Congratulations to comment number 3.
Which, is Melissa of The Things I’d Tell You.
Well done Melissa, I’ll pack these books up into a box and post them to you!
And I hope you enjoy them lots.
[Proper post to come guys, just as soon as I can get my head together. It’s been a long month.]
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It’s been a very long time since Nathan and I got to go out together and do something, just for us. In fact, the last time we went to the movies, I was 36 weeks pregnant with Amy.
Originally, when I saw that Saltimbanco was coming to Hobart, I thought that I would take Amy. After thinking about it for a bit and knowing that it would be well past her bedtime by the time the show even started, adding in her sensory issues (visual and auditory) and her dislike of new and unpredictable things, I wasn’t sure it would have been a good evening.
So when the PR team for Saltimbanco confirmed that yes, I could definitely have two tickets to the opening night and I stopped dancing around the living room, I decided that Nat and I had to leave the kidlets at home and go together.
Nathan was, of course, very happy to come along.
Wednesday night, we got ourselves a babysitter, and escaped out into the freezing cold, feeling like naughty children the whole time.
I cannot rave enough about how fantastic Saltimbanco was. If you’ve got a chance to see it, GO.
The performers were amazing and everything was accompanied by live music and a woman whose voice was absolutely stunning.
Five minutes into the show, I found myself wondering if they had actually managed to lessen gravity in the middle of the stage. The way the performers moved and spun, it really did look like they were less affected by gravity than normal humans.
I think I spent the first half of the show in stunned awe and the second half alternating between laughing and awe. Eddy the Clown was hilarious and I would just like to congratulate the audience member that he pulled up on stage to help him out with a portion of the act, because he was brilliant too.
Thank you so much to Cirque De Soleil for the whole experience. I couldn’t have asked for a better night to break the drought of date nights here.
Nathan and I have resolved to go out more often, which can only be a good thing.
Photo Credit: All photos except the Duo Trapeze Act are © Olivier Sampson Arcand
Duo Trapeze Act photo: © Camirand and Cirque De Soleil Inc
Costume Credit: Dominique Lemieux
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Last week, I started reading the above book and fell in love with it. I can’t remember who recommended it, but it was someone whose tastes run similar to mine and I immediately went and bought the book here.
Two days after it arrived, the first book in the series arrived in my mailbox. A slight mix up and I’m not sure what happened, but somehow, I have two copies of the first book, “Blood Ties”.
Because of this, I was planning on giving it away, to one of my readers here. Then I thought about it a bit and realised that I actually have quite a lot of books here that I’ve enjoyed and I would like to share that around. These are all books that I’ve read and have since been languishing on my (overfull) bookshelves.
So, I’m holding a giveaway.
The prize:
Including:
Neil Gaiman: Stardust
Neil Gaiman: Odd and the Frost Giants
Pamela Hastings: Blood Ties
Johanna Spyri: Heidi
Charlaine Harris: Shakespeare’s Counsellor
Ben Elton: Inconceivable
Rowan McAuley: Sleep-over
4 Ingredients Cookbook
Jane Austen: Emma
Eve Makis: The Mother-In-Law
Jeanette Winterson: Oranges are not the only fruit
So would you like to win?
How to Enter
Become a follower of this blog either by RSS or Friend Connect (both options available in the sidebar, over there to the right).
Leave a comment telling me what your all time favourite book is. Which book is falling apart because you’ve read it so much?
My favourite books are everything by Robin Hobb. They’re all falling apart due to overreading and I’m probably about ready to replace the Assassin series.
That’s it.
If you’d like an extra entry, you can tweet this post as well (make sure you cc me in @SleeplessNights) and come back and leave me a comment telling me that you’ve tweeted it.
For another extra entry, sign up for the new Sleepless Nights newsletter and then leave a comment letting me know you did.
There is also a possibility that depending on postage, I might add an extra few books to the box when I send it.
Competition closes on the 29th of June at 8pm AEST and I will announce the winner shortly after that. Winner will be notified via email and will have a week to reply to me, before another winner is drawn. Competition is only open to people with an Australian mailing address.
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I mentioned on twitter earlier that Golden Syrup Crumble is probably one of the best things to eat straight from the mixing bowl and suddenly it seemed that everyone wanted the recipe. I thought I’d best post it here, so that I can just send the link.
Ingredients:
1/4 c of SR flour
1/2 c of rolled oats
1 teaspoon of mixed spice
1/4 c of butter
1/4 c of golden syrup
1/8 c of sugar (leave it out if you don’t like it super sweet – I was feeling in desperate need of sugar)
Method:
Pop all of the ingredients into a stand mixer and mix until it looks like crumble. A food processor would also work, although be careful, because you don’t want to grind your oats to powder.
If you’re using your hands, rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips, then add the oats and golden syrup and expect to get messy. Using a wooden spoon, or a knife, stir everything together until it’s combined.
Use it on top of whatever fruit you’ve got handy, bake in an oven dish at 180C for 15 minutes or so.
Today I used canned peaches and golden delicious apples, I’ve used an entire tin of fruit salad (drained) before and I had a delicious crumble using apple and blackberries, before the frost and birds put paid to the blackberries. The only time it’s failed is when I used frozen mixed berries, which are frankly, horrendous tasting.
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Apparently poking around in the internet and discussing criticism isn’t popular and can lead to (incorrect) accusations of defamation and all that kind of thing. Which sort of proved my point about why we don’t criticise, but I digress.
So I give you a list of things I could have written about instead.
1 – Kittens. It’s the internet and we need a good dose of kittens. Just because I don’t have any kittens of my own should not stop me talking about them. Even better? Kittens with rainbows. And maybe a unicorn. Can we get a kitten spewing sparkly unicorns over here please? I think I need one.
2 – My hearing, or the lack thereof. Isaac had a hearing test last week and passed with flying colours, so he’s definitely autistic and not just a bit deaf (duh). The issue is, I didn’t hear any of the low tones during the test. Hearing tests for everybody!
3 – The Mummy Bloggers Blog. You know I’m working closely with Louisa to run the Mummy Bloggers Blog and I’ve had a few posts go up over there? No? Well, now you know. You should subscribe to us.
4 – Elephant. Or specifically, the fact that Klout says I am an influencer in the field of Elephant. I blame Isaac and his ability to count to Elephant and the Elephant we apparently have on the roof. I keep telling him it’s just a duck, but no, apparently things that thump around, quacking, on the roof are Elephant. (For the record, he hasn’t read the hippo on the roof book.) If you want to talk about elephant, I am your girl.
5 – Apples. I don’t know why, but I could have written about them. I like apples. Especially when I cover them with golden syrup crumble.
6 – The garden. My apricot trees are dying and I’m not sure if they just don’t like the bathroom (possible, I hate the bathroom too) or if something else is happening. However, my purple cauliflower is doing rather nicely, even if it’s not actually looking cauliflower like.
7 – How meanies on the Internet ruin it for everyone and community spirit is dead and can’t we all just get along (won’t someone PLEASE think of the CHILDREN?).
I bet I could have written about lots of other things too, but I might save them to actually write about.
What have you been not writing about this week?
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PS: This is post number 900. It feels like I ought to have streamers and balloons falling from the ceiling or something, rather than a list post.
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PPS, I have button advertising just about to run out on my sidebar, so if anyone is interested in advertising with me, let me know. Click through rates have been very good.
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