My Christmas Wish List

I know, I know, I'm meant to wish for peace and love and happiness and an end to worldwide hunger...and I want those things, I truly do, BUT, who am I kidding...I love getting presents. I love giving them too and try to make as many as I can because I just like that (sorry to all those people that cringe when they see that I'm buying for them because they know that they're going to get something homemade..but too bad. Hee hee.) I'm making something cute for my niece and nephew but of course I can't show you those until after Christmas.

Here's my Christmas list, so pay attention Mitch and Joe, although most of the stuff here isn't practical for you, Joe, because you only get to spend $10 - $15.

First up is a Cast Iron Reversible Griddle from "Apron" on Mary St. About $35. Then I'll be able to cook your steaks properly ,Mitch, and cook kebabs for the kids.(They won't fit in a frying pan and our griller doesn't work. The kebabs...not the kids.)

A new watering can. Okay, so a plastic one would work just fine, but metal is so much better looking...and how could you go past one as bright as this. Try Big W.

This picture's too small, but it's a mattock. For digging up my lawn and jungle, I mean (weedy, overgrown, disgustingly messy) garden beds, and turning them into "real" gardens.

Mitre 10...$25.

Okay, we've got a gardening theme happening here. This thing is called Grampa's Weeder.

Mitre 10....$25.

I know this one's just wishful thinking and I don't just mean the perky bum and "ahem" bosoms, but the real item of interest is the croquet set. You can get one (quite cheaply) at Sports Power for $70, but unfortunately our budget is $50 for each other for Chrissy. That's the Budget Rules. Sigh.

This cookbook which has recipes from classic childrens literature including Famous Five fruitcake, with little snippets from each story it accompanies.

And speaking of the Famous Five, I'd love to get this book, which I know is much cheaper from Big W. (And I think it has a different cover.)

Oh, and anything in the "Rosa" range by J & G Meakin. For the uninitiated, these are plain coloured plates, bowls, cups, teapots etc that I am currently having a love affair with. They were made during World War 2 when England producers weren't allowed to make anything with patterns. Some are just plain, but I particularly love the ones with the scallopy edges. You can also get them in blue (Celeste), green (Jade) and creamy yellow (Sunshine) all in yummy, pretty pastel colours which I also collect, but I particularly love the pink.. Actually I also have ones that look similar made by Johnson Brothers and Grindley. I don't really care about the company, I just love the look. You can get them on ebay but with the postage it can get quite expensive. I've picked most of mine up from thrift shops and second-hand markets/sales, most times for just a couple of bucks.

The picture isn't of my collection, unfortunately.

So Mitch, take your pick of all these wonderful presents that you so carefully thought up for me. And Joe, you sort of know my tastes, don't you. Anything vintagey or cottagey, in red or pastel for the kitchen or navy or blue or white is fine. I like spots too. (I'm just not really into the "country" thing with farm animals and cutesy dolls anymore.) I love the houses on these blogs that are all listed down the side if you need further inspiration.

Daisy Cottage
Cherry Hill Cottage
Posy Gets Cosy
An Enchanted Cottage
Little Red House
At Home with MelMel

I hope this helps.

And a final thank you to all the random websites on the internet that I got my pictures from. I know I should probably credit them properly, but I'm lazy like that.

Some more rearranging...

Well, it's been a while and I have no real excuse other than that I've been feeling overwhelmed by everything lately. There's 13 1/2 days of school/work left and if I can just hang in there until that's over, I'll be fine.

I've done some more rearranging at home, just to keep things fresh and because my house is always so tidy I didn't have anything else to do. (Did you hear the heavy sarcasm?) Okay, I was cleaning so I could spray for insects but it's fun to get distracted.

I moved the dining table back into the kitchen so I could set up a cosy little reading nook in the lounge room with our awkward chair (does anyone else have a lounge chair that came with their set that they have trouble finding the right space for? It always just seems "left-over") and using the island table that used to be in the kitchen. (My family hate it when I rearrange because they can't find things. ("Mum, where's the paper bags that USED to be in the table drawer?) Well, I can't leave paper bags and freezer bags in a table that's now in the lounge room, right? That would be just silly. So they're now in the hutch and the things that were in the hutch are....oh, never mind. It's like musical chairs.

But it's my favourite space now.

If one of the cats doesn't get to it first.

And I revamped the dresser in our hallway, which was meant to be decorative but always ended up covered in mail and junk. Out with the dried wheat and rusty jug and in with the pretty pastel blues. And a new white laundry hamper. Oops, the photo's all blurry.

Do you recognise this tray from this post? Well, I haven't finished grouting it yet but I think it came up really pretty. Thanks Lisa for showing me how to mosaic. I'll show you a proper close-up when it's finished.

I love this shelf. My uncle made it for me for my 18th birthday from recycled timber from some army barracks that were being torn down. I think he said the cedar in it was over 100 years old. It's got some old family books on it and my Dad's toy car from when he was a boy. I'm kinda tempted to paint the shelf white though. What do you think? Would that be ruining it?

My cute make-your-own recipe book

This is a project that I've been working on and off for a week or two now, and I'm really pleased with the way it turned out.

I get annoyed having all my favourite recipes spread amongst numerous cookbooks and it's at the back of my mind that if anything were to happen to me, Mitch wouldn't know any of my tried and true recipes, selected from years of experience, or where to find them. (Not that I'd ever expect him to make cakes and biscuits but he would have to make dinner.) Is this morbid? Mitch thinks it is but I'm always thinking "OK, if I were to die suddenly, what could I do to make things easier for Mitch to cope with the girls." For example, I have a slim folder with all of our bank details and mortgage details and forthnightly budget and monthly menu and monthly shopping list etc in it for easy access.

Anyway, back to the topic. My answer to the "dilemma" is of course to write my own recipe book. I've tried a few different ways over the years but never been really satisfied with the final result, until now.

Presenting my "Sweet Favourites" recipe book for all my cake and biscuit needs.

I started with a A5 sized art sketch book. Mine was $4.75 from a newsagent but I have seen ones for $2 from "cheap" shop. I have tried different notebooks over the years and this is the one that I liked the best. This is because I prefer the blank pages to notebooks with lines and I find that sketch books have a nicer quality and thicker paper which is necessary if you are writing on both sides.

I divided it into sections with tabs for easy referral which is something that I haven't done in the past attempts, but which I think is really helpful. I prettied each page divider up by glueing scrapbooking paper and felt ribbon onto a page in the notebook because of course it's got to be nice to look at as well.

Here is my Cake page....

and my Biscuits and Slices page....

and my Scones and Batters page...

and my Desserts page....

and my Sweets page.

On the other side of each divider page I glued textured cardboard in the same colour as on the other side (I used a different colour for each section) which helped make the stick out tab stronger, then pasted a trimmed down page on top for a table of contents. I also numbered each page, not including the dividers, so that if I open to the Biscuits page and want to make No28. Anzac Biscuits (which I did today) I know to go to page 28. I did not start the page numbers again for each section, but kept them going through the whole book. I left 26 blank pages for the Cakes and Biscuits, 19 pages for the Batters, 17 pages for the Desserts and 9 pages for the Sweets.

I've started writing in my favourite recipes using my neatest writing (as I expect to keep this for a long time, this is THE recipe book) and a water and fade proof pen. This is important because in some of my earliest recipe books I can't even read the recipe anymore, through either fading or being spilled on (and washed away). Add a pretty fabric cover and you're done.

I now plan on making a new one for my meals, maybe in blues and greens and chocolates. I think I'll divide it up into sections like "Soups", "Light Meals", "Comfort Food and Casseroles", "Side Dishes", "Meat Dishes" and "Pastas". That should make it easier to plan my menu for the different seasons as well.

I actually think this would make a lovely present for your child as they leave home or become an adult or get married, so they can always have their favourite recipes that they grew up with, with them.
If anyone wants me to do a tutorial on making the fabric cover, just leave a comment asking. It's pretty straight forward though.

A change is as good as a holiday.

I know, I've just come off my school break, so why would I be wanting another holiday so soon. Well, I never say no to a holiday or staying home but I'll have to wait a bit longer for that so this weekend, while I was meant to be cleaning, I did a little redecorating instead.

I've said a few times that while I love the muted colours of primitive decorating, I've been drawn lately to the prettiness of pastels. What to do, what to do? How am I going to incorporate the two. Well, I've decided that I could do my own version of Spring and "Fall" decorating. Decorate with the cosiness of reds and darker colours and prims in the cooler months, and in Spring and Summer use the lightness of white and pastels to cool the house. So down with the reds and up with the pinks.

Here is the "before" of my kitchen hutch...

and here is the pretty and feminine "after".

And a close-up.

(I asked Mitch what he thought and he hadn't even realised that I had changed anything. Obviously it's not high on his list of importance. I'm sure he's just wishing I tidied up instead. I will, hon, this just helps me get in the mood and makes it a little less like drudgery.)

A lot of my furniture and accessories in my house are dark blue which I love and don't want to change, but I think that it works ok with both colour palettes. Don't you?

Here is my kitchen island with my christmas wax burner thingy STILL out from last year. The green and red doesn't really go now.

Much better.

And here is my Grandma's old Singer sewing box which I now use to store my cutlery.

Before....

...and after. Hmmm, something's not quite right.

That's better. Although maybe I should paint the wicker white.

And there's nothing like a hair change.

Before....

.....and after. You like? I do.

Tonight's entertainment is brought to you by....

available for purchase for 80 c from your local Op shop. Supplies hours of imaginative entertainment. (Although not always in the ways it was intended for. Why make boring aeroplanes and windmills when you can make crazy people?)

Title: "The Love" or "The kids have nicked the camera again".

Written and directed by Rosie and Ella.

Starring.... Dorcas and Dicko

and the Lady Jezebel and the evil Prune Juice.

Warning: May contain some juvenile humour.

Let the entertainment begin!

http://video.google.com.au/videoplay?docid=-1465907781297854261

To be continued....

I know it's Spring when....

I have to cross the oval either wearing a hat or waving my hands above my head to ward off this guy.





The territorial magpie. He lives in the big gum tree by the school fence and dive bombs anyone who comes too close. Apparently this fellow particularly likes blondes, he'll pick a blonde head out of a crowd of many. Twice I've been caught unaware, daydreaming as I've been walking, but the swoop and the rush of wings wakes you up pretty quickly. I know....you're only protecting your young, but look at me, do you really think I'm going to be able to scale the heights of your tree.

And I know it's spring (or if you're unfortunate enough to be a student, you know it's exam time)when the Jacaranda flowers come out. Places that before looked plain and unexciting are now a riot of purple colour.

And I've just noticed that my favourite bird is back. It's called a Storm bird and migrates from Papua New Guinea around this time every year. I don't know what it looks like but you can hear it's mournful cry every so often. My family all know it as "Mum's Camping Bird" because of all the good memories it invokes. In summer every year we go camping at the same place nearby, we have been since I was 9, and the Camping Bird is one of the sounds you hear. It reminds me of family and holidays and green grass to run around on and the billabong to swim in and lazy moments reading and fresh air and freedom. And it makes it more special that it's not around all year. When I hear it for the first time, it's special because I know that the Christmas holidays are near.