Christmas Cheer!

Here is our little bit of Christmas Cheer,
for it has been a while since I was here,

The joy of the season has come and gone,
it did not last ~ all that long,

Long school holidays are now here,
Sunny Sydney it's skies are clear,

The sand and surf are now the way,
to spend a long, hot summers day.

So do drop by now and again
to have a look at where we've been!

So Sorry!

Hello dear friends,
stay tuned ..... I'm still here .... just a little preoccupied....sorry I will catch up soon

produce

    A while ago we planted a little plot of veggies on our back garden, we have snow peas, tomatoes, baby spinach, spring onions and baby capsicum (peppers) as well as a few pots of herbs, strawberries and jalapenos.  After lots of rain and lots of fertiliser ~ we are now eating these:

Unfortunately, not many have made it to the table ~ because the boys keep eating them from the vine!!!

Just loving the fresh produce ... can't wait for the cucumbers and the strawberries!

Happy Friday!!!

You Capture - Spring

As you may have guessed, it is spring down here in the southern hemisphere (finally!!!).  The assignment this week over at Beth's was for Autumn (or spring if that applied).

This week I tried to get a different perspective, so I was laying on my back under my rose bush, trying to get some sun-flare happening.  Unfortunately the sun would not cooperate!

This was the result!

I also took a photo of the whole bush, so that you could see just how many flowers it has at the moment.  It has gone crazy this spring (we've had a fair bit of rain in Sydney).  It is actually a standard (or topiary~that is a ball on top of a tall stem) but it has so many flowers ~ and is so heavy that it is touching the ground.

Head over to see more photography at Beth's:

Thanks for visiting, I love comments, so let me know you stopped by!

Chocolate Log

I thought I would share a little secret recipe that my sister gave me a while ago.  It is SO easy, and a real hit for dessert, so here goes!

You will need:

Large thickened cream

double choc chip cookies (preferably soft not crunchy)

Jam

1} Whip cream with a hand-mixer



2} smooth a layer of cream along your tray

3} Now the fun bit (the kids love it - it's messy). On one side of cookie spread whipped cream, on the other side spread jam. Then stand it up on layer of cream on tray.

4} Continue layering until all cookies are used, (save one or two to crumble over top for decoration) Then cover whole log with whipped cream. Crumble crushed cookies over top.

Now for the final step {This is the most important step}. 

 Cover log and refrigerate

OVER NIGHT.

Yes, it really does need to be overnight, because the cookies will soak up the moisture from the cream and jam, and what you will then have is a gooey, yummy dessert that is like cake on the inside. {Mmmm}

You can do two rows of cookies together if you like, and I like to cut mine diagonally to show the layers.  You won't believe how yummy this is!!!!

 It usually looks a bit nicer than this, but isn't that always the way?

Hope you enjoy this, don't forget ~ it's supposed to be a secret!

Have a great day.

You Capture ~ Orange

The subject for this weeks You Capture assignment is orange,

this little bit of orange was found in my little guy's

marble jar.

Next we had a little tea party

OK, possibly a little more red than orange? But fun.

I have a funny story to share about the word "Orange" ~ In our family we play a rhyming game {made up by the five year old},

someone says a word then everyone shouts out words that rhyme.

 (Loud and over the top of each other!!!)

So one day we were playing and my brother says to him "ok what rhymes with orange" {knowing that this is a non-rhyming word and thinking he had beaten him at his own game}. So, quick as a wink Mr 5 shouts back "porridge",

 the funny part being that he says it like orange "Porrange".

Very funny, and still gets a giggle at our place!

Head over to Beth's for more orange inspiration

Thanks for visiting, have a great day!



Virtual Coffee...{ thanks for coming! }

Welcome .... this is the first time I have met you for coffee, thanks for coming.

If we were really meeting for coffee today we probably would have to meet "out"

because my lovely~shift~working~hubby is sleeping.  So I might have asked

you to meet me at the new Cafe just near my place "the Chocolate room",

Mmm Mmm ~ they sell yummy handmade chocolates and the best coffee

(skim Latte for me please).

The Chocolate Room

I would have to tell you that my big boy is two nights into a five night camp and

although I didn't think I would miss him {too much} ~ I do!

In this time when we are used to instant communication,

 I feel a little lost because I can't call him and ask how he is,

are you ok? are you sleeping? are you homesick? .....

I do have to confess though,

 that I did send him a message on facebook {OOPS],

 in the hope that one of his friends did smuggle a phone to camp {contraband}.

 Although, the activities look like too much fun,

and I'm pretty sure he is not missing us at all!

 He is at his happiest outdoors.

I would tell you that the boys started Softball last week

 { although last season they played Baseball }

 and they have a little bit of adjusting to do,

 learning new rules and different methods.

Their first games were last Saturday, when we had unseasonal wind {for spring!}

 and it snowed two hours south of us ...

 it was freezing and the ball kept blowing off the tee for the tee-ballers!

I might tell you that I need to go home to do housework ... what a mess

and that I have a mountain of ironing waiting for me,

that will still be there tomorrow!
{there is NO magic fairy my friends!}

So it probably was a good idea for us to meet out this week.

So if we were really meeting for coffee today,

 my little guy is probably getting a little restless by now

and I will need to head off.

{via the grocery store ~ because we are out of stuff again!}

Thanks for meeting me today, I'll look forward to our next coffee.

p.s: Head over to Amy's to join in. xx

On the fridge

Does your fridge gather JUNK? Mine does!
Sometimes I fear that it will topple right over with all of the stuff that collects on the doors.  As you can see from the little sample here .... {this is only half of it! ~ truly} Mine has a serious clutter issue ~ which directly reflects how busy our week is.
School notes, awards, reminder messages scrawled onto the magnetic whiteboard, the calendar, little artworks {self-hung at 5 year old height}, the weeks dinner menu....... etc etc.
Sometimes the notes become three deep, and the poor magnets can't cope ~ which results in the whole pile sliding down the door every time the door is opened or flying across the room if a breeze blows through!  Some days I wish for a bare fridge, one without notes and reminders, without little grimy hand prints or thousands of magnets ~ but then I remember that time is fleeting and one day  I will miss the clutter.



Enjoy the moment!!!

You Capture ~ Animals

{..Henry..}

This week the You Capture challenge was Animals, which was great for me - because I have Henry.  He is our five year old Labrador X golden retriever. He is a pretty excitable boy, who loves the kids, water and table scraps.  When he was a puppy, Jack {who was 3} used to call him "my brother dog" and head-lock him {& usually plant a big kiss on his nose too!}.

He actually posed for this photo {only because Jack told him to stay & smile.. }.  He is a beautiful boy, and only a little bit naughty now that he is five!

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy some more animal shots over at Beth's .....



Owl softie

So, another lovely friend of mine recently gave birth to a beautiful baby ~ this time a boy.
He is of course GORGEOUS!

I decided to make him a little softie as a birth gift, so first stop was my local fabric shop where I could not walk past the fluffy chenille {what textile lover could!} ~I added some lovely green quilters fabrics and some delicious wool felt.

Next stop ~ google image search for inspiration ~ giraffes, monkeys, elephants ... but I could only get excited about the OWLS!!!. Hundreds of beautiful softies, tall ones, short ones, fat ones.....skinny ones.  Some with wings, some with feet, some with large eyes some with no eyes!

I took a little bit of inspiration from the hundreds that I looked at, decided on some elements that I liked - big eyes, little wings, no feet and then began to create a pattern.

I decided to use a little of this vintage ric~rac {that I inherited and has a price tag of 16c ....hehehe} . It's so lovely!

So then I pieced together the details to the front panel

And then joined the front to the back

Ta Da!!!!!

And here is his back

I love softies! 

Here is the link to the story of my sewing machine for those who have been loving it!

WORDLE

After my post last week for that lovely etsy find, I stumbled across this great place where you can create and print this cute word-art.  I had a little play with it and came up with this ... not quite as fabulous as the previous one, but I'm sure with a little experimenting and perhaps a nice recycled frame this could be just as effective! {p.s - the quality of the above image is poor, but I think that was because I enlarged it}. 

There are heaps of samples of other peoples ideas and creations to view, I saw one where the person had put a child's name in large font in the centre and then lots of cute words to describe him around it - great idea to decorate a child's room.  Anyway, head over and have a look, it's a little bit of fun!

Wordle

P.s. I had to go back and fiddle again and came up with this...ta da!

You Capture - Faces

I Haven't joined the You Capture for a few weeks, but when I saw that this weeks assignment was "faces", I had to join in. This is my Jack, he is my kind & gentle boy.  I think these photo's really reflect his personality - and he is relaxed in front of the camera {comes from years of torture from the snap-happy mother!} which helps!

The big brown eyes just kill me! {always have, always will...}

A little out of focus I know!!! But still SO cute.

Thanks for looking, head over to Beth's to see some more inspiring photography. I love your comments, please let me know that you came by!