kick ass new tent

After being washed out at Woodford folk Festival we decided to retire our 2 man tent that I bought when I was single. We werent thinking of buying one today, but we had a look in at K-mart and this one was on sale and we couldnt resisit! Its a 4 person tent with a canopy.

DH putting his scouting skills to work.....

The coolest thing we like about the tent is that it has a solar panel with LED lights inside the tents roof! Ive never seen this and thought it was a great idea. It even came with a little torch that you plug into it and it charges throughout the day... This picture shows the LED lights dangling, they are supposed to be tied along the seams of the roof. you can see the torch in the middle of them..and this is the solar panel. you can see a clear plastic top to the roof, so the panel can get maximum light....

So now we have to go camping again huh?

There will be Woodford folk festival photos posted. Although we really didnt get many, mainly photos of how wet and muddy it all was. ;)

Im no Martha Stewart....

So bright idea Hannah decided that making a gingerbread house would be easy. It most likely would be if you actually had baking experience. A few months ago I posted photos of cookies I tried to make, Ill wait while you go have a look - it will give you some indication of my prowess in the kitchen....

Ok - are you done laughing now? So last night Chris and I got stuck into the recipe. Chris was in charge of mixing the egg/golden syrup and chopping the butter. How he didnt chop up a finger in the process I dont know.... and I was in charge of other stuff. Made the biggest mess possible. Spilt have of the dry ingredient mixture all over the bench top. And spent a good 5 minutes debating the difference between icing sugar and icing mixture. (If any one knows the difference please educate).

The cooking wasnt so bad....It was the assembly that was the downfall. In the end I basically filled in gaps with the icing and stuck a jelly bean where I made a mistake. The end product .....

We also made a little gingerbread house also, which you can see in the background. We are planning on giving the big one to friends of ours. Yes we do like our friends. We cellophaned it up and put lots of ribbon on it....At least they know its home made, because no self respecting bakery would let some thing like this go out in public!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas holidays

Start of the christmas holidays!! It has been a busy year and it has gone so fast.
I have made a to do list for the holidays to do some spring (late) cleaning. I have too much clutter and want to minimise. I started by cleaning out my pantry yesterday - so exciting huh?!?!

So I went shopping instead. I am starting to really dislike christmas. I have only celebrated about 6 christmas' so figured the contempt for the holiday has set in rather early - dont you think?
Reasons im starting to dislike christmas:
1. soooo not like the cheesy christmas special movies/shows
2. present pressure - every one has to have some thing. and it has to be meaningful. and it needs to be bought NOW. and it needs to match the sort of thing they would buy you.....
3. the negotiations for where we will be on the actual day. Mum can only do breakfast - lunch with Chris' parents, dinner with my Aunty....i can see me feeling tired, grumpy and sick at the end of the day....next year im staying home...
4. There being absolutely no significance to the holiday. I feel like a hypocrite. If im going to celebrate it - shouldnt we remember it is marking Jesus' birth!?!

Ok thats my scrooge moment......

So here are some pages I have done using europe photos...


Some trippy photos from amsterdam....
Febo - a fast food vending machine outlet....about one or two people work there and they just put the food into these boxes with a very strong light that keeps the food hot. You decide what you want, put you money in, open the door and take it out.....
Chris and I in venice.....
The Grasshopper in amsterdam...a very big coffeeshop (coffee shops are hash shops..)

CAT!

Just in case Catherine visits her before Saturday.

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY!!!!

From Chris and Hannah

mwhaaaa!

Advent Calendar

I bought this calendar from target last year on sale. I kept it thinking that I could Alter it some time. Miraculously I managed to get it done before christmas. and with time to buy the chocolates to go into it!

this is what it looked like before......And here is what mine looks like now....

More Europe Photos

Just Uploading a few more europe photos. Cant decide which ones to share and have forgotten which ones I have uploaded! So sorry if there are some doubles.


DH and I on the Gondola ride we took for our anniversary.
A carving in a rock face in Lucerne. It represents Switzerland (the lion) protecting France (the sheild with the France emblem on it) and even if the lion is injured it will always protect France - hence why there is a arrow through the lion but it still has it paw on the sheild protecting it. Unfortunately their was issues with the artist and payment. Thats why the recess the lion is in is in the shape of a pig!!
Canals of Venice!
Crystal wonderland in the Crystal shop in Innsbruck (Austria)
Chris and I at Oktoberfest!
The Hotel we stayed in at St Goar (Germany) with a castle behind us on the hill.
Buildings and statues at Munich (Germany)

finally sat down to..

scrap! Cant seem to get myself to sit at my desk and do some scrapbooking. Youd think that I would be itching to get going with all these photos from Europe! But there is always an excuse. Too hot, Photos in the car, Desk too messy etc.

Well here is one that I manage to commit to and get done. It's a photo of DH and I taken outside the Moulin Rouge in Paris.
And a self taken photo of us out the front of the Lourve, with the glass pyramid in the back ground. If you are a " davinci code" buff - we were standing just on the old rose line mark. I agree with some who say that the pyramid is a bit of an eyesore. It is surrounded by such beautiful buildings and parklands, then there is the glass pyramid - completely different design and seems to stand out like a sore thumb.