Finding joy in the everyday

I think you can guess what the new addition is - yes a rat (Hooded rat to be accurate). After Herbert's passing 6 months ago I said no to any more rats. But this is a "rescue rat" - his previous owner no longer wanted him (wanted a bird instead of a rat and was going to get the poor creature "put-down") and a friend took the rat, unfortunately this rat and her other rats didn't get along so the poor thing needed a new home. Tristan is a softy and said yep - he would love to take "SCAMPS" so we now have a 1 year old rat that is quite large but very sweet. Caius was thrilled to have another rat as Herbert was his and he loved taking it to bed with him!! Interestingly Charlie the cat has never liked the rats and runs away and hides. Which is a good thing. So far we have owned: Felix, Zelda, Zoe, Bob, Herbert and now Scamps. Both my sons love animals and we only have Charlie (the cat) as Caius couldn't bear to see a poor lost soul wandering t...

Best day: Today - slept in until 9:00am, went to the Life Line book fair in the morning, bought MacDonalds for the boys and I for lunch (treat - don't do it often), watched a DVD in the afternoon with Tristan, had an afternoon sleep (whilst listening to Bach) and made picklets for afternoon tea for Tristan and I - which we covered in lots of jam and thick cream whilst hiding away from the icy winds. Not so good day: Didn't have any of those - all days were good in their own way. Fu nniest moment: Steven and I were driving home from work on Thursday and the police had 2 speed cameras on the road we drive on every day home from the city. However they decided that they wanted to add an element of surprise and have a couple of policemen hiding behind trees jumping out with hand-held speed cameras. What they appeared not to understand was how distracting it was - amazing it didn't create an accident as we didn't know whi ch tree we would see a policeman coming from!! Cook...

This recipe is from The River Cottage Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall A bit fiddly but it tasted great. 2 kg corned beef - eye fillet, brisket or silverside 1.5 cups brown sugar 1 tsp dill seed 1/2 cup fresh dill chopped (2 bunches) 1 tsp ground cinnamon 15 whole cloves 4 cloves garlic 1/2 cup white wine vinegar 1 brown onion chopped Trim the beef and wash it well. Soak it overnight in a basin of water to remove the saltiness Rinse he beef and pat dry with a paper towel Slice onion and ay it on the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Place beef onto of onion In a mortar and pestle, grind the garlic, dill seed, cinnamon, and cloves to a paste then pack it around all sides of the meat. Pack the brown sugar on top of the ground garlic paste. Chop the fresh dill and pack it on top of the brown sugar. Pour the vinegar into the bottom of the dish. Cover with a tight-fitting lid, or seal the lid well with double tinfoil. marinate for a couple of hours before cooking - or overnight Bake in ...

I wander'd lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine By William Wordsworth (1770-1850) I went to the Tulip Farm just outside of Canberra this morning. It is smaller version of Floriade but in a much more beautiful setting of a green valley surrounded by hills. This floral display is not only about tulips but also the gorgeous blossoms from the trees. What I wasn't able to capture was the soft classical music playing and the birds singing. And as you can see in the photos - very few people to disrupt the views. Not sure what sort of tree this is but there wasn't anymore room for flowers. It was just magnificent. We have a grove at work and I admire them daily. This last photo was taken as I was leaving the car park at the Tulip Farm!! The farm across the road was burning and th...

It currently raining - love the sound of rain so I might go to bed early and read as this weather encourages snuggling up with a book and a cup of tea!! Charlie (the cat) wanted to go outside - I did try and explain that it was raining - she didn't listen - went outside for less than a minute and now she is back indoors grumbling as cats do about the weather. Caius doing what he does best - texting on the phone. Now that his phone package allows him to endlessly test - that is what he does. I wonder if these kids will get RSI in their fingers? Tristan has sent in his application for the public service apprenticeship. We now wait and pray that he hears about an interview. It does take some time to get through the process so I doubt we will hear anything until late October. Brenin lying in the sun - but because he is black it doesn't take long before he is too hot and has to move back into the shade. He has an obsession with tissues and when I go outside, the first thing ...

This weekend has been completely glorious - warm sunny weather - so beautiful for gardening and sitting outdoors soaking up the sunshine. I have been doing both: weeding, mulching and planting some seedlings plus sitting on my bench reading!!! (so far my back is ok - it was playing up last week. Early this week we g ot a very good days rain and the top picture is proof as it doesn't happen very often. Last week I finished a 3 part course on the "Study of Parliament" - may sound boring but it was very interesting. Discovered that I really knew very little about the running of Parliament and that I was never taught it at school. The most interesting segment was a talk on the the building which is a fascinating piece of architecture - we even had a tour of the art works. Did you know that underneath the building is a vault - its concrete ceiling, is supported by columns four storeys high and contains interesting geological stone in pristine condition due to its p rote...

I was reading "Finding God's Path Through Your Trials" (Elizabeth George) the other day and came across some interesting statistics (as a statistician this always excites me). According to a University of Wisconsin study on worry: 40% of the study were apprehensive over things that had never happened 30% were overly concerned with past matters that were now beyond their control 12% were anxiously fearful of the future loss of their health 18% were busy worrying about family, friends and neighbors with no basis whatsoever for their fears, and 100% worried about nothing! (what a waste of time and energy) I use to worry every Sunday about Monday (returning to work), until I realized I was wasting an entire day worrying about nothing. Now I try very hard not to worry as it it pointless and achieves nothing, instead let God be responsible for my worries and start trusting him completely and I feel so much better for it. It's been a lot harder trying to get Tristan to un...