2015

Well another year is upon us and may it be a good one for everyone.  I hope your NYE celebrations were enjoyable.  We spent ours at home with family and friends, the special guest of course being Mum.  I made up some fruit punch, an old recipe of Mum's that is simple but refreshing.

NYE is a fine time to bring out pretty glasses and family heirlooms.  The silver serving tray in the photo below was my Grandmother's and Mum was very happy to see it being put to good use.  It certainly saved red wine stains from going on the white tablecloth.

 We enjoyed a selection of lovely cheeses and dips with crackers, nuts and other delicious nibbles during the evening.  A few sweet things were enjoyed too, some lemon coconut balls I made, some delicious chocolates and a wonderful platter of fruit.  One or two glasses of champagne were enjoyed by those who wanted something sparkling.

 New Years day was a quiet and slow one here.  There might have been a few of us napping during the day, enjoying yummy leftovers from the night before and some reading of books.  A lovely way to bring in the new year.

Mum returned to Western Australia today accompanied by my sister who will be spending about 10 days with her.  As you know from an earlier post, Mum recently lost her 18 year old cat Humphrey which was heartbreaking as he was a lovey boy and such good company.  I am very happy and excited to hear that before Mum travelled home to the farm today, she adopted a little three year old cat which she has named Cara.  Apparently Cara is settling in well and doing normal cat things like smooching the furniture to leave her scent, jumping up onto the sink, a no no, attempting to scratch the furniture and learning that the scratching post was designed for that purpose.  I'm so very happy for Mum that she has a new little companion and my sister can be there to help out during the settling in period.

Summer weather is arriving in dribs and drabs in Melbourne.  We've had some hot days followed by cool ones and some lovely rain too.  Our tomatoes are looking good, fruiting well and I'm anxiously waiting for the fruit to ripen.  I've started to harvest some of the climbing beans, the dwarf beans have been prolific.  The flower garden is not so plentiful as it was in spring but there is still some lovely colour and summer flowering plants about to burst into bloom.

Grosse lisse.

Cherry tomatoes.

 I've been thinking thinking about the goals I would like to achieve this year rather than making any New Years resolutions.  I have a painting sitting up in the studio, the portrait of a lady that needs completing.  I haven't even started looking at my photos from our 2012 Europe trip with a view to using some of them as painting subject material although a couple of photos in particular come to mind as I'm typing, especially from the Roaches area in Staffordshire where Louise of the blog Ramblings of a Roachling lives.  If you want to see stunning photos of a very beautiful part of the world, go check out her blog, you won't be disappointed.  I'd like to grow more vegetables, get some  chooks again, make lemon marmalade from the lemons on our trees, finish crocheting a cardigan and a blanket I started last year and get myself fit again.  I did lose 4 kilos late last year by reducing my calories just a little bit, reducing my portions a little and with lots of physical activity in the garden.  It was a was a big achievement for me and one I'd like to continue with to lose a few more kilos.  It's most encouraging when you can fit into your clothes comfortably again and rediscover long lost favourites to wear.

Looking forward to catching up on all your posts now things are getting back to normal after the silly season.  Take care everyone.

Anne  xx

Catch up

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and New Year and from the posts I've had time to look at it seems that you did.

It has been very busy here since I left Western Australia with Mum so she could visit with us here in Melbourne.  The time has gone very quickly and tomorrow she flies home to Western Australia with my sister.  We've loved having her stay with us and the time spent with our family before Christmas was quiet which I think was very much needed after the trip over which seemed to take forever after our flight was delayed by three hours.  It had us arriving in Melbourne at 2.20am which was just little bit late for my liking.  Anyway we recovered and had a very enjoyable Christmas.  

Genevieve took control of the table decoration and I think she did a fabulous job.

Here is Charlotte well and truly getting into the spirit of things.

Boxing Day was spent with hubby's family in Ballarat where we met for a picnic lunch.  Yet more yummy food was consumed and we had a fantastic time relaxing and catching up with family we don't see very often.  It is hard being so far away from family so we certainly enjoy the times when we get together.

We spent New Years Eve at my sisters house and had the most wonderful time.  The weather was perfect and we ate outside.  Mum had a fabulous time enjoying being with family and enjoying the spirit of seeing the New Year in.  We were wondering if some of us would make it though as we were all a bit sleepy.

I've been catching up with Mum while she's been at my sister's house and we went out to lunch at a cafe in lovely garden nursery on Friday.  I came home with two spectacular plants, one I've never seen before and another I've always wanted to buy but never seen available anywhere.  So it was a good day.

I'm very excited to say the studio is finished on the inside and now all my bits and pieces are in their place.  I bought a nice long table, another storage unit and a task light from Ikea which have been assembled and set up.  I also bought an office chair from Officeworks which will not remain black for much longer.  I have much to do in completing this space and making it look how I want it, but the basics are there and it is a truly wonderful space to work in.  My thanks to my wonderful hubby who has made this dream possible and come true.  Here are a few photos of how it's looking at the moment.

We still need stairs to be made to get into the studio but we have something temporary in place until hubby has the time to make them.  The guttering also needs to be done but it too can wait.  My hard working hubby needs a good rest before he tackles those two things.

Hubby made me a key ring for the studio key, a little Christmas gift.  I love it.

I received a beautiful calendar from Louise from Ramblings of a Roachling blog.  We exchange calendars each year which I think is so lovely.  I adore the Christmas paper the calendar was wrapped in the card is just so beautiful.  Thank you Louise, the calendar is gorgeous and is hanging up where I can see it when I'm in the kitchen.

Now that the studio is completed the room that use to house all my craft gear as been removed and made into our guest room.  I was remaking the bed the other day and had to leave the room to attend to something else.  When I came back there was a very suspicious lump under the top sheet.  My suspicions turned out to be correct.

It was Bungee.  This poor baby had to have his teeth cleaned with the possibility of one tooth to be removed at the vet last week.  When I went to pick him up he had had five teeth removed.  I felt ever so sorry for him.  His teeth were in worse condition than what we originally thought.  The good news is he is back to his old self and eating well.

Just one more photo for you.  I planted this pale pink pelargonium only a few months ago from a cutting.  It is flowering profusely and looks so pretty sitting in amongst the blossoms of the pendorea just above.

It's good to be back in blogland and hopefully there won't be such a gap in time between this post and the next.

Anne  xx

Very rustic multi-sized fruit mince pies

I finally made them, the fruit mince pies that is.  They've turned out very higgledy piggledy (I like to think of them as rustic), a bit like the state of my mind at present.  Nevertheless they've been baked, are in the container and being slowly devoured.

I'd like to wish everyone a wonderful, happy and safe Christmas and New Year.  Enjoy your time with family and friends, eat, drink and be merry.  See you soon.

Anne  xx

Reflections and Happy New Year

Goodbye 2010, hello 2011.  Before we roll over to 2011, here are a few reflections according to Stripey one of our cats.

  Make time to enjoy the sunshine, it might be raining tomorrow.

  A good bath can solve a lot of problems.

 Hard work has its rewards.

Families are everything.

If you are going to take a break, make sure you have a good magazine near by to read while you sip your cup of tea/coffee.

When it all gets a bit much, go to bed and contemplate the wall.  This too shall pass.

 

Get out in the fresh air and smell those roses.

Never underestimate the power of touch.

Here's looking forward to whatever 2011 brings.

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone.

Anne  xx