Tuesday 12 February 2013 - Murwillumbah

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Today I set off for a 6.5km run (a return trip down to the kid’s bus stop). We’d had an early shower of rain so it was fresh and cool. The property here is situated in a hilly area and surrounded by forest (I think some of it is State Forest or Nature Reserve). It’s full of really (like, REALLY) tall trees, thus making it a great area for woodworkers like Mark (and his father before him) to call home. The lush greenery, combined with the quiet (save for the trickle of the nearby meandering Dunbible Creek) made for a very pleasant run. 

I came back and decided to bake a couple of loaves of pumpkin bread (using Nee’s coconut banana bread recipe - worked a treat!) because we’d been given 3 1/2 pumpkins in the past three days, although I cheated a bit and used Marion’s oven in the house instead of the camp oven. The bread came out beautifully though, nice and fluffy (you wouldn’t even know the recipe was gluten free). It tasted great on its own as well as with butter, honey (or both), or my favourite, a dollop of Greek yoghurt and honey!

I’ve been getting a little bit creative with our meals lately, as we gradually eat our way through everything we bought last week. Last night we had some awesome steak (thanks Mum!), mashed pumpkin (see above), peas and as there was a little bit of leftover cinnamon mashed sweet potato in the camper fridge, I whisked an egg through and fried it into little pancakes. Very tasty! Breakfast (for me) this morning was chickpeas with steamed pumpkin (see above, again), red onion, yoghurt and a good grind of salt and pepper. Again, tasty! 

However, as supplies running a little low, we decided to take a little trip into town around lunchtime. Murwillumbah itself is pleasant enough, with plenty of shopping options, but on the way in, the sign for farmer’s markets on Wednesdays caught my eye, so we decided to just get what we needed for tonight. We grabbed a few odds and sods from Coles, then stopped at a terrific little (CHEAP!) fruit and veg store just outside of town and picked up enough to make a salad and the girls a few vegies for dinner. Farming is quite prevalent around this area and we’d much rather buy local and seasonal than support the big supermarket chains.

The girls are settling in really well into camping life. Yasmin seems to have everyone wrapped around her little finger. After we came home from our little outing today, she disappeared up to the house – when Glenn went to see what she was up to, he found her sitting in the loungeroom with Mark and Marion, the TV set to ABC4Kids! Sienna is still sleeping to a much more reasonable hour, today she woke at 6am Qld time. However, she’s presenting with another challenge now, although this one only really affects Glenn. She’s always been very clingy with him, but it hasn’t been that much of an issue in the past because he was at work during the day. Now that she has the opportunity to spend large chunks of time with him, she wants to make the most of it. This translates to her asking him to carry her whenever she’s with him and screaming at him if he doesn’t pick her up immediately, or if he’s carried her for a while and then puts her down. So he’s begun the process of weaning her off him, telling her he’s not going to carry her anymore and offering to hold her hand instead. She responds by running after him (often tumbling over in her haste), screaming herself red in the face. I guess we’ll get there eventually. 

Emily and Yasmin playing with the rabbit

All smiles from Yas

Dragonfruit

Dragonfruit vine