Monday & HX1

Ah, Monday. To start off my Monday morning I was awoken at 6:45am (I'm a late riser, usually not up until 8) to six men with hammers and Heaven knows what else on my roof (yay, a new roof today). AHhhh. It was crazy loud. Roxy was all in a stir. We tried to lay in bed a little longer, but that wasn't happening, Hub and I laughed when it got even louder. So I  got up and ready as fast as I could and ran out the house.
Who Me? Early to work? HA. Well I was. So my sister and I went for our usual Starbucks run. Admit-tingly I parked with my back bumper a touch over the back line of the parking spot at Safeway, but the lot was nearly empty and it was only a quick run. So we muddle inside to get our mouth savoring white chocolate mochas, yum, talk to our newly preggo barista for a moment then walk back out only to find that some lady picked the spot behind me (out of ALL the empty spots around) and literally had her front tag pushed against my back bumper! Well this 'lady' kept her distance from the car, almost like it wasn't hers, looking at her phone then looking at us and the cars. How weird is that? Mind you, I'm laughing in my head at this point because my bumper is already damaged from a hit and run and it's soon to be replaced anyway. BUT just to make the lady sweat it out a little, I move my car up some to take it off her license plate and inspect the damage. We rubbed my bumper and pointed to certain areas of the bumper like there were scratches/dents (there actually were some buff-able scuff marks). But seriously! Who parks up on someone else's bumper with a ton of empty spaces around THEN doesn't even move her vehicle backwards and walks away!? The whole thing was quite humorous. Now if I would have just gotten my bumper replaced (like I should have already) THEN I would have been a little upset! Oh well, enough of that story. Here's a much better one...

Let me share my super early birthday present from my wonderful awesome hubby! 

Dun dun dun dun....



The Sony HX1! I LOVE it. Isn't she sweet? I debated for months and months over what would be my next camera purchase. Originally I wanted an SLR...but for a couple reasons I decided against it. 1. I really didn't need a professional grade camera. 2. I didn't need to carry lenses around and make sure they are properly cleaned and 3. I would worry way too much over it. But I wanted a GOOD camera so I looked at my other options. I really hadn't thought about a bridge camera before. I played with this bad boy and knew I met my perfect match. I then read THOUSANDS of reviews from every site I could find. I compared a couple different cameras in the category, spending a ton of hours online. I kept coming back to this one. 

This is what I love about it so far:

- Image quality
- Picture color
- 20x zoom
- Sweep Panorama Mode
- 1080p HD Movie Mode
- The 'G' lens -equivalent of a 28-560mm lens on a 35mm camera 
- High speed shooting (10fps) 

I haven't gotten to mess with it too much but here are a couple pictures, unedited. 

This picture was taken behind our couch, which was nearly pitch dark. 
It snapped so fast and I was very happy with it's turnout.
(Oh BTW- Roxy doesn't normally sleep behind the couch, 
I think she was afraid of the rain that could possibly turn into thunder)

This one had no flash and it was fairly dim inside. 

This was taken from inside my window, which is why it's not perfectly clear. 
But still a good shot- at full zoom.


Oh and my birthday isn't until September 15th :)

easy peasy

lemon delicious pudding

  • 90g butter, softened
  • 1 ½ cup (330g) caster (superfine) sugar
  • 1 ½ cup (375ml) milk
  • 3 eggs
  • ½ cup (125ml) lemon juice
  • ½ cup (75g) plain (all-purpose) flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind

Preheat oven to 180ºC. 
Place the butter, sugar, milk, eggs, lemon juice, flour, baking powder and lemon rind in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. 
Pour into a lightly greased 5 cup-capacity (1.25 litre) ovenproof dish and bake for 1 hour or until golden. 


this is my favourite dessert to whip up on a cold winters night....usually when the little ones are sleeping so my husband & I can enjoy in peace!! they are so easy & soooo yummi!!

for more mouth watering easy peasy dinner ideas head over here
image & recipe courtesy of Donna Hay

Do you know what you believe in?


I'm doing an AdSchool class on copywriting on Monday nights. As if I didn't have enough to do. My work has sent me along as a 'treat', so I figured this was something I couldn't say no to.  It's interesting enough. I enjoy studying and learning. The fact that I get home at about 10 o'clock on a school night is not so enjoyable. I'm dead on my feet.

Last night was different, though. We had a guest lecturer, Julian Short. He's a notable psychiatrist and the author of 'An Intelligent Life'.  He was a charismatic older gentleman and by that I mean that he was a gentle man. Softly spoken, gracious, commanding attention by the intelligence of his discussion alone.

Julian Short's expertise is on 'happiness' and he reminded us that people are shaped by their ethics and morals and these beliefs provide the scaffolding for the life that they go on to build. I nodded and wrote down 'ethics and morals' and then sucked on my pen while I contemplated exactly what that means. I wonder, I thought, if I've ever really, truly examined what my own ethics, morals and beliefs are. I'm sure that subconsiously I'm aware of my opinions and I'm certain that I live day to day by a particular code. But have I ever brought them to the surface in a conscious, present way? No, I have not.

I know that I believe in family and I'm opposed to war of any kind. I don't like littering or people who don't take care of the environment around them. I try not to judge others' choices but I will if they affect others in a negative way. I don't like pawn shops. I believe in 'something more' but my Catholic upbringing didn't really stick. I'm a feminist but I embrace gender differences. I can't stand bigots, racists, terrorists and most other ists. I like the bright side of the street.

But I need to know more.

So over the next few weeks I'm going to be pondering this topic and working out what my own structure is. I think it's important to know as I believe that examining my beliefs is fundamental to helping my children to structure their own. What will their scaffolding be?Publish Post

Are you certain of your own morals and ethics? What things do you really believe in?



PS - One thing I KNOW I believe in is... The Mighty Fridge Chronicles. I'll be posting the linky tomorrow so start snapping away at that fridge! If you're wondering what I'm on about, you can find last month's Chronicles here. See you in the morning!

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Body Balance



I have not had a decent night sleeps in 2 years. I am surviving on 3-4 hours maximum of sleep a night and I unfortunately can not say that this is because of a lovely child. I work 50 hours a week looking after 3 kids aged 2, 5 and 7 and my job involves school runs, play dates, dinner prep, school lunch making, homework, swimming lessons, footy training, bed making, toy room cleaning, ballet lessons....sounding familiar mums...then I have to go home each night and run my own household! I love my job but it definitely keeps me on my toes. I see it as intense training for when I become a mum to my own child. I went to the doctors to make sure there was nothing physically wrong with me and surprise surprise...all perfect...dam i mean great! but that means the no sleep and headaches and back aches are all due to....drumroll please....stress! DUH! Show me someone out there that isn't stressed! I went to my chiropractor and they said the same thing...stress...she wouldn't work on me until I had a massage cause I was so tense she couldn't adjust properly!

SO both the doctor and my chiro have told me to take hot baths at least 3 times a week and take up Yoga! This will clear my mind and stretch out my body! I must admit this does make perfect sense as when I'm lying there in bed at 2 in the morning staring at the ceiling I do have a strange urge to start stretching out my legs and back to calm my body down! So a few weeks ago I made the change and signed up to my local gym and decided to start body balance! Which is a mix of Yoga, Thai Chi and Pilaties.

Today was my first session and boy I am scared to wake up in the morning! I feel I am going to be in so much pain! hahah but with the pain aside I did have a wonderful time and really felt it did wonders for my body! Its amazing how stretching out your body can make you feel so calm. I must admit the old ballet hands made there way in there a few times and the need to push myself to my limits may not have been the best idea for my first time but I just loved it and wanted to join in 100%. We went through the stages and I did pretty well with all of the moves however when the 'core strength' section came I really had to pull myself up and remind myself not to push too hard if I wanted to walk tomorrow. So hopefully in a few weeks I will be up with the rest of them! At the end of the session they turn the music on and dim the lights and you have meditation time for 5 minutes. Mind you the minute I laid down and stopped my mind and head blew up and was so heavy and throbbing from all the hard work my body had just done, It was such a weird feeling I really needed that 5 minutes to take control back over my body so I could walk out of that room safely! My legs have been jelly all night but all these feelings my body is going through have been so wonderful and I know are signs that finally my body is being active! Lets hope I get through the night and I am not too sore tomorrow!

x S.K.K x
Our magic beach






So much to see and do. Adventures to be had and discoveries to be made...shells to collect, songs to be sung and rock pools to paddle in. We love our magic beach. x

Front Yard

Front Yard design - after
Front Yard design - before
A couple of Mondays back, I showed you how I changed the front of my house in House exterior colour scheme. This week I am sharing with you how we changed the front yard.

If you read that post you will know we replaced the picket fence and changed the layout so the path down the side of the house has no gate at the front. Also, we removed the paving stones and replaced them with pea shingle. I bought some cheap wooden planters from Primrose London, painted them in Cuprinol garden shade Beaumont blue and planted them up as below.


Front Yard design
Butterfly Blue
In the square planters:

Scabious (Butterfly blue) - Masses of lavender blue flowers from April to November above neat, compact foliage.
Hardy perennial.
Height: 40cm, Spread: 30cm.
Position: Full or partial sun in well drained soil.
Care: Remove faded flower heads regularly to promote further blooming and cut down all stems to 5cm in Winter.

Silver Anouk Lavendula - Anouk is a compact, upright, evergreen shrub with narrow, silver-green foliage. In summer it has showy heads of dark purple flowers, arranged in vertical stripes, topped with pale purple bracts.
Evergreen.
Height: 40cm, Spread: 40cm.
Position: Suitable for any garden.
Care: After the first blooms are out flowered they can be pinched out and the plant will make new flowers on the same stems. After blooming, trim back 50% of the plant. This will ensure flowers for the second blooming period of the year.

Blue Wheat Grass - Forms clumps of intense blue foliage.
Semi evergreen.
Height: 35cm, Spread: 45cm.
Position: Suitable for any garden.
Care: Well drained soil.


Lobelia
In the rectangular planters:

Lobelia - A charming display of colorful, dainty blues.
Height: 13cm, Spread: 25cm.
Half Hardy.
Position: Sun to part shade. Borders, beds, window boxes and containers.
Care: Best in fertile, well drained soil kept evenly moist.

Nemesia
Nemesia - Trailing blue.
Height: 18-30cm, Spread: 40cm.
Half Hardy.
Position: Full sun. Borders, beds, window boxes and containers.
Care: Best in fertile, well drained soil kept evenly moist.

Have a sweet day!

@ my house

these 2 are keeping me super busy!!
so tonight when they are tucked up in bed sound asleep
I am going to have a warm bath
put on my pj's & catch up on reading some of the magazines I have piled high next to my bed....


join in the blogging link up '@ my house' here
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