[flaggies]

G'day all

Time for a new thread!

So nice to see you back Trudy and I am pleased you had a great time and lucky for Karen there is still something left for her to buy!

Ann I agree about the big dog thing, dh was never going to have some little 'rat' and guess what we ended up with two 'rats' They are pappilions and just gorgeous but alas with the travel they are now permanently living with a friend who was also the breeder.

Not sure what Memorial Day is but I assume it is similar to Australia Day when we celebrate being Australian and remember our pioneers.

We booked to see Yothu Yindi tomorrow night. He is an an aboriginal musician who played at the closing ceremony of the Olympics. He is performing tomorrow night with the Australian Youth choir and some other artists. The only seats left were in a box, a bit posh I thought! Better get my 'gladrags' out so I will look worthy of being in a box

The weather here is very cool, lovely looking out on the park with leaves falling from the trees. I don't envy some of you with the hot weather you are having.

As I was about to post this I noticed your last post Slavika the daisy you bought is it a gazania?? They are very hardy and more like ground cover.

Have a great weekend all
Cheers
Maria

[painter5]

Just checking in before I leave for the weekend. Trudy you have the same addictions I have. Your trip sounds like fun. I hope that we have no "women drivers" in front of us while we are driving. You know that they are always doing something wrong. Have fun this weekend. Peggy

[slavika]

Hi Maria I went out into the yard this morning and got the little plastic "thingme" they stick in flower pots and this particular plant is called a "Butterfly" and it's a very bright yellow daisy. The tag said, it was a hardy plant and grew 14" to 18" tall.

Peggy have a lovely weekend away.

I'll be back later. Bye now.

[LilyG]

Trudy: I know what you mean about navigating in a big city. I refuse to drive in Los Angeles or San Francisco. Know way! Not ever! People are crazy there. But its easy to get lost when you are in a new place anyways. Now if I did all the driving we would never get any where thats for sure.

Ann: Sorry to hear about the shoulder. Sounds painful. Hope it gets better soon!

Maria: Lucky you getting to see Yothu Yindi! Bet thats gonna ne awesome! And box seats to.

Slavika: Yummm Barbequed Hamburgers. I love to BBQ just about anything. It always tastes better to me.

Peggy: Have a fun weekend!

Off to play in the yard.

[slavika]

Hi Lily Good for you for getting to your personal goal. Boy when you set your mind to something you sure can do it. Hurrah for you!!!
Also I love your new avatar.

I went back to the flower place and got another daisy plant, got it planted and did a bit more garden work. I cut some of my rhubarb from my garden and made "Rhubarb Muffins" and a "Rhubarb and Strawberry Crisp". The crisp was really good, but I over baked the muffins a bit.
Trudy did you get all your yard work done?

I'm off to bed. Night all.

[Trudy]

Slavika.. I did work out in the yard today, finished planting all the Impatiens, and DH put in green peppers. I pulled a muscle in my thigh and l am limping around tonight. It was a really sunny, hot day. loved it! Rhubarb?... do you have any extra for an old friend? Hmmmmm?
LIly WAY TO GO!! You got to your personal goal. You must be so pleased with yourself. Keep me posted on how you manage to maintain.... I am still journaling.
Maria.. The Pappilions are just beautiful dogs, you must miss them. We had a tri-color Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Victoria. Miss her
I had never heard of Yothu Yindi until the closing ceremony of the Olympics. I did download quite a bit of his music and I enjoy it. Lucky you going to the concert.
Peggy.. Hope you are having a great weekend.
Ann... too bad about the shoulder... what happened?

Just took it easy tonight and have been reading "Snow Falling On Cedars", by David Guterson. Apparently it was made into a movie... anybody see it? The book is quite good.

Goodnight all... .... see you tomorrow....

[LilyG]

Slavika: I really want to know what to do with rubarb. You two are talking about it like it is wonderful. I have never had it, but Im told it is really bitter?
Scoop please...... Your recipes sound good tho.. Im confused....
I was always told dont go there! Its awful.

Trudy: Pulled muscle is not good. Take care of yourself.
For me I will always Journal. I know Im gonna have some bad days. But I figure if I get right back on track the next I will be ok. Dont get me wrong here, I have bad days where I dont Journal. But I still get right back, the next day.

Boy you are observant. Did not think you would notice if it was at the bottom. Thanks friends! Was trying to be UN-observant here...

[slavika]

Hi Everybody
Lily Hi there. I would say that rhubarb is "sour" not bitter. When you add sugar to rhubarb is wonderful. All the kids (here) at one time or another in their lives get a stalk of rhubarb and dip the end in sugar and eat...dip and eat...dip and eat.
Rhubarb makes wonderful mufffins, crisps, and rhubarb pies. Quite often a recipe calls for rhubarb and strawberries.
You can also make a rhubarb sauce, to serve warm over ice cream, or frozen yogurt and use it to put on toast or scones. Since rhubarb has no points you only count what you add to it. A quick 8 serving sauce:
Into a saucepan put:
4 cups thinly sliced rhubarb
2 tbsp. margarine
1/2 cup white sugar.
Cook, stirring constantly until rhubarb tender, about 5 to 7 min. Whole recipe is 14 points, or 1.8 pts each serving
Serve warm, but you can serve it cold too, for toast.
Last year I made the sauce with "Splenda" instead of
sugar and as I recall it turned out ok too.
Lily if you decide to get some rhubarb and would like the muffin recipe or crisp one let me know and I will post them on "our" recipe site or I can e-mail them to you.

Trudy yes, I will share my rhubarb with you, but we have to wait for a few days for it to grow bigger because I picked all the big stalks.

I'll be back later to see what's happening here.

[LilyG]

Slavika: Yes post it. I will give it a try. I like trying new things. Just never even thought of buying it before.

[slavika]

Lily I posted both the muffin recipe and the Rhubarb Crisp one but I made a mistake on the crisp one. Could you fix it for me please. It's in the dessert section and it's called "My Own Rhubarb Betty", yes I know, not very original. In the directions part of the recipe I said to mix the 1 cup of white sugar with 3 "tsp" flour......please change it to 3 "TBSP"flour.
Thanks Lily.

[LilyG]

Slavika: They both look good. I'm gonna try the Rubarb Betty tomorrow. I was looking for something for dessert.
Will probably have enought rubarb left over to do the muffins and freeze them to! Thanks!

[flaggies]

G'day all,

Had a wonderful night last night at the Yothu Yindi concert, but seemed to have come down with a bit of a cold or something. Doing very little today other than sipping on chicken noodle soup.

Rhubarb brings back childhood memories, I have never used it since I left home. The muffin recipe sounds good and the fact that rhubarb is no points is good to know as well. Perhaps I should have a go at cooking it again. I did use to like the taste, a little tart but good.

DH asked me to book dinner for when my son and partner are here. The one I enquired about was a dinner on a restored tram. The cost is AU$106 per person for a 5 course meal and as much as you want to drink!!!! For Australian standards that is quite expensive when you can get a beautiful main course for as little as $12.00 but for a special night you could expect to pay around the $25 mark. I haven't spoken to dh yet but I am sure he will agree that we are better off going to a special restaurant with no set price.
Don't know about you, but to me this would just be a 'pig-out', feeling you would have to get your money's worth!!!! Feel revolting and bloated afterwards but satisfied with the knowledge that you got your money's worth I have stuck to my decision of 'no alcohol whilst in Melbourne' so dinner at a nice restaurant will be soo much better.
I lost another 1/2 kg this morning. Haven't tried the 'mother of the bride' outfit yet, I want to wait until I loose a bit more.
Going back to have some more soup now..........
See you all
Maria

[slavika]

Lily Thank you for correcting my error. I hope you do try the Rhubarb Betty, I think you will like it, and the muffins too.
Maria I'm glad you enjoyed the concert, but sorry you are not feeling too good. Give rhubarb another try. The rhubarb comes up here first in the gardens, it's such a hardy plant. As soon as I see those stalks growing my mouth is really fixed for something with rhubarb in it. My Mom used make a very delicious
Rhubarb Custard Pie....I will have to search that recipe out. I hope you are feeling better tomorrow. Night.

[Karen L]

Hello all,

We got back earlier today but this is the first chance I've had to get at the computer.

Spent two days walking that mall. I think I covered much of it twice. Didn't want to miss nothing. Trudy did leave a few things behind.. I was able to fine some very nice nightgowns for me. Also some hair stuff . I also collect magnets so found a couple that I liked. Then I was strolling along and found a store called Wild Things? I think it was called . In this store there was bird houses wild bird seed and lots of bird stuff. But what caught my attention was people laughing at a small TV that was showing a squirrel trying his darndest to get to a feeder. I mean we were really laughing at this squirrel movie. These were supposed to be squirrel proof feeders but I really think they were entertainment packages for people. Slavika needless to say I thought of Sammy. I also found the cutest stuffed animal I'm sure you've seen them Made by Russ it's name is "Muffin Jr" He's cute and cuddly and best of all doesn't need to be housebroken. All the talk about dogs you guys were doing so I just had to have one. I'd get a real one but my cat would think it was lunch or something. I also tried that Aqua massage thing loved it would spend my last dollar to do that again.

Lost my money at the casino($10) but then that is nothing new. I should just save myself the trouble and just toss it in the garbage and go straight to the buffet and get it over with.

Trudy we navigate the cities the same way you do. And don't you just love the courteous way they all drive They never use a turn signal , just dart in and out of traffic like they own the road. It's always such a joy to drive round down there. It rained just about the whole time we were there. Had wanted to take a trolly tour . But not in the rain. been there done that. I used to live there when I was young but we just stayed in our own neighbor hood and didn't get around much in those days. There is lots of stuff to see. Maybe next time.

Maria I agree with what you say about the all you can eat deal best to stay away unless you have very good self control. Either that or be sure you don't wear your Buffet Pants(elastic waist) I don't know how much a 1/2 kg is but as long as the scale goes down that's great. Also hope you are feeling better.

Slavika I intend to try that rhubarb stuff all of it.

Trudy I hope your pulled muscle is better.
Ann yours too. What were you doing??

Lily weigh to go on reaching your personal goal . I knew you be able to do it.

This turned out to be long sorry
by for now

Karen

[painter5]

I am going to have to try the rhubarb recipes. My dh loves rhubarb-strawberry pie. Now I wish I would have gotten a start from my nephew's. He had some growing on his farm. I felt like I found heaven this weekend. He has 50 beautiful acres with horses. It was so peaceful and pretty. Hated to come home. We met a nice officer of the law on our way. We needed one of those slow "women drivers" in front of us. Lily you reached your personal goal. Good for you!!!!! Karen I am glad that Trudy left you something to buy. It would have been fun for you 2 to have been there at the same time. Have to run and do laundry and stuff. Have a nice holiday, Peggy