Around home.....

Okay...so not ALL the pictures here are from the house...but most are! The first ones you will see, however, are of Sam's first Northern territory fishing trip which he took with some of the other teachers and their friends. Mandy opted not to go since it was the middle of the day, blazing hot...and well...she doesn't like fishing... but Sam had fun and got some great photos. This was just between Beswick, where we live, and Barunga, which is the community 'down the street'. It's a little early in the year for fishing but our friend Ryan managed to temporarily snag a nice Barramundi (which then took off with his lure). We are both excited to keep trying! Barramundi is one nice meal!!!!!!

Next we have more pictures of....the dog! Well we know some of you may not be that excited about more Snoopy pictures but he provides us with hours of mindless entertainment and we occasionally have fun making him look ridiculous ...which you will see below!

Weee!!!! Superdog!

Sam actually volunteered to wash, dry, and clip Snoopy...wonders never cease!

Yes...that's dog fluff that floated into his hair....he's not amused

Post-cut!!! Yes...he has a mohawk! Now we just need a leather collar with spikes and we're good!

And finally, for those who were wondering, here are some photos from the inside of our house after we got all our stuff delivered. Unfortunately the green granny couches were already here so we had to keep them...and the walls are a little bare...but all in all, we have all our stuff and we are happy to be at home!

So not the most exciting pictures for those of you wanting to get more info on the school and community. Mandy is taking the camera to school next Monday so she can get pictures of the camp dogs and Sam's classroom and stuff.... again...you probably won't see any pictures of the Aboriginal people we work with on here, but we will try and get some good blackmail photos of the other teachers! Check ya soon!

Oh.....did we mention that Mandy made the most delicious cake ever? Well she did! And here is the recipe...because everyone should make one!!!!

Blackberry Cake with Maple Icing:

3 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1 large egg and 1 egg white

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup blackberry jam (seedless if possible)

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup regular milk mixed with 1 tbsp vinegar)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp plus 1-2 tsp maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a bundt pan.

In one bowl, stir together flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves and salt.

In another large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together sugar, oil, egg and egg white, and vanilla. Beat in jam and applesauce. Gradually add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately, beginning and ending with flour, beating on medium after each addition. Pour into bundt pan.

Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Turn the cake out onto the rack and let cool completely, about an hour. Transfer to a cake plate.

Mix powdered sugar with 2 tbsp maple syrup. Stir more syrup in drop by drop until icing is pourable but not too thin. Drizzle over cake. Slice and enjoy!!!!