Pompeii

The mountain in the background is Vesuvius. Before it exploded it was double the size it is today.

Imagine going about your every day life when half of that volcano blasted away. The 20 000 people of Pompeii stood no chance.

Barcelona

La Sagrada Familia. Sometimes you hear about something for your whole life and when you get there it is a disappointment. But not here. It was awesome in every sense of the word. There will never be enough words to describe it, or maybe just one word says it all. Gaudi. 

How to spend 5 hours wandering around with your jaw dropped the whole time? Visit La Sagrada Familia. 

Cupcakes for Cakie

The weekend was spent discussing cupcakes for Caitlyn's 21st. And for the first time I was grateful that all I have to do is another Master Chef Black Forest Cake. That's what's called getting off lightly. 

Venice

Loved Venice. This is my favourite photo because it captures Venice perfectly. Water. Gondolas. Time. 

Mum and I. Good Friday 2009.

"Your life is an occasion. Rise to it."

(Mr Magorium)

Rome - The Colosseum

It didn't matter that the sky was turning grey. Or that fine, misty rain was beginning. This was the moment I had waited for.

A Long Time

A year is a long time to miss someone. Forever is going to be even longer

Santorini

If I close my eyes I can feel the warmth of the sun on my face. I can hear the chink of cutlery on plates and of glasses being raised and drunk from. In my mind I can hear the songs that were on my iPod on that day.

And I can't believe I could take photos that look like postcards.

Father's Day

Oh yeah. Happy Father's Day. Bit of a nothing day when there is no father in your world. Just makes me miss my Dad more. 

The mango ....

Soon it will be summer. And that most perfect of all fruits - the mango - will be cheap, ripe and readily available. 

Right now that other almost perfect fruit, interestingly enough called the mangosteen, is available. Yes, it may have the texture of the snot of 1000 camels but get past that and the taste is divine. 

And here's the big secret ... the camel snot thing is really only to stop BMan from eating the mangosteens. 

Lemonade Scones

Who wants to spend their life rubbing butter into flour? That's what traditional scones would have you do. Lemonade scones are far too simple...

4 cups self raising flour

300 ml cream

1 can lemonade

Sift flour into a bowl. Make a well in the middle. Pour in the cream. Pour in about 3/4 of the lemonade. Mix together. Does it resemble dough? If yes, then turn out onto a floured board. If no, then add a bit more lemonade until it does. Sort of pat the dough out and cut the scones.

Now the ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL information for scone making is this .... always cut your scones as high as you want them to finish. If they rise a bit in the oven - great. If not then you have perfect scones anyway. This goes for all scones, even the ones without lemonade.

For savoury scones, use soda water instead of lemonade. Add grated cheese, bacon bits, chives or other yummy things.

What was I thinking????

Halfway through making the Master Chef black forest cake and I am tired and have sore feet. I started it at 1 o'clock and it is now 4:15. Still have the hazelnut praline mousse to make and then it will be time for construction. I am not sure how I am going to cut the layers but we will cross that bridge when we get there. 

Probably shouldn't have gardened and done this on the same day!

And it is only a trial run.  

The God of Small Things

The God of Small Things by Arundati Roy is one of my favourite books. It takes some time to "get into" but is worth persevering with. The writing is beautiful and you spend the whole book wondering where it's going to take you. Then when it gets there you really didn't expect it, or expect to feel so moved by it. 

"As Estha stirred the thick jam he thought Two Thoughts and the Two Thoughts he thought were these: 
a) Anything can happen to anyone. 
and 
b) It is best to be prepared."