Transfer Day

This morning a precious little embryo was transferred into my womb.

This has happened plenty of times before. Seven of them have died inside me, either sometime in the first two weeks, or later down the track. Two grew to be our gorgeous daughters.

We have just completed a fresh stimulation cycle of IVF. Over the past six weeks, I decided not to bore you with the details, but here's a quick summary of what we've been up to ... tablets, nose spray, injecting myself in the tummy, 12-hourly alarms, internal ultrasounds, blood tests, a general anaesthetic, a not-very-pleasant biopsy for Neil, pain, mood swings ... you get the picture!

However, the fact that we've come back for more is evidence that the process is definitely worth it. We have two little miracles, and I'm so grateful to both the scientists, and the women who went through the earlier, much tougher IVF regimes. Without them it wouldn't be possible for us to have children.

This one is nicknamed "Ollie" - or "Mighty Bean", if you ask Aunty Janelle. Please pray with us that it sticks!

"Bonza Sheila" Pie

On Monday I made a nice big Hunza Pie for our dinner last night. It is Neil's favourite, but instead of "Hunza" he calls it "Bonza Sheila" pie, because he thinks I'm a bonza sheila for making it for him!

Apparently the name 'Hunza Pie" relates to the people of the Hunza valley, a princely state in northern Pakistan until 1974, who were noted for their longevity. It is said their good health came from consuming healthy organic foods, and getting plenty of fresh air and exercise. From my research it is not clear if the recipe actually has anything to do with them or not, but it has definitely been a vegetarian favourite since the 1970's, in all its different variations.

This is a recipe I inherited from my mother. Traditionally, a Hunza Pie is made with wholemeal pastry, but I will often save time (as I did on Monday) by using pre-made shortcrust pastry for the base, and pre-made puff pastry for the top. I have also been known to use frozen spinach, especially if the silver beet in my garden hasn't been forthcoming.

Bonza Sheila Pie

Pastry:       120g wholemeal self-raising flour
                  120g plain flour
                  120g cold butter, diced
                  cold water, to mix

Filling:        6 or 7 leaves silver beet
                  85g brown rice
                  1 tbsp olive oil
                  2 eggs
                  1 onion, finely chopped
                  120g cheddar cheese, grated
                  1/2 tsp salt

Process flours and butter in a food processor until crumbly.
Add enough water to make a dough.
Wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll out into two circles to fit your pie dish.
Line greased pie dish with first circle of pastry.

Wash and dry silverbeet, then shred finely.
Cook rice in boiling water for 5 minutes only, then drain well.
Add rice to spinach with onion, cheese, oil, salt and eggs. Mix well.
Fill the pastry case, and cover with the second pastry circle.
Brush top with milk, and bake for approximately one hour in a moderate oven.

The pie in the photographs was made in a very large pie dish, and I actually used three quantities of the filling recipe to fill it. Just in case you make it, and wonder why yours doesn't look so full!

Tesselaar Tulip Festival 2011

On Sunday morning we went to visit the beautiful Tesselaar Tulip Festival. It's been on my list of things to do in Melbourne for 10 years, so I thought it was about time!

We only stayed for a few hours, but it was very pretty and worth a visit. The trick is definitely to get there early though. It's a very popular place!

The main activities seem to be taking photos of your family among the tulips ...

... and of course, eating poffertjes (little Dutch pancakes)!

These are my favourite images of the day:

Crafty Moses

Here is a photo of the craft I invented for the kids in Beginners Sabbath School a couple of weeks ago. I thought it made a nice change from the colouring-in sheets we are given to use.

I pre-cut squares of blue card, and green tissue paper for the reeds. I started off with a paper cupcake wrapper for the basket, but it collapsed too easily, which is why I ended up cutting up an egg carton instead. That worked really well.

There is a paper cupcake wrapper glued inside the carton (to bridge the gaps), and a cotton wool ball glued into that for the mattress. The little babies were easy to buy at the craft shop, and they and the scrap of material aren't attached, because the kids liked to take them out and cover them up again (repeatedly!).

The only problem is ... we are doing the story of Moses for a whole month! We did the colouring-in last week, so this week I'm trying to think of something different again. Any ideas?

Bath Fun

The girls are old enough to share the bath now. They each get some time on their own, but they absolutely love to splash and giggle together in between.

Neil took these great photos the other night. I just wish we'd had the video camera handy. Charlotte's giggles were priceless!

It is a beautiful thing to see your children enjoying each other's company.

Sitting Pretty

Look who can sit up all by herself!

Charlotte can sit up for quite a long time now, although she still occasionally topples backwards. She can also travel rapidly around the house, albeit only in reverse! The knees come up and she rocks to and fro, so crawling isn't far off.

My little baby is growing up!

Father Figures

I don't want to let Father's Day get too far away without saying a few words about the two fantastic fathers in my life.

First of all, my dad, Bob. Reliable, supportive, creative, trustworthy, and smart.

I can remember Friday nights sitting in front of the oil heater listening to music, Sabbath afternoon walks in the bush looking for orchids, attending numerous eisteddfods where you sat patiently listening to child after child play the same piece, and regular letters and phone calls that kept me connected to home.

Thank you for all the sacrifices you made to pay for me to go to school, to learn music, and to attend special youth events. Thank you for making me furniture, a dolls house, my shell cabinet, and many other things. Thank you for all you've taught me. And thank you for always being there to support me through the different stages of my life. You are a great father (and grandpa) and I love you.

Next, my wonderful husband and father to our two little girls, Neil.

Thank you for your hard work, which provides for us as a family. Thank you for your sense of humour, which makes our lives so much fun. Thank you for the dirty nappies you've changed, the nights you've sat up (or driven great distances) with a sick baby, and all the other ways you've helped to care for our daughters.

The girls love spending time with you. They love it when they see you coming home. They love cuddling with you in the chair. They love walks to the playground with you. They love you, full stop. And so do I.

It's a bit late, but Happy Father's Day to you both. You deserve it.

A Moroccan Dinner

We had a couple of friends over for dinner last night. On Friday I was struggling to decide what to cook. Then I caught sight of the Australian Women's Weekly Moroccan cookbook Neil bought me a few months ago. Problem solved!

Neil kindly took the girls for a long walk around the lake to give me the afternoon free for cooking. I think I ended up roasting six eggplants in total, as well as doing a lot else. The recipes were generous, but leftovers aren't a bad thing!

Our menu follows. Unfortunately I didn't remember to take photos of everything. I usually like a substantial entree, because then there's often a break for about an hour while we get the girls bathed and in bed.

Entree:

• Hummus (the recipe included freshly grated tumeric and honey)
• Goat's cheese with chickpeas and capsicum
• Toasted pita bread
• Vegetarian cigars with harissa yoghurt

The most delicious hummus I've ever tasted! 

 Main:

• Sweet & spicy vegetable tagine
• Roasted vegetable couscous

Roast vegetable couscous

Sweet & spicy vegetable tagine

Dessert:

• Lemon curd muffins (courtesy of Charmaine)
• Fresh watermelon with yoghurt and mint
• Charosets

Charosets (made of dates, raisins & walnuts)

This recipe book has quite a lot of vegetarian options. I'll definitely be using it again!

Down at the Farm

I'm a bit behind with posts at the moment. Too much going on!

Here is a collection of photos from Monday last week, when we spent the day with Andrew, Emma and Ayla. We visited Collingwood Children's Farm, then had some more yummy food at the Convent Bakery before chilling out at home.

Grace and Ayla really enjoyed seeing the animals, and showed varying degrees of bravery in patting and interacting with them. Charlotte was interested, but seemed more taken with her new relatives!

It is such a beautiful setting by the river, and everything seems to run at a relaxed pace. We need more days like that!