Happy New Year!!!

Hi all,  hoping my readers had a very Happy Christmas. 
I have been going through a bit of a rough time recently so have been feeling very unlike posting on my blog....in fact at times I have questioned why I really bother....and I still don't have an answer to that....but something keeps drawing me back to do the odd post now and then.  So for the time being I will keep doing that.

So wanting to wish you a Very Happy 2013..... and may your year be richly blessed.

Hope to see you again soon.

No name!!!

Recent times have seen me busy with lots of different things....a little while back, my work was very generous and gave the staff  Red Balloon gift certificates.....this enabled staff to get experiences such as fishing, massages, cooking classes and a huge variety of other activities....their website is worth taking a look at.  So, one of my colleagues and I decided to participate in a chocolate making class which was fantastic.  I decided to use the remainder of my voucher taking a friend for lunch at Sydney's Centrepoint Tower recently also.

Here is a photo of some of the chocolates we made...

Last month was my nephew's 5th birthday and he asked me to make his cake....this is what I came up with (thanks to a google search of Lego Birthday cake ideas).

Whilst in Sydeny recently, I went to the newly opened Marimekko Store and had fun looking at all of the beautiful products and also splurged on a piece of fabric.....there were too many choices, however I decided on this....and sadly, this is where the photos end.....somehow I have used up my quota of storage for photos on blogger.....so that said, I have decided to start posting photos onto Instagram.....it is so much simpler and quicker....especially for uploading photos...and I can also do it really easily on my IPad...given that, I may not be updating my blog as often (or not even, given my tardiness in recent months!!!)

Hello

sooooo....another 2 months has passed to the day since my last post....and a busy couple of months it has been...this week I have returned from a few days in Sydney for a work conference and catching up with a friend.  I had a lovely time, the conference was really worthwhile and it was a bit sad to leave....but I know I will return again soon.  In the meantime, I had better show you some photos of my time away...and perhaps the past couple of months....

this is a stitchery I made for a friend's birthday....she has recently acquired an Eames chair.....not such a great photo

the photo below is of the most amazing coffee machine I saw during a weekend away in Hepburn last month...and they also made good coffee

I made this "Orla Kiely" inspired cushion for a work colleague who moved into a new home some time back...she loved it....

This photo was taken when a couple fo work colleagues who were in Sydney the week before me at their own conference and we met up for dinner on the Friday night at Red Lantern and then again when we visited Adriano Zumbo at "The Star"...for those readers from overseas, Adriano Zumbo is an amazing pastry chef who appears regularaly on the show here called MasterChef and presents incredible challenges for the contestants of the show....can I just say that this creation below tasted even better than it looks....it is called "Happy Birthday"...here is a description....

Flourless chocolate biscuit, chocolate sabayon mousse, ultimate chocolate brownie, caramel mou, milk chocolate chantilly and cocoa nib nougatine with a White chocolate and Passionfruit glaze.

...the boxes in the background are his "Zumbarons" ie....macarons....also delicious!

and after we had cut into the cake.....

 the conference included a dinner cruise on Sydney Harbour....whilst the sights were lovely, the cruise itself was somewhat boring as I didn't know anyone else and it went for way too long and I could not escape!!!! but I managed to get this great photo of Luna Park...



and this shot of the Opera House... 

and finally a photo of the cake I wanted to buy Dad for his Birthday which was yesterday....but sadly, Zumbo's does not recommend excessive transportation of such a  masterpiece





well, that is all for now....will be back some time in the future...I am not going to make any more promises of posting on any sort of regular basis!!!





I am back!!!

Goodness me, is it really nearly 2 months since I did a post????  Life has certainly been busy....I have lots of personal stuff going on...but won't elaborate just yet....anyhooooo, apart from my personal stuff, here are a few other things which have also been keeping me semi busy...
Last month a group of us from work went to a cupcake decorating class....these were my results....

 

I have also been busy finishing of a couple of quilts...the greena dn cream is one for friends who turned 40 and 50 a year or so back.....it is a very good feeling to have finished this one.....the bright one is just one I made because I bought some very cute fabrics...and was prompted to get going to make it....just need to quilt it now.

This weekend I have done some baking...my favourite Bill Granger's Almond and Raspberry Slice...Yummmm

Last week I had a couple of days off work and did some sightseeing in my own home town...I didn't take many photos, however I thought the top of the Eureka Tower looked speactacular with the sun reflecting off the gold.....love the haze bouncing off it....

and a post would not be complete without a photo of my two "babies"  who are not so little anymore....tthey seem to have had a major growth spurt in the past week or two....

Celebrations

I feel like this blog has turned into a cooking blog rather than sewing/patchwork/stitching one over the past little while...and here again I am showing photos of more food! A very dear friend turned 50 this weekend just past and I made some lemon slice and macarons for her afternoon tea, as shown in the above photo.
Her brother Phil made a baked cheesecake (below)....though not like any baked cheesecake that I have ever seen...he has such a gift for making cakes...he used to work with Gabriel Gate and Jeff Jansz many years ago on"What's Cooking"...he was the one who made the "here's one I prepared earlier" items....he now makes the occasional wedding cake and special cakes for loved ones....the cake stand is made of toffee...as are the "gems" hanging around the stand...not only did it look wonderful, it was delicious to eat....

Food Glorious Food

It has yet again been a while since posting....but blogger has changed the way things work so I have been struggling to work out how to do posts on the new format....and you know how some things are just too hard to persevere with at times....any how....here are a few photos of things I have been doing of late....

Last week was my Birthday and being born on Anzac Day, I decided to make some Anzac biscuits.....

 The lovely Lisa that I work with delivered this gorgeous box of treats to my door.....

As you would also know, I had a lovely holiday in Europe last year and from my time spent in Italy, I was really keen to have an Italian Inspired dinner Party....well, last Saturday night, my idea finally came to fruition and I cooked up an absolute storm....on the menu was:

Antipasto Platter with handmade "Lumacelle" a delightfully yummy savoury bread I tasted whilst in Orvieto

Wild Boar Ragu with Chestnut Polenta (I also tasted wild boar in Italy...it is so very delicious)

For dessert I made Vanilla and Honey Pannacotta with poached quinces

To have with coffee, I made Canolli filled with Ricotta and Mascarpone cheese with Grand Marnier, some Biscotti called Tozzetti and bought some Italian Nougat.

Sadly I forgot to take photos of much of the meal, however I did manage a few photos.....

  The invitation......

the Antipasto Platter.....

Leftover cannoli........

...and a selection of other delights left over...... 

The two Lisas' strike again!!!

Well folks, it has been birthday time again at work...last week we had three birthdays in the office, so Lisa and I had another night of cupcake decorating.  These were inspired by some I saw on Pinterest...we had such fun decorating them.

Lots of baking

The past couple of weeks have seen me doing a bit of baking as we have had several Birthdays at work, as well as one of our Managers about to go on Maternity leave.

Here is what I have been up to....one of my colleagues who also loves to bake...and is also called Lisa....and I joined forces to decorate these cupcakes

It was her Birthday last week and as she is a podiatrist, I created these biscuits....in the shape of feet of course!!!

For our manager's lunch, the other Lisa created these cupcakes.....

and I created these little biscuits...

Inspired

Last weekend I spent a relaxing weekend in Bright at a dear friend's who re-married a couple of years ago after being widowed for many years. We went for a drive to Mount Buffalo National Park, though didn't go to the top as there had been a mud slide the day before. Having come back from Europe a few months ago, it has been very easy to feel that Australia has so little to offer in the way of old buildings, given the young age of our country from when it was settled by the Europeans.  But seeing the beautiful waterfalls, I felt that it was God who inspired those artists to create amazing structures, however back home, God has actually created these natural wonders to inspire us to seek him. I was a wonderful realization and I hope I remember this whenever I feel that our country somehow doesn't measure-up, or if I am inclined to make comparisons between Australia and Europe!

We were also very fortunate not to get flooded in over the weekend as there is very serious flooding around our country at present. The amount of water we saw as we drove home on Sunday was something I have never seen before.

Enjoy these photos.

View of the cottages on the property

The main house where we stayed

The property has 3 cottages which can be booked for a weekend or longer.

A new stuffed toy??

Sorry to be a bore, but I just had to put a photo of my little man with his new friends...found him sitting with some of my stuffed toys...he and his sister are such fun and great company...

Back again

Well, it has been over a month since I have had anything worthwhile to blog about....after Christmas and the New Year, eveything has been sort of busy, but no major events to speak of....However, today I collected my two new little kittens and have spent the day with them settling in to their new home.  Initially, I was a bit worried as the little girl basically cried all the way from Geelong to home....not sure what the problem was....but anyway...they both seem to be settling in and making the place their own....so without further ado, I woud like you to meet Coco and Indi....the girl is Coco because she is chocolate coloured and Indi is short for Indigo because he is a blue boy.....I just hope I don't let this blog become solely about the cats....if there gets to be too many photos of the cats...please let me know!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Wishing all my readers a very Happy 2012...Hoping your year is filled with blessings and great things.