rugs...

Another Monday is here friends and the weather here in Brisbane is perfect. Autumn in the sunshine state is heavenly and perfect for a spot of window shopping.

 

I do some of my best spending when I least expect it - are you like that? When I have cash to burn I cannot find anything to buy, but when things are a bit tight, things jump out at me begging to be purchased. Today was no exception to that rule.

 

We move into the new house in just two weeks time and one of my immediate concerns is decorating (on a budget) and trying to keep our little shanty as warm as possible in winter.

Yes, yes - I know. You live in Brisbane how cold can it get, I can hear you say. But night times can be chilly, particularly when you have cold drafts running up in between floorboards. So, the obvious solution to the problem would be to buy rugs, right? But I ask you, what makes a good rug? What about rug patterns and colours? To me, rugs are one of those purchases that you can get very wrong. Interestingly but yet not altogether surprising, most of the rugs that have caught my eye recently are a couple of thousand dollars - clearly out of our budget. Everything from Persian rugs to Kilim rugs are divine but in our household, would have food and drink spilt on it, not to mention dirty little feet and grubby little paws.

 

Photo taken with my iPhone and jazzed up with instagram.

 

This morning while wandering in Paddington with my mum, I came across this beautiful rug (above) at a shop called Les Salles. This rug is made by 'Mad Mats' (read about their story here), out of recycled material and can be used indoors and outdoors. Not only are they ridiculously soft on your feet, but have the most beautiful patterns and can be simply wiped or hosed down when dirty. This is my kind of rug. Fashionable, affordable and environmentally friendly. Needless to say this rug was purchased rather quickly. The chairs were pretty tempting too, but I showed amazing restraint. I am so excited to have made my first new house purchase :)

 I will be heading back to Les Salles to buy one more of these rugs. I also have my eye on a black and white geometric pattern rug that they have in stock. Mad Mats can also be purchased online here.

 

Are you a rug person? What floor coverings do you have in your home? If you had a choice, would you be investing in an expensive Persian rug, a piece of art or another piece of furniture? Ahhhh, such are the woes of the modern day budget conscious decorator :)

 

Another week, another book...

As usual, my week has flown by. I am not sure what I have achieved, but we have done lots of running around the garden playing with the 'da ball' and have enjoyed dancing and listening to our new favourite singer, Sarah Humphreys. One of my other achievements for this week, was finishing this book.

I was first introduced to Grace Coddington, Artistic Director of American Vogue, after watching the documentary 'The September Issue' many years ago; a documentary detailing Anna Wintour's preparations for the 2007 Fall fashion issue of American Vogue. Grace was a standout in this documentary, obviously passionate about fashion and photography, with unfailing witt and obvious generosity. I love reading books about people who are so clever and have lived such interesting lives and yet, are so completely unassuming of their talent. Grace's stories about her life, marriages, amazing places she has travelled and of course her love of fashion, have made for a great read.

I couldn't put this book down.

 

What books have you read recently? Any you can recommend? I need a good book to distract me from all the packing we need to start doing!

Easter Sunday dessert - the tale of a Victoria Sponge (warts and all)..

So, I have debated long and hard with this post.

Do I tell the real story of how this cake came together, or do I lead you all to believe that I am a modern day domestic goddess, who cares for and bakes for her family without a care in the world.

Hmmmmm tough choice... but where is the fun painting a picture of perfection right?

 

 I have long been a fan of the blog What Katie ate. I follow Katie's stories in Delicious Magazine religiously and I am a big fan of her cookbook. When I saw her recipe for this cake on her blog, I just knew I had to give it a go. My mum enthusiastically encouraged me to bring dessert for Easter Sunday lunch. When I informed my husband on the other hand that I would be making this cake, I was met with, 'Oh ... ok. Really?' My husband does enjoy my baking don't get me wrong, it is my process of baking (or lack of ) that causes him most stress or is it distress? He is a neat and orderly cook you see and I am chaotic at best. There are usually dishes and ingredients everywhere - this does include the bench top and on occasion, the floor. I try hard to be orderly but in the end, I can just never get my act together. One can't be a creative genius and tidy after all ;)

 

So admittedly like I said, I did get off to a bad start when I had to add three eggs to the cake mixture. Of course the third egg dropped fairly well shell and all into the cake mixture (I swear it practically disintergrated in my hand!), the Kitchenaid spreading shell pieces everywhere...(enter swear word here). Never fear dear readers, I remained alert (not alarmed) and started again. Here is the end result ....

 

 

In short, the cream filling didn't quite work out. The recipe said to add pouring cream to the mascarpone and stir.

 I figured this would be too runny? I deliberated as to whether I should whip the cream despite the recipe. I made the wrong decision, whipped the cream and it went a bit funky. Despite this, it still tasted pretty damned good - if I must say so myself :)

 

The chocolate Easter eggs with cheese cake filling and passionate fruit syrup for the yolk (in photo above) were made by mum - yes, they were divine. I had one, but could have quite easily eaten them all! You may laugh but back in my youth, I may have eaten an entire pack of Tim Tams in one sitting. 5 Easter eggs with cheesecake filling would be a walk in the park! :)

 

I hope you all had a relaxing Easter and that the bunny was kind to you xx

 

Easter baking and selling a house.

Well, hello to you. Once again my absence has been lengthy but with the stress of the last few weeks, I didn't want to write a post and bore you with the woes of buying and selling a house. To say we have been stressed is a huge understatement. We have aged considerably over the past month but thankfully, not only have we sold our house but we have purchased a gorgeous little colonial. I am bursting with excitement. It has been suggested that I try and contain my excitement until we have the keys to our new house in our hands and we have got past settlement.  So in other words, I am screaming with excitement on the inside. For those of you who know me, you are well aware that I find containing any kind of emotion very difficult :)

 

Our new shanty is full of history and full of projects that should keep me busy for years to come. We think it dates back to 1890-1910; definitely over 90 years old. We are really looking forward to tracing the history of our new abode. I love me a little project and I am feeling rejuvenated and very inspired. Did I mention that the house has pressed metal ceilings and stain glass windows?

Have you been well? I cannot believe that it is Easter! I have volunteered to make dessert for Easter Sunday lunch at my parents.  My beautiful friend Julieanne makes the most delicious lemon tea cake. She gave me the recipe many moons ago and I am yet to make it. This could be the perfect addition to Easter lunch. Otherwise I was thinking friands care of 'What Katie ate'....I am a huge fan of her cookbook.

But then I remembered this little delight the Katie featured on her blog not so long ago. Is the photography not amazing?.....

Click on the photos for links ....

So many cakes and yet, so little time. The fact that my bum is getting bigger by the week is beside the point. As far as I am concerned, a life without cake would be a very boring one. Imagine a life without chocolate - gasp!

I have heaps of ideas for upcoming posts and promise to more diligent with my writing from here on in. Although, I think I have been saying that all year haven't I?

x

 

P.S. With all the chaos, I missed the first anniversary of this little blog... It was in early March.

A year has gone quickly. Happy 1st Anniversary to me :)

Emotional eating .....

Well, we have already got off to a cracker of a start this week with me already indulging in some 'recreational emotional eating' - this is of course a technical term made up by well, me.
Nothing hits the spot like Donna Hay's blueberry and banana bread and this afternoon I have had one mother of a piece with lashings of butter - divine. It is delicious in the morning with a good cup of coffee and equally as satisfying in the afternoon with a relaxing cup of tea. I figure I could have 'downed' a couple of tim tams or made a sneaky trip via a McDonald's (would I do that?) drive thru, but baking is a far healthier option isn't it? ;)

 

banana and blueberry bread ...

3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups of self raising flour
1/2 cup of plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
150g blueberries

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Place the mashed banana, eggs, sugar, buttermilk and oil in a bowl and whisk until combined. Sift the flours, baking powder and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Add the banana mixture and blueberries to the dry mixture and mix until just combined. Pour into a lightly oiled and base lined loaf tin. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Serve the bread warm, cut into thick pieces or toasted until golden.

 

 

I bet you go back for seconds - you will not be able to help yourself! Here is a little someone eyeing off his piece of banana-ree goodness ... He is good enough to eat :)

Enjoy your week friends .... x

 

 

Tomorrow ....

Do you feel like I am using this blog as therapy at the moment? Probably cause let's face it, I am.

Tomorrow morning I am working. Who cares I hear you say - what is your point? Tomorrow friends we have appointments with buyers and I will be leaving the condition of our house prior to inspection, in the hands of my husband. This is testing my control issues considerably. Now let's be clear. I have a very capable husband. He does all the cooking and will put on a load of washing without being asked. I do realise that this is somewhat exceptional. But friends, when it comes to girly stuff and making sure things in the house look just right, he is a nightmare. He notices very little and when I ask him whether he likes something I have done with the house, he will often shrug his shoulders and accuse me of trying to make the house look like a magazine cover! I am not sure what freakin magazine he is referring to, cause living with a busy 22 month old is preventing anything in this house from looking even remotely styled. If the style was say 'boisterous and often destructive toddler,' that style we could master with little effort at all :)

So, today I have cleaned and have written a list of instructions for my husband to follow tomorrow morning. I know, totally cringe worthy but I have to do something!

Let me further set the scene and justify my cause for concern. When we first started going out I had cooked us dinner - I was eager to impress. I had placed lovely tea lights on the table and even had fairy lights twinkling outside. I had gone into the kitchen for but a brief moment and when I returned found my now husband sitting at the table, eagerly waiting for dinner. I noticed that the candles that had been glowing warmly prior to my departure (like I said it was brief!!) had now been blown out. I asked enquiringly, 'Hey, did you blow the candles out?' to which my husband replied 'Yeah... they are a bit of a fire risk'. HELLO it is called ambience!! And so I rest my case. I am not suggesting that we light candles tomorrow morning for our inspection, but surely you are beginning to understand my cause for concern. 

Wish us luck dear friends cause tomorrow not only does my husband have to manage our toddler, but also has to ensure our chateaux looks schmick for inspection. Wish him luck :)

Stay tuned ........and have a relaxing weekend.

 

 

Click on picture for pinterest link.... I also forgot to mention this on my post earlier this week.

 

 

Distraction ...

I wont lie to you .... I am distracted. Very, very distracted. Selling the house is turning out to be a slow process and keeping the positive energy levels high, is proving to be exhausting and distracting. We will get there I know but my goodness, I can see why selling your house is on the list of the most stressful things you can do. Getting married was easy compared to the suspense of this!

 

So, what have I been doing to keep myself busy. I know. To manage my stress I should by telling you of my new exercise regime or the meditation I have been doing each day but instead I have cleaned, baked, eaten too much of what I have baked, played with cars and puzzles, watched episodes of 'Peppa Pig' and become addicted to the series 'Homeland'. Holy crap. This series is so good!

I am well known for this kind of behaviour during times of stress. A good TV series is the perfect distraction or is it avoidance? Let's just call it escapism. I have also developed a major addiction to 'Hart of Dixie' thanks to Kate from Polka Dot Pantry. Between these television series and realestate.com.au, I am in desperate need of a support group ;) It could be worse though really couldn't it? I could be shopping compulsively or eating kilo's of chocolate!

 

No other news really. For the first time in weeks I have indulged in some pinterest this afternoon (but of course!) and found these pics. One day I will have my Aga oven.... in fact, everything about this kitchen I adore.

This front door is kind of fab too...



This 'to-do' list is soooooo apropriate for me right now!!



I would love to have chickens....



 And I could rest very comfortably on this chair ..

 So, what is news friends? Any gossip? TV series you can recommend? What about new blogs I should look at?