Jump in my car - the many adventures of Keg, the Super Sausage Dog.

Keg. A super sausage dog.

Like most dogs, our little Kegster loves to go for rides in the car.

(For those of you who haven't met Keg, that's him on the right.)

He always wants to sit in the front - like one of the grown-ups. If he's forced to sit in the back, he perches with his hind legs on the back seat and his front feet on the console. Lucky he's a long sausage dog. A regular length dog might not be able to do this so comfortably.

One time we leashed him up in the backseat. He barked for a while, but shortly after he went quiet. Too quiet. We almost forgot he was there. Until he jumped back into the front seat. That's right - disgruntled that he had been forced into the back, he chewed through the leash to free himself. Clever dog.

Another time, Bear took Keg on a drive to the shops to pick up some supplies for dinner. After he stopped to take a phone call in the car, he realised Keg had gone quiet. Too quiet. In the duration of that phone call Keg had nosed through the groceries and eaten half a pack of diced beef intended for our stir fry.

Moral of the story. When Keg goes quiet - he's up to something.

Back seat driver.

On another particularly memorable journey, we had stored the bassinet attachment of the little Poppet's pram in the middle of the backseat on top of some other luggage. Despite being tied up, Keg somehow managed to wangle his way up into the bassinet. And there he sat, with his head on the Bear's shoulder - for the entire 2 hour drive.


Needless to say the bassinet and everything in it got thoroughly washed before we put little Poppet back in it.

Keg never misses the opportunity to go for a drive. If I leave the door of the car open while I'm unpacking the groceries he jumps in the front seat and waits. And waits. And waits. Ignoring my demands for him to "get out of the car Keg!".

I don't even bother trying to coax him out of the car these days. I just leave the door open until he realises he's not going anywhere and comes out of his own accord.

Last time he did this I found him sitting in little Poppet's car seat. (Don't worry, she wasn't in it at the time) He was clearly drawn in by the scent of half chewed rusks mashed into the seat cover.

Oh, how our little Kegster loves to go for drives.

So it came as no surprise to me when our new next door neighbour knocked on my front door, asking whether the black sausage dog who just jumped in her car belonged to me.

Yes, the little monkey had obviously gotten out of the yard somehow (most likely when the Bear was towing the boat out). And after being so blatantly ignored for a ride to the beach with Dad, decided to try his luck with the neighbour.

Clearly it's time to talk to him about not getting into cars with strangers...

Blogging ADHD

Who said blogging was easy?

I started writing a post today about how I'm addicted to buying books for my baby daughter. (Seriously I just can't stop myself - I can always justify it with the old "books are educational" argument).

But then it diverged into a post about e-readers and how I'm avoiding them. Followed by a bit of a spiel about the dominance of online bookstores and a lament on the downfall of the entire bookstore industry.

And just to top it off, I began reminiscing about my favourite childhood reading material, the Sweet Valley Twins-slash-High chronicles. (ps. did you hear they're making a movie?????)

So there you have it - I simply can't nail down what my blog topic is tonight. So I'm going to leave it all for another day.

But I will share with you a pic of these gorgeous new board books I bought my daughter this week (just $6.84 each, thank you Big W book department). They also dovetail nicely with my rapidly growing fabric and sewing obsession - but that's a whole other blog topic...

Books about fabric animals - combining two of my favourite things!

Nana's recipes: Golden Syrup Rolly Polly

This little book is one of my most prized possessions.


















It's a recipe book given to me by my dear late Nana on my tenth birthday. It contains more than 70 of her favourite recipes, all carefully handwritten in her distinctive cursive script. It's wrapped in a metallic gold wrapping paper (which has wonderfully stood the test of time) and contains an inscription on the front page.



I still remember the day Nan gave me this book. I remember thinking it was just the best present ever. I still do.

I cherish this little book even more now, since my Nan passed away three years ago. I can open it and see her beautifully scripted words and it makes me feel like a little part of her is tucked away inside the pages of this book.

Some of Nan's recipes I now know off by heart - especially the tuna mornay and the banana cake. Over the years I've started to fill the remaining pages with many other favourite recipes I've gathered, so I use this recipe book fairly frequently.

But the other week I realised there are so many of Nan's recipes I haven't yet tried. Like most people, I've tended to stick to my favourites.

So I decided I should give them all a whirl - I do love a good challenge!

Last night, I started my challenge with the Golden Syrup Rolly Polly. My husband had a rough week at work, so I felt some comfort food was definitely in order.

Here's the end result...












And of course you can't serve it without a big spoonful of Double Dollop cream...











Here's the recipe:

Golden Syrup Rolly Polly

Dough ingredients:
* 1 cup SR flour
* Pinch of salt
* 2 tablespoons butter

Syrup ingredients:
* Golden syrup (however much you want!)
* 2 cups of hot water
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 tablespoon butter

Rub dough ingredients together with enough cold water to form a dough consistency.
Roll out and place in a pie dish.
Spread with golden syrup.
Mix together the hot water, sugar and butter, pour over the dough in the pie dish.

Bake in a moderate oven (180C) for one hour.



Love you Nan! Thanks for such a wonderful present. One day I will pass it on to my little girl - I'm sure she will love it just as much as I do.

Unexpected pineapples

I love those moments when, in the process of going about your daily business, something so wonderfully random happens to make you smile unexpectedly.

I had one of those moments yesterday, and I had another today.

After feeding my little Poppet her breakfast, I grabbed the Weet Bix covered bib to throw it in the laundry basket - and upon opening the laundry door, I found a pineapple sitting on top of the washing machine.

Presumably, my husband procured this little beauty sometime yesterday and when arriving home from work, popped it on the washing machine on the way into the house from the garage (where our laundry is bizzarely located).

There it stayed until I found it this morning. It made me smile.

I guess that's what happens when you live in the pineapple capital of Australia.

As for yesterday's random happy moment, my gorgeous (and brand spanking new) sister-in-law Teegan, announced she had launched her own blog - Brown Paper Packages.

Happy news in itself, but what really made me do a little chair dance was the blog's name. Teegs had recently asked what she should call her blog and when I suggested Brown Paper Packages (as the blog would contain all her favourite things), she told me that was already on her shortlist! They say great minds think alike, I couldn't agree more.

Go check out her blog when you can. Teegs has the most unique sense of style and is a lover of all things vintage, quirky and crafty. Looking forward to seeing what she puts out there into blog-world.

Does the world need another blog?

This is the question I have been pondering all weekend. Does the world REALLY need another blog?

Of course, the answer is undeniably "no". But I think perhaps my little world does - and so I'm starting one.

I have been toying with the idea of a blog for months and months and months. Actually, its longer than a year, as I remember I almost started one when I was living in South Australia, and I've just realised that yesterday marked one year exactly from the day we left our little home in Mount Gambier and started our journey up north to Yeppoon - aka Poontown!

So much has happened in those 12 months  - my husband and I moved interstate, we both started new jobs, met new friends and learnt how to cope with living a long way away from our family and all of our existing friends.

My little Poppet.

But most importantly - we had a baby. Our little girl, Ella, is now almost seven months old. She is simply divine and we treasure her more and more every day. Watching her grow and learn is quite simply the most amazing thing ever.















Those were the big things which happened. But there were also a few little things.

I went from being a full-time worker, to a part-time worker, to a stay-at -home-mum, to now, being a working mum. I got a sewing machine for Christmas and took up sewing. I rediscovered my love for crafts and took up crocheting. I finished my 365photo challenge. I set myself a new challenge to hand make every present I gave for a year. I tried to restrain my spending now that we were down to one/one and a half income(s). I returned to clinical Occupational Therapy work for the first time since my University fieldwork days (well over a decade ago). I took a step back from building my photography and freelance journalism business - realised how much I missed it and began (thinking about) building it up again. I started going to local markets - but began doing my groceries online. My favourite magazines changed from Cosmo and Cleo, to Women's Health, Practical Parenting and Real Living. I discovered pinterest and etsy. I spent waaayyyyy too much time on facebook and reading blogs. And that's just the start.

Hand-made. My new challenge.

So why a blog? Because I love to write. I really do. I wrote a lot when I travelled the globe as a backpacker. I've worked as a journalist both for a newspaper and as a freelancer for local magazines. My ultimate job would truly be as a features writer or columnist for some glossy magazine. I'm not there yet, but maybe one day I will be. And maybe this blog will help me on my way.

Also, I love to take photos - blogs need those, right?


I love creating and I love showing off - so on this blog I could show off what I've created.

Plus - my Mum hates me living so far away and always wants to know what I'm up to - so this gives her one more way to check out what I'm doing. 

What's it going to be about? Everything I love - photography, cooking, sewing, craft. And whatever else strikes my fancy.

Why now? Why not? There's no time like the present (apparently).

So, welcome to my blog - I hope you like it.

Oh - and what does the name mean? If you're a fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, you might recognise the phrase "Hello Poppet!" - uttered by one of the hideous undead pirates to the gorgeous Keira Knightley. I'm not sure why, but this is what I say to my little girl every morning. So that's what I'm calling my blog.

By the way, this is me, with my beautiful family. Photo by Marcus Jones Photographics.