Wordless Wednesday : Dashed Hopes

So this is a bit of a wordy way to start my Wordless Wednesday entry, but I had to say thank you for all your lovely responses on my last post about my dear friend, Sally.  I was a bit afraid there might be some backlash because of the sensitive nature of the topic and the situation at hand, but your supportive messages made me feel better. 

I miss her every day, and sometimes things will happen where she randomly pops into my thoughts and I think of how I would just love to see her and tell her about everything that has been happening.

I spoke to one of Sally's sisters last week, and she said she was comforted by the fact that she remains in the thoughts of her friends, and will be forever cared about wherever she may be.  I will never forget her, and I will never give up the hope that I will some day see her again. 

Thank you for your support. 

For the biggest day of AFL for the year, we held our annual Grand Final Day BBQ.

Liam, being one of the biggest Hawthorn fans you'll ever meet...

...decided it would be appopriate to decorate the house in memorabilia. 

And this is BEFORE all the posters and banners went up.

Oh well... there's always next year!

Wordless Wednesday happens here, here, here, here and here!

What a Weekend!

We had a rather eventful weekend, which resulted in two ambulances careening up our driveway at 5:30 in the morning to wheel away a rather sorry feeling patient. 

We had a few friends over on Saturday who decided to bunk in for the night, after dinner and perhaps a few too many drinks.  A few hours after we had all tucked ourselves into bed, my friend's fiance required a bathroom stop, but unfortunately in his half-asleep and possibly slightly still intoxicated state, forgot where he was and turned left instead of right at the bedroom door and proceeded to try and walk straight down the stair case.  Unfortunately, attempting to walk down steps instead of actually stepping down them meant he ended up tumbling down the entire flight, hitting the bannister with such force that he somehow dislodged and dented it, and continued tumbling down until he landed face first into the tiled floor at the bottom.

I was woken up by the sound of my friend screaming in panic whilst her fiance was bleeding heavily from a massive gash in his neck.  The sheer force of the fall meant that he split right through all layers, to the point where the jaw bone and other innards were visible. 

Almost luckily, I had crawled into bed that night (or morning) minus any clothing, as I'd stored my pyjamas in the spare room upstairs were my friends were sleeping.  This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as if I had been fully clothed I would most likely to have been the first one out the door to see what the commotion was about.  Instead, I roused Liam from his slumber (no mean feat!) and let him investigate. 

Whilst he did this, I ran to the wardrobe to find some clothing while Liam was on the phone to emergency services.  I could hear him describing the amount of blood all over the floors, and as I frantically fumbled around to find some pants, it dawned on me that the worst possible thing I could do for everyone would be to go out and try to "help".  Let me put it this way - not long ago my mother ended up passing out and hitting her head on the side of the wall, face planting into the tiles giving herself a nice big black eye, all as a result of the sight of a little blood oozing from a small cut on her hand.  We are NOTORIOUSLY bad at handling the sight of blood in my family, and the carnage at the bottom of my steps would almost certainly mean that there would be two people lying on the ground to take care of rather than one!

Thank God for Liam and his calm demeanour!  He has seen enough blood in his lifetime that the sight that greeted him left him completely unphased.  He was so great with it, as he calmly assessed the situation and tried to calm down my friends while they waited for the ambulance.  Unfortunately all I could do was listen to it from the bedroom, but he handled it all with such ease and managed to stay level-headed.  I was so proud of the way he looked after everyone, and kept everyone calm until the paramedics arrived!

Thankfully there was no permanent damage done.  Numerous tests were done, and although surgery was required to mend the gigantic gash it should all heal up nicely save for some scarring.  But as Liam says, chicks dig scars! :)

Anyway... now for the more mundane parts of my weekend! Friday night.

This -

Plus this -

Equals this!

Liam cooked up this yummy paella for dinner.  I have leftovers for lunch today, and I am so looking forward to it! I usually take care of all the cooking in our house because I love it, but I think from now on I'm going to make him cook for me once a week!

I didn't completely reounce my duties in the kitchen, however!

I baked a big batch of these scrummy choc-chip cookies to fill my cookie jar with!  It was such an easy and tasty recipe that I decided to do a few batches and handed them out to my new neighbours and family.  More to come on the cookies later!

Liam was absolutely ecstatic with a Hawthorn win this weekend, which means a Sydney vs Hawthorn Grand Final next week!  We're holding a BBQ, and Liam has already started decorating the house in preparation...

I'm really looking forward to having some of our closest friends come over to watch what should be a riveting game next week! I only hope to rain will hold off... PLEASE Melbourne!

What are your plans for the big day next weekend? xx

Another Monday morning...

...and I'm sitting here munching on my morning tea snack of steamed carrots & broccoli and homemade garlic mountain bread chips, while lamenting at how quickly the weekend has flown by.

Friday night was the big Essendon vs Hawthorn match at Etihad, which is the game of the year for us!  Liam is a massive Hawks fan, and I am an avid Bomber and we attend most games for both team every weekend, so this clash was some major rivalry for us.

There was a lone seagull who appeared to have been trapped in the stadium when they closed the roof, and the poor little thing appeared to be hiding in the painted white part of the ground, to camouflage itself!

Unfortunately, as an Essendon supporter the little seagull was probably the most entertaining thing to watch as the game itself  was a dismal disaapointment from start to finish.

Luckily it wasn't all bad this weekend.  I got to see this little guy -

And we caught up with Liam's dad and best mate over a yummy lunch and a few games of pool.

Can you believe this delicious steak only cost $13?! Plus an extra $3 for the sauce, but still so worth it!

I overheard an interesting conversation on the tram late at night, about a bubble tea diet.  A young gentleman explained to his friend that he was off to get a bubble tea fix.  Apparently, it was the best way to go since bubble tea is very low in fat, but the fact that there is something to chew on satisfies his craving for solid food. GENIUS! Except what he forgot to mention is that a cup of bubble tea equates to around 400 calories per serve.

But that's just a minor detail!

I'm totally on board with this bubble tea diet! :)

While at the shops, I also picked up these cute ninja earphones! Unfortunately, the rubber on the earpieces were shoddy so I took them back and exchanged them for adorable little matryoshkas instead!

Did a bit of a tidy up in my bedroom, and realised I have quite a collection of scarves!

Just ignore that horrible Hawthorn scarf nestled in there.  It's Liam's and it is horrid and full of germs and other bad things! Terrible terrible colours.  But yes, I realised pretty quickly that I was starting to run out of room for storage of scarves! It's not just one layer either...

The wall of scarves is approximately 4 or so scarves thick, and the hanger has seven loops lengthwise and about 4 across. Now I understand why Liam always has a look of horror on his face whenever I wander into the accessories section to look at scarves! Oh well. At least I know I'll always be warm!

And now I've taken so long to finish this post that it's time for lunch! I've got a delicious chicken and salad roll which my lovely man prepare for me last night... YUM!

Half a day down... another four and a half to go until the weekend!!!

Wordless Wednesday : Winners & Losers

I love football.

I especially love seeing a good result on the scoreboard.

Better luck next time!

Wordless Wednesday happens here, here, here, here and here!

Country Getaway

As part of Liam's birthday present, I decided to arrange a weekend escape to the country to spend a little bit of quality time together.  Just the two of us, and Rocket dog!

We finished up work early on Friday, and headed off to the country town of Trawool.

Upon arriving, we were shown to our cute little cottage.  The property is just off the main highway and is home to two gorgeous little guest cottages, as well as the owner's residence and a restaurant/cafe.

The two guest cottages are situated side by side, surrounded by lovely gardens and an sprawling open yard that is perfect for the dog! And not far away is the cafe where the owner's spend most of their time and are always available should you need anything. 

We let them know roughly what time we expected to arrive, so by the time we got there the fire was roaring and the cottage was so lovely, warm and cosy!

Rocket found his spot by the warmth of the fire!  Liam, the self-professed "Master of the Fire" made sure that the fire kept roaring all weekend long, keeping the cottage the perfect warm place to stay in the cold weather. 

By the time we ran into town for supplies and take away for dinner it was getting cold and dark so it was a perfect place to settle for the night.  We ordered some Indian takeaway in town, and spent the evening cuddled up on the couch watching a fantastic Hawthorn victory.

I managed to get a fantastic deal and as a result breakfast was included both mornings of our stay. 

Nothing like a nice pot of tea and a delicious hot cooked breakfast to start your day off right!  Liam ordered a full breakfast, whilst I opted for an omelette with mushrooms, bacon and cheese.  YUM

After breakfast, we decided to go for a quick wander into one of the near by towns. 

We had a little jacket for Rocket to wear so he didn't feel too cold in the back of the ute.  I feel that it emasculated him somewhat, but have to admit that he did look kind of cute! The above photo makes it look like he is wearing a cape, and for some reason reminds me of Sherlock Holmes.  All he needs is a hat and a pipe! Anybody else agree, or am I just insane?

Speaking of insane, Liam looks slightly loopy in this photo! Aww, my boys <3

Wandering through town, it was bitterly cold and windy so we decided to head back to our cottage.  Rocket must have had enough, and promptly crashed out!

We left him there and made our back back to the cafe, where we sat out on the balcony and  feasted on a lovely cheese platter, which was also included in our package! It was divine, and I would have happily paid oodles for it.  Totally worth it!  We enjoyed a lovely bottle of moscato to accompany the cheese and basked in the sunshine which would intermittently break through the clouds. 

What a perfect way to spend the afternoon!

Not content with just a perfect afternoon though, I was determined to make it a double, and follow it up with the perfect evening too!

The big West Coast vs Essendon game was on and we planned to stay in by the fire again to watch another fantastic victory.  This time I was feeling a little more adventurous than just take away and wanted to prepare some warming winter comfort food to enjoy whilst we watched the football. 



I set to work in the "kitchen" whilst Liam prepared some baked potatoes using the coals.

Et voila, here is our cottage feast!

Potatoes baked on the coals topped with garlic butter, tasty cheese, coleslaw and copious amounts of sour cream! Accompanied by pork pepper and mustard sausages with caramelized onions. YUM

I'm not sure you can get any more perfect!

A tasty meal,  the company of my wonderful man and our cheeky pup, cuddled by the fire in front of the TV watching a victorious game of football! I was a very happy camper.

Day two started out with another pot of tea with breakfast! This time I chose bacon and eggs for my meal and an English Breakfast tea, whilst also stealing sips of Liam's pot of chai. 

After breakfast, we went for a wander around the property :

I love that garden and chair set! It's looks like it's been thereforever, and the area around it has become mossy and overgrown, but that only seems to add to the charm.  We met this curious Alpaca who came bounding over to say hello, but was very wary of the dog.  So cute!  I marvelled in the gorgeous colours of the area.  The grass was just so lush and green, whilst the leaves on the trees had turned the most stunning array of earthy Autumn shades. 

Rocket was very patient with me as I set him to work as my little model...

Unfortunately all good things come to an end, and after a fabulous weekend away it was time to head home! :( As you can see, Rocket did not want to leave.

Here he is, staring sadly at the ute while we packed everything up ready to go.  I can't blame him though... I did not want to leave either! It was such a nice relaxing weekend away. 

Liam is now looking up land an property in the country, as he has always wanted to move out that way and away from the big smoke!  He is now determined that after purchasing a little house in the suburbs, the next step is to buy a piece of land in the country as a holiday destination/investment piece.  Ever since we got back, he's been trying his best to convince me and show me properties for sale to win me over!

Well... I think I can safely say that he enjoyed his birthday trip...

Perhaps a little too much!