Domestic update

Ho-hum, it's back to the day-to-day after the fever of G&G's visit; however, there are still a shed load of things to be grateful for and delighted about, for instance...

Sweet potato pie

Dear S-I-L Liesl surprised me with a parcel containing 'Jamie's America' (us Jonker/Ludgerus/Munfords are BIG Jamie fans and Liesl is kind and often this generous x). So I set to work cooking up a Southern storm on my day off. The beans and pork will be eaten with rice and some salad leaves from our garden and, as J.O. suggests, the sweet potato pie will be accompanied by clementine cream (actually mandarin cream since TP Coles doesn't stretch to clementines, although I did just buy a duck there, but that's another post...).

Southern red beans and pork

Miniature vegetable/herb garden moved to the front fence to soak up the winter sun.

More reasons to be cheerful:

• eating things we've grown from seed. 
• glorious winter weather; cool mornings and evenings (7 degrees) but then fabulously warm days (27 degrees!). 
• winning at netball 2 weeks in a row :)

Chooky-la-la and her hen friends have been foiled in their attempt to completely bury the patio in poop. They are still not laying any eggs so I will shortly be looking to Jamie for some chicken recipes.

Circus Royale is the buzz around town. They have downed caravans on the oval near North TP Primary which is on my jogging route. I spotted 3 cows, 5 ponies, 2 llamas and 2 camels grazing on the cricket pitch. We're going tonight, I wonder what tricks the cows do...

Kings Lake and Grandma's birthday

As Grandma and G's Pilbara adventure came to an end we made the most of the sunshine and drove to Kings Lake, a pretty picnic spot just out of town, for a game of frisbee and to practise our soccer skills.

Sadly you can't swim in the lake; at the first rain effluent from the nearby sewage pond flows into Kings Lake :(
Happily it doesn't pong :)

We celebrated Grandma's birthday and Grandma and G's last evening in TP with a Thai feast.

Grandma's birthday cake was an apple cake with maple sauce. There was rather too much cake mix for the tin I was using so I had some oven spillage (and a little bit of difficulty removing the cake from its tin post cooking!); however,while it didn't look all that, it tasted marvellous (if I do say so myself!). It was a very happy birthday :)

Happy Birthday Grandma xx

As I post this Grandma and G have been back in the UK for just over a week, we miss them terribly.

We had such a wonderful time and can't wait to see Grandma and G next year, only 44 weeks to go...xxxx

Dales Gorge

Plainly Grandma and G could not leave the Pilbara without seeing some of the gorges and pools in Karijini. The weather has been very British for their visit so we had our fingers crossed that we could spend a day in the national park without it raining. Our luck was in...

We parked at the Circular Pool end of Dales Gorge



We walked along the top of the gorge and then climbed down to Fortescue Falls



Fortescue Falls

Fern Pool is a short walk behind Fortescue Falls (although LAFE didn't know this on our first trip out here so we were seeing Fern Pool for the first time and it was beautiful)

On the boardwalk at Fern Pool

 Back at Fortescue Falls, Ade and Esther took a dip...

Windawarri

Aunty Stella had sent m & d away with a healthy dose of GBP in order to treat themselves and the Jonkers to a meal out once they hit TP (thanks Aunty Stella!). Fine dining is not an option in Tompers but we had been told that Windawarri Lodge put on a good spread...
The Lodge provides motel accommodation and we knew it had a 'buffet' restaurant; what we didn't understand until our first visit was that The Lodge caters mainly for mine workers of the FIFO variety and the buffet is actually a canteen complete with formica tables, a slops bucket and the Traffic Light System found in school canteens. Esther was keen that we all wear dresses, I'm glad we refrained since just our necklaces edged Grandma and I precariously close to being overdressed.
At this point I should clarify that we had a fantastic meal (swordfish steak, sirloin grilled to order...) and it was a perfect place to take the girls since they could try every dessert. It is also licensed with the cheapest restaurant bar I've ever come across (beware, the bar closes between 7pm and 7.30pm so you need to line your drinks up). There were plenty of other families eating out so we didn't feel conspicuous among all the hi-vis clad mine workers coming off shift and into the canteen. Indeed it was so enjoyable and such good value we went back 2 nights later to spend the rest of Aunty Stella's pounds!!

 

Grandma checks to see whether Esther can fit in another dessert



Bruce Almighty

Inspired by our triumph at Jarndrunmunhna and Freya's successful ascent of Big Ben, Munfords and Daughter attempted the walk up Mt Bruce.  If it were just a walk I have no doubt that we would have reached the summit, us being experienced walkers an'all...however, after an hour Bruce became a rock climb and we are just not into that. Our reluctance to scale rocky walls was upheld by a (young) English couple who were ahead of us and who surrendered just after we did. The weather also got a bit Welsh and not at all conducive to the ascendance of WA's second highest peak. And so we retreated to the car park where we ate our sandwiches.

So far, so good...the approach

The views were pretty impressive even from half way up

The retreat

M & D in front of Chinaman's Hat, the Mt Bruce pre-peak that eventually stumped us

International Nurses Day

Respect to the nurses (and to the TP hospital support staff who threw us an awesome IND brekkie!).

G: On the road again

Ade invited G to join him at work for a day of deliveries to some of the exploration camps in the West Pilbara. G took a few photos (no people, that's just how he rolls) and had a good time!

 

 

 

 

Net, set...make-over!

Esther has started 'NetSetGO!', a junior netball program which teaches young children how to surreptitiously injure their opponents using their elbows netball skills, social skills, sportsmanship and an understanding of the game of netball. So far she loves it!

Wish I was this enthusiastic about netball!

 

Continuing on the Esther trip...the pre-primary classes hosted a 'mummy make-over' to, belatedly, celebrate mother's day, Grandma was invited too. It was a wonderful morning, well organised and well attended. Esther and her classmates are entirely gorgeous, they all had a lovely time, as did Grandma and I.

Pasta necklace, I know I don't look impressed but I LUFF my necklace

Decorating biscuits

Grandma gets a facial

Cleansing

The artist at her easel

I think she has captured my essence

It's worth more with a signature!

Chocolate pudding hand massage, the mums fought hard to stop their offspring eating the pudding!

Threading a heart <3

Decorating a crown for me; in Esther world glitter is the only decoration

Grandma assists with stapling

Me, my littlest and all my goodies, what an ace morning!

Time for a book before leaving the kids to clean up!