Welcome Baby Oprah.....

If you watched the Australian Oprah eposide last night you may of noticed this tiny girl....

A couple of days after Oprah left Hamilton Island we returned to the wildlife park for a tour for the kids to learn about the animals there......

Bronwyn our guide said we were the first guests to be told that the when Oprah was 

here it was the first time the baby had come out. Previously they didnt know if it was a boy or a girl. When they discovered it was a girl they contacted Oprah & asked would she mind them naming the baby after her. She agreed & asked for updates on baby Oprah.....

I have never seen a real baby koala before , I spent half an hour watching her clinging onto her mum while she moved around (until the kids dragged me away)

Sleepy time.....

Bronwyn showed us around here is 'Freddie' the cockatoo ,

he is a real character......

The park is very small but we saw the crocodile being feed up close & many other Australian animals

its quite & relaxing , the kids loved going there everyday.......

And you can tell how much Bronwyn cares for the animals , its like visiting her home.

Master J patting the dingo

who knew you could do that.......

you never know who you might bump into there.....

On our last morning we went back & had breakfast with the koalas

Here is Miss.S holding 'Elvis' 

(the same one Oprah got to cuddle)

He really is the most perfect looking Koala & the cutest......

Karyn x

I hope baby Oprah can bring a smile even if  just for a moment to our flood affected

****

I managed to get my blog operating again but am having trouble restoring the heading

My Blog Has Gone Mad !

Last night I thought I would look at the new templates.
 One click to look & my blog has turned inside out.
There seems no way to fix it.
It has added google ad at the top , taken my followers off, my daily reads , my header photo & more.
I no longer have a layout button to adjust this.
Does anyone know how to fix this problem ?
I have spent 2 hours searching for the layout  button to adjust everything.
Karyn

I Agree Noosa Beach House - ENOUGH IS ENOUGH !

Tonight  I couldnt sleep thinking of the tragic events unfolding before our eyes in my state of Qld. 

Many of you have posted about this event & some are directly being affected by it .

 I have left my thoughts & prayers with them .

 I do not have the words tonight 

I am shocked of the images I have seen on TV this week
What Brisbane is about to be faced with over the next two days & beyond , is too much.
And only an hour away from home

  One of my favourite blogs summed up my feelings perfectly.

Please go over to http://noosabeachhouse.blogspot.com/ & read this post.

I couldnt agree more enough is enough !

Karyn X

A Wicked Sunday Afternoon

What do you do on another rainy afternoon . Bake a cake & this was the finished product but lets show how it started............

The kids decided to have a swim in the rain.....

 (after weeks of rain in the summer holidays you finally say why not your going to get wet anyway)

I thought I would quickly bake a cake  while hubby was watching them. No time for cookbooks , just make up a recipie you might remember & hope it works.......

Rushing never works for me , sunken in the middle & it cracked

when I turned out of pan. How do I make this look appealing........

Add a small scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side & 

garnish with a sprig of  chocolate mint from the garden.

Mmmm needs something else.....

Oh how about a little of this , chocolate ganache...

did you say "more" ,well  ok......

did you say STOP....

Surely no more , this is it !

Viola !

You would never know how it looked before, straight out of the oven

It was a big hit & tasted delicious

It was moist & slightly dense

 (I think it didnt rise high because I added melted chocolate to the mixture)

Recipie

Cream together 125 gm butter & 125 gm castor sugar

Add 2 lightly beaten eggs & 125gm Self Raising Flour &

3 tabs dark cocoa powder

Beat until smooth

Add 1/2 cup melted milk chocolate

Beat 

Pour into a 20 cm cake tin (greased & paper on the bottom)

Bake at 180 degres

 (roughly 35 min , would vary with different ovens)

Cool before turning out

****

Ganache - I just melted chocolate, took off heat & 

 added King Island Double Cream

stirring until smooth.

WARNING : This will add inches to your hips & increase cholesterel  levels

Karyn x

Your Help Is Needed- Australia Unites

I know these are not the pretty images we usually share , unfortunately life isnt always like that. I wanted to give back using the blog that gives to me every day. Lives & livelyhoods  have been washed away , other towns are still under threat & people are returning to mud & memories lost .......

A lot of residents in some of  these flood ravaged towns have lived in their homes much of their lives....

Entire communities are affected........

The only way into town is by boat to see the damage to buisnesses.......

Police stay in towns to protect homes of people evacuated from looters.......

Even the flood level indicators have gone under the flood waters......

Rockhampton airport runway......

Farms and crops have gone completly under the rising waters.......

Including whole herds of  cattle & sheep.......

This determined Brahm  cow hangs onto a high spot of land.......

More than 200 thousand people are affected by these floods........

The flood ravaged area is larger than the state of New South Wales......

and bigger than France & germany combined........

Even the wildlife cannot get away.......

A wallaby stands on a large haybale trapped by rising flood waters at Dalby.

The beautiful Barrier Reef is under threat from debris & toxic materials being washed out to sea....

A smile & a joke of lets fish from the front door" for a moment lightens the

seriousness of the situation.......

Local residents have there ID checked when returning to see the state of their homes by boat

can even have a laugh , thats the Aussie spirit girls !

As some of the towns such as this hardware store owner in Bundaberg start the massive clean up......

other towns are still under threat , as early as this morning the historic town of Maryborough

is bracing for peak flood waters.......

Tonight Channel nine will be hosting a telethon please support their efforts

These people & communities need our help , please dig deep if you can.

Karyn x

Donations can be made Nationally & Internationally 

by

Internet 

Accont Name: Premiers Disaster Relief Appeal

BSB: 064013

Acc No: 10006800

SWIFT Code for international donations: CTBAAU2S

Phone

1800219028 (credit card)

In Person

Commonwealth Bank , NAB ,Westpac , ANZ, BOQ, Suncorp, St.Georgebank , Bank SA, 

Australia Central Credit Union , Savings & loans Credit Union

This information is available on www.qld.gov.au

A Stitch in time.....

Award winning young Danish designer Siren Elsie Wilhelmsen has designed this amazing clock

The knitting clock project was designed to measure & register time in a three dimensional form to visualise the otherwise invisible time factor , which connects us all.

The project can best be described as a merge of a knitting machine and a cuckoo clock.

Each passing of a half hour is marked by the knitting of a mesh , a full day is registered in 48 hours and a year results in an approximate two metre long scarf......

HERE'S THE MATHS !

1. Would you have the patience to wait a year for the scarf ?

(it probably knits faster than I could , so yes)

2. I wonder does it cast off automatically ?

(something as a child I could never grasp)

3. If the idea is to visualise the otherwise invisible time factor , time must go really really slow dont you think ? 

(maybe it would be a great meditation tool or would it be like watching paint dry ?)

I never cease to be amazed by peoples ideas , inventions & designs and wonder why did I miss out on this amazing  gene pool .

Karyn x

Images & script description from www.timetodesign.eu

P.S   I finally increased my computer speed yesterday & I can finally blog again ! 

Welcome 2011

Tonight as I walked outside to the sound of fireworks at midnight ,

our street was quiet but there was the distant sound of cheering & people laughing ,  

the stars clear & bright , my family tucked up safe & asleep.

It was a moment of reflection of the year that has passed , 

the loss of dear family members who are missed.

I am looking forward to the year ahead & all its fresh possibilities. 

Thankyou to all who have left lovely comments this year

& to all of you who have shared your life this year

It has opened up my life to a window of the world & while I didnt accomplish 

all that I hoped , I thought does it really matter ?

As the saying goes 'stop & smell the roses'

as we do not know what is around the corner.

Karyn x

Please give a prayer or help if you can to all the people in Qld who are currently affected

by the devastating floods. I cannot imagine having to flee my home & leave everything behind.