Angels and broomsticks!

In the Christmas spirit, I got out my watercolours and some water colour paper (I got mine from one of my favourite lurks - The Scrapbooking Shop).

These angel cards are so easy to make for big and small people as they are not meant to be precise - infact they look better if the pen outline and paint overlap. I improvised too using some of my stamp pads instead of paint. Glitter glue also works well.








And just to make you giggle:

Women are angels

And when someone breaks our wings ...

we simply continue to fly on a broomstick

We're flexible like that!

Cheats Mince Pies

As soon as we hit 1st December the Small People decided that it was definitely the right time to put up the Christmas tree and get Christmas underway. So as they rifled through the boxes of decorations loading the tree up so that it was weighed down like a ...well like a Christmas tree, I went into super Mum mode and made Cheats mince pies.

     

 Store bought pastry, store bought filling, a quick bit of rolling out, 12 minutes in the oven (for the 12 days of Christmas?!) and hey presto a dozen mince pies. Spicy, Christmassy smells, Christmas carols trilling out over the stereo and Miss Small went to work with the icing sugar. They looked pretty presentable and they were scoffed down pretty fast too.

Who says you need to be too hair shirt about living the good life!

Macademia nut madness

Today I had a job of separating cracked macademia nuts from their shells.  The smell, feel, and colours of them were really intense and of course sampling them straight from the shell was a must! They were a taste sensation and altogether a result totally different from buying from a shop. If only all jobs were like this!

 A few had to be hand cracked with a hammer

I decided that in order to best preserve their taste I would lightly roast some of them and add them to my homemade "Random Muesli". So named because I add whatever I have in the cupboard to a large container and shake it up - the fresh nuts will elevate it to a whole new level.

Happy weekend

Ingredients I put in my Random Muesli, include different types of oats, rolled, organic, milled; sultanas, cranberries, dried apricots, linseeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, wheat bran and of course any nuts I have to hand. Put in a really large container and shake as necessary! 

Finding inspiration

As Blue says in her last post about beach sculptures, inspiration can come from anywhere - the great outdoors, books, gardens, kids and pets. This inspiration can invigorate you, give you a new perspective and stimulate the creative juices.

So when I was feeling a little bit 'end of year-ish' I had a nosy around one of my favourite places - The Skullery. They stock a range of wonderful kitchen and home items.  This tea towel caught my eye - I loved the teal colour and the butterfly (isn't it funny how quality tea towels are now really fashionable and not a bit nana-ish) .

 For Christmas I had promised one of the wee people a bedroom makeover and I could see how this teal would work beautifully as a feature wall.

 

















Out came the brushes and paint - including some amazing magnetic paint from Resene. The entire feature wall instantly became a giant magnet... the perfect place for the collection of magnetic butterflies.

With the creative juices now well and truly flowing, there's still more I want to do - stay tuned for the next stage of the makeover.

Beach Sculpture

It was such a beautiful sunny, windy day on Saturday that the Smalls and I grabbed "bread folds" (rename a sandwich and its amazing how appealing they become to the kids!) and headed out with the dog along the beach we live at. We scrambled over rocks across one bay, over a headland to the next and had a sandy beach all to ourselves.

Inspired by Andy Goldsworthy, a Scottish artist who makes incredible art works in-situ in nature we made our own beach sculpture out of drift wood, shells and all sorts of interesting bits and bobs we could scavenge. After all the fun is in the creating...

Liquid gold

I have been really determined this year to have a productive and prolific vege garden. We are so lucky with our sub-tropical climate and volcanic soil that it would be a crime not to make the most of it.

I think the potatoes have already got away on me!

 

My peas reach for their climbing frame

So last weekend, when the sun came out I shot out the door wielding my patent-pending liquid gold: chicken and guinea pig poo fermented in water. Combined with more water my brew got sprinkled around liberally (while I held my nose).

 To be honest I have no idea whether it will help or hinder, but you have to try! I'll keep you posted.

Rocky has recently adopted us. He's very handy in the garden
making sure the bean seeds are well covered with soil! 



Box Envy

...........and now after a trip into town I'm wishing I had made my christmas cake in one of these beauties which I saw in The Scullery in Kerikeri! I wonder if you would still need to do all the lining with brown paper if you used one? Must make a mental note to try and acquire such a box for next year!