Starting over post, May 15

Soup, May 15

For the 20x20 "try 20 new recipes": http://daysmeanmore.blogspot.com/search/label/20x20%20project This is Cream of Carrot Soup from the book Van Gogh's Table At the Aberge Ravoux by Alexandra Leaf and Fred Leeman. The soup came out thinner and more like a broth than I thought it would (given that I've never made soup before) but the taste was there, so next time I'm going to adjust the quantities of liquid :-)

Catch-up post

From February/March - I've got a bit behind!

I don't have pix from every single day but I do have a few so this will be sort of pic-heavy. I'm also updating my 20x20 project in this post to keep everything together :-)

Patrick, February 18

Now there's  a smile. Accented  by marmite. :-)

Misty (front) and Chloe February 19

I like the funky perspective on this. And the slightly orange light. :-)

Patrick at the playground February 20

20x20: Take 20 photos of Patrick in 20 different locations. 

Patrick outside February 25 

It's amazing how absorbing 1cm of water in the bottom of a laundry basket and  a giant tennis ball can be.


Patrick and Jeremy February 28

The Oscars were too exciting.

The Patrick fort, March 6

Every boy needs his own fort.

Merlin March 6

All legs and tail.


Skittles, March 28

20x20:  Try 20 new foods. I had never had Skittles. They're pretty good.

Patrick April 3

Same playground as above. Jeremy was driving the other side of the seesaw. :-)


Chloe April 4

Technically that's Patrick's toy. I haven't the heart to tell her.

January 15

Fresh raspberries and ice cream January 15

This counts as a 20x20 "Try 20 new foods" entry because before today, I had never eaten fresh raspberries. I had, of course, eaten raspberry FLAVOURED things, but not the real thing itself. And oh, my what a revelation! Soooo good!! Sweet and a little bit tart and juicy and gorgeous. Om nom nom nom nom

December 20

Mango, December 20

Mango! I'm counting this for 20x20: "Try 20 new foods". It's slightly cheating, because I've had mango-flavoured things - yoghurt, etc. But I've never eaten fresh mango. It kind of tasted like watery orange, plus I couldn't cut right through it - I have no idea what I did wrong there - lol.

November catch-up

Trees at sunset, November 20

Tuatara babies with Patrick's reflection, November 21

This one counts as a 20x20 tick: "take 20 photos of 20 different things", so that's one down!

Bubbles in the sky, November 24

20X20 Project

The lovely Chris from http://www.dreamstuffbooks.com/blog/ is working on a 50X50 project that  you can see on his tumblr: http://chrisa511.tumblr.com/post/1095611155/50x50-list and I decided to co-opt the idea for myself, but scale it down slightly.

I'm putting it up here because I don't want to clutter http://justaddbooks.blogspot.com/ with it, and I don't want to start a tumblr - I barely have time to maintain the blogs that I DO have, so this one has been pressed into service for my own little 20X20 project - 20 things of 20 each that I'd like to do. There's no deadline on it, so I'm probably just going to poke at it when I remember. or abandon it totally when I get bored and move on to something else

Anyway, here's my list, which took me way too long to compile, and is heavy on book-related things:

Go to 20 live shows

Find 20 children's classic books to read to/with Patrick

Buy 20 singles by artists I've never heard of

Read 20 novels by Kiwi authors
I've been doing this one by accident, because of my Kiwi YA challenge, and NZ Book month.
So far this year I've read
- Dreamhunter and Dreamquake by Elizabeth Knox
- The Changeover by Margaret Mahy
- Genesis by Bernard Beckett
- August by Bernard Beckett
- The Scarecrow by Ronald Hugh Morrieson
- The 10pm Question by Kate deGoldi
- The Sea-wreck Stranger by Anna Mckenzie
Read 20 novels by authors I've never heard of

Watch 20 classic films, broken down by genre (eg: 5 horror classics, 5 fantasy classics, 5 film noir classics, 5 comedy classics)
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (classic horror)

Buy 20 new pieces of clothing

Donate to 20 charities
Cryptic but for it to count I don't want to go into details. So far this year, two charitable donations made

20 Pay it forwards

Try 20 new foods
1. Mangos: http://daysmeanmore.blogspot.com/2010/12/december-20.html
2. Raspberries: http://daysmeanmore.blogspot.com/2011/01/january-15.html
3. Skittles: http://daysmeanmore.blogspot.com/2011/04/catch-up-post.html

Try 20 new recipes
Cream of carrot soup: http://daysmeanmore.blogspot.com/2011/05/starting-over-post-may-15.html
Crisp-skin soy chicken with spiced salt: http://daysmeanmore.blogspot.com/2011/05/may-22.html

Finish 20 cross stitch projects
Two bookmarks: http://daysmeanmore.blogspot.com/2011/02/catch-up-post.html

Take 20 photos of 20 different things
1: http://daysmeanmore.blogspot.com/2010/11/november-catch-up.html

Take 20 walks in 20 different locations

Read 20 books from my TBR bookcase (that I haven't read before)
Watch 20 seasons of TV on DVD (Blatantly stolen from Chris)

Visit 20 beaches

Go to 20 exhibitions

Make a list of 20 things I've thought "I'd love to know more about that"

Take 20 pictures of Patrick in 20 different locations
Playground: http://daysmeanmore.blogspot.com/2011/04/catch-up-post.html