a new year.

Where do I begin!

I have been thinking about my blog these first few days of January and wondering what my first post of 2013 should be about... Bit of a catch up I think...

Christmas was so lovely this year, it definitely lived up to my excitement and anticipation. It was nice seeing family that I haven't seen for a while.. We ate so much delicious food, I found myself hungry for each meal on Christmas day even though they were huge! 

It was nice painting little strawberries for each jam gift, and decorating with cute fabric..

On boxing day we set off for the high country and camped in a beautiful walk-in only camping spot right on the crystal clear Howqua river. It was so relaxing.. We had perfect weather the whole time, nice and hot. I think my favourite part of the whole trip was swimming. Everyday I went for a morning and afternoon dip, and lots of swims in between. It was amazing how much the temperature of the water changed.. It was freezing cold morning and night, but by mid afternoon it was a very comfortable swimming temperature. That's one of the things I like about camping by a river instead of the beach.. You can have a swim and you're all clean, no salty sandy-ness!

Instead of just taking a double swag and trangia like we normally do, we had a good set up.. Tent, canopy shelter, table, gas cooker.. I could have stayed for weeks. I really enjoyed not having phones or internet, I think it's good to have some time away from that every now and then. 

I read Breath by Tim Winton while I was there, it felt very appropriate being out in the bush reading a good Australian book. 

It's hard to describe the trip, my words just don't do it justice. 

If you would like to see some exceptional photos, I would definitely check out Kristian Laemmle-Ruff's page.. He is amazing! http://www.kristianlaemmleruff.com/916/howqua

I was worried about my vegie garden while I was away, but it survived. Yay! 

Last night I ate my first three ripe tomatoes, I think they're called yellow taxi or something. They were yummy! 

And I'm very excited about these babies! 

My zucchinis grow to about 3 or 4cm then just shrivel and rot, very frustrating! I don't know why.... Anyone have zucchini growing advice?

Brendon bought me a Bellini as an early birthday present, it's so cool!! It's like a Thermomix, but soo much more affordable! I made raspberry sorbet the other night.. It was yummy, but a little too eggy.. Next time I might just use half an egg white. 

Then I made delicious Lindt hot chocolate, it was like the ones at Ripe! 

Well I think it's about 40 degrees outside, and strangely enough all i feel like doing is knitting or crocheting! I have a few new projects I'm hanging out to start.

I made a delicious smoothie this morning in my Bellini, perfect for today.

1 or 2 frozen bananas

Ice blocks

big dollop of yoghurt 

sprinkle of cinnamon

1 fresh medjool date

a big tablespoon of cacao nibs

Whiz it all up and enjoy!

There are some exciting things happening in my world this month... lots of my family's birthdays, my 21st, a beach holiday, a trip to French Island, and I'm sure much more! 

Well, I'm off to rearrange my kitchen drawers then see a movie. 

Bye! 

x Zannah