To Harvey, K and C

One of my beautiful best friends got a beautiful little Labrador puppy a few months ago after she moved to Brisbane. Harvey; as they named him, was a beautiful little boy. He stole K and her boyfriend C’s heart right from the minute they met him.

In fact, the day I received the picture of the little pup I knew he was the right one for them. Harvey knew, too. A new addition to their lives that they would love endlessly and adore.

Harvey passed puppy pre-school with flying colours and I was told many times how happy K and C were with Harvey. He would follow them around, chew like puppies do and even skyped me with K on one occasion.

The day they picked him up

Two weeks ago, Harvey was in a tragic accident where he fell off a ute (collar snapped) and his lung collapsed. The day I received the text message from K, my heart and stomach sank. How does that happen to such a small puppy who had so much life ahead of him. K told me the vet had said that Harvey was looking up. His health was getting better and he would be home on Friday. Unfortunately, the next day Harvey’s health deteriorated. He got worse and K and C were asked to come in to say goodbye. K messaged me again and again my heart and stomach sank. How does this happen to such a beautiful puppy?

It was no-one’s fault that Harvey was hurt. No-one could foresee such a tragic accident happening to such loving, caring people. K and C, I love you both dearly and hope you aren’t blaming yourselves. Harvey knew he was and is still very loved and you both did the absolute best for that little boy.

Rest in peace, little Harvey. You can play with Sheba now.

What did Rhi do on the weekend?

Probably none of you actually asked that question, but I am taking it upon myself to answer it anyway. If you clicked on this blog then you must care at least a little bit so here I am to tell you!

 I took no photos on the weekend, but I did drink cider...so here's a picture of some cider.

I went in to the weekend at 5:30pm after I walked out of work with absolutely no plans. By 6pm, I had plans to grab a drink with Steve in Newtown, plans to visit his Nan (in her new place) and plans to catch up with a friend, M while Steve and T (M’s boyfriend) played tennis in the afternoon. That is pretty much how it turned out, except the Friday night drink turned in to three drinks and dinner. Then Saturday turned in to drinks at the park with the boys after they finished tennis, drinks with M at the Courthouse (Newtown), dinner with M and her baby H while the boys went for a drink and finally, me going to meet the boys as M was tired and I didn't want to keep her up.

Unintentionally busy and tiring, but I made up for that by spending most of Sunday out of the heat inside watching Breaking Bad. I am only up to Season three and I am hooked. I might have read Wikipedia to see what happens in the next few episodes, but I will most likely forget what it said in a day or two anyway.

Back to Friday night. Steve and I went to Bank Hotel in Newtown and decided to take advantage of two for one share plates. They were not great though and I’m not sure I’d go for the share plates again. Too deep fried for my liking. We grabbed a seat by the front window and had a great time people watching. There are some really strange characters in Newtown, but it’s definitely something I love about the place. People are just themselves.

When I went from M’s place to meet the boys in Newtown on Saturday night, I used an UBER taxi. Have you used that service? I really love it. I gave someone my code recently and got a $10 credit from it, so I only paid $2.80 for a taxi ride. The trip was short, but for my own safety I preferred to take a cab than walk. We’ve used UBER before and took a ‘black car’ which is a nice change to a normal cab. I love that you get the drivers picture and number ahead of your ride. It makes me catching a cab late at night a lot safer when I can send Steve the details of the driver. If you haven’t heard of it, I definitely recommend you check it out. It’s easy to sign up to and a cashless system (you link your bank or credit card), so there is no exchange of money at the end.

That is my weekend, how was yours?

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Centennial Vineyard, Southern Highlands // Review

On the way home from our mini holiday we stopped in Bowral for lunch...except we didn't because there was a market on and no car spaces. S had the idea that we stop at Centennial Vineyard for lunch and I agreed thinking he was talking of Briars in Mossvale. As I was driving and got closer, I suddenly remembered the place we were going....and then I remembered I was wearing a t-shirt, shorts, salty beach hair and a hat. Not an outfit fit for Centennial Vineyards. We also had Teddy in the car and there is no outdoor seating. S assured me it would be fine and rang ahead to ask if they could seat us outside as we had the dog. So they did. 

They set our table which was under the beautiful trees (conveniently away from the well dressed diners inside). The weather was so perfect, so sitting out under the trees was no problem at all. The grass is lovely and Ted had no problems lazing around while we ate lunch.

I ordered the Twice Baked Soufflé (Parmesan & gruyere soufflé, sweet potato fondant, caramelised garlic, onion rings & sauce soubise) and S ordered the Eye Fillet Steak. I had never had souffle before and seriously, where has it been all my life. Why hasn't anyone made me souffle before? The food was fantastic. Every component of the dish worked well together. I also ordered a glass of pinot noir (my favourite type of wine) which was great. I forgot to look and see if it was from the actual winery though..oops.

I would recommend Centennial Vineyards as a nice place to go for a special occasion. It's not really somewhere you go if you've been swimming in the morning and your hair is a little matted, but lucky for me they let me eat there anyway. I was really impressed that they accommodated us having the dog there too and they really took a leap of faith by doing this as we could have brought in a feral dog that ripped up the gardens. Lucky Ted was a good patron and just slept the whole time.

A mini holiday

We were well overdue for a little family holiday, so I jumped on stayz last week and booked a house down in Culburra Beach for S, Teddy and I. Ted is a huge fan of the beach and loved every minute of having the wide open space to run around in and the water to swim in. 

We chose a house that was close to the beach, took some drinks and cooked a couple of BBQ's and had a really relaxing time together. Culburra Beach is about 2.5 hours from Sydney, though it took about 4 hours as there was a bit of holiday traffic and we stopped in Berry for lunch. The beach itself is dog friendly at all times, so it is perfect for a holiday with the pup. Ted was happy to see dogs the whole way along the beach.

Taken by S at sunrise

Taken by S at sunset

 How did you spend your long weekend?