I am Determined

I will not become one of those women that constantly talk about pregnancy and babies. I have been on the receiving end of those conversations for a long time and I felt isolated and really bored. I am determined I will not put that onto anyone else. So starting from today I am still the person I was at the start of the week I just have a little bit extra added onto my life. It is not going to change who I am and what I talk about. Including my blog conversations with you....

So.... yesterday we went to the house we inherited in Brisbane. My brother and I haven't been there since our Uncle Reg died and it was kinda of a hard day. The hardest thing was seeing the house run down - it looked terrible and it really depressed us. We have to get tenants in there soon but before we can do that we must clean everything out. And there is bucket loads of stuff to go through and I can see in the near future a garage sale coming on.

But I was able to get a couple of things to help with my creative space. I don't have one of those and am constantly looking at everyone else's and wishing I had somewhere so pleasant. So I am going to have a few cupboards for my yarn and hopefully in the future some fabric (for when I learn to sew....). I got a couple of old suitcases which can store things too and another cupboard for my cooking magazines which are currently wasting away in a box.

For the nursery I was able to get a king single bed which I am sure will come in handy, a recliner (my friend Sal told me that a recliner is perfect for feeding) and a cupboard and some sets of drawers.

There is also a drawer full of vintage tea towels which I have seen turned into great cushion covers so I will have to talk to my sister about those. And some other little great knick-knacks.

So now we have the mammoth task up packing up all the memories to go through at another time and try and get rid of the rest.

It was a good day spent with my brother so that made all the stress of cleaning the house out worth it. He is such a top guy and I love him to pieces.

Pregnancy update - I went to my doctor last night and he has sent me for a scan and a blood test next week. I will see him again in two weeks. I am around 8 weeks pregnant and am due on the 12 March. Very exciting!

I just joined private health cover after we got married in February but I fear we won't be covered for any private visits etc. My friend who is a nurse assures me that the public system but I wanted to be covered privately. Not too worry...

Big News - I'm Pregnant!!!!!

Yesterday was a big day!

I have had a bad back and the physio wrote me a referral to get some X-Rays. So before I went to my appointment I thought I would check to see if I was pregnant. And it turns out I am!

I couldn't believe it. I have done so many of those tests over the last 4 months I just got used to it saying negative.

I made Danny come home from work and we had a great moment together. Then my Mum came down and we had the best day together. We went and got "What to Expect when you are Expecting" and got some lunch together. Then she did 3 loads of washing and cleaned up our outdoor area. She is so fantastic. She knows exactly what to do to help and make me feel better.

I feel fine - I am not sick or anything - I am just super tired with absolutely no motivation. I have been like this for a couple of weeks now. I just feel kind of out of myself - like I am watching things happen to me and my reaction times are terrible. There is no way I should be driving a car! I just thought it was the flu.....

I have an appointment to see my doctor Andrew this afternoon so we need to confirm it all with tests and scans and I can't wait for him to tell me when our baby will be due. By the looks of it I will be pregnant through a hot summer. Lucky we moved to a house across the road from the water so I can get some relief. Maybe that's the reason for the move.....

Anyway, despite it all I managed to keep on track with the menu plan - Basil & Ricotta Chicken. I forgot to take a photo so you are going to have to take my word on this one. The cheese mix was ricotta, basil and parmesan and you just put that in a pocket on a chicken breast. Fry the chicken then put in the oven with some tomatoes. The tomatoes fry and are beautiful with the chicken. Then I just did up some crunchy potatoes for the side. It was really nice.

We are both very excited but know that we need to get the scan done before we can feel extremely secure in our excitement.

But that won't stop me blogging about it!!!

Pork and Sweet Potato Red Curry

I did the first night of our menu plan last night. The picture was a bit of an after thought - I had already started eating. It tasted much better than it looks in the photo.

The great thing about this recipe was that I poached or boiled (I'm not really sure what I did..) the pork. I had to slice it really thinly and I cooked everything else and put the pork in last. The recipe called for the pork to only be in there for 4 mins but that scared me so I left it in there for about 10 mins and paid the price - the pork was tough. I have never cooked any meat that way before and it was really interesting how little time it took to cook. Or maybe it is just pork.... I will have to experiment with other meats.

If anyone wants the recipe, leave a comment with your email address or email me direct at nataliemeree@hotmail.com and I will email the full recipe through to you.

So one night down, six to go....

I did my grocery shopping yesterday and all I spent at Woolworths was $23. I hate the big grocery chains - buying anything at Woolworths makes me cringe. I haven't gotten into buying online yet which I think would completely cut out the need to go there for anything. Must do that!

For my groceries for this week I went to the Organic Supermarket and got as much as I could. Then I went to a little independent fruit and vege shop which has a great deli and a few little aisles of groceries. Then I went to Doug our favourite butcher. The leftovers, like wasabi and ricotta, I had to go to Woolies for. I was so happy that I wasn't wheeling around a big trolley, giving hundreds of dollars to a greedy grocery chain. Instead my grocery money went to local businesses.

So another day ahead and another meal to prepare from my menu list tonight. What a lucky husband I have...!

Menu Planning

Plans have changed - I've had a bit of a sore throat and went to the doctor to make sure it wasn't anything too serious before my Canberra trip. Apparently it is a little more than a cold and Renee and I both decided that a combination of the flu and a 3 month old baby who hasn't had her needles yet probably isn't the best. So I have had to delay my Canberra trip and that does not make me happy! But there is no way I could have gone down there to meet my beautiful neice for the first time and not been able to hold her or kiss her. So change of plans...

I am going to catch up on everything this week - groceries, house cleaning, work etc. Technically that will get me one week ahead, right....?

I have woken up at 2:30am - result of the flu mentioned above and the physio really getting stuck into my back yesterday - and started to make a move on the days jobs.

I write weekly menu plans all the time, shop for all the ingredients and then don't end up making the dishes I have shopped for which equals a lot of wasted food. I don't want to give up the menu plans because we always eat take-away when I haven't planned anything and I absolutely HATE having to decide each day what we are going to eat. So the solution I have come up with is to actually stick to the menu plan - this is going to be a hard one. So I thought I would write what I have chosen for this week's meals here and everyday blog about the recipes. That means I have to do it - right?

The seven recipes I have chosen are all from this cookbook. It is a beautiful book and so far the recipes I have cooked from it have been so full of flavour and really easy.

The recipes for this week are...

* Ricotta basil chicken

* Double-cooked sticky ribs

* Lime & lemongrass salmon cakes

* Rustic simmered chicken

* Pork and sweet potato red curry

* Shredded rocket and prawn linguine

* 3 cheese ravioli with buttered spinach

The menu plan is now stuck on my fridge and a shopping list written for the groceries I need.

I'll let you know tomorrow how my first night goes.....

So What? I am a Rockstar....

Yep I went to Pink on Saturday night. I must confess I am not the hugest fan but her show was seriously amazing. Well worth standing in a mosh pit in heels surrounded by obsessive fans under extreme heat for 2 hours. Lucky!
I went with my girlfriends and had a beautiful breakfast with my bestie Deb on Sunday.

I am off to meet my niece baby Amaya in Canberra tomorrow. The dilemma of what to pack is consuming me at the moment - bloody cold Canberra!

Talk to you all when I get back...

Alsace

I spent yesterday on my picnic blanket in the sun with chocolate, chips and dip and my crocheting - oh and watching my husband win another polo final.

Again, good work honey!

This is the clubhouse at Alsace - isn't it gorgeous!

I wish I had of taken my camera into the toilets - I sat on the toilet for ages taking in the beautiful wood that surrounded me on every wall.

The smell of this wood was so beautiful!!

This is the view I had all day of the polo field.

One of the more perfect days I have had in a while.

I seem to be having a few of these lately.....

Where is the sense of community?

I need to have a quick rant....
I waved to a passing car the other day. I had no idea who they were I was just walking along and I thought I would give them a wave. Anyway, this car stopped and stared at me and then reversed back to me, wound down the window and the lady said to me "Do I know you?" I said that I didn't know her and I was just saying hello. To that she just went "Oh!" and wound up her window and drove off.

I couldn't believe that people don't just give each other a wave anymore. Where has the sense of community gone? We moved from a little town outside of Toowoomba which was oozing with community to the Sunshine Coast and not once have we felt like we belonged to a community. Maybe that's something that is hard to achieve when you don't have any children? But I can't believe that I am the only one craving it.

So my next challenge is to meet everyone on my new street. I am thinking about baking something each day and taking it to the neighbours and introducing myself. What do you think? I'll let you know how I go....

Mary Valley Cup - a great weekend of Polo

I have just returned for an awesome weekend at the polo. Danny played in the Mary Valley Cup which ran over the two days of the weekend and we camped the night at the grounds. Three awesome things happened this weekend...

(1) Danny's team won the final and he scored an awesome goal

(2) I have found a new appreciation for polo and really enjoyed learning and getting to know the game - now I just want to watch more!

(3) I really really enjoyed camping!

Now the last point is perhaps the most amazing thing ever. I have always hated the idea of camping but it was such a relaxing experience. We camped with friends who had the fire sorted and a billy so I didn't miss out on my cups of tea. We had a little bbq and I took up so much food. All weekend we watched polo and drank wine and ate. Perfect!!

Here are some photos from the weekend....

That's Danny playing on Saturday - those were his two Stick Chicks,
Kate & Celine.

Our camp - check out the yellow and orange candles and
the wine glass on the hay bale. Best campsite ever!

That was the amazing blanket of fog we woke up to this morning.

It wasn't as cold as it looks.

Those are pictures of Danny treating Angus's horse and

Skipper playing with her friend on the field.

The fog didn't lift until around 9:30am and when it did it revealed the most beautiful hot day (I have the sunburn to prove it!)

And the winners are.... Danny's team!!!

Good job honey!!

It's 4:30am...

And we've been awake since 3:30am. Something to do with rich food for a really early dinner at our favourite restaurant (Bucket & Spade) and going to bed really early to avoid the cold. The result is a really early start! I am now at that weird time deciding whether it's worth going back to bed or whether I should just get up and start the day....

So I think I will write a post.....about holidays.

What's coming up...?
I am off to the Pink concert in Brissie next weekend - doing a roadtrip down with one of my favourite girls who I used to babysit but is all grown up now. Then staying with a girlfriend in her new house we haven't seen yet with two other great girlfriends.

Then to Canberra for 2 days at the end of July to meet my new neice baby Amaya and give her mum and dad a big hug of congratulations.

Deb and I have planned to go to the BMW Polo at Logan Downs in the middle of August - haven't gotten far in the planning of that one....something for the To-Do list today.

In September I am going to Townsville to visit Courtney who just got engaged - we are having a bit of a girls weekend, talking about the wedding and drinking too many cocktails. She gets married at Magnetic Island next Easter so we can have a mini holiday then.

Now for the list of things I want to do....

Tipperary - Katie has just moved up to this station near Katherine in the Northern Territory and we really really need to do a road trip and see her.

Quilpie - A friend from school lives out here and I thought we could do a trip out to see her and everything else along the way. Haven't told my potential road trip buddy about this yet - Kathleen get ready...!

Newcastle & the Hunter Valley - I have always wanted to visit here and travel around the wineries and eat all the good food! And visit a friend or two from school.

Avoca Beach on the Central Coast NSW - I visited here once for only a night and absolutely fell in love with this part of the world. My sister and I had a great idea of getting a holiday house in September/October...must organise this when in Canberra in a few weeks.

So much to do! Maybe that has answered my dilemma about going back to sleep....

Thank you Telstra - I never thought I would say that!

Thanks to Telstra and their sort-of roundabout way of connecting me I am now sitting in my new study area and online. I have had to cope with dial-up for the last week and a half and it nearly killed me. So this is heaven...

I promised myself I would review my list in my first blog from our new sea shack to see if anything had to be changed now that we aren't at the farm anymore. I thought that I couldn't possibly do all of those things I wanted if I don't have my farm. But looking at the list there is nothing I can't do now. The only suspect one would be having my own vege garden but I will just have to scale back my original plans from 3 gardens (yes very ambitious I know!) to a small one. The sea shack came with it's own compost bin so if that isn't a sign I don't know what is!!

So now it's time to get serious and start crossing off my list.

Number 18 - Crochet blankets.... I have started on my journey with this one. I croheted two small blankets for my new neice baby Amaya (her and her mummy have just joined my blog!!). I have a pattern and learnt off U-Tube how to crochet a ripple blanket so that is my next project.
And I am looking on Etsy for some nice yarn to start to do up some Granny Squares.

I find crocheting so much easier than knitting and really love crocheting in bed, listening to the radio just before I fall asleep. Once I learn how to properly read the patterns I can't wait to go nuts. Everyone I know should start expecting crocheted gifts from now on....

No TV

We have been wanting to ban TV from our lives for years but could never get out of the trap of having to watch this show or having to finish the latest series of this show. The latest excuse was Masterchef - we told ourselves that as soon as the series finishes we would get rid of our TV. Hopeless!

But then the move cropped up and we decided that we would not set up the TV in our new house - Masterchef or no Masterchef.
We are on our 3rd day of no TV and I am loving it!!

It's amazing and so sad that you find yourself wondering - "what am I going to do instead of watching TV". Danny commented last night that he was driving home from work thinking "what am I going to do tonight?". It is like we are kind of lost and we don't know how to create our own entertainment anymore.

So the first night with no TV we played a game of monopoly and last night we played a game of scrabble. We took the dogs for a walk to the beach and I have almost finished reading The Australian from last weekend (I am notorious for buying that newspaper every weekend and never getting through it).

I am excited about breaking the firm grip that the TV had over us. Really when you think of the rubbish that I used to HAVE to watch on that thing - it just sucked hours out of my day. And for what - so I know if Ridge and Brooke are still together, or who got eliminated from Biggest Loser.

I am done with it! And I think that I will get so much more done on ''My List" now that my time is not being sucked from my day. Well let's hope so anyway....

Brown tiles and bad wallpaper...check!

We have the keys to our new house! I have just come back from doing the first load of moving.
I thought that I wouldn't write anything until I felt more positive - I didn't want this week to be full of negative posts.
And after dropping off the first load, and having my brother walk through the house with exciting comments, I am feeling a lot better. I am still sad that we have to leave the farm but moving will create a whole new style of living for us and that isn't so bad. It's just different.

Now my next dilemma is how to brighten up this little rental. I know I haven't moved yet but I need to start thinking about how to distract my attention from the interior brick walls and brown tiles. The house is in need of some life and bright colours.

So, any ideas on how to temporarily liven up a rental house and cover up the interior brick walls - or at least take the focus away from the bricks? If you have done any successful rental makeovers, please let me know.

Until the next positive post....

A decision has been made

We are no longer homeless (we hope). We had a family/business meeting and made a sensible decision to put off buying a farm. I hate sensible decisions! But our business has other opportunities at the moment and buying a farm would mean we wouldn't be able to go through with these things.

So we are renting. And we are renting by the beach!! I have always wanted to live on the beach and see the water when I wake up and now I can. We inspected a house last night - it is old with lots of brown tiling and wallpaper but it is over the road from the water and close to work and friends which is important.

So the application goes in for renting the house today - wish us luck!!

I need to send out a big thank you to everyone who posted a comment. Your support is so appreciated and it really did help me start focusing on the positives in a situation that has completely turned our lives upside-down. Thank you so much.

Let's hope next time we talk I will be surrounded by brown tiles and bad wallpaper......