Can't Live Without Em

Family is a bit of a theme for me at the moment....for so many reasons. Christmas (a traditional time for family) has been and gone for another year, I've had a visit from my Mum and Dad in early January (which is never long enough),

our move to Canberra has been fantastic for our family life with activities like toboganning, bike-riding, go for walks along the many walk/bike ways of Canberra, a 'semi' bushwalk through Tidbinbilla reserve (it's a sealed path all the way through the sanctuary) and trips to new places like Batemans Bay, and today is the anniversary of my little brother's life. I know technically, that should read death, but death is so morbid.

He's been gone from us for 15 years today and if I let myself dwell on that awful day, the pain of his loss is as raw now as it was all those years ago. So I choose something different. I choose to celebrate his crazy, hyperactive and hilarious life. I choose to not allow the past to always dictate my present and my future. I choose to love him and miss him but not to dwell on what might have been (I know he would have made an awesome Uncle for Ayla and then Ayla would have been spoilt with 2 Uncles to dote on her).

Family......you can't live with em and you can't live without em. :)

Family

And so Sunday became Tuesday....again, Whoops! I have really allowed my brain to take a break over Xmas. I'm usually straight back into things as of the 1st week of January but I think with Ayla starting school this year, there is this sense that the year doesn't really begin until school goes back. Yup....no good can come of that!

I had to share this picture of Ayla when she first spotted Grandma stepping off the plane......it was so cute. You could literally see her mind ticking, thinking "Hey, I know you! Hang on a minute.....You're here!" There has definitely been a very big hole left here since Mum and Dad left. So what better way to fill a gap than with STUFF! Like our first ever family bike ride on Sunday. I don't know who was more excited, Ayla or me :).

Over the Xmas period we went shopping for new bikes and a 'you beaut' trailer for the Little Mrs. We each received some Xmas money from family to buy them as gifts and we raced out as soon as the shops were open. Steven and I have both been riding our bikes at different opportunities on our own. Steven often rides to work and I have had a couple of relaxing early evening rides too. But the family ride had to wait for everyone to be home from work and for the weather to play along too. And Sunday was that day. It was AWESOME! So good to be out doing an activity that I never thought we would ever be able to do with Ayla. I often watched other families out riding together and longed to be one of them.

Ayla's trailer has plenty of room in the front and back. She was loaded up with toys and I think next time we might pack a picnic lunch in the back! Our ride took us around a portion of Lake Burley Griffin, starting outside Questacon, heading towards the Old Bus Depot Markets, over a bridge, past Commonwealth Park (where they hold Floriade) and back over another bridge on Commonwealth Ave riding straight toward Parliament house. All the while, we had the shores of the lake beside us, walkers, riders and family dogs either moving with us or in the opposite direction. It was so great to be out there with all of the families of human and 'fur' kind, but best of all, to be out there with my family! We stopped at a little cafe on the lake edge before we packed up the bikes and trailer and headed home. And all the while, I was planning the next bike ride :).

I have to say, there are times when I wish I was back in Queensland but when I hit the bikeways and walkways of this city (read country town), I start to realise how this town is specifically planned with families in mind. I haven't come across one part of this town that isn't well thought out (ok, the shopping centres are an appalling exception!), geared toward families and totally accessible for strollers and wheelchairs. When you couple these great traits with a stone fruit season that has been nothing short of amazing to my tastebuds......I think I'm starting to like it here.

Whoops!

Whoops! With all the fun that I had with Mum and Dad.....I forgot to update you all. I'll be back on Sunday with an update and some photos......after our bike ride :)

Taking the Time to Sniff Out the Plums

Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to everyone! I took a little blogging break over Xmas. I just needed a couple of weeks to live without constantly analysing what was 'bloggable' in my life. Not that there aren't plenty of things to be shared but sometimes there's just way too much to choose from....especially where Ayla is concerned. Everyday there is something new or different, a challenge maybe....and sometimes I just need to sit back and enjoy what's happening without thinking how I could share it with everyone. So the break is over and a whole new year of weekly blogging awaits! And for this, my first blog update of the year, I'm starting with something that has absolutely nothing to do with Ayla.....except for the fact that she has IMMENSELY enjoyed the fruits of my labour :). Whilst I have been sitting back just enjoying each moment as it happens around me I truly saw something, seemingly for the first time! But it wasn't the first time! I can't believe I have been staring out of my sewing room window looking 'through' this bounty for months and never knew what I had. It began in the last weeks of winter with a furious flush of tiny white blossoms on otherwise bare twigs.....and then proceeded to tiny little round red 'fruits'. Of course being in the middle of 'the burbs', I made the assumption that the tree was probably ornamental and the fruits, being red and so inviting, were probably nothing edible and at worst, poisonous. Nuh-uh......CHERRY PLUMS!!!!! It took me from late winter until around Boxing day to realise that these little beauties were Cherry Plums!!!

The tree is absolutely laden with them and I have been out in the 36 degree heat picking them, and last night I made a batch of plum jam......and there are plenty more jam sessions to come! I even found some seedlings that had started under the tree and I have dug them and potted them to take with us when we buy later in the year.

Mum and Dad arrive for a short visit in 3 days time, so I think I may also make a Plum Crumble for dessert......*slurp*

Ayla adored the jam for breakfast this morning....so much so that I couldn't take a photo because we were both covered in sticky mess. I'll try again tomorrow.

A - Freakin' - Men!

It's been a little quiet around my blog world for the last couple of weeks. I just have nothing to say except.....

BRING ON XMAS!!!!

May the phones go deathly silent...

May my inbox and diary be empty.....

May the fridge be filled with food by the faeries and the meals make themselves....

May the rain disappear and the sun begin to warm my new hometown...

May my pile of library books never diminish...

and may you all be safe and happy this Xmas.
A-Freakin-Men!

A slight change of plans...

Ok so I really suck at Gluten free Shortbread.....Ewwwww. It's like a mouth full of sand! But I am not giving up on my giving tradition!!!!

So, if you can master GF shortbread go on ahead and make it but I am making allowances for myself and my friend Shan who also apparently sucks at Shortbread :). I'm making any sort of delicious GF cookie to go with my Xmas ornaments.

I'm going to make these delicious morsels , with my own little twist. I've made them before so I definitely know that they work and are truly delicious.

So some hints for everyone else.......Check out the Gluten Free Goddess. She has a whole section on Cookies....all Gluten Free.

Good Luck!

Christmas Traditions

I am late, late, LATE with this blog update! It's a busy time of year for all us, all over the world. Christmas is coming, school is finishing up for the year and there are holidays to plan. This year we have the addition of getting organised for enrolment into 2 schools...not to mention the fact that the Little Mrs is actually going to SCHOOL next year!!! With a uniform!! What the??? What happened there? More on that another time :).

The Mathilda's Market was very successful for us again this time. We raised $886 on market day and since then I have had orders for another $135 worth of goodies.....I'm not sure how I'm going to get it all done before Xmas but we'll see how we go.

On the ABR front.....not much has been done, unfortunately. Ayla has been sick for well over a week now with a nasty cold and eye boogers....translation: conjunctivitis. She seems to be gradually getting better now so I have plans to ABR her to the point of annoyance starting this weekend :).

And now, as is my *life's never dull around here* and flippant way, I am going to completely change the subject. With the market over and Xmas looming, it has set me to thinking about this wonderful time of year and the fact that apart from 1 little Xmas spent on a tiny coral cay chasing sea turtles, this is the first Xmas in years spent away from family and friends. Our little family will kinda be together. Steven is working nightshift over the days of the fat man and that means working all night and sleeping all day. But I have a nasty plan that will wake him early on Xmas afternoon for sure......it's called "the smell of crackling wafting from the oven". It's sure to work!

It has also had me thinking about how I have always wanted to create a family tradition around Xmas. Our current tradition (apart from the spending it with our families part) is the completely consumerist approach....wake early, hand out the presents one by one, watch each others happy responses and then eat breakfast. It's over in minutes and somehow leaves us all feeling a little empty.

Recently my friend Jen posted on Facebook that she had found the recipe she was using for her family's Xmas Shortbread competition and that the name alone should win it for her. I've always loved the specialness of cooking for others, especially at Xmas and so here begins my little tradition that I hope will grow. Not a competition....cos that's Jen's Family tradition.....but a little swap amongst family and close friends who want to join in. Even if you don't want to do any swapping, chances are that you may receive something from our family, from our heart and made from our hands. And that's the essence of what I am proposing. It's a little swap of homemade shortbread (just a little handful) and a Xmas ornament (handcrafted or not but most importantly, special) for the family's tree.

I love making shortbread and I LOVE eating it even more! I guess my idea is for this swap to happen in the earlier part of December. To re-create the excitement that we all used to feel in the lead up to Xmas, to let our friends and loved ones know that we are thinking of them at this time of year. And to take that edge off Xmas Consumerism. I've just never been able to get into the tradition of writing Xmas cards. The whole idea of having a huge stack of cards with two written lines, repeated over and over, from card to card, and the received cards being strung up all over the house like some sort of "Facebook Friends" list, has never appealed to me. I once had someone ask me, jokingly but it still stuck with me, if I didn't have any friends?? Why? I asked....."because you don't have any Xmas cards displayed around your home". Hmmmm

There is another experience that has lead me to want to cook and give at Xmas. Quite a few years ago, my Xmas gift from my little brother (my then little LITTLE brother) was some stunning and delicious Xmas cookies that he had made for me, all wrapped up in a little gift box that I still have. They were Lebkuchen cookies, which I believe may be a German tradition. Little heart-shaped syrup and spice cookies with a dot of jam in the middle and a chocolate coating on the back. I can still taste those delicious little bits of YUM! This is one of my most treasured Xmas memories. He was so proud of them and he was protectively checking the box in the fridge leading up to Xmas day, to make sure they were ok and no-one had been in there. Hands down....the best and most memorable Xmas present EVER! And actually,is the main reason I want to to do this.

I may have left it a little late this year to send out to everyone that I think of daily, but I sure am going to give it a go. And Ayla is going to help me so you'll be getting a little bit of love from her too. If you would like to join in....comment at the bottom. There are just a couple of simple rules.....The shortbreads must be made from your hands AND gluten free (don't worry, there are tons of recipes on the internet and it does seem very easy to convert basic shortbread recipes to gluten free). That's it! No other rules.