~ Sunday snippets (with bunnies and eggs) ~

 

 

Our week through my lens (es).  I've had all 3 cameras out this week - yay!

1.  Planted some more windflowers to fill some holes in our "forest of weeds" back garden.

2.  Had my first ever successful dying experirment.  This was a white shirt that had had a pink texta incident.  I chose some Rit pink dye and was thrilled with the colour and how the embroidery stayed white.

3.  A surprise.  My husband had this re-upholstered this week without telling me. I thought we'd decided the fabric I loved was too expensive and that we had other priorities!!

4. and 5.  We went walking at Mt Field National Park yesterday.  A 2 hour plus walk that we all did without too many moans.  The stillness and beauty of the bush and the waterfalls were amazing.

6. We've been making cards, envelopes and signs with these cute eggy stickers from here

7.  Unprompted democratic division of eggs after the hunt (in the sleety wind and rain).  Love them so much!

8.  I found these sweet chicks at Spotlight and filled them with eggs.

9.  We decorated the light switches as well.

10.  Gracie made me the sweetest bunny brooch at school.

11.  Pavlova for lunch is an Easter tradition around here - this one looked amazing but the collapsing sides needed a lot of cream support.

I hope you are having a lovely weekend with your loved ones.
Joining up here (even though we weren't as creative as some) with the lovely Em.


♥

~ good games for Good Friday ~

It's Good Friday
Always an odd kind of a day.
Particularly today - we woke up with both girls away at sleepovers and the house feels strangely empty - Jack has not stopped asking for them.

We've had coffee.  (Any day is better with real coffee in it).

I've cleaned the office (and thrown away 126 pens - mostly old drug company ones - they make me feel a bit nostalgic for the good old days when we apparently sold our souls for a dodgy pen - now we just can never find a working one).
The boys have sanded and oiled the verandah.
We're ready for a late lunch.

It's a day for reading, jigsawing, watching old movies...we might even end up playing some games - maybe one of these (my list for this week as part of the #52 lists project).

Tonight we'll have fish and chips even though I don't really know why it feels wrong to eat meat today.

What is your Good Friday looking like?
What games does your family play?

 ♥
(ps - it's not too late to start making fun lists - read all about it here).

~ mail exchanges ~

This week my post box has been full of lovely mail as the first of this years elevated envelopes have started trickling in.

This time instead of a set theme there were several to choose from.

{theme: black and white from Wendy}

{theme: black and white from Suzanne}

{theme: nature attacks from Florence}

I am simply in love with this hand painted bunny one - it came with carrot seeds from Germany too (shhhh!...don't tell customs).

{theme: I wish I had a bunny from Ivonne}

I choose "its a zoo in there" (complete with thumb print animals, glittery zoo bars and zoo stickers inside) but my efforts paled into comparison next to some of these.  

{the ones I sent}

More bunnies hopped in my letter box this week too as part of the good mail club Easter exchange that the lovely Sarah organised.

{bunnies, recipes, tags, beautiful cards from Megan and Sarah}

{bunnies, recipes, tags, beautiful cards from Megan and Sarah}

{envelope from Sarah}

{goodies from Sarah}

I was a bit late getting into this as my list went missing somewhere in the ether but the girls and I have been loving the all the super cute stuff I've received.    

The felt finger puppet, the cupcake toppers (not shown) and the jointed rabbit are already hidden away in bedrooms.   

Mine were very simple but I hope they bring a smile.

Its such a cliche.. but it really does brighten my day when a little envelope of loveliness comes my way.   

Please follow the links above if you'd like to join the fun.

♥

  

~ weekend snippets ~

 

We're still keeping our weekends low key.
A visit to Salamanca for apples, coffee, new plants for the garden and a chance meet-up with old friends.
Gardening, so many weeds to deal with.  Gorgeous roses to pick and delight in.  The chaotic beauty of the windflowers.
An afternoon tea with the friends who are family
Roast chicken and parsnips.
Amazing chalk art - we started drawing sea creatures as we talked about his excursion to the Marine Studies Centre this week but we ended up covering all the pavers with colourful art and he practised his letters over and over.
And candles for Earth Hour.

How was your weekend?
 ♥

{all on the iphone - I really must make time to get the real camera out before I forget how to use it}

Linking up with Em and others who share the snippets of their days. 

~ cosy thoughts on a rainy Thursday ~

This week's list was all about being cosy.
Was it really only yesterday that it felt so remote as our indian summer was still lingering outside?
Today it's chilly, the rain is teeming down outside.
My baby is off on his first ever school excursion and I couldn't go because I'm working today.
So I'm slightly sad and worrying about slippery roads.

 

I'm sipping green tea with mint and I've wrapped a woolly scarf around my neck.

I forgot to put both these things on my list.
I'll definitely light a fire later if it stays like this.


I'm making lovely lists every week (and learning more about myself!) with Pip  and her #52lists project. 

What makes you feel cosy?
 ♥

~weekending at home ~

Weekends {at the moment} are all about home.
Staying home, hanging out together,  saying "no" to others and "yes" to us.
Cooking, gardening, reading, watching movies, recuperating from the busy, busy weeks that have marked our return to school.

It's all going well - everyone is settling well and we're happy ... but its definitely full on.
Ballet, gym, tennis, piano for the girls
For my little boy its been even busier - so many new routines, so many people to watch, so many decisions about how to behave, to be in his new classroom, trying sooo hard to do it all right.

So we've been bunkering down at home on the weekends.  
Quarantining ourselves away from the rest of the world.  Embracing the quiet ... 
Loving the lack of pressure to be, to join, to talk...

5 hour slow cooked lamb was perfect to end this weekend with.
Home grown tomatoes and herbs, parsnips from the Doc's sister's farm and Tasmanian lamb.

{a paste of oregano, rosemary, salt, pepper, garlic and EVOO}

{just picked by little hands cherry tomatoes}

{paste rubbed into lamb and lamb roasted on top of onions and tomatoes}

 

{potatoes sliced thinly and half way down - and roasted slowly as well}

{5 hours later}

Melting soft lamb, oozy tomatoes and crunchy hassleback potatoes.  Made and served with love.

We're renewed, refreshed, ready for another week out there.
What did you have for Sunday dinner?
What's your schedule looking like? 

♥

~ what's on my (breakfast) table

{on our kitchen table this week - smelling divine}

I'm generally a bit boring when it comes to breakfast time.
Muesli (I'm a Carman's convert - the gluten free one even though I don't need it to be) with plain Greek yoghurt and some fruit when it's warmer.
Porridge with brown sugar and maybe some stewed fruit in the colder months.

The kids are only allowed weetbix or porridge on school days (saves so many fights and so much angsty standing in front of the cupboard thinking)...then we let them have free rein on the weekends with whatever they can find/convince someone to cook.

I do love going out for breakfast though.
Breakfast always tastes better if someone else makes it.
We used to go out every weekend (in those long ago no kids/portable kids days) but now (soccer weekends, big kids with big appetites) its much more of a random treat.

Here is my list about good things for breakfast as part of the weekly #52lists project.

The very cute fridge magnets are origami arrows made following a quick and easy tutorial I found here.  I even found some magnetic sticky tape to put on the back of them - such cool stuff!

What are you having for breakfast tomorrow?
Are you a creature of habit like me?

♥

~ March vignettes ~

This month (and last month) I've had a ball playing along with the #7vignettes challenge over on Instagram.  It's run by the lovely Jen of Interiorsaddict. 

Here are my efforts this week.

{day 1 - white}

{day 2 - spots}

{day 3 - paper}

{day 4 - my colour palette}

{day 5 - bathroom}

{day 6 - geometric}

{day 7 - upcycled}

I'm still not sure of the defintion of "vignette" but it seems to result in little arrangements of stuff and beautiful photographs.  Mel wrote a fabulous blog piece about her efforts at creating little masterpieces last month.  I've had similar experiences here - I actually ended up raiding some of the children's mantlepiece "vignettes" to use some bits and bobs in mine.  There are lots of very clever stylists who play along but there are also lots of friendly and encouraging people playing just for fun (like me).

After doing the white prompt in my Freedom display box (day 1, above) I set myself a mini challenge to do a second photo on each theme in the white box.  It was fascinating to see how different the box ended up looking using slightly different light and filters (mostly in afterglow) but also how much little stuff we have lying around (and is now all lying around on a table as I muster the energy to put it all away... that part is never as much fun).

{day 2 - spots}

{day 3 - paper}

{day 4 - my other colour palette}

{day 5 - bathroom}

{day 6 - geometric}

{day 7 - upcycled!}

I found the upcycled theme the hardest - for both sets of photos.
I think my favourites are the original paper shot and the colour palette shot in the box.

Thanks Jen for running such a fun meme and to all the lovely people who commented on my photos - I'll be back next month for sure.


I'm going out for dinner tonight with some of my loveliest girlfriends.  Can't wait.  Hope your Friday evening is fun too.

 ♥