beribboned bliss

My handiwork sewing ribbons on my daughter's ballet slippers resembles naught these nifty pretties from Jean Paul Gaultier. But oh my. The vertiginous heels are ever-so evocative of a ballerina en-pointe. Such an exquisite homage.

reasons to be cheerful: part 1

I needed to get away from my desk for a bit, so I went to the Salvos to drop off a couple of bags of stuff gleaned from our daughter cleaning her room on the weekend. Then I shopped.

As you know, we bought a new BBQ. It's all shiny and new and ready to go, but I'm not really au fait with the art of barbequing. So hello happiness when I found The Barbeque Cookbook on a shelf with a $1.50 price tag: bargain-a-licious! Skipping on over to the glassware shelves I find a set of six cocktail glasses, lead crystal ones mind, in their original pink and white box - for $4! Next I discover that all the clothing is now colour-coordinated, so I check out pink, black and then, hello green. The prettiest green wrap dress with white polka dots is just hanging there in my size, begging to be taken home.

I obliged.

sew sew

I had to sew ribbon onto my daughter's leather ballet slippers yesterday - how's that for a challenge. So I lugged the sewing machine out of the linen closet (not a pretty pink one like this - a dull beige number - sigh) and set to work. I did it and my work looked pretty neat and serviceable. Inspired I delved into the bottom of my wardrobe and fished out my 'mending' bag. In it was a formerly favourite dress in need of a little TLC. Well, a few runs of the zig zag, one of straight stitch and it's good as new. It's now washed and hanging on the indoor line, waiting for a real summer's day to come out again and play.

Don't you love it when you pull something out from the closet that you haven't worn in ages? It's almost like having something new again.

job well done

When I say I'll have something done by a certain date, I do it. All of it. Everything that's expected of me will be completed to the best of my ability. I don't question it - I just do it. Therefore I expect the same of others. Hmmmmm. There are guys in my backyard installing the glass in my pool fence. Finally. Three weeks after installing the posts, they've got the glass {after promising the glass in five to seven working days...}. Now, guess whether they've got all the glass, or whether a certain aspect, say, a gate, is not the correct size. Oh, you guessed that they've cut the gate too big? Hmmmm. Now, they reckon they'll be back tomorrow with a correctly cut gate. Do you think they'll be back tomorrow, in five to seven working days, or longer? Looks like I'll have to live with the yellow temporary fencing for a little longer.

rainy days and mondays

It's been raining for nearly a week now and I've been biting my tongue about it for a few days {you know, aside from saying "I can't complain about the rain" which really means, "Man, I'd love to complain about the rain"}. This morning there was an incy blue patch of sky which excited me enough to rip the sheets from my bed, but it's gone now, replaced with deep charcoal clouds pregnant with more rain. 

Now, I'm not complaining, but I'd really, really, really like to wash my sheets. My lovely new white egyptian cotton sheets, which, of course, can't go in the dryer. I think I'll have to tempt fate and wash them - I can always fling a line up down the hall - or across the living room. Sigh. Visions of summer sheets flapping in the breeze, casting delicate shadows across my increasingly verdant lawn {is there such a shade as Shocking Green? Cos I think my grass has invented it} are dissipating fast. 

note to SATC screenwriters

Apparently everyone's on board for a second Sex and the City film, which I'm a bit chuffed about. But here's what I think should happen... 

Sadly, Aiden's wife has tragically passed away {peacefully mind} leaving him to raise Pete and their children alone. And then one day, by happenstance, Carrie chances upon Aiden and they realise they were destined to be together. Carrie dumps Big {dramatically, leaving him in tears}, romances Aiden and then they live happily ever after. 

Seriously WHY did she ever let him go? Once was careless, but twice?? That's just criminal.

follow your bliss

Before serving up dessert today I made my hubby run and get the camera - cos, c'mon, surely this plate of yum is ready for its close-up...

And oh, it was just as delish third time around. Unfortunately there was a little leftover so we'll have to polish it off tonight. I'll soldier on though...

pretty in pink

Today was super-chilly, grey and rainy - so I had to nix the bbq lunch I'd planned. Instead, I cooked up Beef Bourginon, cubes of potatoes cooked in duck fat, baguettes - and caramelised radish. YUM.

I was watching French Food at Home yesterday when this bowl of deliciousness hit the screen and their pretty pink glazed glow dazzled me. Here's what you do:

Trim most of the green top, leaving around 1cm, and a little off the bottom root. Slice into quarters lengthwise and place in a frypan. Just cover with water, pop in the equivalent of two cubes of sugar and a tablespoon of butter and bring to the boil. Simmer for around 10 - 15 minutes, or until the sauce reduces to a pink caramelised glaze and the radishes take on a glossy pink hue. Serve to your gobsmacked guests...

happy valentines day xx

bella rosa

I need to find space in my garden for this little pretty next spring. It's a David Austin rose with the name Skylark - and hello, prettiness! It's sweetly scented, as all his roses are, with a lingering aroma of 'apple pie' - oh-so-sold...

The fleurs are reminiscent of my favourite Duchess de Brabant - just a deeper shade of pink. I do need me one of these, particularly as it grows to a teensy 3 foot high and 2 foot wide - surely there's space.

bbq christening

I'm trying out the new bbq tonight, before we have friends for lunch tomorrow - how exciting! I'm dead keen to try out the rotisserie, which I've never used before - but how hard can it be? I think I'll throw on a few chickens, stuffed with lemons and pancetta, and basted with butter, tarragon and white wine. I'll also do a layered potato dish with thin slices alternated with chicken stock and a crispy cheese crust. And a salad - of course. For a starter I think I'll do some caramelised ribs - we're all close friends, we can deal with that. And dessert is, of course, my chocolate sponge pudding stuffed with raspberry and dark chocolate studded icecream - it always brings on smiles.

The bar fridge is connected in the pavilion, so I'll pop in some champers, juice, beer and water. But it's a bit cold and rainy today, and probably tomorrow too, so no swimming for the kiddies. Typical, the first friends to see our backyard almost complete will see it in the rain... However, the lilly pillies in the planter boxes are adoring every drop of the rain though, and the grass in the courtyard is now almost fluorescent in its richness. So shan't complain.

Next week the garden should be complete and as soon as there's a day of sunshine I'll snap away and share some pics!

bella bella

I did a huge shop at Coles yesterday as all profits raised would be sent to aid bushfire victims. I bought plenty of stuff, and discovered my new favourite thing - sparkling, organic fruit juices. O.M.G.

I bought blood orange, pomegranite and pink grapefruit - but there was also lemon on offer.  

Last night we whipped the vodka from the freezer, poured a shot or two into a glass and topped it with fizzy blood orange juice. A wedge of lime on the side completed the picture. Wow. The perfect cocktail - and the juice was only 99 cents a bottle. They also make a pretty good mocktail as our gal discovered, her glass filled only with juice and decorated with a lime wedge too.

Yes, I'll be heading back to Coles today to buy a case! {I am obsessed with blood orange at the moment - and I think this would be the base for a pretty amazing sorbet}.

bright spark

There's an electrician in my backyard today setting up electricity for my bar fridge and, more importantly, chandelier, in the pavilion. Only one minor task left till the backyard's complete (glass in the pool fencing!)

We'll still have another weekend of painting to give the pavilion three coats of white gloss - and now we'll have to work out how to furnish the - but it's as near to finished as possible. However, the weather, with it's 16 degrees and raining, isn't the best way to show off a summer backyard at its best. But I don't believe I'll ever complain about the rain again. Now I just need to work out how to transport it down south.

Oh, speaking of furnishing the pool pavilion, you know the white daybed I showed you a few weeks ago? Apparently it's only suitable for real, proper indoor use (insert sad face here). They did send us an image of the outdoor daybed and, oh, it was seriously unattractive. Ugly actually if I'm to be frank. Weird driftwood-esque timber, oddly shaped... oh well, we can keep searching. For the moment we've got a wicker lounge setting in white that'll serve the purpose. I've never been a fan of instantly furnishing a room. I prefer to make do till something comes along that I'm completely smitten with. It'll happen.

pie eye

Hey, you know how delish the seven hour leg of lamb is? You know, the one studded with anchovies and garlic? Well I upped the yum factor tonight by baking it into a pie.

I finely diced an onion and a couple of huge cloves of garlic and sauteed them in olive oil till they were soft. The I diced the remaining leg of lamb into decent-sized chunks and threw that in on top of the onion. Because there wasn't enough lamb to fill a pie dish, I then chopped up 250g of bacon and browned it in there as well. After this I poured in half a cup of red wine (a spicy shiraz) and let it soak into the meat, before adding another 1/2 cup. After this I added about one and a half cups of chicken stock (I didn't have any beef - or lamb) and some dried, mixed herbs (no fresh rosemary in my garden at the moment). Adjusting to taste I then slooshed in a good splash of worstershire (sp?) sauce and salt and pepper. To thicken, I added a tablespoon of gravy powder and simmered for 15 minutes.

I then lined a pie dish with puff pastry and stabbed it all over before baking it at 200 degrees for five minutes. Of course, despite my stabbing, it rose dramatically, so I stabbed it again and pushed it down flat with a spoon. The filling went on top of this, and I placed more puff pastry roughly over the top. I brushed the top with beaten egg (plenty of it) and stabbed a few breathing holes in the top.

This went in the oven for around 15 minutes, till it was deliciously golden, and I served it with Paris Mash and peas cooked in chicken stock with a dob of butter.

Oh.

My.

God.

For winter dinner parties I'll be serving individual pies in ramekins - with pastry just on the top for ease. And, for the record, hubby and daughter both ate their peas (obviously everything's better with chicken stock and butter...)

feeling crafty

On my way to buy coffee beans at a far-flung suburb this morning, I wandered past an op-shop. Now, as you know, I believe it's a sin to actually walk past an op-shop, so in I sauntered. First thing I spied was a pale, dusky pink handbag that I coveted last winter, but when I went back to buy it, alas, they were sold out. Today, however, that little beauty was sitting on a shelf - for $4, rather than the $80-odd retail. Hello, did somebody say bargain?

It's a cute little thing, with a pretty pale pink leather flower on one side, but the little button in the middle of the rose has fallen off - which is why I guess the previous owner abandoned it so. However, I'm looking at this as an opportunity to get crafty. I'm going to Spotlight to buy some raspberry felt and I'm going to make a little button to place in the middle. But that's not all. I thought I'd make two more flowers, to take the floral layer count to four, which shall bring the whole look together. 

I'll take some before and after shots so you can marvel at my Martha-esque craft skills (or not, as may be the case...) C'mon, how hard can it be?

little lamb

Gwen sure knows how to design a fab pair of shoes. These L.A.M.B. pretties would be able to wash away any winter blues. With a pencil skirt and bright red lips a gal could sashay into any room with a smile.

cold comfort

Wow, in a week we've gone from 37 degree scorchers, to today's low of 17 degrees and raining. Can't complain about the rain as hopefully it's helping to put out some bushfires and is drenching some pretty dry gardens. It's also brought our carpenter back to finish the pavilion by nailing the slats around three edges - woo. And hoo!

Last night's lamb was utterly divine. Perfection. Best of all, I only used half of it - so do you know what that means? Lamb pie for dinner! I've never baked a savoury pie before, so I'll need to google a recipe. I'm thinking of a pastry base, a rich, red wine sauce and maybe a mashed potato topping - served with mushy peas (which I'll have to give a new name as husband and child both have an aversion to green peas - odd!)

comfort food

It's called that for a reason, which is why I'm slow cooking this Tuesday. A friend's status update on Facebook called me to slowly cook a leg of lamb, which I'm doing.

After studding deep cuts with chunks of fresh garlic and pieces of anchovy, I browed the leg in a pan. Then it's gone into the dutch oven with plenty of onions, more garlic, more anchovies, carrot and french lentils. A tin of diced tomatoes, some chicken stock, white wine, salt and pepper and a bouquet garni complete the combo. I should have simmered it, but didn't - I've just covered it with the lid and popped it in the oven on a low heat (120 degrees). It's going to slowly cook for at least five hours (should have started earlier for a seven hour cooking time, but oh well, we'll see) and then I'm serving it with potatoes and zucchini - possibly cooked together as a gratin, again, we'll see...

Hastily thrown together comfort food still serves a purpose, so long as it's got all the necessary ingredients and is still shown love. After all, sometimes a quick snog is just as good as a long, slow pash... 

thoughtful tuesday

I'm in a strange place at the moment. I'm around 1000 kilometres from my mum, step-dad and brother who live on 6.5 acres of bushland, right near the bushfires in Victoria. Houses have been lost at the end of their street (admittedly a very long street of about 7.5 kilometres, but still, that's too close). I'm trying to concentrate and work but am thinking about their safety, wishing that their "tree-change" were actually a "sea-change" so they could live somewhere safer, without the imminent threat to their lives and their home. I've been doing lots of calling to check their safety, and fielding calls from friends and family who've tried to get through, but found the phone lines busy. Normally an engaged signal is a minor annoyance, but when you know that catastrophic bushfires are nearby it sets the adrenaline pumping in the most horrid way.

At least they're safe. Close friends of theirs, the dearest, sweetest people you could ever meet, are waiting to hear the bad news about their daughter, her partner and other family members who lived in Kinglake - one of the worst affected areas. The death count's still rising and it could take weeks for positive identification. My heart and prayers are with them, and everyone who's experienced loss in these fires.

The worst part is that some fires were deliberately lit, while others were the result of a flaming cigarette being flung from a window. Obviously I have no concept of what goes on in the deranged mind of a pyromaniac - nor do I want to - but who throws a lit cigarette out a window any time, let alone in 46 degree heat? That's not ignorance, that's willful stupidity. They will be found, and they will be charged, but the lives, human and animal, the loss of homes and priceless memories, along with the nightmares so many will continue to experience, cannot be salved with a gaol-term. 

The only positive is lift it's giving the human spirit. Cash donations are pouring in, people are desperate to help, and the town's will be rebuilt with vigour. The Aussie battling spirit is at its best in times of crisis - let's hope it continues even when times are good.

luminaire

Our electrician is coming this week to hang and connect this chandelier in our pavilion. We found it a few years ago in an antique store, and basically designed the pitch of the pavilion roof around it. Here it is trying out life on the outside on our side veranda. I think it'll like looking over the pool - you?