The builders have started to build the posts for the fences… we have a letter box now!! So excited. Not sure how long it will take them to complete all the fences, I hope we can settle in early September coz my parents are coming in end of September to see our new house!!
I got quite a lot of surprises this birthday.
Since Chris and I married, we decided to buy small gift to each other during anniversaries and birthdays, so we can keep still surprise each other. As my birthday was approaching, Chris kept asking me what I want for my present but I said, if I told you then it won’t be a surprise anymore! He even asked my friend to give him some idea, but in fact he had all plan along…
I wanted to spend my birthday with Chris only so I had dinner with my friends the night before. It was fun and we also went to karaoke. I haven’t been for a very long time but everyone seems to enjoy themselves very much.
I wanted to have a wine tour around the Canberra winery region on my actual birthday and stop for brunch at a place where it is very famous for smoke meat. But Chris kept finding excuse not to go… so I got grumpy… then he had no choice but told me that he has booked the same restaurant for dinner… so yes. I’ve spoiled the surprised. Chris then told me he will take me to another surprise lunch after I spoiled his surprise… he took me to Gundaroo, it is a small town in NSW, about 45 minutes drive from Canberra. There is a very old hotel (since 1865) and also it is a place where a very top restaurant located – the name of the restaurant is ‘Grazing’. We were lucky to get a table because this place is usually fully booked on the weekend. We shared an entrée and had main course, the food was lovely and they used local produces!
We then headed home for a little rest then we are off to Poachers Pantry for dinner. We had the Fireside Festival Degustation Night, 5 courses meal with live Spanish guitar playing at the background. The place is awesome. Chris reversed the table right next to the fireplace. The food was good, we also had matching wines with each courses… after the first course, Chris gave me a little box, as I hinted that I wanted jewellery from Pandora, I know what to expect inside. But when I opened the box, it is a different piece of jewellery that I expected. It is a blue topaz with diamonds white gold ring! I felt bad right away as we are buying a house so Chris shouldn’t spend too much money on me. But Chris said there is a meaning of this ring, because the first ring that he bought me 12 years ago was a blue topaz ring but it got lost over the years. And he wanted to buy another one for me from the same shop to replace the one we lost, to fulfill our history. It was very very nice.
I enjoyed my birthday very much and it was full of surprises, which was planned by my husband Chris… Thank you…
There are few changes on the house, the roof has been fully completed and the fry screens have been installed. The builder now has started working on the fences… I hope the fences will be up by next week.
Chris and I also received a letter from the developer saying that they will contact us for a pre-settlement inspection soon!! We were so excited. They also said that the settlement should be begin in late August and early September!!! Can’t wait to move into our new house!
I haven’t been posting my cooking photos for awhile, coz I have been uploading them onto Facebook instead… so now I’m doing some catch up.
The latest cooking event was cooking Takoyaki, a very useful recipe here. The reason I want to cook them was because that I found a Takoyaki maker from Target, on discount selling AU$22.00, save $8.00. It was selling as “Dutch Pancake Maker”, but it was a lie, because the pan has an octopus icon on it!!! And the holes are much deeper 
I know Takoyaki can be selling as $8.00 in the restaurant and you probably only get 6 of them. I told Chris, I want to buy it and make lots!!! That’s what I did. The recipe above can make 2 batches, each batch is 18 octopus balls… we love it!
You can see more of my cooking photo here.
Chris and I went through the fence this week and peek to look into the house through the glass sliding door… the carpet is down and the place has cleaned up a bit, but nothing really changed.
We also made the purchase of our new lounge and dish-washer… Can’t wait to move in!!