i'm grateful for . . . 'new beginnings don't get newer than new chickety chicks'

Greetings all,

I'm the master of surprising my children, whether it's Daddy coming home or a trip to the gelato store, i get them ALL the time.  While our children were away on school camp, i was plotting with my pal Emma & her husband Dan (doesn't everyone know a great couple called Emma & Dan??)  Policeman Dan was experimenting with hatching his own chicks, while engineer Emma is pregnant with her 4th baby, yay.  If they had enough new chicks, i could have a couple.  They were successful.  Today our chickens are 4 days old & ready for collection.  Funniest thing was, my plot of needing a hot water bottle for 'tummy ache' & saying Emma 'wanted to borrow a basket' was so good . . . my children STILL didn't realise we were collecting chickens to take home, until Dan asked which ones we were taking!!  Surprise, mother-of-the-year-moment, my reward is simply seeing the happiness & beaming smiles on their faces. 

EDIT: i had informed the high schooler about the chickens, she's horrified you might think she wasn't clued in enough to guess, my other 3 children still believe anything i say!!

 I'll let the photos speak for themselves, they are Speckled Hamburg Bantams.

 While we are keen on eggs, Hamburgs are not the biggest egg layers.

 Meet Ma & Pa, happiest chickens in the city!!

 On the drive home i explained we'd have a roster (hopefully they are hens not roosters) for handling the chickens, mainly to prevent OVER loving them & 2 chickens between 4 children . . . children were paired up & assigned even or odd hours of the day, Mummy has the final word or you're banned for your next hour.  I tell you, works a treat, i need more aces like this up my sleeve for power parenting.

 Talk about time wasters - watching them sleep standing up . . .

 watching them sleep lying down & tipping over. 

 My husband will love this - sleeping with a cushion (family joke, our German Shepherds have all preferred to sleep with heads on pillows!!)

 Speaking of puppies, he's getting a slow & safe introduction to where that chirping is coming from.

 BEST.

SCHOOL HOLIDAY.

 ACTIVITY.

EVER!!

Of course, in my mums-the-word plotting, i forgot to mention it to my husband.  When he rang it flashed before me, my 3rd girl answered the phone saying "can i tell him Mum, can i??"  He said she sounded SO happy, he was all for it & while we chatted he was researching chicken coops, one has been ordered.  For now, the chicks live indoors, very cosy indeed.  I'm so very grateful for this 'new beginning' with Maxabella Loves, also new to this chicken caper.  Love Posie

PS you might notice my high schooler sporting a sling, well there is a reason why teenagers are not allowed in children's play centres!!  She actually said "after i fell, a huge 2 year old landed on top of me, it hurt so much" & i had to refrain from laughing, she was so pale & honestly thought her wrist was broken (her little brother was at a birthday party there.)  Thank goodness we have a bye this week for volleyball.

a photo-a-day challenge with FatMumSlim April #2

Greetings all,

Voila, the middle part of the photo-a-day challenge with FatMumSlim for April.

 11. where you ate breakfast - school holidays = lazy breakfast of porridge at the computer.  The magazine is on the key board of my laptop as it won't start up, so i might as well read a magazine instead.  All i'm trying to do there is download email, it can take 24 hours!!  An Apple Mac has been dispatched.

 12. stairs - we live in a single storey home, only stairs here are in the dolls' houses.

 13. something you found - OMG, i was cleaning out my studio & found a beautiful Oilily handbag which i deemed fit for charity, but as i tossed it across the room into the 'charity bag' it made a jingle.  I had to make a small incision in the lining of the pocket & dig out what this puzzling rattling noise was.  I gasped, i thought i had lost it, an identity bracelet my parents gave me on my 17th birthday, as per inscription, 20 years ago.  The clasp must have broken while my hand was in my bag & was almost, lost forever!!  Even more precious to me considering what they mean to me now & how lucky my siblings & i are, to still have them.  I'm getting it fixed & back on my wrist, immediately.

 14. how you feel today - wishing i was on a farm, eating our own produce with my husband in the Adirondack chair next to me, surveying our homestead, together.

 15. sunset - bugger, stunning Autumn sunsets every evening until the 15th where it was overcast.

 16. flower - walking through a nursery with my sister, she said "look, Grandad flowers".  Our grandfather was a professional gardener & would bring clippings out from England (imagine him on Border Security, being padded down & arrested now, pockets filled with buds & seeds.)  Apparently, as little girls, we used to call these 'Grandad flowers'.  I didn't remember, i'm so thrilled she reminded me.  Here's to my fuchsia loving ancestor who LOVED Australia so so much.

 17. something you don't like - um, my filing system, next to the filing cabinet.  Bless my husband for trying to encourage me, i frustrate him so much at tax time. 

 18. hair - oh my ethereal child.  A family walk with my sister & our collective 7 children, we stopped for lunch at a cafe to discover my 3rd girl sporting this spectacular headdress, she & her sisters made it as we wandered about.  People kept stopping to comment, my squeaky girl, always a show stopper & angelic.  Needs a fringe trim, note to self. 

 19. orange - i hope i never grow up & out of the appeal of purchasing something like an orange wedge children's suitcase.  It has sisters - the watermelon & lemon.

 20. something you drew - a quick little scribble of a bird, add a sequin headband & it's a disco!!

Thanks for looking, April #1 was here.  I'll do #3 on the 30th of April.  Have gorgeous weekends folks.  Love Posie

our creative space . . . 'my mother's sausage rolls'

Greetings all,

School holidays always result in party food baking - makes the days more festive.  I've always made my own sausage rolls, not because i'm a hero, i'm righteous & think frozen ones taste like cardboard & bakeries are too expensive.  I'm visiting my sister for the day in the country & she asked if i would make Mum's sausage rolls (originally based on The Australian Women's Weekly 1960's culinary bible recipe.)  Now my big sister has NEVER asked me to bake anything (she is the effortless cook) so i jumped at the chance to impress her.

The basics are - process carrots, onions, bread . . . or overprocess if you're posing for a blog photo & Mummy has messy hands & can't press the buttons on the camera & is taking forever!!  Carrot, onion & bread need not be puree.

Add to onions, carrots & bread - some tomato paste, crushed/ minced garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, basil & whatever other herb (dry or fresh) takes your fancy.  Rosemary would be delicious, it was raining outside, so skipped fresh herbs.  Parsley makes them officially gourmet.  Really.
As i was prepared to make a dozen dozen sausage rolls, i chose 1.5kg of various minces, why not??  I had a thumping headache & couldn't be bothered to go to the butcher for sausage mince, so just squeezed mince out of sausages, da dah, SAME thing. 

All ingredients are raw, you can't taste-as-you-go, just wing it, there are no rules or quantities in  sausage roll making - mince, herbs, pastry, seasoning = hard to go wrong!!

Lay out defrosted puff pastry on lightly floured bench tops, spread sausage filling in 2 rows per sheet.  Slice down the centre of each sheet & brush centre edges with egg yolks (for sticking).  Mum used to do 3 rows per sheet, i like it a little chunkier & less explosive (if you know what i mean - meat bursting out of pastry.)

Roll up & wash top of each pastry join with egg yolk, we were generous = golden brown finish.

Slice into bite size pieces - you'll get 8-9 mini sausage rolls her strip, more if you took the time to roll the pastry sheets a little thinner.  Cleaning flour & egg yolk off benches is torture.

Bake in a hot oven.  I seem to bake everything on round pizza trays, but big square ones would be more efficient.  I also used a tonne of baking paper as they ooze a little fat.  Our oven heats unevenly, so i spin & change shelves during baking, i love creating extra work for myself.  

 Oh they are so good straight from the oven, but also freeze well.  My mother always made a triple batch, froze them for us while we were at Uni or going to night clubs & needed a snack.  She'd send my husband back to his barracks with them on Sunday nights, a piece of home & future-mother-in-law bribery to please marry the last child & take her off our hands.  I have been known at children's parties to give Daddies lolly bags filled with frozen sausage rolls for later. 
If i had more time, i would have made a delicious tomato relish - i loathe tomato sauce with a passion & no, you don't need tomato sauce with my juicy tastey sausage rolls. 

I did up a box for my sister & seeing i was off to a Tania McCartney book launch & reading at the National Library of Australia last night, smelling like sausage rolls, i popped some for her children (frozen for their lunch tomorrow) in a cute little retro box, as a foodie giftie treat.

The event was such fun, great atmosphere & i bumped into a lovely Navy wife, dear designer friends & the mother of a girl who does cross country & volleyball with my eldest.  Funnily enough we got talking, security had to march us out as alarms were sounding, the library was closed . . . it was just THAT good a launch - no one wanted to leave!!  Want to win a copy of Tania's new book Beijing Tai Tai (last day) enter here.  Good luck!!

Thanks for the gorgeous support in my last post & happy creative space invading today folks, love Posie

our Australian television awards

Greetings all,

Now i don't watch Neighbours, reality shows, Home & Away (ooppss, my cousin has been on it again this year, sorry Alyssa) or morning television - which eliminates MOST of the people who attended the Logies Awards last night . . . as a lover of fashion & glamour, entertainment & fun, i'll make an attempt at posting about it anyway, however unqualified i am.

I do watch/ obsess over OffSpring though, Asher Keddie, you are a fashion icon.  I don't care who dresses you, hair, make up, clothes, you totally OWN every look from jeans to formal.

 Chrissie Swan, i adore you.  Sure you might mock yourself saying "look at me, back to my pre-baby figure" but it's not annoying, it's endearing.  That joke you made about Lincoln Lewis & being his naughty babysitter, had me giggling, especially when you were distracted in your own thoughts about it & forgot for a moment, where you were & to announce the nominees. 

 Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins is always going to look stunning . . . this is for my husband who doesn't see a lot of girls or glamour in Afghanistan . . .

 i find you faultless, beyond pretty, your complexion can carry any colour, you always look so friendly & approachable too.  Have you been in a show i missed??  Maybe on pay television??  Anyway, you looked gorgeous.

 Oh Kat Stewart, look at you, minutes after popping out a baby.  Can i just say a big hurrah to anyone not making a big deal about how slim Kat looks after said baby - some women, celebrity or not, are naturally skinny & indeed, have a baby & kapow, are skinny again, without fad dieting, working out, obsessing.  I have friends & family who were the same, even me - back in my 20s & baby making, had my size 10 pre-baby body in a week, a little jiggly but the 25kg disappeared, just like that, every baby, especially after the twins!!  For me it was breastfeeding, best weight loss EVER!! 

 Now if you said Michelle, Flo & Megan were coming over for Morning Tea, you'd be expecting the ladies from the Country Women's Association, an upsidedown pineapple cake & scones??  Michelle Bridges, fitness queen, adore; Flo Rida, rapper, fantastic (where do i get me a microphone like that); & Megan Gale, supermodel, gorgeous.

 Yay, Poh Ling Yeow, you are just too perky & adorable for words.  Do you think Poh ever has a bad day??

 I used to be big fans of Hamish & Andy on the radio.  Not sure if i'm getting old or now they're 30+ i find the 'getting laid humour' ridiculous, but the love between these two boys & Hamish Blake's Gold Logie speech . . . absolutely fantastic.  My husband has a best mate & they act like these two (only jokes on them - they have 6 daughters, including 2 sets of twins between them now, mwahahaha, plus our boy - who they take fishing & camping to de-girl themselves.)  I so hope our son has a best mate as close & wonderful when he grows up.

Special mention to Mick Molloy's homage to the television greats who passed away in the last year; Adam Hill's exposed leg Angelina Jolie style; Denise Scott's presentation; & the performances - i still find the One Direction boys a bit whimpy & breathy, cheering a little that no one in this household is a fan. 
Now the Logies are over, do we go into gawd-awful non ratings television time, no, wait a moment, OffSpring is back this week, yay!!  Love Posie
PS all images stolen from Google, how is that for a disclaimer or credit??!!

AEIOU launch link party April 2012

Greetings all,

Welcome to the first/ maiden/ inaugural AEIOU: a mid-month-list-link-party of self-belief, improvement, acceptance, love & learning!!  It's a middle-of-the-month get together of life’s highlights. Your AEIOU might go a little something like this . . .

Awesome – something you baked/ created/ photographed/ a bargain you found

Exciting – share your news/ event/ holiday/ a gorgeous butterflies-in-tummy moment

Interesting – teach us information/ discovery/ facts/ a chance to show off your quirky side

Opportunity – embrace the unknown/ put yourself out there/ show off a new experience

Understanding – learning to appreciate/ forgive/ love/ unleash what helps you grow
. . . you might like to do a full AEIOU or just one or two particular themes . . .

To kick things off, here is my AEIOU list.  It's been a busy month here with Easter, school camps, sports clinics & finally school holidays.  My AEIOU is a light & breezey one.  Next month will be heavy as we're in the final countdown to handsome soldier coming home!!
Awesome - as our children grow, so do their needs, like a communal computer area.  I played swapsies this week: pinched this desk from a bedroom, swapped for an armchair, et voila, a whole new space has opened up our lounge - for the price of 3 tractor stools - not to mention awesome cook book storage.

 Exciting - my 3 youngest had their school camps, it was my son's first & the independence he showed getting organised, leaving & since he's come home, has been amazing.  Camps overlapped, leaving my eldest an only child = Japanese dinner & the  Mirror Mirror movie (fabulous).  I was giddy just making ONE lunch each morning, glee!!

Interesting - enjoying FatMumSlim's photo-a-day challenge this April.  Wait until you read about what this bracelet means to me.  Millions of images are involved, now that is some following Mrs Slim.

Opportunity - i did over the high schooler's bedroom today (she shares the front of the house with my studio.)  New desk (seeing hers went missing??) & arm chair + new size (i pushed my fabric racks deeper into my studio.  The middle girl is having a sleepover in the huge new space - look at them, sisters, makes me heart sing!!  Please ignore the outdoor German Shepherd, opportunist!!

Understanding - even though we're not religious, we appreciate what religious festivals are all about.  My high schooler has Religious Education classes & is teaching us, while we munch on Lindt Bunnies who were hiding in toadstools.   

Now it's YOUR turn . . .

do join in . . . links go live on the 15th of each month, this is a party to celebrate you!!

I hope you enjoy the large icons, random order & long text space to share your AEIOU link, enticing visitors from our beautiful blogging community to follow the link to your blog.  Don't forget to link back to this post & pop the AEIOU logo on your post/ blog side bar too if you wish.  Thanks for joining in - it's open all month, love Posie

PS what a lovely way to spend my 550th post with you all, squee!!  About time i started a link up right??

Beijing Tai Tai: life, laughter & motherhood in China's capital - BOOK GIVEAWAY

Greetings all,
I read Beijing Tai Tai a few years ago, when i first met Tania McCartney.  I went to her book reading & as i read the book myself, i heard her voice telling me her story, personally.  It's just that kind of fabulous book.  Now it has been relaunched with a fresh cover & extra content, the kind folks at Exilse Publishing have offered a copy of the new release for one of my lucky readers.

"I feel like everyone should know about Beijing Tai Tai... it's the Eat Pray Love for mothers." - author Dee White
& Tania is gorgeous, she'd star in her own Hollywood movie version too!!
The official word . . .
Intensely personal, at times a little controversial, Beijing Tai Tai is a rollercoaster ride of honesty and openness as a wife (tai tai) and mother juggles suburban family life in urban Beijing. Presented in a series of love/hate column-like snippets - on topics ranging from the consumption of bull testicles to the life-altering experience of walking the Great Wall - it exposes expatriate life in a country on the brink of great change
From tragic hair moments and bustling silk markets to China's quest to stay true to its ancient origins, Beijing Tai Tai is a book for anyone interested in this diverse and culturally rich country. It's for anyone from anywhere who knows what it's like to fall in love, explore new worlds and live with challenges. It's about life in a city full of soaring highs and disconsolate lows - but never anything less than remarkable.

"This book rewrites the myth of the full-time expat mother." - Lee Mack, Managing Editor, City Weekend Beijing

Me, well my favourtite stories in Beijing Tai Tai include . . . trying  open a bottle of wine on a train journey, sans corkscrew; her little boy's first day of International School - still wearing size 2 underpants (i hear you Tania!!); & the hilarious under current/ parrallel story of the housemaid, sometimes sinister but always entertaining, always at the McCartneys expense.  I didn't want the book to end, i savoured the last few pages, great entertainment for $24.95.  There is also a neat glossary at the back with all the must-know terms for life in China.  Yes, Tania thought of everything!!

 Cover Girl Tania & ACT National Year of Reading Ambassador Tania; wife, mother, author, writer, friend Tania, the lady is an incredible talent, you should see her blog - filled with craft, style, humour, travel, parties . . .

 Tania even runs this amazing KBR website, a must for young readers!!

Follow the virtual book tour - more giveaways, reviews & amazing blogs to discover too!!

Thanks to Exisle Publishing for sponsoring this book giveaway. 

You can also order a copy of the book here. 

Just follow this blog & leave a comment here to win a copy of this fantastic book, open now until midnight on Thursday 19th April. 

If you're in Canberra, come along to the launch at the National Library of Australia on Wednesday 18th April (evening), details & RSVP here.

Good luck everyone, i'll announce winners of all my latest blog giveaways on April 20th.  Love Posie