What Dorothy was up to on Australia Day?

Yeah, you see it right, a python snake on her. You probably don't like the look of it on her especially if you are not fond of snakes. But to her, they are one of the cutest and coolest creatures in the world. She has an unusual interest of them and can't stop looking and touching them if ever given a chance. Even to any sort of spiders and lizards that cross her path is something she cannot resist to admire. The python snake licked her couple of times yet to her it was fun and the most amazing thing the snake did to her. She thought the snake liked her. She was having a good time with it curling up and down around her.
Contrary to what you might think by now, the snake is not venomous and dangerous type. The care taker said she is the coolest and the friendliest snake they have. That's why they decided to bring it to the show for the public to meet on time of Australia Day 2009 celebration in Penrith Panthers. All the animals on display were all natives from Australia. There were two baby salt water crocodiles and possums, as well as a beaded lizard (picture below). It was on the little boy's hat when i took a first glimpse of it. I can tell how uncomfortable he was because he didnt even move and smile when some people took a picture of him but he was quite brave though. And mind you, I dont have such nerves to hold such kind of creatures and the same with David. When I took the pictures, I was few feet away from her for I was afraid the snake would come and crawl on me unnoticed. The very thought of it scares me until now. Whilst David he was not interested at all either. Once he saw what his " Ate", (as what he calls Dorothy) was up to, he kept a good distance away from the animals and just watched them from there. Since that moment, he never showed any interest to be in the group again. Dorothy stayed most of the time with the animals until they went off.

Fireworks on Australia Day

I took these pictures during Australia Day celebration in The Hill about 15 minutes walk from where we live on the 26th day of January. The celebration finale was a huge monster fireworks display. It was indeed a successful display despite being threaten with scattered light showers and yet it didn't stop the people to have fun and enjoy all throughout the event. It was hard for me to focus the camera on with the wind blowing against us and the light shower but I still managed to get some pictures for you to share even though not in good quality as you can see.
For more information about Australia Day please visit, Australia Day.

Drying fish

Taking advantage of the hot weather, I came up to an idea to try drying fish. As a lover of dried fish, it urged me to give it a try in my own way. I regularly buy salted dried fish from the Filipino shop here but the saltiness sometimes stops me to eat it very often. I even wash it with water before I cook it just to lessen the salt. With my own dried fish, I wanted it just right according to my liking and taste, not salty and more flavory. Basically, I marinated it overnight with vinegar, a little soy suace, onions, garlic, dried bay leaves and juice of fresh lemon. Then I dried it in the sun covered with a net with tiny holes on it where flies cannot get in through to touch it and ruin my process. Flies are so many here on hot days and so annoying. It took about 2 days to dry it turning each sides every now and then to give an even dryness on each side. When it was done, I gave some to my friends and let them judged it for themselves and glad they liked it. They even placed an order but I just told them I have to think about it.

At Grose River

Grose River is a beautiful sandy river flowing through the Navua Reserve (Grose Wold), North of Richmond, NSW, ideal for picnic, swimming and fishing. The sandy beach is so wide and clean where you can relax, lazily lie down and enjoy the sun while the kids are splashing and jostling the water. Even horse riding is allowed around the area. There are also shady spots if you are not fond of the sun and few barbecue areas are also provided for your convenience with picnic tables and chairs absolutely free. It's actually one of my favourite spots around here. Every time, we come up here, the kids don't feel like to go home and even forget to eat the food that I always bring for them. There are many things to keep them busy enough to make them forgot what we got in our picnic containers. During our recent visit, we let them did something different. It was something that they haven't done before because we let them tried their luck catching fish. We provided them with nets where they can easily scoop the fish into . Dorothy was lucky for she caught quite a few fish. While David had no luck at all no matter how hard he tried it. He was just quick to approach them and scared them away instead. However, it occupied him so much until it was time to go home. I just told him that maybe next time, he will be lucky enough like his big sister.Now, I know you are wondering of a crocodile, right? It's obsolutely NO. We really don't have it here. Crocodiles in the wild are not found in NSW. It is only in some other parts of Australia, mostly in some parts of QL and the top end.So we are quite safe here to enjoy our rivers .So, this is where Dorothy's catch ended up to, right to her own fish tank inside her room. She has this tank for quite sometime now with few different types of tropical fish. The new fishes seem adjusted so well in the new habitat as they are so happy swimming around with the other fishes.

Just cheating to win!

With the series of scorching hot days here, we opted to stay indoor most of the time and play a lot of games that suit everyone's mood. If we are not playing the Wii, we rather switch to something interesting and educational. Something that David can comprehend and understand where he can include himself. At this time that he is into learning numbers , we tried to play anything that is to do with numbers, like "trouble" and "snakes and ladders". He has more interest in "snakes and ladders" though, that we play it every night. He was a quick learner and was able to play with Dorothy by himself without me supervising him after a brief introduction of the game. When he became familiar enough with the mechanism of the game, time came that he learned to cheat in order to reach his goal of always winning the game. I first noticed it when the three of us played (Me, Dorothy and David), when he just needed only 3 moves more to reach his win that he didnt throw the dice, except he was just checking where was the 3 dots on the dice and placed it upright for us to see. He was caught right away and I called his attention that he was cheating and it's not allowed.. hehehe.

Cute Blogger Award

Thank you a bunch, ibjsprinting for this wonderful award. You are such a wonderful friend. I feel honored again .

Here are the rules:
1. Each blogger must post this rules
2. Each blogger starts with ten random facts/habits about themselves
3. Blogger that are tagged need to write ten facts of themselves. You need to choose ten people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to live them comment telling them they've been tagged and to read your blog.

Now here are my ten Random facts about me:

1. It is obvious I am a great nature-lover.
2. I have two big gold fish named, Barbie and Bratz. They have grown to an enormous size now despite being in a small tank.
3. I am sometimes a moody person that sometimes I refuse to talk even to hubby with no particular reason.
4. I cannot sleep without moisturizing baby oil on my feet. I love the feel of it on my feet.
5. I spend most of my free time in my garden doing something to occupy myself.
6. I always do a beauty ritual on my face before going to bed. I can't sleep without it.
7. I drink a lot of chamomile tea everyday. It soothes my mind and relaxes my body
8. I can't resist chocolates and mud cakes. I always have craving for it.
9. I love wearing short pants and sleeveless tops on hot days. It is so comfortable.
10. I go to church but not very often and pray the rosary at home.

Now, I pass this award to everyone in my blogger list. Please dont hesitate to grab this award if you have time.

Birds

I took these pictures sometime last year in Featherdale Wildlife Park during my parents visit here. It is located about 15 minutes drive from where we live. From to time, we dont miss to visit this beautiful wildlife park especially on school holidays. The kids always enjoy every visit. One of the big attractions here is that you can hand feed kangaroos, imus, wallabies and even face to face encounter with a koala. The kids always enjoy hand feeding the kangaroos and even touch them as they are so friendly and tamed.
They have an amazing Australian birds collection which is my favourite of them all. I just want to share some of the pictures that I took while taking a walk around their bird aviaries. As a great nature-lover it certainly fascinated me.

All Aboard!

It was another day out for us to visit another railway display up in the Southern Highland of NSW, the All Aboard Braemar Model Railway displays. The moment we hit the parking area, I can see David and hubby's growing excitement to see what was in store for train enthusiasts like them. They both like so much all sort of steam and diesel trains. That's why hubby decided to check out their displays and took us there. I never heard of this Model Railway displays before, even though, we make frequent trips around the place. Not until when hubby told us about our adventure for the following day and the more which surprised me was that it is located along the Old Hume Highway. It is about an hour drive from where we live.
The model railway business has been functioning for over 30 years and moved to the Southern Highland in 1987.They have a huge display from all sorts of model trains, tracks, layouts and accessories which are also available through the shop. We bought David some accessories for his railway set and a book of Billy as well for his collection. Some of the amazing things that surely captivated our eyes during our visits, are these outdoor/ indoor Garden Railway displays. It is certainly one of the best that we ever saw.
It has also a cafe which offers a refreshment for our convenience . The outside of the shop is provided with picnic tables where you can enjoy your picnic lunch while spending time in the model railways. It has also a clean and green lawn ideal for picnic as well with a small pond with a few ducks.

Beef spare ribs soup

I managed to make beef spare ribs soup for lunch few days ago. It was cooked like the way my mother used to cook it back home. It has been such a long time since I have cooked this kind of soup and not sure when was the last time I had the soup. While surfing in the internet for a certain type of recipe, the idea suddenly popped out to mind and I felt a good craving right away..hehehe. I didn't add any additional flavor to it, for I just want to savor its natural flavor that comes out from the ingredients. I just added, taro (gabi), Chinese bok choy, spring onions and capsicum with salt and pepper to taste.

While eating my lunch , I was sweating very good, an expected result of having warm soup on a hot day . The weather was quite warm, 40 degrees C and quite humid as well.

A butterfly

It just came by in front of us while waiting for David and hubby to come out from the shop. Just a common type of butterfly here. It was Dorothy who saw it first and played my camera on it without any success. It was so busy and quickly drifting from one leaf to another. Dorothy finally gave up and retired to one of the benches. The butterfly was nowhere in sight after that moment. Yet, when we were about to go, it eventually came back again to where we were, and this time much closer to us, right down on a dead leaf in front of us. Without wasting any moment, I hurriedly focused my camera on it and clicked. Lo and behold, I was able to get one for Dorothy . She was so happy and asked me to have the pic printed to be posted in her room.