A new toy and easy lamingtons

My new toy is an iPad!  It's wonderful for sitting in the recliner at night and being able to be online and search around the net and catch up on facebook!  I used to do that with my iPhone but it's great to have a bigger screen. We are off on holidays in a couple of weeks so it will be packed in my bag. I will need to check how to load photos in case I want to do a post while I'm away,

As well as being a toy it is also for work purposes...The ever increasing smartphones and tablets mean I need to make sure the websites I build work on those platforms and I'm also learning about developing mobile applications, so it's not just all leisure!!!

The rose in the above picture is one of my first Pierre de Ronsards which are really starting to take off now that the warmer weather has come along. Here they are starting to climb up the trellis.

It's always exciting to get a special looking envelope in the mail with an invitation inside. We recieved this lovely wedding invitation this week.

LAMINGTONS
And last weekend I made some lamingtons the way my Mum used to make them. You buy the plain unfilled sponges and cut them up. Simmer 3 ingredients together and coat the sponge with the mixture and coat with coconut. They make a lovely crunchy coating not like the soft ones you buy in the shop.

 

 

The chocolate mixture is...(wait for it, it's quite naughty!!!).

3 cups sugar, 3/4 cup water, 3 dessertspoons of cocoa. Place in saucepan and bring to boil. Allow to cool slightly before coating the sponge. I use a slotted spoon to dip the sponges into the mixture and then toss into coconut. These freeze really well too. I wrap them individually in glad wrap. Ideal for lunchboxes.

Catching up...herbs, a recipe and choosing tiles for a new project!

Our family enjoys following the AFL (Australian Football League), Adelaide Crows in particular and we also follow the V8 Supercars (go Fords!), so the past 2 weekends have been a feast of TV watching as the AFL grand final on the long weekend and the endurance race at Bahurst yesterday. My hubby usually goes every 2 years to Bathurst with a few mates but it was his year off this year.

Besides those activities which were enjoyed over wine and nibbles with some family and friends, I potted around in the garden, planting more petunias and organising some big pots for some cherry tomatoes and herbs. One of our sons made a planter box for me and I've placed it alongside one of our sheds. I managed to get 4 big pots into it, so hopefully they will grow well.

Our next project for the house is to give our bathroom a makeover. We are just in the planning stages so no photos yet, but we did visit a shop to start choosing floor tiles and look at vanities.

 

We brought a few tiles home to try and I think we will go for the chocolate one for the floor in the photo below. (not a good photo!!).

Instead of getting our wall tiles re-tiled we are going to paint them. We've done a bit of research on it and have decided to give it a bash!! We will paint them white and our son will probably build us a new vanity.  Lots of fun planning, but will be more fun hopefully when we start to do it.

Have you painted ceramic tiles before? I'd love to hear from you about your experience with it.