Lazy Days at Home

Time here has slowed almost to a stand still.

This week has been pretty much a week spent at home. There has been the occasional local outing and play date for Rhianna but otherwise it's just been doing stuff around the house.

Today Rhianna had a friend over to play and I realised I had almost nothing in the house for morning or afternoon tea.

I quickly whipped up this chocolate brownie from a recipe I found on Melissa Godsells Day to Day blog.

So easy and most of all yummy.

Yesterday we got stuck into some store bought craft projects. What I love about these projects is that I can leave Rhianna to complete them on her own while I get on with other things - mostly housework.

Rhianna has been begging me for pocket money this week so I have assigned her a list of jobs to do around the house.

Yesterday she cleaned the bath and vanity and swept the front drive of leaves.

As it was such lovely cool weather we also took Finn out for a walk.

Rhianna loves to hold him on his lead especially as we pass the house of her latest love interest.

This week Rhianna tells me she is going to marry Jedd.

Boy, I hope not. I can't imagine having a son in law called Jedd.

We learnt the fine art of tea making later in the afternoon.

Followed by a DVD before dinner.

Wasn't this on at the movies in the last school holidays? I can't believe how quickly movies come out on DVD now. Why would you bother blowing all that money to see these movies on the big screen when you only have to wait a few months and they are $5 at the local DVD store?

Of course, there has been a bit of op shopping now and again. But it seems there are no bargains to be had at the moment.

On the down side, we went to the local pool the other day to swim some laps and when Rhianna got out her chest, arms and back were covered in spots.

We had a trip to the doctors to rule out measles and chicken pox but the Dr said she just had a reaction to something in the pool.

I think we'll just swim in our own pool from now on.

And that's it. Just plain, boring old Christmas school holidays.

Merry Bloggy Christmas

Finally we have adapted to school holiday time.

Rhianna has stopped asking me to amuse her every second minute, we are sleeping in till 9am every morning and then doing much pottering around the house and local area to keep us busy.

It's the lovely time of year when there seems to be time to do almost everything. No routine, no have to be places, nothing essential that really needs doing. We just lumber from one random activity to the next.

As Christmas Day is fast approaching with visitors arriving and parties to go to, Rhianna and I got our toes into the Christmas spirit with a bit of Red Red nail polish.

While we waited for the nail polish to dry, it was a good opportunity for a spot of reading .

With all the rain we've been having it's hard to get out and about as you never know when you are going to get caught in a shower. But Rhianna has been busting to get out on her razor scooter so we braved the elements and went for a walk/ride down by the Nepean River.

As you can see the view was pretty ordinary. The weather was overcast, the water a very dull grey and nobody is out and about. Hardly feels like Summer at all.

Nearby to the river walk is a park that we had not visited before. It too was deserted. We had a nice play on the equipment and worked off some energy before heading home again.

On the way home Rhianna asked if we could stop at the library. This is another thing that we rarely get time to do, so I thought "Why not?" We spent ages in there selecting some books, magazines and even a DVD to watch. Such good value at absolutely nothing!!!!!

I'm making some truffles for Christmas Day this year. I found a new recipe called Chocolate Fruity Truffles. We got busy last night after dinner. Such good fun when the recipes are really easy like this and with no cooking involved.

Bill arrived home quite late but it doesn't matter at the moment because there are no bedtimes to adhere to. We can all stay up late chatting and laughing into the night. Here I am getting my Christmas cheer on - with a little bit of help from a glass of red.

Merry Christmas from our little retro house.

Christmas Menu Planning

Christmas day is at my place this year for the first time since we moved to the Blue Mountains four years ago. I am looking forward to planning the menu for the big day.

Yesterday I got my Christmas planner out that I made last year and had a bit of a flick through for ideas.

Last week I saw that the 4 ingredients girls had a new book out for Christmas.

I am all for having lovely but easily prepared food ready to go for Christmas Day.

This months SFI magazine has lots of lovely and very easy recipes. I am planning to make the salted caramel truffles from this magazine.

It's nice to have something to go with coffee when we play some board games in the afternoon.

I also love the Coles and Woolies free store magazines that come out around Christmas time.

They are great to flick through for menu inspiration.

So after all the research I have the following menu planned:

Breakfast: bacon and eggs

Starter: brushetta

Lunch: Turkey Breast with brie, bacon and spinach stuffing
Roast trio of vegies
Asparagus wrapped in proscuitto.

Dessert: Plum pudding and brandy custard


With coffee: caramel salted truffles
Fruity chocolate truffles.

February 6th 2011

We had a late minute change of plan today as something we thought we were going to do didn't pan out.

Never mind, always a Plan B to fall back on.

The school swimming carnival is on in a couple of weeks and Rhianna is busting to compete.

Not sure if she is eligible or not at this stage but this morning she begged Bill to take her to the local pool to "train".

I said it was a good opportunity to see whether she could swim 50 metres of anything.

While Bill and Rhianna headed to the pool, I took some "me" time and went for a nice long walk.

I was so hot by the time I got home, I was dripping in perspiration. I jumped in our pool fully clothed :: well, I did take my joggers off first!!

So we hung around home today. I am trying to use up some of the multitude of art and craft stuff we have around here.

I had a canvas behind the door in the laundry and Rhianna asked if she could paint on it.

We even got the easel out so she could paint like a professional.

A whole afternoons worth of entertainment and I didn't have to leave the house or open my purse. Yah!!!!!

Then the southerly hit and we walked around all afternoon smiling at each other like idiots saying how nice it was to finally be cool.

I did some long overdue housework and we just sat and chatted about our trip to new York.

We are going to the travel agent tomorrow and need to decide on all the activities we want to do and book them now. For instance, you can walk to the top of The Statue of Liberty again but it is a 3 month wait list so we'd need to book that now if we wanted to do it. I think we do.

Since it's cool, I finally dared to put the oven on again and cooked Tuna vol-au-vents. Basically a cheese sauce with a tin of tuna and all the old vegies left in the crisper and poured into a pastry case. Yummy.

Even Finn likes Tuna Vol-au-vent night.

He's in there somewhere.

Frugal Friday Fun

Due to Rhianna still being ill, I have not had the time or inclination to go out grocery shopping.

It's now Friday night and I refuse to give in and buy take away.

I have a quick flick through the old recipe books and what do I spy:: A recipe for which I actually have all the ingredients - in the house - already. It's like a recipe mirage.

I quickly get myself into the kitchen before I am tempted to dial for Thai. Bill always says I cook with gusto...which is his polite way of saying I make a huge mess. But I don't think it's too bad. See below....

I have the recipe for a bacon and egg pie with old fashioned pastry. Sounds yummy. Before I really get into it, Bill pours me a wine and produces some yummy cheese and crackers to get me in the cooking mood.... and he wonders why I cook gusto.

I'd like to see him roll out some pastry with a couple of reds in him.

As you can see, I am enjoying the cooking immensely - especially the bit where I take a bit of cab sav inspiration.

Here is the pie just before it hits the oven. I am so proud of it. Not because it's any great culinary masterpiece but because I've managed to produce a meal for everybody on the smell of an oily rag.

A bit of cheese on the top - it's not in the recipe but grated cheese never hurt any meal I've ever eaten.

Now, while it's cooking we turn on our newest find - a retro radio. We find some old love songs on a radio station that I think maybe about 50 people listen to. A quick waltz or two around the lounge room and dinner is ready.

Tah -da.

Everybody liked it. It was quick and easy and I actually enjoyed trying something new.
Have a great weekend if you're reading this.

Hello everybody -

So sorry I have been away for so long. Not intentional at all. It's just that Spring has sprung and life has taken off in a very busy and deliciously crazy way.

So what has been happening here at Green Ness?

Well....Miss Rhianna's school fete is this Saturday so there has been much looking at and ohhing and ahhing over the items of the craft stall.

It has been a long journey throughout the year of religiously getting together to make things to stock our stall. Hopefully the weather will be fine on Saturday and we sell all of our beautiful items.

Speaking of craft.....

....while out with a girlfriend the other day we spotted these beautiful acrylic colours and they just called to me.

At first they said "You're crap at knitting so just keep walking" and then they relented and said "Oh go on then, give me another go."

So I scooped up a few balls and have started to knit again. It may be a crazy undertaking coming into Summer but they were so cheap and they are just begging each night to be made into something. Watch this space......

Out in the yard big things are afoot. Miss R is having a birthday shortly and as we don't know if we'll be here in October we decided to give her the birthday present early.

Obviously it's a set of monkey bars. And to say that Rhianna was thrilled would be a mild understatement.

Some adults we know have also tried to recapture their youth by having a wee turn on the bars - no trips to the hospital as yet but some people (no names) have needed assistance to get down/off and lets just say that alcohol and monkey bars don't mix. We'll be leaving it to the kidlets from here on in.


Speaking of the backyard have any of you seen all the lovely colours around to plant for spring? I have gone a bit crazy out there and have spent many afternoons planting up a storm. Makes me smile every time I step outside to see all that colour just shining in the sun. And if that sounds just a bit too Pollyanna for you please remember that I am on anti-depressants and I do tend to smile like a crazy person at the most trivial of things.



The other day a friend from my childhood came to visit and she asked if I would make a French tea cake. We used to scoff these when we were about 10 years old. I don't know whether we really loved the cake itself or the fact that we called it French tea cake and felt all posh and continental eating it.

Twas a very easy recipe to whip up and we did enjoy digging in as we talked about the good old days.

Hard to believe it was over 30 years ago that we used to sit next to each other in class daydreaming about Leith Garrett. Some of you who are younger than me might have to goggle him as he had a very spectacular but short lived career as a pop idol.


As I said Spring is a crazy time for our family as almost all the family birthdays are in Spring plus numerous other events. We are also planning a holiday in here somewhere and trips away with/and to see friends.

But I finally found the time to do something I have wanted to do for years. I joined a book club.

A lovely lady, Nicole opens up her home to host the evening and we all discuss a book that we have read the previous month. This month our "homework" is Eat.Pray.Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I, luckily have already read this book so I just have to do a quick reread.

Then it's off to Nicole's for wonderful discussions, lively debates and delicious food. It's fabulous. I wish I had of joined one sooner. Pictured below is Nicole's loungeroom ready to go for the evening. Sorry about the quality of the pic, I did not have my camera and took the photo on my phone.

Hope you've all been good while I've been away.
(And thanks Libby)

We Miss Masterchef

We no longer know what to do with ourselves at 7.30pm each night now that Masterchef has finished. As a family we loved to watch the show together and cheer on our favourites. Rhianna saw the promo for Junior Masterchef and is convinced that she will be entering next time round.

She has driven me balmy talking about her "signature"dish and her "core" ingredient which funnily enough is chocolate.

She was determined to start this week and has so far managed to cook Chocolate Pancakes for everybody for afternoon tea. She did it entirely herself and the results were quite good. She is learning terms like sift and fold so it's a great learning curve for her.


I, luckily have other obsessions besides Masterchef and mostly they involve vintage and retro living. Here are two of my latest finds.

A vintage 1970's breadbox and a 1950's vintage eiderdown for Rhianna's bed. These are so much warmer than doonas.

The pillow you can see on her bed was made by my Mum using all my Nanas linen and lace hankerchieves as the insert on the middle panel. I love to walk into Rhianna's room and see vintage lovelies and reminders of my family. Much nicer than a Barbie Doona set.

Landscaping and Lemon Divas

What a beautiful Queen's Birthday Weekend. Such perfect weather. All the better to landscape in. Not me of course....oh no... I mean other people. We have what I like to call "a dog's breakfast of a backyard" and we are trying to very gradually turn it into at least a dogs dinner.

On Saturday all these ugly tiles came up and lots of earth put in its place. Tomorrow the lawn arrives. I'll do an udpated shot when the project is complete.

The dinner party went well on Saturday and it was lovely to see old friends again - especially those with a small baby that I get to cuddle. The massaman curry was divine. It's an easy recipe and it's in this months SFI if you'd like to try it.

Today we finally got around to those Masterchef Lemon Diva Cupcakes. The best bit? Playing with the piping bag.

The taste test

We decorated in Socceroo colours to try and lift our spirits after our demoralising defeat by Germany. Have to say that the icing was a bit much for us - we scraped most of it off whilst eating. It overwhelmed the cake a bit.

Now I'm off for a long relaxing bath as I've just found some dried up icing in my eyebrow.

Have a nice week everybody.

A Homemade Gift

We have had one of the first little girl parties of the year yesterday. And a perfect opportunity to get started on my homemade gifts.

I've been dying to make this brownie jar. It contains all the dry ingredients needed to make a quick mix brownie. The dry ingredients are layered up the jar to create a sand jar effect.

All that needs to be added are eggs and butter. In order from the bottom are flour and baking powder, cocoa, sugar, choc bits and coloured mini marshmallows. So easy and (I think) so cute.

I've added the recipe to the front of the jar and prettied up the top a little with some scrappy bits and pieces.

Yesterday was a bit of a day out for me. I had both my hubby and son home sick so I wasn't about to hang around all day playing nurse maid. I did that on Sunday when it should have been Mother's Day.

I'm loving my stationery at the moment and picked up these bits and pieces. What I'm going to use them for, I have no idea but that's not really the point with pretty stationery is it? For me just looking at them and ohhing and ahhing over them is almost enough.

Hope you are enjoying your week.

Hooray for Autumn

Well autumn is well and truly here judging by the temperature this morning around 7am. But I am not complaining. I am loving it. How can I not be happy with the cooler weather, the start of Term 2 at school and this beautiful view out my dining room window.

However life is pretty ordinary around here lately. Much of the sameness day in and day out.

Not a lot new and exciting to blog about I am afraid. The weather has had my thoughts turning to more and more craft projects. If only I could stay awake longer at night time to start any of them.

I find the cooler weather sees me climbing into bed around 8pm with Miss Rhianna to knit and read books. We cuddle up together and most of the time my lovely hubby will bring us down some hot chocolates to lush around in bed with. Who wants to sit hunched over a sewing machine when you can be doing that instead?

But I did manage to drag old Bertha (the sewing machine) out for a little sew up of the knitting squares yesterday.

Does anybody but me (and my friend Julie) remember a magazine out a few years ago called Family Circle? Well it went out of circulation because only tragics like me were buying it. It was a very family oriented magazine with lots of parenting articles, craft and cooking. Since all that home stuff is currently back in vogue, I should not have been surprised to see its reappearance at the newsagents yesterday. Oh Joy......

And inside a very tempting new knitting project for me to get started on.

And finally I get started on some cooler weather cooking. I wonder if you can guess what is on the menu for tonight? One of my favourites with some crusty bread rolls from the bakery.

Keep your beanies and scarves handy today.