Photo a Day in May, back in the swing

Life has been a little topsy turvy of late as we navigate through the motions of moving 

home to Australia and getting out to make the most of our time left in Europe.

I gave up my photo a day for a while there as I got quotes, organised schools

and acted as our family travel agent amongst other things.

I got back in the swing with a photo a day group in May, here is my month.

The daily prompt is in red, the photo and description is my take on the prompt. 

1

Rectangle
A few rectangles in the gate

2

Something beginning with S
Strawberries!

3

Colour theory
Mother Nature got this colour theory right.

4

Rough

Someone was a little rough with his frisbee!

5

Falling

The bubbles are falling, the bubbles are falling!!!

Ralph will catch them!

6

Inanimate object

Inanimate but very useful object.

Yes...it is a Wellie Boot remover!

7

Tickle the senses

Nothing like a glass of local wine and a spectacular view with the smell of salt in the air

 to tickle the senses.

8

Minimalist Landscape

Simple sunset

9

Car

Yep...a toy car!

10

Orange

Orange Tulip.

11

Eyes

This new Mum had her eye on me as I took photos of her baby.

12

Pieces

The pieces of my mahjong set in action.

13

Lucky

Lucky fortune sticks from China...what kind of day will I have today?

14

Human Condition

The joy of two teenage besties when they see each other for the first time in over six months!

15

Under Pressure

..to see as much as possible of Berlin in two days, while keeping three adults and two 

teenagers happy...was like herding cats!

16

Connections

So many people making connections at the Berlin Hauptbahnof.

17

Windows

The windows of the Berlin Main Train Station. Apparently they are being picked apart by birds!

18

Laughing

Nothing like a girls trip to tiptoe through the tulips in The Netherlands to have us laughing for days!

19

Breakfast, lunch or dinner

The beginnings of our dinner...Spaghetti Bolognese!

20

Running

The trains are not running...there is yet another train strike in Germany. 

Ralph is always happy to go running after a ball though!

21

Odd

Fairly odd position to sleep in!

22

Brilliant Invention

White asparagus and strawberries are both in season, I would not have put them together but 

this white asparagus and strawberry risotto was surely a brilliant invention!

23

Tree

My favourite tree and his mates in my forest, exploding with colour over the few weeks in May!

24

Daily habit

My daily habit is to walk Ralph, usually in the forest though sometimes we play tourist and 

check out some nearby towns!

25

Street art

This street art has been around for a long time...about 5000 years in fact. 

Part of Newgrange, a prehistoric monument in Ireland. It is thought that the circles and spirals 

represent the movement of the sun and stars...but we will never really know!

26

Fresh

Fresh as a daisy.

27

Parallel

The parallel lines of Plane trees, running parallel to the River Main in Frankfurt, Germany

28

Dime a dozen

Tomatoes are in season, so many varieties, so delicious and a dime a dozen!

29

Close

This closed peony is very close to opening.

30

Valuable

Time spent with friends and family while exploring our wonderful world.

The Great Wall of China and our first time ever having snow fall on us!

31

Iconic

Iconic Panda, treasures icon of China and the iconic logo of the World Wildlife Fund, 

working on conservation, research and restoration of the environment.

Forty Winks Friday - Construction Catnaps

If you have to construct it...you may as well use it for a group nap!

I say Zucchini, you say Courgette!

Our move home to Australia is becoming more real. We are trying to make the most of our 

time left in Germany, with day trips and weekends away. Soaking up culture, history and time with friends.  I went to book club yesterday, a nice casual affair with lovely ladies and maybe a wine or two. The grapevine has been working 'I hear that you are leaving us' came up a few times, the reality is creeping in. I think back over the last few years, the shared lunches with wonderful ladies from all over the world, the amazing international cuisine that has been shared amongst friends, new cultures and languages discovered. The time when I asked a dinner guest in England if they liked Zucchini and he had no idea what I was talking about, though better than saying 'I like your pants' to an English person! Australia is such a wonderful, multicultural country that we don't have a defined cuisine. I am often asked to take an Australian dish to an event, I can't take a Pavlova or ANZAC biscuits all the time and I did scare our German neighbours when I offered up some Kangaroo steaks at a BBQ once. I think every Australian has their own version of the 'Zucchini Slice', here is mine, it has been successfully shared amongst friends from all over the world in China, England, Germany and of course Australia!

Zucchini Slice

Grab the following....

1 Zucchini - Grated

1 Onion - Finely chopped

1 Carrot - Grated

3 Slices Ham/Cooked Bacon - Cut in Squares

1 Cup/80g  Grated Tasty Cheddar Cheese

1/2 Cup/ 70g Frozen Corn

1/2 Cup/ 70g Frozen Peas

1 Cup/140g sifted Self Raising Flour

1/2 Cup/125ml Olive Oil

5-6 Eggs

Salt and Pepper

Mix your grated zucchini, carrot, cheese and chopped onion in a bowl.

Then throw in your eggs, mix well.

Mix in your frozen peas and corn, salt, pepper...and a handful of chilli flakes if you like!

Pour in your oil and mix.

Add your flour and mix well

Spread it all in an oiled lasagne dish.

Bake at 150-180C for 30 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Cut into squares. Yummy hot or cold, great for picnics and school lunches....or expat gatherings.

Good with a dollop of sweet chilli sauce.

You can also use whatever veggies you have in the fridge, broccoli works great!

Omit ham/bacon for vegetarians.

How is it suddenly the middle of May?

Since we found that our time as expats would be coming to a rather unexpected end way

back in March, life has been busy with preparations, so much to do.

We have been deciding what gets shipped home, what gets left behind. 

The dog has had his rabies shots and is on his way to becoming an Aussie.

School places have been secured and we have been busy squeezing as 

much of Europe as we possibly can before the return down under in January 2016.

Here is a little of what we have been up to over the last month...

We popped over to Metz in France to have a crepe for lunch and checked out the 

beautiful Saint-Stephen of Metz Cathedral. Great way to spend a gorgeous Spring day.

After our little ANZAC Day service we drove through the Black Forest. 

It was wet and cold but still spectacular.

We spent the night in the gorgeous Spa town of Baden Baden, Germany.

Of course we ate some Black Forest cake on the drive home.

We have picked tulips in fields, for 45c a stem why wouldn't you???

I have wandered around the lovely Wiesbaden, just down the road, soaked up the history.

Of course we have eaten nearly our body weight in the delicious White Asparagus 

which is currently in season.

We stumbled across a classic car rally in Wiesbaden on another visit.

We just returned from a weekend trip to Berlin for our youngest daughter's 15th birthday. 

We joined a gazillion teenage girls for a 5 Seconds of Summer concert (Aussie band)

and we soaked up some history too.

More on our adventures to come...a little bit stir crazy here at the moment!