1. Tea time, 2. The hills are alive ♫, 3. My Craft Room, 4. Blue blues, 5. finished granny stripe, 6. ch pillowcases, 7. May in Bergen, 8. Untitled, 9. Isn’t Britain Great? , 10. Untitled, 11. cherry blossoms @ greenwich park, 12. IMG_7429 japanese azalea and bridge singleton park 1-4 700, 13. GUAYACÁN CIELO Y VERDE, 14. Desktop Wallpaper, 15. new bag, 16. Tropical

Slowly getting back into the rhythm that is normal life! I’ve finally got everything sorted and put away and thought I’d share with you what I bought for myself. I think I was very restrained. I saw so many things I’d love to have bought – some were too big, some too heavy .

You might have noticed the new necklace I bought in Sweden.

I also bought this Matt Jonasson glass etching. I’ve already got some wolves and bears. Little did I know how much I’d love the reindeer we saw in Scotland.

These cute handmade wooden flowers and vase were bought at Covent Garden in London. And they match my kitchen perfectly.

My beautiful set at Matruska dolls.

Gorgeous linen cushion covers from Tallinn, Estonia.

Of course I had to buy a highland cow – to replace the one that Amy lost as a child.

Some bunting. It’s everywhere in the UK and I just love it. Have it hanging in the scrapbook room.

Cute paper serviettes. I don’t normally paper ones but these were too cute to leave (and light as well )

Calender, pen set and a Celtic Rock CD.

Some Christmas decorations.

Purse and cheese knife.

And, of course, some food essentials! Galaxy Minstrels for me, Magic Stars for the girls. And those ginger crunch biscuits are to die for!

There were also some teas, a tea caddy and a new mug. Plus I  got two pairs of fingerless gloves and those mismatched socks. And a lovely apron.

I’m so happy with everything that I got and it certainly makes me smile and remember some very good times when I see these things around me home.

Now, normal blogging can resume .

Kevin must have really missed me these last two weeks. Not only did he have the house all tidy for when we got back, he’d bought milk and bread and 2 HUGE bunches of flowers. And I could not tell you the last time he bought me any flowers. These are just gorgeous – probably the nicest flowers I have ever gotten.

Look at all those beautiful flowers…

I left one bunch whole and split the other bunch into four vases. One for the coffee table…

One for the kitchen table…

One for the entry…

And one for the bathroom…

I feel totally spoilt and very loved. And it’s make up for the lack of flowers outside – they are everywhere in the UK and I’m already missing it. Finally here’s a couple of close-ups….

It was time for the dogs and I to head out our on Thursday adventure walk. After dropping the girls at school we headed to a different part of Lake Illawarra.

I took the DSLR so it was a bit of a stop and start walk but we were out for about an hour and half.

Many of the homes in the area are ex housing commission – with exceptional views

At the half way mark I let the dogs of their leads for a run and play. Mind you I forgot whether I was supposed to have a high or low shutter speed for movement – I just took both and hoped for the best .

Time to head back. It was rather cold and breezy down by the water so I was all bundled up.

It’s such a pretty area as you can see but I know it won’t compare to what we’ll see in the UK. Time to get out of the cold!

with these gorgeous Icelandic horses. I saw them on a history show over the weekend – they were apparently used for travel back in medieval times. I had never heard/seen them before. I WANT ONE! I figure if I start nagging talking about them now, when we get a farm in around 10 years maybe Kevin will let me have one .

After doing yesterday required jobs I decided to take the camera out to play at the  Nan Tien Temple (which is just a 15min drive away). Had fun taking more photos. I thought it would be a good place as there are building, landscapes, flowers, etc – similar to what I’ll be photographing overseas.  Unfortunately I find it hard to check photos in the screen so I don’t REALLY know what I’ve got until I get home. Here are some of my favourites.

Love this guy doing this stretches.

I’ve never been to the temple in Autumn/Winter before and was pleased to see all the beautiful trees.

Unfortunately the lotus pond was rather dead.

I was still playing with aperature priority.

Before heading home I treated myself to a yummy lunch – love that everything is vegetarian . You can tell I’m NOT used to shooting food with this camera!

Okay, I warn you now I’ll be sharing lots of PHOTOS over the next few weeks (then even more once we go overseas) as I’m on a VERY steep learning curve with my DSLR. Yesterday I took the dogs and headed down to the lake to work on aparerature priority photos.

Of course, since I had the dogs with me I managed to get quite a few photos of them as well.

This one is my favourite.

Just when I was getting ready to photograph the ducks the dogs took off into the pond. Poor Bailey had his first proper swim as he was attached to Rosie.

Another Thursday, another BIG walk with the dogs. The rain was on and off all morning so I decided we’d stick close to home today. We still had to wait for a break in the rain but when I saw the sun come out we decided to head off.

As you can see the rain clouds where still threatening.

This is the same HUGE lake we always walk near but this area is the other direction to what we normally go.

We follow the path..as you can see this part is very new…

stopping to take photos….

Oops…I think they missed a spot…

Nevermind we keep on going….until the end…

Then we turn around and head back. Hmm…those grey clouds are right where we’re headed…

Look a rainbow…

It amazes me how gorgeous the lake is even on a yucky, overcast day.

Almost home…what’s this..some rain…

That’s our street at the bottom of the lane…we’d best get a move on…

We were about 5mins to late getting home and did get rather wet.

Mind you by the time I’d dried off the dogs and gotten changed, there was a sun shower out the back door.

well the city bush anyway. This morning I was feeling well enough to get out for a walk, but instead of braving the cold before the sun was up I decided to wait until after I dropped Amy off in town (for another excursion). The pups and I embarked on a walk that I haven’t done in around 15 years!!. We started off near the beach and headed off. After about 10mins on the cycle path you head off on the boardwalk..

which eventually gives way to a bush track..

Following along we come to some beautiful views…

You can see the buildings in Wollongong in behind the trees.

Towards to escarpment. Hey, we just walked across that bridge..

Onwards…letting the dogs find the trail…let’s hope those rain clouds stay out to sea…

Ducking under some low branches…hope the dogs know where they are going…

Um…no they didn’t…turn around and go back…looking back towards Wollongong again… that big building is the Novotel where we got married (many, many years ago)…

Onward we trek…back the way we came…eventually taking a wider path…

Then finally the end is in sight…

Oh, no, now we have to turn around and go ALL the way back….

One hour and 10 minutes later and the car is in sight. I’m not sure who more pleased to see it – me or the dogs…

It was seriously a lot of fun (and a great workout). Can’t believe I have NEVER bought the girls here. The poor dogs were so tired. Bailey even feel asleep in the car on the way home .

Those of you who are friends with me on Twitter and Facebook might remember me asking about pots a few months ago. I was sick of tefal getting scratched off the bottom of the pans and having to replace them. I was interested in cast iron. But never made any decisions either way as it was all too confusing.

Fast forward to last week. I was shopping in town and decided to go check out the pots. Wow – I had no idea the cast iron would be so heavy. Definitely not suitable when the girls like to cook. So I went and asked for advice and Scanpan were suggested. I recalled that they had been recommended to me and thought, yep, that’s what I’ll get. Oh, that set of 4 looks nice….oh, but not the price…$1100!!!! Hmm…I’ll come back when they’re on sale and will save at least 30%.

Then when I got home I thought I’d check out Peters of Kensington. That same pot set….. $330!!! SOLD to the lady wanting to buy some pots. Holy moly someone is making a LOT of money.

Fast forward to today and I arrived back from the gym to find the delivery man blocking my driveway (talk about good timing as he was about to leave with my box).

Aren’t they lovely?? I’ve been cooking with them today and am just thrilled with them.

Of course, when ordering from Peters you just have to take advantage of their special deals…. some food prep bowls, a big chefs knife and don’t you just love the babushka doll tea towel? I couldn’t resist it

I also got a new quilt cover for half price (Bailey ripped ours). Why I shop in department stores I don’t know. I certainly won’t be for kitchen supplies any more.