What Dorothy was up to on Australia Day?

Yeah, you see it right, a python snake on her. You probably don't like the look of it on her especially if you are not fond of snakes. But to her, they are one of the cutest and coolest creatures in the world. She has an unusual interest of them and can't stop looking and touching them if ever given a chance. Even to any sort of spiders and lizards that cross her path is something she cannot resist to admire. The python snake licked her couple of times yet to her it was fun and the most amazing thing the snake did to her. She thought the snake liked her. She was having a good time with it curling up and down around her.
Contrary to what you might think by now, the snake is not venomous and dangerous type. The care taker said she is the coolest and the friendliest snake they have. That's why they decided to bring it to the show for the public to meet on time of Australia Day 2009 celebration in Penrith Panthers. All the animals on display were all natives from Australia. There were two baby salt water crocodiles and possums, as well as a beaded lizard (picture below). It was on the little boy's hat when i took a first glimpse of it. I can tell how uncomfortable he was because he didnt even move and smile when some people took a picture of him but he was quite brave though. And mind you, I dont have such nerves to hold such kind of creatures and the same with David. When I took the pictures, I was few feet away from her for I was afraid the snake would come and crawl on me unnoticed. The very thought of it scares me until now. Whilst David he was not interested at all either. Once he saw what his " Ate", (as what he calls Dorothy) was up to, he kept a good distance away from the animals and just watched them from there. Since that moment, he never showed any interest to be in the group again. Dorothy stayed most of the time with the animals until they went off.

Fireworks on Australia Day

I took these pictures during Australia Day celebration in The Hill about 15 minutes walk from where we live on the 26th day of January. The celebration finale was a huge monster fireworks display. It was indeed a successful display despite being threaten with scattered light showers and yet it didn't stop the people to have fun and enjoy all throughout the event. It was hard for me to focus the camera on with the wind blowing against us and the light shower but I still managed to get some pictures for you to share even though not in good quality as you can see.
For more information about Australia Day please visit, Australia Day.

Drying fish

Taking advantage of the hot weather, I came up to an idea to try drying fish. As a lover of dried fish, it urged me to give it a try in my own way. I regularly buy salted dried fish from the Filipino shop here but the saltiness sometimes stops me to eat it very often. I even wash it with water before I cook it just to lessen the salt. With my own dried fish, I wanted it just right according to my liking and taste, not salty and more flavory. Basically, I marinated it overnight with vinegar, a little soy suace, onions, garlic, dried bay leaves and juice of fresh lemon. Then I dried it in the sun covered with a net with tiny holes on it where flies cannot get in through to touch it and ruin my process. Flies are so many here on hot days and so annoying. It took about 2 days to dry it turning each sides every now and then to give an even dryness on each side. When it was done, I gave some to my friends and let them judged it for themselves and glad they liked it. They even placed an order but I just told them I have to think about it.

At Grose River

Grose River is a beautiful sandy river flowing through the Navua Reserve (Grose Wold), North of Richmond, NSW, ideal for picnic, swimming and fishing. The sandy beach is so wide and clean where you can relax, lazily lie down and enjoy the sun while the kids are splashing and jostling the water. Even horse riding is allowed around the area. There are also shady spots if you are not fond of the sun and few barbecue areas are also provided for your convenience with picnic tables and chairs absolutely free. It's actually one of my favourite spots around here. Every time, we come up here, the kids don't feel like to go home and even forget to eat the food that I always bring for them. There are many things to keep them busy enough to make them forgot what we got in our picnic containers. During our recent visit, we let them did something different. It was something that they haven't done before because we let them tried their luck catching fish. We provided them with nets where they can easily scoop the fish into . Dorothy was lucky for she caught quite a few fish. While David had no luck at all no matter how hard he tried it. He was just quick to approach them and scared them away instead. However, it occupied him so much until it was time to go home. I just told him that maybe next time, he will be lucky enough like his big sister.Now, I know you are wondering of a crocodile, right? It's obsolutely NO. We really don't have it here. Crocodiles in the wild are not found in NSW. It is only in some other parts of Australia, mostly in some parts of QL and the top end.So we are quite safe here to enjoy our rivers .So, this is where Dorothy's catch ended up to, right to her own fish tank inside her room. She has this tank for quite sometime now with few different types of tropical fish. The new fishes seem adjusted so well in the new habitat as they are so happy swimming around with the other fishes.

Just cheating to win!

With the series of scorching hot days here, we opted to stay indoor most of the time and play a lot of games that suit everyone's mood. If we are not playing the Wii, we rather switch to something interesting and educational. Something that David can comprehend and understand where he can include himself. At this time that he is into learning numbers , we tried to play anything that is to do with numbers, like "trouble" and "snakes and ladders". He has more interest in "snakes and ladders" though, that we play it every night. He was a quick learner and was able to play with Dorothy by himself without me supervising him after a brief introduction of the game. When he became familiar enough with the mechanism of the game, time came that he learned to cheat in order to reach his goal of always winning the game. I first noticed it when the three of us played (Me, Dorothy and David), when he just needed only 3 moves more to reach his win that he didnt throw the dice, except he was just checking where was the 3 dots on the dice and placed it upright for us to see. He was caught right away and I called his attention that he was cheating and it's not allowed.. hehehe.

Cute Blogger Award

Thank you a bunch, ibjsprinting for this wonderful award. You are such a wonderful friend. I feel honored again .

Here are the rules:
1. Each blogger must post this rules
2. Each blogger starts with ten random facts/habits about themselves
3. Blogger that are tagged need to write ten facts of themselves. You need to choose ten people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to live them comment telling them they've been tagged and to read your blog.

Now here are my ten Random facts about me:

1. It is obvious I am a great nature-lover.
2. I have two big gold fish named, Barbie and Bratz. They have grown to an enormous size now despite being in a small tank.
3. I am sometimes a moody person that sometimes I refuse to talk even to hubby with no particular reason.
4. I cannot sleep without moisturizing baby oil on my feet. I love the feel of it on my feet.
5. I spend most of my free time in my garden doing something to occupy myself.
6. I always do a beauty ritual on my face before going to bed. I can't sleep without it.
7. I drink a lot of chamomile tea everyday. It soothes my mind and relaxes my body
8. I can't resist chocolates and mud cakes. I always have craving for it.
9. I love wearing short pants and sleeveless tops on hot days. It is so comfortable.
10. I go to church but not very often and pray the rosary at home.

Now, I pass this award to everyone in my blogger list. Please dont hesitate to grab this award if you have time.

Birds

I took these pictures sometime last year in Featherdale Wildlife Park during my parents visit here. It is located about 15 minutes drive from where we live. From to time, we dont miss to visit this beautiful wildlife park especially on school holidays. The kids always enjoy every visit. One of the big attractions here is that you can hand feed kangaroos, imus, wallabies and even face to face encounter with a koala. The kids always enjoy hand feeding the kangaroos and even touch them as they are so friendly and tamed.
They have an amazing Australian birds collection which is my favourite of them all. I just want to share some of the pictures that I took while taking a walk around their bird aviaries. As a great nature-lover it certainly fascinated me.

All Aboard!

It was another day out for us to visit another railway display up in the Southern Highland of NSW, the All Aboard Braemar Model Railway displays. The moment we hit the parking area, I can see David and hubby's growing excitement to see what was in store for train enthusiasts like them. They both like so much all sort of steam and diesel trains. That's why hubby decided to check out their displays and took us there. I never heard of this Model Railway displays before, even though, we make frequent trips around the place. Not until when hubby told us about our adventure for the following day and the more which surprised me was that it is located along the Old Hume Highway. It is about an hour drive from where we live.
The model railway business has been functioning for over 30 years and moved to the Southern Highland in 1987.They have a huge display from all sorts of model trains, tracks, layouts and accessories which are also available through the shop. We bought David some accessories for his railway set and a book of Billy as well for his collection. Some of the amazing things that surely captivated our eyes during our visits, are these outdoor/ indoor Garden Railway displays. It is certainly one of the best that we ever saw.
It has also a cafe which offers a refreshment for our convenience . The outside of the shop is provided with picnic tables where you can enjoy your picnic lunch while spending time in the model railways. It has also a clean and green lawn ideal for picnic as well with a small pond with a few ducks.

Beef spare ribs soup

I managed to make beef spare ribs soup for lunch few days ago. It was cooked like the way my mother used to cook it back home. It has been such a long time since I have cooked this kind of soup and not sure when was the last time I had the soup. While surfing in the internet for a certain type of recipe, the idea suddenly popped out to mind and I felt a good craving right away..hehehe. I didn't add any additional flavor to it, for I just want to savor its natural flavor that comes out from the ingredients. I just added, taro (gabi), Chinese bok choy, spring onions and capsicum with salt and pepper to taste.

While eating my lunch , I was sweating very good, an expected result of having warm soup on a hot day . The weather was quite warm, 40 degrees C and quite humid as well.

A butterfly

It just came by in front of us while waiting for David and hubby to come out from the shop. Just a common type of butterfly here. It was Dorothy who saw it first and played my camera on it without any success. It was so busy and quickly drifting from one leaf to another. Dorothy finally gave up and retired to one of the benches. The butterfly was nowhere in sight after that moment. Yet, when we were about to go, it eventually came back again to where we were, and this time much closer to us, right down on a dead leaf in front of us. Without wasting any moment, I hurriedly focused my camera on it and clicked. Lo and behold, I was able to get one for Dorothy . She was so happy and asked me to have the pic printed to be posted in her room.

At Medibank International

It is once again our tennis season here, and another wonderful chance to see fantastic matches of world class tennis players. As a big tennis fan, I had been waiting for the day to come. Last year, I took with us my parents and I can tell how much they enjoyed some of its great matches. Having grown up in a family that loves tennis, it gave me so much knowledge and interest about the game. My father was a former tennis president of my hometown for years and everyone in the family played the game except me and our eldest sister. I used to do practice before but it stopped when I pursued my studies in Cebu CityLast Saturday, we ( Dorothy, my sister and I) managed to grab a chance to visit Medibank International Sydney at Olympic Tennis Center. It is Sydney's biggest tennis event every year, "Sydney's Biggest Stage" prior to Australian Open which will be held in Melbourne sometime next week. Every year, I could not afford to miss to watch up close and personal some of its great matches. So when the day was getting closer, I was able to make arrangement with hubby to leave David under his care and glad that he didn't failed me. We always have a great time and it is worth a visit even though weather was quite warm and humid.

Pasalubong from Phi

I was surprised when I got a call from a friend who recently made a holiday to the Philippines informing me that I have something as "pasalubong" from my family. The friend of mine came from the same island where my hometown is. Her place in the island is not that far from where my parents live only it is in a remote location . Although, we only met and knew each other here, but gradually, our friendship developed to a special bond. She is like an aunt to me. She lives far from us here but from time to time during certain occasions we don't miss to visit her.

Before she went back to the Philippines, she rang me if I had something to send to my parents because she was planning to visit them. Of course, I didn't want to miss the chance she offered, so, I hurriedly prepared a letter with some photos enclosed and some few other stuffs that didnt give her any burden with regards to weight and space to take with her on the trip . And she informed me farther that if my parents will send something for me on her trip back to Australia, she will be happy to take it with provision that it would not cause any delay in the customs. Of course, I would not allow that to happen to her. The interrogations in the customs are unnerving to her and that is what she was trying to avoid. I just told her that not to worry about "pasalubong" from my family, as long as she kept her promise to visit my parents, I would be happy and feel contented.But to my surprise, when she came back from her trip, she brought something for me from my parents, a pack of dried fish and 2 small bottles of salted fish (ginamos).Thank you to her. Her effort and kindness are greatly appreciated. She is truly a good friend.

My tomatoes

I finally saw the fruits of my endeavor planting seedlings from kitchen scrap. Just when I went out to water my vegetable plants, I noticed that my tomatoes are bearing fruits already. Some are still small and some are bigger now . These type of tomatoes are just an average size which I regularly use in making our sandwiches. I am hoping we can enjoy as much as we could, saving a little from our budget...lolz The best tomato is one that ripens straight from the garden.
Growing tomatoes isn't that hard after all. A good fertilizer, sunny area, frequent watering and a well-drained soil are all that it takes. Although, it is not ready yet and for sure it will take more days and more effort just to be ready to be picked up. Yet, I feel a bit of success and my effort is about to pay off.

On My Special Day

Yes, it was my birthday last Sunday. I woke up early excited to see what the day will bring me for my special day. Hubby was the first one to greet me while we were still in bed and gave me a card and a gift. He got up early to go down to the shop to get things he needed for our portable foldable barbecue stove to be used for the planned simple celebration. The same as last year, we celebrated it in a very simple way with my sister and her family and my parents. However, this time, we decided to celebrate it in a park up in the Blue Mountains. It was my first time to celebrate it outdoor and an idea popped up to mind was to have a small barbecue celebration in the park. So hubby busied himself early preparing everything for it. While my sister prepared also something to throw into the barbecue, I myself prepared something as well with some sea foods and some deserts.The park is somewhere in Wentworthfalls not very far from the Great Western highway with a big lake where boating, feeding the ducks, and even swimming are allowed. I brought with us packs of bread for the kids to throw into the lakes for the ducks and fishes. It amused them for there were many ducks and small fishes of different kinds came by to enjoy the feed. Like most parks here, it has playgrounds where the kids enjoyed playing and making new friends. A pirate ship playground is one of its big attraction which is just nearby from the other playground.
Clouds were threatening the day but it didnt stop for the fun and enjoyment we had. We did a stroll around the park after lunch and enjoyed it very much. And not until the first drops of rain pelted that we started packing up to get ready for home. It was a great day where everyone enjoyed it.

You Make My Day Award

Now, here is another award from my friend, Inday Adin, my second award for this year. It's a great pleasure to receive another award from her and I am delighted and feel honored again. You surely make my day, Inday Adin. Thank you so much for always remembering me.

What a touching scene! A mother giraffe and her baby giraffe share a time of LOVE. It surely captures my heart and makes me more to miss my mother, father and everyone else back in the Phi (sigh). Even though, my parents were just here last year but I feel I haven't seen them for years...hehehe.. miss them so much now.

It is your turn now to receive this wonderful "you make my day award". I pass this to all my friends in my bloggers list .Just grab it if you can get the chance. thank you.

Inspiring Blogger Award

My first award for this year is from my friend, Inday Adin. What an honor from her. She is a truly an inspiring blogger. Thank you so much, my friend. I am so proud and happy at the same time, even though, i am not sure if I deserve this? hahaha.. but thank you, anyways, for including me in the list. What a treat for me for this start of the year! I get more inspired by this..hehehe

And now, i pass this award to all my friends in my bloggers list. I know all of you deserve this..

My Lilium

No, it's not that I have a green thump. It is just a matter of tender loving care that you give and in return they will give what you wanted. At first, I never gave it so much thought to grow them in my garden. Not a tiny a bit. And not until hubby introduced me to the world of Lilium that i started to feel in love with the flower. Hubby bought a few types in bulbs at first ready for planting to try in my front garden. Since we noticed that it grew well successfully, we purchased additional type from the nearby nursery garden close to where we live and planted them in the front garden as well. It is the best place for them for it has lightly shaded condition which is suitable to the type of species I got.Growing them is not that hard. There are two ways to grow them by planting through seeds and bulbs. I prefer to grow them in bulbs rather that in seeds for it is much easier. The fact that it can take from two to four years before seed grown lilium will flower is one thing that I dont like. Whilst the lilium from bulbs takes only about a year to flower. Buying them in bulbs comes with simple instructions on how to plant them. That is where I learned the technique in how to grow them with the great help and support of hubby, of course.Its the beautiful trumpet shaped fragment flowers what I am aiming for so I give them the proper care and love they needed. Even though they are annual type of plants which means they flower only from late Spring right through late Summer depending on the species and growing them is something rewarding.

So hot today!

The forecast yesterday confirmed that it's scorching hot in the west today with likely rising January temperatures. We decided to head off to the pool nearby to simply escape the heat and got hooked up in the water for hours. The temperature reached up 42 degrees C in our place while the city enjoyed a cooler weather between 28 to 30 degrees C.When we arrived there, my speculation confirmed that there were so many people in every pool. I had to keep an eye on David most of the time though, as the pool where he was in was crowded. Dorothy preferred in the big pool which was also crowded with people so she can practice her swimming skills . It was so hot that I can see clearly the heat waves on the ground. Glad that David's choice of pool was partially covered with tarps.
When we arrived home, we got a surprise, hubby turned on the Aircon in the lounge room before he went to bed which made the house more cooler at the time we arrived. I immediately went out to the back to check out our dogs if they had still enough water to drink and found them lazily lying down under a tree. It was my tree fern that got the worst hit of the sun that it burned down badly their leaves. This is also expected every hot summer days that is likely to happen. The worst so far this summer season that we got burned leaves of our plant from the sun.

At Brighton le Sands Beach

We went on a beach outing today with friends at Brighton le Sands on the western shore of Botany Bay just south Sydney's international airport.We often come here on weekends and this time we decided to take some of our friends.


The water was a bit choppy, cold and windy too as the day moved on. It was quiet when we arrived there except for few people taking their morning stroll around the beach. The kids didn't go for a swim because of the weather condition but instead they had a bit of play in the sand for a while making sand castles, gathering empty shells and chasing seagulls.

Then, we took them to the beach amusement park. It has this pirate ship playground and the kids enjoyed so much with some other kids while we lazily enjoying the day, catching what each other up to. We don't regularly see each other only on some occasions even though we live not very far from each other. Our weekends are always filled up with personal commitments and other matters so that's why once in a while we schedule a day like this.