Mail!

I love getting mail.

And it was a double whammy today! These great prizes arrived from Cupertino... courtesy of Cam's sister-in-law, Jill:

Thanks Jill!! Can't wait to get reading!

Also, my dear sister Kylie sent me a Buff in the mail. I LOVE this thing. It's great for hiking, biking, travelling, trekking, you name it. It's so versatile... they say there are more than a dozen ways to wear it!

Headband

The Train Robber

The Babushka

The 80's Scrunchie

Now make a tube on your head...

Give a little twist...

And pull down -- voila! A hat.

Meanwhile....

Cameron cooked honey-garlic ribs, rice, and veggies. Yum!

A Photo-licious Post

It was slow-cooker Saturday and I decided some chili was in order. Ingredients:

I got some oil a heatn' in the pan...

Chopped up the onion:

Meanwhile got some ground beef browned on the stove:

Chopped up one green pepper:

And two stalks of somewhat wilted celery...

Used the garlic press because chopping it is a pain...

In go the kidney beans!

The Garbonzo beans!

Baked beans!

Diced tomatoes!

Corn!

And finally a myriad of spices, the vegetables, and the ground beef....

Then I let it cook on low for 8 hours while I went on a photo-walk down to Fisherman's Warf as part of my photo course. It was a balmy 11 degrees and sunny! And it was January 23rd!!

Nom nom nom...!

In celebration of Cameron getting a job, we had a decadent vanilla cheese cake from Market on Yates... it was by far the BEST CHEESECAKE I'VE EVER HAD and even came with its own orchid flower.

I used to have an orchid. It looked like this:

Now it looks like this:

Never feed an already moist orchid 20-20-20 Orchid Fertilizer. Especially in humid Victoria. Although, the varieties of mould are really quite astounding.

Anyway, this is what was on the menu tonight... as if we didn't already have enough cream running through our veins from the cheesecake, a lovely creamy cauliflower soup:

Pictured in the pot-shot: Cauliflower, Carrot, Celery, Onion, Parsley, and Chicken Broth.

Meanwhile, a blob of butter sizzled away in another pan...

I then whisked together some flour and milk...

And into the butter pan she went!

Soon followed milk's fat Aunt Half-n'-half.

And we combined them all with the simmering pot of veggies.

Some of us couldn't resist burning our tongues for a taste. Awesome.

Then we put a blob of sour cream in a bowl and pour a ladel full overtop.

Mmmm nom nom nommm!

Backyard Business

The garden certainly doesn't look anything like it did six months ago when Jersey and I ventured out last weekend. Only a meagre row of leeks still grew in the soil. 

I call this a winter garden. Cam calls it a winter trash-pile.

Hard to believe the grape vines are normally a jungle of leaves.