my current hairdo

I just realised I haven't put up any pics of my new head.

Am so sick of straightening every day, I've decided to go 'au naturale' and rock the curls for a while

I can't believe how old and matronly I look

I know I'm 47, but Jeez........... Do I hafta look it?!?!?!?

Go the Vego!!!!

In my never ending quest for the ultimate diet food I have come up with -
Soynuts
1 cup soya beans soaked in at least 3 cups water for 8 - 12 hours
Drain & rinse, then blot with paper towel to remove excess moisture
Put into large freezer bag and add
1 tsp oil
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cumin
salt 'n' pepper
Combine
Poor onto baking sheet in a single layer and bake at moderately high (375 - 390 degrees) for 15 minutes then stir
Bake for 5 more minutes then stir again.
Continue baking and stirring at 5 minute intervals for up to 45 minutes or so.
The length of cooking time depends on the amount of fluid the bean absorbs, this is all very variable, just make sure you mind the 5 minute intervals and don't let the beans burn.
Cool, divide into 40g servings and enjoy!!
A Warning
Be sure to cook the beans till they are crunchy as they are not very nice if they are under-done and chewy
This is NOT a warning!!
I bought several 1kg bags of soya beans for $2 a bag
Not taking into account the beans I wasted while experimenting to get this recipe right - a really, REALLY cheap and EXTREMELY healthy snack
Tomorrow.............. My cheap equivalent to weightwatchers 'Roasties'
Cya

Sunday Drive

I went for a little drive today. Did you know that May Gibbs (author of the Gumnut Babies) lived around here? The Gibbs family migrated here from England in June, 1881, when May was 4 years old. They settled on a property near Franklin River. Times were hard though, with the area being in the grip of a crippling drought. In 1885, when May was 8, the family walked off their property and moved to Norwood in Adelaide, then later that same year they moved to Harvey in Western Australia; then when she was 10, to Perth. It was during these formative years that the Gumnut Babies were starting to born.

A memorial cairn is on the Birdseye Highway just outside of Cowell, on the way to Cleve.

This is the cairn

and this is the area surrounding the memorial -

A bit further along, still heading towards Cleve, you can see the Mount Millar Wind Farm

The wind farm, previously called Yabmana, is between Cowell and Cleve, with 35 turbines covering a stretch of hilltops about 7km's in length. The farm can generate enough electricity to meet the needs of 36,000 average households. The turbines at Mt Millar are different to other windfarms because they don't have gearboxes and that is why they are larger than at other farms.

I love this stuff - it's so interesting!

Next weekend I might go to Darke Peakand see if I can get to the top of Carrapee Hill (aka Crappy Hill LOL). There is a fair bit to see around here, so I guess I better get my skates on and start looking at it!!

My Other Job

Started my 2nd job today, at the bakery/cafe/deli in Cleve, 25 km away from Arno Bay.
LU-U-URVED IT!!!
I worked in a very busy, top-class bakery when I was in Wallaroo on the Yorke Peninsula.
While this bakery is not on quite as big a scale, I gotta hand it to Trudy (my new boss) - bloody hell..... she's doin' a shit-hot job of it all!!!!
Everything is baked on site.
I had one of her pasties today, as good as what I'm used to on the other side.
She also has a really good menu for the cafe style meals - wraps, foccacias & burgers as well as sandwiches and rolls (and, of course, the pastries). She even has bbq chickens!! All the bread, rolls, foccacia, etc. is all baked on site as well. AND HER BUNS................. OMIGOD!! They look bloody fantastic. Hope I never weaken & eat one LOL!!!!
So here's to working 7 days a week (my goal - Hey! I have no life & nothing better to do!!)
Cheers

Coffin Bay & Gallipoli Beach

A friend and her kids came from Moonta (Yorke Peninsula) to Coffin Bay (Eyre Peninsula) for a holiday last week. I managed to spend the day with them on Friday. I haven't seen them for 8 months. It was really great to catch up and hang out together for a while.

Coffin Bay is about 45 km's northwest of Port Lincoln, with a permanent population of 600, that swells to about 4,000 in the summer months. Main industries are professional fishing and the famous Oyster Leases within the bay system.

We went for a drive to Farm Beach

It was quite cold and very windy. Perfect conditions for...............

From there we went on to Gallipili Beach, where the film Gallipoli (starring Mel Gibson) was made.

It was so breathtakingly beautiful, and I couldn't believe how high the cliffs were. I know it wasn't the REAL Gallipoli, but we did pause and we were all quite thoughtful about what the real thing must have been like. It was all quite timely, as it was the day before Anzac Day.

The day was finished off with some Arno Bay snapper that was cooked to perfection by Karyn, some red-hot local wine, and a really good game of Uno with Kara and Damon. Then a very late night with lots of giggling and plenty of fart-humour between me and the kids. LOL
Thanks Kayleen, Dimitri and Karrissima - alias Karyn, Damon & Kara for sharing your holiday with me. I had a top day. XOXOXO

No Cause For Celebration

Day off today and I did Nothing

That's right.......
Absolutely NOTHING

Didn't even crawl out of my jammies, much less the front door.

And you know what?

It feels great!!!!!!!!