Life is a Journey – Page 108 – The life and times of Libby Withnall

Weekend away in Sydney – Saturday

Posted on February 10, 2013October 31, 2026 by Libby Withnall

Last weekend we had a weekend away in Sydney to celebrate Kevin’s birthday. We took the girls this time and it was a really great little getaway.

On Saturday morning we packed up the car.

and headed up to a VERY chilly and wet Sydney. Crazy weather for the hottest month of the year!!

We parked our car at Darling Harbour and headed into the shopping center.

This was BEFORE the sugar challenge began so we picked out one treat each.

So many yummy choices.

We had an early lunch at Pancakes on the Rocks. I had mushroom crepes which were just okay.

We wondered around the shops – most of which are tourist traps. But we always love to visit this Barbushka shop.

We stayed longer than planned trying to avoid the rain. When it looked like it had stopped we went in search of a water taxi to take us around to Circular Quay.

Sydney Harbour is always lovely, even on a yucky day.

Loved this big dish out the Modern Art Museum which reflects the sky. Look a brief moment of blue sky.

We had a bit of a wait for our High Tea Harbour Cruise (which was a gift for Kevin for Christmas) but eventually our boat arrived.

We were seated at a window side table and offered a variety of teas.

Then came our food…. everything was so yummy.

Not the greatest family photo but the only one of the 4 of us.

After the cruise (which lasted 90mins) we walked into the Rocks to check out the Discovery Museum.

It was very small museum but it was free and both the girls had activities to do which they enjoyed.

Afterwards we watched the making of rock candy at a nearby shop. Oh, and bought some to enjoy :-).

It was after 5pm by now so we got a land taxi back around to our hotel, collected our luggage from the car and got checked in to the Novotel Darling Harbour (where we’ve stayed many times before).

A nice hotel room with a great view of the harbour.

We had a bit of a relax then headed back to the shopping center (which you can see in the above photo) to have dinner at the Hard Rock Hotel (at Amy’s request).

It was as noisy as the one in Orlando but they didn’t have my salad on the menu :-(.

Kevin, Amy and I shared some potato skins…

and nachos….

While Christy had mac n cheese with a side of mashed potatoes and garlic bread.

After dinner it was back to the hotel room where we all played on various electrical devices before watching the fireworks from our room. A pretty good end to the day.

Foodie Friday

Posted on February 8, 2013October 31, 2026 by Libby Withnall

I have to apologise for being such a bad blogger of late. I guess I’m still settling into the school routine and I’ve been making more of an effort to spend more time with the girls – like having our sit down afternoon tea. Plus as you will read soon, I’ve taken on a new food challenge this week – which has taken up some time with researching and planning and such. AND our internet has been mucking up. I’ve given up waiting to upload our weekend away video and will just share the photos (should be tomorrow).

Anyway, onto Foodie Friday.

This week featured a fun weekend in Sydney with LOTS of food treats, starting with mushroom crepes at Pancakes at the Rocks.

Then there was a delicious high tea enjoyed while cruising around Sydney harbour.

Dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Amy, Kevin and I shared potato skins and nachos.

Breakfast at Gloria Jeans.

And finally lunch at Wagamama’s.

On Wednesday I started a 2 week challenge to eliminate processed sugar from my diet. I did film a video but it’s taking too long to upload. I will still have a couple pieces of fruit a day but no juices, added sugars, and for this two weeks no sugar substitutes like maple syrup or honey. And I still buy foods with little/no additives and preservatives. I’m doing this to help my imflammation/arthritis and to break the sugar habit. Kevin has joined me which is fantastic as I think he has more of a sugar addiction than I do.

Obviously there was a big clean out of the pantry – look at all that space up on top where all our chocolate and dried fruit was.

At this stage it has all been moved out to our garage pantry. Out of sight out of mind.

I also filmed a grocery haul and luckily enough I took a couple of photos.

This week I did muffin tin Monday for the girls – it’s been such a long time since I did one of these.

Other meals this week included cruskits with cheese and tomato….

Homemade falafels with hummus and some veggies….

A very misshapen veggie patty (note : don’t cook them in the George Foreman Grill)…

Overnight oats….

and popcorn….

I’m only 3 days into my no-sugar challenge but besides being hungry much of yesterday, things are going well. If anyone has gone or tried going sugar free I’d love to hear about your experience.

The week that was

Posted on February 6, 2013November 1, 2026 by Libby Withnall

It was the week the girls went back to school….can’t believe my baby is in year 6 and off to High School next year….

And it was the week of monofins….

Perfect for my mad about mermaids and H2O Just Add Water girl….

It was the week the Yukon Quest started….yep, another dog sled race I can follow online….

and it was the week we found mushrooms growing in our lawn and veggie garden…

It was the week we packed up the car…

and headed to Sydney for a weekend away to celebrate Kevin’s Birthday (blog post coming soon)…

It was the week I received a new Lust Have It box….

Pretty happy except for the dark skin BB Cream…but I was able to find someone to swap with for a fair skin cream so all is good….

And of course I have some puppy photos to share….

A day in my life – 1st Feb, 2013

Posted on February 4, 2013October 30, 2026 by Libby Withnall

Since I’ve got quit a few blog posts to share (including a weekend in Sydney) I’m going to keep this brief.

Awake …. yep, 4.10am!!!!

Bailey likes to lie out for a bit first thing in the morning at the moment, even though it’s still dark out

At 6.30am the dogs and I headed out for a gorgeous morning walk to the lake.

This is little family of birds was so sweet. Aren’t the babies so cute?

Hot and sweaty upon our return. It’s been so humid this week.

The dogs came with me to wake up Christy and for some reason the dogs went on the bed for cuddles.

Time for breakfast. French toast for Christy. A slice of bread with cheese & a milo for me.

After Christy headed to school I went outside to tackle our outdoor area which is filthy after lots of wind a few weeks ago.

An hour of hard work later and things looked a whole lot better.

I listened to Bruce as I worked.

Time to go have a bath – not something I normally do during the day but it felt right today. Enjoyed with a cup of tea and YouTube.

Time for some makeup while watching a video about the evils of sugar. Scary stuff indeed.

I then worked on uniform shop acconts.

and hung out the washing. Undercover as it looks rain is on the way.

Can you believe the felt like temp? Yep, it’s supposed to be the first day of Feb – traditionally the hottest month of the year.

Throughout the morning I kept going out to turf this girl off the eggs – she wants to be a mama. We don’t normally get to pat them so I know she was keen to stay where she was.

At 12.30pm I put on a jacket as it had turned quite cool and dropped by the school to get some cheuqes signed.

I then headed to the hairdressers before running a few errands. Unfortunately the rain began during the 10mins I was inside the shopping center and, of course, I had parked outside today, so I got rather wet on the way back to the car… ruining my nice straight hair :-(.

Back home there were 2 puppies happy to see me.

I had to get changed because I was wet. And my hair still managed to look alright when it dried off. I’m still debating going shorter but have put off making a decision for another cut at least.

I relaxed a bit and ate some rice paper rolls.

Before I knew it it was 3pm and time to do the school run.

Then back home for afternoon tea with the girls.

I then decorated the house for Valentine’s Day – I’ll share all my decorations at a later date.

And painted samples of the polishes I bought in the USA (yep, still hadn’t done it yet).

Usually the girls go to Nan’s for dinner on Friday nights but they were home tonight so I made nachos for everyone.

Yum. Enjoyed while watching Glee.

Later we enjoyed a sweet treat (trying to get them out of the house before I embark on a sugar free challenge).

I painted Christy’s nails for her.

Bailey got wrapped up in a blanket.

And for some reason Christy, Rosie and I ended up on the floor while watching Glee (got 3 episodes watched tonight). It was so cold we were all in Winter jammies. Crazy!!!

Headed up to bed about 9.30pm and read a bit of Sweet Poison on my kindle before going to sleep.