Day 91

Wednesday night is Physio class night held at the shopping centre nearest to work.  Finishes at 7pm and with daylight saving still underway that's just on sunset.

This is a photo of the train station exits for the new-ish epping - chatswood line.  Bit of a fluke to catch the car in the foreground and the pole in the middle is urgh, but not bad for hand held in the car waiting for the light to change 

Day 90

Finally the rain came this morning and it's been cool all day, has Autumn finally arrived?

4 changes of lights to get to this point, 3 more and I was on the M2, gotta love driving to work!

Day 89

More presents from Nutmeg, a cockroach that was in no way disabled by her mouth, dropped onto the floor near the lounge room.  She was deeply upset that I flicked it out the front door!

Day 88

two fat ladies (as the bingo call goes for this number).

What a day, warm, slightly under the weather from last night and neither of us can be bothered cooking anything all day.  Dinner was leftovers  - pumpkin and feta salad eaten with chopsticks as every knife and fork was dirty LOL

Day 87

What a day, I was at a training course related to work all day then home for a quiet BBQ  which sprang up during the week.

The BBQ turned out to be the best night I've had in a long time, it was great to sit around and chat with a small group of friends and get the time to take your time chatting.  Really nice night :)

We even got to Skype Belinda in the UK, albeit a very tipsy conversation haha

Day 86

I decided Nutmeg needed some greenery, most indoor cats do apparently, so I bought this little kit for $5 and 5 days later hey presto "Cat grass"  Which I think is just bird seed type greenery.

Nutmeg's first introduction to it, she has no clue she's supposed to eat it, so she pats it!

Day 85

Don't you like it when you get a surprise?  I got home from work today and Brendan handed me a package, it was the prize I won in a Japanese tourist association competition.

Yes, I won 5th place and got, wait for it.....

1 bottle of soy sauce AND 1 bottle of Teriyaki sauce

When i got the email telling me I nearly fell off my chair I was laughing so hard :D

what was 1st prize?  A return trip for 2 flying business class to Tokyo with 5 nights accommodation...........

*sigh* next time!

Day 84

Yet another HOT day, urgh.  When will it end?  No doubt as soon as the parts arrive to fix our air con which hasn't worked since we've moved in.

I think we've had 5 days of 43degrees + temps plus all the days 33+, who am I kidding 30C is enough for me, I hate the heat!

It was pleasing to see these clouds developing today, the promise of a typical summer storm in Autumn perhaps?

Day 83

What a busy week and it's only Tuesday, I was out late both nights and Nutmeg is playing up at night, waking us up by sitting on us or touching noses, so she's being locked out of the bedroom for a while.

Tonight's late night was due to a farewell for a colleague and my old boss, old as in not my current boss, not as in age (Hi mark *waves*) ;)

Great night getting the old crew together, all but 1, now 2 still work at the company but we've all gone on to bigger and better jobs within the company, out of the 10 of us, there was only 1 he didn't hire as they were already at the company.  It was highlighted by scott that mark has a great talent for choosing the right people who can grow with the company.  Marks take on it was when he interviewed us all our energy said to him to hire us.

Sad to see mark go, but a great night to catch up with everyone.

Day 82

New recipes that we haven't tried is this weeks theme for us, though not every photo will be food.

Found this recipe for salmon quiche in an old magazine lying around and while on sky to a friend in the UK put it all together.  It doesn't use pastry so is nice and light.

Recipe -

1 tin of salmon (red or pink)
2 shallots (think everywhere else int he world calls them green onions or scallions)
1TB flour
lemon pepper seasoning (I used lemon rind)
4 eggs
120g light cheese (I hate diet cheese, so use full fat always)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix the eggs flour and lemon pepper/rind together then mix in the salmon and shallots. Pour into 23cm quiche dish, bake at 200 for 35-40 minutes.

Voila, easy weeknight dinner!

Day 81

What a stinker of a day, summer sure is giving us a last gasp of heat, our first day with nothing on for ages and it's hot, again!  Every day we've had nothing planned it's uncomfortably hot, at least the Air conditioning people rang on Friday to say the parts have arrived and they can come and install the new bits, we won't need it then until winter, oh the irony...

Nutmeg has been trialing a little red harness with moderate success on and off for the last few weeks, the first time she dragged a shoulder along the ground and then looked as though it was too heavy for her to wear and plonked herself in one spot for most of the day.  Today was the day we were going to let her outside with the harness and a 3m retractable lead on.

WOW did she love being outside, no surprises there really, she was initially very unsure what it was all about and stayed on the back verandah and at one point hid behind the gas bottle of our portable BBQ. When she touched grass she startled herself a little bit and after a minute or 2 started padding down on it, then had a bit of a lie down and chased a cricket.  The expression on her face could have passed for wide eyed wonder.

A while later inside she was bulldozing the router around on the floor and then the phone, which was next to it.  after a few minutes I  realised she wasn't just playing, there was something under the router.  turns out it was a garden skink with a slightly damaged front leg.  Even though I let the lizard go outside, she was still bulldozing the router for an hour or 2 afterwards.

Day 80

Clothes shopping leaves me cold, though today was special, mum and I weren't looking for just any old clothes, we were wedding dress shopping.  Most little girls dream about this shopping trip and play dress ups husband and wife role playing etc.  Not me, I don't have any predisposed ideas about my wedding at all.

I had heard the stories from friends  that you'll know when you see it on, the moment you put it on you'll know.  For me it was the moment the lovely fitting assistant put the veil on for me.  Mum was chatting away to a sales person and I had to draw her attention to the fact this one THE one. The fitter insisted I try on some others and then we came back to the 2nd dress again.  In my mind it was the one, however she suggested we go for a coffee or lunch and try dresses on elsewhere to be certain.  

We did as recommended and there was one dress that I liked quite a lot, though it was beaded with big rough beads (perhaps my skin is just sensitive?) on the dress including under the arms, which made it uncomfortable to wear even for the 10  minutes i was in it.  The dress was gorgeous, but it wasn't able to be altered or made without the beading under the arm area, and really even though it looked stunning on, it wasn't really suited to the style of wedding Brendan and I are leaning towards.

Mum's coffee.

I'm so excited to have found my wedding dress, it seems a little surreal as we've been talking about getting started on planning the wedding and choosing a venue, but we haven't had a spare moment to really do anything serious about our thoughts.

Day 79

Tonight, tonight
It all began tonight
I saw you and the world went away

Tonight, tonight
There's only you tonight
What you are, what you do, what you say

*ahem* ok, well perhaps that's a bit of overkill, but tonight I'm going retro, I'm having a Tupperware Party, it's the new black I hear.  I have thought for a few months now that I'm not sure what I want to do once Brendan and I have kids (assuming all systems are thunderbird go) and my 3 months maternity leave ends.  So I've decided to give being a tupperware consultant a red hot go as an additional job to see if it's for me.  Tonight is my announcement party (sounds like a cult!) which doesn't really mean much other than everyone who attends is told I'm signing up to Tupperware.

Day 78

We love our sleep, though life gets in the way most of the time.  This is my wonderful fiance Brendan and the pic was taken early before the alarm went off, for some very odd reason (I know you're all falbbergasted) I woke up before the alarm!

For those that don't know me but are following my blog I love sleeping in, lounging around on a weekend morning etc and I thought I was the most extravagant at this pursuit until I met Brendan. He is the King of all sleeper-in-ers EVER and it has a magically calming influence.

Day 77

I had no idea how this would turn out, but I like it.  Very spontaneous, it's the roll down blinds in our bedroom and there's a gap between them.  It was a bright sunny morning and I remembered I hadn't taken a self portrait and wondered if I could get a silhouette without too much flaring on my little P+S.

I've been reading a few project 365 blogs today and was interested to see most of the 'serious' amateur photographers do quite a bit of post processing to enhance various bits and pieces.  I'm not really interested in that and I might never be as I'm trying to improve my skills behind the camera so I don't do anything other than cropping on some photos, but none since the first week I think.

Day 76

I was given a present today, a present from Nutmeg.  Yes, she presented a partially alive cricket she'd captured in the garage and dropped it at my feet and pushed it towards me with a bit of chatter as she did so.

Thanks nutmeg! 

I pushed it back towards her and she immediately started to play soccer with it, batting it around the lounge room with her paws haha

BTW - I will be updating pics every Tuesday from now on, rather than sporadically as I have been.

Day 75

I love Annual Leave, I love that we get 4 weeks every year, I'd love more though and would probably trade a pay rise for more leave!

I took today off to do a few things and also make use of the Day spa voucher Brendan gave me for my birthday.  Utter bliss is how I would describe it.  Kati and I had a massage, facial and i had a pedicure, something i've only had 3 times before, ever, so it was nice to indulge.

My skin now feels awesome, so hydrated and I feel really mellow, what a great way to start the working week :D

I couldn't take a photo in the spa, but have this one from their website, slight cheat here I know, but it was such bliss and nothing else sums up today quite as well.

Day 74

St Patricks day....... Not that we remembered...... Ok, so it has been a busy week, I blame the St Patricks day mix up on world peace......

BBQ with some of the crew today, great sunday wind down and a really nice afternoon.  Dan and Bec got to see the place and we all got to see lachie who's now 4 months!  To entertain himself he blows raspberries, repeatedly and is just adorable!

Despite his cuteness, the highlight of the BBQ turned out to be the Gluten free mud cake I made and iced with a ganache.  YUM!!!!

*Hint I didn't make it from scratch, a colleague gave me the hot tip about the packet mix she needs to use as she's coeliac.  It's better than normal mud cake, so chocolatey but so much lighter!

mmmmmm

Day 73

Off to a friends birthday today all the way over in Newtown, before the house move it was a 20 minute trip, now (battling Parramatta rd) it's over an hour Boooo :(  Next time we'll go the other way and over the bridge to avoid it, has to be quicker, doesn't it?

we battled traffic home too, 50 mins on parramatta rd yet again just to go a few kms to the M4 and home *sigh* That's ridiculous!  Come on 'Mrs Premier'  announce a solution for this road and update it from the 1970's.....

Some great cloud formations distracted me during our delayed return home.

Day 72

Another friday another $$.

Off super early to a work thing all day, promoting our product at an expo for schools, unfortunately the expo organisers chose a dud date (loads of other educational things on) and we were lucky to have 5 people by midday :(

On a positive my colleague showed me how to use one of our products (sewing machine) and I showed her how to use our new product (visitor management software that bundles with a label printer), so we both learnt a lot!

So today's pic is a view of our street, I liked the fingers of light coming through the gum trees (well technically they aren't gum trees, they are actually Corymbia citriodora which are related to gum trees ie they are in the same family, but not Eucalypts) ok enviro nerd mode over ;)

Day 71

mmmm Baking, I love baking and Muffins are so easy to make.  These were whipped up to use up some bananas that were going too far the other side of ripe, and after fossicking around in the pantry I found some sultanas and pecans.  YUM!

:)

Day 70

Hump day and the weather has turned, they are talking about snow on Sunday for the mountains (snowy mountains), though brendan doesn't think the front is moving fast enough.

Fingers crossed!

Day 69

Another humid night, I can't wait for Autumn to get into full swing, it really is the best time of year in Sydney, though early spring is pretty nice too, before it starts getting stinking hot, urgh!

The light at this time of year is extra special too, though I was stuck inside all day other than driving time.

My trusty falcon wagon (company car really) is my chariot and it certainly isn't a pleasurable car to drive, but gets from a to b and the boot is a tardis!

Day 68

Waking up on a Monday to go to work isn't always pleasurable, especially after such a humid night.

Thanks goodness for the fan, though we both woke up a bit coldy/sniffly.

Day 67

After a fabulous morning at a friends place for breaky and a swim in their new pool (Fantastic house reno too!) we headed to my parents place to pick up some stragglers in the move ie plants and my bike and a garden statue of an owl I'd forgotten I'd bought for me.

So we've unpacked it all and I put the owl on the back verandah in line of sight from the back door and went about putting the plants in what I thought were good locations.

I walked in the front door and could see Nutmeg had arched her back and the fur on her back and tail were standing to attention as she stared at the owl about 2m from the back door.  It was pretty funny but she was obviously a little stressed about it, so brendan picked her up and I brought the owl to the back door so it was viewable for her, but on the other side of the screen door so "safe" etc.

She still fluffs her tail out when she sees the owl outside, it quadruples in thickness, but hasn't arched her back or fluffed her back fur up again, so missed a brilliant photo, but did capture this.

Her tail is fluffed but no where near as much as the initial encounter with the "alien" outside lol

Day 66

Sat 6th March

Today is Brendan's birthday and his birthday present was being able to mow the grass.  Nooo of course it wasn't, his present is coming but he has to choose it, dare I speak it's name?  Windows 7...  At least it's getting more and more like OSX every release ;)

We had a lovely, casual dinner at our local Italian place with a gorgeous view over the car park..... lol

Pizza was devoured and a lovely bottle of 95 Petaluma merlot from the Coonawarra (South Australia) That I'd been saving for a special occasion, still 2 more to go of the 95.

It was a really nice relaxed meal with a great bottle of wine we finished at home watching some tv.

Day 65

Life's tough for Nutmeg, sleep all day, play all night.  This is her favourite sleeping position, she must have been a contortionist in another life.

Day 64

patterns are interesting me at the moment

Day 63

Another day another 50 cents.....

Cooking for loved ones for special events or dinners at home with them is therapeutic, everyday cooking is a bit on the boring or monotonous side.

I found this recipe in either a magazine or the sunday paper insert, it's grated zucchini, lemon rind and juice, chilli, mushrooms and bacon stirred through pasta.  I tend to cook way more than we need and we end up with another dinner for 2 plus lunch for 1 or 2, which means My weeknight dinner cooking turn is covered with 1 dish! :)

This lot did 2 dinners, yay and as always was delicious stirred through pasta with a raw egg, the heat from the pasta and vegies cooks the egg, so it's like a vegie carbonara.

Day 62

This is my other computer, my shiny macbook pro, I'm a fairly recent convert, but would never go back to a PC for every day use.  For me it's intuitive, though they aren't for everyone, Brendan struggles with it a little ;)

not having to think where it is all stored is great and I LOVE iMovie, it's perfect for what I like doing after a trip somewhere or family event, I don't need the complexities of anything more.

Day 61

Work.  Work has been ridiculously busy since late 09 and I'm still catching up, my role expanded so while I still have 1 boss, there are also 2 other national managers who are able to utilise my training skills, makes for some interesting flight schedules and bargaining over my time.

I am the only trainer at my company and currently reside in the sales department, though from April will be shifting into marketing, which I feel is a better fit for the role, though had nothing to do with me.

I spend most of my time in front of this, my laptop writing training, preparing for expo's to promote our products and generally trying to create imaginative training exercises for our account managers to implement comfortably.

Day 60

Lazy sunday morning, it's raining again and Nutmeg has curled up between us on the bed, very cute!

Perfect cup of tea to start the day :)

Day 59

Finally it's the weekend and time to get out into the garden to wrestle in back under control after huge rain events while we were in Japan.  The grass did not grow for the 2 1/2 weeks after we moved into the house, but while in japan it has grown to my knee height.  OK, I'm short, but that's still around 30-40cm in 10 days!