Friday, January 29, 2010

SEAFOOD TONIGHT

Greetings Blogsters!
This afternoon I went to do some shopping and saw some lovely green prawns, I thought 'I haven't cooked fish for a while (I'm not a fish person but love shell fish) so tonight I think I'll cook some prawns',
then some saw some Basa Freshwater Fish fillets that looked so nice so I bought a couple of those too.
I'm not what you call a confident cook so I basically cook from my heart, adding what I feel might taste nice, not what the recipe say will.
Took shopping home and immediately started to clean the prawns (hard job but so worth it).
For photos and recipe,


I then placed them in a dish and added some freshly grounded LEMON ZEST and the juice of half lemon and the other half I used for decoration purposes.


Then in a separate bowl I added , a good splash of OLIVE OIL, about 2 tablespoons of (The Food Company) crushed onion, garlic and chilli. Then I chopped 3or4 small sprigs thyme and 3 or 4 small stems of Italian Parsley and added it to the mixture.
I poured it on the Prawns and (with freshly washed hands) I mixed it into the prawns.

I have to tell you, they smelt so nice at this stage I just about wanted to eat them raw, I knew I had created something special here! (I hope I don't sound too boastful!)

Then it was off to the HOT frying pan, to which I added a splash of vegetable oil and a BIG dollop of butter.

 Cooked the prawns for a couple min each side and Voi-la`!!!
This is the end result.


There was all this beautiful juice left over, 'what do I do with it? Hang on what about the fillets? I know I'll add a splash of white wine and in go the fillets.'

I must say I was so plesantly surprised with the end result that I reckon I could just about sell the recipe to a restaurant. lol

The family and I sure enjoyed eating them!!!

Sorry Min I tried to ring you but there was no answer.
Honest truth!!!

These are the Fish Fillets. As I said I don't like fish but I really enjoyed these because they didn't have a fishy taste.
Buon Appetito!!!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

My teddy Rufus

Greetings blogsters,
seeing that I did say in my profile that I enjoy making bears, I thought I better post a photo of at least one of my bears.
This is my first opened mouth bear I have made. He is made from good quality synthetic fur, suede hand and foot pads and glass eyes. His face has been scissor sculpeted to give him his charecter. He stands at around 22cm high, is jointed at arms and legs and head with wooden disks and cotter pins, this makes him very posable.
The back of his eyes have been shaded with copic markers.
I enjoy making bears as I never know what charecter they take on. I look forward to finishing them and see what name suits them.
This one I thought looked like a Rufus! What do you think?





The tongue on this little fellow was also shaded using copic markers.





Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Aldinga Beach Getaway

This weekend I went with my daughter Mina and her family to Aldinga Beach (South Australia) for a weekend getaway. The weather was nice and warm, good beach wheather.
The "Tour Down Under" (Bicycle Race) went through Aldinga Beach so the city was abuzz with excitement.

The beach on one side (Silver Sands) is so clean, has the finest sand and is just beautiful to walk on. In contrast just 5min down the road it is hilly, rocky and hardly able to walk on but great fun for exploring.

The first day we went to Silver Sands, there were cars parked on the beach, as far as the eye could see.
The last day my daughter and I took my granddaughters to the Rocky one where we had to climb down a steep, winding path. (I felt like I went back to my childhood as I was a bit of a tomboy and loved climbing rocks, trees, roofs, anything really). We went treasure hunting to see what little treasures we could find...

Ambi (Miss 9) found a shark egg, I found a rock with my initial on it, my daughter pointed out that the N was written exactly as I do my N's, I am including a photo to show you.
How Bizarre!!!
Sissy (Miss 5) found pretty shells and Mina photographed anything in sight. It was so much fun!!!


This is a photo of Silver Sands the rest below are of Aldinga Beach rocky side.





Left: Shark Egg Ambi found  
                             Right: Rock with my initial on it
                       
                                                    
Sissy with "Snowflakes Seaweed" she said "Nonna this seaweed looks likes snowflakes, hence the name



 
The girls had an amazing time and didn't want to go home


You can sure find some wonderful things on the beach
I love this photo of Mina, it's as though the Sun was embracing her
Mina looking to see what would make for a great photo
If you would like to view more photos of this amazing beach click on my flickr link on the right.

LL Nat x

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Thankful



I am thankful for everyone who has ever touched my life in any way, (good or bad) no matter for how brief a moment, for they have helped shape me to be the person I am today!

Everyone serves a purpose in our lives and whatever those purposes it's all a growing curve.





Thank you x

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

My Tribute to Haiti

HAITI

They look around at their beloved city
It is now reduced to a pile of rubble
The Earthquake that shook Haiti
Left its people in so much trouble


The shattered city is a monumental site
With many lives lost and many pulled free
In haste they answer their tremendous plight
By sending many to help clean the debris


How do they recover from such devastation?
Only if the world unites to send much aid
There cannot be any procrastination
Because new foundations must now be laid


Haiti, you will sing and rejoice again
As your lives will be built anew
It may take some time to ease your pain
But the world unites in prayer for you

Loving wishes, Haiti

Granddaughters

Today I had the pleasure of babysitting and spending some time with my granddaughters
 (so that their mum can have the day free for sculpting).

Children are self sufficient these days, they just about look after themselves.

Miss 9 and Miss 5 arrived this morning with their little suitcases in tow, filled with their favourite things, so between the videos, colouring in, stamping etc., there wasn't much I needed to do for them except make their lunch.

I took some photos of their artworks. The first three are miss 5's and the last one is miss 9's

I even managed to get some embroidery done while they were here.

I hope you're making good progress on your sculpt Min!!!


                                1/ Olympic Mascots by Miss 5
                        

Monday, January 18, 2010

Different stages of the Pomegranate

A friend of ours moved back to Portugal a few years ago and before he left he said we could take anything from his garden that we liked.
I looked around and saw a baby Pomegranate tree. It was so pretty that I kew it was what I would pick.
My husband dug it out and replanted it in our backyard, (Not sure if it would take) but hoping and praying it would.

Six or so years later the tree is not very big (they're not fast growing) but it never fails to produce some beautiful pomegranates.
This morning I looked out the window and saw how pretty it looked so I grabbed my camera and went out to take some shots. I hope you like them.



Pomegranate Branch

Unripened pomegranate


Pomegranate bunch early stages

.Every time it blooms, it reminds us of our friend and his beautiful gift to us.

Pomegranate almost ripe







Here's a piece of trivia for you: Apparently Pomegranates were once the Christian symbol of ressurection due to their many seeds.
The Pomegranate was also considered a symbol of fertility and new life.

I love them because they have quite a distinct taste and look so beautiful.

Computers

Computers, don't you just love them? The exteded warranty runs out and what happens? Ahhhh!!! You start having problems with them.
I have been without mine for a few days, until today that is. I called the computer technician and thank goodness he was able to come past within a couple of hours.
I'm happy to say it was something minor that he was able to fix there and then. Hooray I can now check out everyone's blogs.
Thanks Min & Mauri for letting me use your laptops to check my emails, over the last few days.
Maybe we should start a new sign off appropriate for today, instead of best wishes etc., we could say,
"wishing you computer problem FREE days".
Love'n light Nat

Thursday, January 14, 2010

New Necklace (Bargain)



Greetings, Thursdays I take Mum shopping and since I have a couple of hours to kill while I wait for her, I make this my relaxation morning. I meet my daughter for a coffee & some breakfast (would love to take Mum too but she prefers to eat at home) and then go bargain hunting, which I enjoy immensely.

This morning I was lucky to find this pretty necklace which only cost $5. How good is that? I will probably only wear it when I go out somewhere special but for that price I couldn't pass it up.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

You Kept Going

Greetings, this morning I woke up at 6am and couldn't go back to sleep because I kept getting this poem playing in my head so I decided to get up and write it down, writing  poetry is something I enjoy, so here goes.

You Kept Going

When times were tough
and you had enough
You kept going


When you felt alone
or like you'd lose your home
You kept going


When you felt so ill
and  couldn't afford a pill
You kept going


When you had no clue
how your next meal would come to you
You kept going


Never through all of this
did you lose your faith or inner peace
You still kept going


You trusted that one day
good things would come your way
If you could just keep going.

Love and Light Nat
Welcome!

Hello my name Natalie or Nat as my friends call me, welcome to my new blog.
This is going to be a blog about my interests and life as I see it.

Love and Light Nat