movie, dinner and something a little weird

after work i headed to Carol's place and we had a nice glass of wine with dinner.  i think i've told you we are both watching what we eat coz we both have high cholesterol.  chicken and onions fried without fat then add a bottle of salsa.  delish.  and salad.  very lovely meal.  then it was time for the movies.  we saw the descendants with george clooney.  i highly recommend it.  a really good movie.  very well acted, directed and the scenery of Hawaii is stunning.  the soundtrack of Hawaiian music was very good too.  we were talking in the car park afterwards, as you do, when a  young man approached us and asked directions to smithly road.  we  were about twenty metres from it.  he asked which way to go and we told him turn right at the traffic lights.  they were clearly visible and he just didn't get it.  he got into a car a little way away and drove off and went in the opposite direction.  he seemed a bit out of it and we were puzzled to say the least.  Carol called her partner to go to her house so she wouldn't be alone and  i was a bit nervous driving home but here i am all safe and sound. drama queen that i am.  oh, btw, i still have no bloody home phone.  when i spoke to the tech this morning he said it would def. be back on today.   it's been 11 days.  enjoy your australia day hol tomorrow.  most people i know are going to have a bbq.  :)

traditional gates to heaven at the beach in kuta.  stunning 

very inviting isn't it?

my fave temple in bali.  goa gajah.  it dates back to the 11th century (or something like that)

going to pray

yes please

i'm going to give it another try

i'm going to try these even though my last attempt was pathetic.  call me a fool for punishment and wish me luck.  there's lots of cheese though.

Lasagne "Cupcakes" from http://www.emilybites.com/2011/07/lasagna-cupcakes.html

Ingredients: ½ lb 95% lean ground beef 1 ½ t Italian seasoning 5 oz mushrooms, chopped 16 wonton wrappers, 4 oz fat free Ricotta cheese, 1 ½ oz Parmesan cheese, freshly grated 1 c pasta sauce, 4 oz reduced fat 2% shredded Mozzarella cheese Directions: 1. Pre-heat the oven to 375. Lightly mist 8 cups in a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside. 2. In a sauté pan or large skillet over medium-high heat, add the ground beef and Italian seasoning and brown beef, breaking it up with a spoon. Add mushrooms and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes until mushrooms are browned as well. 3. Push a wonton wrapper into the bottom of each of the eight sprayed cups in the muffin tin. Using about half of the ricotta, spoon evenly into the wonton wrappers. Follow by spooning some of the meat/mushroom mixture into each cup (using about half the total mixture) and then splitting ½ cup of the sauce between each cup. Sprinkle about half the mozzarella and half the Parmesan evenly over the top of each cup. Press another wonton wrapper on top and repeat the layering steps with the remaining ingredients. 4. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool 5 minutes before removing from muffin tin. Yields 8 lasagna cupcakes.  we shall see.  i'll let you know how they go.  sans pics this time i think  :)  sorry it's in imperial measurements not metric.

Emily

this is what they are supposed to look like :)

i'm watching Baz Luhrmann's version of romeo and juliet.  it blew me away when i saw it on the big screen all those years ago, 1996 in fact.  it still does.  it's an amazing movie. it's stinky hot here and i'm just about to make a milo smoothie. the movie is quite long i think and i worked today so  will probably be a late one.

RIP Etta James

a wonderful talent.  this is one of my favourites.  

lasagne - fail

oh dear.  the lasagne turned out worse that i thought it would.  it looked dreadful and didn't smell so good either.  i put it in the slow cooker all night. the recipe was on youtube and theirs worked out nicely.   i thought i'd have some for lunch but i couldn't eat it. i make wonderful vegie lasagne but can't make the  meat variety.  go figure.  look at the pic at your peril.  it looks disgusting.  :(   better luck next time hey?

lasagne - fail  

i have been procrastinating more than usual lately.  i  didn't do much today as it was 39 degrees in the shade, so i stayed inside all day and vegetated.  i must get my stuff together and do something useful.  i hung a blind today.  that was a start.

just a few things

not too much has happened this week.  my home phone died yesterday morning but internet is ok.  (obviously).  there's a little tower that's been  pushed over just up the road.  it's full of cables and some of them are daamaged.  i'm guessing that that is the reason.  my keyyboard is playing up.  i had a virus  yesterday and i tried to d/load itunes but it wouldn't run.  i've never had problems with it in the past.  i'm going up to see the kids in a while.  i'm lookinng forward to that.  we may go to maccas and get an icecream and maybe tthe playground.  see what i mean about my keyboard.  maybe it's the settings.  i've just finished watching popasiia.  i lovee it.  everyone is 12 years old and so cute.  my sister is coming down soon.  she's got an appointment at the hospital and will stay over to go with me when i have my first check upp a few days afterwards.  work is suckier than usual lately as our databases have been affected  by a new achieval  system.  notthing but problems.  ahhhh   makess everything so difficult esp. when a patron is waiting to be served.  the cataloggue is down half the time too.  very inconvenient.  oh well.  could always be worse i suppose.  enjoy your sunday  :)

my g/daughters shopping in the city

benni, my favourite g/cat.  sorry it's a little bit blurry 

benni and etta. etta is the feral kitten my son hand reared.  she's a daddy's girl and is totally spoilt

awesome and spectacular

a very special board on pinterest.  i love pinterest.  such a timewaster.  amazing photos.  Sam Pryor is the board curator.  he's the owner of  the fantastic glass board i posted about a while ago here.

http://pinterest.com/Sampry/awesome-and-amazing/

here are just two examples.  nature at her most spectacular with just a little help from photoshop maybe :)     pinterest.com is certain worth joining if you have the time.

today is a special day

it's the 75th birthday of the wonderful Dame Shirley Bassey.  i wish her every happiness and may she celebrate many more birthdays.  her voice is superb and she is a unique talent.  i love her.

http://shirleybassey.wordpress.com/

breakfast

Carol, a friend of mine from work, and i are watching our diet as we both have high cholesterol.  she gave me some recipes the other day and some hints about what she's doing with her diet.  for breakfast she has uncle toby's cereal and yoghurt.  i tried it and it's nice but the yoghurt is full of sweeteners.  yuk.  also, it doesn't taste good every day.  so, i went out and got some greek yoghurt and strawberries and voila.  a very healthy and yummy breakfast mixed in with the cereal. i find milk on cereal doesn't always agree with me.  i was having porridge most mornings through winter but there's only so much porridge (with a few sultanas) one can eat.  on sundays i sometimes have fried tomatoes and toast, and if my son comes over for breakfast i'll have that.  i love fried tomatoes. years ago i didn't eat breakfast but now i need it.  it's nice on w/ends to eat it when i'm ready instead of because it's breakfast time.  enjoy your w/end where ever you are.  i've got to go, it's coffee time and rage is going retro this morning  :)

well, that's a turnup for the books

we were all asked to attend a meeting today at different times and places around council.  i had to go this morning.  it was about the eb that was voted in recently.  we tried to get everyone to vote no but they just see the present dollars and don't give a toss about the rest of it.  oh well.  it's a done deal now.  however, we were all floored by the first announcement.  it seems that full time staff are not allowed to work weekends.  yes, i'm serious.  we are a service industry.  people come to the libraries in droves on the weekend.  sunday is our busiest day.  flat out usually.  most of the staff are full time.  they are celebrating.  it's been my dream for years to have a 9 - 5 job and there it is.  but i'm not full time.  i feel a lot of emotions none of them good.  part time staff remain the same.  we can increase our hours if we wish.  i have taken this opportunity to ask about changing my hideous roster.  it's a laughing stock in the service.  i had no choice about my hours when i went back to my permanent job.  long story (and very long day) short i've drafted the email to the boss, who, btw, doesn't have much say about decisions but can put the suggestions to higher management. i'll work on it on monday as it did my head in today.  i want to swap my sunday for a saturday.  early start and it doesn't take up the whole w/end.  and also to change my days so that i'm working at the end or beginning of the week  instead of every day except tuesday.  i'm .6 and work right across the week.  it's ridiculous.   the casual staff we use have had a major pay cut recently too.  council changed agencies.  $9.00 per hour is a hefty loss. i've just washed the car and the outside windows.  it took my mind off of things for a while.  i just wish i'd hurry up and win lotto so that i can retire and tell them where to put their eb.

back to work tomorrow

yuk, but at least it's a short day.  i don't know where the hols have gone.  christmas then new year and now it's back into the swing of it.  we have had a nasty heat wave which thank goodness is over for the time being. 41 degrees is too hot for me.  nice weather now except that it's windy.  garden has suffered and i got drenched this arvo when the hose exploded and went everywhere.  fish are still alive.  :)  i'm going to get a new mobile on the 27th of this month.  i can't make up my mind whether i'll stay with my plan or go prepaid.  probably stay on the plan while i'm working.  i can ring the kids/family for free, make overseas calls and go on fb all on my plan.  oh well, i suppose i should get ready for work tomorrow and have a shower (another one).  have a good one everyone  :)