Friday Food: Banana Coconut Nutella/Chocolate Bread

I am so tired. I have done too many things today, so thank goodness this Lunch-box loaf recipe, from the January Super Food Ideas, is so easy.  If you are going to freeze the loaf, don't swirl Nutella on top, instead sprinkle with dark choc chips. I decided I would swirl Nutella through the centre and sprinkle choc chips. It makes a huge loaf, which serves 10.

 

 

 

 

Banana Coconut Nutella/Chocolate Loaf     serves 10

• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 2 tspn ground cinnamon
• 1 tspn bicarbonate of soda
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 over ripe bananas, mashed
• 165ml canned coconut milk
• 1/3 cup golden syrup
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup Nutella and/or 1/3 cup dark chop chips

 

Preheat oven to 180*C/160*C fan-forced. Grease a 7 x 9 x 25cm loaf tin and then line with two layers of baking paper.

Mix together the dry ingredients: flours, cinnamon, bicarb soda and sugar.

Whisk together the wet ingredients is a separate bowl or jug: mashed bananas, eggs, coconut milk, golden syrup and olive oil.

Combine the wet and dry together, mixing well. I added half of the choc chips here.

Spoon half the batter into the tin, and I tap it on the bench to even it out. Dollop on the Nutella and swirl through.

Spoon the remaining batter over the top, smooth and level out. If you will not be freezing the loaf, swirl Nutella on top, if it will be frozen sprinkle on the rest of the choc chips and bake for 60-70 minutes. I tested at 60 minutes and it definitely needed the extra 10 minutes. It is cooked when a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean. Rest in the tin for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a rack to cool completely. I love the way the loaf looks with the Nutella swirled through the centre. I think this would be lovely warm from the oven, but great cold as well.

Rogue Won

There will be spoilers, so if you don't want to know what happens in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, don't click on that clicky link, and/or scroll way down to my review.

Last week I decided to give away the 100th shopping bag I sewed. And it is now 9-35pm on Tuesday 24th January and I am doing the draw right now. Hold on....

I wrote the names on pieces of paper, folded them twice, popped them in the hat, closed my eyes and drew out a name: Bloss has won!!! She will be able to take the 100th bag shopping!!

But wait, there's more: you win a prize, and you win a prize, and you win a prize......

Oprah would be proud. I sewed some small buttoned pouches in my favourite, and pretty much trademark, green with a Labrador appliquéd to the front and a nice green button that closes the pouch with an elastic loop. I hope you all enjoy some Labrador happiness. Thank you so much for your kind wishes for Gilly's birthday and the 100th bag. There are eight little pouches, I thought maybe no-one wanted the back end of Labradors walking away, so there are some repeats!! I will send an email anon to everyone. Can't promise it will be tonight.

Happy Birthday Hedy Lamarr. Hedy is a big One Year Old Puppy Dog. She is so happy to be One!! Her little knees are dirty because she is such an enthusiastic stick fetcher that she skids on her knees when she comes close to it. How lovely it is to have two Labradors at our house, and it makes us very happy that they like to be together. I think, to be fair, there should be a give-away next week for Hedy's birthday too!!

Gilly and Hedy ate their delicious birthday chew bones.

Lorelai Gilmore has been secretly spending time in Hedy's Little Box, which is what we call her crate. I came into the dining room and there was Gilly, looking very at home, if a little worried whether she should be there or not.

I am catching up on Christmas presents. I sewed a set of three Star Wars bags (102, 103, 104) for MrsDrWho, The gold is very gold, almost brassy and very striking.

I knitted a Pussy Hat for me. It is green, it has two tiny stripes of pink near the top. I used some Vero for the ribbing and then couldn't find the other balls and had to buy some Kureyon for the body of the hat, hence the pink stripes. Of course this afternoon I found the rest of the Vero. The hat really makes cat's ears on your head, but I could only wear it for a few minutes because it has been hot. It was 30*C yesterday.

I shall try and be restrained and not go on and on about it. I am just very grateful to live here and mindful of the "First They Came.." poem. I must speak out if I can, and saying that I don't want to be annoying sounds hypocritical, but some people are not interested or it is not high on their agenda. I like to be aware of what is happening in politics, especially when it affects women and minority groups. I can't do very much, but I vote and I like to learn all I can.

The other hat, the Markedly Striped Hat, is for MrMadcage's birthday. It is the end of the Kureyon and some Rowan 10ply. I love that it looks like I have made a lot of striping effort, but it is just two rows of plain, one row of Kureyon until the crown, where they alternate - one row of each.

I fed MrsDrWho's mother's fish when she was away on holiday. There were nine when she left and nine when she came back: I am very proud of that. Sadly, now there are only seven. MrsDrWho's mum brought me back four metres of marvellous green fabric. It has a border on each side and it is light and airy. It will make a very cool Summer dress, which is my next project.

When it was 30*C yesterday we didn't know. After our walk we were so tired we slept till 2-23pm. When we woke up, the heat outside was terrible. Inside it was cooler, and The Labradors had the paddle pool for cooling down. MrsDrWho and I went to see Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It was not in 3D, apparently we do not warrant 3D. Or Gold Class, even though they insist on showing all the happy Gold Class people all over the rest of the continent.

I was enthralled by the film the and the two and a half hours flew by. Also I cried at the end. Several times. It was a sad film, but war is hell and people die, even in the Star Wars Universe. I saw Star Wars, now called A New Hope Episode 4, when it was first released and this film takes place primarily a few days or weeks before Episode 4 begins. There is a lot of chopping and changing of setting and at first I had no idea what was happening, but all becomes a little clearer as the film progresses. The characters are all very interesting and there is a great diversity: human and non-human. I loved that the actors seemed to keep their natural accents, more or less: Ben Mendelsohn (Director Krennic) falls in and out of his Australian/generic world accent, as do others. I was chuffed to recognise at least two Australian actors.

The action is fast and furious and people die. Lots of people die. Many things are unexplained and maybe the stories will be fleshed out later on, or maybe they are told in some of the books. It did not matter. I am glad that the film ended the way it did, there is no more of their story to be told. But it is a worthy part of the Star wars Universe. MrsDrWho told me that there are fans who are disappointed or angry. I am neither. I love the film, maybe even a little more than The Force Awakens. There, I have said it. I like these side stories and I would like to see more, as well as The Last Jedi, which follows The Force Awakens.

It was not only a marvellous film, it also whiled away almost three hours in air-conditioned comfort. When we came out it was sultry and cooler and we had rain by 10pm. I want to see Rogue One again, it is on for another two days, I may be able to squeeze it in.

Tomorrow we are off to The Vet for Gilly's blood test. She seems well, and even a bit naughty, so fingers crossed her numbers are good. We also need to investigate a new lead for Hedy, who pulls like a train engine and it all strength and determination. And then lunch with MrsMadcage for her birthday. It will be a lovely day.

And now I am just pressing the Publish button and being damned. And spelling or grammar errors will have to wait for tomorrow to be fixed.

Friday Food: Broccoli, Bacon & Zucchini Slice

This is the second in my Lunch-box series from the January 2017 Super Food Ideas magazine. This is so easy to make, and very tasty. I would pack a salad of tomatoes, cukes and maybe some carrot sticks to go with the slice. Once again, I baked in my very nice green 20 x 30cm slice tin. It is about 5cm high and the slice does rise a little.  I bought the vegetables specified in the recipe, but I prefer broccolini and maybe baby spinach or peas. You could omit the bacon and use ham, chicken or a tin of salmon.

We never really thought about refrigerating our lunches when I was at school, but when I was teaching I would have kept this in the fridge all morning. This can be served warm or cool, and it makes 15 generous pieces which will keep in the freezer ready for a lunch-box emergency!!

Nothing else to say really, it does need a little cooling time in the preparation and also after baking. Oh and I think I would add extra parsley sprinkled on top, because it makes it look more appetising. I like parsley with everything: I made Nigella's pasta snails with garlic butter yesterday and had lots of parsley in that!!

 

Broccoli, Bacon & Zucchini Slices   makes 15 serves

• 125ml extra virgin olive oil, separated into 40ml and 85ml
• 1 onion, finely chopped, I used a red onion
• 4 rashers of bacon, trimmed and chopped
• 1 head of broccoli, divided into little florets
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup basil leaves, torn - or parsley!!
• 3 zucchini, grated
• 200-250g tasty cheese, grated
• 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
• 8 eggs
• 125ml milk
• 100g feta cheese, crumbled
• salt and pepper to taste

 

Preheat oven to 180C/160 fan-forced. Grease and line a 20 x 30 x 5cm high baking dish.

Heat the 40ml of olive oil over a medium-high heat and fry the onion and bacon for 5 minutes, until the onion softens. Add the broccoli and cook for another minute and the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes.

Whisk together the eggs, milk and remaining 85ml of olive oil. I added salt and pepper here.

I really need a large bowl, I ended up using my large square pan as a mixing bowl. Transfer the bacon mixture to a large bowl, along with the self-raising flour, grated zucchini, basil leaves and 1 1/2 cups of the grated tasty cheese. Mix well, I used my hands.

Pour over the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly until well combined.

Pour into the baking dish, smooth the top and then sprinkle over the rest of the tasty cheese and the crumbled feta. Bake for 40 minutes, I left mine for 50 minutes by accident, so it is more than a little golden on the edges. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then it is ready to serve immediately, or cool and portion for freezing.

The Truth, The Hole Truth.....

Sometimes this is what Life feels like: you are just sitting there, minding your own business, and suddenly.... Hedy!!! And not just Hedy Lamarr, but Hedy Lamarr woofing in your ear and being very annoying.  Poor Lorelai Gilmore, but every night when we go up to The Forbidden Zone to do a wee before bed, Gilly comes in the gate herself and back down the steps leaving Hedy trapped by the dastardly gate, and when I ask where Hedy is, Gilly wags her tail and runs up the steps to show me where the puppy is. Gilly is all wriggly and I give her lots of pats, even though Hedy tries to muscle in, and she is as pleased as punch with herself for rescuing Hedy.

It has been cool, warm, humid, raining and cold today. In that order. Gilly took some time to drink the paddle pool. Since only 1% of our $900 yearly water bill is for actual water, I don't mind filling up the paddle pool for The Labradors. There is no incentive to be water conscious. We don't go overboard, but a Labrador can't drink murky water that's been paddle in by paws that have been who-knows-where.

Hedy is handy, today she stood up on her back legs and chewed open the new bag of dry dog food that was on top of the freezer in the laundry, and I imagine she and Gilly stood under the hole while dog food poured into their mouths as if manna from heaven. I worked this out, Sherlock style, by observing Hedy's very round belly after dinner. Celery and carrot doth not a round belly make. She's too sated with food to move.

I have been doing jobs with money: new tyres and servicing the car. Thank goodness, all my worry about something leaking under the car was not needed. My rear shock absorbers (???) may need replacing but they are not urgent. Gilly has a new appointment at the vet and I need to make one at the dentist. We feel very happy that ominous tasks have been completed and turned out not to be so bad.

Look!! Shopping bag #101, with Christmas Koalas, because of course when you think of Christmas you think of koalas!! And a new zippy chip bag. I have remembered not to press the lining before I top-stitch the zip, because it slightly melts the plastic and it is never the same again, no matter how careful I am.

I have been watching many and various things: the new series of Sherlock, Travelers (sp is American), Murder She Wrote (totally up to date) and The Librarians. I'm watching lots of other things like Fringe, The West Wing, Designated Survivor, Frequency, Shannara Chronicles, Enterprise, Taxi Brooklyn, The Delivery Man, The Wrong Mans(not a typo), Billions, Ray Donovan, iZombie, Younger: when the show starts to get a little bit frightening or I don't like the way it seems to be going I stop watching and change to something happy and good. Later on when I feel ready, I go back and start watching again.

Whilst watching many and varied things I have been indulging in a little more knitting. Small things so as not to make myself hot underneath them. Three face washers, because that's what we call them here, not facecloths, and the third leaf I managed to eke out of the teal cotton. I used Cottonwood 8ply and it is lovely to knit with, it doesn't make my fingers hurt.

The hydrangeas at the dam are looking beautiful: pink, blue and pale blue/lavender.

All the colours are on the one plant, though I think each flower is actually hundreds of tiny flowers.

Tomorrow I am going to make some more boozy fudge with Kirsch and dried cranberries, because I can't find dried cherries. We don't go for a walk on Wednesday so we can sleep in and maybe read in bed for a while. No-dog is going to need a big breakfast after The Incident in the Laundry!!! The weather forecast is for 21 and 20 until the weekend. I heard a scientist talking about heat stress on the ABC Radio a few weeks ago, and realised that what I experience in Summer is not just hating the hot weather but heat stress: headache, nausea, dizziness, irritability, thirst, weakness- but not heavy sweating. Apparently, some people do not experience heat stress and this is why they enjoy the hot weather. They just don't feel the effects of heat stress. I am happier knowing that what I am feeling is a proper thing, that I am not just a hot weather Moaning Myrtle. This Summer has been much cooler, with fewer consecutive days of very hot temperatures. The hottest day was 31.5*C, mostly it has been around 25, which is just right!!

 

Friday Food: Banana Yoghurt & Apple Muffin Slice

I am very lucky to be able to have whatever I want for my lunch. At noon I think about what I would like to eat and set about making it. Not so when I was teaching: you had to prepare lunch the night before. Not all schools have a canteen, so tasty and efficient-to-eat food is a must. Over the next four weeks I am baking lunch box treats: savoury and sweet. This recipe is from the January issue of Super Food Ideas magazine.

It is the simplest of recipes, just combine wet and dry with spoon, and very generous too. If you are doing the whole no sugar thing, it uses maple syrup. Of course maple syrup is a sugar and you could substitute brown sugar in the recipe. I "may" have gone slightly overboard with my maple syrup drizzling over the oats!!!

I accidentally bought coconut yoghurt, so I added two teaspoons of vanilla extract. I didn't peel the apple, I like the skin, and I diced it finely instead of grating.  I only used one banana, because it was huge. The slice will freeze well and otherwise should be kept in the refrigerator if your weather is warm.

This is a delicious and moreish slice. It is not overly sweet and I like the maple syrup flavour. I shall definitely make this again.

 

Banana Yoghurt & Apple Muffin Slice    makes 20 pieces

 

• 2 1/2 cups wholemeal self-raising flour
• 1 cup plain flour
• 3 tspn cinnamon
• 1 tspn ground ginger
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup vanilla yoghurt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 over ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 Granny Smith apple, grated or finely diced
• 1/2 cup traditional rolled oats
• 40ml maple syrup extra

 

Preheat the oven to 180*C/160*C fan-forced and grease and line a 20 x 30cm tin. Mine was about 5cm high and the slice didn't rise higher than that.

Whisk the the flours and spices together.

In another bowl mix the maple syrup, eggs, oil, yoghurt, milk,

apple and banana.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold together until just combined.

Pour the batter into the tray, smooth the top and sprinkle over the oats and drizzle with maple syrup. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in the tin and then cover the cooling rack with baking paper and turn the slice out onto it, right side down. Allow to cool completely and then cut into slices. Eat right now, or put it in your lunch box!!

Ten Things I Eight About You

Lorelai Gilmore is Eight years old!!! There are a bazillion things I love about her, too many to list. She is such a wonderful animal companion. Gilly is loving and loyal, sturdy and true. She loves to play with disposable plastic cups and to walk between your legs and have her back scratched. She makes me laugh. I was chuffed to see that when they are home alone, The Labradors sleep next to each other in the garage. Gilly has a good companion coming along nicely in Hedy Lamarr.

We sing this song about Gilly, now she is eight. I have always enjoyed Sesame Street King of 8 for Gilly.

We are so very happy that she has kept on living after her awful immune suppressed illness last year. She is still taking all her tablets, but she is as bright as a button, full of playfulness and every alert. She is teaching Hedy Lamarr to be alert as well. Hedy is a little bit afraid when Gilly barks, and this is not a bad thing: Hedy should go lower than Gilly. It is the way of the world.

In celebration of Lorelai Gilmore's birthday and the fact that I have just sewn my hundredth shopping bag: Gilly and Hedy would like to give the hundredth bag away to someone. Just leave a comment and we will pick a winner next Thursday afternoon our time. The bag is made from some green quilting cotton and has a mosaic print of Gilly and Hedy on the front. I printed the fabric on The Spoonflower. It is a milestone, or a kilometrestone??, and now I have made one hundred bags in three and a half years the unit cost per bag for the pattern is just eight cents. That's as much as The ABC costs each Australian: Eight cents a day. I would pay more.

The bag is sewn, ironed and ready to post anywhere in the whole wide world. We will send it off to be used for shopping. It will do a good job. Even if you have never left a comment before, it will be fine if you'd like a chance to win!!

Here is bag #99, a cat bag. Though the material was cut carefully in the shop, when I tore it, it was quite wonky, and I ended up short. I used two blue jelly roll strips as an accent on the bottom. I think it looks as if it was meant to be. Roll on bag #101.

Knitpicks is sending a free dishcloth pattern every week this year. I have knitted the first: Snowflake Dishcloth. Oh the agony of soooo many ends, and sewing ends into a cotton dishcloth is my idea of hell. Still, it will be very pretty, and if I can keep it up I will have fifty-two at the end of the year. Last year I was determined to sew The Splendid Sampler. I made it through about six blocks and then Hedy arrived.  I shall knit as many dishcloths as suits me and if I miss a week, I shall employ a devil-may-care attitude.

We walked to the shop and I left The Labradors at the Dog Stop while I went to The Bakery. They waited: Gilly patiently, Hedy not so patiently. She woofed. Poor Lorelai Gilmore still has a fairly pink belly. Her fur is growing back every so slowly.

Hedy Lamarr is very athletic. She can leap and twist and turn and should be considered for The Dog Olympic Rhythmic Gymnastic team in three years!!

The new Donna Hay magazine has some recipes for icebox pies. Basically it is a base with flavoured ice-cream and maybe a topping. I made the Salted Coconut and Passionfruit Icebox Pie.

The base is 135g shredded coconut, 75g caster sugar, 25g melted butter, 1/2 tspn salt flakes and an egg-white. You mix this together and press it into the base of a 20cm pie dish and bake for 25 minutes at 150*C. I used a flan tin with a removable base. Set aside to cool.

It would have cost $20 to buy the twelve passionfruit the recipe asked for, so I compromised with four real passionfruit and used some tinned passionfruit pulp. Bring the passionfruit pulp to a boil, add 55g of caster sugar and simmer for 6-8 minutes until it thickens. Set aside to cool.

Then Donna Hay mixes 40g shredded coconut with 1/2 tspn of salt flakes and bakes it for 1-2 minutes. It is meant to be sprinkled over the top of the icebox pie. I missed out this step as I felt it was a bit too trendy for the icebox pie recipient.

Soften 2 litres of vanilla ice-cream and fold in almost all the passionfruit. Spoon onto the base, swirl the extra passionfruit mixture over the top and then cover and freeze. Slice, top with softly whipped cream and enjoy.

There are five other icebox pies: blueberry cheesecake, pandan key lime, cherry chocolate, chocolate swirl & hazelnut and tiramisu.

We are expecting rain tomorrow, which is very exciting. The State has had to start up the gas-fired power station for the second Summer in a row. We really need some rain. I think we will cavort madly in the rain when it comes. And there will definitely be a Friday Food recipe tomorrow. I am baking back-to-school lunch box idea recipes.

Happy Birthday Lorelai Gilmore.

 

 

Friday (Food) Friday, Gotta Get Down On Friday.

I am being kind to myself after a tricky week and there is no Friday Food. This week:

• The NBN came
• The phone and internet did not initially
• Nor did the silent number
• The car is leaking some kind of fluid (sp edit)
• We need new tyres
• It has been hot and ever so humid

 

The actual man who installed The NBN was kind and very nice to The Labradors. Gilly was interested and sensible. Hedy was all yes I want a pat/no you are a stranger and had to be put in her little box for everyone's peace of mind. Ipad photos, so worse than usual. Hedy inspected the work.

I am just treating myself a little carefully. After phone calls and emails - from MrsDrWho's mother's house because you can't email or phone if you don't have the internet or landline connected -  my ISP magically found it would not take up to twelve days (5-7 working days with two weekends in the mix) and they had enabled the internet and phone by the next day. I do despair, that I have to exert such effort, but it all ended up being sorted out and my number is silent again too.

Don't know what is leaking from under the car, I just noticed it yesterday, and we need new tyres desperately, so I am off to see what can be done about money. No point in having a car if it doesn't work. We spent all our money on Lorelai Gilmore last year and she is worth every cent!!!

Although it is hot and horridly humid, we have had a cooler summer and this morning it was cloudy so the sun didn't heat the front of the house: a boon.

So I am being grateful and telling people about what is happening. I am thinking today of James Hird. I am not an AFL fan, I only keep an ear on MrsDrWho's mother's team so I can chat to her about the games. I know only too well how easy it is to slip into a state where you believe people would be better off without you, that you are not worth very much and life seems a burden rather than a joy. I hope that whatever has happened, he can find the help and support he needs, anyone needs: BeyondBlue.

The Labradors have new Summer beds. They have a cool fabric outer and are squooshy but not warm, they feel airy. They are very popular, especially after the paddle pool. I think a wet cushion is a lovely cool sleeping place.

When my mum came to visit she came on our walk. The Labradors were astonished, as were the people, at the cicadas flying through the air. Gilly, and then Hedy, found the cicadas which had fallen to the ground but were still flapping, and they became potential friends or snacks: you guess which. They look like birds, but they aren't. The sound is almost unbearable, but to us it is the sound of Summer.

I did some Christmas baking, and made cards. That's pretty much all I did. I made spiced shortbread mini biscuits, gingerbread with fondant snowflakes, vanilla pinwheel biscuits with peppermint candy cane iced on the edges, flourless chocolate biscuits, fruit cake and ganache truffles and lemon and white chocolate truffles. I am so pleased with the way they turned out and I purposefully made things that weren't covered in chocolate so they didn't melt in the heat.

I bought a Craftsy course on sale for $24 and learned a new zip technique and sewed a Becca bag and a Sweetpea pouch. I am totally enamoured with the way the zip works. You cut the zipper ends off and then sew just one half to the bag and then re-attach the zipper pull. I feel very clever!!!

Grocery bags #97 and #98. I am almost to one hundred and I think I shall give #100 away on my blog. It is the very least I can do after subjecting readers to endless bag photos. I have some special material from Spoonflower printed with Gilly and Hedy and I shall use that!!!!

Last two zippy chip bags for the last two children at our Christmas gathering.

Also for Kris Kringle, hot bowl cosies. When you take a bowl out of the microwave, you pop it in the cosy to protect your hands.

And generally the rest of my craft for 2016: I am always amazed that I make so many things. I do sometimes think I waste my time sleeping and feeling not very well at all, but I look at all these things and I feel useful and productive. Of course I love making the shopping bags, but I like to try new things as well.

Gilly is trying new things, she joined in the Border Collie/Labrador Puppy chasing game. We are so pleased to see her being happy and enjoying herself. I wonder if she pined for Peri, after Peri died?

And Hedy is as happy as a pig in mud. She is silly happy, and extra pleased because Gilly stole a present bone from the Christmas bag and I gave half to Hedy Lamarr!!

Here are The Labrador after the gardener whipper-snippered. They have the whole yard to play in and he even filled the paddle pool. He's a kind gardener.

Today I sat down and added one hundred and four books to my sidebar - you can only see the most recent twenty books I think. I hadn't added any last year. I think there are some I have missed. I usually take a photo as I put the book across the opening at The Library. I think there might be a few photos elsewhere. I've already read seven books this year so I hope to keep up-to-date with my list in 2017.

It is still too warm to sleep, and since we did sleep all day yesterday until 4-19pm and then all night again, perhaps we can stay up a little later. Tomorrow and Sunday are forecast to be 30*C so we should take the cool moments while we can.

Bark The Herald Labradors Sing: Auld Lang Syne and Everything.

Ahhh, quickest post ever. I sat down to write my blog and the whole jolly Typepad was down: 404 error and my blog had disappeared. Kind of like we did. December was kind of lost in translation and though I wanted to blog, other things took my attention: being sick again, too many social outings and things that HAD to be done and then a mini heat wave.

I stopped saying that I was poorly to the NBN people. MrsDrWho said other people think poorly is a bit of a cold, so I used the Leukaemia word and they backed off and gave me a date for next week and stopped ringing me every day.

Lorelai Gilmore is exceedingly well and with much hard work and much less food this month, lost the two kilograms she gained in November. Hedy Lamarr continues to grow and is going through a The Naughtiest Puppy in The World phase. I know this too will pass, but please pass soon Naughty Phase.

I have caught up with almost all my friends, made and posted almost all my cards and given up almost entirely on and presents for people until 2017!!! Something's gotta give and presents was it.

Here's Gilly keeping cool in the pool. She love the paddle pool cooling her belly.

Here's just a small portion of Hedy's Christmas presents. Hedy loves Christmas, but the heat?? Not so much.

2016 was a rough year at our house and though it seems to have ended happily for us, we were sad that both Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds died so unexpectedly in the last few days.

Happy New Year. (because damn, I missed the last year by "that" much)