Easter

Found this absolutely divine table setting for Easter via the beautiful Blog Oh one fine day which originated here at HGTV :: WOW is all I can say. I have never gone 'over the top' on the Easter decorating scale...just collected a few bits and pieces over the years and lazily see the Easter celebration as a gentle time to spend with family and friends as opposed to the increasingly yet totally enjoyable full scale production that Christmas is.
























So gorgeous...I  have always wanted to make this ::                   or this ::

Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart

And have stockpiled some Rowan cotton to make some more like this  ::

That is after I have finished, oh about 20 or so of these for work colleagues and my babies ::

Bunny Nuggets :: a free Ravelry download Here

Not to mention the thoughts of school holidays and the many projects that swirl aimlessly throughout my head  ::  I really hope to live to at least 120 just to finish all the projects jostling on my queue :: does anyone else go to their local yarn, fabric, gardening store and ask to buy 3 hours of time to go with that purchase please??

Monday madness

I have Mondays off work so like to go the 'extra mile' if you like in the Domestic Goddess status - clean the house until it shines, sort the washing and bake something nice for my babies to come home to...so today I had all the ingredients squirrelled away for my friend Kerry's macadamia and white chocolate biscuits :: these tick all the boxes :: easy, quick and the recipe  doubles well :: Mondays only come around once a week so I make double in order to bask in the glory of my productivity for more than an afternoon!

Ingredients ::

• 125g softened butter
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1/2 C caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 t vanilla essence
• 1 2/3 C self raising flour
• 1/2 C macadamia nuts, chopped
• 1/2 C white choc bits

Method ::

Cream butter, sugars and vanilla. Add egg, mix well. Fold in flour then nuts and chocolate. 

Roll into walnut sized nuggets and place on a baking paper lined tray.

Bake in a preheated 180 degree Celsius fan forced oven for approximately 10 minutes or until sunbaked golden and smelling divine.

Some of my favourite things.....

Our garden.....

  

baking...

Canelle et Vanille's beautiful, scrumptious pistachio and raspberry tea cakes :: Y U M ::
easy to make and even easier to eat :: the whole family (except for our missing in action Uni baby) absolutely loved them and kicked up quite a fuss when I made them for work's morning tea :: you can find the recipe HERE

It's these everyday happenings that orchestrate themselves without much thought or ado that soothe the soul and rejuvinate - no matter what the seasons line up and parade past, we nourish those we love and life is good!!

Kismet...

OK, so I'm professing to the world...well maybe just this humble screen in front of me...that everything's a little overwhelming right now...I can't give 100% to anything (even the cat needs worming!) then voila! Like the proverbial bolt out of the blue elements beyond my control begin to manipulate my universe without a thought or care from me. On a mindless mission to the much loved local bookstore - I happened upon this little 'hint' from who knows where...

this book called to me from the shelf - well the gorgeous linen like cover and the 'a guide to simple living' drew me right in - a few flicks through the pages and I was sold - chapters such as 'organising your life'  'nourishment'  and 'home grown self reliance' held promises of a plan to release my family and I from the crazy mayhem that we have come to believe is part and parcel of a normal existence. I promptly purchased said book, tucked it under my arm and came home and devoured its contents. One of the first chapters calms me with its guide on 'moving towards simplicity' hallelujah...bring it on....I'm thinking Rhonda is definitely on my side. She tells me that taking on extra work isn't necessarily the answer to funding number 1 babe's journey through Uni (it's his first real day of Uni today, just thought I'd mention that..) maybe working from home to avoid the 'we'll have to get takeaway tonight' syndrome that seems to happen every rep netball training night by meal planning and taking the time to cook food from scratch. There are recipes for baking bread, making soap and using natural oils (olive and almond) as a moisturiser - cheaper and way better than lavishing all the contents of the essay of scientific ingredients found on the back of my jar. I waffle on - but this book is the tonic my life needed and I'm determined to swallow a little of it's advice each day. Rhonda has a Blog here that massaged my brain for a least an hour on Saturday night, it's a wealth of calming information.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's instalment dear reader where a brief interlude on a shopping centre's lounge introduced me to a wonderful market stall that opened another lock on the shackles of my life....
Sally xxx

Mother Load

Dear reader, I have been very inconsistent in my attentions to this Blog of mine - but this seems to be a reflection of all the goings on in my life - nothing seems to be completed, not that I'm aiming for perfection, just a little sigh of satisfaction would do...

So I've returned to this place I've created, selfishly for my own therapy really, to record all that is whirling around me willy nilly, to create a place of calm out of the vortex of life.

Take this little guy for an example....looking out our back door into the world,(well it's a herd of goats - but you get the picture??) not yet walking, innocent and smelling only like babies can. This is our first born....18 years ago!! And yes I've left very large gaps in this blog of mine cause I've been trying very hard to be a good mother to our brood of now 4, a loving,understanding wife, mature aged uni graduate, reliable big sister and devoted daughter and daughter in law (DIL) and an awesome, inspiring part time teacher - whew, no wonder the blog posts are sparse. Did I mention that I love knitting, crochet, dressmaking, baking, gardening and cruising the net?  Oh! back to the babe in the door above...well he has flown the coop so to speak...off to Uni...we smothered took him down to where he'll live now - bought him a huge load of groceries, pegs, bandaids showed him around and finally after much eye rolling on his part, we reluctantly said our goodbyes. Someone once told me (I was inconsolable when they all finished pre school too - so people round here are kind of used to all this) that you give your children two gifts - roots and wings - that makes me feel somewhat better....somewhat. Babe number 2 has her L plates and will soon be going for her Ps - this is one step in the Ludo game of life - that bit of Independence that lets them stray from the nest....number 3 babe has just last night started an after school job....and our baby started high school this year - 13 years of primary school canteen duties folded and put away....but hey, they are all happy babies, doing well in all they pursue, so I've gotta be glad for that. I just look forward to the day when I can again sit on the floor and watch Play School with a little one - a little grandchild maybe in quite a few years - now that's something to look forward to isn't it?

Talk to you soon,

Sally xxx

Happy New Blogging Year xxx

Hi, after a prolonged abscence I am resurrecting my posts - I will be documenting the comings and goings of our little place in Australia...it's sooo good to be back!! xxxxx

We are redecorating with neutrals and a slavering of awesome white - determined to cook some delights from my cookbook collection (well mainly to justify having them...all...) and getting down and fierce in the garden (read: taming the wild cottage monster and producing produce to use in the above recipe justification excercise)

Oh, and Sarah over at A Beach Cottage is having a 'little' comp - you can win a white Kitchen Aide - Ohhh what a delight cooking my home grown produce from recipes out of my collection in a white delight! Heaven! Go on over and leave a comment and marvel at the wonderful decorating style that Sarah has.

Birds of a feather

I was just over at Retro Mummy's and saw my favourite magazine is also Corrie's fave too! I just can't wait for it to hit my newsagent :: and even though the seasons don't quite line up with ours, the inspirations don't lose any of their magic. I only wish that the climate I live in would sustain some more English flora :: I have to spray my roses for black spot as it's quite humid where we live and I'd loooove to plant lilac, peonies and a broad leaved boston ivy...but I still try to create a little of that English charm in our garden.