happy monday

Hi, how's your week looking? Mine's looking mighty fine. I've already sent off one of the articles due today, and now just have to polish off the other one and send it.

Tonight's the Christmas picnic at school where we get to watch our gal and all her friends sing Christmas carols {so sweet}.

Husband's at home slapping a final coat of paint on the floor of the pavilion {looks FANTASTIC}. I've decided to do a wee spot of on-line Christmas shopping to tidy off a few loose ends when I have a few minutes to kill. On Wednesday I'm driving down to Sydney to have a Christmas catch-up lunch with my old workmates - I've missed those gals and it'll be a hoot to meet up again.

Our lunch with friends yesterday was just blissful. The ideal recharge you need at times like this. I'm pretty sure now that all I need is that rug in this picture here - hello gorgeous!

Enjoy your week!

let's do lunch

Well it's a gorgeous summer day today and we're off to share lunch with some lovely friends. Chances are the children will be swimming, and the adults may sip some champagne...

So I'm off to poach some nectarines in rose syrup to make a raspberry and nectarine trifle. I'm forming individual servings in my retro crystal cocktail glasses. For the children we have tropical callipo iceblocks. I'll pop them in a glass and tie it with some gold ribbon to up the festive quotent!

We're in need of some downtime. Poor husband was painting the floorboards in the pavilion for 12 hours yesterday - finished at 10.30 {with a few boards still to go!} But wow, they're looking damned amazing.

Enjoy your sunday x

weekend whimsy

I feel quite certain that just 15 minutes of gentle back-and-forth on this pretty swing would ensure that all is well with the world. Isn't it a divine image? From Country Style - of course...

hey mr santa claus

If there's any space in my Christmas stocking I'd quite like this...

friday, ooooh fabulous!

We started our weekend really, really early this week with a fabulous dinner with friends last night. Champagne, cheese, radishes, baguettes, french butter, duck, crispy-fluffy roasted potatoes, spectacular salads, wine and all finished off with a delish fresh fruit salad made for the perfect evening. It got a bit chilly, so at 8pm the gals donned wetsuits and swam in the pool - having a blast. Sure, not the most sensible option - but it is the silly season.

Our wee lass slept in till nearly 8.30 this morning (after going to bed over an hour past her bedtime - whoopsies) but as school's winding down at the moment I don't think she missed much by being 30 minutes late.

Busy weekend our way. I've got quite a few deadlines, today, monday and next friday so I'll be working away. Husband-of-the-year shall be painting - the doors on the pool equipment room that my step-dad built - and hopefully the wicker furniture in the pavilion. On Sunday we're off to another set of dear friends for lunch. I'm taking sweets - so shall be devising something seasonal - and may well serve them in cocktail glasses {you know, cos it's christmas and all}.

Oooooh, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

grand inspiration

Now that I'm rather busy, I'm limiting myself to one hour's television per evening - and that show's Grand Designs screening every night on Lifestyle {hurrah}. On Tuesday night we saw an inspirational couple rebuild this manor house in Central France - and boy, were they amazing. Nothing fazed them, they just got in and did it. And now - well, look at it - it's beautiful.

What I found most inspirational was how quickly this guy moved. He always did everything with great purpose, never sighed and dragged his feet while heading to a task.

So that's what I'm planning on doing. To get through all I have to do I'm going to dive into everything with enthusiasm and with speed {but not haste!}.

Oh, and guess how much I want to stay in this house next time we go to France? Heaps.

If you're interested, check out their site here ps: the room with the big antique copper bath? That'll be mine...

mmmmm pretty

I love bows at any time, but at Christmastime? Hold me back... Now, if these little numbers from Valentino don't present you as the perfect present - what will?

I'm seriously swooning over these numbers and hoping that my love-smitten state will get me over the hump and allow me to finish all the piles of work calling, nay, screeching my name {harridans}.

I did at least work through half my pile of Christmas cards last night and plan on giving myself a 15 minute break at some stage today to do a few more...

Enjoy your thursday...

love is...

Here's one very happy lass with her new dolly. Not a Kate Finn as previously suggested, but an Aussie-made Alimrose Designs Caitlin doll. Pretty and cuddly and sure to be much-loved.

what a wonder

I've got a lot to get done this week, so I shall be channelling Wonder Woman I think. Lists are made, coffee is consumed, plans are in action - all I need to do is buckle down and get on with it.

I'm taking my mum and step-dad to the airport this afternoon. I'll miss their company a lot, but boy, will I miss what they've done for us. Alan paved the area all around the side of the house, extended the back veranda, made gates for the pool equipment room, fixed the leaky toilet and performed dozens of other teeny jobs.

Mum spent time with my gal, taking her to and from school, and has cleaned my house like it hasn't been cleaned for quite some time. She's done washing, made beds, washed up, packed away the diswasher... Hopefully, if we don't breathe too hard it'll stay clean until Christmas...

Last night we had an early Christmas and birthday and our gal got her pressies from her grandparents. She was utterly delighted with them all, but the one that brought the most bliss was a gorgeous cloth doll. She smiled, hugged her to death and said "I've wanted one of these for years!" I'm so glad that at almost 10 she's still a girl that loves make-believe and to play with her toys. Luckily she has friends that are the same - with parents who also believe in children having a childhood. They grow up so quickly it's nice to let them enjoy being a kid for as long as possible.

we wish you...

Some things on my Christmas to-do list are looking good {shopping} others, not-so-hot {Christmas card - yep, I've written out one and addressed one more. 25 to go...}

But I'm refusing to allow stress to raise its ugly head in my direction. I'm going to do what I can, and what I can't will just have to wait.

Tonight's my last night with my mum and step-dad :( They fly out tomorrow night. So, to celebrate, tonight we'll have a lovely summer bbq dinner on our newly extended back veranda - built with loads of sweat and tears by my step-dad and assisted by hubby.

It's been a lovely visit and a rather pleasant start to the festive season.

anniversaire de mariage

It's our wedding anniversary today. Eight years married to a lovely, lovely man.

Lucky me!

vegie delights

I didn't end up following the recipe for corn and capsicum burritos yesterday - I made up my own. And, yum, it was good. So I don't forget, here's the recipe-ish:

4 cobs of corn, kernals removed

1/2 large spanish onion, finely diced

one red capsicum, roasted and skin removed, and then diced

1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves and stems

jalepenos, to taste

2 tablespoons fresh tomato sauce (or pasta sauce)

1 lime, juice and zest

salt and pepper

Stand the corn cobs on their end and use a sharp knife to take all the kernals off as close to the core as possible. Then toss them in a bowl and combine them with all the other ingredients.

Then, use them to fill a burrito, placing a bit of grated cheese down the centre, and some strips of proscuitto or jamon for non-vegies who need their meat. Roll up and toast in a sandwich press till golden and then serve with guacamole, sour cream and sweet chilli sauce.

Now, I'm not a corn fan, but fresh, raw corn kernals are not only tasty - they're soft enough to chew. Delish. My mum's also not keen on corn, but she loved the taste too. Husband and step-dad {corn lovers} were in raptures.

Go on, try it sometime...

vegging out

Having spent 20 years as a vegetarian you think I'd have a huge stockpile of vegies recipes ready to whip out when my vegetarian mother and step-dad were up. Wrong. I've forgotten almost everything I ever made.

So tonight I'm thinking of making these corn and capsicum burritos I found over at taste.com.au

Hubby's a keen corn lover so this'll make him happy - and I'll make up guacamole versions for my gal - which should make her happy. Served with a glass of rosé? Nice.

numbers game

Okay, deep breaths... only 14 more posts till I reach 1000 posts. I know!!! Monu-freakin'-mental.

The pressure's on.

It'll be a doozy.

Eeek.

Enjoy your weekend.

snackariffic

I just finished nibbling on wasabi peas. Are they the ultimate snack? Crunchy, tasty - and sinus-clearing. Perfect.

What's your favourite nibble?

cruisin'

We've had our car for nearly five years now {no, not an e-type jag, a holden astra...} and I've never really found much of a use for cruise control. On the freeway from Newcastle to Sydney I tend to find that people slow down and cut in front of me so much that cruising at a certain speed just isn't viable.

However, I've found the best use for it - in School Zones. Sticking to the 40km limit in a school zone is never easy. I find that I keep glancing down at the speedo to check I'm not speeding - which negates the purpose of the limit as I probably won't see any children darting out before me.

Now what I do is slow to 40km before the school zone and pop the car in cruise control. It keeps me at an even speed and I can keep my eyes peeled for any children {or parents who jaywalk!} instead of on the speedo!

fabulously friday

T'is Friday, and the weekend's stretching out ahead. Ahhhhh. We're already into the hectic social whirl. My dad and step-mother left after their week's visit on Wednesday morning, and now we're settling into my mum and step-father's visit.

Hubby's had the day off to be apprentice to my step-father as they extend our rear veranda a little to the side to give us a wee bit more space for the bbq and tables. I imagine that's a weekend job!

Mum and I are off to see the film about Valentino at some stage on the weekend and on monday it's our 8th wedding anniversary - shall have to do something to celebrate that non?

Meanwhile enjoy this gorgeous shot of Miss Dita in Dior. Guess how much I want that outfit {especially the shoes!} for our Christmas social engagements?

pasta primavera

We had a rather delish pasta dish last night - all fresh and filled with the season's produce. Firstly, I took some mini roma tomatoes and squooshed them into a bowl - popping and breaking them with my fingers so the juice ran out and they were broken into smaller pieces. I sprinkled this with salt, pepper and dried mint then sliced up some amazing garlic shallots I bought - long green snake-bean like critters with a bitey garlic scent and flavour. Mmmm. On top of this I tore up some amazing cheese - mini buffalo Mozzarella - heavenly mini-morsels of yummyness.

Then I sauteed some yellow zucchini slices and asparagus, left them to cool then tossed all of this through some mini farfalle pasta and lavished plenty of grated grana pandano over the top. Served with olive sourdough and a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc it was a rather scrumptuous mid-week meal.

christmas decorations

If ever there's an excuse for some major frocking up it's Christmas. In my imagination I've been invited to a very swooshy ball - hence the Oscar de la Renta frock and the Roberto Cavalli shoes featured above. Nice, non?

Actually, we've yet to plan anything for Christmas - aside from lots of family stuff when our British relos arrive in Aus.

We've had our gal's ballet concert - glorious as always. We really lucked out stumbling on the best ballet school in town - Miss Heidi puts on a show like no other, without the many hundreds of dollars costume fees that other school's charge. It was a beautiful start to the season. Yesterday our daughter's school had a Christmas concert with each class performing an Aussie Christmas song - and wow, it was fantastic. Every single child threw themselves into their performance and there were many a tear of joy, laughter and emotion around the audience. Bless them all.

This weekend will be big. The tree will go up, Santa photos will be taken and we'll start on our first weekend of Christmas light viewing. I love visiting all the suburbs that are hotspots for Christmas lights. The dedication these people show just makes me all terribly teary.

But now I'm throwing myself into work. My mum and step-dad are here at the moment, so mum's going to do some housework that I haven't been able to do with my crippled back and my step-dad's working on some jobs outside the house. Woo hoo - I love me some getting-stuff-done-action {particularly when it's done by someone else...}

plastic surgery's bad, okay

Guess who this is?

No, it's okay, I'll wait...

Still haven't got it?

Look again.

He's an actor.

A British actor.

Used to be devastatingly handsome.

And looked nothing like this.

Give in?

You sure?

Okay, I'll spill...

It's Rupert Everett.

I kid you not.