Retreat...and a cold day....

The Wave Rock Retreat is over but it was a great weekend...it is a super bunch of women who come from various farming areas ready to scrapbook! I am amazed at the long hours they put in! They certainly make the most of the scrapping time and classes. It started Friday night with social scrapping, then there were four classes on Saturday and two on Sunday...plus more social scrapping time on Saturday night...you will have to visit Sharon's blog some time in the near future to see some photos...the next one is March 28th 2008...here is the lake near Wave Rock...
a lot of the country around here has natural salt lakes and rock formations (like Wave Rock) which I think are rather interesting...

E had a great time at tennis with my sister and family yesterday...hitting a tennis ball around all day and she was most grumpy with having to come home with me!

It has been freezing cold today but the kids have had fun! They were hunting tigers in the jungle first this morning...
Then we went down to see the shearing....and to play in the shed...the boys have their own tool benches to work at!


A couple of more days at the farm and then we head back to Perth...I will post some of my layouts from the retreat soon...I participated in Alli and Sharon's classes as well as teach two of my own as I think it stretches your mind a bit to scrap in a different style...although you always end up putting your own twist on it...and you can always learn something new! It is always interesting to see how all the layouts turn out from a class...have a good week - Lissy

recipes....and art work...

Quiet day around here....swimming this morning then the rest of the day at home...nice warm day about 28'C so have been out side in the garden a bit with E and Missy...that's the dog...

Not much else to share but a few of E's drawings....these are all very small..the biggest being Humpty Dumpty who is 10 cm tall...the mouse is only about 1 cm! I love her little pictures that I keep finding everywhere....not bad for an almost four year old...
And some recipes that I have tried lately and have been good ones! The first two are Donna Hay recipes from the Sunday Times...the cake was off a blog which I forgot to note down sorry ....

Garlic and Chilli Chicken Couscous

Serves 2

note - I left out the chilli, used other vegies as did not have zucchini on hand and used chicken thighs not breasts and bacon instead of pancetta...still turned out yummy...

1/4 c lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
1 ts chilli flakes
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 ts caster sugar
salt & pepper
2 zucchini sliced
2 x 200g chicken breast trimmed
8 slices pancetta
1 cup cooked couscous
1/2 c flat leaf parsley leaves

Place lemon juice, oil, chilli, garlic, sugar, salt, pepper in a bowl and combine well
Place zucchini, chicken and half the chilli mix in another bowl, toss to coat and leave to marinate for 10 minutes
Heat pan, add pancetta and cook 1 minute each side, set aside
Add zucchini and cook 2 -3 minutes each side, set aside
Add the chicken and cook 4 - 5 minutes each side or until cooked through
Place the pancetta, zucchini, couscous and parsley in a bowl and stir to combine
Slice chicken and arrange couscous on plate
Spoon over remaining chilli mixture

Asparagus and Mint Pasta

Serves 4

note - I cooked some chicken marinated as in above recipe and added that too which was very nice....

12 slices of pancetta or bacon
2 ts olive oil
1 clove garlic crushed
2 TB lemon juice
! 1/2 cups single cream
16 spears of asparagus
1 cup frozen peas
400g spaghetti
salt & pepper
shaved parmesan to serve

In a preheated hot grill, cook pancetta for 2-3 minutes until crispy and set aside
Heat frying pan over medium heat, add oil and garlic and cook for 1 minute, add lemon juice and cook for 1 minute, add the cream and cook for 1 minute
Add the asparagus and peas and cook for about 2 minutes until tender and the cream is thickened, set aside
Cook pasta in large saucepan of salted boiling water for 10 -12 minutes
Drain and return to saucepan, add cream mixture and some salt and pepper, toss to combine
Serve with Parmesan

One Bowl Chocolate Cake

note - this is nice and chocolately, it is rather large also...it keeps well...if not eaten first! I used a chocolate butter cream frosting to decorate it and join the layers

Makes 2 eight- inch square or 3 eight inch round layers

unsalted butter for pans
1 1 /2 c cocoa plus extra for pans
3 cups plain flour
3 cups sugar
1 TB baking soda
1 1/2 ts baking powder
1 1/2 ts salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 c warm water
1 1/2 c buttermilk
3/4 c vegetable oil
1 1/2 ts vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F, butter pans and line bottoms with baking paper, butter the paper and then dust with cocoa
Into a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, sift cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt
With the mixer on low stir in the eggs, warm water, butter milk, vegetable oil and vanilla until smooth...about 3 minutes
Divide batter into prepared pans and bake, rotating once. Test with a skewer or cake tester inserted in centre until it comes out clean....about 35 - 45 minutes
Let cakes cool on wire racks for 20 minutes, remove from pans and cool completely

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

note - I just added icing sugar until I got the right consistency

enough for 1 three layer cake

1/4 c butter
1/4 c plus 2 TB cocoa
1/4 c plus 3 TB warm milk
1 ts vanilla
1 pkg (16 oz)icing sugar

Cream butter, add cocoa, mixing well
Slowly beat in icing sugar, adding warm milk as necessary
Stir in vanilla
Spread immediately

OK so that is it from me - Lissy

last layout....

Here is the last Travel layout for the Retreat...sorry the photo is not superb and a bit washed out...

It looks a little unbalanced at the moment as it needs the black journalling in the star on the right hand page...another job for my sister...the papers are all Scenic Route which have worked out really well....

I might just manage one more sample if I can find some photos from when I was living up in Broome and the Kimberleys...no shortage of photos but it is just a matter of finding them! It was pre-digital!

And only a few days until the Wave Rock Retreat now! Must get my stuff sorted and packed! Lissy

environmental foot prints...our planet needs a hand...

I have been thinking about my (and my family's) environmental foot print.....I am wondering how we are doing....I am trying to do little bits in our everyday lives...with a few goals...

Back in March I made a list....time to review it.....

so here it is...my list...10 Green Things I am Trying to Do: from March 2007

Open the windows....doing that more now the weather has warmed up!
Take shorter showers I am good at this...but Ben isn't....have to work on that one
Use lower energy florescent bulbs Have done this where i can but some of the old light fitting they will not fit into...
Recycle what I can for school...and give unwanted stuff to charity Have done a LOT of this!
Conserve energy by turning off lights, appliances etc Turning a lot more off than before but still could do more
Use reusable cloth shopping bags Do this most times I shop unless I have forgotten the bags
Buy more environmentally friendly cleaning products I am now using all Melaleuca products and LOVE them...not only do they clean well I do not get eczema on my hands from using them! by the way I don't sell them...I just buy them!
Use Enjo type cloths I am mostly doing this, combined with the Melaleuca products
Reduce the size of the garden Working on this one but hard when I am pregnant...but the watering system has been turned off for months and wont be on again for another month yet...just hand watering my vegies and the rest is coping well...
Get some chooks to eat the kitchen scraps! Not yet accomplished but a job for Ben in the near future I hope...he is keen too!

What else have I been doing....

I am trying to making sure the washing machine and dish washer are full...

I am trying not to use the dryer...it has been pretty wet this winter so I have been very disappointed to have to use it so much as usually we can dry everything outside...

I have been buying local...as much as I can including going to the Grower's Market on Sundays....

I recycle paper more around the house

And I suppose that is about it...that I can think off....so today I am going to do some research and see what else I can do....

Looking on the net...
Zero Foot Print Calculator
How to Go Green
We Can Live Green
Green Living
Carbon Planet

and it is Zero Footprint Week ....Sunday 14 – Saturday 20 October 2007 ....Have a look - it is organised by The One at a Time Foundation

and then to make my next list (stay tuned).....what are you going to do about your environmental foot print?? Our planet needs a hand....Lissy

spring in the valley...

This weekend has been "Spring in the Valley" here which means lots of people heading out to the wineries...there are two wineries on our road so there were a lot of buses and music and such...and some very nice spring weather...

So what have we been up too? Well here is E finishing off the last Milo in the tin yesterday morning!Mum came over on Saturday with some yummy lunch and then entertained Evangeline so I could have a sleep. Then we did some more gardening. She stayed over so she could baby sit so I could go to a friend's 30th (Ben is back at work on the boat off the north west coast somehwere)...here is the mini album I made....pretty simple but nice I think... Today we set off to the Guildford Fair...meeting some friends there and the girls had a great time. E had her first ever pony ride and loved it...and a fire engine ride and a car ride...all first experiences but she loved it all :) She was also very good at fishing for ducks and won 3 prizes! I just love to see the delight on her face...click on this pic if you want to see it bigger... We brought strawberries on the way home and then after lunch I had another sleep. Mum did some more gardening...I was helping but I don't achieving much...mainly entertaining the dog and so on! E loves gardening too!
We have painted most days this holiday...which although is a bit messy it is great to see what E comes up with....usually first thing in the morning...
I have nearly done the "theme park" layout for the Retreat class so stay tuned...

So that was our weekend - hope you had a good one too....don't forget that BLOG ACTION DAY is tomorrow - Lissy

presents...

....so here are the gifts that we were given when my mum, sister and Ace returned home... all very spoilt....

mine...a table runner from Florence from my sister, a perfume bottle for Prague from mum and chocolate from them both....yum!

Evangeline got a very cute mouse from Prague from Ace and some fabulous French and Italian clothes and shoes from mum...I know she has more for Christmas and birthday presents...so she will be a very well dressed little girl...
And for the baby....this very cute singlet...look at the detail..so adorable...the rest is being saved for when she arrives :)So very spoilt we all are :)

The family were here this morning and they have all done back to the farm. Mum and I have been outside deciding on how to reduce and clean up the garden...with a lack of time and water restrictions we are going to minimize all the garden...

So that is it for this Friday - hope your weekend is starting well - Lissy

they're home....

My mum, sister and nephew arrived home yesterday....so nice to have them back...

I asked Ace ( nearly 9) what his favourite bit was....and can you believe he said Versailles....he said he loved the gardens....this is a kid who went to Hamleys in London (I went there when I was 8...amazing...5 floors of toys!), Disneyland Paris and all the usual sights in Italy, Prague, London and Paris...but I should not have been surprised as he was mostly looking forward to going to Venice!
Of course they bought wonderful presents which I will share later....and I have some great Disneyland Paris pics to make another sample layout for my class at the Retreat...Lissy

today so far....

A very busy day around here so far!

E had to do some painting this morning.....she also painted yesterday and made things...I got into trouble for taking photos...lol..as she said she was trying to concentrate!
I dropped E at a friends for a play this morning then dashed off to gets some jobs done....

Spotlight...polka dots...to go with some fabric for some clothes for E and the pink is for the edge on her curtains that I have to make wider...see previous post...lol...
Then to Target and Big W to get a few birthday and Christmas presents...nearly sorted now...one more child to go...and a couple of adults...but decided that soon I will not want to go and then with a new born it may be impossible....so I am being super organised! And I did the food shopping.....phew...all in a couple of hours....

I picked E up and then came home and she decorated the paper for Ace's birthday present...

Then Ike and my brother in law arrived from the farm for lunch and Ike stayed for a play...they have just left to go and get my sister and Ace from the airport...I will go and pick up mum at the airport at about 5pm (different flights) and then go to East Perth for tea with them all....it will be nice to have them home :)

Yesterday I busily worked on my baby album....that is the album for the baby on the way...I am using Mel's Birdie Album...available from Tarisota....I've had it made for ages and the cute bag...but needed to start filling the pages...here are some pics so far...I am not good at photographing these things sorry! Click on it if you want to see it bigger....I added some acetate pages to the album too and obviously more details to add yet!

E loves the snow peas and sugar snap peas growing in our garden and picks and eats each one that appears...so unless we suddenly get a prolific growth i do no think we will get many for a salad or anything...but this was my hope that she would love to eat the food that we have grown!
Oh and these totally gorgeous hair clips arrived in the post....they really are superb.....from Pink Owl Creations on Etsy....not a great photo sorry... Hope you are having a good day - Lissy

blog action day

So this is happening on October 15th.......blog action day.....this years theme is the ENVIRONMENT...I am joining in but have no idea how yet....lol....

Go and check it out and get your thinking caps on!
Now I just have to actually remember when the day comes around...lol...

Other news....

Ben did his usual last minute job frenzy last night....putting up curtain rods in the girls bedrooms....so now I can finish the curtains...from past experience I have learnt that the curtain rods have to go where Ben puts them so to have some leeway including leaving the hems until the rods are up....fortunately E's curtains are far from finished as I have to make them wider....lol...so will head to Spotlight tomorrow and get something to make some sort of border down the sides!

And so Ben left today in a taxi at 4 a.m. off to work for 5 weeks...so he gets home a few days before E's fourth birthday and about 3 weeks before the baby makes her appearance...but he also has to be in Tasmania for a few days in late November....so hope the baby waits until he gets back! I have mum and a couple of friends lined up to help if not!

E and I are home all day today - YAY! No plans other than cleaning etc...including my studio - YAY! I am not promising to perform miracles but my work station is looking a lot better already!

And my sister and mum and nephew get home tomorrow - YIPPEE! It has been very quiet without them :)

Happy Wednesday all - Lissy

looking good...

Here she is...sleeping away...at 32 weeks...all is well...she is about 2.2kg... It is amazing to get hints at what she might look like!

And that is it for today - Lissy

fish and stuff

Well Ben completely exhausted himself spear fishing yesterday but did - as requested - not get eaten by a shark and did come home with some fish....E wasn't too keen and was not getting close...She wouldn't eat it but it did taste great!

Yesterday E spent most of the day walking around the house in my flippers..and then had to wear them in the bath with her goggles so she could swim with the dolphins and whales...lol...

The dog is growing way to fast!We made a yummy chocolate cake today with chocolate butter cream as Alli and boys were coming to have lunch...We also had Livvy to play as well so had four very excited kids playing in the house because is is WET here today....and rain has gone through to the farm - YAY! So I can put up with it! No photos but Alli and I had a lovely lunch of sushi and stuff - which Alli made!

And here we are at 32 weeks....very bad photo sorry!
I have printed out 4 years worth of Christmas photos as I have decided to get those scrapped at the Retreat next week in between teaching classes! And I hope to make a mini album for E's birthday photos....

Hope your week has started well - Lissy

the rest of the week...and retreat layouts

We are nearly at 32 weeks....so 8 weeks to go....Playschool had a thing on babies today with a little boy bringing his new sister home from hospital and so on...good timing by ABC! We are trying to put the cot up but cannot find the bag of bolts etc! Must be around here somewhere!

Birthday Season is here.....most birthdays around here are in October, November and December...so lots of parties to go to and lots of presents to buy! Most weekends are busy with parties and then it is Christmas! And then a couple more birthdays....And this baby will have a birthday then too! She is due December 5th....both our old neighbours are also both due around the same time as me...maybe we will all be in hospital together!

We did some final clearing out at our old house Friday...a lot of stuff I have been ignoring and will go to the holiday house or to Good Sammies...Ben has finished the tiling....Now we just need a shower screen and the plumbing finished and some painting and it is finished....then we need some nice tenants!

RETREAT LAYOUTS.....And here is the Classic Travel layout for the retreat...the aim here ws to use 6 standard 4x6 photos...no journalling yet as I need to check some details with my mum before I do it! I umm-ed and ahh-ed about adding some embellishments but nothing quite looked right so I have left it quite simple....and I decided the paper was fancy enough!

I did another version yesterday from our outing to the animal farm...this one used some smaller photos as I had eleven I wanted to use....and I have been wanting to use this felt flower stuff... And there will be a theme park one soon too which will have some chipboard embellishments and paper from Scenic Route....some hand cut paper and possibly some doodling!

Here is the School Days layout with the pocket page..for awards, reports and so on...no journalling as I will leave that up to my sister and nephew! I had planned on a couple of small photos above the pocket - in class photos or getting awards at assembly etc...but will have to chase those photos up from my sister...In case you are wondering the papers are Basic Grey...

E and I had a nice morning yesterday (Ben was off cleaning up at the old house)...we went to have a play in the park and brunch at a new cafe with friends...called Menu in Guildford and it was great...The girls were busy with their baby chinos and toast and jam...I had a delicious Eggs Benedict with asparagus...my camera battery ran out so I used my mobile phone...don't know how to get the photos off it though!

Ben's Mum is in Perth so we caught up with her last night(and SIL and nieces)...went out for dinner...E was great at the restuarantand the girls had fun playing....
Ben is off spear fishing today....hopefully he will not get eaten by a shark and will bring home some nice fish to eat....

I am trying to sort out the last of the junk from the old house which is all over the lounge room floor....and so a trip to Good Sammies tomorrow I think!

...and my friend Alli and her boys are coming for a picnic tomorrow...we had planned on the zoo but too much walking for me at the moment and it is forecast rain...so we will hang out here...Anyway I hope you have had a great weekend - Lissy

this week so far....

We have had a busy week so far!Monday we were at home...I started making all the butterflies to applique onto Evangeline's curtains...she helped by colouring in the pattern pieces..and telling me they needed to have stripey bodies...so they have stripey bodies! They are ready to layout and put onto the curtains now...
Tuesday we went off to Riley's 4th Birthday party which was great fun for the kids. E was very upset when her egg broke in the egg and spoon race so she had another go and won! lolThat night I went to see"Hairspray" with my mum's group and rather enjoyed it...you do have to listen to the lyrics etc..and it is a bit all tongue-in-cheek...

Wednesday was going to be a quiet day at home but I ended up babysitting for a friend- but that was fine as E had a playmate and they were very busy inside and out all day!
Yesterday was a mum's group get together at the Swan Valley Cuddly Animal Farm...the kids had a ball but it was a little warm as there are not many trees...but fun all the same - this kid loves animals! She patted and fed everything she could!
And some of our peas are ready in the garden - E said they were delicious!
So not sure what we are up to today...but the weather is lovely - Lissy

outside...

It's a great time of year to be outside....it started off a bit cloudy and dreary today but the afternoon was lovely....

We are getting ready to light our bonfire...all the dead trees Ben has cut down....it is in the front paddock...we were giving away free firewood to people but now with spring here and the wind and weather right, it is time to light it up! Our vegetable garden is going well...E loves to help and does not stomp on much!I will have to get some more lettuces to plant as we only have about 6 left to eat! The baby broccoli will be ready next too! And some more carrots!

We have flowers in the garden. The secret to great orchids...leave them neglected in the corner of the garden for a couple of years..lol...And I made some bunting for the babies room...this is just part of it but gives you the idea! A very quick easy wall decoration!And here is the bonfire!So that is about it for this Sunday....I am such a busy blogger these days...lol...nothing all that exciting really but I see this as my diary to record our lives and my creative stuff...Well I hope you have had a nice day - Lissy

baby quilt...

Here it is done and washed and drying on the line....
The instructions I followed were Easy Rag Edge Quilt by Della Jultak ...and I managed to follow them...although I have not actually ever seen one of these quilts in real life so I do not know if it is right but I am happy with it! It is really super quick to put together once you have all the squares cut. I laid mine out on the floor to check the pattern....then flipped each piece over to check the pattern on the back....then piled them up in order and started stitching...not perfect but I love the fabrics!

While I was busy with the quilt yesterday Evangeline was also busy making a bed for Baby Roo Roo who we rescued from the mower that morning...he had been missing for a month or so....


We had a delicious meal of steak and salad last night...using our first lettuce from the garden....how great is that!

Today we have been down to the Farmer's Market to get our vegies....and I have made a Light and Dark Brownie...we were off to Ben's sisters for lunch but they are sick....so now we will have to eat it...if it works out OK I will share the recipe!

So now we have the rest of the day ahead I am not sure what I will do....Lissy

phew....

I am knackered....lol....I have just hand cut 70 fabric squares and 35 wool wadding squares (it had to be wool as any good farmer's daughter knows!) for this baby quilt....

I could not find my quilting ruler.....grrrr....and then I discovered my rotary cutter was too blunt to cut anything any way.....so I just hand cut them....
I am making a Rag Edged Quilt so I am hoping it will not matter.....I am not a quilter so we shall see how this quilt goes! I made a couple of simple quilt tops about 10 or so years ago but they were never finished....hence the old and blunt cutter and the lost ruler...and the mat I used was pretty mucky from Scrap Booking....lol....oh well!

I have a basic set of instructions to follow....but I am never much good at actually following instructions...I have just made up the size of the squares and the quilt proportions to suit myself...I wanted big squares as I want to see plenty of these pretty fabrics!

E was busy cutting with me....chopping up all the off cuts and measuring "things"....

Ben shouted at the TV for a couple of hours and then turned it off in disgust before the game had ended...I gather Geelong were winning easily...

So now I am having a break and may head out side for a bit since it is such a nice day - Lissy