Category: Wang

Steak night!

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I’ve always been a bit nervous about cooking steak – there just seems to be a knack to it that I don’t have. Or should I say, didn’t have, until last night. We bought some eye fillet steak from our “local butcher” (I say “local” because it’s 10km out of town, but totally worth the drive) and after marinating it in soy and olive oil yesterday, I cooked them up last night. Uncle Ben kept saying “you can’t ruin a good cut of meat” and I kept thinking “wanna bet?” But I gave it a go, and they were awesome. Granted, I had a bit of help from Hubs and Uncle Ben, but I feel much more confident about cooking steak after last night’s efforts.

And now tonight, I’m going to tackle some fish. (Pardon the pun. Or don’t :-))

Op-shop-a-licious!

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Some days, I’ll walk on in to an op shop and emerge half an hour later empty handed. Other days, I’ll leave with half the shop in my bag. Today was one of those days. Vinnies had just put out a whole new “season” of clothes and boy did I score. The thing about op shops is that they are mostly made up of fairly run-of-the-mill brands, but some days, like today, you’ll hit the jackpot. Now, I must tell you that the clothes I bought for myself were pretty stock standard, albeit mostly new and quite nice, but I came across one of those op shop finds we all dream of: a 100% silk dress from Brown Sugar. I just had a look on line, and a dress like that would normally retail at over $100.

I paid $8. BUT. And it’s a big but. It’s not my size. And I knew it wasn’t my size when I bought it, but I just HAD to buy it? Am I right? I couldn’t let a find like that slip through my fingers! So I stood there, holding the dress, and thought of who I might be able to pass it on to, and after coming up with a few names, I made my purchase. I really hope that it fits my friend and she likes it! But if not, I’m sure we’ll be able to think of someone else to pass it on to.

I do love op shop shopping!!!

Decisions decisions

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It’s 8:30pm. Chance has been in bed since 6:30pm. I’ve just enjoyed a leisurely dinner with Hubs while watching an episode of The Sopranos. I’ve done the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. And now I don’t know what to do. Chance is usually only just settled by now, but we’re trying an earlier bed time for a few different reasons and it seems to be agreeing with us all.

Here are my choices:
1. Go to bed – yeah right, not going to happen. What if I miss something fun!!??
2. Read my book – I’m currently reading “The Red Tent” and really enjoying it, but not sure I’m in the mood to read right now
3. Do the folding – pffft
4. Make Easter Eggs. Decision made…

In the mean time, here is an embarrassing photo!! (Embarrassingly cute that is!) Matchies!!! I saw this top at an op-shop for $2 and just HAD to buy it so I could match my little man. This is SO going to come back to haunt him in 18 years… Hee hee!

Super Moon!

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Hubs and I have been trying to increase our activity levels as well as our social network, so when we were invited along to a moonlight walk with the Warby Range Bushwalkers Club over the weekend, we jumped at the offer! As many as you would know, there was a “supermoon” on Saturday, and we walked about 9km enjoying the view! We met lots of lovely people and had a great time chatting with new friends we invited along as well. Hubs carried Chance in our new ergo sling and he slept most of the time. (I’m glad Hubs did the carrying – we had a “weigh-in” yesterday and Chance has hit the 8.5kg mark! And he’s only 4 months old!!)

One of the members of the walking group hosted us before and after the walk. Everyone (all 35 of us!) brought our own dinner and drinks and mingled before and after which was really lovely.

Hubs, Wifey and Chanbe at the start of the walk:

The route we took:

We had a really super time and look forward to the next walk!

Are you lonesome tonight?

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I’m lonely. There. I said it. Now I’m not looking for sympathy :-), I’m merely stating a fact. I know what you’re saying. “You’re really good at making friends” and this is true. But it’s those long-standing friendships that really sustain a person’s soul. I felt like I was just starting to make these friends in Melbourne and then we left. I still keep in contact with some gal pals from Melbs, and I love them dearly, but it’s not the same as having someone I can call up and meet for coffee on any given day.

I think another contributing factor is that I had all my friends and family in Brisbane so close by for 6 weeks and I really miss that. It was so great to hang out with all the people who know us so well, so we didn’t have to be on our best behaviour all the time.

I also have this huge fear that I don’t make good first impressions. I just get nervous and want people to like me and I end up babbling and telling weird stories. I’m sure some of the mums in the mother’s group thought I was a bit odd the first few times they met me. (I started late – they had already been meeting for a month before I joined the group.) Thankfully (hopefully) I have redeemed myself with a great meet up yesterday over coffee. There were about 8 of us and I was a bit less nervous and bit more coherent. They are such a great bunch of women and I do hope I get to know them better over the coming months.

A few of them in particular, come to think of it, most of them, are really outgoing and friendly which is so lovely. It means I don’t have to always make all the effort so I can  relax a little bit.

Anyway, things really are going tremendously well for our little family. We are getting into somewhat of a routine, and I make sure I get out of the house every day for a walk or lunch with Hubs or a coffee in town. I do love Wang, but we are also looking forward to our next adventure in Mt Beauty in July.

Bake-a-licious!

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Last night I baked!!! The hospital that Hubs works at has a cake stall once a month and obviously I’ve missed the last few and have been having withdrawals. So Hubs took the baby for a few hours last night and I went to town making these oat cookies and these brownies. I also made some banana/berry/choc bread. SO GOOD!!! Gosh I miss having time to bake every week, but it makes it all the more exciting when I do get the opportunity!

This was the first time I had used my new bundt cake tin and brownie baking tray (thanks Ma!) I also decided to bite off more than I could chew by cooking up some burrito mince and bolognaise afterwards, as I had taken some mince out of the freezer that needed cooking up. It was such a great night!!

Home sweet home (finally!!!)

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It has been one crazy week. We left Brizzie on Monday morning (it seems like weeks ago, not days!) and flew back to Melbourne on route to Wang. About half an hour before we were due to land, the Captain made an announcement that due to changing winds in Melbourne, we may have to redirect to Sydney or Canberra. Hubs and I started talking about what we would do if that happened, but decided to just wait and see, and thankfully, we were able to land safely. We picked up the kombi and headed straight to Nathan and Cal’s place – our home for the following 2 nights. Poor Chance didn’t know what was going on – the number of different places this kid has slept, I tell you what. But as usual he adapted wonderfully.

We had made plans to have dinner with Hubs’ aunt and uncle and cousins on the Tuesday night so we headed over early to do some shopping beforehand. Unfortunately on the way there, we ran into some car trouble. Long story short, we had to leave it at the mechanic overnight, so Hubs and I decided to get serious about buying a car – something we had been talking about for months. We jumped on line and lo and behold, found a car that ticked all the boxes. We took it for a test drive and committed to buying it there and then on Wednesday.

It’s a burgundy Ford Falcon (yes, we’re in the country now) Futura LPG station wagon. This is the first car that Hubs and I have actually chosen and bought, both separately or together. All of our other cars have been bought from (or given to us by) family or friends so it is a really exciting thing!! Another long story short, we were supposed to receive the bank cheque we ordered (only drawback of being with ING – no bank) on the Thursday and leave that afternoon, but it didn’t arrive til Friday morning so we didn’t get home til yesterday at 2pm. I got to drive “Sherry” home and what a ride! It certainly has some power behind it!

So we walked in the door, emptied the car of all our stuff and proceeded to do absolutely nothing about it. We were then invited to our friend’s place for lunch today so we only just got around to starting to unpack an hour or so ago, hence my presence in blog world! Hee hee! Chance is being an absolute dream, just chilling on the floor and being mesmerised by the mobile hanging over him, so we are actually getting a lot done. Blogging was a big priority for me! I’ve really missed it! I was worried after my hiatus that I wouldn’t really get back into it, and am so glad I’m a keen bean.

I have lots of half-thought-of posts in my head, including the one I plan to write on Monday/Tuesday, entitled something along the lines of “Day 1 of just me and the kid” or something perhaps a bit more eloquent.

Aaaaaaah it’s good to be home.

For me?

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Hubs has never bought me flowers, he has only ever made them for me which I think is even better! So when he came in with this bunch I was blown away!

And then I realised he had been pruning the bushes outside and this bunch was on its way to the bin. Oh well. You take what you can get!

2 peas in a cute little pod

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We made friends with a lovely couple of soon-to-be-interns at Wangaratta, Jackie and Darren, and it just so happened that Jackie was due to have a baby 2 weeks after us! It also just so happened that her little bundle of joy, Aidan, was born 3 weeks early, so he is actually older than Chance! We went over for a visit before we left for Brisbane and of course Hubs took the opportunity to take some lovely photos.

Aren’t they just adorable? J & D are now based in Bendigo so we’re hoping we can catch up with them some time in the next 6 months before we head to Mt Beauty in July.

Too. Damn. Cute.