My Fishermen

Our dinner tonight.



My boys went off fishing today. In response to Edward's interest in fishing. This place was sure not to dissapoint, a trout farm.

Cooked on the BBQ with fennel (an ingredient we are loving at the moment), lemon, Maldon salt and thyme.

Which brings me to two request I have had this week by friends who read my blog; some more recipes. For me, this is an easy request to satisfy and makes for easy posting, as I love sharing the food we cook. I hope that the rest of you don't get too bored!
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P.S. Apologies again to the vegetarians

Oppy Love

Could have titled this one pink and orange, but I have done that one before. I obviously have a thing for that combination.



How gorgeous is this wallpaper? I got a whole roll of it from an op-shop in Diamond Creek. I am saving it for the day Ella has her own bedroom. I think a strip or two of this paper at her bedhead would be a great starting point for decorating a teen girl's bedroom.

Cute

This little purse is cute all over.


Made from one of Nicole Mallalieu's kits that I bought at the Stitches and Craft Show in Melbourne.

This one is for a special little four year old, who's mum helps me with the production of my ribbons. The gorgeous little girl on my website.


I thought the purse would make a perfect birthday present for a wee one, maybe with a pair of bows inside.



If you like what you see, then the purse patterns are now available from Nicole's stand at the Stitches and Craft Show in Sydney and these bows are available from Belinda's tuttifruti stand.

Get along there if you can becuase there are sure to be lots of other tempting treats.

Kids in the Kitchen

A little while ago I posted about my children's increasing interest in cooking. I am now starting to take the time to teach Ella and Kate how to cook more independently so that they can make whole recipes, completely on their own. It is an initial investment of time but I am hoping their increased independence will pay back in the long run. Hey, soon they can start cooking the dinner.

One thing that makes cooking a little tricky for kids is the cutting up part. I recently found this knife which is perfect. It is sharp enough for them to cut apples, beans and almost anything except carrrots (and hopefully not fingers). It is designed for cutting iceberg lettuces without bruising them and I bought it from General Trader.



It is has made a great birthday present for Ella's friends when teamed up with a kids cookbook.

On Their Way

...to Sydney.



Belinda from tutti fruiti asked if she could sell my ribbons on her stand at the Sydney Stitches and Craft Show. I was honoured. I think she is one of the Queens of Style.

There are all sorts of yummy colours and patterns including some to match her lovely skirts. Pop along and say hi!

A Little Ray of Sunshine

Nothing like jonquils and lemons to brighten up your day.



The lemons were collected from the lovely tree of my neighbour. They are so good to have in abundance. Squeezed in a glass of water for a bit of zing in the morning, squeezed in a gin and tonic with ice at night (or just the tonic and ice, if I am trying to be good), stuffing a roast chook, lemon cake, lemon delicious (which I have developed a dairy free version of for my little man), and just for looking gorgeous in the basket beside my window.



The jug, well that was my most special memento from our holiday in France two years ago. It it part of a beautiful range of china from Gien and at the time seemed like a splurge. I don't regret a cent and admire it almost everyday.

The Best Medicine

Beautiful flowers at my entry make me take a big sigh as I walk through the door.


This is one of my favourite combinations, white on white : orchids and lilies. The vases are perfect for this arrangement, the same shape just different sizes.


Several years ago Cathy, myself and a mutual friend had an open house, in my home. We all sewed and made our wares to sell as well as buying in lots of homewares. My whole house became a shop with each room full of delicious things to buy. We invited all of our friends and clients and the whole house was streaming with people drinking champagne, eating cupcakes and shopping. It was fun and exhausting (I was five months pregnant at the time). It would have been profitable if we hadn't spent all our earnings on the beautiful homewares for our own homes. As a result we now all have a lovely collection of vases, kitchen items and the sort. I will have to show you some photos one day.

In the meantime the here is my simple little tablescape. I find orchids to be such a great value flower; long lasting, elegant and not too expensive.

A Beautiful Life

One of the most beautiful parts of my life right now is this new life.


So very very precious. The most amazing of all miracles is the birth of a new baby. When it's your nephew it is especially sweet.



We are all besotted. He is talked about every day, we wish we could live next door so we can see him every hour. It is so lovely to see my children, the older cousins, enamoured by this new life.

I know these photos aren't great but they do capture the absolute adoration they feel.

Kate held him like this for about an hour. Little mama.

This One is for Heidi

I have a lovely neighbour called Heidi. We have share many interests, sewing and decorating being the greatest, and have so much in common it is almost scary.

Well Heidi has been sailing along life up until now with out a computer or the internet! Recently that changed when she bought a beautiful little Apple, and got connected. I was very interested to see just how she would resist the crafty blog world. She made the comment though that she was a little hesitant to start reading because they all seemed to present this perfect life.

It got me thinking.

What impression do we create? Is it truthful, does it matter? I know that this topic has been discussed on many a post before. Everyone has their own approach to just what type of image their blog creates. Some blogs are the warts and all kind (and I love them for that), some look like they have been created by Martha.

So I just wanted to set the record straight on me, my life and my blog.

I love lovely things and I get inspired by a lovely image and all it's detail. I love the feeling you get when you see a picture with beautiful colours and I love reading the story behind a creation.

It is these things that makes me tick. I love to keep my photos clean and free from clutter. I will openly admit I shift my angle and move things out the way to get the best effect. But that's not to say there are no crumbs or clutter in my house (oh if you could only see through my screen right now), or my life for that matter. There are plenty of times when I feel totally out of control. The past month of no posting might hint at that. I haven't really posted about this. Not because it might imply a less-than-perfect life but because, for me, that is not what my blog is about. I just don't want to overload my dear readers with the not-so-beautiful parts of life and I know everyone has there own stresses to deal with. When I am struggling to see the joy or find time in the day to put dinner on the table I know I just need to focus on the basics.

There are some beautiful blogs that I read though that express that 'caught in a whirlwind' feeling so poetically or write about the self-doubt we mothers suffer and the ups and downs of life. I find great solace in these posts to know that I am not alone.

For me, my blog is about my creations and the joys in my life. It is as much for me as it is for you. And isn't is often during these the more chaotic times in our life that we use the lovely blogs that have been created as a little escape. Which almost brings me full circle...blogging really can be an opportunity to look for the beautiful moments of my days and record them. So to kick start me posting again I am going to keep the next few posts simple, images of happy things that make me smile.

But before I go down the track of lovely images and just to prove my life is not prefect (and neither is all I make) here is a photo of the Croquembouche I made for dessert the night of Ella's birthday. The toffee wouldn't set, the choux was soggy and the pastry cream a little floury.



And look at the messy kitchen in the background! As a neighbour popping in, Heidi knows that it looks like that often! And taking Heidi's comment on board I would never want to leave a reader with the sense that there is any unattainable perfection going on in this house becuase there are plenty of cracks. It's just a matter of self-preservation that I just try not to stare at them.