Roll Up, Roll Up...

the circus is in town! On Saturday afternoon, the children and I attended the Lennon Brothers' Circus. I had only told them I had a surprise for them if they were good. Penny's face lit up when we arrived as she's never been to a circus. Nick was a little unsure as the last circus he attended didn't have animals which he found a little boring. The children loved the 1hr45min show despite the hot, humid weather. There was everything you could imagine and more. On the way out we collected some show bags which were full of cheap bits and pieces but reasonable value for $8 and have kept the kids busy all day.This week I have been busy catching up after a weekend away. Managed to practice a little with my camera today. I have done a little scrapbooking and I'm looking forward to the commencement of Autumn tomorrow and some slightly cooler weather. We had a lovely walk this morning along a new path beside the bush. There were swarms of butterflies and beautiful flowers after all of the rain we've had. Unfortunately I couldn't take my camera as it was rainig a little. I know where to venture when the weather clears soon.

Have a good week.

Rach xx

Photography Weekend

I had a lovely weekend away with friends, old and new in Hervey Bay where we attended a photography workshop. The photographer was the very talented Janine Kaye who was once a radiographer/sonographer like me and is now a full time photographer with a studio and very busy business. I never thought that I would be able to use my camera on the 'M' mode (manual) as it required too many complicated adjustments. Well Janine explained it in a way which made perfect sense to me. Whilst I still have so much to learn and 'PRACTICE', I feel some confidence and justification for having a digital SLR camera. There were only 13 attendees, so I felt comfortable to ask questions. We stayed at Eden By The Bay on the Esplanade which was surrounded by restaurants, the beach and a great kids water park 5 mins up the road. The workshop was held in one of the apartments and they also catered for us. They couldn't have looked after us better and the food and coffee was delicious. We also managed a visit to a scrapbooking shop in Hervey Bay on Friday afternoon and made a few purchases.
Great Weekend!! Photos to follow.
Rach xxx

Caramel Brownie

On Sunday, I took along caramel brownie slice which was obviously a hit as I came home with an empty plate. I had many requests for the recipe, so here it is:
INGREDIENTS:
250g butter
1/4 cup golden syrup
1 cup soft brown sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
CARAMEL ICING
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp golden syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla essence

METHOD:
Melt butter, golden syrup and brown sugar in large saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Add eggs and beat until mixture is smooth. Sift flour and baking powder into saucepan and add vanilla essence. Mix until combined. Pour into greased 20x30cm sponge roll tin. Bake at 180deg Celsius for 25-30mins until brownie springs back when touched lightly. Ice with caramel icing whilst still warm in pan and cut into squares/bars. (Alternatively recipe makes about 30 mini muffin cakes - bake for 10-12 mins) I omitted the walnuts (1/2 cup chopped) which are added with the vanilla essence, because my kids don't like nuts in baking.
CARAMEL ICING
Sift icing sugar into bowl. Add butter, golden syrup and vanilla essence. Mix to form smooth icing. A small quantity of hot water can be added if required.

This recipe is from a great book that I have had for years - Australian Quick 'n' Easy Cakes & Muffins Biscuits, Slices & More by Robyn Martin.

I had a great afternoon scrapping with my friends but haven't photographed my LO's as the weather has been woeful. I think I can speak on behalf of most people in Queensland, NO MORE RAIN PLEASE! We had another drenching this afternoon and about 3.5 inches in the last 36hrs. Nick's school is just afloat and the mosquitoes are starting to get out of hand. We are being urged to apply insect repellant before the children attend school.
Enjoy the caramel brownies ;)
Rach xx

SC#75

My first ever published LO is in the magazine Scrapbook Creations #75 which is currently in store. I was quite lucky to get a full page spread and was thrilled to see it in print.
We've had a huge week here this week as I worked for 5 days straight. I don't think I have done this in 7 yrs and we all felt a little pooped today. No time for sitting still though as Nick had his tennis this morning at which he is improving every week and then Penny's dancing regime started. She did tap and jazz for 45mins at 9.45am and then home for a quick lunch and back for a 30min lesson of ballet at 12 noon. These lessons are unaccompanied, so I have to go and find something to do for a short time. They commended Penny on her ballet this afternoon and were surprised that she hadn't had any previous training.

Happy Birthday to one of my good friend's Tracey for tomorrow - a Valentine's baby! I had lunch with her on Friday and another good friend Margot. Here is the card I created for her.

Off to have some fun at the local scrapbooking club tomorrow.

Rain Rain Rain

We have had about 7 inches of rain since Sunday. It is lovely to feel a bit cooler and for the grass to be soft under foot again. Hopefully we don't get too much more this week as the ground is rather water-logged.Happy 8th Birthday to my nephew, Lachlan. He's the one on the right in the photo above (taken May 09) with Nicholas in the middle and my niece, Alexandra. We had a good chat on the phone this afternoon. Featured above is the card that I made for him last week. I stamped the dinosaur and leaves and then cut them out and mounted them.Here is the quick LO I did last week too. I am trying to get all of the Santa photos scrapped at present but have been rather busy with printing photos, making SCKC album pages and writing an educational newsletter for work.

Nick is right back into the homework this week. He gave much resistance yesterday, but was much more compliant today (thank goodness) and was proud to tell Craig that he didn't make a fuss.