Our Weekend

was spent at home

Gardening

Painting the new handrail

Cooking

Preparing the worm farm after some learning at school

Crocheting for me

And Molly having lots of fun too.

I hope you had a good weekend, I wish it wasn't over already.

May your week be a happy one♥

And the winner is.......

Deb from A Clothes Line Out the Back!  Congratulations Deb and thank you so much to everyone that entered in my little giveaway and for all of the beautiful birthday wishes you sent my way.

Here's a quote that I thought was really lovely I thought you might like it too.

Kindness in words creates confidence.

Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.

Kindness in giving creates love.

Lao Tzu

♥

Baking Day

The honey jumbles have been made, the lemon butter biscuits cooked and the dishes done, my weekly baking for the lunch boxes can be ticked off the list. And just a little bit of time left to do some crochet and relax before the school run.

Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday♥
P.S.  There's still time to enter my giveaway!

Today

I've been eating some of this.  It's the first time I've made it, I'm not sure why I've been buying it for so long. It was super quick and easy to make and I got to play with my new birthday present.

Drinking lots of tea and hot chocolate.

Crocheting a little brooch to post in the mail to a friend for her birthday, the last of the July birthdays. I have made a little mistake when crocheting the petals, I hope she won't notice.

I hope you've had a good day♥
P.S. There is still time to enter my giveaway!

Our Sunday

 Playing games of chase with Dad

Catching up with my family

Digging in the dirt and finding bugs

Enjoying a beautiful Winter's day

The last of our birthday celebrations, it's been a great week

May your week ahead be filled with lots of special moments to enjoy♥

Don't forget my giveaway!

I just wanted to say thank you so much for all of the beautiful birthday wishes that each and everyone of you sent my way on Wednesday, I felt very special and they made my day:)

 Made by Miss 7

 Made by Miss 11 (There were no letter a's so she used an e instead just in case you were wondering)

The month isn't over yet and so the birthdays continue.  Today it was my lovely hubby's birthday.  We are only separated by two days, born in the same year, I am just a little bit older but that definitely makes me wiser (lol)  There were of course some handmade cards to given and his turn to choose what he wanted for dinner and dessert, much to the girls delight he chose chocolate mousse.  My big girl was happy to grab a recipe she had printed out earlier for me to use and it was very nice and light in texture and an easy recipe to make.  When I made it I decided to use milk chocolate rather than dark because the dark is a little bitter and I didn't think everyone would enjoy the flavour.

Chocolate Mousse
200g dark eating chocolate, chopped coarsely
30g unsalted butter
3 eggs, separated (see Cook's Note, below)
300ml thickened cream, whipped

1. Melt chocolate and butter in a large glass heatproof bowl over large saucepan of simmering water (do not allow water to touch base of bowl).  Remove from heat.  Stir in egg yolks, cool.
2. Beat egg whites in a small bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form.
3. Fold cream into chocolate mixture then fold in egg whites in two batches.
4. Divide mousse among serving glasses or dishes; refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.  Serve topped with whipped cream and chocolate curls, if desired. Serves 6

Cook's note: The eggs must be at room temperature for success with this recipe.

Have a wonderful Saturday♥

A Thank you

How was your Wednesday today? Today was my birthday, I'm another year older, another year wiser;)  My hubby took the day off today which made my birthday even more special.  Usually we wouldn't but he thought it would be nice to spend it together, much nicer than being at work.  We've had a quiet day at  home making bread, doing craft, sitting chatting and eating pizza, simple just the way I like it.  Tonight on the menu was Creamy Corny Chowder with no knead bread and Apple Berry Crumble with ice cream cooked by my family.

To celebrate my birthday today I wanted to have a little giveaway to thank you, my wonderful friends for stopping by and for always giving me lots to smile about with your kind words. Included in my giveaway is:
♥ A Japanese craft book called Hello Sandwich which has lots of great gift wrapping ideas which I bought on Saturday in Nook.
♥ Three handmade red crochet flowers
♥ Some twine
♥ A vintage cotton spool
♥ A cute little handmade owl softie
♥ Some fabric tape
♥ Some handmade doily gift tags
♥ Six handmade kraft gift bags
♥ Two handmade washi tape pegs
♥ Some handmade stickers
To keep it fair I'm making the giveaway open to followers of my blog only and one entry per person.  New followers are always welcome to join, I always enjoy meeting new people.  I'll keep the giveaway open till next Wednesday the 27th of July.  Good luck everyone!

Have a terrific Thursday♥

Molly the Model

When the girls were visiting last Saturday at my mother in laws, my little girl mentioned to her that Molly was getting a bit cold at night and would she make her a coat to wear.  It just so happened that my mother in law was in the mood to do a bit of knitting and made her this very colourful creation to wear.  Now Molly is going to be very warm and happy in her new handmade coat just in time, today was a cold, windy day here.

Tomorrow I have a little giveaway for you, my gorgeous readers to celebrate my birthday so don't forget to come by and visit.

See you tomorrow♥

Lots of cards

It's birthday month in our house this month so on Sunday afternoon I tucked myself away in the craft room and made a few male cards for the oldish, young and in between.

Some of them are embarrassingly late, my creative mojo has been missing lately sadly.

Tonight I think I'll write a little list of my must do's, hopefully that kick starts things.

Have a terrific day tomorrow my friends and to the new ones who have recently joined my blog, thankyou♥

Yesterday I lovingly took dragged my hubby into this little shop of stuff, old stuff, newish stuff and lots of stuff.  I've walked past a few times but it's always been closed until yesterday.  I searched high and low and discovered some more treasures to add to my collection.  Tucked in behind old cups and saucers, marbles and buttons was this milk glass jug, thank you I'll take you home:)  And then one of those things you've admired from afar and wanted some of your own, wooden spools.

There was a bowl full of them large and small, I walked to the counter so happy with my find but it suddenly changed when she told me the price, $5 per spool, they are very rare you know!  Oh wow, ok I suddenly returned them bar two and walked out feeling a bit ripped off.  Anyway I found a very pretty jug which was much better value so I was happy with that.  We headed back to pick up the girls and I was casually talking to my mother in law about the cotton spools, well she said I've got heaps of them in a draw I'll get them for you, what wonderful luck.  So the little Miss and I rummaged through her draw and got lots of delicious spools to take home. The now sit where I can admire them for their old charm.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday♥

Saturday

I am very passionate about feeding my family natural, wholesome and mostly organic food having been inspired by lovely friends in real life and online. Knowing how much I enjoy learning and cooking my hubby surprised me with a cooking class at Mondo Organics called Super Foods, an early birthday present. I really enjoyed being around people who are passionate about cooking good, clean food, learning new techniques and trying new foods without grumbling;) I'm not sure whether the class convinced my meat loving husband to eat more of these types of foods but I'm convinced and will be trying out some of these new foods again. Thank you my darling for being so thoughtful and for a great time. xxx

A little visit to Nook, a sweet little shop selling handmade wears.  I managed to find a couple of little treasures, one for me and a little something for a giveaway to celebrate my birthday next week be sure to stop by.

We finished the day off with coffee for him, hot chocolate for me in one of my favourite Brisbane suburbs, Bulimba.  There are some beautiful character houses there, this one caught my eye today.

What did you get up to this Saturday?  I hope you had a wonderful day♥

Her Creative Space

My older daughter is having a buddy picnic at school tomorrow and she needs to take a plate of food along to share.  She loves to cook so tonight she made some honey joys.  I imagine they'll be a big hit, they sure are in our house.  Here's the recipe she used.

85g of butter

⅓ cup of sugar

1 tbsp of honey

4 cups of cornflakes

Preheat oven on a slow temperature 140℃ to 150℃.  Place the first 3 ingredients into a saucepan and melt until bubbly.  Remove from heat and stir into bowl with cornflakes.  Spoon mixture into patty cases.  Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

For more creative spaces stop by here.♥

Coconut Cake

I was inspired to make the coconut cake Tania made on her blog recently.  I remember my Mum baking this cake often, it was my brother's favourite choice of birthday cake. When we were younger each year for our birthday we were able choose what we wanted for dinner and dessert,  it was something I always looked forward to. It's my birthday next week, I think I might need to come up with something yummy to have for dinner and dessert for me;)  Since it was my brother's birthday last week, I think I might just pop by to visit him at work and give him some as a little surprise. 

If you would like to give the coconut cake a try for yourself, this is the recipe I used out of the Country Women's Association Cookbook 2.

125g butter, softened

1 cup caster sugar

½ teaspoon coconut essence

2 eggs

½ cup desiccated coconut

1½ cups self-raising flour, sifted

300g sour cream

⅓ cup milk

Coconut-Ice Frosting 

2 cups icing sugar

2 egg whites, lightly beaten

1⅓ cups desiccated coconut

Pink food colouring

Grease a 23cm round cake tin, then line base with paper.  Cream butter and sugar, add coconut essence, then beat in eggs one at a time, combining well.  Stir in half the coconut and sifted flour with half the sour cream and milk, then stir in remaining ingredients.  Bake in a moderate oven for about 1 hour.  When cool, ice with coconut-ice frosting.

To make frosting, combine sifted icing sugar with egg whites, mix well, add coconut and a little colouring.

Do you have a special ritual you do to celebrate your birthday? I'd love to hear your ideas.♥

When we were walking around the Jondaryan Wool shed last Friday I came across this poster entitled 'Good Manners' in the old school room.  Even though this poster is some years old, the words are ones that I remember my parents saying to me and ones I still hold true. I truly believe good manners are so important to instill in children, it shows respect and gratefulness towards others.  It makes me happy knowing that what I do for others is appreciated and the simple act of thank you I think makes all the difference.

Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday.♥

Chicken Nuggets

Today was the last day of school holidays for my little girl but for the big girl it was the first day back.  It's nice having some time with just one of my daughters, no disagreements and the contentment of having attention whenever one wants makes for a happy day.  We were supposed to bake some honey jumbles but when you forget some of the key ingredients it means a change of plans, instead I made some more muesli and some iron booster balls.  

After being on school holidays for the past few weeks I'm really out of routine but I want to hop back into things and keep motivated so last night I sat down and wrote a menu plan for the week.  This is our menu for the week:

●Pasta with double tomato sauce

●Minestrone soup with parsley pistou

●Lamb Shepherds Pie

●Chicken Nuggets and fried rice

●Tacos

●Vegetable curry and rice

●Leftovers

●Coconut cake

●Honey jumbles

When I write my plan I don't specify a day because  the night before I choose what we'll have for dinner the following night, it gives me a bit of flexibility.  On tonight's menu, Chicken Nuggets and fried rice.  The chicken nuggets were a bit hit especially with my older daughter so I thought you might like the recipe to give them a try too.

500g chicken breast or thigh fillets, cut into chunks

1 cup mayonnaise

4 cups crushed cornflakes

2 teaspoons mild paprika

2 teaspoons garlic salt

1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

sweet and sour sauce to serve or sauce of your choice

1. Preheat oven to hot, 200℃.  Line an oven tray with baking paper.

2. Place chicken in a bowl with mayonnaise.  Toss to coat.

3. Combine cornflake crumbs, paprika, garlic salt, herbs and pepper in a bowl.  Remove 1 piece of chicken from the mayonnaise, and wipe off excess.  Coat chicken in crumb mixture.  Place on tray.  Repeat with remaining chicken and crumb mixture.  Spray chicken with oil.

4. Bake 15-20 minutes, turning halfway, until golden and cooked through.

Recipe found in Woman's Day

I hope you enjoy them too♥

Hit the road Jack

It's a funny tune originally sung by Ray Charles, that without fail my hubby sings when we're about to go out in the car for a long drive, I think his Mum used to sing it too:)  Today we did indeed hit the road and headed out west.  The girls finish their holidays this week so we thought that today would be a great day to go on an adventure together and keep the weekend free so we can get ready for the school/work week ahead.  We've thought about visiting the Jondaryan Woolshed for a while but just haven't gotten around to doing it, I'm so glad we did today.  To break up the long drive we stopped off at a little town called Oakey for a play in the park and a bit of morning tea. 

We then made our way to the woolshed and took in all that it had to offer, visiting the animals and walking through all the old buildings admiring the old wares and talking about what it may have been like to live there. 

Back in the car again and onto our next destination, Dalby.

There were lots of photo opportunities along the way, I found these power lines a little unusual, not sure why they are built on an angle.  Also the wide open spaces I enjoy seeing, I'm always amazed at how big our country is.

One of my memories as a child visiting Dalby was stopping by the side of the road and picking some cotton, so we had to do that today. 

Lunch in the park was had at our final stop, Dalby, by that stage we were all feeling weary so we had a short walk down the main street, and most importantly the antique shop where I found this old milk bottle. It's now sitting on my desk, next to the bowl awaiting the next treasure, maybe another adventure?

Have you been adventuring lately? Do you have any favourite spots you like to visit?

May your Saturday be sparkling♥