Autumn. Or is it Winter...

Autumn in NSW is quite similar to summer in Scotland except that the evenings and nights do get very cold.  The days can be sunny and warm but as soon as that sun goes away the temperatures drop very quickly.  It's actually warmer in the sea than out at the moment!  It's a great time to get out and about without getting too hot, especially when we need to keep that vitamin D topped up.  Also it's good to get out because the houses are freezing!

My In-Laws are here just now and I keep hearing myself ask them if they're cold.  I'm never sure if we've all acclimatised or if it is properly cold as I can honestly say that I don't remember being so cold since our first wee flat in Aberdeen after we got married 18 years ago.  Ice on the inside of the windows was something I didn't enjoy! 

Anyway, due to the fact that 9 people don't fit into an 8-seater car, we didn't get to head up to Port Stephen's as I'd planned for Mother's Day and so did the 'wee dander' to the Blackbutt Reserve instead, followed by a roast dinner cooked by me .  We said hello to the koalas, wallabies, kangaroos and peacocks and enjoyed the beautiful afternoon. 

I just love the colour of the gum tree trunks against the sky. 

There is a very steep hill that we need to walk up to get home but since Granny and Granda aren't as athletic as the children I offered to drive them home.  Husband walked the kids home and No3 Boy managed to RUN up the hill in 44 secs.   He had already run a X-Country on Friday, cut the grass before going out, and won a 'hanging-on-a-bar' contest with the others at the play area, but always seems to manage to keep going.  Apparently he hung on the bar for 2 mins and 27 seconds.   They were delighted to prove Mythbusters wrong!

Monday was a beautiful morning so once everyone was deposited in the appropriate places I harnessed up Dog and headed to my favourite place to walk, with a great little coffee stop in the middle.  I sat and read 2 chapters of my book in the sunshine - bliss!  As we got up to leave I saw the clouds approaching so walked briskly back to the car!  The rain started just as I turned on the engine!

This morning I dropped the In-Laws in town for a wee wander around and took Dog to another favourite spot (no coffee involved this time).  I wish I'd taken my jacket as it was so windy we nearly got blown off the break water at one point!  It certainly blew away those cobwebs and got the blood pumping.  

Thought I would share something I baked for 'afternoon tea' yesterday.  When we headed to Erina last week for The Boy's birthday presents, we had coffee in a great organic/fair trade cafe.  I had a slice of pear and almond bread/cake.  It was so fabulous I have been on the look out for a good recipe ever since.  I came across this one and while not quite the same as the one I had in the cafe, it's pretty darned good!  I left off the flaked almonds on the top as the kids don't like them.  Enjoy!

Crazy Weather

According to the Nice Man on the radio this morning, we were to have 34C and 90% humidity today.  Well, we hit 38C and I think he was spot on with the humidity!  I have learnt to cope with the heat.  Being a girl from the UK, most recently the East Coast of Scotland, I expected to struggle with it.  However it really is the humidity that's the killer!

This morning I got up, had breakfast, made 4 packed lunches, chased 3 people out , had a shower, walked to the wee school and came home needing another shower!  It was roasting by 9.30am but outside there was a fantastic wind which I took as a signal to wash as many beds as possible. 

I washed 2 lots, including mattress protectors, and had them all dried by lunchtime - fantastic.  It was like being under a huge hair dryer.  I spent the morning doing bits and pieces under the air conditioner that I have tried very hard not to use.  I felt a bit bad for not being outside so walked the dog to collect Miss M from school.  This just about killed Dog, Smallest and me!  Soo hot. 

However within literally a minute of the boys getting home the heavens opened and the wind whipped up, No2 Boy's friend said a branch nearly fell on his head after leaving our house!  I had just hung out the last sheet and had to race to bring it back in as the skies rumbled.  It came in wetter than it had gone out.  I love a good thunder storm, especially when it brings a drop in temperature of 15 degrees. 

Thankfully it had all cleared by the time No3 Boy had to go for his tennis lesson, but the roads were covered in debris from the trees and we had to avoid branches as we drove.  The wind was crazy and has partly blown over a section of our fence. 

Aussie weather is nothing if not extreme!

Blueberry Muffins

Last night the temps here didn't drop much below 30c all night.  Combine that with a sweaty toddler who only likes to sleep nose to nose and I didn't sleep much!  I finally did fall asleep then slept through the alarm and missed church - oops!  Thankfully Husband (who never seems to be bothered by any of the Small People) had a reasonable sleep and offered to take everyone to the pool again to give me a chance to try and catch some zzz's.  Marvellous.  It took them a ridiculously long time to get organised but they finally left, hoping to practice their strokes for their Swim Carnivals this week.  They had a great time and only came home because Smallest Boy actually fell asleep in the pool!  After their exhertion we planned a fairly chilled out afternoon and just aswell because the thunder and rain finally came, bringing some fresh air at last.  The temps have dropped 15c and I reckon we'll all sleep tonight.

Planning ahead for the week I realized we were out of lunch stuff, so bearing in mind my resolution to stop buying lots of packaged, processed food for the kids packed lunches, I did some more baking.  Today I had frozen Blueberries to use up so whipped up a batch of beautifully moist muffins, huge enough to satisfy even the hungriest Boy at recess! 

It's another good recipe -

4 cups Self-Raising Flour
1 cup Raw Sugar
4 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
2/3 cup Melted Butter
2 cups Sour Cream
2 cups Frozen Blueberries

I mixed the sugar, eggs, sour cream, melted butter and vanilla essence then sifted the flour, mixing it in lightly, before adding the blueberries.  I baked them at 180c for 25 mins.  You could add some lemon zest for an extra zing but my lot always complain if I use lemon.   I got 12 large and 6 medium muffins out of this, those of you with sensibly sized families might want to half the recipe!

As always, enjoy with a lovely cuppa, preferably somewhere quiet!

Hot, hot, hot!

Well the weekend has come around pretty quickly! What a week it has been - temps of over 40c most days here, Cyclone Yasi following the floods in Queensland, bush fires in various parts of Australia, and crazy winds across Scotland to mention a few. We're very thankful to have a roof over our heads and are remembering all those who have lost theirs these last few weeks. I've been really impressed with the way the Blogging community has galvinised and come up with all sorts of auctions and other ways to help those who are suffering. One thing I am going to get involved in is Crochet a Rainbow.   Sarah London is asking as many as are willing to make as many Granny Squares as possible to make blankets for those who have lost everything. It’s not much but it shows that people care and is something to give a bit of comfort, especially for wee ones.

Our week has been hot. We’ve had a number of trips to the pool after school, and spent nights tossing and turning, last night I even lay on the sofa under the aircon between 1.30am and 4am until I had cooled down a bit!

Amazingly the heat hasn’t stopped the kids (or Husband who has been cycling to and from work), No 2 Boy has joined the Tennis Squad and was playing in 40c for 2 hours! His exciting news of the week is that he was voted Vice House Captain for Blue House and is looking forward to the Swimming Carnival on Monday to lead the cheers!

No 1 Boy has taken to High School like a duck to water. His favourite subject is History and he is really looking forward to his first Cookery class next week. He has made some new friends and comes home happy every day! Long may that last!

I have managed a wee bit of crochet this week, but to be honest, every time I’ve sat down I’ve had a little friend cuddle in and next thing we know it’s time to pick up from school! He generally doesn’t sleep during the day so I’ve been quite glad, although it does have knock on effects at 8pm...

So the crochet! I found a bucket full of “bella baby” 100% 4ply wool which had been marked down to $2, and was half price again, in Spotlight before Christmas when I was looking for yarn to make a blanket for Miss M.

The colours weren’t what I had envisaged but she’s not a very girly girl, so I figured we’d give it a try, at $1 a ball I couldn’t go too far wrong! I got 6 different colours and 2 shades of white. My calculations could, most likely, be wrong, but I reckoned I should get 120 different 3 round circles form the combinations.

I followed Lucy at Attic24's pattern and added another round. Being new to all this, I didn’t think to increase my stitches in the 3rd round so they curl up a bit, but this has been sorted out now that I’m adding the white yarn as I’m joining them. 

I'm baby-sitting tonight so I'll try and get some more of the 72 remaining circles added.  Once they are all joined it will need a fairly deep border as it's not all that wide.  I'm thinking I will use all the colours interspersed with the white.