tsk tsk

we have a winner

And the winner is Brooke from Three Pink Trees. Congratulations. Here is a sneak peak at what you will be getting. Of course I'm still keeping some of it a secret. You'll have to wait for the mail to arrive Brooke to see more.

catch up post

the first thing i need to catch up on is the international ingredient fest. this week the ingredient is cheese.

about a week ago i ate the most delicious food in a local restaurant. I took my husband out for a belated birthday meal. My entree was fresh figs stuffed with goats cheese and wrapped in prosciutto.  It also had some other ingredients which I can't remember now...it was the gin and tonic I had before that made me forget! Anyway, I decided to give it a go. So here is my version...sans photos.

cut a fresh fig vertically down the middle, but not all the way. place a large teaspoon on goat's cheese in the middle..or a blue cheese would be nice too. Squish it together, then wrap a slice of prosciutto around the fig. Place it in the oven for about 10 minutes on about...I don't know?? maybe 180 degrees C. Just keep on checking to see if it looks ready. Don't burn the prosciutto. I then drizzled the fig with balsamic vinegar.

I never liked cheese as a child, but quite happily eat most types all the time now.

Secondly I've been tagged by Kate for another meme. This one is about how weird I am! well, 6 things at least. I don't want to sound like I'm the perfect woman, but I am having trouble finding 6 things. i am sure if I phoned my family and friends, they could each name a dozen. After reading a few of other peoples weird things, I began to recognise some similarity. Perhaps we are not so weird after all. So here are a few.

9 out of 10 times when I walk up or down stairs, I have to count them...even in my own house.
If I walk somewhere on a path regularly, I will start to count things on the way.

I like eating vegemite and honey on toast. I don't know of anyone else who eats this combination. But there is a nice sweet and savoury flavour about it.

I only like drinking super cold milk. If a glass has been poured for me and left on the table for more than a few minutes, I don't enjoy it.

I get really annoyed when lights are left on in the house for no reason. I go through stages where I try to enter a room and not use the lights. Especially if I just need to grab something and leave. i say to myself, people who lived before electricity were able to do it so why can't I? But then I will leave my computer on for several hours throughout the day and don't see it as a problem even though it is wasting electricity.

I always have to wash my hands after going grocery shopping and now make my children do the same thing. Its like I can feel the dirt on my hands from the trolley. But I can go to other shops and not feel the same.

I love colour coding my books. As you look at the spines they are mostly colour coded. So I can have a book about quilting next to a book about typography. It is really difficult to find something when I'm in a hurry but i like the look of it.

there you go..that was 6. I did it.

Thirdly, I also wanted to thank Paula again for sending my a Marie Claire idees mag and the most beautiful soap. Both of which I adore but I am having trouble getting here in Australia.

And lastly I drove 3.5 hours yesterday to pick up my kids from their grandparents house. Here are a few images from the drive. We laughed to Charlie and Lola the entire trip home.

it is time to rest for a short while

Today I plan on cooking. I am going to make Indian nibbles for Christmas. Aloo ki tikki, prawn pakoras and singharas. Not very traditional, but I made these earlier in the year and they tasted great. It is always nice to have something a little different. Mind you this year we will be celebrating  Christmas in an Australian/Italian way. I'm sure there will be plenty of ravioli and tortellini. I also plan on making a cake for Mr N's birthday tomorrow. Orange pound cake with passionfruit icing. We are just having a BBQ on Saturday. Yes, just the thing I want to be thinking about right before Christmas.

For the rest of the time this year, I plan on doing very little and enjoying this summer. Here in usually muggy, hot Brisbane, it has been exceptionally great weather, almost cool at times. Unlike other parts of Australia where many are experiencing roaring temperatures, wild hail storms or bushfires. So I'll finish here with part of an image I created yesterday and a few words about how I will be spending my time.

I will taste mangoes and lychees, and feel watermelon dripping down my chin. I will drink icy cold margaritas, eat cold ham and freshly picked tomatoes.  I will buy kilos of prawns to share, but will only eat one or two.

I will smell eucalyptus and fresh limes on my trees. Pick ixora from my garden and watch my plants shrivel up as the drought sets in.

I will feel salty sea water on my face and sand burning the souls of my feet. My brow will sweat, my skin will burn. The grass in my garden will feel hard and uncomfortable to walk on.

I will hear kookaburrus early in the morning and tell my children that they are keeping an eye on them. I will hear scrub-turkeys screeching in the night, crickets in my garden, geckos chirping through my window and mosiquitoes buzzing around my head.

I will see family and children's faces light up, blue skies, lightening and dark storm clouds and piles of dirty clothes build up on the floor.

purchases and a princess

A very quick rundown on some goodies I have bought recently.

We finally replaced our dying fridge with a new one. I'm wanting to keep this one as clean as possibe, both the inside and out. But I couldn't resist buying some new fridge magnets.

Top left: purchased from pepes paperie on my Canberra trip. I love old signage and advertising. The works of Adolphe Cassandre are one of my favourites in this genre and I would love to have his work in my house.

Top Right: Another magnet by an Australian illustrator and crafter, Julie Knoblock. This photo is not that great. Her work can be seen on Flickr and she sells her wonderful products at her Etsy shop too. She has such a cooky, fun and original style and I love the way she transfers her images to different surfaces and products. The magnet is stuck proudly on our fridge door.

Bottom Left: You might recognise this little character. Hector arrived at my front door today. He is just so adorable. The very talented Kate from two little banshees made him. This one is for me. I think he'll be my study buddy. Except when I look at him, I feel like taking him to bed and having a nap! Lena tried to open his eyes and said 'hawo Hector, wake up eyes now.' Check out Kate's Etsy store too.

Bottom Right: No purchases with this one. I wipped this up last night whilst watching TV and popped it into Miss M's cot before going to bed. Her name is Princess Lena. Next will be King Ari!

Aggghhhh, look at the time! Must go.

WIPS and BLOGS

After posting my tutorial on how to do some basic relief printing, I was contacted by Natalie from  Craftzine who wanted to share my tips. I'm a little 'gobsmacked' at the stats on my site. I hope that what I have posted is of use to some others out there.

Ever since starting my first mini moopy, I have been very keen to make more. taken from a free pattern at neststudio, they are very addictive. I'm keen to make some for some friends' children. Here is a sneak preview of the works.....they are mostly finished. I just need to do some hand sewing. Some look like they have very bad white pubic hair which needs some maintenance. More can be seen on my flickr page.

presents and parcels

I ordered and received some festive fabric from Amitie this week. I cannot wait to make something out of these. Don't you love the little red parcel tied up in string. It is nice to receive things that have been wrapped with care. I have often sent things away in haste just to get them posted and think afterwards, OH how I wished I had wrapped it or sent a card'. But there are times where I do and I love that process of giving and making it look nice.

And talking about sending parcels. I made this little gift for Zoe at AtoZ. She has been knitting of late and mentioned that she would love to try her hand at crochet. I don't know how to knit, but I can crochet. The book is written by Prudence Mapstone. It gives lots of examples and instructions on how to make crochet bullions. She is a very clever lady and even makes crocheted bags. Sounds a bit like something your grandmother might do, but they are really great. Check out her site. If you enjoy working with wool and yarn, then it is well worth the visit.

SO I made a few little flowers for Zoe. I also stitched a felt pouch for her and made a little wrist band for her daughter. I think she was very excited to receive it.

I told Master A they went all the way to Scotland. He has been singing the Loch Lomond song 'You go the low road, and I'll go the high road' . We sing it in the car on the way home from Kindy because there are 2 roads we can choose from..1 is high and 1 is low. Agghhh, it must be my faint Scottish blood coming out!