Marshmallows by the fire

Eliza and I visited my sister and her girls tonight ... so we could all spend the evening with Mum and Dad. They fly home to Queensland tomorrow.

We're sad to say goodbye.

We had a lovely meal together, and kept the fire going long enough to toast marshmallows after dinner.

You don't get to do that in sunny Qld.

At the heart of it

It was a special day at the house today.
We put the little handmade heart in place.
The whole family gave it a kiss for good luck ...
(even Ben got in on the act ... his heart and soul has gone into the house, so it was only fitting.)

Then Eliza placed the heart into in the column in the kitchen .

And Ben sealed it up.

We'll never see that little heart again but we'll know it's there ...

at the heart of our home.

A woolly scarf for a wintery day

The elements aligned for a perfect winter's day.

Cold, wet, windy (check)
Soup for lunch (check)
Footy on the radio (check)

And a couple hours to myself at home to sit and finish my scarf.

I saw an idea at the Stitches and Craft show and thought I'd give it a go - with some modifications because I'm new to crochet and a very basic knitter.

So I kinda worked it out in my head and then knitted long skinny pieces .... and crocheted long skinny pieces (don't you love this technical talk!)

Then I laced them together ... leaving some of the tails free, at either end.

And the result is a warm woolly scarf which I wrapped around my neck and stepped out to enjoy the wintery afternoon.

Do you like it?

Fabulous news

I just got some fabulous news ...
News I've been waiting nearly 9 years to hear ...

I'm just a little bit excited.

I'm trying to keep a lid on it.
Really.

Seriously ...
I don't want to get ahead of myself.

But my heart is beating a little faster ....

Status Update

Sitting in the lounge room
Watching the Grand Final of Australia's Got Talent
Ignoring James' sarcastic comments about the 'talent'
Folding washing
Hanging more washing out
Wishing the heating was working
Waiting for our house to be finished
Trying to maintain a positive attitude
Reading Gourmet Traveller
Listening to Radio National
Loving Eliza's made up dance routine
Eating spag bog
Crocheting a scarf
Booking a haircut
Recovering from some more treatment on my neck
Filing a police report on my accident
Obtaining a medial certifical from my Dr
Considering buying a new pillow
Planning to take Friday off
Needing to be do my personal tax (still)
Hoping for a some stimulus from Kevin
Dreaming about a holiday
Cleaning out the fridge
Asking James why he keeps putting bits of food into little containers
Throwing them out after a week
Knowing that I'll do it all over again next week
Kissing Eliza goodnight
Reassuring her about going to the tuckshop on her own
Wondering what outfit I can put together for 'green jellybaby day'
Shaking my head at the stuff we parents have to do!
Thanking the Lord for Spotlight !

Cake and Coffee

And we finished the day with cake - baked in house ...

And suberb coffee.

If you're on the northside, drop into Errol's for the pefect cup.

Ohhh and I've just noticed the red heart in the reflection of the latte glass.

Perfect ...

After Church

After Church we celebrated with family and friends at my sister and brother in law's cafe
in North Melbourne.
We all ate way too much.
A happy, happy day.

Before Church

We gathered outside the Church in Autumn sunshine.

It was a beautiful day to christen Georgia, my beautiful niece and god daughter.

There are no pics from inside the Church.

I had important Godmother duties!

I held Georgia for the whole ceremony, stripping her clothes for the baptism, then getting her dressed again in her gorgeous silk christening robe.

Then we were ready to celebrate.

Little Red Shoes

Da daaahhhhh..

The little red slippers are finished,

just in time for the Christening in a few hours!

They're so sweet for sweet Georgia.

Felting along

Can't stop!
I'm madly making a tiny pair of felt slippers for Georgia's christening on Sunday.

I had the usual dramas ...

OMG ... not enough felt
OMG ... I cut the wrong piece out
Memo to self - read the pattern more carefully!

Deep breaths.
In, out ....
In and out
I-n and o-u-t

All OK
A little bit of manoeuvring (thank goodness felt is very forgiving).
I've managed to cut all the pieces from the felt I had, which saves a trip in the morning to the fabric shop ( which I didn't have time to do anyway) ...

Back to work.

Next time I post, fingers crossed there'll be a perfect pair of red slippers for a gorgeous little girl.

The Great Easter Egg Hunt

When my sister and I were little girls, the Easter Bunny delivered eggs into our straw school hats at the end of our beds.

It was always exciting!

We didn't really know about Easter egg hunts. They happened in story books or the movies. They weren't something our family or neighbours ever did.

Now I have a family of my own we've embraced the Easter egg hunt enthusiastically.

Hiding the eggs is so much fun - then the kids (cousins of all ages) are let loose in the garden.

For big boys, the challenge is to find the most eggs in the smallest amount of time.

For the little girls, there are shrieks of delight when they discover eggs like shining jewels hidden in low branches, amongst the flowers and all the places fairies would know.

Easter Cake

We popped down to the Mornington Peninsula on Saturday afternoon to stay with family at Somers.
My oven envy was too much to bear.
I whipped up a vanilla cake for Easter.
Yum.

Birthday Love - part 2

My birthday continued at our new house.

...Bubbles

...Family

...A celebratory brunch.

...And more scrummy pressies.

Perfect.

Birthday Love - part 1

What a lovely day.

My birthday began by unwrapping this beautiful gift from James.

I love the cinnamon stick through the chiffon ribbon ...

and look at the paper ... providing a hint of what lay beneath.

So what was inside this gorgeous wrapping?

Two fabulous books carefully selected from Books for Cooks.

And i love love love this heart James drew on the card.

xxx

This is me right now:

Right now I'm
Eating a skinny cow ice cream (it's very hard to type with one hand)
Watching TV with only half an interest - Geelong v Collingwood
Hoping Collingwood wins (does that make me a bad person?)
Sipping hot tea (in between ice cream licks)
Planning a little birthday brunch with my family tomorrow
Wondering if I really look 46 !!!! I don't feel it
Making a list of what I need for brunch
Looking forward to seeing Eliza tomorrow when she gets home from the Gold Coast
Wishing I had an oven that worked so I could warm up some hot cross buns in the morning
Wishing I had an oven that worked so I could bake some hot cross buns in the morning
Reading the Age, now I've sorted out the lapsed subscription
Flicking through Gourmet Traveller
Changing the sheets on the Eliza's bed, so it's all fresh for her when she gets home
Washing, washing, washing
Thinking about doing some knitting
Enjoying Nathan Buckley's commentary. He's a talent - if you don't like Collingwood
Needing to do my personal tax (still)
Praying Gordon Ramsey goes away quietly
Loving that it's the weekend
Totally loving that it's the Easter long weekend
Promising to eat only the best chocolate

Shaping Elegance

I saw the Robert Fritzlaff exhibition today at Como House, in South Yarra.

This Melbourne fashion designer made it from Malvern, all the way to the left bank and brought haute couture to Melbourne in the 50s.

The exhibition called Shaping Elegance is a retrospective of some of his extraordinary gowns, displayed sympathetically in the beautiful rooms of Como House. And what a collection has been assembled. The style, simplicity and elegance of the gowns is breathtaking.

And the fabric. Never fussy with embellishment ... but designed to highlight the texture, weave, colour and cut of the material.

From classic cocktail frocks, stylish suits and glamorous evening gowns - the garments are classically beautiful.

The exhibition runs until 14 June.

Go see it.

Seriously!

Easter Surprise

I popped a little Easter surprise in the mail today.

It's heading over to Curlypops.
I hope she likes it.

Easter Decorating

I've got a bunch of sticks in my office which I decorate depending on the seasons and celebrations.

This week it's Easter.

The eggs are obvious decorations ... and I love the birds and butterflies as well.

Eliza and I made these, to welcome Spring ... and I dragged then out for Easter too.

And when I came back to my office this afternoon ... the Easter Bunny had left quite a few suprises!

No more wet shoes

I love this picture.

It's been raining in Melbourne the last few days which is wonderful. But we're not used to puddles !

This is not a complaint, we absolutely need the rain .... but it's wrecking my shoes!

I need a couple of pairs of these shoes.

Do they come in long black boots as well??

Check out more crazy inventions here.

Sexy

I spy with my little eye ...
James doing the ironing.
Very sexy

Take time to ...

These gorgeous images are from the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, one of my favourite events on the calendar.

I'm a tiny bit biased though. I worked on the event for more than a decade and know it inside out.

We popped in today (slightly hung over, I have to admit - see previous post) but the heady fragrance of fresh flowers, the vibrant colours and the inspiring gardens cleared my head.