Scavenger Hunt - January 2015

It's my goal in 2015 to join in again with the photo scavenger hunt.  With thanks to Greenthumb at Made with love for putting the scavenger hunt together.

1.  Something new

Making a new recipe, Monte Carlos

2.  Landscape

The farm where I grew up, central wheat belt Western Australia.

3.  Words

South Australia

4.  Cold

Cold winters day June 2014.

5.  Bottle

Wine consumed on New Years Eve 2014.

6.  Up high

Crested pigeon, on the farm Western Australia.

7.  In the fridge

Home grown tomatoes.

8.  Texture

Bark of eucalypt tree, Western Australia.

9.  Hidden

Bee lavae hidden underneath the yellow capping.

10.  Blue

Blue, blue sky on the farm, Western Australia.  The birds nest on the left is made from fencing wire.  Can't have been too comfortable to raise a family.

11. Big

My nephew Ben who is 6' 3" so he is tall rather than big.  Washing dishes at Mum's, Western Australia.

12.  Whatever you want.

Genevieve who has just bought her first car.  Doesn't she look pleased?!!

Looking forward to February's list.

Anne xx

Dressing up

Last night Genevieve went to a Great Gatsby themed 21st birthday party.  She pulled her outfit together using mostly what she had on hand with a few shop charity shop purchases.  The little dress I found in Target in Merredin, Western Australia (of all places) for $15, a bargain.  You just never know what you'll find, a purchase made the last time I was visiting Mum.   I saw it hanging there and I knew it would be perfect for Genevieve although at the time I had no idea she was going to a 1920's era party.   So here is the young lady all dressed up.  I love how she styled her hair, worked out a head band from a necklace and wrist jewellery from another necklace.

 

A 21st birthday celebration

Our baby Genevieve turned 21 yesterday and I'm struggling to comprehend where the time has gone.  We had dinner with family and close friends at an Indian restaurant and then came back home for the birthday cake.  The day before her birthday, the power was out all day so the cake was made at 9pm Friday evening.  Unfortunately the power went out again yesterday afternoon and didn't come back on until about 10.30pm.  So it was celebration by candle light and not as many photos were taken as I would have liked.  Fortunately I had taken some earlier in the day just after I had decorated the cake which is a white chocolate citrus mud cake.  It's the first mud cake I've made and was topped with a ganache of white chocolate, sour cream and lemon and lime rind.  Here are some photos of the celebration.

 

We are most fortunate to have two beautiful daughters who have turned into beautiful young women.

Anne  xx

Another studio update

Today hubby and I have worked hard on the inside of the studio. Hubby has been installing lining in places where the electrics are so the electrician can finish of the electrical work this week and I have been measuring, cutting and installing insulation. It's a messy, itchy business but it's all finished now.   Here are a few photos from the progress made today.

Some strange white dots in the photo.  Must have been something on the lens, sorry.

I might be able to start putting undercoat on the wall lining tomorrow.  Fingers crossed.

 

The Charlotte and Genevieve made dinner for us tonight, tacos never tasted so good. Thanks girls for cooking on Dad's cooking night.

Anne xx

Another birthday and the lovely bits of winter

Our littlest one turned 20 yesterday and I can't begin to reconcile where the time has gone since she came into this world.  Genevieve wanted a birthday meal at home so I made Indian food, lovely butter chicken, sweet potato and chickpea curry with rice.  This year was a bit different to previous years because my littlest now has a boyfriend, a very nice young man who enjoyed my food too.  :)  I made an orange cake for the birthday cake, a new recipe which unfortunately had a few problems holding together it was so lovely and moist.  It tasted good so that's all that matters, we're not too fussy in our house.

The dodgy cake.

20 candles, almost enough to start a fire.

 Every birthday, Fathers and Mothers Day and Christmas morning it is our tradition to have croissants and coffee, tea or hot chocolate, whatever is your preferred hot beverage mid morning.  Yesterday Genevieve had an exam at 9.30am which meant an early start for us both as I drove her to the complex where the exam was being sat.  So we had our croissants and hot drinks this morning.  I think this is a hot chocolate fit for the birthday girl.

 

So birthdays for our lovely girls are over for another year.  Winter however is not over with another two months to get through.  This morning it wasn't raining and we even had a little sunshine, the perfect opportunity to get out in the garden to do some weeding and pruning (me), raking leaves (hubby).  It was cold but I rugged up and spent a delightful couple of hours enjoying the fresh air and getting out into nature.

  I've always been one to struggle with winter although it doesn't seem quite so bad this year.  Perhaps by the end of August I'll be well and truly fed up.  That being said, I always find it so encouraging when I see the Hellebore's in bud and

 the Daphne about to flower.  I love bringing little sprigs of this divinely smelling shrub into the house.

I hope you are spending the weekend doing what you love.

Anne  xx

:: 52 weeks of happy 14/52 ::

I've had many happy moments this week, here are four of them.

1.  The happiest moments this week were hearing that my Dad was able to leave hospital for some visits to the farm for a few hours at a time and also go out for a coffee at a local town cafe.  Thanks to my sister who is currently visiting Dad and Mum in Western Australia.

2.  Giving Genevieve a driving lesson, just a small way to help her become independent.

Photo taken on my phone.  I've entered the 21st century.

3.  Going on a picnic with my nephew and niece to Birdlands Reserve.  (A more informative post about our picnic and Birdsland Reserve to follow.)

4.  Discovering the first issue of this lovely magazine, filled with things that I love.

Wishing you many happy moments this week.  

Anne  xx

Special project reveal

I'm one of those people who is addicted loves browsing on Pinterest.  Some time ago Genevieve was looking over my shoulder and saw the image below and fell in love with it.  I fell in love with it just a little bit too.

Image dottieangel.blogspot.com

Genevieve has her room decorated with French elements, lots of white and old worldy type things. After viewing a few more of these gorgeous images below, I started to hatch a plan which has been brewing for a couple of months.

Image from Pinterest

Image from Pinterest

Image from Pinterest

Today I finished my version of a lace patchwork curtain for Genevieve's room.  I used calico for the header (already on hand), off cuts of sheer fabrics, (op shop), lace hankerchiefs to fine to be of any practical use (inherited from mother-in-law and grandparents), cotton and lace doilies (op shop), lace fabric from a tri-pillow slip, deconstructed (op shop), assorted blouses made from sheer fabric, cheesecloth and lace, deconstructed (op shop) and old lace (inherited from grandparent).  Total cost of supplies about $25.00 including the curtain rail, curtain ends, calico fabric from my stash and cotton sewing thread.

 

I encountered a number of problems when making the curtain.  The most difficult was dealing with the different weights of fabric and lace used.  It made for rather uneven sewing and of course I'm lazy and cut most of the fabrics free hand so of course they weren't particularly straight.  The beauty in my opinion with a project like this is it doesn't have to be perfect. In fact a little shabbiness adds to the character.  I hope.  :)  Anyway overall I'm very happy with how it turned out and the most important thing is Genevieve loves it.  She came home from uni this afternoon, went to her room and came out with a big smile and her face and said thank you.  That is reward enough for me and the satisfaction that I have actually finished a project in about a week and a half instead of it turning into an eternal W.I.P. or U.F.O.

Thank you for taking an interest and trying to guess what I was making.  Cherrie from the blog Willy Wagtail was closest to guessing what I was making and where my inspiration came from.  Go Cherrie!! 

I have another project for Genevieve's room in mind which I might start next week.  I'm on a roll.

Anne  xx

:: 52 weeks of happy, 5/52 ::

Here are four of many happy moments this past week.

 1.  Watching bees gather pollen on the Echinops bannaticus.

2.  My lucky finds, crochet blankets.

3.  Making a new recipe, Persian Love Cake.  Eating it, even better.

 4.  Cuddles with 19 year old daughter and Stripey who decided to join us.

Wishing you many happy moments this week.

Anne  xx