Half way through the year already?

But hasn't it just begun?

But I do seem to recall an easter egg hunt, with a surplus of river rocks and a splash or two of wine...

And an event that required the preparation of traditional Australian cuisine:

Of which there is more than one! Why, hello! sausage rolls and mini meat pies! What are you doing here?

There was a birthday requiring cupcakes. Of the blue variety. Most people secretly adore blue food. (Some in our household don't bother with keeping it a secret.)

The was an event where we got to bring home flowers. It was a delightful day.

And there were several school-type events that required even more cupcakes!

There was also the discovery of a new 6pm friend, and the heeding of the advice to enhance the friendship with cucumber, strawberries and mint. Always happy to heed good advice!

There were a few short-lived interesting days when many in our household whole-heartedly embraced pretty nails....

And there was a moment of sheer elation when cutting up an early season watermelon and finding BLACK seeds. It is almost possible to imagine that all is right in the world. (A rather aspirational delusion in this day and age...)

There have been a few outings for the BBQ, and the revisiting of 2003 via a travel version of the mojito...

And batches of french macarons to make and transport to friends elsewhere...

And blooming things on the balcony (many having survived from last year- through the mildest winter on record) to remind me that summer days are indeed here, and many hopes are perennial...

It's beginning to feel a bit like...

bare but pretty...

two globes have already fallen victim to the cheeky monkey... :-/

Best fleamarket find... they don't make plastic like this anymore...

He's useless for cracking nuts, I'm afraid. But he is an admirable sentinal...

 The kitchen tree...

Love this little guy who zooms around our

Adventkranz! (The second candle gets lit today.)

The most beautiful tree in the world!

"No, it's not Mama."

"!!!!????!!!!! Yes, IT IS!!!"

"It is very beautiful, but the world is big, and there are lots and lots of Christmas trees. You cannot say that this one is the MOST beautiful of them all...."

The German side of him is strong, it would seem.

(But, in my opinion, it IS the most beautiful tree in the world! :-) )

Summer Urlaub!

So, this year, I booked our summer holiday and we've left the holiday-maker-packed beaches of southern Europe, and ventured to low season Asia... Very excited!

We reached the resort quite late in the evening, slightly disorientated and jet-lagged, but that did not deter us from strolling down the beach in search of a beach-shack restaurant in which to sup.

Little did we realise, that the incoming tide would turn into a ferociously wild surf that would completely drown the entrance stairs while we ate.

We may have left by the back door...

Tossed Salad....

Before and After.

And although it is tempting, I can't really blame the toddler or the cat. It was me.

I love my kitchen floor, but it is unforgiving.

The Box Monster!

One day, he just arrived...

He likes to make surprise attacks!

Sometimes, he shrinks...

But we are lucky to have an in-house Box Monster Whisperer. (If your home has a resident Box Monster, you'll sometimes need the services of a Box Monster Whisperer. Trust me on this.)

And just in case you were wondering where Box Monsters sleep, I'll give you a clue:

Not in their own bed!

The life cycle:-

Of our first strawberries, 2013.

To quote Tamzenite- "to be taken by a red handed critter"... (two actually). 

The Cheeky Monkey's Very Hungry 2nd Birthday Party:

The Cheeky Monkey sensibly chose to be born in the time of year suitable for outdoor festivities.

We planned a picnic, of the Hungry Caterpiller kind.

We sent invitations. (Quite late. As we are somewhat prone to procrastination.)

We painted boxes. Because as everyone knows, toddlers like boxes. As do cats. We discovered that this particular cat even likes them when the paint is still wet.  Hmmmm...

We planned a menu. Actually, we used THE BOOK as the menu.

My cousin commented that she'd never seen that done before. We replied, that from a culinary perspective there was probably very good reason for that. We only deviated by adding some thick slices of bread to go with the swiss cheese and salami. My cousin hoped no-one got a stomach ache. We had some nice green (baby spinach) leaves to ensure that any-one who did, could eat through one and feel much better.

There were lolly pops, a cherry pie, and chocolate cake. The Ger-Man suggested that a Donauwelle Cake would most to the book justice. He was right. It looked perfect, and although I expected it to be revoltingly gooey with all that pudding, it turned out to be very popular.

Surprisingly, the only leftovers we had were the apples, plums, pears, strawberries and oranges...

Probably a moral in there somewhere.

Olli....

What, with one thing and another, I can quite honestly confess that the last few years have been the most challenging I've experienced. (And I am using "challenging" as an euphemism.) Sure, there have been plenty of high points, exceptional experiences and laughter. There was the arrival of The Cheeky Monkey and visits to and from loved ones. But there has also been much difficulty and a fair bit of substantial, sentimental loss.

Not least of which, was Olli.

We didn't actually loose Olli, in the misplaced sense of lost. We lost him because he developed kitty-lukemia.

It really doesn't seem that long ago that Olli joined our family. 

Olli and the Caspi-Man did some substantial growing up together and after the arrival of The Cheeky Monkey, I referred to him as my middle child. He coped quite well with being a sandwich sibling... and while he was a bit miffed with me for a few days after bringing The Cheeky Monkey home, he embraced his younger brother from the outset.

I am quite grateful that apart from loosing a bit of weight and being a bit lethargic he showed no symptoms until the last week. The vets assured us that he wouldn't have been experiencing much pain. I'm not so sure of that because as anyone with a little Cheeky Monkey in their house would know- they are not the most gentle of creatures. The outcome would've been the same but we would have all been sad much earlier...

Olli was put to sleep last March, and I still miss him. 

Cat treats in our house are still called "olli lollies", and it is only recently that I don't feel a sharp pang whenever the phrase is mentioned.

Vale Olli. You were much loved.

Balconying... (for want of a garden)

Spargel!

This past week Asparagus (Spargel) season has officially started here in Germany... and although the locals tend to favour the white stuff, the green does pop up too... 

Friends, I was keen to showcase that Aussies also have a historic culinary tradition with these spears - so imagine my ridiculous excitement when I discovered jars of the green stuff in my local supermarket - just in time for today's Beaut Aussie Picnic! 

(Although, I must admit the local bread has let me down somewhat... doesn't have quite the same elasticity of the genuine Oz loaf...)

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr................

Not only has it been the 2nd gloomiest winter on record here in Deutschland, it has also been bone-chillingly cold. So cold in fact, that someone has actually knitted a scarf for the temporary water pipe on the Kö.

Can it please be spring soon?

Golly Gosh!

But the Brits put on a jolly fine show, don't they? Have thoroughly enjoyed this opening ceremony... as is my four yearly wont. (The Ger-Man has slept through most of it, and the Caspi-Man passsed out an hour ago.)

A friend had made Pimms n' lemonade and cucumber sandwiches to enhance his watching, but dammed if I was gonna do that. Last time I tried that was to take to a friend's to watch a certain royal wedding and as I was finalising the little triangles on a nice platter, certain cramps could no longer be ignored - and the Cheeky Monkey had joined us before the balcony kiss... it was two days before I saw THE hats!!

Needless to say that the Cheeky Monkey is no longer a baby, in fact, he has become a fully fledged toddler... affording me further excuses to neglect this blog. (I do blog a lot, but it is mostly in my head... probably better that way!)  

Here is a pic from 15 months ago: