Au Coeur De La Maison

I finished this cross stitch for Mum on the weekend called Au Coeur de la Maison which according to Google Translate means "The Heart of the House". The pattern is from a French cross stitch book by Marie-Anne Rethoret-Melin's Sweet Home : Petites maisons à broder au point de croix which I bought earlier this year.

Broccolini with Jamie Oliver's Asian Dressing

I was half watching Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals earlier this year, and the "Asian" inspired dressing caught my attention. "Asian" recipes by Western chefs always amuse me, like adding soy makes a dish Asian, but I must say the flavours of this dressing is pretty authentic!

One of my favourite vegetables is broccolini, and this dressing is perfect for it. Blanch the broccolini until tender and drain. For the dressing, mix finely chopped red chili, a clove of garlic, a tablespoon of olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce and juice of half a lemon (Jamie uses lime). The measurements are approximates so adjust the quantities to your taste.

Magpie Family Update

Yesterday evening the magpie family was making quiet a racket so Mum went out to the garden to give them some bread. I'm not sure if Baker's Delight wholemeal loaf is magpie food, but the parent magpie took it gratefully.

Bird Silhouette Cross Stitch

Mum is obsessed with all things bird so when I saw this free pattern from Martha Stewart I had to make one for her. We are surrounded by many trees so there are always lots of birds chirping in the garden. This magpie family lives in the tree next door but they are always in our garden checking things out!

Paper Crafts

I've been anti-social and unmotivated, but I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. I've recently discovered a new blog How About Orange which is filled with craft goodies that has inspired me to make a couple of paper projects.


I made this paper ball re-using backing from bound documents from work. To save time I photo copied the template directly onto the cardboard (remember to adjust the paper weight setting so it doesn't jam the machine) and after some fiddling, voila, a fantastic paper ball! Mum said it looks like a hydrangea so now I'm thinking about making them in purple and mauve. On the topic of hydrangeas here are some blooms this year, the colour is not as rich as previous years but just as beautiful.


The blog's gift bow tutorial was great too, and I used double sided printed music sheets. Instead of staples I used double sided tape which works just as well.

Hopetoun Tea Room

Mum had promised to take Dad to the Hopetoun Tea Room at Melbourne's historic Block Arcade to celebrate his 73rd birthday, but we were too full for cake after lunch at Red Spice Road (the pork belly is SO scrumptious). We ended up going today, and Mum and Dad had the Black Forrest Cake while I opted for the Toblerone cheesecake which was so rich I was full for the rest of the day! Perhaps it could be a new diet craze - just one meal a day which consists of Toblerone cheesecake?

One of our garden doors was worse for wear so Dad made another one! I guess I inherited the DIY gene from him :)

New Shoes!

'S' is my favourite letter of the alphabet because I love SALES and SHOES! Wittner is having a sale so I couldn't resist buying new shoes today! I couldn't decide whether I preferred the black or the red Minako sandals so I bought one in each colour. It's ok, they were on sale!
 

Mum bought me these beautiful peony roses yesterday (in pink of course!) which are my favourite.