I love ouy!

This morning I was in my bathroom getting ready for work when I heard the sound of Isabella's remote control toy being driven in my bedroom.

The sliding door was opened and in came (remotely) Isabella's remote control toy which is like a three wheel bike that a My Little Pony sits on.

However there was no pony but a torn corner of a piece of paper......





How good is it to be me???

Isabella is always writing me love notes and I adore them.

I took this mornings offering and stuck it to my computer monitor at work - I can't tell you how many times it made me smile today!!


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Cyclone Ului

We experienced our first cyclone this weekend.

First and last I hope.

The eye passed thru Airlie Beach about 1.5hrs north but I've heard winds here were up to 180km an hour.

Not fun.

The pounding rain I could handle, the howling raging wind however was something else.

We lost electricity between 10 and 11pm in Sat night (it was restored Mon about 5pm). Some people are still without :-(

The wind got wilder and wilder. By midnight all the girls were with us in our room but they were asleep.

I just couldn't sleep for the wind.

Then I heard the sound of tin and a l bit of a clunk and a few choice words later Michael and I were peering out our sliding glass doors with our torch.

The next door neighbour's shed roof had torn off and was dangling over our fence!

I was pretty scared by this so we relocated to our front room.

We all sat up for a bit (I was trying to keep it together because the girls certainly didn't seem as scared as I felt!).

Eventually we managed to get the girls back to sleep but I just couldn't sleep.

Whilst I had no electricity my iPhone still had Internet access so I checked out facebook to see how others were getting on and checked BOM website frequently.

An update told me the cyclone found land but still the wind roared!

I swore i could hear tin ripping again which further freaked me out (found out next morning across the road neighbours guttering ripped off).

Eventually fell to sleep sometime after 4am.

Neighbour woke us all up at 7am - he had come to fetch his shed roof which had made it's way half into our pool by now.

Quick survey revealed no damage (praise God) other than some broken plants.

We didn't have any mobile coverage at this point but the landline was working (it stopped working about 9am). Made a few calls to see how family had fared.

Michael's parents had some broken windows from lattice that lifted from their patio.

Amazingly my Mum's place was unscathed, although lots of plant damage and strewn about.

Driving around later that day revealed damage to fences, lots if uprooted trees and some trees on houses!

I've said to a few people now that I felt quite safe and secure in my house, I wasn't scared my house would rip apart, what I was scared of was something flying INTO my house - thank goodness nothing like that happened.

We are all so lucky. I'd be happy to never have to experience that again in my life.

Suz

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Final words on Melbourne

Michael and I had a wonderful time in Melbourne. Many thanks to my Dad and Step Mum for making our kid free getaway possible!

The weather was perfect. The food amazing. Jamie Oliver inspiring.

We can't wait to go back - this time we'll take the girls too!

Here are some more pics.

Bathing boxes at Brighton.




City view over the Yarra River.



One of the amazing views from Eureka Tower - 360 degree views of Melbourne from the tallest residential building in the southern hemisphere from the 88 th floor.


Just to prove Mackay has some food style too - Isabella's chicken nuggets and chips from Satchmo's.


Enjoy!

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2nd place

Isabella swam in her first school swimming carnival today and she came 2 nd in her race!

We were so proud and happy to be able to see her.

Here is her ribbon.





My dear friend Phyl passed away last Friday. I went to her funeral today. Rest in peace Phyl. I'm so blessed to have had you in my life.


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Lygon St

Tonight we had dinner in Lygon St with my uncle (mum's brother) and aunt.

Had not seen them since I was 8 so some 26 years ago! We have a changed somewhat since then.

What is undeniable is the resemblence between my mum and her brother. And even mire strange was how much my uncle reminded me of my brother.

Michael and I had a great time catching up.

We also had our "first" tram ride (well first one on this visit)!

Here's some photos, although Dale was Aldo taking some photos and he's a professional photographer so no doubt his photos are way better!!







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Lunch

We just spent the morning with Michael's cousin David, his wife Fiona and their baby Cooper.

What a fabulous time down St Kilda and another yummy meal ;-)

Tonight Lygon St with my Aunt and Uncle for dinner.

Can you spot the recurring theme?

Lunch



Luna Park



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15

Last night we had dinner at 15.

It was great!

Krista our knowledgable waitress guided us in our selections.

We both decided to try things we wouldn't ordinarily go for.

I had duck with figs and rocket for entree while Michael chose kingfish with orange. Mmmmmm

For main I had pork belly confit and Michael had some Victorian lamb. It was fabulous.

Was very full but the experience wouldn't be complete without dessert!

I chose a pannacotta with grilled peaches and almond brittle and Muchael's involved some beautiful lemon sorbet.

Yummy!

Bonus was seeing Tobey in the kitchen and out front a while.

So much fun!













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My Kitchen Rules

I've been so inspired in the kitchen lately.

I discovered Donna Hay last week (don't know how I didn't know about her sooner!).

Tonight I made basil, lemon and garlic roasted chicken which was not only scrumptious but so quick and easy!

Last night Tony, Jo, Declan and Nate came for dinner. I made my first attempt at Creme Caramel. The caramel was a little toffee-like but overall YUMMY!!!

For entree was my second go at bruschetta and it was mmmmmmmm!

I have lots of basil in the herb garden at the moment.

In other news Isabella is up to her third sight words level and her reading is just fantastic! I'm so proud and I hope she has a love of reading in her life I know how much i've enjoyed it.

Tahlia also surprised me this afternoon by showing me how she can swing herself on the swing! Very clever!

In sadder news a dear friend is in palliative care and we said goodbye to each other today :-(

Phyllis was my "adopted" grandmother growing up and we spent many many hours together. She is a wonderful cook, cake decorator, sewer, crocheter, rose, orchid and shell enthuist, listener and friend. I love you Phyl!




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