Weekend at Roseburn Farm

We have just returned from a short break away at Roseburn, our friends' farm in the Mid North Coast of NSW.  It has been a while since we paid Jim and Georgie a visit, more than a year actually. With our busy schedules, it's always difficult to get away. We took advantage of the start of the autumn school holidays to visit them and to collect the lamb meat that we bought from them. Yes, we bought a whole lamb which J&G have been breeding. In total it costs us $120 including the slaughter and butchery. How cheap is that for organic hormone free lamb. Whilst there, we also visited J&G's neighbour to buy some beef. We came home with four eskies in the boot filled with lamb and beef to last us for a while.

We didn't do much on the weekend, except relax, enjoyed the clean fresh air, helped feed the animals, took walks around the property and drank many cups of tea and coffee. I took the time to sit and read, whilst catching up on J&G's news. Our girls didn't touch their tech gadgets all weekend except in the car on the trip there and back. Both of them spent most of their time outdoors, waking up early to feed the sheep, cows and chickens; playing with the four dogs (Kinta, Bella, Sophie and Lily) plus Red (the neighbour's dog who visited over the weekend). Cait was busy collecting the eggs as soon as the hens laid them. I think she was 'stressing' them out with her constant checking. J&G's hens are 'wild' as they don't lay their eggs in the chook pen, but everywhere around the property - in the garage, in the garden and in the pen. Hence, Cait had a great time checking all the various spots. On Saturday, Cait found eight eggs and she found four more on Sunday. The eggs were still warm when she brought them in.

On Saturday, J&G had organised for a local guy to come and crutch and shorn their five sheep - Lambert, Ella and I can't remember the other 3. Yes, they have names for all their animals including Misty and Amber, their two Dexter Steers.

The weather was beautiful, sunny bright blue sky and warm. The temperature was cooler at night but the night sky was so clear and it was amazing to sit out and just look up at the twinkling stars and the Milky Way. Cait and I had wonderful time identifying the different constellations.

Our trip was short but we enjoyed the break so much; just doing nothing.....

The Victoria Room Tea Salon, Westfield Sydney

A week after my birthday and I was still celebrating. Don't you wish we could celebrate for the whole month? This time it was with my dearest friend C who took me out to a hi-tea event at The Victoria Room Tea Salon at Westfield Sydney. The tea room is located strategically in the centre of the Designer Gallery on Level 4. As one sips tea from lovely fine bone china tea cups with the little pinky pointing upwards (I didn't do this), you can also window shop at the same time, admiring the beautiful fashion in spring colours.  The hi-tea event was part of the Crave Sydney International Food Festival, but you can also just visit at other times for hi-tea. There were many groups of ladies having hi-tea; it's such a girlie event, catching up on gossip, sipping tea or champagne (aka sparkling wine), tasting delicious morsels as we go.

The typical English High tea usually involves a cup (mug) of tea, bread, cheese, vegetables and some meat too. I did a search on the web to find out more about high tea. One possible reason I found states that "this type of meal was called high tea is the fact that it was eaten at a table", whereas afternoon tea is more casual and taken on sofas and comfortable chairs.

That afternoon, C and I did not have a cup of tea, bread, cheese, vegetables and meat. Instead, we started out with a glass of sparkling wine, followed by crustless finger sandwiches with four different fillings - roast beef with horseradish and baby cress; smoked salmon with rocket, lemon and capers; cucumber with cream cheese and chicken with wild herbs. The next tier had the sweets - lemon cheesecake, chocolate mousse cup, vanilla cupcake with passionfruit icing and fruit tartlet. On the top tier were the two scones which we had each selected - C chose the white choc and cranberry and I chose the lemon, pistachio and currant.

To accompany the delicious food, I chose an Assam tea; a strong full-bodied tea that goes well with milk. C chose a fruity herbal tea called Turkish Apple; beautifully sweet and tangy.

I am truly blessed to have a friend like C. We've known each other for a number of years now, and we have been through some good and bad times too, as our friendship has grown. She was with me earlier this year when I had a breast cancer scare which turned out to be nothing. Besides the amazing hi-tea, C also gave me a Kikki-K Foodie Gift Pack - how perfect! Thank you C for the hi-tea and gift.

P.S. Apologies for the photo quality. I brought my camera but only discovered the battery was flat  at the Tea Salon.

Mother's Day Classic 2011

source: Mothersdayclassic.org

It was a cold and sunny morning today. However, there was no sleeping in for me this Mother's Day. Ashleigh and I had an early start at 7:30am to meet Elsie, Lee Fong and their children at the train station to head down to the Domain for the 4km walk,  part of the Mother's Day Classic. We left our hubbies at home (to sleep in! LOL). This year, Caitlin did not join us, as she is still too young. Maybe next year.

The Mother's Day Classic is the biggest family fundraising event in Australia. The walk is to support and raise funds for breast cancer research. It is a wonderful event for friends, families, breast cancer survivors to come together across the various venues in Australia from Perth to Parramatta (west of Sydney), Hobart to Brisbane, Geelong to the Gold Coast and various regional  or country towns.

There were thousands of people at the Sydney Domain  participating in 4 events - 4km and 8km run and 4km and 8km walk. It was touching to see people carrying tribute cards in memory of their family members or friends who have and those who have not survived this horrible disease. There were people of all ages - from babies in prams to seniors.

Besides the walk, there were also other activities for kids and adults. These include warm up aerobics, roving performers, food stalls, entertainment, plus a kids activity area with face painting and jumping castles. It was a fun filled day for all.

A great start to Mother's Day, sharing this special day with my girlfriends and our children.

Meeting Cynthia Anne

My two girls and I went into the city today to meet fellow blogger and Malaysian from Perth - Cynthia Anne who is visiting Sydney with her family. It was our first meeting Cynthia and her three beautiful children. We had a great time getting to know each other, our children enjoyed each other's company. Pop over to Cyn's blog - My Happy Place.