I Went Online Shopping. Again. Farmboy Turns Six. Blog Love.

Regular readers of my blog will know I am fairly handy with the internet when it comes to shopping.  Living on The Farm I have limited access to shops.  I do try and do as much locally as possible, but if something is not available, my next port of call is always my laptop.

Through the wonderful Sydney Shop Girl I have made a fantastic new online discovery.  Victoria's Secret.  I never knew they did anything other than underwear, but they do!  Yay!  And with the Aus dollar being so strong against the US dollar it is very, very cheap.  Even with the fairly high postage. My rule with high postage is to buy a few items to even it out a bit on the per item basis.  The Farmer thinks this may be a somewhat dubious concept in economical terms...

So, anyway, after reading of SSG's experiences with Victoria's Secret I could hear my laptop calling me.  I hopped online and found a wonderland of swimwear.  Eventually after doing some sizing research I ordered a "tankini" which is just a singlet type top and bottom.  It arrived a few days ago and I must say I am really impressed.

Tankini Top

The quality is amazing and, even including the postage, they were still cheaper than a similar item in Australia.  This was without using my" buy several things to lessen postage" rule.

I love it when I find a good internet bargain...

In other quick news, we had Farmboy's cousins around for his birthday earlier in the week.  It was very small soiree and there was only four children.  They had an ice cream cake and played non stop on a slippery slide on the front lawn of The Beach House.  It was very simple but Farmboy told me it was his "best birthday yet".

Here are a few photos.

Very Pastel Icecream Cake.  With Six Candles

Farmgirl, Watersliding

Also, super exciting news.  Fiona over at Cattle,Kids and Chaos has given me a blog award.  My blog loves recognition!  Thanks so much Fiona. It made my day.  I will get onto it in the next few days.

Orange Cake and A Sluggish Snake

Today has been a busy day at the Farmhouse so far.  The Farmchildren and I have had a big week so we decided to just hang out at home today. Or "chillax" as Farmboy said.  Well that was the plan anyway.

After doing general house jobs I decided we would make a cake.  I decided to make an Orange Cake from my brand new CWA Cake Cookbook.  It is a great book - the CWA have published it to fundraise for rural health care.  They have compiled the best cake recipes from their members.  Given that these are country ladies, and they have had to put their name and where they live on recipes to be published nationally, I figured I could not go wrong.

Yummy CWA Cake Recipe

After a quick pantry inventory I realised we lacked eggs.  This was not a worry as we have chooks.  The kids and I went down to the chook pen to dispose of the kitchen scraps and grab some eggs.  We did that and were heading back when we saw a HUGE snake (I think it was a dugite)  laying in the sun.  It wasn't moving which may have been because it was dead, or may have been because it was cold and it hadn't warmed up yet.  Trust me when I tell you I didn't get close enough to find out.

I couldn't take a photo as I had forgotten my camera and had the kids with me (and because I am a great big chicken and wouldn't have got close enough anyway).  So try and imagine it was a bit like this.  Only not pink.

It must have been the day for snakes as the Farmer saw one on his way out to the paddock and apparently the men who work for us were very entertained by the antics of a small carpet python.  Small carpet pythons, or large ones for that matter, are harmless.  They are still disturbingly snake-like though.

Anyway after all the snake palaver the kids and I got back to the kitchen with these.

Yummy Farm Eggs

We then got going on the cake.  First I pureed up an orange.

Then I added eggs, SR flour and sugar.

Then I popped it in the oven and it came out like this

Pre Icing

Post Icing

The cake was super yummy.  I would recommend it.  I am not giving out the recipe as it is copyrighted and I think everyone should buy the book anyway.  It is a gorgeous book and for a great cause.