips for printing or ink, it made sense to upgrade to a colour one someday. However, it had to be reasonable in price, not too huge, and have excellent quality graphics. Randomly reading reviews on models Sunday morning led me to a Dell sale, where we got a duplexing model with great graphics for 30% off, which made it cheaper than the next model down without the duplex. Major score. It arrived last night, hooked up, printing off the network, too easy. What a relief!! Hoping to use it in my mixed media work as well, which will be pretty awesome.

So, there’s my crazy week. That doesn’t include the meeting with carpenters to measure our deck area, the mountains of dishes, housework, scrubbing bathrooms etc. I’m very happy to have had a couple of quiet days to rest and recover. Now I’m off to enjoy some more sunshine, and maybe start on the folding!!

Please be aware that there may be affiliate links in this content. Your support allows me to keep creating for you!