Welcome Elizabeth!

Dear Trekcapri, may you have so much enjoyment from Elizabeth's company for a very long time. :)



What a beautiful pale apricot tabby!

Snickerdoodles

Posting this here so I don't lose it, it's a US recipe that I have adapted to Australian ingredients.

Ingredients

* 1/4 cup butter, softened
* 1/4 cup oil
* 3/4 cups white sugar
* 1 egg
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/2 of almond essence (optional)
* 1 1/2 cups s.r. flour
* 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt

* 2 tablespoons white sugar
* 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.
2. Cream together butter, oil, 3/4 cups sugar, the egg and the vanilla and the almond essence. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape the dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.
3. Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll the balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.
4. Bake 8 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets. Don't let them go brown. I store them in the freezer.

Giancarlo has rebuilt the Fiat X1/9. It used to be mine many years ago. All I recognise are the wheels that I personally chose. Body kit, new engine, new interior, new paint job, new everything...

New lettuces

A new addition for my front porch container garden, to go with the lemon tree, the petunias, the geraniums and the pot of strawberries.

The new lamp

Very subtle, very pretty.

Nancy Drew

Where to keep my list? On here of course. The only place I won't lose it.

The Password to Larkspur Lane
The Clue of the Broken Locket
The Clue of the Leaning Chimney
The Clue of the Black Keys
The Secret of the Golden Pavilion
The Clue in the Crossword Cipher
Hits and Misses
Deadly Intent
Diamond Deceit
The Winking Ruby Mystery
Trouble in Tahiti
High Marks For Malice
Danger in Disguise
Fatal Attraction
Rich and Dangerous
Playing With Fire
Stay Tuned For Danger
The Haunted Lagoon
Secrets Can Kill

Smart parking in Rome

And the last one, it's blue and partly hidden by the cool sports car:



October 09

Portofino - October 09

I was talking to a wonderful Australian blogger

... known as Bush Babe, about Portovenere, just south of the Cinque Terre.

I went there on a recent trip with my sister.

Campo Santa Maria Formosa cat, Venice

I was resizing these to send them to the cat's owner, and I thought they were so gorgeous I just had to share.

Chicken tacos

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Tacos/Detail.aspx

Pot of strawberries

On my front porch, next to the petunias.

This year's petunias

Giancarlo and Erika gave me these.

The beach at Camogli

A rose by any other name

From my sister's garden.