A Christmas Day Story (to remember)....

Friends, I do not know where to start. Christmas Day was perfectly, imperfect. There was lots of fun, tears from overtired toddlers (namely ours), baked goods consumed in excess (by me), Pims at nightfall (with cucumber and mint - sensational!), swims in a beautiful pool with a very cool blow up slide, more slides and swings, presents given and received, ham consumed but not so much so that I found myself wanting to roll in mud 'Peppa Pig' style, and many laughs.

 

I have decided that Christmas is a bit like getting married though, don't you think?

We get so excited. We plan. Spend money, eat, drink and buy presents and then all of the sudden, it is over.

 

Our Christmas Day will however, always be remembered because of a town called Inglewood - 40 km's from Goondiwindi. We had driven through Warwick, knew we needed more petrol prior to getting to Goondiwindi, but decided (stupidly) that we would get petrol in Inglewood.

Inglewood isn't a small country town. There is a main street, Queensland Government Offices, a Post Office etc - you get the picture. With 25km's of petrol on the clock, we pulled into the Shell Service Station at Inglewood, keen to refuel quickly and get to my sisters to see my family and celebrate.

As I went to refuel, I noticed the pumps were locked but there were still customers in the actual petrol station. I approached the attendant and was told abruptly: 'We are now closed. The petrol pumps have been zeroed'.

I explained our predicament, that we hardly had any petrol left in the tank, had a toddler in the car and that it was Christmas Day - surely she could help me out and serve me? I even cried, people who know me won't be surprised by this :) The attendant still refused to sell me petrol, obviously keen to close up and commence her own Christmas Day celebrations.  In fact, the attendant couldn't even tell me where the next petrol station was! Funny, the next petrol station was at our destination - Goondiwindi.

So we set off in the 35 degree heat, somewhat shocked. How could someone be so unkind on Christmas Day? In short, we drove until we ran out of petrol and ended up in a sleepy town called Yelarbon. We parked under a tree opposite this very lonely looking petrol station which was, clearly closed :) - but, of course. 

We then as grown adults had to suffer the humiliation of calling in for back up, which came in the form of my beautiful Brother in law and Father. If you could have only seen my Brother in law hop out of his Ute smirking when they arrived with petrol: 'You lot run into some trouble?', he said in his best Australian accent (his is pretty good). He had a cowboy hat on and black RayBan's. I should have taken a pic for instagram - he is quite the modern day country boy.

Anyway, we made it to Christmas Day lunch. Fun was had and needless to say, will NEVER purchase petrol from Shell again.

 

On a positive note, while we waited for an hour for help, I was able to carefully consider my New Years resolutions. I am sure that you are keen to hear about what I have planned for 2014. All this and more will be provided in a post later in the week :)

 

How was your Christmas Day? Come on, try and out do my family drama... I dare you :)

 

Great to be back friends....

 

x

Crunchy granola sweet

I just can't seem to get my act together lately, despite my best efforts.

I have spent the morning doing usual motherly household duties, chasing my tail. You know how it is. It was all very uninspiring until mid morning, when I finally had time to make my new favourite Banana Granola recipe. See what I mean? I had granola for lunch! I did however have it with a lovely, sweet, ripe Bowen mango. My first mango for the year. This somehow made the chaos of this morning worthwhile.

I found this recipe for Banana Granola on the Green Kitchen Stories website. David and Luise the masterminds behind this website, are so very clever. Their recipes are delicious and their photography well, breathtaking. I also have their cookbook which I adore. It would make a gorgeous Christmas present!

 

As I sat at our table savouring small mouthfuls of this crunchy goodness, I got thinking.

Do you think Neil Diamond also loved granola? Was that why he wrote 'Crunchy Granola Sweet'? Who knows... these are the big questions friends.... :)

 

In an ideal world this serving of granola should have had handfuls of blueberries and strawberries strategically placed on top of the heaped tablespoons of yogurt, but when I went to grab them from the fridge, there was none left. Need I say anymore.

 

I hope your day has been far more organised than mine :) x

Ode to my Chesterfield

 

 

I don't care if I would stick to it in the awful Queensland humidity. A couch like my friend the Chesterfield, is calling out to be sprawled on. Imagine lying back with a coffee and your favourite magazines. I would have the new Kinfolk, Fete and Country Style magazines close by. 

My favourite CD would be playing quietly in the background and the faint smell of home baking would be wafting from the kitchen. Of course my Chesterfield would be strategically placed under one of our double hung windows, with the shutters slightly open, allowing for just the right amount of sunlight and cool breeze. Imagine ....

 

 

Click on the photos for links to Pinterest.

Hope you all have a fun weekend! I am off to our work Christmas 'do' tomorrow. I am really looking forward to it. Nothing like a catch up with your favourite work friends .... x

Give me bread - healthy bread.

Lovely readers,

 

Like me, do you dream about bread? ;) Come on admit it, you do. I cannot be the only person who dreams of warm comforting bread. That and a trip to Mauritius in one of those bungalow's that stretch out over crystal blue water, only accessed by a bridge. See, I knew you did :)

 

I have deliberately not eaten bread in ages. Put simply, bread and I are not friends. I can't control myself around it, especially after a night shift when I want to throw down a whole loaf with loads of butter and vegemite. Let's be clear, I am talking about Bakers Delight bread, not healthy bread.

The kind of bread that makes my bum get big - eaten in the quantities I want to devour it anyway.

Among all the random thoughts I have in a 24 hour period (and there are many), I have been contemplating introducing bread back into my diet that is healthier, gluten free and homemade - free of sugars, preservatives and other nasties.

And easy. It has to be simple. I don't ask for much and surely this is a better option than depriving myself of such goodness?

A lovely friend recently posted photos of the most delicious almond meal and chia seed bread that she made on facebook. I demanded that I must have the recipe immediately and presto, today I have made the most delicious, spongy loaf of healthy, gluten free, grain free bread.

The recipe is from Tania Hubbard's Gluten free, grain free blog and is quite the find. Her recipes look delicious and her cookbook would be the perfect Christmas gift.

 

With lashings of avocado heaped on my bread with just a touch of pepper, I was temporarily in heaven until I remembered there was a toddler whinging at me in the background, demanding yet another bowl of  yoghurt  :)

 

Find the recipe here and please, do yourself a favour and make it.

 

 

 

A Bircher Breakfast ...

 

I have re-written this post a couple of times. All versions have sounded 'oh woe is me' which lets face it, is boring.

All I will say is that this week we have all been sick, and without sounding too harsh, the men in my household do not cope well with sickness. 

Nurses are generally far more patient with the people they care for at work than the one's at home - or so it would seem, or so I have been told ;) - either way, enough said.

 

Moving right along ....

 

Living in Queensland you are right, is pretty sensational. Spring is just gorgeous, but with that comes early sunrises and noisy birds. Are you getting where I am going with this?

At the moment, lets just say that I am very 'anti-kookaburra'.

In fact, I hate them :)

You see, if the sun is rising and the birds are singing, or as it may be laughing (at my expense I am quite sure), then it must be time for two year olds to get up! At 04.30 ....

 

I am a Child Health Nurse. I work at a centre which assists parents in getting their children to sleep!(ha!!)

I have tried every trick in the book to support/encourage/gently force my little friend to sleep longer but this it would seem, is where we are at - 04.30 starts.

So I am trying very, very hard to 'suck it up'...

 

With all this drama and my determination to continue to eat healthily, particularly since I am working night shifts and now seemingly getting up at 04.30, I have made a conscientious effort to consistently prepare myself a scrumptious, no fuss, healthy breakfast.

 

A lovely friend of mine Piera, put me onto this book by Saimaa Miller. It is here that I found my new favourite breakfast.

This is just one of the great healthy recipes in this book. Check out Saimaa's website for further inspiration. Either way, Easy Bircher Muesli is yummy!

 

 

Easy Bircher Muesli

(Aussie Body- Diet and Detox Plan, by Saimaa Miller page 78).

 

Serves 2 (Although I have been known to eat a whole bowl and go through until lunch).

 

45g oats

2 tablespoons of oat bran

1 tablespoon sunflower seeds

1 tablespoon chia seeds

1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar

70g mixed berries example goji, acai or blueberries ( I have just used frozen blueberries which are delicious)

1 small banana (75g)

1 tablespoon (20g)shredded coconut

1 tablespoon (20g) raisins or sultanas

500mls rice or dairy free milk (I have recently started using a lactose free milk called Zymil).

 

Mix it all together in a bowl and let is soak overnight.

 

 

A nutritious breakfast like this, even at the earliest start to the day, is guaranteed to put spring in your step. Things never seem so bad when you go to a little extra effort to do something nice for yourself - don't you agree?

 

I hope you are having a good week friends.

Apologies for the late post.

x

 

Unexpected surprises.....

Today has been one of those days. I finished my night shift this morning at 7 am and I am yet to have a sleep. It is a long boring story - we have had tree loppers here all afternoon which although exciting, has prevented Dominic and I sleeping. The end result is impressive though, and will make such a difference with the landscaping we have planned. Either way, I think it is fair to say both Dom and I are only just hanging in there. 

 

Despite the chaos of today, I unexpectedly received the most beautiful gift from my gorgeous, incredibly thoughtful cousin Jessica. Yes, that is the Orla Kiely storage jar I had been eyeing off from Lark, and I also received a beautiful cutlery set that is so lovely, it is worthy of a post of its own.

So, stay tuned.  

 

Thanks for thinking of me Jess. You rock!

 

 

Happy Friday friends!

My your weekend be a good one.

As for us, I think it is time for bed.

x

 

Marimekko

One of my consistent decorating themes, no matter where I have lived, is my love of colour and pattern. I am not talking about outlandish wall colours (yuck), but bright coloured cushions, canvases and prints. A colourful bunch of flowers can regularly be seen in our house too - bringing a smile to me, even on the most dreary of days.

 

Marimekko fabrics have long been a favourite of mine. The great use of colour and pattern in Marimekko homewares could brighten up any space, but they are not for the faint hearted.

I would love a big Marimekko canvas in our living room - maybe I will be brave and buy some fabric and make one myself? In the meantime, I will lust after Marimekko fabrics and try and pick my favourite. The Marimekko dress below is kind of adorable too - don't you agree? A Marimekko store opened in Sydney last year. Maybe they will come to Brisbane too? Eventually everyone does :)

Here is the stores feature post from The Design Files archives.

Do you have a decorating theme that has been carried across the different places you have lived? Colour? Pattern? Or may be you prefer the classical look with heavy fabrics?

Don't be shy people.... share your favourite decorating themes....

 

x