Who knew that going back to school would change my days so much!

I may only be going two days a week, but I think it has really been the boost I've needed to become much more motivated and enthusiastic about everyday life.

Simple daily housework tasks that I struggled with even a few months ago are now much easier to stomach, I'm getting caught up with things I've been needing to do for months and years (but never had the time or inclination to do!), and I've had so much more time and a little more energy to focus on my real passion - animals!

Being on such a ride brings its lows too, and I have had some interesting extremes of self-confidence and energy, offset with anxiety and depression, which has really floored me.

I'm hoping that this is just my body and minds' way of adjusting to a new direction in life, and maybe a bit of seasonal depression rearing its' ugly head. Either way, I'm pressing on, because I'm enjoying myself!

Family
There have also been some changes in my family life. Around my Birthday, my Nan's health was sufficiently deteriorated to the point where she required hospitalisation for pain management, which later led to her moving into an aged care facility. It was not an unhappy move, and she is really loving the new experience, but it was a stressful time as far as paperwork and moving things went. It was also difficult for my Mum, who resides South of Hobart and spent many days here in Launceston organising my Nan's move and finalising things at her unit.

Another change has been my Sister in Law, Niece and Newphews moving away. It has been a verystressful and sad time, and I hope it has a happy ending, but I will leave it at that for now.


Going to the... Horses?

RSPCA Cattery

I am now well into my Animal Studies course, and really enjoying it. The material is more in-depth than I had expected, which really pleases me. At the moment we're working on Nutrition, and I will soon be starting my first work placement!

We've had some fantastic guest speakers from a pretty wide range of animal industries, and I can only hope we get to learn from many more interesting professionals over the coming months. Good outings too!

I have also spread my tentacles(?) into another area of animals that has always interested me, but that I've not had much of an oppourtunity to do anything in: Horses!

I've been on a few semi-instructed trail rides in the past, and always enjoyed them. I went on another a couple of weeks ago with Lara and Emily (thanks Janet!)

So, I have taken the plunge, and had my first formal one-on-one riding lesson today! Janet and Lara have also been kind enough to allow me to help out with their stunning Thoroughbred Onyx at event days, and I look forward to getting some more strapping experience in the future.

As some of you already know, I took the plunge this year and finally went back to school to follow my true passion: the world of animals.

I am currently enrolled at Tasmanian Polytechnic, doing Animal Studies Certificate II.  During the course I'll have the opportunity to do work placements at different locations, and hopefully gain a new wealth of knowledge and experiences.

Yesterday, we had our very first excursion!  Tasmania Zoo were kind enough to host us for the day.

Edit:  Yesterday, Tasmania Zoo officially opened one of their new Devil enclosures.

Although I've been to Tas Zoo before, I haven't been recently, and it was lovely to see all the new exhibits, meet the new animals, and see some old favorites.

More on the course in upcoming posts... For now, here are some of my favorite shots from the day.

Things have been a little crazy around here the last couple of weeks!!

First to the sad part - Broc's Grandmother passed away earlier in the week.  Although it was not unexpected as she has been unwell for quite some time, there has still been a profound sense of loss in the house.  His Mum is taking it pretty hard, and we share in her grief while we help to support her through this process.

My Nan has also been unwell, which has been a little stressful, although it's nothing serious -  Just another stage of growing old!

Last but not least, I went back to school for the first time since I finished College!  I'm super excited, but it was a little daunting at first.  Now I'm just busting to get into the real work!  No prizes for guessing the subject matter... Yep, Animal Studies!  More on that later on.

Anyway, I really wanted to share this recipe with you!  No pictures, as I really suck at remembering to do that, but just make it for yourself and you can drool over your own real life specimen!  Goes great with soup or stew, and would go awesomely with a hearty curry aswell!


Ingredients

• 1 Cup Plain Flour * See Note 1
• 3 Teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 Cup Sugar * See Note 2
• 350mL Beer (most of a stubby, drink the remainder!)
• 1/4 Cup Butter

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F) and grease a loaf pan.
2. Sift Flour & Baking Powder well, and mix in other dry ingredients.
3. Mix in Beer - lots of froth happens so be careful!
4. Pour into loaf pan, and then pour the melted butter over the mixture.
5. Bake for 1 hour - the first time you make this, put a flat pan under your loaf tin incase there are any drips!
6. Remove from pan and cool for 15 mins before consuming.

Note 1:  A mix of Plain and Wholemeal flour can be used.  I used 1/3 C Wholemeal and 2/3 C Plain, and added a little extra beer (so I used a whole 375 mL stubby) so it wouldn't dry out.  You could also mix some melted butter in the batter.

Note 2: I found that the 1/4 C Sugar makes the bread almost sweet, but this would change depending on what type of beer you use.  Experiment!!

The original recipe can be found Here.

Edit: While this recipe is FANTASTIC fresh out of the oven, it's hardly even worth eating once cooled.