Arts Festival

Over the weekend and this coming week, I've been busy with seeing shows, on Saturday I saw Patti Smith in concert, which was one thing I never thought would happen. It was amazing, I'm still getting over it. Tonight I'm seeing a Patti Smith dedication to the Beat Poet Allen Ginsberg, along with Phillip Glass, i'm more excited than ever. Its all Part of the Melbourne Arts Festival, which is turning out better than i could of ever imagined. There are also films to watch, photography to enjoy and music to listen to, Patti Smith is quite amazing!

From Meaghan

This is...My current favourite reading material

This is late, but thats okay I think. I have for as long as I can remember been a fan of reading, but while I am studying and have the huge pressure of essay's and weekly readings looming over my head, i can't even contemplate starting a novel, so instead I read magazines, and Lula is definately one of my favourite. It has the most amazing photos, lovely articles beautiful fonts and their covers are nice and simple too.



From Meaghan.

A Week of Picnic's!

So this is the end of 'A Week of Picnic' we have defiantley had a lot of fun sharing our favourite picnic things and picnic memories, and are extra glad about all of the new lovely blogs we have found. Thanks everyone for joining in and thanks to pip to for letting us share her Blog!!

Meaghan and Claire

A Week of Picnic's...dresses!

Here a just a few of our favourite picnic dresses, they are good because of their floral print and their ability to look good against green grass.

A week of Picnic...sweet picnic slice!

Like the savoury picnic slice, we featured on Mikes lovely blog, hedgehog has been a family favourite for many years, Mum made it for us when we were younger but still makes it for us occassionally today. Its pretty simple and requires no baking which is good sometimes. You can definately make this one in advance, so its ready whenever the picnic urge hits!

Picnic Hedgehog

¾ cup or 180ml of sweetened condensed milk

60g of butter

125g dark eating chocolate, chopped coarsely

150g plain sweet biscuits

And an amount of dried fruit or nuts that you find most suitable (I like walnuts but anthing that takes your fancy is fine)Line a slice pan with some baking paper

Combine the condensed milk and butter in a saucepan; stir over low heat until the butter has melted and the mix is nice and smooth, remove from the heat and then add the chocolate and stir again until smooth.

Break the biscuits into small pieces in a bowl, add chocolate mix and nuts of choice and stir until all the biscuits are coated.

Spread mixture into the pan and cover, refrigerate for about 4 hours or until slice is firm.

After this time I like to further decorate the slice with some chocolate icing and hundred and thousands.

Then simply cut into slices, transport into some Tupperware and enjoy at your next picnic!!

Where it all Began!

I think our love of picnic's developed with the reading of Enid Blyton's The Magic Faraway Tree. Bessie, Jo and Fanny got up to the most amazing adventures all thanks to a picnic, encouraging us to picnic as much as we could and climb as many trees as possible, while tree climbing has since subsided, i'm not sure picnic's ever will.

Handy picnic Tools!

Picnic gadgets, really are the best, they allow optimal use with limited space. When I first found these in a picnic set found in an op-shop I was overwhelmed, one person must have been very clever to design such handy things. More picnic things over at lovely Mikes.

More picnic things.

Here are a few more close up piture of our favourite picnic things, as seen on mikes.

More Thermos's

Here are some of of our favourite thermoses, they have nothing on the one's pip showed us on mikes, that is one of the most impressive collections. It makes me want to search evrey op-shop in the country, looking for more!

A week of Picnic's!

Finally a week of picnic's is here, Claire and I have been talking about this for so long and can't wait to share all of our things. Each day we will post a blog on the Mikes site, but we will also put some extra things up here, so be sure to look at it all. These are just some closer picture of those sets. If I could I would collect picnic sets until there weren't anymore to buy, but for now these will have to do.

ps. thanks for all the birthday wishes, yesterdays picnic was really amazing, Claire put in so much effort, it was amazing.

Happy Birthday Little Sister!

Today is Megs 21st Birthday! 

We had a lovely day celebrating in our family's usual way, with a picnic. The whole family drove up to Bacchus Marsh where we meet Nana and our Uncle at a park near the town center. 

We all made great food, we had baguettes filled with pesto, roast capsicum, feta, sun-dried tomato and baby spinach, cup cakes, hedgehog, coconut ice and lots of other yummie things. 

Nana brought Meg a beautiful cake and we all sang "happy birthday" very quietly because we where a bit shy. 

It was a lovely way to celebrate Meaghans birthday and I'm pretty sure she enjoyed it. 

Claire...

Coconut Ice!

Today I took some time and made some Coconut Ice, its really simple all you need to do is combine one can of condensed milk, three and one third of a cups of icing sugar and four and one quarter cups of coconut. You then spoon half the mix into a container and then spread it evenly, you then add a few drops of pink colouring to the remaining mix and spread it on top. It is really tasty, and gives you lots of sugar induced energy!

From Meaghan.

Lost and Found...

...or maybe this is more the case of packed away and then rediscovered again. I had forgotten all about these tea cups until yesterday when I found then buried at the bottom of a box, I think I bought them at Camberwell market awhile ago. Its nice to find new old things again.

From Meaghan.

From my fabric stash..Part 4

I brought this stunner in Albury on an op shopping weekend last summer. It was a curtain and covered in spider nests and smelled really bad. But after a good spin in the wash it came up good as new. Meg made a nice bag for a friend out of it, and I've made a cushion out of it.     

Claire...

Night time strolling!

Last night walking home, I was overwhelmed by a lovely scent, I knew it could only be one thing, wysteria. Growing up I would always look forward to the time this creeper would flower, it really is something special.

From my fabric stash..Part 3

This one is a linen tea towel. It feels lovely and crisp, but I don't know what to do with it. Maybe it would look good framed. I just want to do the right thing by it, I think it deserves it. It shouldn't be packed away any longer.

Claire...

Moving in Spring!

Today Claire and I will be spending the day moving some more things into my new room. For so long I have been living in small little pokey rooms and now all of a sudden I have heaps of space to fill, I almost don't know what to do with it all. All it will take is some living and adjusting I think. Also the lovely Frances Baker and I contributed a post to Craft City Melbourne, its kind of a crafternoon in the Dandenong Ranges, visiting op-shops and tulip festivals. Josie was even good enough to include a map to make getting around a little eaiser.

From Meaghan.   

From my fabric stash..Part 2

I love this fabric so much, originally it was a double quilt cover and now I've made many bags and aprons out of it. I also have it in two other colour ways, but this one is my favourite.  

Claire...

From my fabric stash..

I'm joining Mikes "share your fabric stash" this week.

I brought this from a little op-shop in Benalla last year. I have about 3 meters of it. I would love to make a dress out of it but I'm a little scared of sewing with stretchy fabrics.  

Claire...

Tesselaar Tulip Festival!

Yesterday, my friend Josie and I spent the day in Monbulk, walking amongst fields of tulips. We sampled some Dutch, Poffertjes, and cut our own tulips from a field. The drive up to Monbulk is especially lovely too, with ample opportunity to stop at many op-shops along the way. 

From Meaghan.

A week of baking...The French Way!

I can only imagine what it would be like to visit France and visit all their bakeries, the things they bake look like nothing i've ever seen in Australia before. The photos are from this very lovely blog.   She looks like spends her days doing the loveliest things, and taking the best photos. 

A week of baking has been lots of fun, i can't wait to see where Pip's week of Golden Books takes us!

From Meaghan. 

A Week of Baking...Aprons!!!

Aprons are my favorite thing about baking, and one of my favorite things in general. Wearing a good apron really makes me feel good and helps to make what ever I'm baking taste even better, and I can be pretty messy in the kitchen. Meg and I have a good collection of aprons and I have pick two of my best to share and the last one is one that I made a few months ago. 

From Claire

Week of Baking...Bakeries!

One of the best things about baking is bakeries I think. They allow you to eat baked goods, when you don't have the time to bake yourself, and they always smell good, like rising bread and sugar and they are always nice and warm because things have been baking all day!

On Wednesday Claire our Mum and I took a trip into the country and stopped off at Bourkies Bakery in Woodend, where they boast the title of serving Victoria's second best judged Vanilla Slice, believe me they are good!

From Meaghan.

Cupcakes!

As I've mentioned before baking cupcakes is one of my favourite activities, and the recipe below is my favourite. they always come out really light and fluffy, I think it is because of the whisked egg whites.  

Cupcakes!

1 3/4 cups of sifted plain flour

2 Teaspoons of baking powder

3/4 cup of milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups of castor sugar

4oz (about 114g) of butter

3 egg whites 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees, and prepare the cake tins however you like

Sift the flour along with the baking powder and salt into a bowl

Combine milk and vanilla into a measuring jug and set aside

Meanwhile cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy, (if your anything like me you should probably taste the mix at this stage just to make sure their aren't any poisons inside!)

Alternating the flour and the milk mixes; blend half of one, then half of the other into the butter mixture. You should mix well after each addition and repeat, making sure you mix well at the end too. 

In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry (i.e. droopy peaks). This is best done with an electric mixer, or by someone with a really strong arm. After this gently fold them into the batter.

Spoon the batter into the prepared tins, filling them to at least halfway. bake for about 20 minutes or until you think they are done. 

Serve decorated with your favourite icing and sprinkles!

(my icing consists of 6oz of butter, 2 1/4 cups of icing sugar blended and beaten until light and fluffy ) 

Happy Baking!

From Meaghan.

Childhood Baking!

Photo from here

Ever since I was a young girl I can remember baking being one of my favourite activities. Claire, our Mum, brother and I would spend hours in the kitchen baking a wide range of things like, cupcakes, slices, honey crackles, cakes and biscuits. I used to love measuring everything out first and then adding them as the recipe instructed, Claire on the other hand was a lot less organised and would just measure and add things as she went (much to my frustration). I remember getting older and being able to make things from start to finish by myself. Me and my friend would go to each others houses and make cakes and then ice them in a really grotesque colour in an effort to turn people off, leaving us more to eat. Today I am a little less bizarre with my icing methods and much less greedy when it comes to sharing, but my love of baking remains. I couldn't find a photo of us as kids baking to share, but wouldn't be surprised if it would look any different from the one above that I found on Flickr. You can see some more baking stories over at Mikes.

From Meaghan. 

A week of Baking Thanks to Mikes!

We have decided to join Mikes in their week of baking, expect some tasty recipes, and other vintage baking things. I can't wait to see how that cake turns out!  

This is...What I do with a spare 10 minutes!

When I have a few spare minuets I usually spend it daydreaming. Not very practical I know, but I think it's a very important part of my creative process. I most like to daydream about sewing and fabric but I also like to daydream about cooking and eating and blogging.

The picture has nothing to do with my daydreaming but I really like it, and wanted to share.

Claire...

New Old Things!

This is just a few of the things I have found on my market or op-shop trips of late. The rabbit is old but still a favourite and the ice bucket in the back is for my brother, he has quite a large collection now, and I think this one will fit in nicely. I'm especially happy with the children's books, just recently I was talking about my eagerness to acquire some of these, and then yesterday at the market there they were. I even found a name mug for pip and was delighted by her reaction when i delivered it to her on Friday. The tray-table that the things are sitting on was also brought at the market yesterday, i'm aiming to use it as a small desk for my computer, as i'm currently living in a room that is to small to accomodate a desk. I like it because it looks like the flowers on it have been stiched on when really they haven't.

From Meaghan.

Applique...

Today I attempted some applique and I really enjoyed it. The hardest part for me was drawing the horse, I'm not the best drawer. I'm very happy with how it turned out, but is it possible to applique on the sewing machine? It would save a lot of time.

Claire

Cute!!!

Yesterday on my way to work I stopped in at an op-shop. They had a little basket full of these cute little booties and for the very cheap price of $3.00! Can you believe it? My friend just told me that she is pregnant so fingers crossed it a little girl.

Claire...

My Weekend Away!

A friend and I decided we need a weekend by the sea so last Saturday we set off down the Great Ocean Road. As soon as we saw the sea we both felt so relaxed. Our first stop was Apollo Bay where we visited the local bakery and had some lovely sandwiches, we ate them looking at this view (above). 

We spent the night in Port Campbell where we enjoyed a great meal in the Port Campbell Hotel and had a room that you could see and hear the ocean from.

On Sunday morning we went to Warnambool and visited the Mill Markets and attempted a swim but it really was freezing. Then we had to head back home. It was really great to get out of town for the weekend and see more of the country. I hope I can do it more often.

Claire...

This is...My Favourite Band!

Sigur Ros would definitely have to be one of my favourite bands. While I have trouble committing to one band as my favourite band for a lifetime, I have no trouble expressing my love for Sigur Ros, for a myriad of reasons. They create some of the most beautiful music I have heard, it really takes you off to somewhere really lovely. They also create the nicest film clips I have seen in a long time, and they play the most amazing live shows, complete with marching bands and falling confetti. I would love to share some of my favourite film clips but still have not mastered the You Tube sharing technique. Instead here is a link to one of my favourite songs. You could also visit their myspace if you wanted to listen to some more, i really recommend that you do. 

Thanks to Curly Pops for a great theme this week.

From Meaghan.

Fresh Today!

I've been doing heaps of sewing today and I made these 4 bags. I really love to sew and any spare time I have I'll be thinking about what I can sew up. I've been doing so much sewing lately that I've created a stock pile of bags, cushions and aprons. We've been thinking about Etsy lately and If we should open a store. I've read lots Blogs lately and people have different ideas about how to go about it and what web sites to use. Please, if you have and ideas or advice please let us know. We would appreciate all the help we can get.

Claire...