Happy Easter

Yes - there was chocolate - orange pieces with nuts from Koko Black but I had a bit of time, so I made Em this little needle felted bird in a nest with two tiny blue eggs. Hope you all had a lovely day.

Vegetarian? Don't Look Now.

We had a friend over for Easter Sunday lunch. I cooked a leg of lamb the night before so we had a Ploughman's Lunch. They vary but ours was cold lamb, Branston pickles, caperberries, home-made bread (made by Em), green salad, good cheese and plenty of wine. I don't cook big pieces of meat very often but I quite enjoyed preparing the lamb. I put heaps of garlic cloves in little jabs - lots of rosemary too and cooked it on a bed of onions and yet more garlic. It was fantastic. Last night I made Shepherd's Pie with the left overs - double yum.

A Very Good Friday

Easter was bliss. The perfect combination of friends, fresh air, food and chocolate. On Friday Em and I (& Toby) took a drive down to Airey's Inlet to visit a friend who has taken 12 months off to live and paint by the sea.
It hasn't been easy. H isn't an heiress, but - as corny as it might sound - she had a dream. With not much money she lucked renting a house in Airey's and with part-time work, she's been able to spend this time pursing what she loves. Sigh!
Her house is a two minute walk from the wonderful cliff-top that overlooks this... a thousand shades of blue lifting and dropping, a flick of beach and a breeze that almost knocks your head-off.
We had such a great day. I always feel energised when I spend time with people who have had a crack at doing something that everyone else thinks is "crazy!". H isn't crazy....she's really, really happy. Yay!

Another Thrifting Day with the Girls

This time it was at The Mill in Geelong. A huge place that's packed to the rafters and really organised.
Liz got beads, Keysie a mirror, Leonie some cute shirts, Emma - nothing! Jai - nothing! Me? Hmm. Some totally useless cute stuff - a 1960s baby rattle (pink and blue elephants) and an old tin with a boy in a space suit on the front. Tres cute. Here's what else we saw:

Lots of 70s glass.

Love the side-board but it was $400 which I thought was a bit steep.

Very tempted with these ($18) but I have a pretty good collection of Christmas baubles...

Inside was a pair of white leather gloves.

Who put the cookies in the cookie jar? There were loads of these Japanese cookie jars from $10 to $40. I love them but Emma isn't a fan...

Some very cute vintage cards - unused for $5 each.

I had a look inside both boxes - in great condition.

Hilarious!!

Nice buttons and plastic buckles. $20 for the jar.

Just cute.

Toby at the beach.

Here I am, trotting in the shallows. There's no way I'm going any deeper. Dang, it's cold.

Happy on dry land. How cute am I? Go on - tell me.

Off for another adventure. Bye!

Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award

Em and I went to see the Helen Lempriere sculptures at Werribee Park on Saturday. It was a stunning day& the roses were in full bloom, too. Maybe the hot weather put the crowds off - felt like we had the place pretty much to ourselves. I just loved seeing so much green - the grass was heaven. We took off our shoes and just - arrhhhh. Is there a word for taking your shoes of and walking on the soft, almost velvety grass? There should be.

Above: the winner - Pont de l'Archeveche by Bob Jenyns. It was inspired by Albert Tucker's caravan...he was in Paris at the time and couldn't afford his hotel room - so he built a little caravan (which had to be dismantled and hauled out the window, bit by bit) and set it up on the banks of the Seine.

I think this was my favourite - huge 'paper' plane.

...beautiful row boat...

Kids were running on the chalked lines - getting giddy.

I loved this one, too...

Another Thrifting Sunday

A group of us went thrifting yesterday. A 60s red chair was found, lots of 70s vases were had, one friend found an old book about carpentry that made him very happy. Emma got some twisty, iron plant-holder stands (yay!) and me? I found a stack of old Martha Stewart Living mags for $3 each! Very, very happy. Here's some random snaps of the stuff we DIDN'T buy...

Arvo Tea

There's a couple of things that might shock you here:
A: The lashings and lashings of silky cream all over the apple cake ....
and
B: She hasn't read The Great Gatsby???

Correct on both counts. Hmmm. Warm apple cake with cream. Divine.
F. Scott just passed me by - but not this time.