more puppy pics

for your daily dose of cuteness go to miss bella bassets website for new piccies of the bubbies

i just want to say hi to all my new "readers" - whether or not they come back is a completely different story.

bloody ebay

whilst browsing on ebay for random stuff... i came across all these goodies looking for a "good home" .... ARGHHHH!!!!!!!!...... im such a sucker.... i am so weak and hopeless against designer goodies. even being dead FLAT broke doesnt deter me one bit. sigh sigh sigh.... and when these goodies are going at bargain prices..... oh jesus, mary and joseph help me.

lets see... hrm... sepciman no1 is a beautiful red balenciaga wallet currently at $50.00 on ebay with 2 days to go... sigh.... damn this is going to look HOT with either of my B bags. RRp? i havent the foggiest - prolly around $500 ish mark. mmmmm NiCe......

Speciman no2 here is the blue international groom wallet from LV. it was a limited edition collection and i dont even have 1 piece of it!(OMG!!!) the reason being is because it was uber $$ when the collection came out and i was 50/50 on it in general. BUT now that the collection has been stopped and the rest of the current stuff from LV aint looking too hot, this my friends is looking good. RRp is about $800-900aud is very expensive indeedy (hence the lack of funds to pay full retail price) but on ebay it is going for a steal at $180 bucks with less then 24 hours left to go... hrmmm decisions decisions......

OH MY LORDY.... dont even get me started on this little gem.... this is the Hermes picotin, something i have been lusting after for a number of years (very secretly of course). Its a beautiful dainty ish purse and its a GORGEOUS colour of blue. All leather and all very simply styled Hermes.... RRP just under $2k (i will NEVER EVER pay retail for this!!) i dont think i have ever seen this in real life... just drooling on the net and in magazines. This is going for an absolute bargain at $60 on ebay with 3 days to go...... do i really need another handbag? ....ai yah..... so hard!!

now this is something different... its a Goyard... something along the lines of Hermes & LV but a lot more in the background (not in your face like LV) . I heard its big in HK but little known elsewhere. Its from france and dates back to same age as LV . Do i really need it? have i been lusting after it for donkey years ... no... why do i want it? just for the sake of having something different AND its a bigger roomier bag for those over night business trips or 2-3 day trips. like YEH right...school teachers have business trips? no we have excursions to Scitech. Well its going for $2.00 with 5 days to go and i can only guesstimate the rrp at about $2-$3k ish.

NOW do i really want the next item? ermm... not really ... but its real cute when you open it up and its got a separate little baggy compartment thingy. hrmm.. right... it will look good when i travel with passport, wallet et al stuff type thing, for when i go overseas. .... honestly i really dont need the next item (or any of the items above) but when they go for such ridiculous prices how can a poor weakling like me resist?

luv & lemmings.clio

ps: some of you may be thinking, how do i know that the above items are the genuine article? i have done my research and i am about 90% sure they are real. And if they arent, i give myself a limit of $200 to spend on it - cause if its fake i would hate to lose more then $200 for it. if it sounds stupid or crazy... its how i work things out. if i was going to spend more then $200 - i prefer to meet/see the item in real life rather then take the risk.

the book thief

One of the first few things i did when school finished for term 2 was go straight to my public library. Teaching does not give you the time or luxury of reading.

And so i came across this book whilst browsing the random shelves of books at the willagee library. i love that library....... its a little run down.......its smack bang in the middle of the burbs and its chock full of good books. No one goes there unlike all the other libraries... which means you can pretty much go there and guarenteed to come out with a bag full of books. :o)

So when i came across this book, i quickly read the blurbs at the back and it sounded interesting. it definitely piqued my interest. i think i could have heard about it or seen it somewhere - or someone could have recommended it to me, i dont know - im just glad i took the book home. i havent read such a good, deep, meaningful and thoughtful book in such a long time. it is a sad story and it will make you cry, but there are also many beautiful moments in the book that will make you laugh out loud and smile. Its about a little german girl who cant read but becomes entranced with the magic of words. its set during world war 2 under nazi germany in a small town called molching.

Definitely a worthwhile read 10/10

variations in the book cover - something interesting i found while googling more information on the book. i read the book with cover number 2 :o)

luv.clio

puppy naming competition....

hi everyone!!

me and simon have not given names to our newborn pups! i cant for the life of me - think of anything cute, smart or relevant to name the pups apart from no1, no2 and no3 like bananas in pyjamas.

So i invite all my readers to please mosey down to "miss bella bassets" blog site and submit their suggestions for puppy names!!

Lots of piccies and details and descriptions!!

Thanks everyone!!

Ps: i would like to say a big "HI" to my readers in germany and singapore! [only because i dont know who you are :o)]

KNOCKED UP......

We watched the movie KNOCKED UP the other night. God that was super scary stuff. Definitely a good movie, great story lines, great character development, good jokes etc etc. But the idea of having a bun in the oven that wasnt planned is very scary indeed.

And speaking of being KNOCKED UP, Sasha the malamute we are looking after for friend is pregnant. YES holy shit!!! OH MY GOD !! shes pregnant - who's the daddy? Pooky. hehehe... YUP my geriatric, arthritic dog is da man. He got poor spring chicken sasha very pregnant and very large n heavy.

How come we didnt notice anytime sooner? well... we kinda saw Sasha getting a bit chubbier, but we just thought she was gaining weight, she really didnt show any signs of being pregnant at all until yesterday night. Because yesterday
1. She looked REALLY big - tummy wise
2. She had serious doggy boobs. Nipples and milk and all!!!
3. We think shes due within a week or so!!!

Anyways im off to the vet today for a check up for Sasha - just to confirm the pregnancy & maybe the number of pups. And hopefully try to figure out how many days i have left before the bubs arrive and help her get ready.

Its very exciting times and VERY scary times for me and simon. But i will keep you all posted.

PS** spoke to Sasha's owner yesterday and she says be careful/watch out for Sash, she comes from a big litter of 12, and he parents came from big litters of 10-12 pups too. So we might have a big litter on our hands - EEEP!!!

PPS* Very curious to see what samoyed cross malamute pups look like. :o)

PPPS**Puppies for sale - available in 3 months time ....ehhehe....

luv.clio

a very pregnant looking Sasha. She looks huge eh?

making sambal from scratch

One of the many culinary skills i have learnt lately is how to make sambal from scratch. Its not that hard, just very time consuming. The trick my mum taught me was - keep simmering the sambal over a low heat until you start to see oil, by then the sambal should be a deep, rich velvety red colour.

And so sambal making i did.

Only because the chilli trees in our back yard were just dripping in lil pockets of red. And it would have been a waste if i just left them there.

Recipe

5 small chillies (small variety thats super hot)

2 large chillies (not hot at all)

1 large capsicum

1 medium onion

5 cloves of garlic

8 medium tomatoes

salt & sugar to taste

**ginger for variations or a different flavour**

- chop up all of the above into blendable pieces. (dont chop tomatoes - they go in later)

- put all chilli ingredients into blender except for the tomatoes

- blend all of the above to smoothish paste - if you want a chunky chilli thats also fine.

- heat up the wok with a good splash of oil

- put blended chilli paste into wok and mix it around. careful to keep stirring otherwise chilli will burn at the bottom.

- slowly chop up the remaining tomatoes and throw it into the work and keep stirring.

- while you are cookig the chilli keep adding salt & sugar until you get the desired taste. Dont be surprised to see how much sugar you use. The sugar becomes the perservative for the chilli and adds to oil/gloss factor which you need so you know when your chilli is ready.

When finished store it in small jars in the fridge or freezer. Depending on how hot your chilli is, you can use it for many other dishes, such as rica rica, sambal kangkong, sambal terrong etc etc.

However in the chilli i made pictured above. i did go a LITTLE overboard on the hot small chillies i used. Instead of using large red chillies, i used a heap of small ones. So the chilli i made above, is crazy hot. SUPER crazy hot. One small bit is enough to heat up your whole mouth. The chilli i made will seriously burn a hole through your intestines and your bum hole. So when i cook with it, i will only need to use a tiny amount with lots of onions, garlic and tomatoes to tone it down a lot.

Anyone want to try?

:oP.clio

i am loving....

1. Poker. we are currently entertaining a few of simon's friends for poker. i can be good and i can also be very VERY bad. but its heaps of FUN... could i be a pro poker player in vegas? I WISH.. oh if only one of us was that good at poker ... we could both quit our day jobs and play poker professionally... HAHA NOT!! (pipe dreams)

2. Transformers. watched the movie during the week and i loved it!!! definitely a 2 thumbs up. i know its a boy movie, but i grew up with a lil brother obsessed with transformers in the 80's and it brings back soo many memories of saturday morning cartoons. ... just like teenage mutant ninja turtles, He-man, She- Ra, Jem or Gem (cant remember) ... sigh... 80's cartoons rock.

3. Breadmaker. i bought a breadmaker for a school science experiment. something to do with yeast, marvellous micro-organism ra ra ra etc etc. i am loving fresh bread!! god its sooo yummy fresh out of the oven, slab some butter over a crusty piece ... and im in coronary heaven/hell. This is going to be VERY handy with my next item..... 4. pumpkin soup. i have never ever made this before, but im a woman possessed. im going to make pumkin soup tomorrow and i cant wait! googled the recipe and its got good feedback, so i should be allright. i have caught the cooking bug. im going to be cooking up a storm during the school holidays.
5. Spend quality time with Bella. now that i have more free time, i want to spend more time with Bella. She's a heavy 15kg now - still very short, still very stumpy legs, but she sure eats like a pig. Bassets are definitely built like wombats, just longer. Bella on her Pooh bed with a piggy ear.

random stuff im in love with now... :o). clio

yummy & yucky....

WOOHOOOO!!! i just finished my term 2 teaching contract.. and im now free!!! and on holidays. except i dont get paid for it. MMMM being paid would have been nice.. but oh wells... at least i get my "annual leave" paid out. nice.. coz i really need the money to pay for my little splurge.

Soooooo....i am now in holiday mode ... and that means i have time to look for nice things... yes.. lots of pretty eye candy stuff...

so while browsing on the net i found these... VERY YUMMY LIL THINGS .... gosh i love the stuff from junkie. soooo pretty pretty pretty.... i really got to start making jewellery again... :o)

and while browsing my favourite bag whore / obssession website (www.purseblog.com) i found these lil FUGLIES. these bags belong in designer hell. its so weird how famous fashion houses can have such hits (Fendi baguettes from sex and the city, fendi spy) and really bad misses. i would not be surprised if these lil beauties end up in the bargain basement section at about 70% off.

ciao.clio