Summer Holiday Break

On our drive home from school today Master Six and I were discussing the upcoming School Holidays and what things he would love to do during his first Summer Holiday Break from Big School...

Master Six (Master Five then) at Port Noarlunga Beach
January 2015

Yes I will be working over the Holidays 😥but on our days off together, I really would love to do things that will challenge him but also a bunch of things he really wants to do!
These are his thoughts on activities he wants to do:
1. Paper Planes

Master Six flying Paper Planes

• Watch the movie again - a bit favourite in our house
• Research how to make paper planes
• See how far we managed to fly them

2. Do some experiments with water, string and bottles... I wonder what that may entaile!

3. Learn how to make a movie, post it on youtube and manage a youtube account... Something he has wanted to do for a long time... It's about time we try and learn how to make a film or two, or he will nag us to death....

4. Go to the movies, below is a list of the potentials films we may see...

us at the Drive-ins in June 2016

• Moana
• Trolls
• Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life

Here is my list I would love to work on:
1. I want to do some cooking with Master Six and get him eating. Below are some recipes I like to try:

toffee apples... hmmm yum

• pinwheels
• pizza
• tacos
• homemade ice cream 
• microwave brownies or cake
• biscuits
• cupcakes
• cold rolls
• toffee apples
• vegemite or cheese scrolls

2. Knock off some of the items of the 25 things to do in summer list

Master Six busting his pool...

3. Make Sensory Bottles or an Exploding Volcano

How to make sensory bottles

4. Spend lazy days and nights at the beach with my family

Hubby and Master Six on a hot summer evening having fun at West Beach
February 2015

5. Spend a hot day exploring Ice Sensory Play

Ice Sensory Play

I hope you have enjoyed my post and stay tune to see what we get upto during this Summer Holiday Break

thanks for popping by again

Cheers

Gloria ~xo

25 things to do in summer

Summer is just around the corner (tomorrow) and I can't wait till the weather get warmer and I can hit the beach in the early morning or late evening with my Hubby and Master Six...

To help the Egg Turners get outdoors we will be working through  Nature Play SA 25 Things to do in Summer List over the 13 weeks of summer.

Normanville December 2012

1. Explore a reef or rockpool and see how many sea creatures you can spot!
2. Enjoy a picnic by a river or under the shade of a tree
3. Pick your own summer fruit at an orchard, farm, or in a backyard
4. Get up early and go for a bushwalk, listening and spotting wildlife along your way!
5. Make a nature craft decoration to hang from the Christmas tree
6. Make a sand sculpture and decorate it with natural treasures
7. Boogeyboard or bodysurf on a wave – see if you can spot any dolphins!
8. Visit a Nature Play SA Park of the Month
9. Play frisbee at the beach or in a park
10. Watch the sunrise or sunset at a natural place
11. Go fishing or yabbying
12. Plant a summer garden or pot plant (try strawberries, lettuce and cucumbers!)
13. Kayak or stand-up-paddleboard on a river, lake or the sea
14. Do the ‘cockle twist’ along a sandy shore – feel the waves lap against your feet, find the cockles with your toes, then see if you can scoop them up! 
15. Go camping and look up at the night sky (head somewhere wild or pitch a tent in your own backyard!)
16. Create a summer nature play journal to record your adventures and natural finds
17. Scrunch dry leaves, bark, or seedpods in your hands and listen to the sounds they make
18. Water your summer garden first thing in the morning or as the sunsets – what changes can you notice from the day before?
19. Snorkel at the beach and see what lies beneath the surface!
20. Create a nature bracelet - loosely wrap a strip of masking tape around your wrist (sticky-side out) and attach things like flowers, leaves and grass from the garden
21. Discover the world at dusk! Head out for a walk with your family, and see what you can discover as day turns to night!
22. Find 10 different coloured shells or leaves
23. Run through a sprinkler without getting wet - or get totally wet on a slip and slide!
24. Go on an outdoor adventure with your family over the weekend – can you find a new natural place to explore?
25. Make homemade iceblocks or lemonade and enjoy them outside on a hot day!

Come back from time to time to see the list being updated or look for the hashtags #eggturnersnatureplaysa #eggturnersoutdoors

Thanks again for stopping by

Cheers

Gloria ~xo

screen stage sounds stories style and sketches: the dressmaker movie review

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Movie Overview: Based on the best-selling novel by Rosalie Ham, The Dressmaker is a bittersweet, comedy-drama set in early 1950s Australia. Tilly Dunnage (played by Kate Winslet, a beautiful and talented misfit, who after many years working as a dressmaker in exclusive Parisian fashion houses, returns home to the tiny middle-of-nowhere town of Dungatar to right the wrongs of the past. Not only does she reconcile with her ailing, eccentric mother Molly (played Judy Davis) and unexpectedly falls in love with the pure-hearted Teddy (played by Liam Hemsworth), but armed with her sewing machine and incredible sense of style, she transforms the women of the town and in doing so gets sweet revenge on those who did her wrong...

My thoughts: Let me qualify that I have not read the book and had no idea until I grabbed the movie that it's based on a book... Something I will have the grab and put on my 2017 reading list...

This is a movie I wanted to see when it was in the cinema, but not being a big budget over the top shoot em up film I never got a chance... Hubby doesn't believe in seeing "movies you can watch on the tv at the big screen". So I only got the chance to watch it over the weekend, finally but mainly because I am dying to see The Dressmaker Costume Exhibition. Note: that is just about to close, in just over a week... And wanted to see the movie well before I saw the exhibition!

I loved the film and the beautiful costumes set against the rural backdrop was amazing... It had a Dior feel about it, imagine 1947 when he launched his New Look (just two years after the second world war ended, I think). Christian Dior at the time was telling women it was time to get rid of the ugly gloomy uniforms and/or rags, which many women were still wearing due to the war restrictions on fabrics and fibers... Woman across Europe, England, Australia and the States ran out to get their hands on Dior's New Look or knock offs - not unlike the women in this small town transforming themselves through high fashion made by Tilly...

Before I get into the nuts and bolts of my review, I will say the movie is apparently a comedy - drama however I feel it had more of a shakespearean comedy tragedy feel to it... Tilly's life is so complex and there are so many shades of grey and black that at times you can miss the comedy in there unless you get the subtle references, somewhat a black comedy in my opinion.

As I have said the movie is set in a small country town known as Dungatar in rural Australia in the early 1950s. The beginning of the film shows a woman leaving a beautiful steam train in the middle of the night with her Singer sewing machine... I just loved the scene and had sewing machine envy at that moment - nothing like an old Singer to get your heart racing... And then you see this perfectly manicured woman light up a cigarette saying "I'm back, you bastards",  at that moment I thought, yes! we are in for a ride...

The film weaves wonderful flashbacks to a younger Tilly as she tries to understand what she did to the towns folks to hate her so much and why they had her removed from the town at 10 years old... As each memory comes flooding back she tries to come to terms with the fact that she is indeed a 'murderess'... 

One of the key characters is Tilly's love interest Teddy... Strong, lovable and that body, thank God for the Hemsworth Boys... Amen sisters! And those magic words he utters... "I reckon you'll make some bloke pretty happy" and "I'll keep you safe" would make any woman swoon and run into his arms, but not our heroine Tilly. Teddy has to work hard to win her heart... But their budding romance is magical...

Notable cast members for me are Judy Davis - she never disappoints as the mentally unstable alcoholic mother to Tilly, loving known by the town as Mad Molly... I love her transformation during the film from the mother who needs her daughters help to helping her daughter find the strength to overcome her complex past.

And then there is Hugo Weavings as the closet cross-dressing police sergeant Horatio Farrat. At times he steals the scene... Two scenes in particular. The first of him opening a box of fine fabrics and trims is priceless. The second where he is in front of the tree of mirrors... Something I don't believe any country copper I have ever met would partake in... But who knows, I have never lived in a community this close knit!

The film itself is beautifully shot and I love the juxtaposition of high fashion set against the rural country town... It adds colour to the dullness of the town and all its hidden secrets which do unravel like a cheap piece of woven fabric during the film...

As I said earlier I haven't read the book so I have no idea if it stay true to the book but the script is wonderfully written and the acting is amazing and fabulous... The film had me laughing one moment and in tears the next - I did enjoy it thoroughly, just wished I saw it earlier...

Hope you enjoyed my review and thanks for stopping by

Cheers

Gloria 

Baked Honey Mustard Chicken

we all have a few recipes as our go to when we can't be bother cooking or eating but we need something... one of mine is Baked Honey Mustard Chicken - I think I found this in an woman weekly book/magazine or something like that. But honestly I have no totally forgot where, as I have been cooking this for about 15 years... but I have adding things to it and modify it a little to our tastes...

I hope you like it!

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 cup wholegrain mustard
• 2 Tbsp dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp mustard powder
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 tsp olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees
2. In a bowl mix together wholegrain mustard, dijon mustard, mustard powder, honey and 2 tsp olive oil
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. In a frying pan, heat remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute 3 minutes then add garlic and saute 30 seconds longer
   
4. Put the onion and garlic mix into a baking dish and spread into an even layer
5. Season your chicken breast with salt and pepper on both sides, then set chicken over onion layer in baking dish
   
6. Pour mustard mixture over chicken breast evenly
   
7. Cover the dish with foil. Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes then uncover and bake until chicken has cooked through, about around 15 minutes longer
   
8. Serve warm with rice and veggies, and don't forget to spoon over sauce over chicken
   

Fairy Bread Day 24th November

Fairy Bread Day is apparently a thing (the facebook link)

And something we all need to get on board with...

In less than 24 hours it is going to be the day, the day we indulgence with this awesome party food... And I will be celebrating with hundreds and thousands all over place!

for those who have no idea what I am talking about, no Aussie Party is complete without this dish

So here is the recipe

Ingredients:

• sliced fresh white bread
• margarine
• hundreds and thousands

Method:

1. spread the margarine all over the sliced white bread
2. sprinkle the hundreds and thousands over bread slices
3. cut into triangles
4. serve, eat and enjoy

I hope you enjoy Fairy Bread Day

Cheers

Gloria ~xo~

watching the EGG Turner House of Fun come down: day 4

Day Four 10 November: A whole lot of work going on...

Master six had a half day at school today so we got to hang out at the block to watch what was going on... By the time we got there the garage and front half of the granny flat was gone!

But the day before the water main burst and the demolishers were still waiting for SA Water to shut it off!

 the digger is digging a bigger hole for the SA Water Guys to fix the burst water main

The water is now like a fountain

SA water have fixed the problem and now the digger is moving the rubble around into piles

Thanks for popping by again

Gloria ~xo~

our journey moving houses

just to get you familiar with my family a bit more, we are affectionately known as the EGG Turners...

you would have seen my first post the EGG Turners House of Fun comes down... the first three days... this is about the chaos of the move out of the EGG Turners House of Fun!

well in January this year we decided that we needed a bigger home and really want to think about building our dream home... after months of looking at display homes and designing our new home its come to a head... we had to move our of our home of 14 years (Glenn and I rented our home prior to buying it) the last few weeks / month and a half has been hard... we have packed up our two bedroom, garage and granny flat and moved to the next suburb. At times I think we were going to lose our minds or kill each other... It's so true that this is one of the most stressful events in your life, I can concur! However the end result hopefully in September 2017 is going to be so amazing, we will laugh about the stress, the screaming, the tears and the chaos that was the move...

Last moments at old house

now the Egg Turners have been living in chaos and mostly still in and out of boxes.... for me its the little things like not knowing where the hell the can opener ended up!!!

boxes...

more boxes...

but all in all not too bad...
we are trying to get back into a normal rhythm or routine, it's been hard especially on the days I don't work as they are so consumed with the build - paying bills for the demolish, the abolishments of gas and electricty and trying to work out who hasn't sent us their finish bills for the old house and what are the new bills for our rental... while hoping that this stage goes well and we sell the half of our block thats up for sale that is funding our build...

half the block is for sale

but one thing I just want my craft room set up so I can just get in there and scrap, make cards and all the pretty papercraft things I love to make!

Talk soon

thanks for your time

Gloria xo

watching the EGG Turner House of Fun come down: the first three days

in little over a week we watching our little home come down... some days the demolishers worked fast and others not so fast because of the weather, the trucks being busy on other sites and an unforeseen accident with the water meter bursting

Day One 7 November: the roof and inside was gutted

Day Two 8 November: the Pepper Tree and the front of the house is gone

Day Three 9 November: the back of the house except for the lean to has been knocked down

silly face selfie 

this was our house

Even though this was extremely exciting it was also so sad watching your home of 14 years come down... Glenn, Master 6 and I have had many big life changing moments happen here... It's where we feel in love, started our little family, it was Master 6 first home it's where he first rolled and crawled and the list goes on... There was a lot of tears and hugs this week.

But the next chapter is going to be amazing

Thanks for popping by

Gloria ~xo~