There's a Party At Our House....

..tomorrow.

Hey Frenchy

I cannot believe it has been three weeks since my last post. Now, don't go assuming that becuse there has been no blogging there has been no crafting. Quite to the contrary. I have been flat out with my new summer range and suppling an ever growing list of retailers. Flat out with summer sewing for the girls, a lot more than I normally sew. And flat out preparing for Kate's birthday party.

So, finally I post. Here is a little creation I made for Kate. These oh-so-comfy French inspired jeans and a little swing top from this Japanese book. I also used the pattern to create nighties for my girls, but I will post about those another time.



For the jeans, I just adapted her pajama pants pattern to give it a flat front and then based the silhouette on an existing pair of pants to create the lovey flare. A big hem at the bottom and oversized pockets at the back were a must. Kate loves these jeans, becuase they are so much more comfortable than her other pairs.

I find this outfit totatlly irresistable when teamed with her dotty mary janes, red cotton cardi and polka dot bow. Perfect for spring.

Fail-proof Sponge

My sewing circle girls were having a high tea birthday celebration for one of the girls. With lovely china, embroidered tablecloth, ribbon sandwiches, strawberries and petite fours, the birthday cake simply had to be a sponge.

As mentioned before, I really haven't got a light hand in the kitchen. But lately I have been making a special chocolate cake which uses whipped egg whites. At times it is almost sponge like and so I thought this might be the key to my success. This, as well as my Kitchen Aid. I googled 'fail proof sponge egg whites and came up with a suitable recipe.



I can now say that I can produce an acceptable sponge, not super light, maybe one day. I filled it with lemon curd (I had to use all of the egg yolks from the friands for something) and cream and 'iced' it with cream and fresh flowers.


It was all a lovely sight and such a perfect day.

Self-suffiency

Edward and I enjoyed our little adventure very much!

It was special for him to meet his great-grandparents who live in the Blue Mountains and he loved their attention.





We also visited my uncle (who is only a few years older than me and more like a cousin) and his wife (who was one of my best friends at uni). Yes, I can add match-maker to my title.

They have two gorgeous boys and live in a very isolated valley in the Blue Mountains. Their 100 acre property is almost totally surrounded by beautiful cliff faces.





Their lifestyle is one of almost total self-sufficiency; tank water, solar-power, they farm 36 cattle and so eat their own beef and chickens (the meat birds are bread just for their own eating). Rachel's vegetable gardens are almost the size of my backyard and they live almost totally off their produce. She has fruit trees, nut trees and berry bushes. She bottles the excess fruit and cooks up the tomatoes into relish, pasata and tomato sauce. Rachel grinds her own flour and of, course makes the bread. Mitchell(7), is home schooled and the youngest will follow when he is school age. It is truly amazing to behold. In her spare time Rachel build dry stone rock walls. These are all over their beautiful property and she has collected almost all of the rocks herself.

I wish I had of taken photos of her wonderful work. It was amazing to see it all and I came back feeling very energised. Ready for a very busy five weeks ahead.