Grateful for contrasts

This word is on my mind. The more I've thought, the more I realise I'm a bundle of contrasts. My life is a life of contrasts.

It started when I thought it funny how Luca was a textbook routine baby and Kian was carried in a sling and we co-slept.

Then I thought about my views on medicine and natural living. I've always sought alternative therapies and treatments to anything. And yet I had an epidural with both the boys.

There are little things like how I hate noise. (OK, who likes noise?) I mean, I'm so sensitive that I'd prefer a tea towel dangling permanently over each and every cupboard and drawer in the kitchen to avoid that sound of wood on wood. I like quiet. Silence. But I'll have you know the drums are my instrument of choice. A drumming friend at school taught me the basics and I've been hooked ever since. (A pie-in-the-sky dream of mine has been to do what I do by day, and be a drummer in a cool little band by night.)

I crave solitude. I love parties.

When we first moved to Australia, we lived amongst barefoot hippies. I ran a cake stall at the organic markets and Graeme sweated it out in people's gardens. Then we moved to a place where Graeme worked in the city and we made friends with big-time corporate families.

We didn't really fit in either camp to tell you the truth.

Too mainstream to be radical and too radical to be mainstream.

I've lived a life where talking to boys was forbidden. A life in a strict private girls' school in Cairo where you are pulled up and punished if your hair tie isn't brown or black. I've lived another in a mixed public school in Kent amongst girls who did a lot more than kissing.

Straight-A student and maths graduate becomes a food writer working from home.

Used to loathe getting dirty in the garden and doing any kind of work out there. Now I've designed and built my beds, planted pots and am growing lots of green goodness. And I quite like getting my hands dirty.

None of this is surprising. I am, after all, a product of another contrast: a harsh Egyptian father and a soft, warm English mother.

I love contrasts. I love all the irony. Life is very real with contrasts. Don't you think?

And I get to see a much much bigger world (literally and figuratively).

Hence why I'm grateful.

Linking with Bron at Maxabella Loves who makes me laugh.


Have you noticed the button? Yes the big button up there on the right. The one with the cool changing text. I'm so excited about it. Go on, see where it takes you... 

P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway.




A visit to 'the dinosaur show' plus a GIVEAWAY!

It had been building up for weeks. Or rather, Luca had. It's all he talked about.

In Luca's words: we're going to the dinosaur show!

And that's where we went one very sunny June day. To the Australian Museum in Sydney for the Dinosaurs Exhibition. 

He was excited.

Madly excited.

Once he'd calmed down a little and saw some familiar faces, we explored.

The usual suspects were there, but his favourite on the day was the Minmi, a small armoured four-legged dinosaur.

Anything hatching out of eggs has always got Luca's attention, so he was straight over to the baby dinosaurs.

The design-o-saurus was a huge hit. Luca created several kooky dinosaurs on screen before trying his hand at a bit of palaeontology.

We were having just as much fun.

Once we were dinosaured out, we checked out some modern-day reptiles, a few dangerous animals and ended our museum visit with some hermit crabs. Another big hit. (Especially with me!)

All very hungry work and we were all in the mood for sushi. We discovered a sushi train literally around the corner.

'We're going on a sushi train!' was what he shouted beforehand.

'We went on a sushi train' is what he's since told dozens of people about our day out.

Because we're still talking about it almost two weeks later.

Photos from the exhibition were taken into preschool and from that sparked several dinosaur-related activities during the day (I love how genuine they are about child-led and spontaneous play).

The whole thing made me realise that days out needn't be tiring, draining affairs centred solely around the children. It helped enormously, of course, that Kian was having his fun elsewhere that day.

I had so much fun. Doing the dinosaur thing, playing dinosaur songs in the car on the way down there, walking through a park and pointing out all the skyscrapers that Mummy used to work in.

What was THE most fun was sitting at a sushi bar with my son. And enjoying it.

Food and family. Does it for me every time.


I'm not paid for this post and all opinions are mine alone, but I do have a rather juicy family ticket to the Australian Museum to give away!

The ticket is for two adults and two children.

Just leave a comment below to enter, along with your email address. I'll pick an entry with the random thingymajig one week from today.

And make sure you've subscribed, because you'll want to hear about my next giveaway. It's a good one. A foodie one.





P.S. In case you're wondering if you can enter my giveaway... Anyone can enter. If you're reading this, you can enter. 


This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Tricia. Thank you to everyone else who commented and entered.

Starry jonquils and a starry pie

A swing band by the beach.

A play in the sand.

Star jonquils and snowdrops from the markets.

Pie for dinner.

A very good Sunday.





One of my favourite things to eat is a pie. So I'm making lots of them this winter. Stay tuned...

A figgy co-op

I am desperately trying to reduce our dependancy on the supermarket. It's a particularly soulless experience for me. There's something about seeing the masses of cheap food, sold very cheaply, and people loading it into their trolleys that leaves me feeling empty and a bit alone.

Every single week. I dread it. 

I try and try to make us go two weeks between supermarket shops, but it's always the milk that sends me back. I don't actually know how much we get through, but I'm guessing over 10 litres. Do other families go through this much? (It's why I made this plea.)

Very often I clear the shelves of the organic milk (they very rarely have more than 7 litres on the shelf), and most other times I just can't fit that much milk into the trolley on top of everything else. 

I buy what I have to at the moment. In the back of my head, I'm making plans to make a few things – our own laundry detergent (maybe), mayonnaise, tomato ketchup... I've already made a start on ricotta, except it wasn't quite right, so I must revisit the cheese-making. It's just about getting into the habit – and finding the time!

The garden has been giving us spinach, parsley and (very holey) rocket. The kale is almost ready and Luca picked our first pea pod yesterday. 

Our little Monday box scheme came to an end recently, so I had to find something else. 

I discovered FIG (Food Integrity Group Co-op). Well, the truth is, I'd heard about a co-op on the Central Coast a while ago, but I couldn't contemplate the half-hour drive when Kian was a baby.

I've been going and getting my box for the last couple of weeks now, and I'm happy.

Bit of a dicey drive (have I mentioned I don't like driving?), but it's worth it.

Watching other mums pile beautiful local (proper local) produce into their baskets makes me happy. I'm not alone banging on about free-range birds and eggs; there was a petition here this week along with plenty of information to inform us.

This week, I filled my bags with apples, potatoes, greens, citrus, broccoli and cauliflower. Plus I bought eggs (a member's eggs; $4 for a dozen!), celery, ginger, bananas, beetroot and sweet potato. Last week, there were carrots for $1 a kilo! Organic carrots. A dollar a kilo! 

The celery came home and was quickly sautéed in butter with onion and bay leaves, before joining the broccoli and the cauli together with a layer of breadcrumbs, crushed walnuts and parmesan in a creamy gratin. 

Graeme and I were home alone yesterday. And this is what we rustled up for our lunch. Figgy poached eggs.*

It's Thursday and I'm running out of veg already. That's the trouble when I have really good ingredients in the house. They disappear quickly. More to the point, there's a lot more care and respect that goes into the cooking, so I've been making some lovely meals. 

I made last week's mushrooms the star of the dish in a French chicken casserole. All the potatoes sat huddled next to a roasted lamb joint for yesterday's dinner and tonight, we have soup. 

A soup so good that Kian had two servings. I can't tell you how that made me feel given he hasn't really eaten a proper meal (lunch or dinner) for months. He eats porridge, a few prunes and spoonfuls of chocolate coconut butter.

Until today. 

This is what broke his fast: shallots, carrot and the leftover bunch of celery leaves (see above) sizzled very gently for a little while. Then I stirred in quite a generous knob of ginger and some orange zest. Red lentils next and chicken stock. Left to simmer until I picked Luca up from preschool. A blitz, then Luca added a can and a half of chickpeas ('two cans would be too much, Mummy').** 

Here's a list of other food co-operatives around the country. Another one here too.

More on FIG coming soon...




* I don't know if you've noticed, but this is a pretty good shot compared to most of the food photography on here (I wish I took it!). I've decided now that I've reached this milestone, I'm going to take my food shots a bit more seriously. No more slopping on plates and trying to take something one-handed with the phone (sometimes it's the only way if my little cuddlebug needs his half-hourly cuddle). We have a very good camera and I have a husband who knows what all the buttons do, so the food will start to look good now. (I half toyed with the idea of deleting some of my very dodgy food shots, but y'know what? They're staying. How else can I call it a journey?) Joy, if you're reading this, I'm hoping for some pointers when I see you next...

** I hope I'm not being annoying not giving you an exact recipe. I write lots of exact recipes. It's just that I love to inspire rather than prescribe. 

Celebrating 100

I've reached 100 posts.

Can't believe it's been a year since I began my little blog!

I started Finding that place called Home as a way of recording family life. I'm only one year in, but I'm already thinking about where I want to take it.

I've written about family, our home and early childhood. I've also shared my gardening journey and what it will mean to me to have an abundant kitchen garden. I still want to write about all these things, because they are my life. Every day.

But I want to set the tone as it becomes clearer in my mind. The same purpose I had when I landed that job at the BBC feels like it should be the same purpose here.

To share my joy of food. To uncover great food.

Food and people.

So really it's still the same. Family. Like-minded souls. Kindred spirits. Around a table.

In case you've just joined me (welcome, by the way!), here are 100 moments from the past year.

I hope you'll join me for the next 100.


My technical advisor (aka my handsome spearfisherman) has just informed me that my rss button has been going to the wrong link. So that might be why some of you have missed a few posts. If that's you, easiest thing might be to click on whichever leaf button takes your fancy. Up in the top right-hand corner. See? Or if you like, you can join me on Facebook (which I'm still getting used to!).

Cuddles * Our own sashimi * Kian on his bike * Beach walk after Avoca Markets * Firescreek Winery *
Luca at the beach

Winter sun * Choc cupcakes * Playing with cans and string * Swimming with Kian * Lilies in our deep dark wood * Kian posing * Brothers on the seesaw * Fun in the deep dark wood * Best vegetable lasagne 

Trotting fun * Homegrown basil * Noise with saucepans * Watering the worms * Digger watching * A stroll with Sydney * Brotherly love * My first hydrangea

Green and red tomato chutney * Luca harvesting * Perfect passionfruit * No-churn strawberry ice cream *
Kian up to no good * My favourite way to see presents * Graeme's latte art * A pensive moment *
Summer fruit salad

A special trip on a trike * Homemade sign * Luca and an eastern rock lobster * Dinner * Kian chasing geese

Organic sourdough * Spinach at home * Kian climbing * Mucking about on the decking * Watering the brassicas * Mr and Mrs Shadow * Trying to grow basil from a cutting * Helping in the garden * Climbing high * Pant pant * Holding on tight to my cuddlebug

Autumn colour * Morning catch * Two brothers * Sydney Botanical Gardens * Amazing light at Terrigal *
Summer sun * Sydney's birthday

Family outing * Slow food * Luca catches a fish * Turning four * Rough and tumble with friends

Enjoying a party * Picking flowers * Sticking leaves * Sharing a muslin * Heavenly jonquils * Winter day out *
Kian's 1st * Snorkel and fins * At the pool * Cheeky grins * Crabbing at our favourite spot * Helping Daddy clean and fillet the fish * My beautiful mum and I

'Luca', made out of things from the garden * Pinning it on the door with Auntie Jennifer * Frangipani in our garden *
I love the Avoca markets * Oh so cheeky

Lazing about * Crabbing in winter * Putting together Kian's toddle truck *
My first mud crab with Opa * Straight into the water fully clothed

A week's worth of dinners * Watching Daddy fillet * Posing with Opa and the mud crab we just caught *
Christmas morning rainbow

My three boys * Playground fun * Our tomato glut * A much-loved umbrella *
A different way with paint * Crawling outside

Squelch squerch * Kian playing fetch * Smiles * Warm crumble * Pink rhubarb * Blocks at home




Ridiculous spearfishing ban (and giveaway winners!)

I wouldn't normally have this sort of thing on my blog, but if people get carried away like they do, it could potentially threaten the prospect of food on the table for us. 

It might mean no more of this or this.

And it would take away that feeling of joy for Graeme. 

Graeme writes:

Image from Guy Thornycroft 

There are calls to have a ban on spearfishing in Cabbage Tree Bay at Norah Head on the NSW Central Coast (Australia) and according to this piece in the Express Advocate, support for the ban is growing.

Let's have a closer look and see if we can read with an open mind or better still, look at the problem from both sides of the fence – actually put ourselves in the shoes on one side and the fins on the other.

So there is a new ramp going in at Norah Head next year, which will increase boat traffic. As such, officials are concerned about safety. Fair enough. There have, apparently, been 'real issues with teenagers and their unsafe use of spearguns in a very popular boating and swimming area'. I assume this refers to the same spot.

If the issue is with the unsafe use of spearguns by a few, then surely we should be sorting out that problem with those few. Don't penalise the greater spearing community. A speargun is a dangerous thing if misused, as is a filleting knife or a cricket bat... If you see a fisherman wielding a fishing knife in an unsafe way near crowds, do you ban fishing? If you see teenagers in a playground using a cricket bat in an unsafe way near crowds, do you ban cricket? You get the idea.

If the increased boat traffic from the new ramp is the problem then a) look at putting in channels for the boats to come and go using marker buoys, for example or b) if you are going to ban someone from this area, then it should be everyone: swimmers, scuba divers and spearos (spearfisherman) alike.

All spearos I know and dive with are sensible, and we dive with a float and flag. We are also comfortable and experienced in the water, therefore are mostly some of the safest people using the waterways, unlike the holiday-only snorkelers and once-a-year boaties who will be using this ramp.

Areas like this are important for young spearos to get in the water in a safe and sheltered environment. If you start banning areas like this, you will force the younger ones or those new to the sport to learn in places out of their depth (excuse the pun).

Or is this another way for ill-informed bodies to get their way and ban a sport which a lot of people commonly regard as dangerous and plundering our oceans of its valuable resources? What do I mean? Spearfishing is one of the most selective and sustainable forms of fishing. In the majority, spearos identify the species and size of the particular fish first, then catch what they need. I am also a line fisherman (though not so much nowadays), and you only make the call to keep a fish once you have it in your hands, releasing the smaller ones and hoping they survive. Don't get me wrong; line-fishing is extremely selective and sustainable when done ethically, like most do. It's just not as selective and sustainable as spearfishing.

Don't get me started on commercial operations.

Spearfishermen. We're probably greener, more concerned with the environment and we look after it more than most. After all, we constantly see the beauty of what there is to protect under the water.

Think about it and don't just jump on the bandwagon.

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Giveaway winners
Tricia and Jane! 


Please can you both email me: findingthatplacecalledhome(at)gmail(dot)com
Hoping you both have a magical day at Amazement in the Yarramalong Valley. A genuine thank you to everyone else who commented and entered.

1. Tricia7 June 2012 07:28

   I'd never heard of Amazement. It sounds perfect! I'd love to visit.
   
   For me, family time means truly relaxing and having fun. And for me the 'truly relaxing' is easiest when we are in some way connected to nature.
   
   Thank you for sharing this place.
2. Jane8 June 2012 09:08

   Thank you for sharing. We will definately be making a visit here. Family time is precious :-)

What a pear

Winter has arrived. I don't mind it all. In fact, I quite like it.

Change is good. Cosy cardigans and mugs of hot chocolate. I'm saying hello to winter and its chilly evenings with warming crumble and cream. A green salad with goat’s cheese and pear makes a speedy supper, and your little ones will love these pancakes with coconut chocolate butter. *

Here's what I cooked up for Breeze magazine this month.

A pear and raisin crumble is perfect in winter. I buy Over the Moon Jersey milk at the Entrance Farmers’ Market whenever I can. It’s like liquid gold. I think it’s exciting to buy milk and cream straight from the dairy. Old-fashioned, full-cream milk that hasn’t been homogenised or diluted, from a single family-owned farm that doesn’t use pesticides or man-made fertilisers is beautiful. That’s just the milk. Once you taste their cream, you won’t put anything else near your crumble.

I would love to see the milk at the Avoca markets (either beachside or growers'!). Love love love. This single thing would infinitely improve my quality of life. So if you're reading this Karl, pleeeease....

It’s often a relief not to have to bother with cooking, which is why a simple cheese and salad course is just the thing for when you’ve overstretched yourself. A goat's cheese salad with pear and walnuts. Convenient, but it relies on the very best ingredients. An industrial, supermarket-grade goat’s cheese, mediocre bread and rock-hard pears just won’t cut it. Visit the Avoca Beach Growers' Market and bag one of the exquisite goat’s cheeses from Leaning Oak, then swing past La Tartine for one of their finest loaves of sourdough. 

We don’t make pancakes anywhere near enough. They’re so easy to make, especially these pancakes with coconut chocolate butter and pears. I’m hooked on Cocopure’s coconut chocolate butter, and once you add some fruit (pears in winter, strawberries in summer), you have an impressive dessert for any night of the week. You’ll find Cocopure at the Avoca Beach Growers' Market. Try the cashew butter and the vanilla butter for a great healthy snack to have on fruit. The chocolate butter, with its blend of organic virgin coconut oil, raw cacao, agave nectar, vanilla and himalayan crystal salt, is sensational. Kids will love it spread on toast, or straight from the jar - like mine do. 

Visit their website and download a copy of their new Pure magazine. Learn about the amazing power of raw chocolate, why every kitchen should be using virgin coconut oil and make your own raw chocolate!

Stay tuned, because I've got something very exciting on Cocopure coming very soon.  

Only two days left to enter the Amazement giveaway. Quick!

 


* All photographs copyright Breeze magazine. For the full recipes, click on the recipe links above and download a recipe card for you to print and fold in half, and keep! Otherwise, you can read the whole thing here.

Chasing the sun with old wheelbarrows

I've never forgotten the sight of the garden at JoJo's, a little (well, it was back then) mezze restaurant in Whitstable, England. Nikki and Paul inspired me on so many levels when I met them back in 2004. I'm not sure they realise how much of an impact they had on me. And still do. Every time we move house, I go in search of a JoJo's. I'm half referring to JoJo's as a restaurant and half referring to the actual people. Friends who share my values to do with food, our environment, and a tremendously inspiring sense of style and resourcefulness...

Seriously, I really do go looking for a JoJo's everywhere I go. I haven't found one yet. I realise now as I type these words that this is another factor in why I gave my blog the name I did.

Anyway, I'm not getting to the point as usual... I remember one night Graeme and I took the train from London to Whitstable to catch up with Nikki and Paul. We sat at the bar and ate beer-battered calamari*, haddock goujons and patatas bravas, then when everyone else had gone home, they shut shop and we drank wine together.

I was pickled that night. So pickled I fell off my seat on the train back to Victoria.

This is that moment.

Thems were the days before kids...

Will I ever get to the point???**

Here it is, here it is: Somewhere between the lamb cannon and the cave-aged gorgonzola that night, we wandered out to their garden. An olive tree stood right at the back. I remember talking about their plans for a wild meadow. Nikki talked about how you can buy packets of wild meadow seed that you just scatter and voila, you have a patch thick with cornflowers and poppies.

What really stuck with me, though, were the butler sinks that she had planted with herbs, charming old troughs picked up in a nearby scrap yard, and was there a bath?? Can't remember now. You're picturing a higgledepiggledy mess of other people's rubbish. And yet, it was a higgledepiggledy thing of beauty.

I don't yet have any chipped troughs or butler sinks, but a plastic baby bath is doing the job nicely.

What I have been looking for, though, is a wheelbarrow. An old wheelbarrow that has served someone well for years, but can't go on anymore. I've looked on the roadsides for months.

Then two come along in the space of two weeks. Two garage sales. Both were going to the tip the minute their owners had sold all the bric-a-brac in them. Neither could believe I would want an old wheelbarrow.

But rescue them I did.

Graeme drilled holes and Luca took a hammer to old terracotta tiles and lined the bottoms.

We're not really sure what we're doing, but we mixed manure with organic compost and some mushroom compost. Then a wet blanket of sugarcane mulch and a drenching with worm juice.

I've replanted the leeks in one (replanted because the poor buggers were fighting for space in a tiny pot).

Now they can soak up all that sun in the front garden. Sunshine that has gone to waste till now.

Which has just given me another thought. All that lawn... A wild meadow. Just think, no more mowing. Cornflowers, poppies. Do they grow over here? Anyone?

I'll be picking two winners for the Amazement giveaway this coming Friday. If you'd like to visit, make sure you enter here.





* We've eaten a lot of calamari. Around the UK, in Spain, in France, in Greece, around Australia... OK, I'm just showing off now. Point is, Nikki's is the best. I haven't had any since my visit in July 2010.

** Believe it or not, I had to change the title of this post. I'd planned on talking to you about wintry pears, Hugh FW's savoury muffins and a rhubarb crumble. I was just going to mention the wheelbarrows. But all this just poured out. I needed to say it. 

An 'amazing' giveaway!

About a month ago, I took Luca to visit Amazement, an animal farm with mazes and walks in the Yarramalong Valley (around an hour from Sydney). There was something about the place and about Gennie, the owner, that made me want to find out more. I felt compelled to write about the story there, so I did.

The four of us went back and spent another glorious day there. Here's an extract from the piece I wrote in the current issue of Breeze magazine (these are my own pictures here, but you'll see ones taken by a proper photographer in the magazine!).

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‘Bunny World is open!’, hollers Gennie. Her warm voice is heard  everywhere and my four-year-old leaps over to the rabbit and guinea pig enclosure. There, he takes turns with another little girl in fondling Cricket, the guinea pig and three ten-day-old baby rabbits. 

It’s kid heaven everywhere you look. Frizzle hens and their chicks run for shelter underneath the barn, and another little army – Silkies, this time – scuttle around the herb garden. While the kids are trying their hardest to get a good look at the curls and the balls of fluff, we stumble across beautiful white geese standing guard under a tree outside the farmstay.

A Muscovy duck takes us past the Hen Hotel. The Colonel, a fine plump specimen of a turkey, wanders close by and stands head to head with my 17-month-old, who wants to investigate his wrinkly red wattle. The Colonel seems just as intrigued and follows him about, edging away if his hand comes too close, but sticks around for a fit of toddler giggles.

Meanwhile, we’re told we can let ourselves in to see Blackie, an adorable miniature pony, who loves a good brush. We’ll come back later for the sheep race, but first there’s fun to be had in the Lilli Pilli maze and on the ‘bounciest ever’ spring-free trampoline in the games courtyard. 

The café in the Barn lures us in, and while we wait for our food, Archie, Gennie’s English pointer, comes to greet us. ‘Peter, my late husband, used to call him an English pointless,’ Gennie says, ‘but he’s rather good for silky ear therapy. Stroke his ears and he makes everything all better.’

We eat zucchini fritters made with eggs from the Hen Hotel, and tomato bruschetta that have a nice kick from homegrown chillies. It’s fresh, zingy and full of flavour. Desserts are an absolute treat, with homemade crumble and bread-and-butter pudding. This is exactly what I want to eat with my family if I haven’t packed a picnic. It’s the sort of food I cook at home. What’s so good, though, is that picnickers are more than welcome to bring their own and sit in the barbecue area.

It’s 12.30pm and Gennie announces the start of the sheep race. Children gather with their parents to watch Nellie, Lamb Friday and Lamb Sunday race along through tractor tyres. It’s a real spectacle and tremendous fun – for young and old – with lots of cheering from Gennie and the kids, who were very happy to feed the sheep (and all the other animals) afterwards.

.....

The idea to create a special day out for families started with Peter and Gennie’s very popular giant Ned Kelly maize maze in 2006. ‘We wanted to build a place where families could go and play and run around, where they could spend time together and relate to each other in nature - not at the movies or in Westfield,’ Gennie says. 

‘Spending several hours together in nature can really lead to magic,’ she continues. ‘It’s quite extraordinary watching the children as their fathers join in the quiz trails. It’s really important for dads here, because families who play together stay together. That’s what Amazement is all about.’

But for now this magnificent place is up for sale and Gennie wants to go back to her life as a creative artist and actor. She was Deirdre Chambers in Muriel’s Wedding and she’s had major roles in Packed to the Rafters, All Saints, Stingers and Home and Away. Gennie’s talent is also in storytelling performances for children aged 5 and over with stories such as Cake and the Magic Milking Stool and the African Spider. ‘What I’d also love to do, once I have clean fingernails again, is write a book on Archie’s stories,’ she says. ‘It might be called Archie’s Diaries!’

Gennie hopes to sell to someone with a heart for families and relationships, someone who can take it to the next level. ‘My heart is still here and I wish I could just hang out with the people that come and visit. But I’m also fairly hooked on being an actor.’

After we wander around the ponds and spot the elusive crocodile, the four of us grab a two-seater trike and ride past horses and paddocks to a place where Christmas trees grow and liquid ambers sing with brilliant autumn colour. 

There’s so much to see and so many opportunities for families to explore, whether it’s discovering a child’s delight in baby chickens or doing a puzzle in nature. Just make sure you catch the magic before it’s too late.

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You can read the full article here. 

But I'm guessing you just want me to get on with the giveaway! Well, Gennie is very kindly giving away two family tickets into Amazement, each worth $50. To enter, 'like' Amazement here, and leave me a comment below telling me what family time means to you.

The winners will be chosen through Random Number Generator. Good luck!


Update: This giveaway is now closed.
Congratulations to Tricia and Jane! 

Please can you both email me: findingthatplacecalledhome(at)gmail(dot)com
Hoping you both have a magical day at Amazement in the Yarramalong Valley. A genuine thank you to everyone else who commented and entered.