Thyme

I have a gorgeous friend I'm sharing this journey of parenting with. The other day I asked her for some Thyme, I could see her brain calculating the desire to help but the problem with time.  In no time we worked out the confusion and she quickly beamed with the knowledge her garden could provide thyme.

In my limited time I had failed to remembered I did plant some thyme a month ago in the neighbours yard we care for. So today I have thyme in my cooking and I've found time to cook bolognese, lamb biryani, preserve lemons and prepare for five days of glorious time with no little boys. Yes five whole days coming up to WRITE this never ending PhD. Pretty happy about that one. I'll miss my little men, but time without them is what I really need right now to keep this PhD journey ticking along. I found time to bake chocolate chip cookies at the request of Liam, however in my race against time I made the cookies too big and they grew together. Great thing about butter, brown sugar, eggs, coconut and chocolate is that it still taste great regardless of the appearance.

Lemon Tree

Check out my laden lemon tree.

 We use a brick to keep it upright. Maybe I need to master the art of pruning the tree.

Looking forward to making lots of lemon puddings, lemon pancakes and lemon tarts.

This is Mums lemon pudding recipe. My Dad won't eat them as Mum has cooked it too may times. I still love it.

Any idea how to make pickled lemons?

On My Mind: A Friday home photo initiative of Down To Earth. Rhonda’s blog is worth a follow, it’s very helpful for homemakers in training such as myself.

I had a dream

I was playing some music this morning for some writing inspiration. I find that music can take away that writers block and and settle me into a productive mental state. Well, this morning I ended up in tears. Not from misery but pure happiness at an inspirational woman. I was checking out some musicals we played many years ago and came across a gorgeous performance.  I'm a bit behind the times as Susan Boyle became famous from her show on Britain's Got Talent a while ago. I had not got around to watching the episode on TV or following any of her journey into stardom. Well talk about a great story. The audience went from laughing at this contestants dream of becoming a famous singer to standing in ovation when she sang. The judges spoke about it being a privilege to listen to her. Give it a watch and feel the inspiration. She had a dream to become a professional singer and she well and truly is now. Check out her success in Wikipedia. Susan achieved Guinness World Record status with her success.

I'd stick the Youtube in but its been disabled. Use this link it'll get you there

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk

This was her second performance of the same song. Wow.

 

Do I put my kids on the CV?

I spent the morning updating my Curriculum Vitae including my publication list to apply for a Honorary Fellow.  I thought for a while do I add my children as they one of my greatest achievements. It does explains why the PhD takes forever. My family comes first. Kids are a normal part of life, why don't people add their children to resumes? I remember my Mum nicely arguing with Dad about this issue years ago. At the time I wondered why would you bother to mention the kids. Now I've been a Mum I want to tell the whole world of this amazing accomplishment. My children are unique, one off creations. I'm sure putting them on my CV won't help me obtain work in the field of erosion studies. It might help if I applied for childcare or school teaching. In reality I think it does help in the working world. Since having children I'm more patient, understanding, open minded and I'm really good at juggling time. Somehow I still don't feel right listing my kids on a CV.  Any views?

Ultrasound of Isaac

Emma Jane

Emma Jane wrote a very relevant article in The Australian today.

I love the quote

"Endless postponements of study in lieu of tea preparation and house cleaning"

I so agree

The article is called

Giving birth or delivering a doctorate, they're both labours of love

The agony, ecstasy, exhaustion and exhilaration of making babies or studying for a PhD.


Here is a link to it. Have read!


Love it

She also has a web page at
http://emmajane.info/

My favourite tea mug for procrastinating

Pressure

Today I bought a pressure cooker. I'm soooo excited. I remember my granny using one. Aldi had them for sale and it was just too good an opportunity to miss. The guide claims I can cook a risotto in 10 minutes. The question is will my hubby let me after our Townsville maggot infestation. The maggots came via the chicken risotto we made. He hasn't been the same ever since...

Food is a big issue in our house. Partly cause I LOVE food but also because it makes such a difference to our kids health and behaviour. Juggling the art of creating a healthy meal and studying is no easy feat. Actually tonight we had a gorgeous Guinness Beef Stew as I was keen to procrastinate rather than study.

I'm hoping just maybe the pressure cooker will save some time and create some gorgeous meals. I'm motivated to try.  

Last year I read the book by Juanita Phillips (2010) "A pressure cooker saved my life". Essential reading for all families.

If you know any good pressure cooking recipes let me know.