2010

This time last year I wrote a post where I described 2009 as a year of change.

If 2009 was a year of change, this year has definitely been a year of challenge.

The main challenge, of course, was that brought about by my husband's illness. It required me to be more focused on the needs of the family than I had been before.

There were some high points throughout the year too:

January -
* holidaying with the family "down south"
* catching up with OldNFO and other friends in Sydney

February -
* finally getting the licence for my Stirling .22 and Tuffy

March -
* starting a new job. It was a 3-6 month contract position, I'm still there and thinking of applying for a permanent position in the company.

April -
* hunting trip where we got a number of goats (yummy)

May -
* the "Have a Go Day" at the gun club. Although this wasn't the first one we had done I think it was one of our most enjoyable.

June -
* taking my brother and his family to the range. They're hoping to go again in a couple of weeks - if the weather plays nice.

July -
* "up north" again with the family
* finishing training at the gun club. Really enjoyed doing the training with the Chief Instructor, but all day every Saturday was HARD work. This is one of the last training range reports I did. The guy mentioned in that report as having a serious car accident did come back and finish his training with us in July.

August -
Well I'm not sure I'ld class anything in August as a highlight. This is when my husband got sick (first post here) and two operations followed.

September -
* hubby getting out of hospital
* Miss 6 becoming Miss 7
* Miss 8 becoming Miss 9

October -
* hubby getting off the intravenous antibiotics
* Miss 9 getting into cooking
* planting the veggie garden

November -
* more of the girls' cooking and just generally family life :)

December -
* hubby getting a date for the hip replacement operation !!!!!!!!!!!!

Phew, I'm exhausted :)

I would like to take this opportunity to say a big THANK YOU to my wonderful friends - virtual and in real life - who have supported and encouraged me throughout the challenges of this year.

Without this support it would have been a lot harder!

Oh, and for 2011, I'm just hoping it will be a boring year :)

But he had a "Working with Children" Card ....

This reinforces my belief that things like "Working with Children" Card only proves someone hasn't has been caught ...

Wheatbelt police youth worker faces indecent assault charge

The 47-year-old man, who is an Armadale Police and Citizens Youth Club (PCYC) part-time employee, "indecently dealt" with a child between the age of 13 and 16, police allege.

The incident is alleged to have happened in a Wheatbelt town on November 12.

The man’s “Working with Children” card has been seized by police and he has been suspended from all activities associated with the PCYC.

Police spokesman stressed that the man is not a police officer or employed by the Commissioner of Police.

He is due to appear in the Northam Magistrates Court on January 11.

Source: http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/indecent-dealing-charges/story-e6frg143-1225977171449

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A web-site to help you unwind ....

After the stress of Christmas, here is a place where you can unwind.

TTKS #300

The girls have just unwrapped their Santa presents. Miss 7 needed dad to use a knife to undo her Barbie doll. Hubby had received a pocket knife as a Christmas present from a friend. Miss 7 went and got a knife for huby to use:

Hubby: "This is my old knife."

Miss 7: "Of course, didn't want to break the new one!"

It was the night before Christmas ….

I decided this year – as we were at home and not camping like we usually spend Christmas – to revive the family tradition of a “special” Christmas Eve dinner and family presents.

The best thing about this year’s dinner was that I wasn’t cooking it. I was leaving that to my friend, Les, and Miss 9.

The menu:
· Prawn and Mango Salad
· Roast Chicken and Roast Vegetables
· Meringue Nests with Cherries and Chantilly Cream

It was a HOT day, well the official temperature was only around 33degC, but it certainly felt hotter. So I did say to the chefs that they could modify the menu if it was too much. But to my delight we were served the whole delicious meal.

Here are the photos:

The Chefs


Prawn and Mango Salad



The lettuce, herbs and cherry tomatoes were from the garden. This is a very tasty salad and the recipe can be found here.

Roast Chicken and Roast Vegetables





The vegetables included Dill Roast Potatoes, as well as roasted zucchini (from a friend’s garden), garlic, onions, carrots, celery (delicious), pumpkin and cherry tomatoes (totally delicious). These were sprinkled with fresh herbs (again from the garden, as were the cherry tomatoes.

Meringue Nests with Cherries and Chantilly Cream





Due to the humidity the last couple of days, the meringue nests were purchased instead of homemade. They were filled with fresh cherries (from a local orchard) and blueberries and served with a slice of lime, Chantilly cream and a delicious cherry sauce. This sauce utilised some “cherries in cognac” that my mother had given us as a Christmas present last year. The jar contained a variety of fruit in cognac and from what I could make out the Chefs had tasted it all to make sure it was still fit for consumption :)

Over the top of the nests, Miss 9 had sprinkled crumbled peppermint chocolate (and placed a piece on the side). It really set it off nicely.

In between the courses we unwrapped the presents and chatted.



The girls playing with Miss 9's DS


It was a nice, stress free way to do Christmas.

I’m hoping that all my friends around the world have similar enjoyable and stress free Christmas celebrations with their friends and families.

Merry Christmas all – and be safe!

Combat preparations

This is how it starts ...

The old warrior slowly ran the stone down the length of his sword. This weapon had been made for his grandfather, and he was planning on passing it along to his own grandson. He could be buried with some of his lesser weapons, but this piece of family hardware would pass down the line along with the strong bodies and tough minds that had set him and his brothers apart during the wars. Once the edge was sharp enough to shave with, he ran an oiled rag down its length to protect it from the elements.

... read the rest here ...

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