Sunday, January 29, 2012

A perfect Summer's Day.

Sheesh two posts in one day - that's a record for me! 
Today was one of those wonderfully perfect days..........the days i wish for almost all year long, the kind i dream about on a chilly winter's day.  The Bloke had heard about a fantastic swimming hole just out of Briagolong, Gippsland a few years ago & we had intended to go check it out one day.
 Finally today was the day.
 Yesterday i baked yummy bread rolls & brownies for a picnic lunch & we did a bit of research to find out where this place was. It took us an hour to get there...........a u-turn for a missed road & a stop  at tiny general store for directions.........but we found it - Blue Pool it's called.



It was so relaxing & the water was lovely. Such a beautiful spot in basically the middle of nowhere - a huge swimming hole provided for us by mother nature. We will definitely go back.
Then it was home for more swimming in our pool & some harvesting from our vegie patch to make dinner. We spotted these couple of possums on the chook house roof pilfering nectarines from the tree that hangs over the back fence.

I hope there's many, many more of these awesome days.


Treasure.

I'm a sucker for a bit of floral cross-stitch goodness, i have a box full in my linen closet that i've collected from oppys. Usually i just can't bear to cut up & create something that someone has put so much hard work into, but i love this new find so much that i don't like the idea of it hiding away in a box - so i think this one will be turned into a pretty cushion for our bed. Good old country town thrifting, always comes up trumps! Once again i'm linking up with Her Library Adventures..........pop on over to see some more thrifting loveliness & all the usual awesomeness that Sophie shares with us.

Friday, January 27, 2012

C is for Jack.

So the other  night while i was whipping up this map covered C for Chas, he informs me he longer wants to be known as Chas. He is now Jack. So i tell him the C will be going in my room then & i will now be known as Colleen. Apparently only i can call him Chas, but only sometimes so that means the C can still be for his room.

It's been a while since i've played with paper &it was fun! I bought the C from a cheapo shop for a couple of bucks & found an old school atlas at an op-shop. I covered the C in mod podge then stuck on the maps, when the mod podge dried i sand papered the edges smooth. To finish i then coated the whole lot in mod podge. I'm not sure whether to cover the inside in map or not, what do you think?
I'm feeling very creative at the moment & have some delicious new fabrics to play with as soon as i have a bit of precious time.........

And here's my three little Aussies celebrating Australia day yesterday, we had a fun day - hope yours was great too! xxx

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Jam Drops. (This one's for you Mrs Rhone).

I enjoy good old fashioned baking, stuff my gran would've made & are still just as yummy today. The other day Amity & i made these (and Scarlett ate the cookie dough).

I found a recipe & then tweaked it a bit to suit us better, we used Blackcurrant jam & Apple, Rhubarb & Cinnamon conserve to fill them. Still eating them to decide which flavour is my favourite............but i think they'll taste really good with homemade plum jam. (wink wink Mrs Rhone). Here's the recipe:

Jam Drops
3/4 cup SR flour
3 tbsps rice flour
70g butter, softened
4 tbsps caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
jam

Method:
Preheat oven to 180c. Line trays with baking paper. Cream together butter & sugar until light & fluffy, then beat in egg & vanilla. Fold in the flours until just combined. Roll one teaspoon of the mixture into a ball & put on a tray. Repeat with all the mixture. Press an indent into the centre of each cookie & fill with a little jam. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes or until golden.
Makes about 30.

Enjoy!  I am planning a new & very exciting baking adventure soon, finger's crossed it turns out & i'll share it with you.

Monday, January 23, 2012

From the Patch - Peas.

Oh my goodness there's nothing better than fresh peas straight from the garden! So sweet & yummy. Peas from our patch rarely make into our house............three little munckins go to The Patch when they're hungry & eat them fresh (and One Bloke!). But occasionally when no one is looking i'll sneak out & pick a handful & then smuggle them into the kitchen to make the yummiest salad ever. I saw Jamie Oliver making this on one of his very first cooking shows (back in the early days of lusting after him), it is so simple & soooooo good. Do yourself a favour - try it.

Baby Spinach, Fresh Pea & Fetta Salad.


2 large handfuls baby spinach
1 large handful fresh peas
firm fetta cheese
Method:
Blanch the peas in boiling water. Allow peas to cool & toss with the spinach. Crumble fetta over the top, then dress with olive oil & white wine vinegar or lemon juice.

This recipe may seem a tad vague, but really it's that simple you don't even need a recipe - just toss the ingredients together. I prefer to use an Australian fetta, i've tried a Danish one before & found it smooshed too much, so a firmer one works better. Thanks Jamie - you're an inspiration in my kitchen! (And yes i'm still lusting after you..........)

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Instagram..............Instant Addiction.

I downloaded the Instagram app onto my phone the day i bought it & became instantly addicted. I love being able to take photos anytime, anywhere & editing them instantly & then sharing them. I love seeing new photos in my feed of people who i follow - especially their 'photo a day' photos & their interpretations on the daily theme.
Scenic drives are the best
A scenic drive with my sister.

Yes please

I guess it's a good 'sign' they've been in business for a long time?

Prettiest church ever

Prettiest little church ever.

Peeling at the boys next door through a hole in the fence

My little Scarlett peeking at the boys next door through a hole in the fence.

If you're on Instagram you'll find me under Franklymydear_malea, & i'd love to see your photos too -  if not download the app & join the addiction!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

School holiday fun.

I love the school holidays, i really enjoy the lack of routine and the carefree time we have. I have, however found that as the kids are getting older i need to keep them busy or they become bored very quickly. One thing i had promised them to do was to go to Melbourne and visit the museum, this had been something i had intended to do for the last few years. So yesterday the two big kids and i finally boarded a train bound for the city.....
Train trip

Melbourne museum
Butterflies at museum
Lots to see and do!
Melbourne museum
The museum was pretty awesome, i just went with the flow and let the kids look at whatever they liked and just followed them as they ran from display to display. And of course, there was the few occassions when they went in opposite directions and i lost them for a little while.......whoops! After the museum we headed to the Treasury Gardens - what a beautiful place! Captain Cook's cottage, the fairy tree, The mini Tudor Village & the pretty, pretty Conservatory garden.

Cook's cottage
Conservatory at treasury gardens
Fairy tree
We had a good cheap day out & arrived home a little weary! I think we will definitely make it a tradtition to take a train trip to the city every school holidays, it's a whole other world to my country bumpkin kids!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Treasure.

My 20 cent noritake opshop find. Yellow roses are my favourite.

A little activity we've started doing these school holidays is taking family drives to small towns near us - we then find the local park/s for the kids to explore & play on.......nothing like a new park when you're a kid. Then we search for an opshop & have a little treasure hunt (this is mum's favourite part). Unfortunately on our latest adventure we didn't find much, but i did find this very pretty Noritake saucer for a whopping 20 cents! And as a bonus, yellow roses are my favourites. I can't wait for our next adventure, in the meantime i'll be hanging out at Sophie's.......there's always lots of lovely treasures to be found there.

Friday, January 13, 2012

A good day.

Today was a good day - a carefree, easy breezy day! We are one child down (thanks nan & pa), so the rest of us headed to the local shopping centre. The Bloke & one child headed to the movies, so that left me & the remaining brat child to do a spot of shopping. And what a good day for shopping it was.....

Kitchen plant

I've wanted a nice little indoor plant for the kitchen for a while now & today i finally remembered to get one. I think he'll be happy here, enjoying the dregs from the kids water bottles.

Oh dear.....what to make first ?!

And this!!! Oh my dear, i have been lusting after this book for a while now, so was very pleasantly surprised when i found it in a country town bookstore! This has stacks of beautiful patterns for sewing girl's clothes from sizes 2 - 10, so i imagine i will get lots of use from this book over the years & *may* never need to buy any patterns again. If you have girls (Kelly!), i highly recommend this gorgeous book. Only problem now is, i'll have to buy some fabric & then decide what to make first...........sigh.
I also bought some pearl paints for some arty fun for Amity, cute little deer t-shirt for Scarlett & an iphone cover for mumma. Gee i despise shopping....... (can you detect the sarcasm tonight?)

Then this arvo, we kidnapped our little next door neighbour & went for a walk along some country roads.

Ac

We returned our neighbour & hung out at his place for a while & then i had to get myself off to work for the dreaded late-night-shopping shift. And now i'm ready to hit the sack & drool over my new book. Hope your day was as easy breezy as mine!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Where have you been all my life?!

Yesterday i went & i got myself a new little piece of technology........an iphone 4S. Oh my goodness, i love, love, love it! My last phone had well & truly had it, i got it when Amity was a baby, so it was six years old & in mobile phone years that's vintage!  The thing is, i'm a little scared of anything new & i knew how to use my phone so well, i didn't want to learn on a different one - but too be honest i was getting a tad embarrassed taking it out of my bag to answer a call, lol! So i finally bit the bullet & went & got myself an iphone. It is surprisingly easy to use & i'm loving the fact that i no longer need to cart around a camera, notepad, street directory, calculator, compass (?!)...............i'm a bit behind the times aren't i? I'm also loving the apps - favourites so far: instagram, facebook & doodle find & the kids have already added a few too. So what apps does anyone recommend? I'd love to know what your favourites are. Here is an Instagram photo for you, my littlest snuggle bum, straight out of the bath & ready for nigh nigh .

Ready for bed

Sunday, January 8, 2012

What i am doing...........in January.

A new year is here & oh my, these days are the best days of the whole year. The days i long for on cold winter mornings...............the hot weather, no school......just lazy, lazy summer days by the pool.
: : listening The very best of  Fleetwood Mac  - we know all the words now ;-)
: : cooking  pancakes this morning for our traditional sunday brekkie before i went to work
: : drinking west coast coolers, my summer beverage of choice. just call me 'bogan'
: : reading  Frankie Spaces - finally got my mitts on a copy.
: : watching Cloudstreet, the best novel to screen adaptation i have ever seen. Love it.
: : wanting  a little more time to get stuck into crochet school
: : pondering whether to get a new camera or just get the broken one fixed?
: : sewing nothing yet, but planning on making some pretty summery pj's for Scarlett.
: : wishing my hair wasn't so frizzy
: : enjoying the school holidays & lack of routine
: : waiting for our tomatoes to ripen......can't wait to pig out on some bruschetta. mmmm.
: : looking  forward to lots of summer arvos with the neighbours bbq-ing & swimming
: : liking the fact that we all just won an ipod shuffle each at work in an instore comp!
: : wondering is it possible to o.d on stone fruits?
: : loving these cruisey summer days. Need i say anymore?
: : hoping for a little op-shop road trip soon. i'm back in the mood for it.
: : believing i'm in need for a weekend off work.
: : wearing lots & lots of maxi dresses lately
: : considering a train trip to the big smoke this week with the two big kids
: :  knowing  your blog is going to be awesome Kristy ;-) can't wait!
: :  noticing vintage caravans are everywhere lately & i love them!
: :  thinking i'm going to just bite the bullet & get with the times & get an iphone.
: :  needing to make some space in my wardrobe, working in a clothing store does have it's downfall's sometimes!
: :  giggling everytime i think about when we chased one of our chooks  around the backyard because it  had  a dummy in it's mouth beak........i have another little giggle fit!
: : organizing some summer holiday activities for the kiddos
: : trying to get the ironing under control in this household - it's just not happening.
: : feeling sun kissed :-)

And so it seems this is my 100th post! Thanks to you all lovelies who have stuck around with me & left much appreciated comments, i have enjoyed sharing bits & pieces of my little life with you. x

And here is a little teaser of something special i'll be sharing with you in an up-coming post......