Day of Shame

Yesterday I was ashamed to be Australian, and I love my country and am always aware how blessed we are here.  But to treat the Prime Minister in that way, and worse her being a woman, was just disgusting.  The Aboriginal activists did themselves no favours by carrying on the way they did.  I doubt that any right thinking Australian would disagree with me today.  I actually cried last night seeing the vision of her being rushed to safety.  I am far from being a fan of Julia Gillard but she deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. 
If I tried to pitch a tent outside Parliament House in Canberra I'd soon be moved on by the Federal Police, so how come they get away with it and have for many, many years?  Racism?  Aren't we ALL Australians?  Certainly the Aborigines were here first, but the European settlers made this country what it is today, and what they are now trying to lay claim to.  One law for all I say.  And this country is now, happily in many ways, a multi cultural melting pot, "We are one, but we are many, and from all the lands on earth we come, we share a dream, and sing with one voice, I am, you are, we are Australian".  There are some wonderful Indigenous people in this country, I can think of many just off the top of my head, but these idiots just set the cause back big time by their abhorrent behaviour yesterday.
So apart from all that, and we didn't find out about it till the evening news, we had a really nice day yesterday.  We bbqed and Em and I made the Aussie flag pavlova.  I didn't get photos of it on my camera but Emmy has some on her phone so I'll get her to send them to me.

  We decided to make a Damper Dip.  Not heart healthy but so delicious for a special occasion.  It's a damper loaf, with the top sliced up and pulled to bits,  then we mixed cream cheese, sour cream and grated cheese (all low fat versions) with pieces of crispy fried bacon, chopped chives and lots of black pepper.  Then the pieces that were pulled from the top are put around it and it's all baked in the oven then the bread pieces are dipped into the melted heavenly mixture.  As the dip goes down the bread case is also pulled apart and used for dipping.  We had burgers in the shape of Australia, and Phill and I had rib eye steaks later with a lovely mushroom sauce that I made up as I went, just sauteed the mushies with some fresh garlic and black pepper, then a splash of brandy and then some light cream to finish off. 
Today we drove out to Narranderra (yes I let him drive again but at least he wasn't drinking).  We love it out there and so do a lot of other people, there were tents and caravans all camped around our usual spot but that was okay, we just went and set up camp further up and had our own little beach.  We used our portable bbq for the first time since we bought it at the op shop last year,  Phill had to get a fitting for the gas hose, but we got that and it worked like a trooper.

My little Aussie Princess.

See the Aussie shaped burgers?  They were leftover from yesterday.  We had sausages in rolls with red onion and ketchup.

We swam and sat on the banks in our chairs and just relaxed and it was a lovely day, it always is when we go to Five Mile, just wish it wasn't so far away.  And Emily cut her toe on what we think was broken glass on the bottom of the lake.  It is paradise out there, and almost everyone who enjoys it takes their rubbish with them or puts it in the big skip that is provided.  But there are always those filthy pigs who just leave their beer bottles and rubbish around, and the broken glass is the most worrying.

I booked an extra night at Jervis Bay for March, so we're having three nights and we can't wait, it will be a nice break away. 

So as the school holidays wind down, I am optimistic about the new school year, feel like we have all our ducks in a row and have fun things to look forward to.

Sarah will turn 18 in May and I'm trying to think of a fitting celebration.  We are thinking we'll go up to Sydney to visit the grave of course, but also to go somewhere nice for dinner to mark the day, and to see the family.  Ali's little girl is actually due on Sarah's birthday.

And Phill leaves for Victoria tomorrow at least until next weekend!  Bit of apart time will be good even though we've been getting along the last few days or so.  With Josh at school, it's going to be a quiet week.

Watching the James Taylor/Carole King special on Studio.  It would be great if they just got rid of Carole. ;)