Guess how much this hurt?

I kicked my toe last night so hard it made me cry, today the end of my toe is black, my foot is all swollen, bruised and very sore Outpourings of sympathy may begin now.........

Finally!!

I did it!! I have started a herb/vegie garden, I have wanted to do this for ages - we use lots of herbs, and freshly picked is soooo lush!! Capsicums are a zillion dollars each and we lurrrve our chilli. So I planted more basil (you can see we have one already established), baby spinach, capsicum, a triple mint mix, flat and curly parsley, thai chilli, oregano and dill. I am now thinking of more stuff like rosemary, and sage mmmmm. Will keep you posted on our success with keeping the animals out of them!!
In true mega organised style, I laminated the packets with tape (this took the longest time!!) stuck them on stakes and now have weather proof info at hand - yayyy for me!!

Trying for the perfect rainbow shot

Somehow, I really like this, it's kinda dreamy and mesmerising Trying again, pretty good but when I get what I want, I'll know!! I'm lovin the palms!!

Yuckky Tonsillitis

Oh dear.... I came down with a very bad case of tonsillitis recently, it seems I have inherited mummys dodgy tonsils - I was all fevery, and spent days on the couch with mummy or daddy, wrapped up in my fluffy rug and cuddling my blue bear or cat cat. Mummy had to give me a lot of antibiotics which she was not very happy about - but sometimes you just have to give in and this was one of those times. I am all better now and back to my normal self at last!!

And you thought the spider was big !!

Welcome to what is fast becoming our wildlife blog .....read on......... OK doesn't say anything about dwelling in EN SUITES!! There are perhaps no deaths recorded because all the victems are DEAD!! This was curled around our toilet this AM, I had been in there earlier, without the light on, barefoot. Here is a shot of the bitey bits.......
Here is the top bit......

here is the whole thing

You will note that the measurement is 13cm it has actually been compressed and bended to fit into the jar - 13 cm is a conservative estimate....... I am off tomorrow to buy me some blundstones to toilet in - it's just not safe anymore!! By the way, we found another whistling spider in our garage today - Oh joy!! :)

Stuff I've been up to

Going "spash spash" in the dog bowls

Eating my meals at the big table now!

Playing with my new alphabet toy - I have learnt two letters already!

Very late night dancing to my new truck with mummy and daddy

Not feeling very well at my picnic on my birthday

All fevery and crashed out in Ryan's pram on my birthday

My very last cake!

You know how there are restaurants where the food is average and the waiters abuse you, and they have hotels along the same line, well - I'm opening a cake shop, and while I'm bleedin at it I'm gonna sell biscuits too!
THIS phenominal effort was created FROM A PACKET - instructions read over and over again to make sure it was going to work, I was actually shaking as I put it in the oven! Those who know my history with cakes will understand why (stop laughing Ash) - but at least I tried one more time. (shut up about the chicken caserole too big ears - I can hear you)

I called my dear friend who is completely brilliant with all sorts of exotic cakes and lusciousness, and she promptly dissolved with laughter as I described the sight of my 'cake' splitting in two and the centre oozing out, while on the phone, that layer split and more oozed out - I'd made a volcano cake! The sides meanwhile were the same size as when I poured in the mix and were cooked already. Oh how she chortled and as the cake is to have teddy's having a picnic on it, she suggested they have it on a hill - brave isn't she? She is in for a slapping quite shortly :)

The 'cake' now has triffle written into it's future, and I predict a quick trip to the Coles bakery tomorrow which is where I should have gone in the first place. Grrrrr! I might add though, that the chocolate crackles are a finger licking success. I just have to come to terms with the fact that when it comes to cake and biscuitry - I make a great curry!

I leave you with a little poem I wrote for this occasion:
My cake rack has retired, to a drawer far far away
My spatula and mixer will not see the light of day
My piping bag bereft of all that gorgeous gooey stuff
My springform pan informs me, that it has had enough
My muffin tins quite vacant, sulkily they sit
Beside the cookie cutters which have had a hissy fit
My whisk on hearing this was my last cake making day
Was heard to give a shout of joy, quite rudely I must say
I caught the measuring cups, in a victory dance
And the spoons looked very guilty, had I caught them too by chance?
The skewers having skewered, their last monumental flop
Have all nicked off to celebrate at the bottle shop
The local packet cakes no longer quake in fear
And the icing needn’t tremble now, whenever I am near
Decorate no more with dragees, no more greasing up a tin
My once loved chocolate dotty things have firmly hit the bin
No more will there be horror, in my reflection in the door
As I witness yet another that has triffle now in store
Goodbye little patty pans, in pretty shades and sizes
No more will my creations give me such nasty surprises
Farewell to little biscuits that turn as hard as rocks
Away with whatever this is now, it’s not like that on the box!
I realise the cakes I need are better off as brought
Thank god for that I’m sure I heard the cheeky scales retort
So I thank you for sharing my admission in this matter
Hi my name is Karen – and I abuse my batter!

TAGEZ Photo Blog

TAGEZ Photo Blog

I love my puppy!!

Whatcha got in the jar Kaz ?

First, some information.....

You got that didn't you??? Fatal to dogs and cats within an hour !!

Here is a picture of one - Noice!!

and here is a BABY one I prepared earlier !!

This wee specimen was discovered IN OUR BEDROOM !!

(It looked exactly like the photo, but has gone dark due to it now swimming in metho)

Knowing it wasn't a huntsman, brave Kaz perched "spidergirl like" on the bed, one hand on the wall and lowered the bug catcher over it - it proceeded to rear up on it's back legs and attack the container, I could hear its fangs scraping it - eeeewww! At first I thought it was a funnel web, thankfully not!! Still very nasty though and what the hell is it doing in our room????

The pest control people are arriving tomorrow and will spray the entire house inside and out, thank goodness I found it and not Kylin or the animals, if it could kill a dog, I'm sure it could have killed him too. - Very scary!!

(As most of you know I'm a catch and release person, I don't normally kill spiders, hence owning a bug catcher. The pest people wanted me to keep it, but also it was dying of starvation, which is probably what caused it to wander out of it's hidey hole in the first place - so I euthanised it humanely to put it out of it's misery - otherwise I would have given it to Shane to release into the rainforest.)

Sorry...but I rock!!

*Copied from the Goldpin lanes website*
Todays league results:
Star Bowler for Game
Karen Casey
34 pins over average with 135 game

Star Bowler for Series
Karen Casey
83 pins over average with 386 series

Awards
Pin Awards
Karen Casey
125 pin award with 135

Something to amuse the infant :)

We picked this up second hand, from our friend Tanya. Tania is Kerry's sister (for those that don't know, Kerry is my friend who owns our local second hand baby gear shop) I just happened to pop in to say hi 'cause I hadn't seen Kerry for ages, and Tanya was setting this up in the shop. We scored it for $70!! (They had $100 on it - gotta love mates rates!!) The slide turns over and becomes steps and the bar across the top can connect to a hose, it has holes in it so it becomes a sprinkler (obviously when we have it outside) for now it will stay inside as it's too cold for water games now. Kylin has spent hours and hours climbing, sliding, falling, and crawling, on it, over it and off it. He just loves it, whenever he wakes up we don't get a cuddle anymore it's "side, side" he can't wait to get on it. I have a feeling we will inherit a daughter once Jazz sees it! They are gonna have so much fun playing together on it. I have put down mega padding so he can just go for it without mummy hovering over him every second in case he falls. He was soooo ready for something like this, I had been racking my brain for something to make for him to climb on so I am very chuffed that I stumbled across this.

Little Sophie

Just sparing a thought for poor little Sophie Delezio, as if she and her family haven't been through enough pain and heartache already. What a terrible, terrible thing to happen, she'd only just started school too. Wishing you a speedy recovery little one. xxx

Apprentice (rabbit) Chef

Hi ya! As you know, I really love to sit up on the high chair next to mummy when she is preparing stuff to cook. I have my own little chopping board and plastic knife and get to see and smell and taste everything. Today, mummy made a huge lasagne, and I was in charge of the carrots. Being the pedantic apprentice that I am, I needed to know that the ingredients were of the best quality....................
OH OH!! Look what I did to it........OOOHHH, I made a hole in it.........I will try not to chew and maybe mummy wont notice.................
She noticed............OOOHHH I am a little devil!!

First day at day care :(

All ready for my first day at day care!!
Kylin had his first day at day care this week. He was fine when we left him, completely absorbed in his new environment. After 2 hours we couldn't belive how quiet it was in the house (Damian had the day off) and we went back to the centre to peek on him. We were meant to pick him up at 3.30 but by 3pm we went to get him cause we couldn't stand being away from him any more.

He was filthy but had had a fantastic day, and even managed a little sleep in a strange environment, beside the other kids. We will graduate him to two days as he gets used to being there so he can form friendships with other kids (we were told one day wasn't enough to do this) I have also joined a bowling league on Fridays, and he is minded at the centre while I bowl. So far, Jennie who looks after him there, has given him a chocolate donut and a slice of cake,

however, she is expected to make a full recovery.

More side?

We took Kylin to the playground near home today. He tried everything, he loved the see saw, and the swing, but the slide ("side") was his absolute favorite and as he reached the bottom each time he would say "more side, more side" his limitless energy saw him up and down about 50 times. Each time down was like his first and he had a ball. He has got the confidence now to sit on his own and pull himself down as long as we are there to catch him. He just LOVES it!! I say "ready seady" He does the "go" or I say "1, 2" he says "free" He could have done this for hours. We let him run on the grass and he tumbled down the hill cause he ran too fast, he explored everywhere and wore himself out.
You may notice that he admires daddy's hair so much, that he has re-modled his own to emulate it. He has been pulling his hair out in his sleep and a little bit while he is awake. When he's awake, he does it when we say "no" to something, although this behaviour has almost stopped. While he's asleep, I think he is bothered by his 2yr molars coming through, which seem to be making him kinda groan in his sleep, I think the hair pulling is part of that. I have snuck in and watched him while he's asleep, and he pulls it out then sucks his thumb, so he is not intentionally eating it, although some does "get in" I don't think it is a pica thing. Our doctor assures us that he will grow out of this and it is quite common. In the mean time, if we could get anywhere within the same postcode with the clippers, we would have taken off the rest, but the terror and the trauma is not worth it considering it would only be done for purely cosmetic reasons. It is already starting to grow back and he is leaving this new growth alone. So don't be alarmed, although it looks terrible, he is perfectly happy, and is just doing "toddler stuff". He is now crashed out after a HUGE easter Sunday which started out with a hot cross bun breakfast and just got better and better. Hope you all had a happy and safe easter too!
Love and hugs Karen, Damian & Kylin. xxx

Bad Mummys!

The word for today is UUURRRGGGHHH! Today is still last night I am sure..........got home after 3..........burping fresh southern comfort......more coffee.........oooohhhhh need salty, greasy something...........sore knees from dancing.........for the record, I did NOT get up on the bar last night, I did have some restraint...........got....to.....play.....trucks....now.....byeeeeeee

Any idea how humid it is up here now?

These are a pair of brand new Rivers shoes, Damian cleaned them 3 weeks ago - they have been sitting on his shoe rack ever since.
Even in our open walk in robe that has heaps of airflow, they have grown this much mould in the 8 days that he was away. I was of course, too busy while he was away, to be on "shoe watch". Otherwise, obviously, they would not have got this bad.
The humidity, although I love it, does make everything, even our furniture, mouldy. We have a large teak bowl that needs a clean every other day as it frequently turns white. Anything in a cupboard if it is not in an aircon area (like Kylins room) develops fluff like this, it's incredible (best I don't sit here too long then!)

Happy Anniversary 2 Us !!

The 5th April marked our 3 year wedding anniversary and we decided on a nice dinner at home to celebrate................ The alcohol for this evenings gastronomic extravaganza was kindly provided by:

Shane, Marisol & Jazz - Strawberry champagne - Yummy!!

and from Scott - a very, very nice red (yes - that DOES say 1998) oooeerrr!!!

I got flowers when Damian came home, and we sat out the front and had our strawberry champagne in our bride & groom glasses with some pate and dip - it rained about 2 seconds after this photo though, and we had to move it all under cover by the front door.

I set the table out the back so we could dine by candlelight under the stars.

For those of you that know about them...yes...that is those glasses. By candlelight they look even more stunning, we were vewy, vewy carefull!!
I made bruschetta to start and osso bucco on milanese risotto for main. It was luscious and Damian thought it was restaurant quality which I was really chuffed with. We lit our wedding candle (which we forgot to do last year) and we had a lovely clear starry night while we cruised through our dinner - it was just perfect!

Love and hugs to you all - Mr & Mrs C. xxoo

PS - When you leave a comment, it won't show up straight away as I am having them sent to my e-mail first so I can delete them if necessary, this is due to bothersome spam (see the cyclone comment) So comment away they will just take a bit longer to show up :)

Wanna buy some pegs Dave?

She's MY wife now!