And just like that, his manhood was gone.

Living with only one car for a year has actually been very easy for us. Which I am a little surprised about.

But we have just made it work!

There have been a few times when the weather has been crap so I haven't been able to walk to the shops, so lovely hubby gets a shopping list emailed to him.

Last week one of these times occurred and there was one item I had never asked my hubby to buy for me.

Yes you guessed it....tampons!

I even highlighted in my email that I was sure where he sat with purchasing female hygiene products and if he wasn't comfortable then I could go once he got home.

Even though I think that would be stupid, I really didn't know how he felt about it so though it better to ask.

I didn't hear back from my email at all.

I did get a text when he was at the shops, it had all the things I had asked for minus one thing. He asked is this everything...so I pushed the envelope and said what about my "lady product"?

He replied "what brand?"...so I gave him the info and said I can call you when in the section if you like.....

No reply....

When he got home a little later he unpacked all the bags, put the tampons on the bench and claimed "My manhood is gone!"

A little dramatic don't you think :)

I believe I let out a big witchy laugh, said thanks and went about my business.

He then went out to his music room and played guitar REALLY loud for about an hour!

Maybe he got his manhood back after that...who knows!

Has this happened to you? Have you made your man loose his manhood?

The sun was shining.

On Tuesday the weather here was nice but strange.

There was some heat around but boy was it windy.

We took advantage of the wonderful change and played outside from the minute we got home from school till well past dinner time.

It was so nice and the weather reminded me of all the fun times we had in our very own backyard last year.

So now I am getting really excited about the up coming summer we are hopefully going to have.

I love cooking on the BBQ, sitting on the outdoor setting or even on the grass with the kids while sipping a wine or 2, playing games and even lighting the fire pit.

So come on weather, bring on the wonderful days and awesome nights.

Another thing that was awesome this week was my first attempt at the Balinese Black Rice Dessert.

It was not as good as the one I had at Batan Waru, but I think with a few more goes it will be up there. I had to stage it over 3 nights in the end and I think that was my down fall (it soaked too long).

But the family loved it and had it last night too.

So I looked around a lot of websites for a recipe and found this one at Yummy Supper. I didn't do the extra white rice and I didn't have any Palm Sugar (used organic raw sugar), so next time I will get the sugar she recommends and see how it is.

Overall though...happy days!

This is Emelia's little serve

I had to take the photo quick...she couldn't wait to eat it!

Our weekend! A little bit different....

Friday evening kicked off an interesting weekend for us.

It all started with Emelia closing her bedroom door which was locked from the inside.

I wasn't too stressed at the time as I had already had a couple wines, and I thought there must be a key somewhere.

By the time Hubby roll's in from work we are a little panicked as we had tried every key in the house and nothing had worked!

He, as always cool and calm, really wasn't too fussed and said worst case we need to get a locksmith. But I think it then got the better of him, cos out came a coat hanger a pair of pliers and way he went. He tried a few different tactics, I even had to go outside and tell him if he was close to the lock or not.

It really got quite fun!

Anyway...no success.

So all weekend we had to make do with the clothes Emelia had on the outside of her room. Thank god we found bather's for Saturday's lesson as she was preparing to go in the water in shorts and a t shirt.

Emelia said it was a great weekend, she got to sleep on the fold out in the lounge room and pretty much had run of the TV, her DS and Ipad as everything else was in her bloody room.

This morning she went to school in half a uniform. She had to go in thick white winter sock's and a pair of silver party shoe's, which I think she was happy with. Lunch was in a paper bag and she will have to drink from the taps today.

After all the attempts of lock picking on Saturday I thought I would do us a nice dinner.

Hopefully you saw my Basil & Cashew Pesto I made? Well I thought that on some grilled Prawns would be lovely. And to accompany that a nice fresh green salad!

Have a look at my Rainbow Silver beet....this is from my garden, I have been very spoilt from the soils this year! After I took this I went and picked another bunch.

Silver beet and a little spinach in the background.

My delish salad, if I do say so myself.

Grilled Prawns, Salad, Tumeric potato's and Pesto!

 Silver beet Salad

2 Bunches of Silver beet - washed and torn up
1/2 Red Onion - finley diced
Big handful of Coriander - rough chop
1 Pear - cut into 1/4 and sliced
1/2 Lemon juice
Few splashes of Olive Oil
S&P

Put everything into a bowl and squeeze the lemon juice in and give a splash of the oil. Toss very gently so you don't break the pear up. Taste and see if you need anymore lemon or oil, S&P.

*For the Prawns - I took off there heads, kept the rest of the shell on and sliced them down the middle. Opened them up and cleaned out the poop trail. Then on my griddle pan, threw in some butter and grilled away. So simple!! Once cooked I put a nice bit of pesto on them and gobbled them up.

Whole family loved this meal, which makes me happy!!!!

Oh and if your wondering about the locked bedroom door..... Danny the locksmith is on his way!

For the love of beer!

I saw on the news tonight that the beer VB has gone back to "full strength" due to the massive drop in sale's after they reduced the alcohol content.

Can I just mention that the original alcohol content was 4.9 and they dropped it to 4.6.

0.3% less.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!!

Why would this cause so much angst among the people?

I'm a beer drinker and I couldn't care less or probably even notice 0.3% difference.

The other thing that made my stomach churn tonight watching this "breaking news" was the man "Brendon" who originally wrote to VB complaining about the beer.

Brendon is the size of a truck, he said being in the factory watch the new batch come down the line was as good as the birth of his children. Brendon was then taken to the pub to try the New Original strength beer, with Brendon being the size he is was in a massive sweat just lifting and drinking the pot/pint (depending where you live).

Seriously this almost made me sick!

We have so many issues with drinking, gambling (Oh sweet lord, don't get me started on all the gambling commercials) and obesity and to see this as prime time news was really sad.

I love a drink as much as the next person and I don't want to rag on people with weight issues...BUT...this was like a big joke to me.

Sorry but I just needed to get that off my chest!

Watch if you dare!

Here come the Bali blue's. Or is it something else?

I know this is a real condition that MANY get post there Bali holiday.

I honestly thought I would be fine this time, as it was a special trip that I wasn't even meant to have gone on.

But the last few days boy have I been down!

And I'm not actually missing Bali I am just missing something.

I am grumpy as all fuck with the poor kids and wonderful husband. I am, oh so tired and even feeling really faint.

I also have a truck load of stuff to do outside of normal mum stuff. This includes; spending all the schools money on resources via Woolworths Earn & Learn (note to self DO NOT volunteer for this next year), prep for an interview (that is actually tomorrow - FARK!), organise play date, find us a place to stay in Adelaide at Christmas time and somewhere find time to firstly feel all hot and sexy and then deliver that to wonderful hubby.

So I am not sure what is going on with me at the moment. I am all over the shop, no tears yet but still feeling crappy.

If you have any idea's of what is going on with me - please feel free to let me know!!

Anyway...yesterday was our 5 year anniversary. We don't celebrate these with anything really its just another day in our house. The most I do is cook the man one of his favourite meals.

As you know I am not the biggest fan of meat, but last night I did a Beef Pie and this seriously get's inhaled by hubby and the kids. That makes me happy.

In line with my simple home cooking, this really is a simple pie.

Beef Pie

500g Diced Beef
1 Carrot - chopped
2 Small Potatoes - medium dice
1/2C Peas
2 -3C Beef Stock
2 Small Cloves Garlic - crushed
1/2 Lrg Onion - chopped
Handful of herbs - from my garden thyme, sage and rosemary
1Tbs Kecup Manis
S&P
Some Flour
Knob of Butter
1 Sheet of Puff Pastry
1 Egg - for pastry

Ok...simply coat your beef in some flour and toss that into a pot that has your knob of butter melting away in it.
Cook the beef for a few minutes, then set aside. If you need add a little more butter and add in all you veg, garlic and herbs.
Let that cook down for about 5 min then add your stock. I then let this simmer away for about an hour with a lid on.
Once the meat is starting to fall apart I take the lid off and let the sauce reduce a little. I then taste for any seasoning's and add the kecup manis.
I then pre heat the oven to 180. Then I transfer the meat and veg to a pie dish, pop on the pastry give it a nice egg wash bath and pop in the oven.
Once the top is cooked your ready to eat - this can take approx 20min or you can tell by my photo the kids were getting hungry so I stoked up the grill part of the oven and it took a little less.

Trust me its yum! :)

One thing I hate about this dish is I can never get a nice photo, it always comes up looking bland. But TRUST me it is pretty tasty.

Bali 2012 - Part Two

Welcome back! Thanks for all your wonderful comments.

Here is the last installment of our trip.

Hope you enjoy!!

DAY 5

Had another sleep in…YAY!!! Did I mention I have a 10 month old who is still waking 4-6 times a night!!! So very happy for the sleep.

Anyways….off to breakfast then it was time to hit up Waterbomb Park.

Seriously love this place! We took Emelia there 2 years ago and really only got to sue the Kiddies Area and the Macaroni. Well this year she could go on just about anything and did! She is so daring and adventurous (which she does not get from me), it actually made me really proud. She kept up with my sisters 3 teenagers from 9am – 2pm.

Our Bale at Waterbomb - you must get one!

Me relaxing in the Bale, overlooking the pool bar.

Emelia and I on the Macaroni

So as all good mothers’ do, I left my daughter at Water bomb with my sister and went and had my massage my hubby had got for me. This was at the hotel, so nice and close, just a quick stroll back over the road.

My treatment was called the Tari Package it was amazing. First I got a hour long massage, then a wonderful body scrub complete with flower filled bath and finally a full facial. A total of 2.5hrs!!! Ahhh I feel relaxed again just thinking about it. After my treatment I went back and picked up the little one.

You would think that after a full on time at Water bomb she would be tired and ready for a nap..Um No! We headed back to the hotel where she jumped straight into the pool for another hour. After that we headed up to the room for a rest.

Finally out the pool for a minute to rehydrate!

We then did our traditional trip down to the beach bar for drinks, sunset and family time.

Another massage and another ice cream

Better do some beach shopping!

We ended up back at our hotel for dinner at The Boardwalk. This restaurant is wonderful most of the time and tonight was one of them. We had barramundi, 2 x white wine, 1 kids pasta, 1 x choc milkshake and 2 Free deserts (using the coupon book) 240Rp.

Emelia and her new friend (my cousins niece)

So after what felt like 2 days in 1 we headed up to bed early. Back in the room by 8.30pm and the little one was asleep in no time so I had a few quiet Bailey’s on the balcony….Bliss!

*Oh Day 5 envelope. There is a back story…

My hubby knows I always worry about money and even about being on this trip as our finances are not the best at the moment. So on day 5 I opened the envelope to find a really funky pink wallet with a photo of Baby O and a note saying….”I know you worry about money and I don’t want it to stop you from enjoying your trip” The wallet had 3Million Rupiah in it!!! Jeeezuuus!!! 

DAY 6

Had a really bad sleep last night, not sure what it was…maybe guilt!

But anyway off to breakfast. 

This morning Emelia’s little friend showed her where she could buy fish food to feed all the beautiful fish in the ponds. She filled them up as much as us before we headed off to Matahari to get some supplies.

We ran into my sister and niece and all went together. I love all the different things you can get in other countries. So I did a bit of a buy up on snacks, drinks, cheese and fabric softener. I ended up coming home with 48 sachets of the stuff.  Some people call it strange, I say it help’s with the Bali blues when your home.

We head back to the hotel drop off our stuff then get a driver from the hotel and head to the Surf Outlets.

Now my hubby has just bought some shares in Billabong so I strict instruction to only buy the real stuff. So he got all his presents from here pretty much (which he loved). After about an hour of shopping we head back to the hotel.

Love that we could get in and out and be back by lunchtime and the rest of the day to do whatever.

And we didn’t do much….we went down the beach where Harry (one of the beach bar guys) ordered us some lunch that got delivered to our seat at the beach. We had a Nasi and a Mee Goreng 40Rp for both! 

We then swam in the ocean (I don’t think there is anything better) had a couple drinks then went back to the hotel for a swim in the pool and some more cold drinks!

Emelia and her cousin going for a boogie board.

Emelia taking a photo of her Aunty (my sister)

 That night Emelia and I just went outside the hotel to one of its restaurants, Batan Waru we ordered 3 tasting plates – Lumpia, Calamari and Seafood Wontons. I had a Lychee Martini and Emelia a Shirley Temple. We then went all out and had dessert, I have always wanted to try the Black Rice and they had it…yay!!! So glad I ordered it this was amazing. Would love to try and make it here, just need to find some black rice! Can’t remember how much…sorry.

Then back off to hotel to have a semi early night as we were going to Safari tomorrow.

DAY 7 

We got up nice and early and had a big breakfast, fed the fish (5,000Rp for a bag of food) then met my sister and niece and headed to the lobby to wait for our driver.

As all drivers do, he said he could get us a good price on the Safari Park as we wanted to include an Elephant Ride. Well we were pretty happy with the price, not sure if everyone would agree. I paid $185A for 1 adult and 1 child, which included 2 photos, lunch and 15min Elephant Ride. 

We decided to not have the lunch as I wanted to show my sister and niece the Lion Restaurant, so we paid for our own lunch. I am glad we did as you don’t get to experience that kind of environment back home.

Overall everyone had a ball at the park. My daughter again was a lot more daring or more brave this time to interact with the animals. She just loves Elephants, so riding one was out of this world for her and feeding one just amazing.

 

Emelia and I

Us on Lina the lively elephant.

Emelia and I

Emelia and Shannyn feeding the elephant.

Giving him a little pat.

You also used the Waterpark and Funzone which we had not done previous trips. It was fantastic, again Emelia was a little daredevil going on bigger rides than I expected. But all good fun.

Little Emelia in the back!

Then they came flying down this thing...and did it again at least 6 times!

 

 

 

 

So after a big day, we headed out for dinner at Victory Pub down Poppies 1. It was really nice, I only had chicken as I couldn’t find any Ribs on the menu – but my nephew’s dish came out – Bloody Ribs!!! Emelia had chicken also and I had a few bintangs. My lovely brother in law paid for this meal for us…Thanks John!

Emelia took this for us...bit blurry.

DAY 8 

It’s our last day in beautiful Bali, so sad! I did a lot of packing last night and was able to get check out moved from 10am to midday. This took some pressure off me as I was off to the Healer this morning.

So after breakfast we jumped in a taxi and I dropped Emelia at my sister’s hotel. She was going to have a play with the kids while my sister and I went for our “massage”. 

Now I have been going to the healer for many years, the place specializes in reflexology and there is nothing nice and relaxing about it. Well, you do feel amazing afterwards but they really get in to all your pressure points. They also do cupping which I love! All up for 1hr its only 150Rp.

The place is called De Chy and its down a side lane off Poppies 2 – here is some more info. If you would like any more info please let me know, I have their business card.

After the healer we walked back to my sisters hotel – Kuta Puri, I decided to leave Emelia there while I walked back to the hotel via picking up my washing (17,600Rp for 2 bags…amazing) and then checked out.

Checking out went smoothly, bags were kept in the lock up till 9.00pm as that’s when our driver was booked to take us to the airport (60,000Rp). 

I then went back to Kuta Puri and had a few Bintangs with my sister and her family, had some lunch and a great afternoon of just swimming in the pool and relaxing.

Kids having fun at Kuta Puri

Last swim Emelia!!

We did a little bit of shopping up Poppies 1 before going down the beach at 3.00pm to get Emelia’s hair and nails done again. Of course a few more Bintangs at the beach and one last sunset. 

Relaxed and taking it all in...Wonder what she was thinking!?

That night we headed to Swell Bar also in Poppies 1 for dinner. I finally got some ribs and a long island ice tea. Emelia has her last Satay, Chocolate Milkshake and scoop of ice cream..think this was around 170,000Rp all up.

Oh totally forgot to mention Kuta Karnival opening ceremony. We were so lucky to be down the beach to see it all. It was full of entertainment, excitement, colour and sounds. There were even 2 elephants that we went up and had a pat with. I have never seen so many people in Bali in general but this Karnival just packed out the beach even more, all the way up to Legian. My photo’s won’t do the crowd justice, but it was amazing to be a part of!

Elephants on the beach!

Amazing colours!

Huge parade. Oh and our friend Krisna

SO MANY PEOPLE....

A little bit scary....

Elephants with either the king and queen or prince and princess of Kuta

End of the parade...till next year!

   

Emelia and I then walked back to the hotel taking in all of Bali before we head home. When we got back to the hotel we only had about 1.5hr till pick up, so we had a shower in the departure lounge and headed to the Boardwalk to watch the entertainment. Lola at the Beach Bar made me my final Lychee Martini, best I had all trip, and then it was time to go.

As I said before the airport has changed so much and you now have a bit of a walk to the terminal which is no biggie. They have trolleys for your luggage which was great and I popped Emelia in the top of them and off we walked. The biggest pain in the ass was the line up to get in the airport…over 45minutes we waited. Then once we were in and through the security scanner there was no one…crazy!!!

I vowed never to go to the Prada lounge again…but guess what…in we went. I was pretty tired by this stage and so was Emelia so it was purely the convenience that got us in. Oh well!!! 155,000Rp well spent? Hmmmm.

So that’s it my friends, we arrived back in rainy old Melbourne to 2 very handsome boys and life is back into full swing again.

These guys!

I just want to finish by saying a big thank you to my extended Perth family – you are wonderful people and thank you to your friends for including Emelia and I in your adventures. It was so great spending time with my sister, brother in law, niece and nephews.

And finally to Hubby D. You are the best!! And I owe you one BIG TIME….

**As you can see I have this blog about our life here in Melbourne, feel free to stop by anytime or “like” the facebook page**Thanks Hayley**