Pasta sauce

And here are the final fruits of the summer garden - minus a few tomatoes and zuchinis that are still ripening, and the pumpkins that are still green.

I chopped them all up with a couple of onions, some garlic, grated carrot, mince, TVP and some extra tinned tomatoes and tossed them in the slow cooker to produce a pasta sauce.

Tonight, I served it layered with bechamel sauce in a lasagne. The TVP gives it a bland flavour, so it wasn't one of my favourites, and it's possible the celery was a little too strong.

I also had my first visit with the midwife from the birth centre. It's the same midwife who assisted at Jessica's birth, and very kindly did Jessica's check-up so I didn't need to see a GP or drive down to the birth centre. Unfortunately, the birth centre is no longer allowing home births so unless I can lobby hard and fast, she won't be able to attend me for the birth :(.

If you're that way inclined, please pray that our state health insurers decide that homebirthing is an acceptable insurance risk!

Can you identify this?

This came in a punnet of Chinese vegies, but now I can't remember what I was supposed to do with it! Do I use it in salads or as a vegetable? As you can see, it's rather prolific - probably because I've eaten everything else around it!

I'm planning on finishing with most of the summer garden today - I'm going to toss the celery, silverbeet, handful of cherry tomatoes into the slow cooker with some onions, ground beef, mixed herbs and a bottle of the ubiquitous pasta sauce.

Pancakes for breakfast

Possum woke bright and early yesterday and decided to make us all pancakes for breakfast - yum! Ginger Rose was there to help him.

Dh is away for a four day spell on the Gold Coast (work's tough for some, eh!), so the domestic goddess is also having a break - the children were amazed but rather pleased when I offered them cereal for dinner last night! And I did serve a salad and some plain pasta with tomato sauce.

I've given myself the challenge of making it to May without turning on the heating. The temperature in the house is dropping by about a degree a day, which means by Tuesday (H day!) we'll be down to 14c.

A new soup and choc-chip gluten-free muffins

I've been inspired by the 365 day bloggers, so will try to get into the daily blogging habit by sharing one domestic activity a day.

Today, Briar Rose, Ginger Rose and I made choc-chip gluten-free muffins out of a packet, cheesy scrolls using dough made in the breadmaker, and I made a brand new soup by mixing last night's leftover white beans in onion and garlic with yesterday lunch's leftover red lentil soup and a box of spinach.

Quarterly piano lessons

Briar Rose loves music, and her Grandma E can usually be prevailed upon for a piano lesson during visits. Sadly, Grandma wasn't well enough for her last scheduled visit to Canberra, but was still willing to give Briar Rose a lesson last weekend. I think they both enjoyed it.

While Ginger Ninja, Briar Rose and Ginger Rose had a wonderful time with Grandma, Dh and I went to a great workshop where I got to see Bruce Lipton speaking again. He was GREAT! Love the man. Love the book - Biology of Belief.

Balloon Fiesta

The alternate title for this post could be "What would make me leave the house before dawn in Autumn when it's cold and dark outside?"!

Fortunately, the weather was quite warm with none of the frost that made previous balloon fiestas so seriously cold.

We had a terrific time - Ginger Rose loved looking at all the "Biiiiiiiig balloons" and watching them inflate and deflate, and Briar Rose and Possum were able to hop into the basket of a balloon operated by a friend's sister then go for a ride on the "chariot" balloon.

If you look closely at the chariot, you may notice that the children sit on a gas tank, with a fire extinguisher strapped to the side! Confidence inspiring, I say!

At the park

Ginger Rose loves playing at the park near her father's work. We see magpies, galahs and the odd kookaburra, and have lots of fun on the various slides while waiting for Dh to be ready for us.

Last visit, she had insisted on wearing a dress and some of the climbing was a little tricky! And, of course, her white lace petticoat hem was filthy by the time we left. 

Easter camping...

Is not for the faint hearted! Our first trip camping since Ginger Rose joined us was a good reminder of why we prefer to stay off the beaten track, and refreshed my sympathy levels for those forced to live in tent cities.

We camped at Wombeyan Caves along with several hundred other campers, and while we very much enjoyed the opportunity to explore the caves (and Briar Rose had a wonderful time getting wet on the Mini-Adventurers cave tour) the cheek by jowl tent arrangements and toilet queues were just a little distasteful.

And, in the true tradition of Easter camping, it rained. Our tents proved to be mostly waterproof but as the children preferred playing outside in the rain to staying dry inside the tents...