Cool Home Music Clip!

Youtube is filled with people creating their own video clips to their favourite songs. Unfortunately, only a few of them are really worth the time to sit and watch. I stumbled across this one recently though and it is really very good. Not only have they finally put a great clip to one of my very fave Coldplay songs, but they have done a really interesting job! So well done, guys! It isn't often that I sit through a whole one of these on youtube. Oh and if anyone can tell me why Coldplay didn't release this as a single, I'd be interested to know because I've heard so many people say that it was their favourite song off the X&Y album:

Nemo-Au-Go-Go!

Written by the 7 year old:

Dear Uncle F,

Thank you for winning us some tickets to see Finding Nemo on Ice.

It was really great and fun. We saw Nemo, Dory, Gil, jellyfishes and the lady that spun around on the strings on one jellyfish.

My favourite parts were the lady on the strings on one jellyfish and when the turtle said, 'Dude' to Nemo's dad.

My mum's favourite part was the VIP parking! It was so close to the stadium.

We bought popcorn and cups filled with rainbow snow cones. Our cups were turtles. We got a straw with it that had Dory on it. We also got a program and it came with a Nemo hat.

Thank you very much. We had a great time.

Love B!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!

It's so cold here! So much so that I've been snuggled up in my bed watching cheap dvds and wearing pjs, socks, beanie etc. In fact, I just can't get warm. So much for 'sunny Queensland'! Bring back humid summer, I say!

Now, in the good ol' days when we actually had water, there was nothing like a steaming hot shower to warm the ice-block toes in this weather! But now that level 5 water restrictions have deemed that as not an option, there is only one thing left to keep the insides warm.....good old fashioned soup!

One of my favourites is this pumpkin soup recipe. Now, I am soooo not a pumpkin lover, which I'm sure comes from a childhood of trying to find as many different ways to 'hide' the pumpkin on your plate and getting smacked if it wasn't gone...or it's hiding spot was found! But this soup recipe was given to me by a work collegue some 16 years ago and it has always been fantastic. The good thing about it is that it is just basic! You can use your imagination to add bits and pieces to it, depending on what takes your fancy. The basic recipe works well (even for non-foodies like me!) and the one in the picture was actually done in the slow cooker, although I've also done it on a big pot on the stove top. At different times in the past, I've added nutmeg, ginger, curry powder, light sour cream etc - all with slightly different tastes but all successful.

Pumpkin Soup

Approx 1/2 kg potatoes, peeled and diced
1 1/2 kg pumpkin, peeled and diced
2 onions, chopped
2 teaspoons crushed garlic
4 cups water (or enough to cover veges)
4 chicken stock cubes

Put all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to boil. Simmer until soft. (For slow cooker, I just put all ingredients on low for 6-8 hours). Blend in blender or food processor. Return to stove or slow cooker. Add 1 cup lite cream and heat through. Add salt and pepper if desired.

The Trendy Terrier!

Ruby looks so cute in her warm pink 'Princess' jacket and her brand new bling, bling collar! Thought you'd like to see....the mutt dog is looking swish!

The Echidnas!

We were sitting in a nearby shopping centre eatery yesterday - where I weakened and did a 'holiday treat' for my kids and took them to lunch - and was watching Master 11 eating his chips. He's a big boy now, you know, and so was chuffed at the opportunity to be able to actually go off and line up and order and pay for them himself (under my nearby watchful eye, of course). He came back to the table and boasted how his chips were full of chicken salt.

"Hmmmmm", my motherly instincts came to the fore once again, "That's not very good for you heart....or your kidneys....if you eat too much salt" I lectured.

"Yeah!" echoed Miss 7, "It's not very good for your echidnas at all!"

Needless to say, a quick lesson in what your kidneys were quickly followed!

A Babe or a Cupcake??

I'm excited! It's that time again....the time where life becomes more about hampsters, 'skips' and pineapple upside down cakes! Where romance is rife and chasing a bond-breaker is essential! Where visits to morgue showings are commonplace and where the world can be categorised into two types....cupcakes or babes!

If you have no idea what I'm talking about then you have obviously never read a Stephanie Plum novel. I became addicted to these light-hearted little treats of chick-lit last Easter and ended up reading 12 books and 2 novellas in two weeks....I just couldn't put them down. The author, Janet Evanovich, has created a whole world through Stephanie that fulfils the slumbering Nancy Drew-loving child within. She is really a light-hearted Nancy for big girls, I guess only Nancy's Ned has long been replaced with a smorgasboard of Ranger or Morelli and Stephanie's bestie side-kick is an ex-ho named Lula who loves donuts more than she loves catching bad guys. And one cannot forget mentionig the delightful Grandma Mazur......Stephanie's fiesty, fun-loving granny who adds more entertainment to these frolicking tales!

So my point through all of this is that book 13 entitled, Lean Mean Thirteen, is now in stores! I bought my copy today and so will be blanket covered and book happy for the next day or two, catching up with my favourite character's latest exploits!

Now, if only someone could convince author Janet Evanovich to get Ranger and Stephanie together again, I'd be a happy reader. And for all of you who say that Steph is better off with Morelli...think about it! It's Ranger who always helps her out. It's Ranger who is the one to catch her fall, it's Ranger who isn't wanting her change herself to fit into his world, and it's Ranger who is hot, hot, hot! ;) I rest my Stephanie-loving case!!!

The Anniversary Dinner at Bretts Wharf!

I have wanted to try Bretts Wharf for ages and our anniversary dinner was the perfect excuse. If you are a Ready, Steady, Cook fan and know Alastair McLeod, you'll know that he is the executive chef there (and after watching him religiously in my free afternoon tv viewing and drooling over the food he cooks, it's one of the reasons that I wanted to go there!). Although we didn't spot the aforementioned chef, we did sample the delicious food that this restaurant has to offer.

Now let me set the scene....big open-space type room of varying levels, decor of modern design with low light and lots of timber and wrought iron, set overlooking the Brisbane River with fantastic city views across the water and the conversation-piece of how many city cat ferries we could view throughout the night an ongoing theme of the evening!

The service was top notch...it should be....I counted about a dozen drinks and table service staff! But the food was fantastic. We both started the evening with the grilled octopus, lemon aioli, piquillo pepper salsa rossa and ruby grapefruit salad. What a treat! The varying flavours mixed superbly....so much so that we both wished that it was a main item.....we could have kept eating it.

For mains, I had the roasted ocean trout which was cooked to perfection and Dear Husband had the eye fillet which, according to him was great although could have been bigger to fill his 'steakhouse' mentality and stomach!

But dessert was my favourite meal of the night! We both ordered warm mocha fondant, crushed raspberries and toasted brioche icecream. Yummo! It took a little while to arrive because they obviously made it on order, but it didn't disappoint when it did (although not doubt my hips may disappoint me later when it goes straight to them! Lol!)

Now, I didn't want this post to sound like a restaurant critique - which it is starting to - but if ever you are around the Brisbane/Hamilton way and are looking for a nice restaurant to eat at, I can recommend Bretts Wharf because we walked out wondering why we hadn't been there sooner.

Oh, and I did sneak a photo on my phone cam of my lovely main.