Organising is good for the soul...

Every now and then the pantry needs a good going over! And boy, did mine need one. The problem with most pantries is that they're designed by MEN. And they don't do the cooking. So nothing really works well. So I took myself off to Ikea and bought some metal shelves to put into the pantry.

Then I just needed to get someone to put them together for me. Ok, I could have done it myself, but if there's a willing helper around, why not use them... Stephen to the rescue!

Before...

After....

Gotta love Ikea!

Felt like felting???

Well, not really. But I'm doing some freelance stuff for a yarn company. (Which happens to be just around the corner from my place, so commuting is not an issue!) At the moment I'm working on a project putting a felt story together to sell into major retailers in Australia and the USA. Roving, tools, yarn, raw bags.. you name it. It's all part of the program. So I had to make a few inspirational samples. Nothing too flash. Just interesting enough for Mrs Average. So here they are...

I havn't used my DMC floss for years. Just as well it doesn't have a use by date!

Simple simple...

The pink bag and blue purse were done with a needle and roving. It's called 'dry felting'. Quite fun. And the results are fairly quick,

Baking & Crafting

Cold Winter's day. That inspires me to get into the kitchen and rustle up some biscuits! Now my experience with baking bisciuts is not the best. My first batch ever was a total dissaster. So I've steered away from cookies. My brother Lionel was in the army about a hundred years ago! I thought I'd be a good big sister, and bake him a batch of homemade biscuits. Except I misread the recipe. I overdid it with the baking soda, and the biscuits just oozed all over the oven. Not pretty! But this recipe that I found on http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/ was easy and successful.

Simple ingredients. Self raising flour, sugar, condensed milk & butter. Lots of butter! Not good for the diet! But moderation right?!

I managed to get close to 100 cookies.

And here's the total batch. I divided them up to give away and have kept only one tin for ourselves. Frans LOVES biscuits. So it's best not to have too many hanging around!

Here's the recipe:

Makes 7-8 dozen, cook 10 min at 180C

500 grams butter (approx 1.1 lb)

1 can condensed milk (390-400 gram)

1 cup sugar

5 cups wholemeal self raising flour (or plain flour and paking powder)

toppings like choc chips, smarties, jam, cinnamon and sugar

Cream butter and sugar, add condensed milk. stir in flour. roll into balls and flatten. top with choc chips etc, or thumbprint and add jam for jam drops.

Bake at 180C for approx 10 min until golden brown. cool on racks

And then it was Frans' neice Gwen's birthday on Saturday. We had her over with her folks for dinner on Sunday night. I thought I would have a go at making Macarons. Mmm... not that easy. Mine look nothing like the ones you buy. In fact they looked like mini dog turds! But the taste was good. They got the thumbs up from everyone. I think I'll have another go. Second time round may be better!

I baked a delicious pear and burnt butter cake for dessert. A winner all round. Here's the birthday girl.

And here's the cake!

Now to what I'm up to craft wise at the moment....

Remember the yummy yarns I posted earlier? Well they're coming together nicely to create a beautiful shawl. I thought I'd have enough little crochet rounds, but no.... I'm about half way. The current measurement is about 40cm wide by 70cm long. I need to make it at least 150cm long. So I will keep makng those little crochet circles and flowers!

I dug out an old UFO (unfinished object) the other day. I started crocheting a rag rug a few years ago. Somehow it ended up in a box burried in the sewing cupboard. I've pulled it out and hope to keep going with it. I need to cut a load of fabric strips to finish it. It's about 80cm in diameter at the moment. I'd like to make it around 1.5m total. So there's just a little bit more to go!

Photo shoots and tables

Our place was used today for a photo shoot. The products were fashion yarn garments created by the yarn company I do some freelance designing for. It was a long day! It started at 7.30am with the make up artist arriving and getting set up. Then the models had to get made up. That took around an hour for each girl. So there's a lot of waiting around. The models are so used to it. They come well armed with ipods and books.

Here the action has moved to a friend's place down the street. The light had to be 'just right'. Waiting for the clouds, waiting for the sun...

If you look carefully, you'll see some of my handiwork in the shot. The little flower throw and cushion on the left hand side of the screen. And the purple flower bag being held (in a rather odd manner!) by the centre on the right. The little kids were really good. Smiled on demand.

And at last... Frans has finished his table. It was indeed a labour of love. He thinks it took him far too long. About 3 months in total. Lots of sanding, varnishing and more sanding. Here he is demostrating the size! It's really big. 1.4m wide x 2.5m long. There are still extensions to come. That's the next job!

The table as it is will seat 12. 4 on each side, 2 on each end. Now we just need to get different chairs. We're leaning towards the mismatched look. So I'll be trawling ebay to find some suitable seats. I just can't stand these really yellow things with the balls on top!

So the next step is to christen the table. I feel a dinner party coming on!

Busy Fingers

I've been busy lately. Crocheting up a storm. I'm doing some design work for a yarn company and have had a deadline to meet. This deadline had enabled me to watch countless hours of really bad day time TV. So here are a few pics of what I've been doing.

These little pieces have been put on a tapestry mesh base to become a bag...

Like this. I just need to pop the handles on and it's done!

These littel crochet flower squares have become a little baby blanket.

With a matching pillow. I'll upload pics of the blanket later.

My garden and home are being used in a photo shoot tomorrow. Pity it's a winter garden. Not much colour at the moment. But hopefully photoshop will fill in the blanks!

Happy Birthday Mum!

It's Mum Hillege's birthday today. We wish Mum a very happy day! She's the best Mum, mother law and Oma anyone could wish for.

She is a wonderful inspiration to everyone who knows her.

She is tireless in her quest for knowlege.

She is alway busy doing 'stuff''

She crochets, sews, puzzles, reads, frames pictures, does Tai Chi EVERY day and has a wonderful zest for life!

She also creates beautiful items for charity. She is a Lions supporter and has raised a lot of money with her handywork.

 I hope to be just like her when I'm 89!

We love you Mum!

World Cup Fever!

I for one am breathing a sigh of relief that the World Cup Soccer is over! Those early mornings were a real challenge. So Holland made it into the final. This was a great excuse to 'go Dutch'! Sara and Stephen prepared a Dutch party for us. She pulled out every Dutch souvenier that she could find, along with all the cross stitch panels that have been made for us by our Dutch Mum and Aunt. It was orange and blue all the way!

We ate stroopwafels, speculaas and beskuit with chocolate sprinkles. All before 6.30am! Well, the Dutch team didn't win. They played dirty and got plenty of yellow cards. Sara was most dissappointed with the result. Well, it was only a game, but one with really high stakes! Better luck next time!

And here's what is happening in the vegie patch.... not much. I've got a couple of brocoli plants doing quite well.

And a few cauli plants. I hope they finally produce something big enough to eat!

And finally... Yay!! My garlic is sprouting. I planted about 60 cloves on the 24th of June. A few days past the suggested planting deadline. So I'll just harvest them a couple of days later. I'm sure the bulbs won't know the difference. You're supposed to plant your garlic before the longest night of the year, and harvest them just before the shortest night. So role on December.....

This weekend I'm planning to do a major garden clean up. Prepare the beds for Spring.

Crochet Bag Finished and other crochet pieces...

Remember the bag I started a few weeks ago? Well here it is. This is side one.

And this is side two.

It's turned out quite well. I may think of doing another one... and then, maybe not. Too many other fun things to try first.

Speaking of fun... here's a little Tea Cozy I made on Sunday night in front of the telly. It's my first effort. Very simple. But fun. I've got a few more ideas brewing for more of these little babies.

I now have a pair. The one on the right I bought at a fete a long time ago.

And here is the start of my Prudence Mapstone inspired shawl. Lots of little circles and flowers!

Starting to love the colours... a few more bits to go before I stitch them together.

Stay tuned for the finished result.

Out and about

Ok, firstly I have to tell you that I'm really peeved with myself..... I havn't paid attention to my darling husband. He is always banging on about backing up our data on our computers. Wish I'd paid more attention. Because last week, my old brick of a laptop died. I thought I was reasonably safe. I thought I was only going to be missing maybe a couple of months worth of data and photos, but upon deeper investigation, it's worse than I thought. Damn! So I now have the option of trying to get someone to retrieve the data from the old hard drive. At around $200, I might just have to take the plunge and hope some of my photos can be saved. So lesson number one people...... BACK UP YOUR DATA REGULARLY!

On the bright side, I have a new laptop. It's a black shiny thing with a nice big screen. There's more grunt under the hood than my old one. It's like learning to drive a new car. Some of the software on this thing is much newer than the old. So it all looks a little different.

Ok, what have we been up to lately? We're enjoying showing Melbourne off to our new family. So our first excursion was to Chapel Street in South Yarra. It's a street known for it's fashionable shops and trendy cafes.

This is Chapel Str. It runs for about 2 kms. There's a fashionable end and then there's the grungy end. Op shops and the Wesley Mission. Character overload in this street.

Even the dogs are fashionable. Isn't this too cute!

Stephen, Sara & Sonja

Last Friday evening Sara and I went to my friend Sue's place for a jewellery party. Sue's hubby Greg is really clever with words. He wrote this lovely poem on their kitchen notice board.

Here's a pic of the spire at the Arts Centre in Melbourne on Saturday night. We drove Sara, Stephen and Simone into the city. It's like our own little Eifel Tower!

And to finish the weekend , I made a batch of scones yesterday. Now this is the easiest recipe in the world. I got it from a friend who lives on a property in the Western District of Victoria. So thanks Prue!

Here's the recipe:

Self raising flour

Pinch of salt

Pouring cream

Before you begin, place the baking tray into the oven. Turn the oven onto high. (around 220deg)

About 2 cups of flour into a bowl

Add a pinch of salt

Pour in about a 300mls of cream

Use a knife and cut the cream into the flour until a stiff dough forms.

Use your hands and turn the blob onto a bench.

Gently bring all the dough together and pat it so you have a slab of dough about 3 to 4cm high

Using a scone cutter, cut your scones.

Remove the tray from the oven (use gloves!) and run a little butter over the hot tray.

Then quickly place the scones onto the tray.

Pop them into the oven for around 12 to 15 mins

Serve with jam and cream!

Aussie Aussie Aussie....

Welcome to Australia; Alan, Sonja and Amelie!

Thursday was an exciting day for us. We now have more family living in Melbourne. So now there are us, (the Hilleges), Gwen (Frans' neice and Goddaughter) and now Alan (Frans' nephew) and his lovey young family. Alan and Sonja along with their delightful little girl Amelie have just arrived in Oz from London. Josie (Frans' sister & Alan's Mum) along with Chris, Josie's husband flew to Melbourne especially to be at the airport when the travellers arrived. So we thought it was a fitting occasion to be super patriotic and embarrass ourselves and Sonja and Alan at the same time. So it was with Aussie flags, balls and balloons that we cheered them as they came out of the customs gate.

No, this is not the Man from Snowy River. It's Frans in his Dryzabone and Akubra. To get us in the mood for this special event, he subjected us to John Williamson's Warrigal CD (ON REPEAT!) all the way to the airport. It was a good old fashioned travelling sing along. Everyones favourite is probably still 'Bill the Cat'.

Waiting for the honoured guests to arrive. Sara, Stephen, Chris, Gwen, Frans, Ami & Josie

Frans and his big sister Josie. Except she's tiny! And her hubby Chris hiding behind the lense of his camera!

Sara & Stephen

Chutney Cousins! Gwen & Sara

At last! Alan doing double duty. A ful trolley and a pram with Amelie. Aussie Aussie Aussie... oi oi oi!!

Sonja looking as fresh as a daisy!

So now we start the fun bit. We get to show Alan, Sonja and Amelie 'our' Melbourne. There's nothing like exploring a new city. We've done that a few times!

We hope they're very happy in Melbourne and love it just as much as we do!