Friday, January 27, 2012

Things I am loving

Linking in with Paisley Jade...



Loving that our range of organic buys is growing by the week and 
our staples have been replaced with organics. loving that it didn't break the
bank.


Loving some not so organic treats from the USA. 
These marshmallows are colossal! So good I can't even 
consider buying Australian ones ever again!


Loving that I can bribe my kids with USA sodas...I can almost
achieve anything from them!


Loving instagram...ok so I am the last one on the planet to 
start using it, but i am loving it!!


Loving these felt stockings I picked up at Coles for 25cents each.
Miss M and I are going to collect things throughout the year for a local charity.
This will be one of our community projects for our family to do this year.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Playing with instagram and the Vic Arts Centre


Waiting in the foyer for Angelina Ballerina the Ballet to commence


Fabulous costumes that belong to the Fabulous Reg Livermore




A collection of Fabulous posters from Reg shows


Fabulously sweet Miss M

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

The Party is Over girlfriend!

January has been such a lazy time for me, we I we have been enjoying balmy evenings by our pool and have most certainly partaken in a few sherbs to cool the blood....As you might not know Miss Prudence is partial to a sherry or two, maybe a glass of bubbles with the girls in the summer, party time season. But all good things must come to an end....so it is with great pleasure my liver announces that I am doing Feb fast.  That is correct, indeed it is, Miss Prudence is swaying off the sherry for a whole month.

Febfast  is a wonderful opportunity for any "social" creature to get themselves back on track after the festive season that seems to run for months in Australia.  You probably recall that I am a Drug and Alcohol worker and a Mental Health worker so I see the effects of alcohol abuse frequently.  Not pretty. And it is so wide spread in our community, in fact I believe many people have issues with alcohol and do not realise they do, they just see it as "something I do" ...Aussies are BIG binge drinkers, we really need to look how we use alcohol and why we use it.  Anyway, enough with the lectures, watch this and perhaps you might join too or maybe sponsor someone, maybe even sponsor Miss Prudence!



Tuesday, January 17, 2012

A day at home

Yesterday we went to the beach, the real beach with waves. I am a Sydney girl originally and when we moved to Melbourne all those years ago I nearly choked at what a pitiful sight it was when I laid eyes on St Kilda beach - I mean really, a beach has waves and vast quantities of sand, golden sand.  St Kilda, no matter how charming it is, is just a sandy bank around a bay...Anyway, we drove an hour and a half and spent the day on a surf beach and loved it. We swam, played beach cricket, we swam, we laid in the sun (with adequate sun protection of course!). We drove home and crashed.

So today was a "lay around the house day"today. And some crafting and cooking was done.


I made some coasters


Cooked some veggie fritters, everyone has their own version and 
below I have shared mine with you.


And something lovely. Our Ballerina apple tree that has been potted for 7 years 
and finally annoyed me so much I stuck it in the front yard and just months 
later we have our very first apples!!!! I am told by the nibbler they are good!

Veggie Fritters 
by 
Miss Prudence

You will need: 

4 egg whites (I use the egg yolks for biscuits)
salt and pepper 
approx 1/2 cup SR flour ( I rarely measure this, just chuck it in)
2 cups of grated veggies ( e.g. zuchinni, carrott, ripped up spinach, beetroot)
a chunk of fetta cheese
oil (I use spray olive oil in my hand pumped bottle) 
Dressing: finely chopped mint, natural yogurt, salt.


Whip the egg whites until peaks are formed.  In another bowl grate veggies, fold in seasoning and flour. Crumble fetta in and then gently fold in egg whites.   Heat oil and drop spoonfuls - just use a dessert spoon. Cook on a medium heat until golden brown on both sides.....Blend mint into natural yogurt. 
Serve with salad and dressing...yum!

Now go bake cookies with the yolks!








Careful, somebody might hear you




I am really enjoying my time off work at the moment. I have having good times with the kids, with Mr G  but also with me.  I am getting time to organise me, tend to my needs and reset my very spun out clock. I have decluttered my wardrobe and drawers, finally fronted up to the beauty salon for pedicures, manicures and the all important summer "de-fuzz" - which truly, without sharing too much, probably wouldn't of surprised me if the beautician didn't call in wild life support as my bikini line could of been mistaken for a feral koala! *Shudder*....but organising me, recharging my burnt out batteries and resetting my personal clock involves much more than just environmental and physical appearances, it involves reconnecting with what generates my value system.



Sure I have started looking at some creative pursuits and I have read a few books but this week I have started to  read the paper.. a bit more. Reading past the weather (how will I dress myself and the kids today), past the movie guide (which talking animal movie this week), I read through to some more analytical articles, meaty stuff, stuff that enrages you, gets up your nose, lights up that urge to go picket a corner and my goodness how it felt good to feel certain parts of my brain re-opening and resume functioning. Specifically, I am enjoying the social commentaries that challenge the status quo and the reader. Writers that have the courage to raise ideas and urges the reader to leave this page and seek further reading, think about it and come back and say what you think, are really grabbing me . I love these provocative writers with their gaul and courage as they stand solid in wait for a response, begging for a good debate, not a dumb "oh you're an idiot mate" but a considered debate.  Of course there will be complete fools on the writing side that you just want to wallop up the backside, but they too have value as they will make you think about your position and how your position is composed.


One article  in todays' AGE newspaper  really grabbed my attention for a number of reasons, particularly as it has a  " blogger beware" aspect.  Both bloggers are hard hitters, both intelligent people, both raise excellent ideas throughout their blogs,  but one is said to have gone too far writing about the other and she won't  be taking it any more, she has threaten legal action.

This article  alerted  me to the fact that blogging, regardless of the reasons for which we do it, be it creating a online journal, an album that documents a family's or hobby's growth, a tool for emotional healing or venting etc...we are publishing opinions and we can be held accountable if our content hurts another person or business .  We are putting our ideas and therefore our influences "out there", therefore we need to really be aware of what we are saying and whom we are saying it about. Our blogs are not exempt from defamation laws.

For the most part of my blogging experience, the majority of the blogging genre I blog with are sound, with a few exceptions. I have read a few blogs containing some incredibly sensitive stuff providing no warning to the new visitor that some material on that blog may distress some readers, such as the sharing of traumatic events or expletive language.  I have also read posts where the blogger has received a comment that displeases them and in no uncertain terms tells them [the commentator] to @#$%& off, "it's my space, i'll say what I want". But is it our space?

When I think about this, I come to the answer of  "no". No, it is not private if you do not have an  "invitation only" blog, it is just like a public place.  If I am in a public place, even a cafe, I cannot truly expect my privacy. Social convention usually prevails and allows our "private"conversations to take place in the public space, without people butting in with their comments.  However, I think we all might be guilty of chipping into someone else's conversation in public, yes? Ever conversed with another parent? Commented on a stranger trying a dress on in the next cubicle? Of course you have, we all have! It is ok, we are out there in public, it is a risk we take and often it is all for the better - I know a kind word from a stranger has indeed made my day.

Blogging may seem like a new frontier to many of us, perhaps you feel like a pioneer?  It's the feeling of freedom we get from the anonymous space that is charged with possibilities endless. We can be brave and safe all at once. But my guess is due to the rapid increase in new cyberspace inhabitants, the current cyberspace style of management that depends largely on self regulation of users abiding by agreement bonds and faceless "site managers" ( do they really know if someone is breaking the agreement rules?) will soon mirror the worlds we live in.

Is it only a matter of time (when "they" work out a way to harness the bloggersphere) that cyberspace  will be heavily governed and organised and regulated by elected or non elected bodies and we will be faced with harsher penalties for upsetting others' apple carts as we do in the real world?   What kind of censorship will ensue? What kind of input will the cyberspace community be afforded if and when this occurs?  Given that it is a global phenomenon, will a new global charter be required for cyberspace?  Oh my what a can of worms! Makes you want to stick to crochet posts only and sit back in apathy, whilst "they" sort it all out and determine how we will blog in future times.

So until then cowgirls and boys, enjoy free blogging just as we once enjoyed smoking in the pub with a beer at the bar, spittoon at the door,  just remember your manners and don't blow smoke in others' faces - it is rude and can be harmful!






Sunday, January 15, 2012

20 years since saying "I do"....


I realise I am a little late with this post, things have been go go go and posting in a timely  manner has been an impossibility. But I desperately want to tell you about the 11th January. 
It was a Wednesday and it was our Wedding Anniversary, celebrating 20 years of Marriage!

The week started with a 2 night camping trip with the lovely Ms D from bluebird daydreams and her brood. No sooner did we hit our doorstep, cold tired and soaked, Mr G announced I had to pack an overnight bag, we were off to Daylesford for the night!!! The kids were off to a friend's place (bless her for taking all three).

You see it was our 20th Wedding Anniversary that day and whilst Mr G is a wonderful friend, life partner, father  - he has not got a good track record with celebrating special events, so I wasn't expecting anything at all, let alone what lay ahead!

We arrived at the stunning Lake House hotel for a very decadent evening! Daylesford is a lovely little regional area an hour or two outside Melbourne. 

Mr G thought of everything!  I went to pour out some bubbly when Mr G produced to beautiful Platinum rimmed flutes (from Laura Ashley) explaining 20 years was platinum.  Whilst I was swooning over such a romantic gesture, he whipped out beautiful Wedgewood box containing a stunning white china, lidded box. But, he explained, china was the traditional form of anniversary present.  He covered both!!!!

After snacking on fine cheese and local bubbly (gotta consider that carbon footprint - even if the uptight guy at the deli sniffed and mocked at our wine choice), we wandered around the lake and played with the ducks and geese, laid around the room reading magazines and then it was time to dine.

Dressed up we headed to the dining room. Now bloggers, we are talking serious foodie stuff here, I mean serious stuff here!
Now Mr G has taken me to some very legendary restaurants over the years, but this one took the cake so to speak! I must confess I am not a huge fan of the OTT places where the waiters seem to speak in tongues and have small levels of tolerance for the patrons, but the Lake House managed to keep things in check. The staff were utterly lovely and the food was really exquisite.  They had been worded up that it was our 20th Wedding Anniversary and our dessert plate heralded a chocolate message of congratulations.  Breakfast the next day was divine and truly, I couldn't eat for the rest of the day.

We have been married 20 years, in that time we have lived all over Australia, had many, many challenges, curve balls and just plain old bummers thrown at us. We have also had many exciting times and done some really interesting things together. We have produced 3 beautiful children together. We share a philosophy that has just developed naturally and never needed any really sit down planning or negotiations.  There have also been times when planning was obviously lacking too and in hindsight, I can't believe we made so many dopey decisions!  We laugh together and enjoy being together and share so much together. In fact we do and always have enjoyed a life that is abundant. We are blessed.

We love each other.

I reflect on the past 20 years and I am super glad I am signed up for another 20.

Happy Anniversary Mr G, I love you....

xxxxx



Friday, January 13, 2012

So much to say!

Hello lovely bloggers, we have been "summer loving" and getting away from it all. We have been so very very busy having fun and I have so much to tell and show you all that I hardly know where to begin. So I shall start with a Wedding.

Very very early in the year we went to a beautiful wedding. The Bride is Japanese and the Groom a local Melbourne lad, they tied the knot in a beautiful yet simple ceremony just outside of Melbourne in Yarra Glen. It was at the reception we saw some beautiful Eastern touches that I found utterly divine!

Tables strewn with rose petals

 Delicate blue paper cranes as place markers

 Now this was what I found spectacular

The central tables were marked by an overhead canopy

 with hundreds of paper cranes. These cranes were folded and threaded up
in Japan by the Brides' friends and family members in order for them
to attend her special day in a small way. Touching and stunning all at once.

 Here is Miss Prudence and Mr G. I was delighted to 
get a snap of us together, they are so rare! Finding something
to wear was a huge drama for me as I do not have many 
"going out"frocks. I also didn't want to spend $400 - so being 
my stingy ol' self, I opted for this LBD, added my turquoise glam 
shoes I splurged on last year and some huge turquoise plastic rose jewellery and
it worked ok! I bought the dress from Target (or as my sister likes to call it "House of
Targét LOL) on sale for $30 a few years back - thinking I probably wouldn't wear it but 
it has come through 5 times since and really looks like an expensive frock and the real bonus is
it fits perfectly! Love a frugal ensemble that pays dividends!

 The food was amazing too. That fork belongs to Mr G, who 
opportunistically taxed my calamari whilst my hands were 
busy with the camera - the scoundrel!

The lamb was perfect too and Mr G  got to enjoy his beef 
and my lamb as I fall for his distracting tricks too easily - double dirty scoundrel!

The day was wonderful and we felt very honoured to witness the special occasion. We wish the
bride and groom a lifetime of happiness together.