May in Pictures.

 I came outside one morning and saw this - a cheeky dog with a little tuft of fluff coming out of her mouth. And on further inspection...

Yes - that's her bed spread across the back doorway.

Then the little lady did it again. This time with her new foam mattress.

Frosty mornings in Capelville.

Beautiful mornings in Capelville.

Beautiful sunsets in Busselton.

Vegetables growing!

Mother's day high tea!

Mummy's place setting at her high tea.

Yum Yum.

Menus.

Our beautiful mummy's spot at the special table.

The mother's were welcomed with a glass of champagne on arrival.

Shanny, Mel and meeeee.

Em and I during the HBF run - we really don't look like we're running but I promise you we were!

So that's it! For now!

Mle x x x

Oh hello June.

Ok - so it's almost as if the entire month of May didn't happen due to their being no scripted or nostalgic evidence of its existence. I can assure you it DID happen and it was a big mother clucker of a month for this southbound chikita. Like I mentioned in my last post, big things are on the horizon, but it will all be confirmed in good time :) other exciting things have included -

• Cheering on a dear friend in her first ever half ironman. And she kicked its ass too!
• Having the *scary landlords over for our first official *inspection *My aunty and her friend popped down for a weekend filled of lazing about grazing on cheese and wine, a wonderful night out for dinner, playing w pup and installing our new bathroom vanity. Oh and there was mention of how impeccable the house looked. Winning.
• Catch ups with Tourtney.
• Celebrating Ryan's 'old man' birthday - aka 26th.
• Mother's Dayyyyy! Where my cousin, sister and I hosted a high tea for our beautiful mothers and grandmother.
• GTM with the ladiesssss ;) A fantastic albeit freezing weekend of music, cuddles, laughs and all round good times.
• Breakfast w my beautiful speechie friend Pashleigh. I had the BEST porridge of my life at Moore & Moore in Fremantle. It was apple and rhubarb and it was the most nourishing and warming bowl of goodness and I have made it my mission to nail the recipe and make it a weekly breakfast!
• Coffee and shopping w my beautiful friend Josie.
• Just a lazy 14km run for HBF's run for a reason. Hehe. SO PROUD!
• A few netty *wins and *losses w my Busselton team. *1 win, 3 losses. Sadface.
• I started my private work w a primary school down here and have worked 6 days there in total over the month. It has been an amazing learning experience and everyone there has been wonderful.
• Izzie had her first official puppy play date w a friend's british bulldog. Izzie was a bully and tried to pick a fight with said 20kg dog. We are terrified. Haha.

So kind of crummy effort for a synopsis but there you go - you now have an idea of why my posts have been disgustingly delayed. I will try to get a photo entry up next so you can see the past few months through my eyes.

Love and big cuddles,

Mle x

Watch This Space.

Big things are happening in ole Capel town so please bare with me and be patient while I put my life together and an EXCITING update will be heading to you all very shortly! I will be sure to update this blog when I have time to sit down and do a good speil of all the weird and wonderful things that have happened over the past month or two but unfortunately now is not the time to do so!

Be back soon and sending big cyber cuddles from the SouthWest,

Mle x

My LIfe in Pictures.

Open field mushroom 'pizza'

Breakfast @ Samudra (Yoga retreat Dunsborough) - Live Muesli. BEST muesli ever.

Buckwheat pancakes w banana and honey/lemon syrup. 

Anniversary dinner - Pistachio crusted salmon and sweet potato/greens salad.

My first attempt at a poached egg! SUCCESS! A delicious success.

Sushi Salad - this is the chicken version of the dish but I love the marinated tofu dish too! I even got a few 'yummies' from carnivore David!

Just a lazy 12km run. No biggie. Haha. I was SO proud - my longest run to date!

Easter Thursday bake off. One of four dishes - Healthy Hot x Buns. Made w spelt flour, soy milk, raisins, currents, coconut oil, vanilla extract and piped chocolate crosses. 

Dave's adorable baby cousin @ Baba's on Good Friday.

Dave and his little bubba cousin.

Easter :)

It must be Easter! Canollis (ala Nanny); bowl of eggs (ala Nanny); pink birthday cupcakes (ala mama); 'Carrots in dirt' cookies; Easter bunny cookies and Easter basket cupcakes (ala me!).

My little Easter basket cupcakes.

Breakfast @ Moore&Moore Fremantle on public holiday Monday (yay!)

And now,

the girl who turned our lives upside down and all around...

Little Miss Izzie (Isabella)

So innocent and allegedly wouldn't hurt a fly...

... just Emily's juicy calve.

Chubba.

Note my mama's slipper under her belly. There was no chance mama was getting that back.

Sunrise @ Capel Crib.

Another pictorial nutshell proudly brought to you by mle.

There are HUNDREDS of other things I have done over the past few weeks but not all of which i have photos for AND I also have not yet asked permission to post pictures of my darling friends' heads! But get togethers such as teppanyaki, 'cocktails and canapes' and breakfast dates w the girls; Ball Park Music's concert w Shanny poos; lunch w my darling cousin; brekkie w a dear old friend; lunch w Miss Emily O; Easter thurs @ the Claremont w my lovely ladies (planning our inevitable and freakin exciting Hanson reunion tour!) and coffee catch ups with Josie, Hannah, Ola, Emily B, Jenn; runs w my daddykins every day over the Easter break; seeing ALL of my family (bar a few individuals :( )... it has been an amazing month/two. I apologise profusely if I have forgotten anyone or anything off my list of activities!! Please let me know if I have so rudely forgotten our date. It's Saturday morning and my coffee hasn't yet kicked in and I have left my diary at work - so this is all my memory! I love you all!

So now you will forgive my lack of posting yes? Yes.

Mle xxx
 

I am a terrible human being.

I am acutely aware of my abysmal efforts in keeping this blog running. I don't pretend to think I have any avid followers but I do apologise to anyone who has checked back a few times only to be disappointed with the same old blog post sitting there - not updated!! *Please note I am also aware that there is probably only one person reading this and I should instead target my apologies solely to them - sorry Mummy! :)

Anyway - with apologies and acknowledgement of my terrible complacency - on to more exciting things!

As I write this I am in my final week of work within the Bunbury Health Service - my contract ends on Tuesday next week and I have opted not to renew it. If there are any keen speechies out there though who are looking for a change - I am fairly certain the southwest will be advertising soon and are keen to get some staff on board! Excitingly I am pursuing a bit of a different avenue and doing some private work and working for myself three days a fortnight*! *Note - my boss is awesome.

I will be basing myself at a local school and working with the teachers and EAs to implement a speech and language program for all the little Busselton chic grommets and chikitas! I am really looking forward to this and although I imagine the path will be riddled with challenges and difficulties - I think that nothing will help me to mature and refine my skills better than an opportunity such as this so WATCH THIS SPACE! I'm also hoping to start up another little branch and trial a bit of private work seeing clients at my own home. This is in the very very very early stages but exciting to think it might come together in the coming months. It's really hard to see that services aren't available for a lot of clients due to current wait lists and lack of services in the rural settings, so hoping to chip in and do my bit to help out!

Another reason for my very delayed postings is the new arrival of a little bundle of joy (slash terror). David bit the bullet and bought a doggy! Although he is yet to meet her (coming home this wknd) it is technically his dog, but I have had the pleasure of raising and rearing for the past 5 days! I might take this opportunity to do a shout out to my amazing mother who trekked down to Capel and 'doggy sat' for the first few days while I was at work. Her duties included but were not limited to: cooking for her daughter (barley risotto and salmon quiche, freakin yum); playing w pup; feeding put; yelling at pup when her pants were almost torn to shreds; cleaning up messes and of course poopy scoopin.

That's about all the words I can squeeze out at the moment - being nanny to an 8 week old rotty pup is bloody exhausting but I PROMISE there will be an entry soon w photos chronicling the past few weeks. Including catch ups; Easter break; puppy fun and culinary creations!

Love and lots of cuddles from your favourite SouthWest resident.

Mle x

Something a tad different.

For this evening's blog entry I have decided to do something a bit different - a few of the blogs I follow randomly do a reflection/gratitude journal style entry and have a different theme each post. The area I've decided to post on today is 'the joys in life'. It's often so easy to overlook the amazing things that we are fortunate enough to have or experience and so every now and again, I like to look back and smile and remind myself of how freakin lucky I am.

The Joys in my Life

- My family. First, foremost and forever. I am so so grateful to have been blessed with such a close knit and supportive group of individuals.

- My friends. Where do I begin?! I absolutely won the lottery when it came to friends. I have the most amazing girlfriends, some of whom I've known for years and years, some of whom I have become close with recently. I never ever feel that I need to change or compromise who I am for them and they love me unconditionally. How freaking awesome is that?!

- The man in my life that falls into both aforementioned categories. My David. Four and a half years ago, I went out for a quiet drink in a dingey pub in Fremantle and left with a big smile on my face after meeting my little partner in crime. He makes me smile and laugh and feel special more than anyone else in my life. Plus he's ridiculously good looking, so that helps too :):)

- Health magazines and health books. Something about the fresh pages and glossy pictures of healthy, happy, fit people absolutely makes my day. I love nothing more than curling up with a new issue of 'Mindfood' or 'Women's Health' and a fresh cup-o-coffee. Mmm, ideal Sunday!

- Cooking and baking for others. Whether I'm putting on a breakfast for the loves of my life, hosting a fundraiser luncheon or baking birthday cupcakes, I love the simple act of preparing delicious food for someone else!!

- Training. I love the structure of regular routine and also the commitment of following a fitness program and committing to a healthy habit. I love the post workout high and the immense feeling of pride when you achieve your goals.

- My job. I love it. Needs no explaining. If I had that 'one powerball', I'd still want to be a speech pathologist.

These things make me happy beyond measure and I am incredibly grateful for absolutely everything in my life that I have been given. But the things above are pretty standout favourites :)

Happy Monday!

M xx

Whoops.

I'M SORRRRRRRRRRRRRRY! Yes this is a VERY delayed post and I have been very lackadaisical and neglectful of this little blog. But never-the-less I'm here now and hopefully can share an update or two of the happenings of our country life. In my defence however, I would like to point out that I have been very busy! Hectic weekends make for NO time to sit and blog and I'm had my fair share of those this month so just keep that in mind before you award me 'world's worst blogger'! (Although I have always wanted a shiney trophy to put in the pool room...)

Over the past few weeks, a number of 'non-country' events have occurred. I've attended the wedding of a beautiful young couple (hehe) and the bride looked beyond-beautiful and ole-groomie looked rather dapper in his tux too! I've had lovely nights out and breakfasts with my girls - it's been so refreshing to see their smiling faces and to hear about the latest adventures in their own lives. I've celebrated birthdays w a few friends, and spent lots of time catching up w my gorgeous (formal netty team) girls. My face was so sore from smiling by Sunday night that I was ready to spend the 2hr lonely drive by myself to Capel just to recouperate hehe! I've also managed to jam in a few long runs with my Health/Fitness Yoda friend ('run and eat wholegrains you must') and we shared stories and advice and general banter over runs, breakfast and an exciting visit to the Running Centre in West Perth, where we each got fitted for new shoesies! I had a WONDERFUL dinner w my beautiful grandparents at my house a few weeks back and it was the most lovely night - we spent hours chatting away about anything and everything and it was so lovely to spend a bit more time w them after such a lonnnng time apart! My darling daddy has also been having his own adventures and I came up from work a few weeks back while dad was having an angiogram. Unexpectedly the doctor had a few words of caution and I am SO PROUD of how healthy my daddy is now. UBER proud ;)

Anyway that summarises Perth/family/friends life... And onto the SouthWest.

Domestic Godessness -
The Capel Kitchen has been buzzing with lots of exciting new recipes and experiments and general mess and fun. I've successfully tried a number of new dishes - as was my aim over the coming months - and without going into detail of every dish made I'll just explain my favourites! I made a yummy stuffed mushroom 'pizza' the other night w baked red salmon, ricotta and a lemon/parsely/LSA crumble. I loved it. Dave 'liked' it but needed a few sausages served with it to make it a real man's dinner hehe. I also have been a wee bit adventurous and made a beef, mushroom and barley risotto w dried porchini AND button mushrooms. So tasty and this was one of the more warmly received dishes from the man of the house. Just quickly a few others that have made me drool - crunchy chinese chicken salad (mm lots and lots of cabage and crunchy celery); italian tuscan bean soup (added lots of kale to give it bulk and this even got a big thumbs up from Dave's friend who was over for dins) and as always, lots of baked salmon w veges/salad. YUM YUM YUMMMMM.

Fitness/Training -
The mad quest to complete a half marathon continues. But Dave and I have clocked up a few impressive runs this week! If you heard any 'yahoo'ing coming from the general southwest area on Tuesday night it was because Emily and David did their first ever double-digit run. A small feat for some, a BIIIIIIG feat for me! 10.25km to be exact and the even more incredible thing (apart from the fact my arnie calves didn't give out sooner) was how good I felt afterwards! Breathing went straight back to normal, wasn't too sweaty/smelly and wasn't at all sore (after an initial post-run stretch out). Not too crazy of a weekend ahead, will do a 6km on Saturday and 8km on Sunday and then sleep well Sunday night I'm guessing! Overall I'm enjoying the training but am really starting to miss other things, like riding and swimming and netball. Netball season will soon be starting in Bsn and looks like I'll be repping the Busselton A grade 'Dodgers'. I'm excited to get back into it and playing netty will be a good way to meet/mingle with lots of ppl down here too :) I'm hoping that once my future down here is more decided (ie/ with my contracts and Dave's job etc) that I am able to join a local gym or rec centre and do a bit more 'tri' training. Who knows - maybe my next goal will be the half ironman in Bsn next year?! HAHAHAHA I kid, I kid.

Work -
Loving every minute of it. Work continues to make me smile and I am SO fortunate and grateful that the opportunity I sought out by moving down and trying the 'rural stint' proved to be every bit the adventure that I had hoped. I am absolutely blessed to have such an awesome team to work w down here and everyone goes out of their way to be lovely and make me feel at home. I'm feeling a lot more in control of my workload and managing the array of clients a little bit better now. I am still enjoying my paeds/adult split and am yet to have the lightbulb moment of realisation that I have been waiting for - so stay tuned to find out whether this speechie will be an Adult or Paediatric Clinician (only time will tell....). I was blown away by the cuteness of one of my little 3 year old clients this year who, after a block of therapy, had shown so much improvement and was an absolute little gem and his cuteness made me want to pick him up, cuddle him and pinch and squish his little chubby cheeks (note to self - be more professional)! He very sweetly decorated a lovely 'thank you' card for me and showed off his explosive artwork all over the page - and his mama bought me a very generous box of choccies. So sweet and it made me smile about how much these lovely people appreciated and noticed those little extra efforts that had gone in to his sessions. It gave me the warm fuzzies :):):)

So, rather boring entry I'm afraid, but oh wells - at least I finally put pen to paper (er fingers to keyboard) and shared the latest on my world!!

Hope all are well and I'm sending you all giant cuddles.

Mle xx