Rainbow Choc-chip cookies

We are going camping over the long weekend, so posts are going to be sparse over the next few days.  It also meant that I had to bake up a storm in the kitchen to make sure we have enough provisions.

Amongst others, I baked these cookies.  The recipe got adapted a bit from the original, so I thought I would share. 

Rainbow chocolate chip cookies
500g butter softened
1 cup sugar
1 tin condensed milk
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup white choc chips
3/4 cup dark choc chips
100's and 1000's (optional)

Preheat oven to 190C
Mix butter and sugar until creamy, add condensed milk and mix. Sift flour and baking powder together. Add choc chips, flour mix (and 100's &1000's) to the butter mix. Mix together.
Scoop the dough using a teaspoon onto the baking tray. Flatten each ball a little. Place in the oven for 10 minutes. It will still be a little soft when it comes out. Let it cool, preferably on a wire rack.

The smell of roses

With the heat has come masses of roses.  The bushes seem to be trying to outdo each other.  As the wind changes while you walk, you get the loveliest scents wafting past.

This house fascinates me.  It has tons of roses climbing up the walls and along the balustrade to the door.

I spotted this little flower in the shade underneath other bushes.  It was lit by a ray of sunlight.  It just looked so wonderful.

And the blossoms are creating confetti everywhere!

Family times

I got the wonderful opportunity this weekend to photograph this fantastic young family.  The kids had a ball playing in the park and posing for shots.  They are definitely naturals!

 

I was there for a few hours yet the kids did not seem to lose energy  at all.  This was one of the last shots of the day.

I will post a bit more later this week, but I have a huge assignment due tonight, so I am rushing around a bit.  I also have to squeeze in time somewhere to bake cookies and rusks for a camping trip this weekend.  (I have never been camping before, so I am a little nervous.)

Househunting

We are running around like mad hatters, looking for a place to stay.  We decided to move to a new suburb further out of the city, but closer to a lot of our friends. (Yay!  Babysitters!)  I thought to share a quick photo before church.  The last few days have been a bit chaotic.

Is it not beautiful out there?  An extra bonus is that it is close to the ocean.  We won’t have to drive for an hour to get to the beach anymore!

I have a shoot with a lovely family today at the park.  I will post some photos later.

Williamstown

I decided to spoil the kids, so I took them for an impromptu picnic near Williamstown yacht club.  We drove around until we spotted a fish and chips shop.  It is a lovely little place called Hobsons Bay Fish and Chips.  I asked for 2 fish and chips.  When they realised we wanted to share, they adjusted the servings and the price, so for $5, we got a huge amount of chips.  The kids loved the wrapped fish and chips.  We found a little table and benches on the quay and had lunch watching the yachts, seagulls and the city.

 

Afterwards the kids went exploring on the rocks.  They found a little starfish stuck in a small rock pool, left behind by the tide.

On the way out, I saw the little ladybird.  Not what I was expecting on the beach!  It was sitting on this green bed of algae.

We had a ton of fun, but got home quite tired.  Sometimes I feel it will take a week to recover from one outing!

(As you can see, it was a really windy day.)

Fairies

My lecturer really liked my fairy photos, so he asked if I can include a conceptual section on fairies for my portfolio.  Even though it seems very “girly” (eek!), I decided to try to get more pictures for this section.  That meant driving back to Tesselaars Tulip Farm.  My daughter sure  had fun though.  She kept bringing me mushrooms and toadstools to photograph.  She loves looking for little hidden creatures.

This little witch was swinging wildly in the tree.  The wind was blowing quite  a lot on Tuesday.

 

The little dragons were hidden underneath some leaves.  I just adored the expressions on their faces.

I missed seeing this little gnome last time.  He is really high up in the tree on his swing.

 

This cute bird house was low on the ground, I almost missed it.  The detail on it is just wonderful.

Busy Bees

It really is getting close to summer, with the weather warming up fast and the insects becoming really busy.  Some of the brightest flowers are open and the bees are extremely busy at the moment.

I love how the sun makes tulips glow.  There is so much beauty in their simplicity. 

 

The size of a cockatoo

The first time we went to Grant’s Picnic Grounds, we were really surprised at the size of the cockatoos.  They are terribly big and heavy birds.  And there are lots of them!  With our last visit I managed to catch a few coming in to land.

Sorry this is a short post.  It seems that allergy season has hit.  I feel like my head is stuffed full of marshmallows that are expanding!  I am off to bed so I can be chirpy tomorrow.  Going to go to the fairy garden to get some shots for my class assignment.

Crimson Rosella

These little parrots are my favourites of the birds at Grant’s Picnic Grounds in Sherbrooke forest.   They have the loveliest sound they make when calling to each other and the colours are just beautiful.  The one to the left is a juvenile.  The colours change to the blue and red when they get older, though if you look really closely on the back of the adult, there is still a hint of the green.

My sons like the Australian King Parrot.

My daughter’s favourite is the kookaburra.  She gets really excited when she sees them.

  

The Coloured Huts on Brighton Beach

After photographing the diamond, I decided to make use of the chance to go see the beach huts of Brighton.  I had not been there before.  It was raining very heavily, so I couldn’t stay long.  It was really beautiful, none the less.

 

 

 

The colours were so bright and alive against the stormy sky.

 

Diamonds are…

It is such a blessing to have friends.  They have as many facets as diamonds reflect colours.  Thanks to friends in the jewellery industry, I got the privilege to photograph  a 5ct diamond today.  It has a slight yellow tinge.  I got to borrow another diamond ring to give you perspective as to size.

Thanks to Holloway Diamonds in Brighton, Melbourne for quite a photography experience!

(These photos were taken hand-held in natural light.)

PS my friends run Digital Jeweller.  It  is also on Facebook.  You can have your jewellery custom-designed by them from anywhere in the world.  They can also make it for you, or provide the template for your own jeweller to create your masterpiece.

Spring weather in Melbourne

Lately we have really had wild spring weather.  The most awesome cloud formation form in the sky and the clouds then race across the city.

I took these walking to class from Federation Square.  This is the spire on top of the Arts building on SouthBank.  The clouds are rolling in over the ocean.

 

There was still a lot of light though.  Lots of boats moored along the river.  That is the St Kilda rd bridge in the background.

It really looked like the city was in a pool of light surround by waves of clouds.

The river is usually very clean.   I only saw this one bottle on my walk.

Variety at the Tesselaar Tulip Festival

There sure was lots to see at the tulip festival.  These are some last photos of the event.