In Cairo Now

Meg flew from Istanbul to Cairo this morning. She was met by a tour group rep and guided through customs and security then taken to the hotel where the desk clerk thought she was Arabic and looked Egyptian.

She's the only single person on this tour; there's four other couples. She has the afternoon free and is relaxing by the pool, ordering strawberry margaritas and a seafood grill! Tomorrow she's off to visit the pyramids and Sphinx.

365ing

I love to 365. It keeps me sane....er.

These foldouts work well.

A Weekend of My Own

I worked Friday. Saturday morning I stayed in bed, reading blogs and interesting things. I got called to the construction site at the sheep to help with levels and concreting. Ok, but I had plans of my own. I jacked up when I was handed a pair of pliers and told asked to pull an old barb fence down. I had plans of my own. I gardened then pulled a trailer load of weeds. I had plans of my own. Later, I went to town  to shop but was too late for the nursery. I want to buy two blood red geraniums and plant them in terracotta pots and sit them on the steps. I did some 365ing. I had plans of my own.

Today, Sunday, I cooked. I didn't get asked to help today and that was good because I still had plans of my own.

Meagre pickings from the herb garden and the last of the tomatoes for the lunch time quiche.

It looks more like a tossed salad than a quiche!

I gently heated lamb liver and chicken thighs to make up these dishes for the two smallest four leggers. Each container holds a chicken neck, 4 chicken hearts and the chopped liver and thighs. Spoilt or what?

Finally, I made 19 of these; vanilla cupcakes with melted butter and cinnamon sugar; frozen and taken for morning tea at the office.

Weekending

Work has started on the sheep enclosure and shelter; we want to build a small pen that encloses their trough, water and shelter in preparation for lambing. Plenty of hole digging and concreting happened over the weekend. Henry came to weld.

The sheep were quite nonchalant.

The pigs will soon have a cover over their feed troughs and waterer.

Pork Belly 2 tried to eat my knee through my jeans. I'll have the last laugh on him though. PB1 is off to the butcher (again) on Tuesday. He didn't quite make it over there a fortnight ago.

I have half recovered my vege garden mojo (perhaps). I spread blood and bone and dynamic lifter and watered it in. Three garlic plants from last season have emerged and look healthy. Amazing, since I haven't given any attention to the garden since the very hot weather a couple of months ago. All that recent rain and the cooler weather has encouraged them.

This is where I go first thing every morning, to my little Chook Square; feed the chooks first.

I usually let the silkies out on the weekends for a run around; the little oeg cock bird thinks it's Christmas and chases the girls all day.

I spread an old hay bale out to dry so that I could put it in the high pens. Poofy and the silkie enjoyed sniffing and scratching through it.

Lest We Forget

Meg spent a bitterly cold night at Anzac Cove, waiting for the Dawn Service. Afterwards, she attended the service at Lone Pine. On the walk to Lone Pine she ran into a girl from Womens; proof you'll never be alone when a) you've been to College and b) you're from D.

Out and About in Istanbul

Meg went out and about on Tuesday. Here she is at the fountain near the Blue Mosque, wearing a nice new scarf. The man in the shop was so effusive in giving lovely comments that my ego took over and I bought it!!

Dinner was delicious but she had no idea what it was. The meat was beef and the yellow things were perhaps roast garlic.

She met up with the tour group on Wednesday night and they headed off to Gallipoli on Thursday morning to visit the important sites, have a Turkish bbq in the evening and then take their places in readiness for the Dawn Service on Friday. Right now it's 12.40am on Anzac Day over there so she will be one of the thousands trying to keep warm and get some sleep (or not) in readiness! She said rain was predicted.

28 Hours Later

Meg made it to Istanbul after a marathon 28 hours of travel. She woke up this morning to this view from her hotel window. She thought breakfast was included; slight language barrier issue there! Turns out it was included; she had goats cheese, olives, tomato and turkey meat and hot chocolate so thick it was like melted chocolate. Beats my promite and apricot jam on toast!

She was going to catch a shuttle bus into the city and reckoned she'd be really good at converting Turkish lire - you only have to halve it to get the Australian dollar value. Egypt might prove to be a bit more of a challenge with the dollar equalling 6.50 Egyptian pound. Meg struggles a bit when it comes to numbers but she's very good at letters!!

Taking Off

An aisle seat all the way to Istanbul and already booked seating preference for the trip home!

At the Airport

My kids know me well! Drew recorded Meg's departure on his phone then sent the photos through at midnight before he drove back to his unit. I love my kids.

Off she goes, through security and customs.

Look what she found on the other side! Heaven!

Going Again, Bye Meg

Yesterday we had girl fun; Meg gave me a facial/painted stuff on my face that made it feel like it was set like stone. Remember when you were a little kid and you pulled a face at your mother and she told you that if the wind changed your face would stay that way? Well that's what it felt like - but when we washed the stuff off, my cheeks felt as soft and smooth as a baby's bottom! Then I had the Meg's Beauty Parlour treatment on my eyebrows - and all was good again in the world.

We packed last night, everything strategically placed in pack sacks and toilet bags.

When one travels, one must have ones' priorities in order. That's why one needs to take 6 brushes for applying product to face.....oh, and they don't take up much room either.

It all fitted, with quite a few kilos of room left.

This morning, just before heading to Bris with Drew.

Meg flies for Istanbul at 2.30am tomorrow - she has 21 hours of flying ahead of her, then 2 nights free before meeting the tour group and heading to Gallipoli.

I'm looking forward to a) hearing she's landed safely at the other end and b) found her hotel and
c) hearing all about the ceremony at Anzac Cove. Beyond that there's a flight to Cairo and a tour of Egypt to look forward to.

Love you Megey, miss you already. Take Care. Be Safe. See you Soon. Mwah.