I have a MOUSE in MY house!!!!

I was at the computer LATE on Friday night, playing games - as you do (my excuse is that it is staving off alzheimers, heh, heh), when I thought I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I was zooming on the game which is timed so only cast a quick glance, and then another movement (as I was reloading the game) before the fattest mouse I have seen in a long time ran across the floor and dashed behind the couch again. The next morning I found visiting cards on top of the washing machine AND the kitchen table which is really my office table!!!!! So, all food stuffs are nailed down, in containers or put away, as not only but also, I am experiencing an ant infestation of biblical proportions.

Last night when I had assumed the position again and was merrily typing away, the mouse not only made several movements, poking its nose out from behind the lounge wall but only dashed back when I hissed at it. Today, it shot across the kitchen floor under the bench, possibly into the laundry!!! I had a thought tonight - maybe it's fat because it is a pregnant mouse!! Hopefully after my next trip to town to get bait and steel wool to block any hole I can find in the place, it will soon be an ex mouse.

Last Sunday when the girls and I went into Geralton, I decided to try and catch a photo of a seagull on the wing. There was me lying on the grass on my back, while the girls threw bread obligingly to encourage the birds for my photo shoot. Most of them merely hopped over, and it was with nervous trepidation that I lay there looking up in case they might unload their previous meal, lol. The photos below are two with birds actually in the frame. I did get a good amount of experimental shots of the sky, grass etc which have since been deleted, heh, heh.



I knew I should have taken the camera to town with me on Wednesday last week as right in the middle of the road not far from school was sat a kangaroo and it would have been good to get a shot of one in situ. There are several kangaroos about on site at the moment - I have seen two as I have driven home in the evening which has been a bit unnerving as I often walk home from the Workmate's home in pitch black, with the house lights to give me a focus to walk towards - I only have a torch when I remember. Since spotting them hopping across the road I walk back on, the WM has lent me their vehicle to drive back in.

Ah the bliss of the weekend off. I have had a very home and hearth type weekend as I have been washing, ironing, cleaning and cooking!!! As it is getting colder morning and night, it is feeling wintery and with that feeling goes homemade soup. I went to get a bacon hock last week and nearly had to be resuscitated when I looked at the price - $10!!!! plus. I barely coped with the NZ price so when I told the lady behind the counter I would leave it, she suggested I get a ham bone instead. The difference being no second mortgage on the house to buy it. It was something like $3.5ok, the one that was left cost me $4.50 which fed me one lunch with the meat left on it, with a good amount still left for the soup pot. I shall be asking for ham bones from henceforth!!

The WMH arrived with the boys yesterday morning mid chaos, for coffee, just in time for the boys to help me kitchen whizz the vegies for the soup. Found I had no soup mix but had a packet of red lentils so used them, and then found some pearl barley in another packet and threw that in as well (Mouse has just scurried from the kitchen back into the lounge!!). The WMH had bought some turkish bread and some new dipping mixture called Zar z'tar which is DEVINE. We are both hopeless foodies - I have educated his palate about appropriate olive oil for one, and now he is constantly on the lookout for new things for us to try. The ZZ mixture is much like dukka (combination of nuts, spices and seeds that you dip with oil, then mix, with bread) except it has a spice called sumac in it that gives a lemony flavour to the sesame seeds, cumin, thyme etc that are the ingredients. I had bought some sumac after reading about it in my niece's foodie blog and will now investigate more into how I might use itas am loving the lemony flavour.

As well as the soup - I BAKED. Not without challenge though (naturally). In a moment of organisation, I pulled the key ingredients out of the pantry only to find I had run out of coconut. A quick call up the hill, and the WMH bought some down for me. Had the butter etc melted, dry ingreds ready to go and %%&^&* where was the baking powder??? I know I had some because I have baked before (last year, lol)and how many tins of baking powder does one go through in a life time. I then went through the pantry and my cupboards like a dose of salts looking for said BP. Had to ring up the WMH again - what do Aussies put their bloody BP in - I already knew it was hopeless looking for the red/orange of the Edmonds packet. He had none in the cupboard but said it was in a blue tin - once again, every item moved about, things repackaged but no luck. In disgust, I put the (cooled) melted stuff, pot and all in the fridge, the dry ingreds in the microwave which I hoped was mouse proof and went off for tea. (the mouse has just come and and sat on the floor and looked at me!!) Fortunately, the school kitchen had 4k of BP so got an amount from there and finally put everything together this morning with the end result being...


I cannot take credit for the recipe myself - It's called Takaka Ginger Crunch taken from one of the supplements of one of the NZ Sunday papers from a segment by Annabelle White. Apparently this slice used to be a signature slice of the
Takaka Cafe in Golden Bay. For those playing at home I will give the recipe because it is easier than falling off a log and I will not be home until December to show off my cullinary skills and this is too good to wait until then.

Takaka Ginger Crunch
150 g butter
2Tbsp golden syrup
3/4 C brown sugar
3/4 C coconut
1&1/2 C rolled oats (not the instant sor - the Anzac biscuit sort)
3/4 C flour
1&1/2 tsp baking powder
1&1/2 tsp ground ginger
pinch of salt
Melt butter, brown sugar and golden syrup. Remove from heat and add the cocnut, rolled oats, flour, baking powder, ginger and salt. Mix until combined and press into greased slice tin. Bake at 180C for 15 -20 mins - longer means crunchier. Ice when cool.
Icing
75g butter
3/4 C iding sugar
2 Tbsp golden syrup
3 tsp ground ginger
Mix the softened butter with the other ingredients (can thorougly recommend licking the bowl afterwards, lol).
Hope you like it if you try it. I figure it is nearly healthy with the rolled oats being involved, LOL.

Hope all the mothers had a nice day today - I got to see No1 son, wife and grandson on skype this evening, had spoken to my Mum as family had just visited, and my sister who had spoken to her children for the day. From No 1 son I heard that No 2 son was in Wellington working and had been there most of the week working during the night in buildings that were carrying on their business during the day. Rang daughter in law No 2 to see how she was doing on her first Mother's Day and was able to hear Zachary in the background.
Not working until tomorrow afternoon as have swapped shifts later in the week to accomdate WM going to parent teacher meetings so get an extra sleep in tomorrow - yay.
OMG the dammned mouse has just looked at me from behind a pile of papers on the table!!! I don't know who got the bigger surprise but how cheeky is that!!!!! It has now zoomed off again and I am going to bed.