cheezburgers anyone?

I reckon I've had about 20 or so cats in my lifetime, but none have had such a love of lying prone, fluffy tummy exposed, as Mr Mulberry Toulouse. It gets me every time, despite his naughtiness and total disdain for my existence.

See, cats love me. I go for a walk, cats come sprinting into their front garden, knowing I'm a sucker for a good patting session. Every cat I've ever owned has adored me - except this little blue number. Mulberry's a daddy's boy, and if he can't have Matt, he'll take our daughter. Me? I'm just the staff - I feed him, water him and change his kitty litter. Maybe that's it - a disdain for those "downstairs". When we bought him his registered name was Lord Rajah... Typical upper class...

Actually, I think he's warming to me - two years on. He probably realises that as I work from home I'm his best option for daytime affection. The other day he actually plonked himself down next to me and allowed me to scratch his head for around five minutes. Yep, I'm blessed.

oh baby baby

This was my lunch - blackened baby barramundi on a salad of leaves, tomatoes and bread - with a lime mayo. Oh baby. It was divine! My hubby had a fabbo pasta with prawns and baby calamari, which was utterly perfect. Even served on plastic plates it was mouthfillingly beautiful.

blue hues

How pretty is the sky today! I had to take this shot of two of my gorgeous red roses against the perfectly azure hue. Seriously, my roses at the moment are just kicking serious butt - gorgeousness! We're having a pretty spesh sunday. After breakfast we walked down to a friend's house and then meandered down to the Wine and Waves festival at the beach. There we had a few glasses of wine {rosé, verdello and semillion were the tipples of choice between us} and then a plate of delish food from a stall set up by our fave restaurant. Then home for a swim, a few chapters of a new book, coffee, and now it's nearly time for another swim. Maybe we'll get some gardening done - or maybe I'll just content myself with having a blissful day of rest.

self-sufficiency

I believe in teaching children cooking skills from an early age. For a start, it shows them the whole store to table process that food goes through, they develop an understanding of the basics, and they're more likely to eat what they've prepared themselves. 

My nine-year-old and her friend are on the back veranda eating scrambled eggs that were totally completed, go to whoa, by the girls {Annabella took great delight in showing Hollie all the steps}. They're smooth, creamy and delicious and would give Bill Grainger a run for his money {Annabella follows Bill's method, but doesn't need to use a cookbook anymore.}.

I keep reading about a generation of people growing up without the most basic of domestic skills, of being unable to identify the most ordinary vegetables {when there are kids who can't identify a potato you've got a problem}. That's so sad. There's nothing more satisfying than choosing a delicious, nutritious meal, shopping for the best ingredients, preparing it and serving it up. I adore the challenge of coming up with new ways to 'eat a rainbow' so we get all the nutrients we need.

Tonight our nephew's coming to dinner so I'm making my new love - rib eye steaks - on the bbq and serving it with fresh beetroot relish and a rainbow 'coleslaw'. I've got red cabbage, spanish onions, carrots, zucchini and walnuts for the salad - and I'll dress it with a red wine vinegar and chilli dressing. Yum.

job lot

We've been spending most weekends just pottering away at the odd job. Last weekend I went through my piles of mags and got rid of two categories {apparently so our cat Mulberry could have somewhere new to rest his head!}. This weekend we're heading outdoors to de-weed the construction debris down the side of the house. We'll slash it all down just in time for the green waste collection next week. Then it's time to work out what to do down there. I'm hankering for some soil to plant some herbs and veg - and maybe even espalier a lemon and lime tree along the fence... In time.

all white now

Is there any such thing as too much white? We're tossing up what to do with the decking in the pavillion by the pool. Paint it white, leave it to weather to grey {and introducing a new entrant in the mix} paint it grey...

Oh, and I need that sofa/daybed, although I have a sneaking suspicion it's a v pricey Lloyd Loom kinda number. Can I find something similar, pile it with cushions and still feel the love?

just wow

As an avid booklover, my dream is to have bookshelves everywhere an eye can alight. So, ahem, how cute is this reading nook? I found it on Black Eiffel today and am beyond smitten. Am really in a decorating mood {but should probably do a little cleaning and tidying first...}

dare to dream

I think I could live like this...

write way

I may only be a few days into my whole menu-planning scenario - but I'm liking it. Earlier this week I devised a week's worth of meals, wrote them in a word document and allocated a day of the week to them depending on degree of difficulty and time requirements {busy days meant an early start with the slow-cooker - or a quick 15 minute kebab and salad dish}.

Under this I wrote out a shopping list for each meal and then went to the supermarket to buy all the essentials that'd keep for a few days {most veg, tins of beans, tomato passata...} and I'm buying any remaining fruit and veg fresh every few days. Well, it's worked, I haven't hit Coles for a few days which means I'm not spending up big. We've had really yummy meals - remind me to post last night's chorizo pasta bake - omg. And I feel organised and in control. The best part is not having to do ask myself that endless "What shall we have for dinner tonight?" question - cos you already know it.

Tonight's dinner's easy - sausage sandwiches at the school's family disco. What a way to start a weekend. Oh, and Saturday, as we're off to our fave nursery to look at plants and a couple of stores to look for a daybed for the pavillion, I'm making chilli con carne in the slow cooker. I haven't had this childhood fave for yonks, so am really looking forward to a steaming dish served with brown rice. Heavenly... Sunday night we've got our nephew coming for dinner. He's a big, body building bloke so he's easy - a big rib eye steak on the bbq with a big salad will serve him well. Oh, and plenty of beer - he's a boy that's not big on sweets.

Oooh, I do love a friday. Off to walk down the road to watch my gal singing in the choir. Cuteness!

stew hoo

Last night's stew was delicious. Here it is, freshly served, with steam rising from the most tender and moist meat to ever grace a plate. Here's how I made it in the slow cooker:

Beef and guinness stew

1kg of chuck steak, cut into mouth-sized chunks, fat removed

1 onion, finely diced

1 stick celery, finely diced

1 carrot, diced

275ml guinness or dark ale

275ml of beef stock

2 bay leaves

2 tbs of tomato paste

a good sprinkling of dried, mixed herbs.

Throw everything into the slow cooker, give it a stir then place a sheet of baking paper over the top, tucking in the edges. Cook it on low for 7 hours, then remove the lid, take off the paper, turn the heat to high and stir. Add cornflour {I added about 4 tsp mixed with water to a runny paste} and stir well. Throw in some salt and pepper. Leave on high for around 30 minutes, or until thickened. Serve with mashed potato, and, if you remember, some freshly chopped parsley. Bask in adoration of husband who thinks it's the most tasty stew you've cooked. Have leftovers on toast for lunch the next day and feel like Nigella's smarter sister!

beady eyed

Rushing to get out the door on the school run, I had to stop to untangle a set of bead that had been entwined through one of the many that hang on my hall stand. "Why do you always have to wear beads?" my daughter asked, and it made me think. I believe that beads are the punctuation point to my outfit. I no longer have my ears pierced, only wear a rose gold wedding band, and bracelets tend to get in the way of typing and other daily activities. But beads can dress up an outfit no end.

I don't have any expensive beads, I think the most pricey were a couple that my mother bought me for my last birthday, and maybe my nanna's old crystal beads. However, in the old cost-per-wear category, some of my beads are now paying me. I'm wearing a long strand today that's varying shades of green 'glass'. Each bead is a different size, and shade, and looped around my neck twice is the ideal option with any oufit. Today I'm wearing a sky blue tank from French Connection {originally, but bought at the Salvos...) and a white skirt with a blue and green floral print - the beads bring it all home.

On the mum's night out last friday I wore a simple black dress, but jazzed it up Chanel-style with a long strand of faux pearls and layers of black beads. Tres magnifique.

I can go out without lippy {but probably not lip balm}, don't fret if I've forgotten my mascara {that's what tinting eyelashes is for!} but if I leave without beads - well, I feel half naked. What's your outfit punctuation point?

home scents

Yesterday I discussed annoying ads, and ads that always irk me are ones for spray home fresheners. Erk. I reckon that if your home is clean, and preferably cleaned with scrummy essential oils, then it should smell fresh - particularly if you open some windows to let more freshness in. Don't get me wrong, I have my room sprays - lavender in the bathroom, peony on my desk, vanilla in the living room, rose in the bedroom... but these are all gorgeous scents and I don't use them to cover another smell, I just use them to add a punctuation of pretty after I've finished cleaning.

At the moment my home has the best scent of all - my beef and guinness stew bubbling in the slow-cooker. Can you imagine the bliss when we come home after netball training to be welcomed with such a homely aroma? Personally I love a cooking smell, which is lucky because as it's over 100 years old my home tends to retain aromas - and I love reminding of that delicious lamb roast, or the caramelised onions for a frittata, or even the coffee the espresso machine pumps out at regular intervals. 

Oh, and at the moment I have so many lush roses blooming after their summer prune that even one house away their aroma starts to blossom and by the time you walk through my front gate you're enveloped in their heady perfume. Bliss.

life lessons

As I mentioned yesterday, we're in frugal mode. Yep, lock down those purses, put away the credit card and scrimp and save every penny. Luckily for us it's out of want, not need. Having finally renovated the backyard after seven years of living with a useless eyesore the red side of our bank balance is exceeding the black. So we're tightening the budgetary belts to help pay it off.

The best part of it is, that it's a really good opportunity to teach our daughter some financial skills. She's only nine, so the lessons are small, and never preachy, but I think you can never learn financial nous too early. When I was young I always learned to save for what I bought, and with the exception of our house, and renovation, I've stuck with it. If we don't have the money, we put off the purchase - unless it's an emergency like a hot water service {two years ago} which is when we dive into the emergency reserve.

So, about my child... At the moment we're reading Milly Molly Mandy, the most delightful girls stories on the planet. Milly Molly Mandy lives with her mother, father, uncle, aunty, grandma and grandpa in a white thatched cottage, and in last night's bedtime story, finally got a bedroom of her own in the loft. They painted the walls pale primrose, died some old curtains and her coverlet green, grandpa came home with an old dresser {again, which they painted green} and aunty and uncle donated their old mirror. Milly Molly Mandy was delighted! Now, none of this stuff was new or purpose made, it was all adapted, or they made do. In Annabella's room she has a wardrobe, painted white, that's been in my husband's family for decades. Her dresser is an old 60s chest of drawers, painted white with new glass handles and her desk, used to be her aunts when she was a lass. Her sheets and doonas are new, but she knows that these things are all perfectly serviceable - we just needed to tweak them to suit her.

When it comes to shopping she helps me spot the items on sale and we'll often refrain from buying something as it's too expensive, or we can't afford it. Kids need to know that instant gratification isn't sustainable, or even desirable. When I went to Uni I wanted to buy a second hand computer so I borrowed $1000 from my grandfather and paid him back, with interest, in twelve months. Sure, he could have waived that interest, but he was teaching me a lesson - if you borrow money it always costs you more.  

oh my guinness

It's a stew night tonight, and one day late, we're having beef and guinness stew. It's a long, busy day today, so I'm going to bring out the slow cooker - and adapt my recipe to suit. According to my Margaret Fulton Crockpot Cookbook virtually anything can be cooked in a crockpot - you just need to adjust the liquid levels as it won't evaporate while cooking. So my recipe calls for 1 cup of guinness and 2 cups of beef stock... Margaret reckons that one cup is enough liquid... Hmmmm. Do I go half a cup of guinness and half of beef stock? What do I do with the leftover guinness? Freeze it perhaps? Or, do I double my recipe so there's more meat and then freeze the leftovers? That'd be the sensible idea wouldn't it? Oh, and thrifty too!

steady on, soldier

Normally people pay next to naught attention to ads. My husband's one. He'll look like he's staring intently at the TV, and when I comment on the ad he'll say, "Oh, I wasn't watching". Which is an impressive act - I'd love to be able to zone out, especially for the annoying ones, but, wait, where was I? Oh yes, the one ad that so many people seem to have taken to heart is the one about Soldiering on when you're ill. Remember that? All these grim-faced, grey-toned people marching off to work with the flu because they'd taken some fancy-smancy pill. Good for them. Why stay at home recuperating when you can be off spreading your germs around others. Yay for infectiousness.

I have a point. Last night I played netball, and on the opposing team was a distinctly ashen-faced goal shooter. She kept stopping to bend over and take deep breaths, and at one stage the game stopped while she swapped positions with the Wing Attack {not strictly legal I reckon, but anyways...}. Then, a mere few minutes before the whistle blew for the end of the game, she raced off court, pulling off her pinny and dashing off upstairs - presumably for the loo.

At the end of the game, she came back on court to good-naturedly shake hands with the opposing team {that'd be us}. I asked her if she was okay, and she said "Oh, yeah, I've just been throwing up all day..." And yes, she said this after shaking my hand. Hello, germapolooza. Now I'm one for team spirit and not letting down the side etc, but, um, I'm also one for not spreading around any vomity viruses - I'm fussy that way. So now, today, I keep feeling distinctly queasy, and wonder if it's just my suggestible-hypochondria {yes, that's an actual syndrome} or if I've actually caught something.

Damned soldiers, should've stayed in the trenches...

green with envy

It's St Patrick's Day today, so cook up a beef and guinness stew and create a gorgeous green eye like this in honour of the day. Green eyeshadow is the perfect foil for those of us with brown eyes - and can look startling on those with baby blues. Use your brush to paint along the upper lash line and extend to just above your upper eyelid, then sweep a line under your eye. Lashings of black mascara complete the look - and for a real dash of evening flash, use a black liquid eyeliner to slick a catseye from the inner to outer edge. For a change of mood, wet your brush and slick on your eyeshadow for a look similar to this...

money matters

We're back on the frugal track in our household. Which means reigning in the budget and sticking to it. Probably the scariest part of working on a budget is actually tracking how much money you spend... on nothing. For me, my big killer is the supermarket. I tend to shop sporadically, without a plan, and walk out spending a small fortune every time - yet still have no food in the fridge. So now, I'm back to the plan. Which means:

1. Make a plan, Stan: planning a week's meals {and sticking to it!}

2. Supermarket saver: only shopping weekly at the supermarket for the essentials and buying fresh fruit, veg and meats from my local stores every second day.

3. Walk this way: cutting back on car trips - the less I drive, the more I save on petrol and the fitter I get through walking. Bonuses all round.

4. Make do: We're so used to instant gratification, thinking we have to have something - NOW. But really, most of the time you can make-do with what you have. So before I make up the shopping list I'll look through the fridge, freezer and pantry and see what I've already got there. I know I've got all the ingredients for a tuna risotto just hanging around, so that should be on the menu plan right now.

5. Spend a little to save a lot: I use a lot of fresh herbs in my cooking, and am forever buying bunches and only using half. So this weekend I'm going to get a big pot {while I'm waiting to create my real herb and vegie patch} and plant a few essential herbs: italian parsley, sage, mint, rosemary, thyme...

6. Get creative: Autumn's here, and the days are getting cooler. I'll sort through our wardrobes and think of how we can mix and match to make the most of what we've got. I've already stocked up on a few essentials for my daughter at Target's 20 per cent off sale, hopefully we'll make do for a while with that.

7. Frugal cooking: slow cooking is cheap cooking. Even though retailers have caught onto the slow cooking boom and raised the prices of many cheap meats {wow, have you seen the price of lamb shanks lately? They used to give them away for dog bones a few years back} you can still get cheap cuts at a bargain price. I'm going to hunt down the specials and cook them up with some vegies and a good slosh of cleanskin red wine - and my fresh herbs...

8. Elbow grease: one of the easiest ways to save is to put some muscle behind your cooking. So it's broom over vacuum, damp cloth for dusting and using a squeegie in the shower. No chemicals, no electricity, no fumes - just a clean, satisfying home.

expert advice

I love the work I do. As a journalist, I get to interview experts in the field and get their tips to help make my readers lives {and then, my own} just that little bit better.

In the years I've worked, I've been lucky to find a few experts who are just so good at what they do and enthusiastically like to share the love around. Paul Timms, the CEO of the Australian Institute of Personal Training is one. This man obviously has a love for knowledge, soaks it all up, then is happy to chat away with me about it. He's given me some great fitness, health and lifestyle tips over the years - all in an accessible, enthusiastic manner. 

While we were chatting the other day he reminded me that it takes 21 repetitions to make or break a habit. So if you start on a new fitness plan, by the time you've done whatever you're doing 21 times, you've created a new habit - and busted that old one. Most people think it's 21 days, but if you think about it, most of us only tend to exercise a few days a week, so three weeks in, we've probably only hit the 9 repetitions mark - not even halfway to making a habit.

Maintaining a positive mindset and learning to love what you do is one of the best ways to form new habits. If you sigh and groan when you lace up your trainers, chances are you're not going to get a lot out of a session. But if you get ready with enthusiasm, looking forward to this little chunk of 'me time' there's a good chance the time will fly by. That's why it's also important to keep hunting around to find something you love - particularly in the fitness arena. We all know how good strength exercises are for us {they help maintain muscle mass, increase your resting metabolism and replace fat stores with lean muscle, to name just a couple} but if you don't like lugging weights, you're not going to do it - no matter how good it is for you. 

Personally I like to snatch the odd couple of minutes throughout the day to do a few squats, or push-ups against a bench - and I love doing these exercises in the pool after a few laps. Or when I'm out walking, I'll stop at a bench and do a few tricep dips. However, my weights? They're usually spending quality time as door stops... I have netball tonight which is a life-long love. No matter if we lose or win I know it's doing my body and soul good every time I hit that court with a great group of gals.

Today's positive task is to tidy my desk for 10 minutes before I start work. The nailpolishes, beads, paid bills and skype headphones have no place on my desk during a working day. When the surface is all cleared off, I'll wipe my desk down with some hot water, with a couple of drops of lime essential oil added to it for an invigorating way to start the day. Happy monday!

lazy sundays

Sundays have to be the laziest day of the week - surely it's in the constitution... After a great night with friends last night, today's going to be lazy with a capital L. And an exclamation point. Probably underlined as well. Yep, that lazy.

A bowl of coffee is in order, while reading the papers poolside of course. Then maybe a swim while the weather's still blessing us with warmth. I do believe that the markets are also calling my name, I need some homemade pickles created with love.

Maybe some gentle gardening in the afternoon? I should treat the roses with some manure as they're flowering so beautifully at the moment. I'll dig out a couple of weeds that are also invading their personal space {I know, rude!}. Enjoy your weekend.

in the raw

I'm making beef carpaccio. I know, it seems like I'm blogging, but nope, I'm preparing a culinary masterpiece. See, in the freezer, along with ice cubes, vodka and frozen bananas, is a fillet of beef. Apparently I need to freeze it for one hour to help slice it to extraordinarily slender levels. Then I'll arrange it on a platter - dress with a mixture of olive oil, baby capers and semi dried tomatoes {with salt and pepper and a dash of tabasco} and leave it for an hour to marinate. I think I'm going to put some lemon zest on it as well, cos, you know, that's what I like to do. A salad of baby rocket will sit on the top and this will form our appetizer this evening.

After that I'm planning an encore of last week's main - as I couldn't find any decent veal today - probably because I left my shopping till the last second. But rib eye steak, cooked to perfection and served with a homemade bernaise sauce isn't to be sniffed at. Must say that I'm also looking forward to a crisp, green salad. The mother's night last night was bucketloads of fun, but my body's not too happy with the deep fried platter of food I consumed along with the champagne. Eeek. Last night I did realise that my friends are too much fun - and too hilarious. I feel so extraordinarily lucky to have managed to accumulate some pretty spesh people over the years. You've got to be thankful for every minute you share with someone who enriches your life, non?