Not every day in the Hotly Spiced kitchen is a happy one. In the lead-up to Arabella’s birthday party I set about making the cake she had requested, a dachshund. What could go wrong! Pretty much everything. But not the baking-the-cakes part; that went very well except for being too heavy-handed with the tint. I […]
Leaving the Teens Behind
September 24, 2014 By 41 Comments
Over the weekend we celebrated Arabella’s birthday. A birthday where she left her teens behind. It struck her that she’s getting old. ‘I’m so old, mum; I don’t want to be this old, I liked being a teenager’. I didn’t like her being a teenager and am quite happy we’re moving on. ‘If you’re feeling […]
Parental Leave
September 8, 2014 By 38 Comments
Often our weekends are taken up with children’s sports, their parties, their friends, their sleepovers; as well as their homework, assignments, projects, speeches, escapades and dramas. But last weekend we took a break from parenting and spent time socialising and catching up with our own friends. For my mental health I needed parental leave. Archie […]
Going to Court and Lunching in the Planning Room
August 19, 2014 By 43 Comments
Today’s been one of those days. Archie’s been summoned to Court and Alfie’s been sent to the Planning Room. I wouldn’t mind if my boys paced themselves through their dramas but they want me living on the edge and so when a storm hits, it’s more like a hurricane where I am in the middle […]
Airport Hijinks
July 26, 2014 By 37 Comments
On our last morning in New York, Arabella and I decided we should try to relax and unwind and so we went across the road from our apartment to Washington Square, an extremely picturesque park at the end of Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village. We had a really lovely time sitting in the sunshine by […]
‘So Don’t Get Stressed’
July 12, 2014 By 42 Comments
One of the other hats I’ve been wearing is ‘Project Manager’. It’s a hat I acquired a few weeks ago when one of the tenants in a building we own moved on. It was decided that before we advertised for a new tenant, some work should be done on the premises; it is after all, […]
Homesick No More
July 10, 2014 By 51 Comments
Miss Arabella has recovered from her homesickness. That’s not to say I’m cancelling my trip. All it took was my sister taking her for a trip down Rodeo Drive for some therapeutic shopping where she purchased a Michael Kors jumpsuit. Followed by being picked up by an Audi chauffeur and taken to the premier of […]
Arabella’s Misadventures
July 8, 2014 By 64 Comments
Disclaimer: The images shown are irrelevant to this post but show you how we spent some of our time in the Southern Highlands. As most of you are aware, my daughter, on a whim, went on-line and bought herself an airline ticket to the USA. She had an idea in her head that traveling solo […]
A Country Escape
June 30, 2014 By 34 Comments
Carl and I, together with our ‘only’ child, have left the ‘big smoke’ for a few days on the farm in Mittagong. For me it’s a much needed time of de-stress after taking Miss Arabella to the airport, first thing Saturday morning. It was a few weeks before Christmas when Arabella came to me and […]
Balmoral Burn, 2014
June 3, 2014 By 34 Comments
The thing about Alfie, is that he likes to involve himself in so many things. Our community hosts lots of events and in the weeks leading up to each event, signs appear in the streets letting everyone know it’s time to sign up. Alfie reads those signs. For weeks he’s been on the countdown for […]
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