Tea Party with the girls!

Since I've told you how much I love tea parties, I thought I'd better show you a couple of my favourites. In Beat's last year of school, I did a tea party for her as a photo shoot for her NCEA photography portfolio. We had so much fun, playing ladies with vintage gloves and op-shop dresses in flowery prints.

I baked all my favourite things for them and they had fruit tea in china cups!

I think Renee was appointed to play "mother" with the teapot and the serving plates.

These are my signature cupcakes. They are such fun to make. Sometimes i get really OTT with the decoration. These are quite restrained, for the occassion.

Cinnamon Lodge

This is my friend Clare who has a cute little quilt shop down town in Hawera called Cinnamon Lodge. She refers to herself as crazy Clare, but I couldn't possibly comment! She has a gorgeous Mum called Nancy who sometimes fills in for her in the shop, and is often in there doing lovely PR with customers. Nancy and I meet in our other lives at the hospital. She works in maternity and I work in the medical ward (as little as possible!) Clare and I went to school together in Eltham in the 70s, so perhapse there was something in the water then... she's one of the cleverest, creative people I know!

She's almost up and running with her website, so when she is I'll put a link on my blog.

I like starting projects!

I love to start projects! About half way through I get bored, and by that time I've usually found at least three other things that I just HAVE to make, so the current project gets put in the cupboard or the knitting basket for a while. Maybe a few weeks, maybe a few years ...
This is my current knitting, which is gorgeous, and I am doing well with it, but I am really over it by the time I get to the last sleeve! And sewing it up is just an exercise in tenacious will power, but then I love it when it's complete!

I've been working on this quilt which is called "pretty in pink" for a couple of years now I think.

Am back on it now, and it's almost complete! I love all the little bits of colour that go into it.

I finished these little green bloomers last night because they had been laying around for about a week almost finished. They're made from vintage fabric bought on Trade Me. I found an gorgeous retro tablecloth at an op-shop last week, which I'll make into a little swing top to go with them. They'll be SO cute.

This my Auntie Lex's trusty overlocker. Lex died about three years ago. Actually she's really Richard's auntie, but I stole her because she was a kindred spirit.
The sewing machine was my Mum's , and it's the only one I've ever used. I learnt to sew on it when I was about seven. I made a lot of dolls clothes and a few hideous attempts at my own clothes. I didn't actually become any good at it til I had a little girl and desperately wanted to make pretty dresses!

Little pink dresses!

I've been pulling out all my old vintage fabrics and patterns, and some of my favourite sewing patterns that I have made up and loved in the past. The cat sleeps amongst the pile while I work around her.

Am not quite sure what I'll do with them all, but at the moment i love them too much to part with them.

Autumn in my Garden

The last of the summer flowers. There are still a few small and pale roses, and lovely white Japanese anemones. I even found a very attractive yellow dandelion to go in my tussie - mussie.

The hydrangeas are turning russet coloured and the lavender is browning off and needs cutting right back so that it doesn't get too woody.

The mankiest places in the garden somehow make the best photos in autumn.

We've hardly had a summer at all here on the West coast. Apparently we can blame the El Nino weather pattern for that.

There's always an old cat asleep somewhere, gathering the last rays of sunshine.

The Mummy Recipies

Last Christmas I had a photo book made up for my daughter with all my favourite recipes in it. I called it The Mummy Recipes. Here are a few of the best ones for your enjoyment.

On a more practical note, when each of my children went flatting I gave them recipes for their favourite and easy to prepare meals. Callum has never used his, and Beat says they are "cabbage" because they make reference to cooking your mince thoroughly to avoid e-coli contamination! Obviously her ability to separate egg whites and egg yolks at a precocious age means that these add ons are unnecessary!

Sonya's Carrot Cake

2 cups finely grated carrot

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 1/2 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp baking soda (sifted)

1/2 tsp salt

Grate carrots finely and put aside. Mix eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla essence until smooth.Add carrots and remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly, but do not over-mix. Pour into a greased and lined cake tin. Cook 40 mins @ 180 deg c.

I actually double this recipe except for the spices, and double the cooking time. Makes a big round cake.

Icing.

100g cream cheese

50g melted butter

sifted icing sugar to whatever consistancy you like

1 tsp vanilla essence

Happy Easter everyone!

Today I've been experimenting with free graphics and Victorian images of Easter to create my own cards. With limitted success I must add! I find the technology usually defeats me, even when I have the best ideas!!! I put the card stock in the printer with the price barcode still attached, and of course it came out of the printer with that side face up! Then I had the glitter debarcle, and spent the next half an hour with the vacuum cleaner! But the free graphics from thefrenchbee are so gorgeous, and I just love them to bits. This is the picture I used.