creative space - blanket

Our modular lounge has been part of our home for over a year now, and with the wear and tear of three kids to think about, we've been covering the seating cushions with throws and woolen blankets. One stretch of the lounge is rather long and required several blankets. Of which I was getting quite weary untangling and smoothing out several times a day.

Then one day in the op shop I spotted a few old woolen blankets that had seen better days. I decided to rescue them as I just couldn't resist the pretty colours. And then I thought of my blanket conundrum. And so three old, holey blankets were made into one very big one.

Some (rather bulky) patchwork sewing

One and a half vintage sheets

Making it reversible for summer

Just had to leave the little name tag in there

Did you notice that I put two pink squares together? Let's just pretend I did that on purpose.

Very warm and comfy and giving me a 50's vibe with it's colours.

For some other creative spaces today, take a look here.

extra rearranging

And because I couldn't stop at the kitchen shelves, here are a few more little rearrangements...

 My favourite little cupboard has been moved out of the spare room and is now in the main living area. It sits beside a large pottery piece (bottle? jug? What is the correct term?) from my Nanna and Pop's shed. That shed was a veritable treasure trove in it's day, though Nanna thought it was full of junk. It's where Mum rescued a vintage cream and green enamel canister set (with writing!) from. Nanna and Pop are no longer with us, and it's nice to have little reminders of them around the house.

I found the flour canister.

I seem to have quite a number of old bottles now. If only I had some cut flowers to add to them. But I need to wait until the plants I have not yet planted, flower. Will get there. One day.

colourful shelves

Breathing a huge sigh of relief that all that cleaning and rearranging is finally done. This job even escaped my obsessive nesting period of late pregnancy.
Nice to have a little more colour on the shelves to brighten this rather drab time of year. I do think that as long as those shelves put a smile on my face, then I have succeeded in what I set out to do.

kitchen shelves and a cassoulet

I had one of those crazy ideas to rearrange the kitchen shelves on Saturday. I regretted it that night when I looked around at the disarray of dishes, bowls and whatever else, taking up every inch of counter space. Not to mention the years worth of sticky dust that had accumulated. Thank goodness some kind of normality had returned by Sunday night. At which point it was too late to take any 'after' photos.



Most things were shuffled around, a few went into the storage cupboard of the pantry, while the mixing bowls came out of the cupboard and onto the shelves.

I think I have a problem of tiring of objects far too easily, and as a result need to change them around fairly frequently. Most of the time I swap things around, but sometimes a few months or even a year of banishing to the storage cupboard can make them feel fresh and new again.

As for weekend food, well,  I picked up Donna Hay's magazine (one I don't usually buy) and cooked up the chicken and chorizo cassoulet. It was quite a hit. And not only did Saturday nights dinner, but Sunday lunch as well.  Now I'm eying off a few of the other recipes in there, particularly those rice puddings.

 I do hope you all had warm and cozy weekend.

the magazine dilemma

Whether to cut up whether to keep. Such is the magazine lover's dilemma. Cutting out almost always wins out in this house, with our house being on the small side. So every few months I cut out my favourite pictures and recipes and donate or toss the rest. My husband dreads this little ritual, as he finds magazines strewn all over the lounge room floor for days.

But it's something I've done since I was a child, this scrapbook thing, starting out with Mum's English family-style magazines or Family Circle. It's something I still enjoy doing. I guess I haven't really changed over the years.

 I purchase those big scrapbooks that are made for kids and cover them with with Frankie paper - these were free wrapping papers from a few years ago and a calender.

So many images that were just too good to throw out. The above house was actually inspiration for the exterior of our house.

What do you do with your old magazines? Do you like keeping them in pristine condition, valuing them as you would a book, or do you hack at them?

little moments

In my day to day life, amongst the general ups and downs of rushed mornings, daily chores and distracted thoughts, the days often seem to pass by in a blur. It's those daily, insignificant little moments though, that can bring a little joy into our life. For me, taking daily photos has awakened myself to appreciate the smaller things in everyday life, that I may have otherwise passed by, or quickly forgotten.

Today I am appreciating...

simple rock cakes

kid's art (though the poor tablecloth did not fare well)

new fabric in the mail

experimental bread dough with the addition of brown rice flour

 Still managing to harvest the occasional greens from a vegie garden that fell victim to frost months ago

Washing finally drying

And firewood that seems too pretty to burn

Wishing you all a lovely Thursday.

baking

It's no secret I have a bit of a sweet tooth. And with lots of little events and fundraisers at the village school, not to mention a whole family of sweet toothes, there is certainly many opportunities for baking.

Recently the school was offering an assortment of books to purchase. For bargain prices too, I might add. When I saw "The Country Show Cookbook" I was rather excited, as I had borrowed it from the library months ago, and it was one of those books that you just don't want to bring back (and run up exorbitant fees in the process). Overnight it became our village's bestseller.

It is the kind of baking we all enjoyed before we became a nation of food snobs. And I mean that in the nicest possible way, as I enjoy a cannoli or croissant as much as the next girl. And no, I haven't tried one of those coloured macaroons yet, but I suspect  I would like them.  If you miss rock cakes, sponges, black forest cake and pumpkin scones, you will love this book.

(Available here, here or here.)

Below is the coconut cake I made on the weekend. The most delicious coconut cake I've tasted yet. And most unkind to your waistline. But I say go all-out if you are going to go to the trouble of baking.
Here is my take on the above cake:

Coconut Cake

125g butter

1 cup castor sugar

1/2 tsp coconut essence

2 eggs

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1 1/2 cups plain flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

300g carton sour cream (though I ran out of sour cream and replaced about 1/4 of this amount with natural yoghurt)

1/3 cup milk

Icing

2 cups icing sugar

1 1/2 cups coconut

2 eggwhites

Preheat oven 180 C. Grease and flour a 23cm round cake tin.

Cream together softened butter, sugar and coconut essence, with beaters, until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined. Mix in remaining ingredients (the recipe recommends doing this in halves with the liquid and dry ingredients, but I never bother) and mix until smooth.

Bake for approximately 1 hour or until done.

Icing: Combine sifted icing sugar with coconut in a bow. Add egg whites and mix well. Colour pink if decided. 

I'm not the one to pull out the food colouring willy-nilly, so I think the pink will only be used on special occasions here. No need to have the kids going mad.

Here is my finished version that also appeared on Monday's post.

Happy baking!