Friday 6 December 2013

Day out

Took time away from Christmas shopping, making mince pies and sausage rolls today and drove out to Betty's Beach which is about 50ks east of Albany, haven't been down this area for about 10 years or so, there is a small camping area there and lovely beach and rocky outcrops. We took our morning tea down on the beach and sat on the rocks, Bentley had a great time, he so loves the beach. We could feel a storm coming but didn't hit till we were back in Albany, lovely day out, off to Thai restaurant  tonight , yum 

Camping spot
Bentley had a swim of course 

Wednesday 27 November 2013

Time away

We had a great week away in our new caravan. First we camped overnight at a free camp site in Pinjarra and then took the van into Mandurah for its service, caught up with friends, had lunch out and then picked up the van. We spent the weekend at Lane Poole Reserve outside of Dwellingup, parked our van at Baden Powell camp area and then met Debbie and family down at Charlie's flats which is close to the river. We couldn't get the van down there so we had to camp! We found a tent on one of the verge collections while staying at Debbie's and it fitted the bill just for the weekend. Had a great time, but good to get back to our van after two nights in a tent, we stayed a bit longer at Baden Powell in the van before heading back to Albany. We had 6 nights away, no power, just on gas and 12 volt and it all worked fine, love free camping 
The tent we found on a verge collection
Fun on the canoe
Dominic and Bentley having a play fight, well Dom is playing and Bentley fighting, both dogs were very dirty by the end of the weekend 

Tuesday 10 September 2013

Cheese and onion pie

After watching Australian Bake Off a few weeks ago I decided I liked the look of the Cheese and Onion Pie, it reminded me of school dinners when I was young and lived in the UK.
I tried the recipe last night and although it looks a bit rustic it was really tasty, I decided against the pastry used in the Bake Off recipe and used my tried and true from Thermomix, of course we have tons leftover so it's on again tomorrow night......



Wednesday 4 September 2013

Christmas

Well it's not here just yet but I decided it was time to make a start on some cards, so had a couple of friends around and after two cups of tea and a lot of chatting I did manage to finish a card, it's made with die and stamp set from the new Stampin Up Christmas catalogue, I like the colours a change from the red and green Christmas theme 

Sunday 21 July 2013

Another Masterchef creation

Enjoyed the last dish we did so thought we would try again, this time Gary's chicken curry, of course I did all the preparation, ground the spices, peeled and chopped the tomatoes, weighed out all the ingredients so Chef could come in put it all together. We used drumsticks, another very easy meal, a bit messy to eat with the drumsticks but yummy. Sorry about the splashes on the bowl, would lose points on Masterchef I think


Friday 19 July 2013

Cook like a Masterchef cooks

Last night we watched Masterclass part of the Masterchef programme, really impressed by Curtis Stone's Salmon with orange sauce. I had the Salmon fillets already in the freezer, not as big as what Curtis used but ok and tonight Brian and I re-created the dish, I prepared and Brian cooked and we plated up together πŸ˜ƒπŸ˜ƒgreat fun and a lovely meal, really tasty, loved the sauce, recommend trying the recipe 


Wednesday 17 July 2013

Crafty again

A wet and windy day saw me inside today, a bit of scrapbooking and some card making. I made another card using the Hearts a Flutter stamp and die set, I do like this set, but will be glad when my magnetic platform to use in the Big Shot arrives as that will keep the dies in one place while cutting. My order is due next week so I should have more stamps etc to play with, I find time just flies while I craft so I make sure tea is organised, thank goodness for Thelma my Thermomix 


I also made a couple of other cards, one is for my daughters birthday next week so I can't show that as she would see it before her birthday ! !

The other is a very simple birthday card, using Apothercary Art stamp and dies, some embossing and colouring in

Friday 5 July 2013

Well finally a bit more card making

I have messed about in my craft room the last couple of days but didn't produce any cards, but to this afternoon after spending time on Pinterest I finally came up with a card for a friend it came from an idea at the link below. My colours were Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder and Calypso Coral and using the Hearts a Flutter stamp and dies, all from Stampin Up. Thankfully Stampin Up make it easier with matching colours, stamps and dies 







http://alliohran.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/hearts-all-in-row.html






Monday 1 July 2013

Chirpy chirpy cheep cheep

I was looking out into the garden at breakfast and I could see movement in our lovely deciduous tree and low and behold there was a nest with two little young birds in, but why build a nest in a tree that is quite quickly losing its leaves. Feel concerned that with the cold and windy weather they won't survive, poor little ones ......

Sunday 30 June 2013

Cheynes Beach

It was great weather this weekend in Albany, so nice we decided on a day out, so packed our lunch and headed out with our new Triton Dual Cab to Cheynes Beach which is not far from Albany. It was a perfect day out there, not many people around and we drove along the beach, parked for our lunch, Bentley had a good run, he so loves the beach and just sat and enjoyed 🌞🌞. Before we left we called at the caravan park shop for an ice cream and then home again, great day 



Thursday 27 June 2013

Remember calzone

Remember calzone

Scrapbooking Day

Today i went to my scrapbooking group and I worked on my This and That book, very easy, I printed my photos from Photoshop so I could have small photos which fit easily on the pages, had to restrain myself with the stickers and washi tape, could have played all day, but went home at lunch time to a lovely home made soup that Brian had made from the Christmas turkey carcass 

Monday 24 June 2013

This and that journal

Today after good tidy in the craft room a started my This and That Journal from stampin up, I can see this is going to be fun. It's like a mini scrapbook that you can do any time, doesn't have to be photos just stuff you collect maybe from a concert, day out at the park etc. you can buy stickers, washi tape and also a great date stamp too.
It will be on page 155 of the new catalogue which goes LIVE next Tuesday 2nd July 
I have decorated the front and will play around inside later 

Monday 10 June 2013

Stamping up make and take

Yesterday I was at demonstrator meeting where we did what is called a make and take, which simply means we make a card to take away with us, always fun, also we each get a little gift and mine was a Stampin   up bag, now wouldn't we all like that to be full of stampin up goodies.

Sunday 9 June 2013

Food food

Well good day today, I went to stampin up demo day, great fun, will post our make and take tomorrow but I left Brian in the kitchen and he baked two loaves of bread and also got our SolarDom  convection microwave oven out and cooked a roast chicken in 30 mins and then roast veg, I am a very lucky girl, and Bentley is hoping he is a lucky boy 


Thursday 6 June 2013

Stampin up card

Today I tried out the swallowtail butterfly stamp from stampin up. It's a large stamp and I got my idea from http://flowerbug.typepad.com/my_weblog/2013/04/freakin-birthday-bash.html. A great site. My colours are the same Pool Party and soft suede but my photo isn't as good, again a simple card, clear embossing and I think a great card,

Tuesday 4 June 2013

A tidy up of the craft room

I decided today to have tidy of my crafty room, keep all my Stampin Up stuff in one place, tim Holtz in another, in other words clear the decks so I can see my table.
I discovered this wooden box which I decorated about 12 months ago, picked the box up at a garage sale and sanded, painted and decorated, looks pretty I think, but will probably add some more to it.
Lovely sunny day here in Albany to start but now looks like rain and feels cold, I have some Dahl made last week so that's for tea with rice. The quote in the frame is one of Louise Hay's and a favourite of mine πŸ˜„πŸ˜„πŸ˜„


Wednesday 29 May 2013

Pies today

Well I didn't make the pies but my resident chef Brian did. While we were on our travels we picked up a pie maker at a garage sale for $10, so today was the day for trying it out, filling is chicken and veg, taste test at lunch gave it the thumbs up from me so now we have 8 pies in the freezer. I did step into the kitchen today and helped Thelma my Thermomix to make chicken soup, that has gone into the freezer for a colder day, which I think will be very soon.
Our car is in for repair, needs a new clutch, it has been making some really nasty noises the last couple of days, we are very thankful this happened on home ground and not while we were on the Nullabor. Our cars have been good to us, years ago we had a Holden Kingswood and we took a drive to Kataninng  and back, round trip of nearly 400k and when we drove home and  into our driveway the engine just stopped, died, we both thought at the time how good it was for it to happen at home and not on a country rd somewhere.
I have done some card making today but not finished yet so photos today are of the pies


Monday 27 May 2013

Stampin up time

Well I didn't have time to craft while away so now home again, unpacked and sorted out I thought it time to get my Stampin up gear out.
I made this card after looking at Lisa Brown's website www.inkandinspirations.com  and used my new Hearts a Flutter stamp and die plus Stampin up designer paper, good to get back to creating and I hope to post a few more cards.

Monday 20 May 2013

Home again

 Well here we are back in Albany, wonderful trip, best bits were Great Ocean Rd and the Murray river, loved both of those areas, we both feel we want to do more travelling and enjoyed the free or cheaper camp areas than caravan parks so we plan to update the car and van and make ourselves more self sufficient.
Today we have unpacked, washed, cleaned the van and the car is next, such a lot of dirt and sand we collect along the way.
We spent Sunday in Esperance taking it easy, took Bentley to the beach, he has missed the sand and water, after he had his run and swim he decided to climb up the groyne and that was no problem but getting down, no way was he going to jump down, so Brian had to clamber up and rescue him!!!!! 

Well this the end of the blog for now, I didn't get to craft as much as I thought but maybe next time, I have really enjoyed doing the blog and sharing with friends and family and will definitely be blogging on our next adventure, 


Help me!
Rescue on the way
Rescued xxxxxx 

More photos

Lunch spot on the Nullabor 
Getting close to Eucla and seeing the ocean
Campsite at Eucla
Sunset Eucla 
Campfire at Fraser range station
Campsite at Fraser range 






Saturday 18 May 2013

Couple of photos

Just a couple of photos taken on the Nullabor that shows how desolate it can be. First one taken at a lunch stop, second one take at Nullabor roadhouse