Mad Hatter

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Posted on March 31, 2015

Apologies for the lack of post yesterday but I was otherwise engaged so no opportunity for blogging.

I was in the office for most of the day today but late this afternoon I spent a couple of fun-filled hours creating these millinery masterpieces for Miss O and Izz to wear to the Easter concert and hat parade at school. I had picked up a couple of packets of Easter decorations at Spotlight yesterday and we combined these with various things that Belle had in her box of craft bits and pieces plus a couple of sheets of coloured card. Some glue and staples to assemble the hats and these are the results.

I apologise for the poor quality of the photos as I quickly snapped them this evening and I clearly have not mastered the camera function on my phone!

An Anniversary

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Posted on March 12, 2015

Today is a milestone in the life of this blog. It is exactly four years since I tapped out those first tentative words and then hit ‘Publish’.

It is a rather daunting prospect to write and not know who will read or what their reaction will be. I have to say that the experience of the last four years of blogging has been overwhelmingly positive and that is entirely due to my readers. Thank you from the depths of my heart.

I have been lucky enough to meet some of you from the USA and UK as well as the other side of Australia. To develop a connection with fellow bloggers is really special and I have formed some enduring friendships.

Recently, I have been working to re-instate the photos which I inadvertently deleted from the first two years of the blog. It has been interesting to re-read some of my posts and to see how things have changed. A real lesson in the dynamism of life.

When I began I was not really sure how long I would or could continue blogging but it is now such a part of my life that I would feel quite lost without it.

Thank you once again for your continued support and comments.

More Pancakes

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Posted on February 17, 2015

Last year I wrote about Shrove Tuesday. You can read the post here. This year I decided to be a bit more creative and I managed to make gluten-free, egg-free crepes.

I modified the basic batter that I posted last year. Here is my recipe for the crepes.

100g gluten-free flour *see note below*
20g flaxseed meal
1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
250ml milk
Whisk all ingredients together and allow to stand for 5 minutes.

Pour a small quantity of batter onto a hot griddle, spreading thinly with the back of a spoon. Cook until just set then flip and finish cooking.

NOTE: The gluten-free flour that I use is a combination of 4 different flours in specific proportions that I learned about in a gluten-free cookbook. I cannot put the details of the flour here as that would not be fair to the author. Here is a link to the book if you are interested. No, I do not receive any commission. 🙂

Like any crepes these can be eaten in a variety of ways, either sweet or savoury.

I decided to use them to make a main course for dinner and filled them with a bolognaise sauce. As you can see from the photo they are a bit delicate to handle once they are cool, especially if you make them fairly thin as I did.

The crepes will be heated through then topped with a little grated cheese and finished under the grill. I am going to serve it with a green salad.

Are you making pancakes today, gluten-free or not?

Some Random Stuff

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Posted on February 13, 2015

There is no real theme to this post – hence the title.

A couple of years ago I wrote this post about the highs and lows of social media. One of the wonders of it is the ability to easily connect with family and friends. Today I have spent some time setting up a group for my cousins and other extended family. This will allow us to keep in touch across vast distances and generations. The catalyst was a seed of an idea to organise a get-together on the centenary of our grandfather’s arrival at Gallipoli. He was not with the first landing on April 25th 1915 but it was significant for our family as a sequence of events that followed this led to him spending time in England where he met his future wife (our grandmother). I already have feedback from far and wide which simply would not have been possible without Facebook.

As I was taught at school – “new thought, new paragraph”………

The decluttering continues – I have a small bag of a few more things that will be leaving the sewing room. I generally keep a plastic supermarket bag on the bag of the door in the sewing room and add anything that I find and then drop it off to the op shop when the bag is full. I also have 2 small cartons of books which we sorted from the bookshelves last month. They have been sitting on the floor next to the bookcases waiting for me to get organised and find a new home for them. I have listed them on a couple of local buy/swap/sell sites as well as Freecycle but if I don’t get a taker by the end of the weekend I think they will be going to the op shop as well. It is a difficult task to balance the desire to have things gone and not hanging around, against finding the perfect home for them. How do you manage this conundrum when decluttering?

I have also set up a ‘Decluttering’ tab at the top of my blog. Check it out if you are interested.

Finally, I just wanted to share these couple of photos with you today. In my next life, I think I will be a dog………….

or maybe, a cat!

These photos were taken at about 4.30pm and the cat has been on that chair ALL DAY!

The weather is not looking fabulous here – in fact it is pouring with rain and blowing a gale so I am not sure what the weekend will bring. I hope you have a fabulous weekend wherever you are.

What Does It Really Mean?

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Posted on January 26, 2015

WARNING: Political opinion ahead.

Today, January 26th, is a public holiday designated as Australia Day. Two years ago I wrote this post and it is equally as relevant as when I wrote it.

We have been to a barbecue with friends and neighbours which was pleasant and on any other day would have been just that – a barbecue with friends. Because it is deemed to be Australia Day was I celebrating the invasion of this country and the declaration of the colony of New South Wales? I do not believe that this is necessarily the case.

I am grateful to to have been born in this country and look forward to the future in the hope that one day we will know what it is to have a truly inclusive society – one which includes all of our citizens from the original residents to the newest arrivals.

As always, the debate has been raised over the spectre of Australia becoming a republic, the relevance of our flag and the national anthem. I have read many and varied opinions on these topics today and I will not bore you with some of the drivel which has been written.

A reasoned conversation to discuss and choose a day of significance to all would be an excellent first step in creating an inclusive culture in this country. The anniversary of constitutional recognition of indigenous Australians could be an appropriate day for all Australians to be able to celebrate and be grateful for all that this country has to offer. I hope and pray that this will soon become a reality.

Meanwhile, Mr Abbott has surpassed himself with the announcement of two new knights in the Australia Day honours list. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was named as a Knight of the Order of Australia. As if it was not bad enough that Mr Abbott re-introduced the honours of Knights and Dames of the Order of Australia last year, 26 years after the abolition of these anachronistic titles, he has now awarded one to the consort of a foreign monarch. I have nothing personal against Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II or the House of Windsor but I cannot fathom this choice. Decisions such as this are divisive and do nothing to contribute to a modern, forward-thinking and inclusive Australia.

Today is not a day for looking backwards or resorting to out-dated practices. Let us move forward and work towards creating a better place for all of our children and future generations.

2014 – A Year in Review

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Posted on December 31, 2014

Bizarre, tragic and downright evil are some of the adjectives which come to mind when looking to describe the events which shaped 2014.

Invariably, the most recent events are those which are clearest in our minds – the Sydney siege, the stabbing murders of 8 children in Cairns and the loss of the Air Asia flight. Unfortunately, the horrors seem to have been almost never-ending. Two Malaysia Airlines flights lost in very different circumstances, the untimely death of Phillip Hughes and the tragic death of Luke Batty at his father’s hand.

Two other matters were resolved with trial and sentencing of the perpetrators of crimes against Daniel Morcombe and Alison Baden-Clay.

On a different note the G20 roadshow came to town and despite Mr Abbott’s threats, Mr Putin appeared to depart with his shirtfront intact.

Ferries sank, volcanoes erupted, the Ebola virus rampaged through parts of Africa, we became aware of the appalling agenda of Islamic State and the fighting continued in Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and Gaza.

It is not exactly a good news story. I am sure there were some highlights but I am struggling to find them.

Meanwhile, I tried to keep my focus on blogging but there were times when I just felt too overwhelmed by events in the world around me to write about simplifying our life. There was also a 6 week hiatus while we jetted off to the UK and Ireland for an amazing holiday. That adventure is documented here.

One of my goals for 2015 is to re-capture the enthusiasm for my simple,organised life and share it with you all on a much more regular basis.

Thank you for sticking with me and may 2015 be all that you wish for.

Happy New Year!

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 33,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 12 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

New & Shiny Stuff

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Posted on December 30, 2014

Regular readers would know that I am not an advocate of shopping. Of course, I buy food to feed us and things that we use in our day-to-day lives but I am definitely not into shopping for recreation.

Every now and then I have a day like today when all I seem to do is buy. I had to go to Brisbane this morning with The Duke as we were to pick up our latest purchase this afternoon, but more about that later. It meant that I had the whole day to fill in so my first stop was Spotlight. I bought 5 white buttons for a blouse I am making and I also took some time to look at the fabrics which were all 40% off the marked price. I do not buy things just because they are discounted but I found some fabric that I am planning to use.

The white piece is linen/cotton blend and I am planning to make a summer dress for myself. I also bought some white lawn (not shown) for the lining. I am going to use this dress as the pattern.

The red is a stretch cotton (t-shirt) fabric which I plan to make a copy of a top I bought earlier in the year.

The other piece is white with black silhouettes of kitchen utensils and I am going to make some more potholders and a cover for my Kitchen Aid mixer which lives on the corner of the bench in the kitchen.

After my Spotlight expedition I went to visit my mother and we went to a large shopping centre near where she lives. Apart from having lunch there we wandered around and I checked out several boutiques and I ended up buying a pair of white, slim-fitting trousers and a blue, patterned cardigan/bolero. I did try on numerous other pieces but I am very selective in the clothes I buy and wanted to be sure that were exactly what I wanted but more on those another day.

The final hurrah was to pick up our new car after our previous one was deemed to be a total write-off after the damage sustained during the recent ferocious hailstorm.

I am planning a much less adventurous day tomorrow. I will be staying at home and hope to get some sewing done. It will not be any of the new material just yet as I have a couple of other projects that I need to complete before I start any new ones.

What are your plans for New Year’s Eve? Partying or a quiet night at home?