Weekend Roundup..................

Well Hello and Good Afternoon to you!! It feels ages since I've been rambling on here but really...only a few days. Which have been busy days. That went something like......

Pack up the kids and head off for a long weekend. And play.......

                                                                                   

Shop........(it's hard work which demands plenty of sustenance).........

                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                                 
Long walks.......

                                                                                   

Check out those colours........

                                                                                 

Happy to be home.......

                                                                                     

And back in the kitchen......my favourite place........

                                                                               

A complete jumble of mish-mash but a fun few days!!

Catch you again soon..............


                                           Janelle  xx
                                                                                

Bedroom progress.......

Well hello there! It's turned a little wet and chilly here today, we have even had to re-light the fire ...grrrrr!! Anyway...on to more important things....bedrooms!! I've been banging on here about changing up ours and have finally got things moving. Slooooowwwlly.......

                                                                                         

                                                                                   

We have new lamps, which I love. I found these at Target...nothing expensive or flash around here but that's the way we and the family budget like it. The plan was to sit one on a ratty old thrifted chair to live but when I did that it just looked wrong so the old bedside tables will be staying. Well, at least until I sniff out something better......

                                                                                 

                                                                               

And how's the quilt cover?????

                                                                               

This time I went shopping at Aldi....yep......supermarket bedlinen rocks!!!!!!

                                                                                   

And that is where we are right now. We have a bed that was black and spraypainted white by Mr WF....a couple of Tarjay lamps and new bedding pulled from the supermarket trolley. Next up I have a couple of pillowcases to whip up on the sewing machine, a floor rug that I think has yet to be produced as I just can't find the type I'm looking for (or I may in fact not actually even know what I am looking for.....either one) and some wall art. And maybe the odd fire surround and mantel. Gotta love a work in progress.....

                                                                                 

Hope you're enjoying your Thursday.......

Shall catch you again soon..............


                                                                 Janelle  xx                                                                            

Cup Cake Crazy.............

Hey there!! So how is your Tuesday treating you? We're having fun in the sun (while it lasts!!) and ,of course, I have been playing in the kitchen. With "helpers". Hmmmmm........

                                                                                     

Actually as much as I do love pottering about in the kitchen by myself I do love to see my children show an interest in baking (as opposed to just repeating "Muuuuum I'm hungry" about a zillion times a day. Seriously....a zillion...) and even go so far as to encourage it when my patience allows. So, on that note, I figured being school holidays and all this would be the perfect time to share our recipe for the good old fashioned Cup Cake......

                                                                             

Now I realise I'm not exactly breaking new ground here. I think everyone has their own recipe for cupcakes, well they should do anyway!!?! Our version is very basic, super easy and pretty much fail-safe. Oh....and a little yummo too..........

                                                                                 

Ok....here we go.......

                                                                     Cup Cakes

Ingredients        

4 ozs (115grms) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar (just to confuse...lately I have been using about 1/3 cup raw sugar....your choice)
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 3/4 cups self-raising flour, sifted
Splash of vanilla - optional (but yummy!)

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees

2. Cream (old fashioned word for 'mix with beaters until pale and creamy looking'!) together the butter and sugar

3. Beat in eggs (and vanilla if you are using it)

4. Now fold through the flour and milk. I go with the 'a bit of flour....a bit of milk....' method)

5. The fun part....choose the prettiest cupcake papers you can find (and oh the choice these days!!) and pop them in a muffin tray. This will help the cakes hold their shape. I also like to make some smaller sized one....very handy for smaller kiddos too.

6. Scoop in your cupcake mixture and bang in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until they look a bit goldeny and cooked

7. Allow to cool (or do as we often do and eat warm from the oven as pudding with custard, cream, icecream etc....mmmmmm)

8. Ice as you please

                                                                               

This is where I believe the humble cupcake really comes into it's own. Depending on how you choose to ice or decorate the cakes, or whatever type of topping you choose to use, it can totally change up what you actually end up eating.!! If that makes sense.....

                                                                                 

For this batch we chose to use just an ordinary made-with-cocoa-powder chocolate icing (mental note to self....must do an icing post soon?!) and sprinkle on top with coconut. And then call them 'lamington cakes'.....easy yes?!?

                                                                                     

But there are literally heaps of different ways to decorate these little suckers. I get so excited by it all I've decided I will be sharing with you a few other very very simple ways to shake up your cupcakes over the next few weeks or so. We can never have too many cupcakes surely.... can we??????

                                                                                 

I hope you give these a try.....be sure to let me know if you do.....love hearing of other people's baking adventures!!!!

Enjoy the rest of your day.............



                                                    Janelle  xx                                                                

Morning Monday!!!

Hello and Happy Monday!!!

                                                                                   

We are in school holiday mode here....and loving it.......

                                                                                 

Spring is definitely here, as are itchy eyes and noses, and we are enjoying getting out and about outside again....always a good thing with 3 children.......

                                                                                 

And I'm enjoying being surrounded by a little more colour!!! The dark woollens of Winter are being put to rest for the next 6 months or so and we are embracing all things light, bright and cheerful.......

                                                                                   

Woo Hoo!!!

Wishing you a fab week ahead.........

                                     Janelle  xx                                                                            

A white pot......a plant = pot planting.................

Well hello to you and and hello to Friday!! And may I add it's not just any old Friday around these parts...it happens to be the Friday which marks the beginning of 2 weeks school holidays for us....woo hoo to that. (mild panic just then as I realised my children do in fact have an early dismissal time today...probably not the best start to the hols if one forgets to pick the kiddies up...)
Anyways......moving on.....let's go gardening shall we???
Nothing to taxing...just a little pot planting. I stumbled across this fab white pot in a bargain shop this week. Original price all of $15....reduced down to $7.....scanned through the register as $3.50.....WIN!!!?!

                                                                                     

So I'd bought this little azalea home a few weeks ago. I haven't had a lot of luck with these in the past so thought I might try popping it in this pot, let it live out on the deck and see how it goes............

                                                                                   

Hmmmm.....looking very much at home I think...............

                                                                                     

I really want to add a bit of colour and cheer to the deck this spring/summer as I plan on spending as much time out there as possible!!

Meanwhile......it's school pick-up time!!!!!!

                                                                                   

Enjoy the rest of your Friday and have a fab weekend!!!


                               Janelle  xx                                                                                                              

Partial Painting..............

Well it's Good Afternoon from me today. After a busy week and a rather, umm, shall we say messy-is-an-understatement 'interesting?' looking house we have here at the moment I decided the most sensible and productive thing to do was to paint yet another chair.........

                                                                               

I wasn't silly though....I only painted the legs. I'm really not one to waste time you know.......??? .....

                                                                                 

After painting this big fat white stripe on an old basket last week and realising what such a slapdash (and yes...I do mean SLAP DASH) throw a paint brush around for a bit and love the results kind of feeling it provides I think I may have stumbled across a new found hobby.......

                                                                                 

Painting just a portion of something!! Quick, easy and very satisfying...............

                                                                               

Okay.....I'm off to eyeball anything else sitting unsuspecting about the house.....watch out.....I just may paint you...................

See you soon.................

                                                  Janelle  xx                                                                                  

Tuesday rambling.............

Hello out there!! I must say I'm a little sluggish off the mark this week. Life is still moving along at it's ridiculously rapid pace but I find myself dragging my feet a little. I'm thinking it's something to do with the fact that we have about 3 1/2 days left of school this term (but hey..who's counting?!!)l and I do tend to jump into holiday mode at the drop of a hat. But!!!......enough is enough.....onwards we shall plod march............

                                                                                 

Starting with yet another...yawn....pic of gorgeous blossom. Thank the Lord I hear you sighing that the flowering of this is short and sweet and I won't be able to bore you with more...and more....yep and more pics that I keep snapping of them. Oh look....here's another...............

                                                                                   

And in their natural habitat....doing what they do best.......lookin' pretty...........

                                                                               

And while we're outside let's checkout how green and pretty things are looking around here at the moment. This will be a totally different scene come Summer.......

                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                                   

Ok....enough from me.....how is your week treating you so far?? I'm hoping to get back here with a few painting projects and a good old fashioned recipe (aren't they always the best??!)

                                                                                     

Enjoy your day.................


                                                   Janelle  xx                                                                                  

A bit of Friday blossom................

Hey there!! Guess what?? It. is. Friday!!

                                                                               

It's a cold rainy one here today..... so I've pulled on my gumboots, braved the blizzards (of sorts) and picked myself some blossom............

                                                                                   

We can at least pretend it is spring-like inside......

                                                                               

Wrapped in our woollens.................

                                                                                   

As we huddle around the fire..............


                                                                                 

Okay...a tad dramatic but you get my drift......
                                                                                 

Have a lovely weekend......we have one of those quiet....busy.....quiet......busy....quiet....busy type ones ahead.....which suits me just fine......

                                                                                

See you soon!!!!


                                               Janelle  xx                                                                              

Mint, mint and more mint..............

Well Hello and welcome to Wednesday!!
We seem to have a bit of a theme happening today.......a theme that seems to be slowly taking over the house..............

                                                                                 

                                                                               
And that would be.........Mint..............

                                                                                   

Yep, I  seem to have quite by accident become a little obsessed with the humble colour mint......
Be it knitting (slight bunting obsession here too....whole other story....).............

                                                                                   

The slapping on of paint.............(half-finished I might add...just to explain the tape etc!?).........

                                                                                   

                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                    Or just sitting looking pretty in the kitchen.................

                                                                                   

It does appear to be this month's favourite.......wonder what it'll be next...............

                                                                                   

I best be off to actually finish painting this wall cabinet. It seems to love paint and want about 100 coats. Will be quite pleased when the thing is finished and up on the wall..............

Have a fab day.................


                                             Janelle  xx

Playing with food..............

Hey there! Not much to report from this end today. I'm just having a catch up day at home....which has inevitably somehow turned into a baking day at home................

                                                                                   

We have cupcakes and ginger biscuits cooling on their racks.........

                                                                                 

And the kitchen is smelling mighty fine........................

                                                                                   

If a tad messy......................

                                                                                     

 

Self-indulgent pics over.......let the clean up begin.................

                                                                                 

 

I hope you're enjoying a lovely Tuesday wherever you are and whatever you are doing.............

Be seeing you soon.............



                                                     Janelle  xx