In which Minty sews a Christmas skirt for her kris kringle...

Conversations with Minty and Turi...

On Star Wars...

Turi: Dark Maul is Dark Vader's father

Minty: what about Light Vader?

Mr: there isn't a Light Vader

Minty: I've heard people talking about it

Mr [confused pause]: oh… you mean light saber!

Minty: I like Princess Layla

Upon finding a spider...

Me: don't stress!  It's just a money spider.  They bring you good luck

Turi: so they poop money?

Turi: Mum you should write a letter to santa and just ask for money

Me: Santa doesn't give money

Turi: why?

Me: well you're not allowed to make money, that's called 'money laundering'.  Remember we went to the mint? That's the only place you're allowed to make money.  If someone else tries to make money they can go to prison

Minty: I've money laundered

Me: I suspect since your notes don't look very official you'll be ok

Turi: No one knows where santa is though

Me: so you think because he's well hidden he'll get away with it?

Turi: yeah

Today's photos by the Mr

In which I attempt to plan a Christmas menu and sound vaguely passive aggressive...

Christmas is really quite strange when you think about it.  On any other day of the year, if I asked you around for cocktails, fancy salads and a range of homemade ice creams you'd probably be stoked.  But when I suggest that as a Christmas menu I am met with an uncomfortable pregnant silence that you might expect had I proposed that we kill the neighbour's cat and spit roast it for lunch.  If you are one of my family members reading this and you're heading to mine for Christmas, relax and breathe.  I'm totes going to cook a dead bird… or maybe glaze a pig leg and stud it with cloves (I've always thought they look rather pretty even though I don't actually like ham very much).  And there will be a pudding.  I've accepted that I am alone in wanting to radicalise Christmas, so I'll resist the urge to serve you up guacamole and a christmas taco!  But just be warned that I'm not an experienced roaster of meat so be kind if you arrive to find me wearing the turkey on my head like Mr. Bean.  Oh and there will be plenty of homemade ice-cream because… ice-cream. Enough said.

We went berry picking with friends this weekend.  No prizes for guessing what went into my first batch of ice-cream!

In which Turi discovers that caribou don't fly...

It's only the second of December but already Advent has been fraught.  Last night Turi announced he doesn't believe in Santa anymore.  Apparently it 'doesn't make any sense' that there could be such a thing as actual reindeer as well as magical ones, and if Santa doesn't live in space and the North Pole is a real place we should just be able to visit there and check it out.  Plus the whole 'visit everyone in one night' is apparently problematic.  The Elf on the Shelf also copped a barrage of criticism because he couldn't possibly be real since his hair doesn't move.  Hello, has he seen Osher Gunsberg?  The whole thing has shaken me to my core.  The kid is only just six.  Christmas magic should still be well and truly alive, not being crushed with a logic hammer.  

Despite his crisis of faith Turi decided he would still place an 'order' with Santa (sometimes described as a letter by less demanding children).  Presumably he is hedging his bets.  The extremely grumpy face in the first picture occurred because I made him revise his list.  He is holding the original list in the second picture.  The crosses indicate items I told him he wasn't allowed to have.  Possibly a nicer mother would have left them on the list but I'd rather get the sad face over and done with now than save it for Christmas morning.

Minty took a logical, investigative approach to the issues raised by Turi's scepticism and requested 'more information' and photographic evidence of the elf in the workshop.  I sense some serious late night photoshopping in my future.  And possibly an even greater problem to solve before Christmas arrives: what the heck is a 'choochoo'??!

Dear Santa-Claus, I hope you have a Merry Christmas.  I would like on my list a Smiggle diary if you have one and a monster high doll if you have one, a calm colouring book if you have one and a violin if you have one and I would like some more information about Alfie the elf and I would like a picture of you and your elf at your work shop.  And 3 candy canes and 2 choochoos.  From Minty

Australia Day Pavlova

I love the blank white canvas of a pavlova, perfect for creating glorious edible flights of fancy.  I topped this billowing cloud with sweet summer peaches, a drizzle of fresh passionfruit, a generous scattering of edible flowers and tiny ruby red strawberries straight from the garden.  The styling seems a bit off for Australia day.  It should probably have been covered with crumbled tim tams and studded with little paper Aussie flags but I couldn't resist a more whimsical approach.  If it was up to me, edible flowers would be scattered on every meal!

Lobster Festival

One of the stranger things about the little strip of coast line we call home is the local lobster festival.  There's something gorgeously quaint and provincial about the whole thing.  It feels a bit like an Australian version of groundhog day, but instead of Punxsutawney Phil there's a man holding a lobster aloft to mark the summer season.  Happy Lobster Festival!

In which we get a chicken 'Dinner'...

Meet the newest addition to our family.  Minty has named her 'Dinah' after Alice's pet cat in Alice in Wonderland but there is some dispute over the pronunciation.  I am going with the traditional Die-na, while the kids are insisting on Dee-na and the Mr. in a state of confusion thought we had named her 'Dinner'.  She's a bantam leghorn and she lays the most delightful pure white little eggs.

On the way to pick up Dinah we visited the local markets in Jumbunna and Kongwak.  It was a gorgeous morning and we had some very yummy waffles with fresh berries.  I couldn't resist taking a photo of this epic colour blocked bookshelf.  It covers a massive wall but I didn't have a wide angle lens on my camera so you'll have to be content with this little blue corner!