& that's June!

Quiff!

All Quiffed up and nowhere to go!

Midsummer!

Friday was midsummer.. which meant that I finally got to enjoy the strawberries I have been longing for. Emma's mum dropped off 2 punnets, Emma picked up 2 punnets from Maxi and then 2 punnets from town.. you see it is good to have a good variety. After a little taste testing we decided to go and grab another 2 punnets from town.. they were by far the tastiest. What did we do with all these strawberries.. I had strawberries & cream for breakfast! Ahhh bliss! Some got smashed and frozen for pancakes later down the track, more were smashed and enjoyed with pancakes on Sunday, some more were used to make one of the easiest and most tasty strawberry ice creams around, many were used for the strawberry cakes (one cake with just strawberries & cream and the other cake with an additional layer of vanilla custard) and some were eaten just as they were.. afterall that is how strawberries should be eaten.

We had to wait all day before we could head around to the parentals for the feastage.. longest day ever! Especially when the cakes were here and all I wanted to do was cut into them and gobble! Eventually it was time and we were off and the feastage begun with good foodage and beerage.. cider for Em. After many many hours and a sickly feeling later, we made our way home and there is nothing better than the slow walk home with a big belly full of foodage.. even if Emma wanted to stop a zillion times to take photo's using her new app.. which turns out I can't use unless I upgrade to 'newer' firmware.. but the app works betterer with the firmware just one step up from mine.. not 2 steps which is the iOS4 *rolls eyes* so if I did upgrade it would suck too so I will just have to steal Em's phone here and there.. or not.. prolly the or not. It does take some really funk photos tho.

Saturday was a day of recovering.. which also involved walking around to the parentals for some leftovers.. we opted to take Nemo, which then required me to sit out the front with him.. in the cold shade.. I got a blanket to keep me warm or was it to keep me occupied? Emma kindly pointed out it looks like I'm trying to work out how to get out of the blanket. I think I look great in orange!
Sunday was a pretty relaxed day.. headed off to the park for a picnic lunch and lay down on the grass.. which resulted in Emma getting annoyed at me coz I couldn't stay still.. I'm not so good at the staying still part when I'm not exactly comfortable and there are low flying birds. Birds do not like me. Plus I am easily bored. Nemo also cried and stuff coz we were outside doing nothing.. he likes to be doing stuff and it isn't like we can trust him to be off the leash so tied to Emma's foot he was... but at least he had a little roll as soon as we arrived and I played a little with him.. that is always fun.

The weekend weather was really beautiful.. it looks like summer has finally arrived, today is yet another beautiful day and the forecast is for even more.. I hope it stays this way for a good few weeks.. that would just be pure bliss and then I could enjoy even more strawberries!

EDIT: I forgot this but Emma being the delight that she is kindly reminded me how she nearly ruined the feastage!! Yes that's right peeps.. Emma nearly ruined it all and I am guessing you are wondering how.. well it went a little something like this... She was placing the tray back on the table after allowing her mum to get a slice.. and lost her grip of it and it went crashing into the table.. luckily it wasn't a bad crash and that that really happened was the cakes shifted spots.. it really was quite luckily and quite funny all rolled into one tidy little package.. which is much betterer than a messy package. I am still quite impressed that she didn't completely ruin the cakes tho.. but I guess we just did a super job at making them 'stable'!

Acting!

Sunday night again and I just finished up watching the soccer. Me bro's against boys who would be better suited being soap stars.. maybe someone should contact the casting directors for Bold & the Beautiful. They aren't quite good enough for me beloved DOOL tho. At least the kiwi's walked away with a draw.. which is pretty darn good when you consider all the people bad mouthing NZ & saying how much they suck and that they shouldn't be there.. we screw you peoples, me bro's are doing quite alright. Those Italians did not deserve their goal. Floppy Basterds. End of Story.

Yesterday we watched the Aussie's play and it almost feels like they like to make things harder for themselves.. dudes you aren't good enough to play with a handicap! & by handicap.. I do mean playing with 1 less. The best thing about that match was that I had made wonderful Sliders! Seriously wonderful! I am a sucker for bite-size and really who can resist a bite-size burger?

So anyways before the weekend I was worried that I wouldn't be able to tear Em away from the soccer.. I had however completely forgotten that the royal freaken wedding was on so she was glued to that! We ended up taking the tv out of the bedroom and setting it up so we could do soccer & wedding.. joyus for me right? It wasn't too bad.. I can admit it. The wedding was like something put together by disney.. Georg it would of had you bawling your pretty little bunnie killer eyes out! It was all very touching.. and I just love how those two actually look like they love each other.. even if he does look more sinister than Dexter. But yeah, they had many sweet little moments that just made me go 'awwwwwwwwww' & wipe away a fake tear.. they also had puke worthy moments of course.. but every wedding requires those... right?

So because it was the wedding day.. Em and I stopped in at the bakery and picked up.. what turned out to be.. the remaining 2 slices of the 'wedding cake of the peoples' which was.. well very sweet. Nice enough but very darn sweet and I regretted eating my dark chocolate crown disk at the start.. would have balanced my mouth out nicely. & because the parentals missed out on cake yesterday, Em & I.. oh and of course Nems.. headed off semi early to the bakery to pick up a couple of slices and walk them around.. awww aint we just the sweetest!

What else is there.. umm.. well the ducklings are getting rather large. We were there today feeding them.. it was good to see that there are still so many of them. All the ducks were hungry today and I felt like I hadn't baked enough bread for them all. Umm.. my windows need cleaning again.. riveting stuff right?

Ooooooh, today I made Butter Pecan Ice Cream. It was quite nice but I wished I had of smashed up the pecans instead of leaving them in halves like B&J said. O well, we live.. we learn.. then...... we generally repeat. hahaha

Right now I kinda feel like I am wanting to say something but for the life of me I can't even think what it could possibly be.. not even a glimmer.. or a shimmer.. and who doesn't love a good shimmer! Ok talking out me ass so I guess it is time to.. well.. stop.

Hybrid!

Friday again.. and the week is finishing off how it started.. gloomy as fuck. At least there were nice days inbetween. Tomorrow is meant to be raining.. I had wanted to have a BBQ this weekend.. but it just isn't the same BBQing in the rain. O well.. maybe next weekend. Maybe next weekend we can also get started on stripping the wallpaper? I guess we shall see what happens.. and if Em can be torn away from all the soccer.

A subway has opened up here in town.. so tonight before we go and get all trimmed up, we are heading in to grab a sub and if there is time and good flavours then possibly a scoop of ice cream from the wagon.. my fave bit is the freshly made waffle cone.. I might just have to try my hand at making those for myself one of these days.. especially considering we make some damn yum ice cream.. lets face it.. Em and I make AND grow some pretty ace things.. for instance
However I am still yet to try it, maybe tonight as I'm not sure how long it should be left on the line looking so ready..

Betterer!

YaY! Hump day and feeling much betterer than I did at this time last hump day.. actually feeling much betterer than I did at this time just yesterday. Woooot! Must have been the white chocolate ice cream with peanut butter, chocolate chip brownie bites that did it! Or maybe it was that me kiwi bro's didn't do too shabby in their match yesterday and got their first ever world cup points.. err point.. but at least they are heading in the right direction! Go Bro's! lol

Yesterday it rained hardcore, hailed some and then a touch of thunder was thrown into the mix.. today we have blue skies, sunshine and lollipops.. ok so I wish I had lollipops, a watermelon chupa chup to be exact.. or maybe the green disc lollipops that come in the big packets back in nz.. I wonder if they still have them.. kiwi candy how I miss thee! Jet planes, milk bottles, sparkles, mackintosh's toffees! I am sure I could keep on going and going and going.. maybe I should order some online and hope it arrives in time for the next match and then I could sit there, watch me bro's and eat me bro's food! hahaha Sweden has very fine candy but sometimes you just want the stuff you grew up on.. if it has stood the test of time that is, coz lets face it.. not all candy survives.

So the thing that I do enjoy about having a balcony garden is.. the fact that... I get to see funny things like this without having to get prettied up.. not that I need it coz lets face it.. I am about as prettied up as one can be! I am the pretty of all pretty.. ♫I feel pretty, o so pretty♫ I wonder if that is how the poppy feels?

Kick-Ass!

Sunday evening again.. and feeling much betterer than I did 2 days ago but still not feeling 100%. I guess you get that when you are a little on the sickly side. At least my sore throat is all but gone, still a little tender and scratchy feeling.. prolly from all the blood I coughed up.. noice! I bet you wished you were me after hearing that.. or well reading it.

Saturday was WAY windy and lets just say that if I hadn't gone to the trouble of using fishing line to secure the greenhouse.. we would of had yet another nasty incident where I had to squeeze my frame out the door to clean up the mess.. and prolly chase after something plastic.. silent movie style! But the fishing line saved the day.. so I added a little more, to be safe. It was extra windy.. today we discovered just how extra windy it was when we came across a tree that had been blown down.. so I am just putting it out there.. fishing rocks just as much as duct tape! With those 2 things I bet you can fix anything! Rock on! lol

Saturday night we went to the movies to see Kick-Ass and boy was I glad that Emma dragged me along.. ok so no dragging actually happened.. coz lets face it.. Em aint that strong! Anyways.. it rocked.. err I mean it was kick-ass! A lot more.. umm.. death than I expected but I really enjoyed it.. if you haven't seen it.. then do! Seriously. & if you don't like it.. then I will kick yo ass! Seriously. Anyways here is the trailer.. click here for it.. go on you know you wanna!

Well it has been a while since I have posted a pic of me and I just thought this one was an awesome one.. you know with my foots looking like they are totally going in the wrong direction. Enjoy! haha

Quarantine!

& who says
you can't

accessorise
when you are

quarantined!

Bread!

To the untrained eye you could be forgiven for thinking that this lovely loaf is just an ordinary loaf of bread..Because it isn't until you slice into it that you discover that it is no ordinary loaf.. It is in fact a lovely Yeasted Carrot Cake Bread with a Vanilla Creamcheese Swirl.
Best enjoyed lightly toasted for breakfast.

Rain!

It's back again.. rain rain rain! For the entire week.. apparently.
After a glorious weekend, the new week starts with freaken rain! It has been coming down.. hard for a few hours now.. which does not, I repeat does NOT make for a fun time walking Nemo.

The weather was really wonderful over the weekend, Nems and I had a grand ole time while Em was off doing other things.. Summer party on the friday night, which resulted in Nemo not hearing Em come home and getting up to get a drink while she was in the bathroom (he has a water bowl in there and no it is not the toilet) and getting all excited/confuzzled when he saw her in there.. Good moments! Then on the Saturday, Em pissed off to hike around the lake and left Nems and I to our own devices, which resulted in Nemo spending many hours camped in front of the front door waiting for her to come home along with pissing in the kitchen out of spite coz she wasn't coming home I guess. Sunday then resulted in Nemo being all worried that Em was gonna leave him yet again.. I guess my company is THAT bad.

Anyways.. I was pretty happy with my weekend. I enjoyed a beer, yes just a single one.. even tho I had got a couple to try. Nothing quite like a cold beer on a hot day. The beer of choice was one picked purely because it was called Bulldog beer and had a picture of a bulldog on it. It was actually kinda fruity, which is why it is a summer beer I guess. I might be inclined to have it again.. if nothing else grabs my eye. Nems, Beer, Balcony and Me.. made for a great Friday afternoon. Saturday I also spent some time on the balcony, but somehow I managed to forget I had the other beer in the fridge, then Sunday I forgot about it and now it's raining and I just don't enjoy beer on a rainy day.. maybe next week will be the perfect time to crack it open. Or maybe it will be the prefect time to bake Chocokin! As much as I want it.. I prolly wont bother.. such a big cake and lets face it.. I'm big enough.

Sunday was the National Day.. so Em dragged me down to the park kicking and screaming to listen to a bunch of long winded speeches and a marching band. The cue to head to the part was when she heard them coming down the street on their way there.. why couldn't that have been one of her deaf moments! lol I at least got to go and have a look at the ducklings.. it wasn't a complete loss. *wink*

I do however.. want... strawberries.

Party!

So it seems with the sunshine, comes parties in the park.
With parties in the park, comes glass bottles.
With glass bottles comes, smashed glass bottles.
With smashed glass bottles comes, less places to walk Nemo.

Yesterday come lunch time.. several parties had started up in the park. Basic parties.. one could say it was just several large picnics where the only thing on the menu was booze & lightly salted music. By the mid afternoon there were more small booze picnics starting up, but I even saw one family having a good time playing a very Swedish game, which for the life of me I can't recall the name of.. but it involves wood. You really can't blame them for having a good time.. it's not like we get loads and loads of lovely days.. gotta make the most of it. However I do wish that they could clean up after themselves.. instead of smashing bottles and leaving their trash everywhere which then gets blown around by the wind to more places.. that is the only real peeve that I have.

Come the early evening.. the small booze picnics had turn into loud kids battling each other with their music.. it was at that moment that I wished there was a speaker system that controlled all the music and so everyone just had to listen to that so it didn't all just sound like a jumbled drunken mess.. which is what it also looked like.

Come the late evening.. as I walked past the park.. not even daring to go in as all you could hear was total blotto-ness and as I looked down the park all I could see was loads of fist-pumping.. I'm just glad it wasn't outside my window.

On a side note.. the duckies are growing nicely and are as cute as ever.

Sunshine!

With June, came sunshine.
With sunshine, came ice cream.
With ice cream, came happiness!

So far so good this month, yesterday was so nice that Em and I headed to the ice cream wagon after work to get a scoop of some locally made ice cream in a fresh waffle cone. As per usual tho, Em got the bigger scoop.. and it doesn't seem to matter what order we place the order.. the flavour Em decides on is always slightly larger.. it makes me feel like the universe has something against me eating ice cream! It isn't that it is a large amount in difference.. it just makes me wonder a little coz well.. I really have nothing better to do than wonder about why my scoop is always smaller lol

So anyways.. I had a nice creamy, not tart lemon ice cream and Em got some sweet blend.. which wasn't too shabby and then off we toddled to the supermarket to pick up a few essentials for the rest of the week.. namely fresh Swedish strawberries!! So yesterday I not only got to wear shorts, tee, sandals & sunnies.. actually outside, enjoy my first ice cream wagon ice cream but I also got to eat my first strawberries of the season.. not counting the half a strawberry I ate that was from Em's dad's birthday cake.. you can't really count half strawberries!

With the warm weather yesterday, I decided to let Nemo enjoy a peach froyopop (for those not in the know.. that means.. frozen yoghurt ice block) which he enjoyed so very much.. so much so he wanted more when it was all gone.

The forecast....





& na I'm not worried about that little rain at the end there, by the time that rolls again it will be a new forecast and hopefully a sunnier one too!





Now lets talk about something not so sunshiney.. the other day when I was carting stuff up to the storage space in the attic.. I discovered that our totally asshole neighbours have decided to make one of the 'cages' a little home away from home with a tv, light, couch.. and I think I actually walked in on them doing the dirty.. I just can't imagine doing the dirty in a place that is so.. well umm dirty. Have I told you how much I can't stand our neighbours? Em actually told one of the dirtbags off the other day for smoking in the stairwell.. the look on his face was priceless.

I stand by this.

Tonight we are having pancakes, fresh strawberries & cream for dinner.. any takers?