I suck at making/decorating cakes

I decided to make Mr T a cake for his birthday since it's such a big birthday (30th). I made a vegan cheesecake using this recipe from vegweb.

The 'cheesecake' part actually tasted pretty good and even my family approved. The problem is the crust tasted a little burnt despite me following the cooking instructions. It also looked little too brown and well ugly on top. It was also much smaller that I imagined. This is the slightly better look with melted chocolate and strawberries. Next time I will skip the chocolate. I had to decorate it in a hurry for a family celebration and Mr T ended up actually decorating his own cake. Poor Mr T!

I heart trees

Mr T and I travelled to upper ferntree gully yesterday to do the thousand steps or Kokoda walk. It was great. Lots of beautiful ferns and trees. Although it reminded me how unfit I really am. Thankfully there are lots of plaques along the walk which are great excuses to stop and rest. It took us about 45 minutes to walk up in at a slow pace and about 20 minutes to walk down. We packed a lunch and had it once we reached the top. We enjoyed the walk so much we have decided to try to do about one walk like this a month.

Here are some pics:

Any recommendations for the next one?

Hobart

Mr T and I will travel to Hobart for a long weekend in 2 weeks time to celebrate his 30th birthday. Which makes it a whole year since our last holiday. If anyone has any must sees or eats please leave a comment. I haven't been since I was a child and Mr T has never been.

Yay for beautiful Weather!

I've loved the weather this weekend. It has been simply beautiful.

I didn't get a chance to go bush walking this weekend but will go next weekend providing the weather is nice again. Anyone want to join Mr T and I are welcome. We have decided to try the Kokoda Walk.

Molly enjoying the weather

Too consumer driven

I've recently had to clean out my bedroom at my mum's place and realised that I own far too much junk. So with that and lots of eco guilt, and less cash and more time I've decided to look into voluntary simplicity. According to one website, Voluntary simplicity is defined as

a growing movement of people who have realized that happiness and fulfillment do not lie in having more money, or new and bigger things, but rather in the time with loved ones and connection with community. They are questioning the consumer society's insistence that possessions, especially of the newest design and color, are the means of fulfillment, or that any material possession can possibly be "to die for."

There is a whole host of websites devoted to it like:

• An essay on it- the value of voluntary simplicity
• CompactOz is a group of people who want to make a difference through our own actions. Reducing consumption, reducing waste, recycling.
  
• Australian blog No More Stuff.
• Probably the most useful though were these words from Exploring the simple life site:

You’ve heard it before: "time is money." What we discovered is that’s not true - time is better than money!

This revelation has allowed us to be content in our work or to change that work when it no longer satisfies. It has permitted us to spend less time acquiring things and more time acquiring experiences, insights, and relationships. It has encouraged us to lend a helping hand in our community, whenever the need arises, because we can make the time to do it. It has given us freedom and control of our lives.

For some reason, it seems to us that many people have failed to grasp this simple truth. They trudge off to work every morning to put in their time at jobs they despise so they can buy things. Have you noticed? The more a person hates his or her job, the more money he or she spends on toys, time-shares, new cars, the latest trendy clothes, jewelry, etc. And the more one spends, the more one needs to hang on to that job, no matter what.

Is there a way out? We think so. If you’re already addicted to conspicuous consumption, it will take some getting used to. But it IS possible to own your own life if you are determined to do it. How? Simplify!!

I can't say that I have walked away and decided to give away all my possessions or to stop purchasing. But it has got me thinking differently about consumerism and particularly how I spent my money. Just off the top of my head I know that I probably spent too much on clothes and household stuff that I don't really need and on eating out. So instead of having lunch out this weekend we are going to pack a lunch, grab my newest book from the library and go bushwalking. Any suggestions for somewhere easy and close to Melbourne?