The travelling adventures of Flat Ted

 The view from the gold mining monument in Clunes

A little visitor arrived in my mailbox last week. I think his real name is Travelling Teddy Bear, but I like to call him Flat Ted.

Flat Ted originated in a primary school class in the US, but he's been having some wonderful adventures all over the world, and sending postcards back home.

So after visiting Disneyland in Paris on his most recent worldwide adventure.......

..... I took him to Clunes for the weekend!

Okay, so Widow Twankeys probably doesn't rate very highly when compared to Frontierland.

But, he did get to indulge in a little Devonshire Tea.

Flat Ted is heading off to visit a lovely family in the Land of the Long White Cloud this week.

Farewell Flat Ted, it was fun while it lasted!

Cyberjunk

While trawling through cyberspace a couple of weeks ago, I came across a conversation about junk food. There was mention of various types of chips and twisties and things like that...... and also something else that caught my interest - Rashuns.

I immediately assumed that they had something to do with one of my favourite foods (bacon), and I was correct!

They're made across the ditch in NZ, so Kristy from Paisely Jade offered to send me a pack. How nice is that?

It's hard to tell from my pic, but it's a giant pack! I'm looking forward to some cheese and bacon munching on the couch tomorrow while I catch up on some IQ'd shows from this week..... trashy tv and junk food - what bliss

Triumphant

So here it is... my very first successful pavlova, and I owe it all to the magic pavlova plate from the oppy. I used Hoppo Bumpo's suggestion of trying to build up the sides to make it more structural and it worked really well (so I didn't get that flat pancake effect again).


Apparently the Peppermint Crisp topping is a Victorianism, but Wikipedia says that "The Peppermint Crisp is often used in Mint-Chocolate cheesecakes and slices. In Australia, it is almost solely used to decorate a 'Pav'"

Then of course, there's also the debate about whether the humble pav really originates from Australia or New Zealand. I'm very sad to say that Wikipedia believes that we aussies lose out in this regard... "The dessert is believed to have been created to honour the dancer, Anna Pavlova during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand. The exact location of its first creation and the nationality of its creator has been a source of argument between the two countries for many years, however more serious research into the matter indicates New Zealand as source of today's pavlova" - Sewfunky and Paisley Jade were absolutely correct!


Oh well...... here it is in all it's magic pavlova glory, smothered in whipped cream and topped with smashed up peppermint crisp......mmmmmmm

I heart nice stuff

Kristy from Paisley Jade is giving away Buddy
Kirsty from Kootoyoo has a fab new game - Deal or no deal!
Kathryn from Our Shabby Cottage is celebrating her 100th...err 112th post
Stacey from Sheeps Clothing has a very interesting question to ask....

A happy mail day....

I headed down to the post office thismorning to post off some goodies....

....and when I arrived home, the postie had been to my house.....

and look what he delivered....this sweet Paisley Jade bunny named Cherry.

Cherry is currently sitting on my kitchen windowsill, keeping an eye on the choc chip cupcakes for me. Thankyou so much Kristy. Cherry was such a wonderful suprise.

Kristy has a softie shop here where you can find lots of other gorgeous bunnies.

Cherry and I are off to have a cup of tea and a cupcake now....