Pictorial...

The weekend in pictures...

Pancakes made in the waffle maker. We have been experimenting with different waffle mixes but they all turn out a bit heavy, so we tried the Pancake Parlours' pancake mix which turned out pretty well.

The girls had rehearsals and a publicity performance at the 'old folks home', from all accounts the show is progressing well.

To fundraise for the show the girls had to each sell a box of fundraising chocolates which I sold pretty quickly at work. These are the last of the goods which have not proved very popular...pineapple Freddos!

I did the usual washing

Chris put up a sensor light

And I sat in the sun, drank a cup of coffe, and enjoyed the view

I also baked

some delicious buttery jammy biscuits

and a sultana cake

I had to use up some sultanas. For some reason I thought I had none, then when I cleaned out the pantry I realised I had 3 packets of sultanas, so then went in search of a recipe to use up some of them.

For a weekend where I thought I wasn't doing much there is more achieved than you realise.

Ups and downs...

Yesterday was cold, overcast & drizzly. Inside the unit the mood was similar...sombre, overcast & drizzly, a patient learned his cancer has spread despite treatment. And just when we needed a light moment we were surprised to see a duck sitting on a bench chair outside the window. It was good weather for ducks & a little shot for our spirits.

It must be really hot in the U.S. at the moment for them to need one of these!

What the???? I hear you say.

It is a portable watermelon cooler courtesy of a Japanese gadget company.

I don't think I need one just yet.

Footy woes...

I went the footy on Saturday night.

I haven't been to a match for years.

I was given some free tickets to watch my team get beaten.

Essendon played the West Coast Eagles badly poorly like girls.

But I still had a good time anyway.

I probably had a much better night than him.

Extraordinary...

It always surprises me when you come across someone in your day to day life who is extraordinary. Aren't these people just on TV, popping up a news story or in the newspaper?

I've come across an extraordinary man who is doing extraordinary work. Peter Moore is a nurse/midwife who has set up a charity project in Cambodia and is assisting the empoverished with housing, medical care, education and food provision (to name just a few).

He used to work at our Hospital and being a male midwife was fairly unusual, but there was more to Peter than I realised.Since 1997 he and his wife have been working to provide assistance and they now live in a village compound in Phum Veal doing their work full-time.

They have a clinic underneath their house, seeing patients at all times of the night and day.

And even stretching his skills to non-human deliveries

Our way of life seems over regulated, indulgent and sanitised when we hear of the conditions these people live in. Not good enough for our Western standards but is very heartening to see the difference a little financial assistance can make when passionate people like Peter are involved.

The staff at our hospital had a fundraiser on Friday night to raise some money for the Four Winds Cambodia Project by having a Christmas in July celebration. We had a very enjoyable evening, lovely food and I was able to catch up with some people I haven't seen in a while. One of our medical staff gave a presentation on his trip to visit Peter and his project, which was very enlightening on just what the conditions are like for him. We all wanted to open our wallets just a little more after that.

If you want to see more about Peter's project and you are on Facebook, he has a page called Friends of Four Winds Cambodia Project. There is much more to it than I have touched on here.

And lastly a photo that Peter took in Phnom Penh

Extraordinary

The English visitors...

Chris' immediate family all live in Australia...in every corner of the country. From Toowoomba across to Perth & down in Hobart & a few places in between. His extended family stayed in England, Manchester to be precise & all live within  coowee of each other  (except one cousin who now lives in Aberdeen).

So it a big deal if any of them cross the ocean to catch up whilst they are travelling. This family left a sunny & warm English summer to visit chilly ol' Melbourne in winter.

They have been staying in Rosebud and met us in Queenscliff, coming across the Bay on the ferry.

Chris got to catch up with his cousin Kevin,

sitting in the sun at a lovely cafe at the quay at Queenscliff. We hadn't seen this area before, they have developed a new area at this end & we were suprised to see the new cafes & shops there. The weather was perfect, cool but sunny. It was a great spot to start the reunion (& do a bit of shopping).

Laura & Colette

Callum & Hayley

Mena in the orange coat

Hayley took loads of photos

and we all had a really nice day

Weekend edition...

I have saved a couple of layouts to share, waiting for some good weather to photograph. I have a special spot at the front, outside where I get good natural light to take the pics. We haven't had much good weather lately, its been overcast, windy or wet. But here they are...

I wanted to call this one 'Don't forget you're 50!' but decided to go with...

Quite simple & I'm still not sure if I will add anything more to it. It might just stay like this until something takes my fancy.

This one is for my album from Erin's recent school photos

And one for Callum

Not exactly smiling but very Cal

This one for Erin's album of her & Olivia at the Gorge

It's nice they are so close.

Looks like I have been really busy but in reality not much is happening around here. I made a chicken & almond dish in the slow cooker which was nice but a bit bland, the family don't want that again unless I mix it up somewhat. 

I watched the George Clooney movie 'Up in the air' last night, which was quite good & the ending was not what I was expecting...worth a look.

Baby cakes...

Its been a very lazy wintery, school holiday kind of Saturday. We made some baby cakes & decorated some of them with 'candy melts' that I found at Spotlight yesterday. I've seen Bakerella use these candy melts on her cake pops so I thought I'd give them a try

Erin has asked me to teach her how to knit after seeing some nice wool. Our mother would be pleased as she was a prolific & beautiful knitter. I don't particularly enjoy knitting but will teach Erin & make a scarf with her

She finished a square

Not bad for a first effort.