59/365 Jungle Juice

Get your juice on!

58/365 Strawberry Secrets

Hiding around the other side of the strawberry pot... dessert! 

57/365 Beach Bums

My view across the water from Coolangatta to the high-rises of Surfers Paradise this morning. 

The best bit? The good man by my side :) T flew back from Singapore this morning. Hooray!! #daddyishome

56/365 The Grandma Adventures!

Hello! Today's special #photoaday2014 deserves two photos :)

My very own mama, here in trademark purple, and her partner Susan - aka. The Grandmas - are about to head off on some grand adventures around Australia. 

Hug and I popped in for a visit tonight and I snapped a few photos. 

Posed by the door of their lovely big house which has been all packed up...

And - with their new home!! (Can you tell they're excited?!). They've done a brilliant job kitting out their campervan, and now the travelling starts.

We are going to miss them SO much but think they are the coolest. #4sleepstogo!

River Run

Hug and Tulsi weren't the only ones having fun today. 

While the big kids were attending their Film-making for Kids workshop this morning, L and his friend Jyoti were making the most of the low tide on the Brunswick river, finding crab nippers, building sand computers, recreating Wet-and-Wild in the playground in a sudden heavy downpour and basically having a ball. Imaginative play is their forte. Happy days. 

Friendship

As promised.  Aren't these two lovely. 

55/365 Tulsi

My favourite photo of the day. 

I so loved photographing the kids today... I have to do a whole post I think :)

54/365 Blessed

On my way back from the airport I had to stop for this beautiful sunset. Feeling so blessed to live in such a naturally beautiful place and so happy to be back with my babies now! I reallllly missed them. #love.

53/365 Reunited

Flying down to Sydney this weekend meant I not only got to see my best friend after six months away and celebrate her 40th birthday with her (hopefully she will agree to have some party photos feature on the blog) but I also got to finally see my doggy!!! 

Claire has been looking after Boston for the whole time we've been travelling. She's the best surrogate dog-mama ever :) I love these two.

It was very hard to leave him today but Lovely and Hug can't wait til they get to come visit next week and then he'll be home with us by the end of March. Hooray! 

p.s. Boston has his very own facebook page! The Adventures of Boston Bosley. Give him some lurve. And if you're not already following the Rainbow Mama FB page please swing past there and LIKE it too. x 

52/365 Airborne

It just happens to be my best-friend's 40th birthday party this weekend :)

So the boys are staying with their grandparents - lucky ducks - and I'm up-up-and-away!! 

Sydney here I come...

51/365 Singing In The Rain

Nothing like a heavy downpour to get L out and performing!

50/365 Byron Dreaming

Wednesday afternoon dune fun. 

49/365 Surprise Tooth Fairy Visit

Hug had an unexpected soirée with the tooth fairy!

Sudden onset toothache = Emergency dental appointment = Tooth extracted. Really?! We weren't expecting that! But apparently it was a tooth due to fall out at 10 anyway. And, having had to watch his brother loose a few recently he was rather pleased to cash in this baby :)

Interestingly the tooth fairy seems to pay more when teeth fall out at Nan's house...

48/365 Concentration

School today was week 1 of a kid's filmmaking class for Hug and some serious paper plane folding / berry frappe drinking / cafe sandpit chasies for Master 8 and his friend J :) 

Top and tailed with math sessions and an evening at Scouts. #lifeinmotion

47/365 Let's Bounce

L has been practicing his tennis ball/racket bouncing skills since we arrived here. He's up to something like 412 without a single drop! It seems to be the perfect combination of physical activity and mental stimulation (lots of counting) for his busy brain.

46/365 Eat

Dreamy-creamy gluten-free fettuccine with pan-fried salmon and zucchini (it rhymes! err, sort of).

This was my go-to meal when we were staying in (I WANT to say "living in" - hee-hee;) Paris. It's super-easy, delicious and the entire family loved it so they were happy to see it resurrected back home. I'm rather random in the kitchen. I might google something to get a general idea but then I freewheel it... which is great - until you want to cook it again! Lol.

But this is what I did last night:

* Gently panfry your salmon fillets (I bought mine fresh, pre-boned and skinless but the skin is yummy too) in a tablespoon of butter. I used 2 fillets or a little over 500g for 6 people. Turn as you go.

* Boil a pot of water, adding your pasta of choice when it's ready. Cook as directed. We used the San-Remo gluten-free fettuccine last night but Hug tells me that I was using Penne in Paris. Who knew?! ;) Oh, and it obviously doesn't need to be gluten free. 

* Remove your salmon from the heat when the centre of the fillets is still a little pink and set aside, leaving the butter in the pan.

* Add a couple of fat-sliced zucchinis to the pan. The secret here is the butter that is now all salmon-y and yum but add some chopped garlic and plenty of salt too. Cook these babies until they're golden and seared (I like the almost black around the edges but only do that if you like that BBQ-esque touch). Remove from pan.

* I actually forgot this step but its nice to softly-fry a red onion to kick-off the sauce. I served it raw on the side instead which was a nice touch for a Summer meal.

* Next up is the sauce (same pan): 1 carton of thickened cream, bring to a light boil and add pesto to taste. Let it thicken a little and then remove from heat. Season as needed. Flake and add the salmon. 

* Hopefully your pasta is magically ready about the same time! Drain and stir in prepared sauce. 

* Voila! Serve with fresh cherry tomatoes and basil. Roast the cherry tomatoes if you're cooking it in Winter. Yum. Hug refuses to eat zucchini (madness!) so I serve it separately and the rest of us zucchini-lovers can pile it up on top of our own. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of this yumminess. Maybe I can add a pic next time. 

What are your fave go-to meals? x

45/365 My Funny Valentine

Champagne on the beach with my funny Valentine. February 14 2014.

44/365 Everyday

Everyday life sits by the door. 

43/365 Smile

There's not much about a hot-chocolate-inspired milk mustache that doesn't make me smile almost as brightly as this :)

(And I got Hug to agree to a photo. Hooray!)

42/365 Yogi Junior

Reflected. 

Santos health foods. Byron Bay. 

41/365 Hop to It!

I have spied these gorgeous wild rabbits out the front of my in-law's house before. But it's always a thrill! They're rather shy so I had to lie in the grass myself to capture these images. Late afternoon sunshine. Cotton-tailed bunny-bliss. x

40/365 Organic

I have missed juicing. 

That's one thing that is tricky to do on your road (unless you happen to stay somewhere with a proper juicer and we were never THAT lucky!). We did travel with a stick blender - #love - which added an extra kilo in weight (controversial packing decision :) but meant that we could make our own smoothies, dips, soups. And froth hot milk for coffee. Most of the important things :) just not juice.

So, I'm relishing the opportunity now.

39/365 Byron Blue

Saturday. Looking out to Julian Rocks. Clarke's Beach, Byron Bay.

38/365 The Little Details

Coffee, sunshine, hibiscuses (hibisci?) and school work at the Poinciana Cafe. Mullumbimby. 

It's nice to be back.

37/365 Paddington Gourmet 

Tonight's dinner will be courtesy of Paddington Bear. Of course.

36/365 Baby MasterChef

"More garnish Papa!"

My brother and his partner are both über talented chefs. It looks like my lucky little nephew is already following in his parents footsteps. Hashtag yum.

35/365 Millie

I'm too tired to choose just one photo tonight. So, here's two.

Meet Millie. We're her official dogsitters this week!

34/365 Midnight Rose

Okay, not midnight ;) but I did leave today's photo a little late! 

33/365 Splash!

Official Australian Summer fun :)

32/365 Sing

Saturday night on the streets of Byron Bay. Kyle Lionheart is one talented young man.