Swathes of muslin

Happy New Blogging Year xxx

2011-01-08T18:06:00.003+10:00

Hi, after a prolonged abscence I am resurrecting my posts - I will be documenting the comings and goings of our little place in Australia...it's sooo good to be back!! xxxxx

We are redecorating with neutrals and a slavering of awesome white - determined to cook some delights from my cookbook collection (well mainly to justify having them...all...) and getting down and fierce in the garden (read: taming the wild cottage monster and producing produce to use in the above recipe justification excercise)

Oh, and Sarah over at A Beach Cottage is having a 'little' comp - you can win a white Kitchen Aide - Ohhh what a delight cooking my home grown produce from recipes out of my collection in a white delight! Heaven! Go on over and leave a comment and marvel at the wonderful decorating style that Sarah has.

Birds of a feather

2009-07-30T17:35:00.006+10:00

I was just over at Retro Mummy's and saw my favourite magazine is also Corrie's fave too! I just can't wait for it to hit my newsagent :: and even though the seasons don't quite line up with ours, the inspirations don't lose any of their magic. I only wish that the climate I live in would sustain some more English flora :: I have to spray my roses for black spot as it's quite humid where we live and I'd loooove to plant lilac, peonies and a broad leaved boston ivy...but I still try to create a little of that English charm in our garden.

Thermal Glee

2009-07-25T20:06:00.008+10:00

There has been some knitting happening in these parts - just a sprinkling through the school hols activity schedule. The Thermis (picci below from Ravelry :: Kris Knits) is almost done :: I'm procrastinating over the buttons - would love some earthy black ones :: if only I could find some!

Then there is the very utalitarian school vest I'm making for my youngest to wear to school to keep her chest warm under her school jacket (good grief I sound like my grandmother!!) I so wanted to knit a cabled vest to take the shine off the utalitarian a little, yet seems cables are only designed for the under 4 and over 24 set and although I'd love to have the skills to sketch, design and work out a pattern for such a beauty :: sadly these skills evade me ::maybe one day?

If you are in Aus did you get addicted toMasterchef (great show)? I stayed up after the finale to watch a preview for a TV show that will be aired here later this year, it's called Glee and wow was it good! Go to youtube here and if you missed it - the trailer kinda fills you in. I thought maybe it was just me - you know when no one else seems to share your enthusiasm- yet judging by the comments left on youtube I'm not alone on this one. Lots of, well, glee happening in the show - kinda High School Musical meets School of Rock.

I have today ordered none less than 6 organic seed catalogues to peruse in another step to make the sustainable sort of...veggie garden a reality - now here's something I can sketch, design and make.

La Vie En Rose!

2009-07-14T07:46:00.009+10:00

My poor little blog...how neglected you've been...so much happening in my world outside this cyberspace...I've missed your sweet company and have come to visit to make amends.

I have still been perusing the delightful blogs that I love - popping in for a quick chat and then back to reality...sigh. Kris over at Townmouse provided the 'kindling' to get my blog fire burning again - she has purchased some beautiful stitchery books from Amazon France and see, you can have a peek at the dragonfly she has stitched over here - I mentioned to her that there is an equally divine publication that I picked up in my local bookstore called Made in France and I've got to say that this book is a gem if you love quaint and quirky crossstitch and embroidery.

I was amazed to find this book loitering (as I tend to do) in our local bookstore. Patience is definitely not one of my virtues, and waiting for books to come from Amazon can give me a twitch. It's kinda nice to be able to support this local establishment as well - even though the book has winged its way from the USA anyways...but we wont think about that will we??

I have another project fermenting in the background....we have always had a little veggie patch on the go, yet nothing serious that could sustain us for any length of time and I'm really interested in heirloom, organic veggies too. There is a myriad of info on the net and I've been searching and reading into the wee hours dreaming of a garden of manageable proportions that would meet some if not most of our herbaceous needs. I've given my husband a bit of a shock too when I asked him how much a second hand rotary hoe would set us back....see I'm not on the best of terms with power tools and lawn edgers and the lawnmower only speaks to me when it has to...so to propose the purchase of the said rotary hoe (I'm qualified - I can vaguely remember learning how to use on in ag classes at high school - and that was quite a while ago) set him back a bit, but he seems quite comfortable with the vision of another petrol powered beast to tether in the burgeoning shed of his.

this plus this equals easy digging!!

No...we won't be getting this baby!

Little cotton cutie

2009-04-24T12:31:00.005+10:00

I made this sweet little cosy from a pattern designed by Julie of Little Cotton Rabbits that you can purchase here.

Julie's patterns are very detailed and easy to follow - I have another 3 to make in order to keep some peace around this place!

Seems that I'm the 'easily lead' type of person....I saw Kellie's version of this little fella a few weeks ago and fell head over heels in love (read: gotta have one of these obsession type moments) and when she posted this link I hotfooted over to the tutorial and whipped her up in no time - seems I'm a bit behind the times with this obsession as a Flickr or Google search unearths lots and lots of sockmonkey love out there!

We have an Easter baby in our house - well she turned 12 this year - where on earth does the time fly to?? As strawberries and cream are some her favourite things I made her a sponge layer cake lashed with billows of creamy goodness balanced by the freshness of the strawberries. I don't know if you can make it out, but there is a icing sugar stenciled "C" in the middle of the cake adorned with cachos jewels for a little bit of bling.

Tomorrow is ANZAC day in Australia - a day where we take time to say 'thanks' and to remember all the brave soldiers that have fought for our country. I made some ANZAC biscuits ready for the day - legend has it that the simple ingredients used to make these crispy treats lasted well during the sea journey over to the troops in the First World War and thus this is what the ladies at home made (along with knitted socks, beanies and blankets) for their beloved men fighting many miles away. It's sort of like the love that we all cook with - and who sews or quilts or knits or crochets without syphoning a lotta love into that yarn, recipe - seems that cooking and crafting has been a way to show love for a lot of time.

Here is the recipe if you want to try some nostalgic goodness:

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup dessicated coconut

125g butter

1 tablespoon golden syrup

2 tablespoons boiling water

1 teaspoon bicarb soda

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C and lightly grease 2 baking trays.

Combine the flour in a bowl with the sugar, rolled oats and coconut.

Melt the butter in a saucepan with the golden syrup over medium heat.

Combine the boiling water with the bi carb and stir to dissolve.

Add to the butter mixture and mix well, then stir into the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined.

Drop teaspoons of the mixture onto the trays, allowing room for spreading.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Allow to cool on the tray for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

A furry project

2009-04-22T07:28:00.002+10:00

This is Sam, a furry bundle of joy who came to join our family for Christmas. He is such a delight, the kids adore him and he has added a dimension to our lives that is just magic. This is his little lion mate that I posted off to his birth place so the smells of his brothers and sisters could come all the way to our place with him. He loves his friend, yet I'm too scared to wash it case the smells waft down the drain with the suds.

He has settled in really well and we all love him very much!

A place to dream...

2009-04-21T21:21:00.008+10:00

Speaking of dreams...courtesy of my letterbox again...the Everyday Living catalogue was just brimming with divineness, the most enticing being the above bedroom setting. I love the powder blue accents, the blanket box, the quilt(s?), the window seat - it just ticks all of my boxes. Funny that you don't often see many single fabric quilts - yet the effect with a beautiful fabric is quite lovely. Would equate to a 'quickish' project - yet I can't even fit in a speedy number with the gaggle of UFOs that are sapping my creative energy hanging out in increasing numbers at our house. I need a strategy, a plan of sorts to devise some sort of methodic process that will quell my quest for a new project to daydream about...and if I can end up with a clean, organised house in the process then life will be almost complete!!

Dreams are made of these...

2009-04-20T07:48:00.008+10:00

Ooooooh!
Mmmmmmmm....

Why is it that I turn to writing in my Blog when the weather starts to cool all around us? I think it's the slowing of the season, time to stoke the fire, clack the needles and cuddle up with someone (or thing) that you love. Why is it that I start dreaming of summer gardens with roses, hollyhocks, foxgloves and hydrangeas? Could be the chorus of mail order catalogues that have found their way to our letterbox, beckoning, teasing even with their glossy pics of flounces and frills that could adorn our place next summer...hmmmm.

Parting is such sweet sorrow!

2008-08-16T16:02:00.002+10:00

So I baked a cake as an offering to say 'sorry' xxxxx

Well the degree is now a distant memory and I'm now a working gal! YAY! I have managed to pick up quite a bit of casual work in high schools in our area - thus the prolonged absence!

Life is starting to sort itself into some kind of rhythm - accented with the ebbs and flows that come with a lively family of six. I did manage to make a dear little angel for the school raffle, yet wouldn't you know it the camera deleted the pics all by itself - I swear! Couldn't believe it! I'm driven to make another for show and tell on this Blog, but for now it's just chocolate cake, with blueberries of course...and buttermilk (my fave ingredient lately)...if you bop on over to:

http://www.taste.com.au

you'll find a treasure trove of recipes - all for free!! I've cooked heaps (on the weekend in a frenzy now that I'm out and about during the daylight hours) you can save the recipes you like in your own recipe book - put aside a couple of hours for this adventure!

xxx

Mini ballerina

2008-06-17T13:19:00.003+10:00

This little poppet is off to the school raffle along with the candy striped bag from the post before. She's a mini moopy made from this pattern available over at Moopy and Me. She's a prima donna ballerina you know, fresh from some barr work, she's resting until she makes the journey into some little girl's bedroom where she'll start tutoring all the other lithe toys in the virtues of pointe.
Just a little power nap calmes the muscles and adds a little Zen to one's life she tells me.
This little roll will not be heading off to the raffle - it was a birthday present from a dear friend of mine and is stitched so beautifully - something to treasure always. She sent me a Shepherd's Bush cross stitch to do as well - now that the dastardly degree is complete I'll drag it out and report on any progress that just may happen sometime soon.

Baking

2008-06-16T10:58:00.003+10:00

Well the weather here is definately dictating the events in our kitchen this week - cold and blustery winds, rain and mornings that can't quite shake the blankets of fog that envelope the start of the day...time to hang in the kitchen, warming the house with the aromas of freshly baked goodness. Like this Berry and Buttermilk cake from Apples for Jam, I couldn't think of anything more comforting for my babes to enjoy after a day at school in this winter weather.

Don't you just love the greenness of these apples? What a boost of sunshine they are - trouble is I just love having their colour in the house and want to leave them a little while longer as a ponder on what I'll create with them - apple crumble? Apple pie? Baked apples...with brown sugar and butter and lashings of cream...decisions, decisions... And to complete the berry and apple theme that seems to have taken over this post I've started to knit some little bags for a raffle at school - really simple, mindless, watching a movie inside 'cause its really cold out, type of knitting. The said movie is The Brave One starring Jodie Foster - it was such a good movie I recommend it to accompany any mindless knitting you may have.
xxx

Apples for Jam

2008-06-12T12:29:00.002+10:00

Apples for Jam, originally uploaded by swathes of muslin.

Just the most inspirational and useful recipe book ever!!
I turn to this book daily for ideas and it never fails to please. Tessa's writing style is welcoming and warm, kinda like talking to an old friend.

I wish Tessa had a Blog - I'd love to catch up with her and her world.

Nearly there

2008-06-04T19:07:00.005+10:00

Oh my I'm a heartbeat away from finishing my degree and it's a really really weird feeling! It is making me happy to write down these words, yet everyone keeps asking me how excited I must be....and I'm not...weird?

I haven't even had the time to post here - my world is turning around this last assignment, which I can show you a piccy of, see above. It's an ottoman made out of entirely recycled items - I'll reveal how I did it later - back to finish the mammoth folio that needs to be handed in with it.

xxxx

Autumn tones

2008-05-12T11:00:00.000+10:00

It would be easy to feel a little sad that summer has left us here for a while, what with the days becoming shorter, the winds blowing a tad stronger and that feeling looming in the air that tells you winter is just around the corner.
Yet a general inspection reveals a reason to celebrate this Autumn season and to be thankful for all that she offers. Pansies ready to burst into colour.

The pot of cacti don't mind a bit of cooler weather...
and Maude the keeper of the fescue grass pot is asking for a sensible cardigan to wear pretty soon...
the summer annuals are putting up a brave last stand...
and the geraniums have great work ethics no matter what the weather throws their way...
and see here? Good old mother nature is making a promise to send Spring in good time when these tiny ranunculus bulbs will ring out a chorus of colour.

We have tulips over here too Jane, in autumn, that is in the form of a glorious African Tulip tree that all the birds lodge in at this time of year.
They have use of all the facilities including antique bathing ponds.
The ground cover camellias are winter stalwarts and are just starting to stretch and awaken, showing off their snowy white attire.
This liquid amber tree is a pure delight. It has taught our children soooo much about the seasons. Here she is donning her golden throw that she so generously shares with the plants below, just in case they can't stand up to the cold like she can.
The frangipanni's party is over, all that is left is a late guest, pondering the world from her sculptural form.

And the times they are a changin' in the vege patch too - the summer parade of lettuce, tomatoes, capsicum, spring onions, cucumbers and marigolds have left town and now it's time to let the winter crop take over town. We plan to plant carrots, potatoes, zucchini, squash and more onions and garlic - will keep you updated.
The mint is so so - it doesn't like the extra drying winds, especially when it's keepers forget to water it.
Here are some pansies that are eager to please - adorable white faces with violet centres.
A closeup of the tulips ala southern hemisphere sub tropical autumn.

I never did have much of a 'thing' for foliage plants - must be a sign of maturity - sort of like brussel sprouts - yet these coleus are amazing - this is my little Moulin Rouge section of our garden - full of velvety plants that throw up their skirts with gay abandon.
Bye bye zinnias - you have been so faithful, filling my vases inside with your effervescence - I am letting them go to seed so their babies will make my vases full next year.
Don't ask me why this is called 'snow in summer' 'cause its autumn I think I'll rename it 'Snow in Autumn - in the subtropics - on the coast' there...all those in favour?
Here's a pineapple that's just sitting around (like for ages) ready to stretch out when the lemon grass dies off for the winter - its scared of frosts - the pineapple is a result of planting the top bit you cut off -we've had heaps bear fruit this way...you've just got to be very patient 'cause they take a long time.

And here is a cone flower, acting like Custer's last stance, a solitary beacon amongst her slumbering friends.
Time for bed little cone flower.
The gardenias spot flower all year - their scent is heavenly and fills the house with the essence of summer - no oil burner required!

And lastly the azaleas like to poke their (blurry) heads out from under the pine trees to say hello around this time of year - I hope to look back at these entries one day and be glad that my photography skills have reached greater heights. (A photography course is the next box I want to tick off when I finish the teaching degree!)

Hope you've enjoyed the little jaunt around our autumn garden and if its autumn in your little part of this world look for the wonders that are all around.

xxx

Texture

2008-05-08T09:44:00.000+10:00

This is a whim. I am very prone to whims I'm afraid. You see there is the 4000 word essay I need to finish...and I just popped into the store to buy more thread for the Leanne's House quilt, when I found myself looking at all the beautiful yarns that were taunting me from the shelves 'look at me' 'touch me' 'take me home' and so I did...and we do need a cushion for our bed so our bedroom looks a bit more masculine (now that's another dilemna, sorry story) and you only needed three balls of this most tactile yarn, and the pattern was free, and very easy and its knitted up on size 9 giants...so I bought it, even though that pesky little voice in my head was insisting on reminding me about the quilt, the ripple blanket for my daughter that is almost there, the 4000 word report and the Shepherd's Bush crossstitch that my beautiful friend gave me for my birthday is rather bare and unloved....do you feel my pain?
It is lovely though isn't it? My poor little camera and the flood of autumn light doesn't really paint the right picture, but I assure you it is sooooo soft and knobbly and reminds me of cocoons and hobbits and with winter looming who wouldn't want to be cocooned in a hobbit's lair, stitching, knitting and baking for warmth?
I've knitted 2 balls already and I am thinking of backing the cushion with some sensual silk or sateen to just saturate the tactile experience.
Well back to the 4000 report for now,
hope all is well in your part of the world,
xxx

Do you think I need to get out more??

2008-05-04T08:23:00.000+10:00

OK, I'm the first to admit that it doesn't take much to make my day, but I sat back and wondered whether I needed to, well, expand my horizons a little when I got so excited over this little discovery. You probably all have one, or maybe it doesn't do the task that well, but this little needle and thread colour organiser 'rocked my world'.

For the uninitiated, it has a magnetic strip that holds your threaded needles safe and sound and has a place to write the colour code and all. So now I can load up all the babies with their threads and pick and choose just as I please. And at $3 it was a bargain, I'm hoping. I think Martha would be very proud.

That's a portion of the first Leanne's House BOM that has been gestating for way too long.Now that the Uni degree I've been studying for the last 3 years, 10 months and 4 days (not that I'm counting) is drawing to a close, I'm giving some of my lonely little projects the attention that they deserve. And armed with my nifty little purchase, life is dandy.

Cuppa?

2008-05-03T17:06:00.000+10:00

If you happen to pass by our place you'll be cajoled into having a cup of tea, but I promise it wont originate from vintage buttons! Promise!
The tea cup was one of my Grandmother's - one of many she had displayed on her sideboard and only used for special occasions. This one is pretty and I wouldn't part with it, well for all the tea in China really, yet there was a polka dot set in the most wonderful gelato green that I would have welcomed with open arms.
I like to have treasures around the place that either remind me or have actually had a previous lodging with someone special to me. Like this teacup. Oh, and the frizzled up flower? It is from a dear friend's camellia, she picked it for me and I absentmindedly left int he dash of our car, like for a week, and so it seems, the dash of your car just happens to be the best place to dry floral arrangements if you please. So here it sits, patiently, reminding me of good times with a good friend.

Hello there

2008-05-01T11:13:00.000+10:00

Hi there and welcome to my Blog!

I have promised myself a Blog for when I finish the degree I'm studying - I'm just so close to the end of it that I've plunged into this wonderful community, finally.

A self confessed lurker for many years (!) I just couldn't justify the time or the attention a Blog deserves - so now I can contribute, maybe complete the many UFOs I have in my possession, write regularly and share ideas and experiences from my little part of the world.

My loves and passions are many. Family, food, fibre crafts, gardens to name just a few,
looking forward to this new adventure,
Sally.
xxxxx