Today I have added 4 new sites to my Blogroll. The reasons for doing this is as follows:
1) I am updating my site with a few small but significant changes
2) I have been using Entrecard to drop cards on others’ blogs & these are a select few of my favourites that I enjoy on a regular basis
3) I would like to share these sites with others.
Over time I will add more of my favourite blogging sites. It does not matter whether they are Entrecard users or not. If I find it an interesting site & it makes me come back often for a read, then it will be added.
Here are the 4 new featured sites on my Blogroll, which you can find on the right hand side panel of my site.
THANK YOU to each & every one of you for the efforts you put into your blogs each day. Your hard work brings joy to my day & offers me challenges, advice & topics of conversation to enjoy with others.
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A couple of days have now passed since my Birthday. After turning 30 I became well aware that the years just pass with nothing anyone can do about it. It does make me sad that we cannot turn back time however it has taught me that I need to make the most of it while I can.
My 2 nieces H & L had spent the week with us since Monday as it was School Holidays.
My family from Sydney & family from Batemans Bay spent the day (& in fact overnight) with me as well as everyone here in the home. It was a wonderful way to spend the day & we ended it with a little Finger Food party with home made foods & Birthday cake to celebrate. I got lots of lovely presents & feel very spoilt indeed.
On Friday being ANZAC Day, a group of 8 of us went Tenpin Bowling. A good chance for SK & myself to get some practice in & for the family to do an activity together. My mother, who celebrated her 70th Bday in Feb bowled her very first game of Tenpin Bowling! As she is fairly frail, we used the gutter bumpers for her & she started off pushing a 6 pound ball from the Ball Rail. However by mid game first game she was in fact bowling the ball with two hands by herself & no rail to assist! She ended up playing 3 games all up & on her last game bowled the last 2 frames with a 10 pound ball! Do you believe she even got a strike!!!! We were all very happy & so proud of her. Standing a mere 4ft8, she was a treat to watch. My eldest niece H was her greatest help. She guided her up to the lane & handed her the ball each turn. I know that Little Nanna (mum) enjoyed every second of it. I was the proudest Aunty in the whole universe 
My Brothers & my sister in law enjoyed playing too, as well as my niece L. H & L had in fact already bowled the same week as SK, Mum T & myself took them on Tuesday evening to play. My Sister In Law D had never bowled before either, so it was also a treat for her. Both of my Brothers had played League many moons ago & has been a long time since either of the 2 had picked up a ball or shot at the pins. I couldn’t have been more happier than to see everyone enjoy themselves as much as they did.
It seems this may become a popular outing when the family is visiting. There aren’t any alleys close to my Bro K in Batemans Bay which means they don’t even have the opportunity to go bowl a few games anyway.
Today SK, Mum T & myself ventured north to Corrimal for a few games at Northern Bowl. I hated almost every second of it! I think I have become accustomed to playing at Shellharbour Bowl & I swear my allegiance to them after the feelings I went through bowling elsewhere. I just could not get a grip on myself! I literally felt like I was going to pass out with sweats, shakes & giddiness. I know I sound rather silly, but I just felt so out of my comfort zone. I know this is something I need to get used to if i’m going to play elsewhere for any reason. I just cannot explain what came over me. I put some of it down to the mug of hot gritty sugar drink they called Hot Chocolate which I managed to gulp only half of it down before retiring it. Then followed it up with a Chicken & Gravy roll, which was basically the stickiest, thickest goop of salt i’ve ever swallowed in my life. Knowing how much money was wasted on this stuff, I decided it was best to eat it rather than throw it out. By the time I was finished, my hands were sticky & slippery at the same time & kept sliding out of the ball as I was on the swing of my turn. I was also so thirsty that I believed I was going to die without a drink. Although as I have no money these days, I felt guilty asking for yet more to drink. However as it was, I was on the brunt end of a “Coke Frame” so SK took the initiative to go buy the round of cold drinks for us all. Thankfully for him I left Corrimal in a decent state of mind. LOL
So all in all, it has been a busy past few days. But now things have settled back down to everyday living & I am to find things to do with myself during the days as the job hunting continues at a slow & sad pace.
I am another year older. Not sure if I am that much wiser, but what I do know is…. There’s no place like home. I LOVE SHELLHARBOUR BOWL!!!!
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Bowling in any form has existed for thousands of centuries, however the world of Ten Pin Bowling as we know it, has existed for well over a century.
It comes & goes in cycles of popularity to the social bowler. Usually finding a few years at a time of popularity, then a slump of quiet times, until it becomes fashionable or “cool” again. These “kids” will probably find that the game they enjoyed as a child is just as fun when they take their own children to experience the game. As long as there is an alley nearby.
Then you have your serious Bowler. This can start at League level right up to Tournament & Professional players. Year after year of bowling and in the most part, still enjoying it. This player will take on a more serious tone with their game & is usually brutally harsh on themselves when playing a lesser-than-great game. Afterall, their years of playing should reflect in the game they play. They also spend a huge amount on travelling across the state/country to play against others & indeed cannot afford to play under their own average.
On a personal note, I have just joined up a League which starts in May with my Fiance ShadowKnight. The Wednesday Warriors at Shellharbour Bowl, which awards us with our own Bowling Ball at the end of the season.
SK owns all his own gear & has had many years experience playing Leagues & Tournaments. Though he has been off the scene for a few years now.
My experience is less than a handful of games throughout my 30 years of existence. All of which have had many years separate them until recently. In the last week I have played 5 games. The first 2 games were last Saturday evening & the following 3 were last Wednesday evening. We turned up on Wed. expecting our first game of League to find that the dates were confused (on staff behalf) & that we were a few weeks early! However the wonderfully friendly staff offered us to play that evening at the League rate of $5 per game…. per person! Considering there was an extra person with us who has not signed up for League, I believe they were extremely generous & apologetic for their oversight. Even without the price reduction, we were happy to wait for League to start in May & were going to stay for a few games anyway!
So here are my stats of my first 5 games:
GAME 1: 92 - a spare in the 2nd & 9th frames
GAME 2: 73 - with a strike in the 6th frame, double gutters in the 7th frame then a strike in the 8th frame
GAME 3: 94 - with double gutters 1st AND 2nd frame, strike in the 7th, spares in the 9th & 10th frames
GAME 4: 130 - with spares in the 1st, 4th & 7th then double strike in the 10th frame (!!)
GAME 5: 119 - with a spare in the 2nd, strike in 3rd & spares in the 6th & 9th frames.
I am pretty pleased with myself & the assistance SK offered me was worth its weight in gold. He advised me after watching me bowl a couple of frames in our 3rd game & you can almost see the difference it made (Our first 2 games were for fun & a feel of the alley).
With the school holidays upon us, my 2 nieces H & L are staying with us for the next week & are looking forward to going for a game or two. I’m not sure what day we will head out to play but I am anxious to pickup my own set of Bowling shoes which are due to be in store Tuesday & I will receive from SK on Thursday as my Birthday present! I am very excited & can’t wait to try them out!
So I will keep updating the site with my scores etc as time goes by. Hopefully I will improve with practice & learn a few tricks of the trade so to speak.
I’d love to hear from you guys your thoughts, opinions & advice. Please leave a story of a fav Bowling memory or just a comment would be appreciated.
Finally i’ve added a vid for inspiration to all….
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When your feeling down the best Pick-Me-Up has to be humour. Good fun clean humour.
I was sent this clip in an email many years ago & have often referred to it for a giggle.
I am getting ready to go Ten Pin Bowling with SK. We have joined a league with Shellharbour Bowl & even though SK has experience playing both league & tournament in W.A. for years, this is my first experience outside of a social game with family &/or friends. I am very excited & a little nervous as I get embarrassed easy at my poor *ahem* ball skills. However whilst waiting for dinner to finish cooking & before we go out, I decided to hop online & find the video to keep my spirits high. Here I share this video with you guys.
Hope it gives you as much enjoyment as it has me in the past, the present & I’m sure well into the future :o)
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I have been a Madonna fan since my pre-teens. Ever since I heard Like A Virgin & Material Girl get played repeatedly at The Sydney Royal Easter Show when it was still at Moore Park!
One (amongst many) of my favourite songs is Don’t Tell Me.
I am including 2 YouTube videos of this song for you to view. The original & an unplugged version from the David Letterman show.
Don’t forget to leave me a comment. Please enjoy!
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As is custom in my family, we made the annual trip to the Sydney Easter Show last Sunday. The day was also marked by my Brother’s (Maddoggie) 49th Birthday.
Because we moved further south, our day began by leaving home a little after 6am. ShadowKnight, Duff, Mum T, Dad T & myself travelled up in 2 vehicles. We stopped along the way for Maccas Brekky before arriving at Maddoggie’s house in Sydney. My 2 nieces were awaiting us & were quite excited about the day ahead. We did the presents then headed off to Homebush.
We started out our day once arriving at the Show similar to years before. We immediately headed off to rent a couple of lockers (This year we had 4 large lockers) then head into the Showbag Pavilion. We waited a few minutes for the crowd to roll into the building once the doors were open, then shot straight in. There wasn’t many people to have to mingle with which was fantastic. We got all our Showbag purchases done & immediately took them to the lockers to hide them away till the end of the evening.
From there we decided this year to hit the rides next. We played a few sideshow games trying to win an Elmo. No such luck! My nieces H & L went on a few rides with each other which pleased me & made me extremely proud of them! They tried a couple of new rides & were also quite pleased with themselves. They went on a couple of rides they were familiar with then finally talked me into going on the Ferris Wheel with them. This seems to have become a custom of ours as for the past 3-4 years we have done this as the last of the rides for the year. I am somewhat afraid of heights & really don’t enjoy rides at all so to do this each year gets my adrenalin pumping & the hands sweating!
We wondered off in different directions after this. Maddoggie, H & L went to see the animal pavilions & wonder about together. The rest of us headed into the Fresh Food Dome to check out the Art, Craft & Baking competitions, then into the Agriculture section. We find this each year to be one of the busiest areas no matter what time of day you hit it. This year we actually had room to breathe in the crowds which was a nice change of pace. However we did have to walk single file a few times & keep an eye out for each other. Our group of 5 split as well & SK & I wondered around looking at the things we enjoy the most. Again as is custom, we found the Chilli Factory stand & bought a Showbag deal. We chose 5 different sauces & chutneys which SK will enjoy over the year. We actually passed up the Mourish Nuts stand, which we normally buy from each year. However we did sought after a Honey stall. After coming across the 2 we found last year, we decided upon buying a $19 Showbag from Clayridge Farm. Inside the bag is 1 jar of Honey, 1 jar of Creamed Honey, 1 Lip Balm, 1 Honey Dipper & 1 bottle of BuzzMe Honey Drink. We purchased an extra bottle of drink so SK & I had one each. We quite enjoyed it last year so were happy to get it again this year. We found out Clayridge actually sell Online & have offered Free Delivery for orders over $20 Aus wide (except W.A). this has delighted me as it doesn’t take long to order over $20 worth of items once you check out their range. Upon seeing their website, they also sell Lavender products which delights me to no end!
Afterwards we met back up with the rest of the crew & headed into the Main Arena to get seating for the evening & have a few bites to eat.
The evening show was awesome with one of the biggest Fireworks displays i’ve seen there yet! The entertainment is thrilling for young & old, with continual action right into the night. We left at the end of the Show to drop off the Sydney-siders to their homes, then travelled on South before arriving home not much before midnight. We quickly went through our bags, chatted about the day in general then hit the sack.
It was again a fantastic day with no regret at how much we actually spent on the day. It’s a once a year event & we expect to “waste” money on the day. Many people prefer to spend as little as possible & though we prefer to do the same, we know that our day at the Show is enjoyed without a second thought given to the loss of money. We don’t go too overboard & this year spent a little less than normally expected. So we are indeed happy with ourselves & look forward to next year’s Show already!
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SK loves his mum’s cooked tripe. Frankly I think the smell of it cooking is disgusting & makes me want to leave home whilst it cooks.
My Father was quite fond of tripe too. So I have not been able to escape it my whole life.
I came across this vid on YouTube this morning. Gordon Ramsay puts a new modern twist on tripe in order to bring it back to the dinner table.
Willing to give it a taste test??
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Have you ever heard of a Turdurkin????
I came across this item this morning whilst scouring the net for yet more recipes & ideas. I am cooking a Lamb Backstrap tonight & even though I have a good idea how I am going to do it (as it is my first attempt), I was looking around for a little more.. inspiration? I am confident it will be nice, as I am with all of my cooking. However sometimes I enjoy reading recipes even if it is for just one piece of advice or to add something to my already existing recipe.
So as Google is in fact my friend, I came across this product from The Meat Boutique which is situated in Ryde, Sydney. They do home deliver apparently across the country so I am interested in comparing what they have compared to my local Butcher. however you can always order online then pick up from their location.
This Turdurkin is in fact….. wait for it…. a Chicken inside a Duck inside a Turkey! It is cooked in a long slow oven of 4hrs@160 & costs $125. I am considering this to be a wonderful Christmas feast as all these meats featured on our table last year. SK advises me Easter Sunday is indeed approaching. LOL!
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Recently I cooked a seafood dinner for ShadowKnight & myself. We started with Wok Cooked Fragrant Mussels made famous by Jamie Oliver. Then followed it with Smashed Potatoes & whole baked Lemon Sole. The fish was marinated in similar flavours to the mussels minus the Lime Juice & Coconut milk. The mussels were my favourite & I am definately making this on Good Friday for those of our family that DO eat seafood. It was absolutely devine! I have made the recipe available for those of you who would like to give it a try. Please enjoy!
Ingredients
2kg / 4½ lb best live Mussels
Olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
3 sticks of Lemon grass, outer leaves removed, finely sliced
2 fresh chillies, red, green or both
3 tablespoons finely sliced ginger
2 handfuls of fresh coriander, pounded or finely chopped
1 tablespoons sesame oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 Spring onions
Juice of 3 limes
1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk Place your mussels with a couple of lugs of olive oil in a large, very hot wok or pot. Shake around and add the rest of the ingredients, apart from the lime juice and coconut milk. Keep turning over until all the mussels have opened - throw away any that remain closed. Squeeze in your lime juice and add your coconut milk. Bring to the boil and serve immediately.
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Over the past few weeks our household has religously watched Hell’s Kitchen 2 on Austar. This has turned into a bit of an obsession for SK & myself, watching Hell’s Kitchen, The F Word & Kitchen Nightmares episodes on YouTube in bed before sleep.
I don’t know what we are going to do when we have watched everything available as nothing else compares!
Gordon Ramsey is an offensive, insulting man. However, he also knows his shit. I am a weakling emotionally & there is no way known to man I would survive under his pressure. I think those that have come before him are extremely brave & should be commended for getting through it alive.
There is a lot to be learnt from Gordon & those that can take his insults on the chin will come out with a wealth of knowledge.
Here I’ve added a YouTube video of my all time favourite “Ramsey Rant”. This has become a constant call in our house.
What do you think?
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