The Baynhams

I attended a work event this week. At the end as we were tidying up the venue we were told we could take home one of the table floral decorations. The girl I was chatting to was taking hers home to give to her mum. Living on the far side of the world has its down days and I wanted at that moment to be able to casually drop in to my parents home on the way home from work so I could give them to mum. Technology is a wonderful thing and I thought of an idea. I took this photo and went online and sent it to her as a postcard. I know it's not quite the same as the real thing but hopefully it will still make her smile! 

 

Murphy seems to know what time of day to expect the kids to return from school. He used to run to the front door when he heard the low rumble of a bus slow down on the road outside. Now that Sian has passed her driving test she drives in and out of school and Gareth and Rhiannon catch a lift with her. Murphy has given up running to the door as the school bus passes by but seems to now be tuned into the sound of Sian's car pulling up on the kerb instead. Clever boy!

We love August in this house. It is birthday month for Byron and myself. Too much, cake, too much chocolate, too many glasses raised with friends! 

No such thing as "too much" when you are enjoying life. 

Here's to many more celebrations together Mr B xoxo

Probably my favourite memory of this holiday is this quirky little bookshop we found down a side street in Port Macquarie. Is it a cafe? A secondhand book-shop? No, it's a tiny mixture of both! Complete with it's own dog "Riley" who snuggles up at your feet while you sip and read. Heaven.

A sneaky photo of Rhiannon walking down the steps to the beach. My beautiful kids are so reluctant to let me take photos of them that sometimes this is the best I can hope for! I have an itching to get out my small watercolour paints on this holiday and I think this is the first think I'll try painting.

WooHoo! It's holiday time! We have gone away for a week to recharge our batteries. It's winter and it's chilly but the sun is shining and the local beach comes with a random armchair...?! 

I think I'm going to like it here!

It's school holidays! Yippee, a chance to abandon early alarms and chill out. Our kids go to a school with very strict rules regarding uniforms, hair colour etc (Which I 100% support) On the first day of holidays though, I am very happy to let the girls put temporary hair colours in as I know that they will be washed out in time to return to school. Rhiannon decided to go purple this time and it looked so amazing on her. She would love to have it this colour every day but I told her she would need to be home-schooled or change to a school with more relaxed rules. She quickly agreed that she can cope with it being a "holiday only" colour for now!

AAAARRRGGGHHHHH!

She's done it! 

Passed her driving test first time. 

Now she can drive solo with her red "P" plates....

My hair is turning grey just thinking about it.....

A beautiful new bridge has been opened up in Newcastle. It is a pedestrian walk high along the coastline. On one side you look down at the roaring ocean, and the other side, the city of Newcastle. 

The bridge has silhouettes of soldiers reminding of all of those who gave their lives so we would be able to live ours so freely. We went for a walk as the sun was setting low in the sky and it was so beautiful. 

I can see this being a new favourite weekend walk. 

Mr B found this note attached to his favourite mug in the work kitchen this week....

Not a happy Welshman :-(

This blog writing is more challenging now that the kids are getting older and there are not as many opportunities to take cute snaps of them. Instead I have to find other willing participants. Thank goodness for Murphy! 

Another lovely winter evening walk. A great way to clear our heads before heading inside to Merewether Surf House for hot chips and pizza! Bye bye weekend, you always go too soon!

 

I had a craving for a pumpkin, cashew and parmesan dip this week. I searched Google for recipes and found this very simple one. It was very easy to make. I had one kilo of pumpkin so I quadrupled the other ingredients. It produced so much dip I thought we would get fed up of it but it was lovely down to the last morsel! I held back a small portion and made it extra spicy for Byron and decorated with some sliced fresh red chillies! KaBOOM!