Big day out!

It was a beautiful day on Sunday so Chris suggested that we have a picnic at Jell's Park. This being Melbourne, by the time we got there, dark clouds were starting to roll in. I didn't mind too much because he took me to Madeline's @ Jell's and ordered a delicious mocca - the kind that warms you up from the toes upwards.

Oooh... it looks like it's going to be stormy....
Still looking stormy.... but isn't this a pretty park? Lots of people take their dogs here for walks and there's heaps of tables and bbq pits so it never feels crowded.
Never let boys go shopping when they're hungry! We ended up with enough food for 8 people and there were only 4 of us! We had: 1 roast chicken, a heap of ham, salami, kabana, 3 bags of lettuce, 20 bread rolls, cheese, yummy apple twist thing, choclate and apple twist swiss rolls. There was enough for dinner that night and lunch the next day!
After our lovely lunch, Ian suggested that we go up to the Dandenong Mountains for hot chocolate, so we rolled into the car and dropped the food off at Ian's and then went in his car for a scenic drive up the mountain.

It would have been lovely except I started to get very carsick, and had to exchange places with Danny and sit up the front. It was much better after that.

We went to the quaint little town of Sassafras. It looks like something out of the early 1900s. I played around with sepia tones on our camera to highlight this.

There was an amazing puppet shop filled with toys and handmade puppets, but Danny got scared and wouldn't go in. Teeheehee... Actually, looking at the way the puppet's head got cropped out of the picture, it does look a bit scary.

The pretty main street of Sassafras. Sigh.. if only we had enough money to get married up here!
A pretty little courtyard with little shops that sell old records, books, etc. Look at the stunning cherry blossoms.
There are complimentary marshmallows that you are invited to toast on the wood fire, but people are reminded to take only one. Chris is toasting a marshmallow for me.

Still toasting my marshmallow. Hurry up! I'm hungry!

Danny inspecting his finger. The shop behind him sells the prettiest little knicknacks like teacups, teapots, silverware, photo frames, mirrors, etc. The shopkeeper wore a bowler hat and an old suit - it looked like he had stepped out of an old English postcard. I bought a set of porcelain teacups with pure 24kt silverleaf and a silver bookmark.
Ian took us to this cool trail that led to Burke's Lookout. A warning: do not go there if you're afraid of heights! It's a scary rocky trail that's quite a hike away from the main road. It's very secluded and reminded me of the path that the girls took their mother on in Heavenly Creatures, before they killed her :( Quite scary. I was hanging on so tightly to Chris's arm that he suggested he piggyback me instead - it would be less painful. I was wearing boots, but they had heels. I had a horrible image of missing a step and rolling down the mountain.
The view was absolutely worth it. You can see the whole of Melbourne. It's at your feet like a carpet that rolls on for ages. I wish I was brave enough to come up here at night to see all the twinkling lights of the city.

Oh, by the way, the hot chocolate we had was very disappointing :( The coffee I had in the morning had more chocolate in it than the hot choc did... but all the more reason to go back up there and try another teahouse :)

Mmm toasting marshmallows in front of an open heater...

One of the best things about winter is comfort food. Mmmm think hearty stews, hot shepherds pie, tasty soups... and toasted marshmallows!

Chris and I discovered that we can toast marshmallows in front of our gas heater, but it's hard to hold a skewer that close to an open flame. So, clever little Chris taped a few skewers together so that we could toast them without burning our fingers! Mika kept batting Chris's contraption, causing large melted marshmallow marks on the grille.

We bought a little fondue set the other day at the markets but the chocolate that came with the kit was poor quality cooking chocolate so it didn't melt properly and we ended up with a clumpy mess. Must go to Koko Black and get some proper fine chocolate and have another go :)

Mika in a bag

" I love my bag because it's pink! It makes such a good hammock."
"Peekaboo!"
"Shh... nobody knows I'm in here...."

There are times when there is absolutely no doubt that Mika is a female cat. Like the way she fell in love with my pink Supre bag and it has become her favourite bed/toy/cocoon.

Ok.. there's not much point to this post other than to put up a few cute pictures of Mika.