Cocktail hour

This was Mr H and I on Saturday night.  Just the two of us and Cocktails followed by entrees and mains that were of pant splitting proportions.....no room for pudding.

We had a Saturday where EVERYTHING seemed to be on.  An early rugby game, supermarket shopping, Bell's dance rehearsal then her performance - a bit of driving about and the jobs to do at home.  My sister n law Em had phoned the night before to tell us instead of coming to their house for dinner to drop the kids off and for Mr H and I to head out for dinner in town.

I couldn't wait, it seems like ages since just the two of us have been out.  We ended up heading into town in what we had been wearing all day to tired to head home to get changed - we rocked up to the restaurant and realised neither of us had our wallets so it was a quick drive back home then back into town.  We earned those cocktails!!!

We were on a pensioners clock - home by 8.30pm.  But it was great and just what we needed.

Sunday I spent the entire day at home in my pj's - I even gardened in them.  I showered after dinner and put clean ones on before hoping into bed to watch Location UK on the laptop.  Great end to a really good weekend.

Did you have a good weekend? 

Do you have proper date nights?  Where do you like to go?

A list

 

Making:  hot chocolates with a side of marshmallows and biscuits.
Cooking: poached eggs with mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach for breakfast......when time allows.
Drinking: right now a cold glass of local chardonnay.
Reading: the news online, more than I should and getting upset, so hard not too.
Wanting: new shoes - but not finding any I like.
Looking: at my poor neglected garden.......this weekend I will give it some attention.
Playing: racetracks, planes and cars.  As you do when you have little boys in the house.
Deciding: on a holiday destination for the next school holidays???
Wishing: I was a morning person.  I'm ALWAYS the last one up in our house.
Enjoying: cosy evening fires and DVD deliveries.
Waiting: for the next batch of DVD's - love online deliveries.
Liking: that we are going out for dinner in the weekend.  Can't wait.
Wondering: about ideas for our wedding and thinking we should look at setting a date.  Exciting.
Loving:  my weekly pay packet.
Pondering: if it is too early to start putting things away for Christmas and where to hide them.
Watching: Breaking Bad, Modern Family.....oh and Planes and FROZEN.
Hoping:  my little man's tummy bug hurry's up and leaves.
Marvelling: at how much energy a certain little boy has on not a lot of sleep....you know who you are.
Needing: some nights of un-interrupted sleep.
Smelling: clean washing drying in front of the fire.
Wearing: "nice things" a few days a week for my new job.....and our neighbour not recognising me!
Following: the Garden Share Collective - and finding motivation to get back into my garden.
Noticing: more grey hairs.
Knowing: I'm right 95% of the time and Mr H the other 5%
Thinking: I hope he is not reading this.
Feeling: busy, full and content.
Admiring: my neighbours caravan.  I want to put it in our garden under the apricot trees.
Buying: Birthday pressies for someone who turns 40 next week.
Getting: into the groove of working part-time, and trying my hardest to be organised.
Bookmarking: online recipes, homeware sites, and holiday destination ideas.
Opening: emails to find lovely messages from other bloggers.  Bloggers are awesome!
Giggling: at the "toilet humour" of small boys and joining in.
Feeling: goosed.

A list via Pip.

Out East

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are nearing the end of the school holidays here.  It has been a really good 2 weeks, and as usual it has flown by.

 

Today we took a drive around the coast, just an hour north of our town, where the landscape turns a little wild and rugged.  Green rolling hills, sheep and cattle galore.

 

The wind was freezing so we layered up and ventured out for a walk along Tolaga Bay Wharf.  The boys loved it, Tom treated us to his version of the Haka.  I clung onto little hands in the hope that no one would go "swimming".  It is a popular spot for wharf jumping and fishing over summer.  We will come back again when the sun is warm and shining.

 

The views are breathtaking, even when it's cold and a little grey.

 

Afterwards we headed into the small town nearby for pies (with the best ever buttery pastry), hot chips and steaming cups of coffee.

 

According to Tom it was "the best day ever"................and I couldn't agree more xo

 

 

 

 

Sunday lunch

It was one of those weekends where I went to bed Sunday night feeling tired, that good kind of tired where you feel full of all the good things in life.

Sunday Mr H and I spent the morning preparing and cooking in the kitchen.  I had invited my brother and his family for a Sunday lunch and it was just the best day.

Mr H cooked a beautiful rolled roast beef with gravy.  I made up my first ever batch of mulled wine, and Yorkshire puddings.  The Yorkshire pudds went down a treat with the kids, they loved them.  We used good old fashioned dripping as well for the beef and Yorkshire puddings.

I cooked the vegetables to go with the roast and it was all devoured by a very appreciative audience.  After lunch we took a walk up the road to visit the baby calves and then walked over a nearby field to make our way back home through the vineyard.

We had all worked up an appetite for dessert by the time we returned from our walk.  Em had made Donna Hay's Chocolate Fudge Cake (topped with slithered, chocolate mandarin peel), so very decadent.  The kids scraped clean the bowl containing orange jelly (one layer whipped) with mandarins and marshmallows...............stuffed.

So that was our Sunday, and our long lazy lunch.  We will definitely be repeating this day again, very very soon.

Weekending

 

 

 

 

 

Just loved our weekend.  Tom scored his first Try at Rugby, there was minimal squabbling the only real hiccup being the button someone shoved up their nose!  And after complaints from Bell Saturday morning that she was bored after telling her she needed to do something other than play on her phone, I was on a mission to make her weekend phone free and fun!  She loves craft so I set up the table with paints, mini canvases, buttons, washi tape, a necklace making kit and anything else I could get my hands on.  She loved it and crafted all day.......mission complete.

Let's not forget the Looming too.  I actually thought this had been and gone in our town and had simply bi-passed our house.  But no, after having Bell talk about it all week we did a quick dash into town to pick up the necessary supplies (yay a cheap hobby) and this kept her occupied (and off her phone) for the rest of the weekend.  I've since been on line and ordered her a huge Looming kit with all the Bell's and whistles.  With school holidays approaching this new hobby/distraction could be great timing.

Over the weekend:

 

Home time - hanging at home over the weekend is under-rated I think.

A roaring fire.

Homemade vegetable soup with a bacon hock for dinner.

Date and cinnamon scones.

Mr H's English breakfasts on a Sunday morning.

Washing conquered.

Windows and window sills washed.

Vegetable garden weeded and dug over ready for new plantings.

Winter sun.

Blue skies.

Mud pies and outdoor kitchen/café play.

Books, trains and Lego.

Tea, tea and more tea.

I would have loved more sleep but heck you can't have everything.  Here's to a good week ahead and another weekend to look forward too.

Lazy Sunday

 

 

 

It's a long weekend here in NZ and a rainy one at that.  And today, the first official day of winter.

 

Today has been really relaxed.  A big English breakfast cooked by Mr H with good coffee was enjoyed.  I sorted washing and had a quick tidy up and vacuum then spent most of the afternoon in the kitchen.

 

Chicken stock made with saved roast chicken carcasses that I have been storing in the freezer.

 

Spaghetti and cheese bread baskets for lunch.  The leftover crusts I coated with Olive oil and cheese, then dissolved some vegemite in boiling water and mixed through the crusts and baked till crispy.  The kids loved these.  These will keep for a few days in an airtight container.

 

Apricot loaf.  Enjoyed buttered and washed down with lots and lots of tea.

 

And finally biscuits for the tins.  I used an Anzac Biscuit recipe but used honey instead of sugar and added currants as I somehow have two bags of these in the cupboards.

 

Mr H took care of dinner.  Homemade pizza and pasta with tomato and salami.  Delicious.

 

Tomorrow we plan on heading out, maybe round the coast to the beaches, rain or shine.

 

I hope your weekend has been a good one xo

 

 

 

 

Fairies, dinosaurs and winter colour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter is officially only a few days away.  And the past couple of days have been really chilly.  We have had the fire going and wrapping up warm first thing in the morning.

 

The boys have been playing outside till dinner is ready or until it is just too cold when they very reluctantly come indoors at my request.  They seem to withstand the cold a lot better than I do.

 

I have given the fairy garden an overhaul.  It was looking a little sad.  So out came all the old plants and I have replaced these with lots of different seedlings so in a months time or so there should be bursts of colour coming through.  We added lots of shells and coloured stones to fill in the gaps until things start to get growing.

 

The dinosaur garden needed nothing doing to it.  The plants have done really well in their space and have filled in the barrel well, along with some rosemary which has self seeded itself a spot along side.

 

And with winter making itself known I've been thinking about garden colour.  I have started with the pots on the outdoor table and will look into planting in more border colour about the garden.  Would be really nice to have some pretty flowers to admire and pick come the thick of winter.

 

Hope your week has been a good one?!