Catch up with Mummy, John, Sam and Eddy

Sam and Eddy the spoodles

Mum with Sam....or is it Eddy? So hard to tell

Bonnie attempting to explain the benefits of graduated compression garments (2XU) to Sam and Eddy.

Mum's off to India later this week to go touring on the back of a motorbike from Delhi, through the Himalayas and along the world's highest motorable road (5600 metres above sea level) before finishing off back in Delhi. The Dopey sisters wish her and John a safe and enjoyable trip!

http://www.asianexperience.com.au/himhighmb/himhighmb_intro.htm

Training.....Fun.....Training?

Its very difficult to ignore the fact that "40" is just around the corner when you start getting invites to 40th birthday bashes. This weekend was the second in as many weeks with an ex work collegue Jeanie celebrating the big four-O. Hers was to be held in Sorrento, a seaside town located on the Mornington Peninsula about 100 km from Melbourne. Sorrento just happens to be on the Around the Bay in a Day bike ride which I've signed up for later this year. So what a great idea, why not ride the 100 km down to Sorrento to train for the ride and then party?

The ride from Melbourne to Sorrento in purple above and the profile below showing those great hills between Frankston and Dromana

Quick stop off along the way at Mum's place in Chelsea (36 km mark). This agave plant had a massive sead head growing out from it

I had intended to take photo's along the way but I was stuffed after tackling the 20 kms of hills between Frankston and Dramana. It took every last bit of physical and mental effort to make it to Sorrento. I have no idea how I'm going to complete the whole ride in October which is twice the distance. But enough whinging, it was time to party....

The birthday girl after a few (above) too many (below) drinks

We also managed to get in a bit of sightseeing at the beach

All that was left was the ride back home......

Achievements

Achievement #1: Warwick publishes work in prestigious Nature Medicine jounal

Achievement #2: Wally (Warwick's dad) celebrates another birthday with a magical 2 course meal prepared by moi (see achievements 3 & 4 below)

Achievement #3: Dr Dopey successfuly recreates Warwick's signature beef and guiness pie and excels in pastry decoration, depicting 2 lonely moose wandering through grassy fields at night in search of their soul mates)

Achievement #4: Dr Dopey makes chocolate fondant that is solid on the outside and gooey on the inside

(It may need some further refinement but practice makes perfect. Yes I do realise my acheivements revolve around food)

Chocolate Fondant Rocks

Ever since seeing an episode of Masterchef Australia where they made chocolate fondant I've been dying to give it a go myself. They are like little chocolate puddings with molden chocolate inside that oozes out like lava, mmmmm. So its onto the internet to download a recipe (Gordon Ramsay, can't go wrong!) and into the kitchen. I make the mistake of mentioning it to Bonnie and the next thing I know she's invited herself and Luis around for a taste test.

So this is what they are supposed to look like:

and this is what they looked like when they came out of the oven:

(like the Fangbanger Tee?)

and this is what they looked like after turning out of the ramekin:

and this is Bonnie sampling the chocolatey goodness that is undercooked chocolate fondant

and this is what they look like when you serve them in the ramekin to support the fondant in maintaining its shape

and this is the happiness that a yummy chocolatey dessert can bring

But I am not defeted, I am determined to get it right, stay posted for future chocolate fondant attempts

What Recession?

Bye bye Bumblebee..... hello Batbike

Dali Likes Rhinos

Thanks to Luis having to work late, I was able to score a free ticket to the opening night of the Salvador Dali exhibition. As its sponsored by Mercedes there were some nice cars out the front and lots of stuck up people inside making educated remarks on what Dali was trying to convey on each painting, consciously and subconsciously. Apparently Dali was sexually frustrated during the early days and this is represented by the many flaccid body parts he painted, often propped up with sticks (see pic below). There were a lot of people that didn't really understand the unsaid rule of staying out of a persons personal space so there was way too much touching (more the shoving kind rather than the inappropriate kind). Anyway some of my faves from the night are below

Apparently Dali liked rhinoceroses and thought their bottoms looked exactly like a folded sunflower..... so imaginative.

Bonnie and I having our own Dali moments after the show

Dr Dopey Update

So I've been told off for not updating the blog for some time now, though there's not a lot to tell. But here's a synopsis anyway:

• I fell in love with my Sony ebook and was devastated when it broke 3 weeks after receiving it
• Thanks to my Aunt Lois, I've become addicted to crappy vampire fiction and have managed to read the Twilight and Sookie Stackhouse series (ebooks of course!) amongst others that are too embarrassing for a 30+ yr old woman to admit to be reading
• I'm really looking forward to the 2nd series of TrueBlood starting next weekend (vampire series)
• I semi-successfully completed kite surfing lessons and while it didn't quite meet my expectations (see image below) I did manage to stay on the board for 3 seconds before face planting into the water. A shark sighting not far from the beach saved me from further embarrassment


• I've signed up for the Around the Bay in a Day, a 210 km bike ride around Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay. Its my first time and I'm a little nervous about making the distance but I've got till October to train, should be right, no worries

• I survived a week long training course on strategic finance and once again demonstrated an uncanny ability to use poor judgement by participating in a You Tube show off
• We've finally settled a long standing bet at work on the release date for a new product, with the winner Sam, receiving a slab of her choice. She kindly donated it to the team so after several false attempts we finally managed to get everyone together to polish it off. One of the highlights of the evening being Terrie's "landslide" jelly slice

• I'm a bit wary about going on holiday in October, with a 4 day hike planned across Hinchinbrook Island, located off the coast of northern Queenland. I've got to carry all my gear and food and tent with the only bathing facilities being potentially croc infested waters. Plus its close to stinger season and I'll need to keep an eye out for the giant bird eating spiders when squatting in the bush. It'll be an experience

• and finally, I'm dreaming of summer.....