Nectre Bakers Oven

It has been just over a week now since we got our fire. It's made such a difference to our house. The house is not so cold and damp, and we don't have condensation on the windows anymore.
 

I've been borrowing a friend's gas heater until we got our fire. I think the gas was putting to much moisture in the air and giving me this cough, which has since cleared up after I stopped using the gas heater. I've been cooking a lot on the fire, making use of the heat. Tonight was the first time making bread in the oven to go with the soup I was cooking on top. The bread turned out beautifully and the house smelt amazing.

Here, I found Marty warming his belly up in front of the fire. He is such a character and he makes me laugh all the time. I love how his little paws are just hanging there.

Marty In The House!.......

We love our cat, Marty. He is a bit of a sticky beak and he gets into all sort of places. I have to be careful - I did lock him in the car when he snuck in once when I was bringing in the groceries. Luckily for him, it was a cold day or it would have been a cooked pussy cat. Another time, I had the window down in my car and I was about to reverse out my drive way. Ninja Cat Marty came jumping in my window, giving me a huge fright. The kids thought it was hilarious.

Here he is trying sit in Katie's doll house. This time he didn't knock too much down...:) 

Trip to Sydney

Katie, Mr F and I have just got back from Sydney. We stayed with our wonderful friends Sharon and her husband Bernard for a few days and got spoiled with home made ice cream, pizza and BBQ dinner. Thanks guys for a wonderful stay and time to catch up. It has been a few years since I've been in the heart of Sydney. Gosh.... Didn't I feel like the Country mouse visiting the big city - it has all changed so much. Most of the land marks I was used to and great shops like the Adyar book shop are gone. When we got off the monorail we kind of got lost and I had to ask for directions (LOL). I used to live in the inner city so I used to know my way around very well. It was sad to see that Centrepoint tower has a huge Westfield sign on it. Mr F was only 2 when we moved to the Blue Mountains, so he is used to the bush around him and open space. So, being surrounded by huge buildings was a whole new experience for him.

At St Mary's Cathedral we lit a candle and sat and marveled at the beauty of the architecture of the building.

We went to the Australian Museum and saw the Deep Oceans exhibition.

It was interesting seeing the deep sea creatures.

Gulper Eel

I forgot what this one is called, but those teeth look pretty mean.

Angler Fish

Deep Sea Squid

There were deep sea creature hats that the kids could wear for a little while. There wasn't enough to go around - lots of kids there.

Yummy home made pizza

Ginger was loving the cuddles and lots of attention.

Here's Sharon and Mr F making ice cream.

Sharon took us for a drive in her car, with the roof-top down, over the Harbour Bridge. They look a bit windblown but they loved it. This is when my camera died, so I don't have any more pictures of our stay.  We went to the Power House the next day and saw the Narnia exhibition, which was interesting looking at the costumes. It reminded me of the Lord of the Rings exhibition that my partner, Katie and I saw while we were in New Zealand years ago.

Mr F's Dragon

I love this picture that Mr F, who is 8, drew on a card for a friend's birthday yesterday.

I just wanted to share it.....:)