In which we make a long overdue introduction and I hide the fairy trees...

Meet Lillian River, my teeny new baby niece. There is something so amazing about holding such a tiny little soul with all life's possibilities stretching out ahead. She is so cute, I just want to spread her on a piece of toast and eat her! Or kidnap her and do a photo series like this...

Speaking of eating… before I went awol I had quite a few requests for this broccoli pasta recipe.

Just a word of warning before we go any further… this is absolutely delicious so if you are trying to cut carbs or go low fat maybe just stop reading now because you may have difficultly eating this in moderation.

This is a good recipe for small (and big) people who think they don't like broccoli. Generally I try to be pretty honest about food with the kids. I let them help with the food prep (OK well Turi doesn't really help - he just stands at the door to the kitchen and nags for snacks of whatever veg I'm chopping), and we try to talk about what goes into things. But occasionally I have to flirt with my inner Jessica Seinfeld. There is something about broccoli that sends my kids into a state of sheer horror. No matter how many times I try to tell them that they are like cute little fairy trees the kids aren't buying. So this is a good compromise - it retains its delicious broccoli flavour (with some helpful additions - because seriously what veg doesn't taste amazing with the help of some butter and cream?) without the seemingly offensive broccoli shape.

Recipe from The Silver Spoon

500g broccoli (the recipe called for frozen but I used fresh)

3 tablespoons olive oil

25g butter

1 onion, chopped

4 tablespoons double cream

350g spaghetti

25g parmesan cheese freshly grated

salt and pepper

Parboil the broccoli in salted water for 10mins (I steamed mine). Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan, add the onion and cook over a low heat stirring occasionally, for 5mins until softened. Drain the broccoli, add to the frying pan and mix well. Stir in the cream and simmer gently for 10mins. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and process to a puree. Season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile cook the spaghetti, drain and toss with the broccoli and cream mixture. Sprinkle with parmesan and serve.

In which we say happy birthday and I am left unsatisfied...

Happy (belated) birthday Aunty Rae! xo

In other news… I had my high school ten year reunion yesterday. I'd have to say it was rather unsatisfying. Somewhat like a cross between a job interview and speed dating, with everyone basically circulating the room and giving a 1 minute synopsis of their life story. Mine - I've got two kids and I live on Phillip Island - somehow it says everything and nothing. With the 'Facebook' I suppose much of this is redundant given that you can take a superficial glance at people's lives whenever the whim grabs you. I came away feeling a bit like a carnivore at a vegan retreat - craving more substance. That said, it was nice to see people, especially some friends I haven't caught up with in a while.

Captain Obvious and Mr Malodorous rule the world

Just in case anyone in the house might be suffering from a case of early onset alzheimers Minty broadcasts regular public service announcements at the top of her lungs. For the most part these are purely factual, such as 'this is the lounge!', 'this is my brother!', 'I am Araminta!', 'this is my lunch!', but occasionally she injects them with a little subjectivity: 'I am a very cool dancer', 'I'm very sweet really', and my personal favourite, 'I am a big girl, and Turi is a little girl'.

Sadly I don't think Turi will remain a 'little girl' for much longer. He is what Oprah would term an 'emotional eater'. Due to my newfound prescription drug habit I had to wean Turi, a choice neither of us wanted to make. He now spends his entire day attempting to procure snacks and can often be found staring longingly into the kitchen. He eats if he's bored, he eats if he's sad, he eats if he's tired. If he sees someone else eating it sends him into a frenzy. Unfortunately this insatiable appetite has lead to some healthy bowel action… hence his new nickname.

"mum, stop telling everyone about my bowels!"

Best present ever...

Two of our friends, who both happen to be talented artists, recently gave Minty the most amazing present. A calico bag filled with all kinds of goodness - two simple wooden dolls, a hand sewn calico doll, pipe cleaners, beads, buttons, ribbons, felt, fabric scraps, goggly eyes, pompoms and sticky velcro circles. Minty has had so much fun this week dressing the dolls in fanciful costumes. We've just been using a combination of velcro, sticky tape and ribbon or pipe-cleaner ties to secure everything to the dolls so that when she's finished we can take everything off and start again. Whenever she has a free moment Minty asks me to do more 'heart work' (the mispronunciation of art somehow seems more apt so I can't bring myself to correct her).

I think Minty better watch out because I have my eye on some of the fabric for some patch-working projects!

Thanks Andrew and Carly!

In which I drop off the side of the earth and Minty learns to swear...

ouch!

I'm finding it hard to write about the past month without sounding melodramatic or like some kind of polyanna wannabe. Two prolapsed discs in my neck. To say it's been hard would be an understatement. I feel like I've been sitting on the sidelines of my life the past month watching everything pass by.

I may or may not elaborate on all of this at a later date. Frankly it's a bit stressful and depressing for me to think about. I'm still very much going through the recovery process so don't be alarmed if I'm popping back and forth from this space in the next couple of months. I'm trying to live in the moment and not to look too far ahead. Right now I'm feeling much better.

Everyone has been amazingly helpful and supportive during all of this. Thank you!

And in the interests of full disclosure… a confession. As a result of my foul language during this rough month MInty has learnt a new word… 'shit'. On the bright side, to date she has only used it as an exclamation, not a verb or noun. Hopefully both Minty's sailor mouth and my neck will soon make a full recovery.

why I hate daylight savings....

Conversation at bedtime...

Me: It's time to brush teeth and put your PJs on

Minty: But the sun hasn't gone to bed

Me: Well in the summertime the sun stays up later and so it isn't always dark when we have to go to bed

Minty: But it isn't summer it's spring

Touche Minty, touche.

conversation on the way to an MRI...

Completely unrelated picture of little Turi enjoying his cheesy toast

Me: I'm not looking forward to my trip into the tunnel of death

Mr.: just think, it will probably be a bit like sky diving

Me: you mean I'll pay vast amounts of money to face my own mortality?

Mr.: well there's that… and it will probably sound the same.

---

FYI it doesn't sound like you're sky diving. It sounds a lot more like you are a small bug caught in the middle of a dot matrix printer. And they tell you to 'try not to swallow'… for 30 minutes. My mouth was a pool of saliva and all I could think was 'don't swallow…don't swallow… try not to think about swallowing it will only make you want to swallow more… I wonder how often I normally swallow… don't think about swallowing' - you get the idea.

Anyway, still no idea what was/is actually wrong with me. My left hand mysteriously stopped working, accompanied by pins and needles that have lasted a month and varying amounts of pain in my hand, arm and neck. My hand is basically working again now so I'm just getting on with things while my doctor's surgery holds my test results hostage (don't even ask lest I go into a long rant).

I've got a stack of pictures and things to share with you from the past month so stay tuned...