I'd love to spend some time here.
Isn't this quiet spot just dreamy? I love everything about it.
This would be a lovely spot to retreat to with a cup of tea and a good book. I've pinned this onto my Pinterest board titled "Nooks".
I'm finding so much lovely inspiration on Pinterest for our next house. Now we just need the house!
In a family where 4 of the 6 of us have various food intolerances I'm always looking for healthy treats that I can put into the children's school lunches that don't leave them with sore tummies or grumpy dispositions.
These pine nut cookies hit the double jackpot as they are both gluten and dairy free.
The children (including a few 'ring-ins' from down the street) have given them the thumbs up. Here is the recipe:
200 g flaked almonds
100 g pine nuts
100 g rice flour
225 g caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon
2 medium egg whites at room temp
pinch of cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
icing sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 180 celsius. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the almonds and pine nuts on the lined tray (separately), and brown them well in the oven for 8-10 minutes. The almonds will brown slightly quicker. Once browned, remove from the oven and cool. Reduce the oven temp to 160 celsius.
Once cooled, place the almonds and rice flour in a food processor and blitz until you have a fine mix. Place into a medium mixing bowl, add the pine nuts, 115 g of the sugar and the lemon zest, and mix well.
Whisk the egg whites with the cream of tartar until light and foamy, then add the remianing caster sugar and whisk until creamy and glossy, but do not overbeat. Mix the nut mixture into the egg whites, along with the vanilla essence.
Mould the mixture into small mounds, patting each one down slightly. Bake for 15-20 minutes until they turn light golden, keeeping an eye on them as they brown quickly. Remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Sprinkle with icing sugar. Makes about 25.
We have just spent the weekend at a rather pretty country house.
This property was bought last year by an overseas business colleague of Will's. Will is helping with the management of the property - putting staff in place to run the farming side of the business, and ensuring that the house and garden are in good care while the owners are overseas.
The gardens are spectacular in a "Wow that's stunning. I'm glad it's not mine to maintain" kind of way.
These espaliered trees were a rather impressive sight.
We stayed in the stables, which have been converted into further accommodation; and very comfortable accommodation at that.
Most importantly, there were yabbies in the dam, a pretty river running through the back of the property, and a farm 4WD to explore the paddocks on. The boys weren't swayed by the showy garden, but they can't wait to go back with yabbie bait next time.
Well hello there. It's been a while. 2012 is ticking along and I've been busy settling back into the term-time routine. Things are a little easier this year, as all the boys are now at the one school. Tom is our new boy this year and, so far so good. They are all happy.
And I'm happy too. Happy just pottering around at home. Buying and cooking delicious food. Trying new recipes.
Did you know you can measure your happiness? Here, take the test. How did you go?
Life's keeping me busy enough and I haven't ventured into my studio at all yet. I find it takes a good four weeks back at school after the long summer holidays to get back in the groove and on top of things.
Do you like my vintage typewriter? This belongs to my grandmother. I think it belonged to her parents. I learned to type on this beast. And beast it is - it weighs a whopping 15kgs.
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. I would have typed that 1000 times.
Henri turned 7 yesterday.
We gathered a few of his friends who were also holidaying down our way. With siblings this resulted in a casual treehouse party for 12.
The older boys organised a treasure hunt which led the children to the treehouse. Once there, a game of pass-the-parcel was orchestrated in the enclosed part of the treehouse on the second floor, again by the older boys.
After a main course of BBQ sausages and lamb chops, impromptu pyramids were constructed and wheelbarrow races run.
It makes me immensely happy to see children enjoying the great outdoors and creating their own fun.
Hide and seek took place, and Max hosted some running races for the assembled two year olds. Meanwhile we adults enjoyed a catch up and a glass of wine as the sun set.
Birthday cake was individual pavlovas. Notice how Adelaide has her eyes firmly on the prize.
This one loves her food. I'd go as far as to say she is a little glutton. She polished off this rather sizeable serve of pavlova with no second thoughts.
Lolly bags were given out a little early by enthusiastic Henri, so there was even more sugar consumed before the party came to an end. It was only the dropping temperatures that called an end to proceedings.
All in all, it was a very happy night, and the children had lots of fun.
I am very excited about this Christmas present we received from Will's mother.
It's a lantern with pretty bevilled glass. It looks lovely in situ on our outdoor table. Although at the time of taking this photo it was pouring with rain and I had to bring it indoors. I can't wait to use it.
Thankfully Christmas has come upon us in a rather stress-free fashion this year. Not churning out Townmouse orders until the last Christmas mail has certainly helped.
The only moment of panic was when I went to turn on the larger of my two ovens this morning to cook turkey for 10, only to find it non-responsive. I had visions of driving to my mother's with a basted turkey on the passenger seat.
The crisis was averted when 11 year old Max asked, "What does 'Auto' mean?" I'd set the clock the other day and, when pushing buttons randomly, had set something awry. Thank goodness for that. Max was congratulated for saving the moment and was rewarded with free reign to eat the chocolate Christmas baubles on the tree.
Well, he'd had tic-tacs for breakfast, so he was on a roll. Why not eat chocolate before lunch.
This Liberty sundress was perfect for our hot and humid Christmas day. I made this on Christmas Eve while we waited for the boys to fall asleep before putting the presents under the tree. The dress will come in handy for January at the beach.
I also made a little bikini bottom in my favourite fabric.
There is a matching sunhat in the works too. That I plan to finish on Boxing Day.
I hope you and your families had a lovely Christmas day. I, for one, am very much looking forward to a slower pace over the next few weeks. Enjoy the last few days of 2011!
I was very excited to receive my copy of Fiona Dalton's new book, "Hop, Skip, Jump".
This book is fabulous. I absolutely love it. Fiona is a such a talented toy maker, and the little outfits she makes for her softies are so clever.
Look at the cute little vest this chap is wearing. See more in her amazing Flickr stream, or on her blog, Hop, Skip, Jump.
I can't wait to find some time to make up one of the patterns in the book.
But it seems I'm not the only family member who likes to make soft toys.
This is 6 year old Henri's creation that he made in art. It made it onto the School Library display wall.
Henri was very proud when I bought my camera into the library especially to photograph it.
Since returning from Gwinganna in mid September I've changed my diet quite significantly. This is partly necessity, and partly because I felt so healthy I wanted to keep feeling that way.
Necessity because I was told that my liver is/was quite fatigued. Worn out trying to process the foods I'm intolerant to; like dairy, and sugar-rich foods. (And I don't even drink - how sad is that?)
As well as switching to an organic diet I've cut out gluten entirely. By removing bread from my daily ritual of breakfast it also removes other bad stuff like butter, vegemite, and jam - all things my body gets angry about. But probably the best thing I've discovered is this:
Green smoothies seem to be part of my personal zeitgeist at the moment. They keep coming across my path from unexpected sources. Gwyneth's talking about them, a friend of mine who doesn't have a particularly healthy lifestyle talked about The Raw Food Family. And the subject has been popping up on various blogs that aren't always health related.
In answer to your question Jane, here's a raw treat I can recommend. I have this for lunch most days.
Blend (don't juice) 3 kale leaves with an orange, some ginger, a kiwifruit, fresh pineapple and a cup of water. This kale smoothie tastes like a fruit drink, but has the goodness and fiber of the kale.
These must be good for weight loss too. On the days I have a green smoothie, I'm always lighter on the scales the next morning, even though what I've eaten the rest of the day varies. It's filling and you don't feel hungry for hours afterwards.
Corrie, you might like to give this a whirl in your Thermomix. It might be the more healthy, wholesome answer you've been seeking. You can even get a Green Smoothie app for your iPhone.
I really love the work of Thomas Paul, particularly his melamine trays and plates.
I bought this tray a few months ago, when I was having my girlfriends over for bridge lessons. It proved to be a handy drinks tray.
When not being used it lives here, on the kitchen bench. This bench is not always tidy. That little corner there is where the pesky pile of paperwork seems to gather - you know - the school notices and stuff you bring in from the car. And when I tidy this little corner of the kitchen it somehow feels like the house is disproportionately more organised and under control.
I think the tray fits in well here. Oh, and I've since worked out that it's actually upside down in this shot.
We will be house hunting in earnest next year. We are 6 people living in a 3 bedroom house. I still love our house. It's my dream house and I'd be happy to never leave. But the reality is, it is getting a little tight.
I'm not really looking forward to the looking. Our current house took us three years to find. Will and I were at odds about what we wanted. He didn't like our house on first viewing. It took a lot of persuading to get him over the line.
If you don't put an upper price limit on your online real estate searching, houses like the one above pop up in the results. Isn't it picture perfect? And that's just the back of the house. Many would argue that it is the best house in Melbourne. It really is exceptionally pretty. Just a modest shack that will only set you back around $28 million. Go take a peak.
But if I could have my pick of all the houses currently for sale in Melbourne, it would be this one. It's pretty, classic, understated. It's in a great street, close to the tramline that takes the boys to school and a short walk to shops. To me it's a no-brainer, a sensible and realistic move. I'd enlist the help of this clever woman, the mother of Max's school friend, to give the house a classic contemporary update. Do you think I can get Will remotely interested? Nup, naddah, not a whiff of interest.
2012 will be an interesting year.
I think I might have found a treasure this morning. What do you think?
It's hard waste collection in Hawthorn at the moment, which means people put their unwanted items in front of their houses for collection by council. Usually it's a lot of old junk like broken TVs, faded children's play equipment and the like.
Call me crazy, but I think this has potential. It's sturdy, a cute size, and would look right at home on the shady deck of a beach house (not that we have one of those). Can you picture it? Painted a lighter shade with some fabulous upholstered cushion on it.
I found myself standing next to this piece with the boot of my car open, thinking, "Should I, or shouldn't I". I thought, "No, the last thing I need is a project like this." And then I thought, "Salvation Jane wouldn't leave a find like this on the sidewalk." I drove away, then immediately turned around and came back for it. It's now in our garage and I'm wondering who can do it up for me (because it's not a job I feel I could do justice to).
The question is, what colour should I paint it? I'd love your thoughts.
