Thursday, April 28, 2011

From the Patch - Apples

I've had this post sitting in my drafts for so long..........thought i best hurry up & add the recipe & post it whilst we still have a few apples hanging on our tree!
Our apple tree has been very kind to us this year (unlike our apricot & peach trees, Mr Peach gave us one measly peach this year!), we have a grafted tree which has two varieties on it - Jonathons & Granny Smiths. I'm so glad we went for that option when we bought the tree, as the Granny's are perfect for cooking with & the Johnnies are ideal for eating. I just love it when i see the kids outside stop playing & go pick an apple off the tree when they're hungry (luckily the branches are low enough for Scarlett).
I've been creating all kinds of things with the apples - Apple cake, stewed apples, Apple Tarte Tatin, these yummy Apple, Oat & Cinnamon cookies, Apple fritters, i even borrowed mum's food dehydrator & made dried apple rings (phew, i'm beginning to feel like Bubba from Forest Gump reeling off all those apple things!) But Chas' favourite (and mine too) is good old Apple Crumble......mmmmm. Here's our favourite recipe:

Apple Crumble
1 kg apples - peeled, cored & thinly sliced,
2 tbsps caster sugar,
3/4 cup plain flour,
1 tsp ground cinnamon,
100gm cold butter - chopped,
1/2 cup brown sugar,
1/2 cup rolled oats.
Method:
Preheat oven to moderately hot (190c). Grease a dish. Mix the apples with the caster sugar & 3 tablespoons of water & add to the dish.  Combine the flour & cinnamon in a different bowl & rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the brown sugar & rolled oats & mix together well. Sprinkle this topping on top of the apples. Bake for 40 mins, or until the apples are tender & the topping is golden.
Delicious served with cream or icecream!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Our Easter.

Well that's Easter done & dusted for another year! Thanks to the Easter Bunny, we now have a bowl full of choccie sitting on the kitchen table (don't stress there is also a bowl of fruit on the bench!). We had a lovely (looong) weekend away, but it's nice to be back home. Here are some shots from our weekend.....




Thursday, April 21, 2011

Happy Easter.

We're all very excited here......not long now til easter bunny arrives! Oh how i love easter (best time of the year for a chocoholic)! We are heading back to our home town to spend easter with our families & enjoy the great festivities they put on in the township for the long weekend. I have made each of the three kids simple easter bags for the egg hunt on Sunday morning - because god-forbid one has a bigger basket than the other! We can't wait for Scarlett to join in the hunt this year too.........it's hard to believe last year she was just a teeny-tiny baby.
I hope you all enjoy your easter & the easter bunny is kind to you all - if you're travelling on the roads this long weekend, please drive carefully.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

For the Boy.

Yes! I do have a boy.....hehe. He's not actually here right now, he's having a holiday with his Nan & Pa.......gosh i miss him! But here is something i made for him the other day - a felt garland to hang above his bedroom window. I planned to make this ages ago, we picked the colours out & they just sat in the cupboard for too long. I really should've done it sooner, because it honestly took no time at all.
Sorry about the crappy photo - it was actually quite tricky to photograph. I made it by simply cutting three different size circles from the four felt colours & then machine stitched them all together with invisible thread. Easy peasy. I'm thinking these would look lovely as christmas decorations too........but who wants to be thinking that far ahead already?

Saturday, April 16, 2011

These are few of my favourite things....

Thought i might share with you all a few things we are loving right now.....

:: Once Upon a Time board game (check it out here). We bought this game for Amity last Christmas & with the wet weather we've had recently we have been playing a few board games with the kids - this is our favourite at the moment. It's a fantastic game based on the traditional fairy tales, that is quite funny but also very good for their reading skills. I think this game is going to get played a lot!

:: Red shoes. For me & my girls. We love our red shoes & have been wearing them a fair bit recently!


:: Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns. Toasted, with lots of butter.........mmm. Need i say anymore? I love chocolate & i love easter.

:: Trinny & Susannah's Australian Makeover Mission. I've been a fan of Trinny & Suz for a while & i'm really enjoying this latest series, featuring lucky Aussie women getting a style-over from them!

:: Lovely Sweet William Prints. I was lucky enough to win the print pictured below recently, isn't it awesome? I can't wait to get a nice frame & some matting for it & hang it in the girl's room (too babyish for Chas apparently). Lovely Sweet William also have lots of other delightful prints & i've got my eye on a few more in their etsy store.
:: Country Style magazine. I'm a bit of a magazine addict & this one is fast becoming one of my favourites. I love flicking through it ohhh-ing & ahhh-ing over the beautiful country homes it features.........adding more & more to my 'oneday' wishlist.

:: My Place. Actually we have been huge fans of this series since last year, Amity was always glued to the tv when it was on. The book was a favourite of mine when i was a kid & a few years ago i found a copy of one in an op-shop to put away for the kids when they were older - then when i discovered that the ABC made the book into a series i was ecstatic! We all enjoyed watching it so much, that we went & bought the entire series on dvd..............and it's been watched & watched over & over again (not just by the kids, hehe).  It tells the story of the children who have all lived in the same 130 year old house, beginning in 1888 & finishing in 2008. My favourite episodes are 1928, 38, 48 & 58...........ohhh the props they use! Beautiful old quilts & blankets, brass beds & the clothes! Oh my gosh the clothes! Perfect series for a history buff like me.

:: Natural light photography. I have been so slack & really need to get some portraits done of the kids, especially since we've hard Scarlett (oops). I'd really love to have some professional natural light photos done, i really like the style of these two photographers - Nicole Finlayson & Clair Bremner.

 I hope you enjoyed some of our favourite things.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Brrrrr!

Oh my goodness it's turned cold here! I don't like this weather, the only thing it's good for is hot chocolates & pretty scarves. It's also the first week of school holidays here & my two outdoorsy kids can't handle being stuck indoors - they get a bad case of cabin fever. So i've been busy keeping them occupied & trying to keep boredom at bay - we've  been creating yummy goodies with bread mixes - bread rolls & scrumptious cinnamon scrolls....mmm, they've also been doing lots of drawing & colouring & we made some puff paint that you microwave - that was fun! Go here for the tutorial. We've also had some board games & a trip to the local indoor pool. But thanks to my lovely sister Vanessa who popped in for a visit today, they have now both gone for a couple of nights sleepover at her house with their cousins!! So it'll be just little Scarlett here for a couple of days...............how's the serenity? *Thanks Vanessa* 
On Sunday my sister in-law, Holly & i went for a little child-free day trip to Melbourne for the Baby & Toddler Expo that i won tickets too, we had a great time checking out some fabulous stalls, i could've spent a lot of money on gorgeous stuff, but i was good & instead walked away with a lot of inspiration. After we left we found this lovely, girly Christina Re cafe in Collingwood & did a quick u-turn for a cuppa.

A few years ago i was an obsessive scrapbooker, sadly i lost interest & unfortunately haven't scrapped any pages for about two years - which means i have done absolutely none for Scarlett. I have felt guilt over this & even The Bloke has told me that one day the older two will be looking through their albums & Scarlett will have nothing! But i must say, walking into this store has thankfully re-stored my love for paper! I bought a few sheets of gorgeous Christina Re paper to start some pages for Scarlett & have since been browsing my old favourite scrapbooker's blogs & pinning lots of inspiration over at Pinterest............now i can't wait to go through my stash & rediscover what i have & get lost amongst the paper, double-sided tape & brads again! But right now i'm going to go & snuggle in front of the heater with a hot chocolate & my book.........ahhh......did i mention the serenity?

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Treasure.


I haven't been thrifting in a long time (actually not since i found my little deer) so this is something i've had for a little while. I had wanted one of these lovely glass cake stands for ages & spotted this one in an op-shop window in my home town oneday while out walking with my sister. Unfortunately the op-shop was closed at the time, but my sister was kind enough to go back & buy it for me (thanks Kristen!). It looks even lovelier with a delicious cream-filled sponge cake on it!
I think i really need to get out & do some thrifting - i've missed sharing my discoveries with you all, but you can pop on over to Sophie's to see what treasures others have discovered.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Now it's her turn.


I used to often walk the other two to this nearby lake when they were this little to feed the ducks (now they can ride their bikes), it's Scarlett's turn to get in the pram now with some crusts for the duckies. She was fascinated with the 'bubbas' (everything is a bubba - dogs, cats, birds, dolls....).
Check out those little curls, aren't they gorgeous?

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

What i am doing - In April.

Seriously? It's April all ready......where has 2011 gone? Okay so here's what i am up to this April.
::  listening to the little froggies singing to each other out in our patio
::  cooking stewed apples.....mmm
::  drinking hot chocolate - it's getting cold here!
::  reading 'God's Callgirl' by Carla Van Raay, really enjoying it so far
::  wanting the house to just stay tidy (it won't)
::  looking forward to the weekend, mumma gets a child-free day in melbourne!
::  playing with fabric....fun
::  wasting apples, we have far too many - rabbit is enjoying them though
::  sewing lots & lots of little denim ruffle dresses
::  wishing i could just find some uninterrupted sewing time
::  enjoying watching Scarlett toddle about - yes she's walking full-time now!
::  waiting for some goodies to arrive in the mail
::  liking the free bag tag i just got in the mail for Chas, can't wait to show him
::  wondering does anyone else think Blythe dolls are creepy, or is it just me?
::  loving that it's nearly school holidays
::  hoping Amity's health problems are over
::  marvelling at how quickly Amity's picking up reading - she loves it
::  needing to buy a mouse trap....yep, we've got company
::  smelling the delicious Honeysuckle soy melt i got in Daylesford, should've got more
::  wearing my comfy old jeans & a cardi
::  following the growth of the pumpkin in the patch - we want pumpkin soup!
::  noticing chas slowly becoming more & more interested in video games (dislike)
::  knowing oneday i'd love to go to paris
::  thinking i really must get over my fear & make a dentist appointment....eekk
::  bookmarking lots of great blogs i've been finding lately
::  giggling at Scarlett's obsession with dolls & her sister's doll stroller - Amity is begrudgingly sharing
::  feeling tired - damn this day light savings change

Saturday, April 2, 2011

I have a confession.

 I love local history books. You will often find me in the local library browsing the local history section for something interesting to read. I find these books fascinating - i really enjoy reading about the old days & how people used to live, the roads & homes that sometimes no longer exist - even whole towns that today you wouldn't even now were once there. Yesterday i visited a library in a nearby local town, when i discovered their local history section i nearly squealed (then i remembered i was in a library!), it wasn't just a small section on shelves........there was a little room dedicated to local history! Oh yes i was in heaven & could've quite happily spent hours browsing if it wasn't for a little one year old who doesn't quite share mummy's passion. My personal favourites are people's memoirs, at the moment i am reading this book & i'm really enjoying it. The author grew up in Bairnsdale as one of seventeen children, yep seventeen! Imagine the washing & school lunches her poor mother had to do. They lived in a small two bedroom house, shared beds with siblings & were grateful for a simple orange & a few colouring pencils or book in their christmas stockings. Times have certainly changed. Reading these books makes me realize that even though things were a lot tougher back then - they were definitely a lot more simpler.