Sultana -- Food or Foe?

There are some things in the Aussie vocabulary that still make me double take and think about what I just heard. One such word is "sultana". So, here I am in the Yogurt Shoppe looking at different flavors of freshly made yogurt with fruit toppings and one of the signs reads, "Apples, Sultanas and Cinnamon". I am staring at the concoction in the refrigerated case trying to figure out what exactly are sultanas. In the midst of my confusion I quietly ask my mother-in-law and she explains that they are dried grapes. I thought how silly to have a name that means nothing like dried grape, and then I remembered that in the USA we call them raisins or currents - two more names that have nothing apparent to do with grapes. Out of my curiosity I looked it up (good 'ole wikipedia)...

Sultana (grape)
The sultana (also called the sultanina or sultaninini) is a type of white, seedless grape of Turkish, Greek or Iranian origin. It is also the name given to the raisin made from it; such sultana raisins are often called simply sultanas or sultanis. These are typically larger than the currants made from Zante grapes, but smaller than "normal" raisins.

Jill's White Rose Garden

My mother-in-law has a gorgeous layout of gardens around her house, a couple weeks ago the light was perfect for taking pictures of the white roses.


Her 'rosewalk' as I like to call it, is all white rose bushes that look more like the trees out of Alice in Wonderland. You know, the ones that the card guards were painting red for the queen of hearts.

Busy Being Pregnant?

Here's me at week 30... (I got an e-mail from babycenter.com to remind me how big I was getting and how much bigger I should expect.. good news is, my weight has stayed pretty much the same since day 1 and that means, baby is growing, but I am not adding any more to my fat storage, yay!).

You know... they say enjoy your pregnancy cuz it only lasts a little while. They also say be sure to be ready for the baby (as if you could be ready for any contingency). so what have I been doing? Beading. Not so much a contingency plan, but it keeps my mind busy when I am not reading blogs. So in it's best form it's a relaxing hobby and it tests not only your creativity, but your patience. I keep thinking, "how can i continue beading after the baby is born". Not all mommies to be (or mommies in general) enjoy beading... my sister decided to bake cookies (take a look at her blog - especially the article "accidental housewifery").

So I have made a bunch of items, just for fun... and a few that I have given as gifts. Here are a couple examples of my latest work.