chick pea & yellow flavoured day

yesterday i made my favourite winter soup 'Minestra di Ceci e Porri' for lunch - mmm it's so good with all those chick peas, leeks, spinach & what not. there were some chick peas left so i made them into hummus, i was pleased about that because i then got to use the little turkish bowls i bought from the dump shop. these daffodils were for mum to give to her aunty margie who sadly is living in a demetia unit here in nelson, i do hope they brightened her day.

silver birch bark

i haven't been updating my blog regularly enough i don't think, maybe it will have to just be a weekly blog? it feels odd to me sometimes to be writing about myself & detailing everything i do, kind of self involved or egotistical or boring or something...
these flowers were for nana's birthday yesterday & the card stand warren cut for me from silver birch branches we found when were in st arnaud. i actually made a birthday cake for mum last weekend for st arnaud, i was quite proud of it but somehow didn't get around to taking a photo. it was called celebration cake & i did sugared pansies to decorate it with, they looked very pretty but were quite fiddly to make as you have to paint them with watered down egg white, then sprinkle them with caster sugar. louis was fascinated with them as it was such a novelty to eat flowers that tasted like lollies.

mamario's birthday

it was mum's 60th birthday yesterday & i made her these flowers with love from robin & her brother john. the colours look a little washed out in the photos unfortunately as i haven't yet mastered my camera, i'm looking forward to knowing how to saturate the colours much more than this. we are celebrating ma's birthday this weekend at st arnaud with all of us 4 children/adults & our respective partners, i'm looking forward to it very much. the studio-like photo of eliza, louis & celeste was taken as part of a school fund raiser, we framed it & gave it to nan anne for her Bee-day also.

blossom

this is the blossom on the peach tree in our garden, we can see it out louis & celeste's bedroom window. the little lambykins are down the matai valley bouncing around, these stereotypical sure signs of spring are sure heartening to the soul.

silhouettes again

i was out for a run this evening in the torrential rain looking into people's lit up & comforting looking homes, it made me feel appreciative i had a warm welcoming home to go to also. at home i knew there was roasting pork in the oven, children bathing & getting into clean pyjamas, cabernet sauvignon waiting on the shelf, a pile of new books from the library as well as daphne on my bedside table & best of all it's friday, so tomorrow is the first day of the weekend. feeling thankful tonight.
the photo of the cathedral silhouette is an image i've been appreciating lately on a clear night, it is taken from the nile street roundabout & is exactly what we see when we drive straight down nile street at twilight. the camelia is a perfect specimen.

birthday season

some flowers & afghans i made today for the lovely libby's birthday. the afghans are in a great baking book called 'ladies, a plate' traditional home baking, by alexa johnston. we have had a busy weekend of birthdays & it has only just begun really, it seems most of our family's birthdays fall in winter starting in july & running full tilt until the end of august. louis turned 6 today so we had his party on saturday, he ordered a truck cake from the birthday cake book this year which was a challenge. i was pretty happy with how it turned out until the weight of the tilted trailer made it slip off the plate.

it's been a while

here are some flowers i made today for ruth to give to the woman who found her beloved dog sadie, sadie had been missing for a week so i'm sure it was a very happy reunion. i've had to use my business card on the bunch of flowers as i don't have a swing tag made up yet, maybe that could be the next thing for me to do as i think the business card looks too big & bulky. the other photos were taken a while ago when i went for a walk down the valley after a big rainstorm. i have been doing a lot of walking down matai valley lately as it seems to be one of the only things that helps celeste relax & nod off. yesterday i did a full off road rocking around bumpy walk with her & that put her straight to sleep like nothing else would, she loves a bumpy ride.