They are NOT cute.

Cuteness can only get you so far in this world.

Sooner or later your cute can just run out.

Or at least fade significantly.

Especially when, as a wallaby, you decide to EAT ALL OF MY NEWLY PLANTED SILVER BUSHES!!!

Hmph. I am friendly, I leave water out for the little guys.

I even leave the odd piece of fruit out in the middle of summer (I worry that they haven't eaten anything tasty for a looong time by mid summer). And what do I get in return?

This:

I can't talk about this any more - the wallaby and I have officially had a falling out.

Jen x

Still Jenny From the Kitchen #2

Selma's Teriyaki Pork Stir Fry

My big sisters (Pattie and Selma) are both great cooks. From time to time I am handed a recipe which I know has been tried and tested, so all I have to do is follow it the same way Hatchling No.2 follows me (ie. closely most of the time) to be sure of a good result.

Here's a fast easy stir fry from Selma that is so yummy that Union Jack doesn't even notice he's eating bok choy! Many vegetables notice that Union Jack is a bit stand off-ish when he spots them on his plate, and by far green leafy ones cop it the most. Except in Selma's Teriyaki Pork Stir Fry!

Now lets all pray together that he doesn't read this post or I am history.

Ingredients:

1 clove garlic, crushed
750g pork fillets, sliced thinly
6 spring onions, chopped finely
3 baby bok choy (450g) chopped coarsely
1/3 cup (80ml) teriyaki marinade

• Cook pork in batches in heated, oiled wok or large frying pan until browned all over and cooked through. Remove from wok.
• Cook onion and garlic in same wok, stirring, until fragrant.
• Return pork to wok with bok choy and spring onions. Cook, stirring until bok choy is wilted.
• Add teriyaki marinade, cook until heated through.

Serve with rice, or as I did the other night, with rice noodles. Yum!

Make just before serving to ensure maximum crunchy, tasty deliciousness - on the table in 20 minutes.

By the way, what do you do with spring onions?

For a LONG time I would buy a bunch, use half, put the other half into the fridge whilst promising myself that this time I will use the rest up before they wilt. Then, a few days/weeks/months later I would take the shrivelled sad mess from the fridge and throw it in the bin/compost/chook bucket (no, we don't have chooks, we keep stuff for Granny Annie's chooks), thinking to myself "Oh well, better luck next time".

But not any more. Look what I did the other day:

The other day I cut up what I needed and used it. Then I cut up the remainder, put it in a ziplock bag and into the freezer - next time I need spring onions I will whip those babies out of the freezer and shazam! I WILL NOT WASTE ANOTHER SPRING ONION!

And see the little bottom bits with the roots? I put those in my herb garden to see if I might grow NEW spring onions too. Does anybody know if this works? I have so many questions about spring onions - perhaps it s the peanut butter overdose I had at lunchtime... or the distinct lack of dinner tonight.

Last question: How far up the stem do you cut?

I never know when to stop chopping. How far up the stem do you get before you are not meant to use it? I don't know. Can anyone help? If so, please leave me a comment so I can sleep a little bit more soundly tonight... Well, it doesn't really keep me awake, but you know what I mean...

Don't you?

Enjoy the stir fry people - Union Jack, the Hatchlings and I sure did.

What is your thing?

I've heard it said that the key to success is getting better every day, bit by tiny bit.

I get it.

What matters aren't the big one-offs, but rather the little incremental steps we make every day that drive us towards reaching our goals. Whatever they happen to be.

What was your thing today?

My thing for today was to ride my spin bike for 30 minutes before work this morning. I really want to be a fit person - fitter person. Despite this I can easily go for days without doing anything to make this happen. So the bike was my thing for today.

Thirty minutes cycling? Big deal!

No Grasshopper! It doesn't have to be a big deal. Remember, getting better every day, bit by tiny bit. It would only be a big deal if I had done nothing, taken no steps - thats a big deal.

Sadly the rest of my evening requires me to do other 'things' that are a little more basic - paying bills, banking, ironing. The list goes on, so I must sign off now and get on to some of my less meaningful but equally important 'things'.

Jen x

PS: Two more thoughts to ponder:

1. "Small steps lead to high mountains".
2. "Never eat yellow snow!"
   

Its been how long??

Sorry.
Its just that...
There's been a lot....
The kids were...
My ironing pile was...

Sigh.

All I can say is that it has been far too long since I last updated my blog. You surely can't be any more disappointed in my efforts than me. Boo!

I have been doing quite a bit of gardening though. Its an annual cycle really. During the heat of the summer as I watch my plants shrivel up and cling to life by their fingertips (yes I know plants don't really have fingertips - or even fingers) I become sad and more than a little despondent about the whole gardening thing. During those months I can't tell you how many times I utter disgustedly under my breath "What is the point?".

But then it happens.

The days become cool but not cold. We receive a teeny bit of rain.

I see GREEN SHOOTS appearing in places I thought were a-goner! And flowers too!

Its about now that my memories of scorched plants and water running straight off hyprophobic soil all but vanish. Suddenly I am full of gardening optimism and can't wait to get busy doing gardening 'stuff' once again. Here is one of my new projects:

Its a fairly simple policy that I am working by at the moment: if a plant is in my garden and looks good right now (ie. at the end of a HOT summer), I want to plant more of this plant. If it is in my garden and it is sick or dead - FORGET IT!

These guys look pretty happy:

Yep, I bought more of them!

I also planted this fella:

He's a new entrant to the garden so we'll just have to see how he goes.

Will do my best work on blog updates from now on - really.

Jen x

T.V Junkie

G'day,

In my previous post I described Hatchling No.1 as a "Couch Potato". This statement needs correcting. It isn't the couch that is his 'thing', its the television. So when I said "Couch Potato", what I meant was "T.V Junkie". There - much better.

Hang on. What?!

Okay, this isn't something I am proud of, but let me explain. The poor child never stood a chance. Union Jack would watch the test pattern on television if there was nothing else on - he loves watching t.v that much. He just never gets bored of it. I on the other hand only ever half watch most shows, getting distracted by kids, cooking, looking out the window, thinking funny stuff - anything really. I have an aversion to getting too hooked on anything other than Grey's Anatomy. Who knows why Grey's Anatomy gets my total commitment? I'm pretty sure it couldn't have anything at all to do with McDreamy and McSteamy...

Anyway, Hatchling No.1 seems to have inherited his Daddy's t.v gene COMPLETELY. And here are a few pictures to prove it:

Awwww, a teeny weeny Hatchling No.1 keeping up with current affairs. He's so advanced!

Here he is sharing the joy of The Wiggles with his friend Miss Tilly. "Yeah! Murray's the one in the red, but Greg's my favorite."

When Hatchling No.1 went on holidays to the Gold Coast, he liked to start each day with a boogie to the "Jane and the Dragon" theme song.

If its too sunny to watch television - no problem! Just add shades.

Check out all that dribble! Was it caused by the lollipop or Roary the Racing Car? I guess we'll never know.

Do you see what I mean now? There's definitely a 't.v thing' going on with that little person - we've successfully confirmed that much. And who knew I'd taken so many photos of the Hatchling watching television anyway?

Jen x

PS: I think I'd better turn off the television now...

Green and Purple Hammers

G'day,

I don't know about you, but from time to time I kind of like playing the game where I try to guess what my offspring might become when they grow up. In the quieter moments of our day together I have been known to consider job titles such as Author, Food Critic, or Couch Potato for Hatchling No.1. Today however, Terrorist, Stuntman or WWF Wrestler seemed somehow closer to the mark. But thats a whole other story for another day...

Today I want to tell you about Hatchling No.2. A couple of weekends ago, as his Daddy and Grandpa worked feverishly to lay the floor in our new little extension, Hatchling No.2 provided me with a few clues as to what he might aspire to in future years.

Well, kind of.

Hatchling No.2 hasn't yet become a Bob the Builder zombie (you know in the cartoons when somebody is brainwashed their eyes spiral round and round? I'm sure I've seen that happen at my place). Nevertheless, the louder the hammers banged that day the closer Hatchling No.2 insisted on getting to the action.

Er... I don't think sucking your hammer while you think is the behaviour of a fair dinkum serious builder - is it?

Is it?

Then again, what would I know?

It does look pretty cute. Check out those elephant slippers - why don't they come in adult sizes? And while we're talking about cute:

Guess who discovered he loves Easter eggs?

Sigh. There just aren't enough green and purple hammers with smiley faces in the world.

God bless the little Hatchlings.


Jen x

PS: This is what the floor turned out like. Go Union Jack and Grandpa - it looks just like a bought one!!

Hoo Hoo! Who's there?

G'day,

Amongst what seems to be the ever increasing menagerie around our place is a rather distinguished looking guy who likes to peep through my office window from time to time. Although his face might seem quite menacing to some (particularly furry four-legged types who say "Squeak"), I love it when I spot him outside my window.

This shot isn't that recent, but its the best one I have managed so far. Natural camouflage is perhaps the photographer's enemy? Or maybe just mine, I don't know.

Its fair to say that Mr Owl has had a bit of Photoshop-ing to help combat the camouflage thing. Here's what he looked like before Photoshop:

Even in this un-photoshopped version I had cropped ruthlessly in order to find my little mate among the gum leaves. I wonder how often I walk past him without noticing?

I'm pretty sure he misses nothing.

Wise old owl.

Jen x

PS: Mr Owl seems to be awake a LOT on the days he visits. If he flies and hunts all night, and then sits and watches the world (and me) all day - when do owls sleep exactly?