Autumn's last gasp

There's a tree in our back garden that's putting on a wonderful display.
The flame coloured leaves from this crepe myrtle are hanging on and hanging on.














Not that I'm complaining.
It's makes for a colourful view from our dining room window, when winter has well and truly arrived elsewhere in the garden.

Our fairy doesn't seem to mind though.

Lovely Loot from Lou Lou

Eliza and I braved the pram jam at Mathilda's market this morning and made a bee line for Buttons by Lou Lou.
I follow Lou's blog and just love her gorgeous buttons.
I was determined to buy James some cuff links and I knew Lou would have a few sets at the market. They were all delightful so it was a hard decision.
But Eliza chose these.














They'll look great with a white shirt or anything a bit colourful (and James has a wardrobe of colourful shirts.) I know; I've bought most of them.

We made a couple of other purchases, which I'll post on line later and Lou threw in this little surprise.














Are you old enough to remember these Love Heart lollies?
Like everything these days they have a website, but technology aside, they took me straight back to my childhood. I can clearly remember buying these at the Robinson's mixed business in Maryborough in Queensland. I would have been about 10 years old - the same age as Eliza is now.

I immediately opened the packet.

The lollies are smaller this time around, but the messages are still there, just as I remembered .... and the taste. Exactly the same : )

Thanks Lou Lou.

Lovely to meet you.

We love our loot.

Worth bottling

Look at these beautiful olives James picked from a couple of trees in our garden.
We had about 10 olives in total last year, but this year the trees have flourished after we freed them from the pots and gave them their own space in the back garden.

Aren't the colours gorgeous? Like jewels I think.

James soaked them in a water - changing it every day for a week.
Then I came home tonight ... and voila.


















We've got five precious bottles.















James bottled them with fresh herbs and bay leaves from our garden plus garlic and celery.

The bottles are in the pantry now while the flavours infuse.

We'll serve them in a couple of months, slightly warm, drizzled with olive oil and served with some crusty bread and a glass of wine...

Definitely worth bottling.

James, too, I reckon!

Once apron a time (part 2)

The swing machine was whirring past midnight last night. I had a small window of opportunity to finish my apron for Jenny as part of the Apron Swap, organised by Sarah at Red Gingham.

Now .... I'm not really a sewer and I didn't have a pattern .... but I love aprons and wear one every time I'm in the kitchen, so I've got a pretty good idea of how they go together.
I took one of my favourite aprons and roughed out a pattern on some of the prettiest shabby chic fabric I could find. Jenny and I have been in touch and she's a shabby chic kinda lady (and quite a sewer by the looks of things!!)

I had enough fabric to make one for Eliza, too. In fact I made Eliza's first to see if I remembered how the sewing machine worked.

It took me quite a while to thread the needle (!) then wind the bobbin ..... then it was time for a cup of tea .... but when I started sewing they both came together very quickly (and without too much swearing).
All I need to do now is to give it a good iron and take some final pictures.

I'll pop my creation in the post next week .... after after it arrives in the UK I'll post some finished pics on the blog.

Hope you like it Jenny.
I think it's turned out beautifully.
Are you allowed to say that about your work??

Cooking Cousins on Mother's Day

I could hear rattling
I could smell cooking
I could hear the table being set
There was a a whole lot of giggling...
The girls were up to something

Eliza and her cousin Zoe decided to create a special breakfast for Mother's Day
ALL BY THEMSELVES!!
Talk about impressive.
They cut stars out of bread and toasted it

They whipped up scrambled eggs with fresh herbs, then freshly squeezed some orange juice.

The table was set with picnic plates, becaue 'they're more colourful for celebrating'.

.

There were lovely handmade gifts for my sister and I ...

A very special mother's day

Thank you girls xxxx

Once Apron A Time ...

I loved taking part in the pincushion swap and have signed up for another swap.
This time I'll be making an apron.
Sarah at Red Gingham has taken on the huge task of organising the swap. (Thanks Sarah!!)

It's an exercise in crafty logistics with names and addresses being swapped, emails flying across the world and swap partners dropping by blogs to introduce themselves.
My apron swap partner is Jenny who lives at Winnibriggs House in the UK. Jenny told me she's a fan of shabby chic and Cath Kidston.
As we say in Australia, no worries Jenny!
I hear you ... and what's not to love about gorgeous pastels and spring florals, spots and stripes .























I'm looking for some lovely fabric to create something special. My sewing skills are pretty basic ... but you can be sure I'll pour my heart into this project.
What fun.
And there's nothing like a deadline to get the creative juices flowing.
Drop by again to see my progress.