Get Green

If you want to spruce up the joint, and you don't have a wad of cash, you can make an amazing difference just by installing some greenery. Plants indoors look fresh and crisp, and apparently, as an added bonus they will also make the air cleaner and cooler.
Potted palms and Queenslanders are a classicly handsome pair. You cannot go wrong with a verandah and a palm. Either fork out 20 clams at your local nursery for a living tree or, in the dead of night, snip off some fronds from your neighbour's garden. I'll leave the details up to you.

India Hicks is all over it, of course.

Ferns, like potted palms, are another classic, either indoors or on the verandah, hanging or sitting. They are delightful and more hearty than they look.

Ivy, Sydney, below.

Name another plant that can bend itself around in a circle like this.

If you can't garden, never fear, the succulents are here. I'm telling you, you cannot kill these things. They are survivors. They're also tres pretty.

Succulents come in all shapes and colours, you can plant them in just about anything, they only need watering every so often, and they're cheap to buy. What's not to love?

Plus, your husband will just love spending one of his rare and precious mornings off drilling holes in a fragile old teacup.

Indoor plants give you the perfect opportunity to break out your best macrame. Notice who has been entrusted to hang in these?

Orchids are beautiful indoors, and although I don't have much first-hand experience with them, I'm told they're not as high maintenance as we're led to believe.

Indoor plants can go in and out of fashion. Monsteria leaves and fiddlewood figs are very much loved at the moment. Cycads, stretlitzias (bird of paradise plants), staghorns and anything topiaried, will always be in style.

See, just a few fronds can make the world of difference.

I think ivy deserves a mention here too.

Herbs are pretty and useful, a double whammy.

You know, you don't have to limit the greenery to actual plants.

So if you can't quite manage something like this....

...or this vertical installation...

....or even this....

....maybe something like this will make a good start....

New Cushions and Angel Food Cake

I picked up some new cushions yesterday from the lady who makes our cushions. I had to get new covers made for some cane footstools. They came up beautifully, albeit very safe. There's nothing avant garde about this stuff.

She also made the rectangular spotted cushion on the chair, and the square one at the back, which is actually silk. I'm using a lot of 'peacock blue' in this room, so Perry the Peacock feels at home.
This cushion below is very large and for the floor. It's a heavy duty, outdoor canvas, so it'll be handy out by the pool in Summer too.

This floral fabric is far more beautiful in person than in the photo. They have blue ticking on the back. I've had three made and later this week will have to trek down to my least favourite shop in the world, Ikea, to pick up some feather inserts. I think they are about $10 for the 60cm x 40cm size?

I had 12 egg whites in the freezer left over from various things I've made, so I whipped up an Angel Food Cake. I've never had one before, so I'm not sure if I got it right? It's like a cross between meringe and sponge cake? It has almond extract in it, which I'm not mad about. I think I'd leave that out if ever I find myself at a loose end with 12 egg whites on hand - hopefully I won't.

I actually can't find the recipe I used, but if you click here you'll find another one which sounds good. It's called Angel Food Cake because there's no fat in it, but there's a truckload of sugar.

Adios Amigos!

Green Chandeliers and Lemon Delicious

As I write this post tonight, I can hear the crowd singing Advance Australia Fair at the British Lions vs Australia game at Suncorp. My husband is watching the game at a hotel just up from the stadium, along with some of the other hood husbands.
Work is progressing very nicely downstairs. Remember, last update it looked like this?

It has suddenly turned a corner and is become much more exciting. The walls are being sheeted and now we can see proper rooms forming.

We are building in bookshelves on either side of the french doors, you can see them coming together.

We're currently looking into what to put on the floor, but more on that at a later stage.

We really want to use green somewhere in the main room, whether in a floor tile or a light. I've come across some very beautiful green chandeliers.

I love these beaded styles.

I found this chandelier at Recollections. Could I possible change the colour? Probably not.

Tonight I made one of my most very favourite old fashioned puddings, Lemon Delicious. A perfect hybrid of souffle and self saucing pud.

I use a recipe from The Australian Women's Weekly Original Cookbook, first published in 1970.

To make Lemon Delicious separate three eggs and beat the yolks with half a cup of caster sugar. Beat in a cup of milk and a tablespoon of self raising flour, a tablespoon of lemon zest, pinch of salt and half a cup of lemon juice. Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites with a tablespoon of sugar until peaks form. Fold through the lemon mixture and pour into an oven proof dish. Stand the dish in a pan of cold water and bake at around 180 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Serve immediately with a little dobby of vanilla ice cream on the side. It will be meringue-y on the top half with a lemon sauce underneath. You'll love it. Guaranteed.

I have all manner of sewing/crafty odds and ends. A burglar breaking into our house would think he'd arrived at Martha's house, but alas, my hand skills do not match my ambition. Having said that, I had some success recently and I thought I'd share with you in case you are in the same boat.
I got this idea from a beach towel I saw at a shop at The Barracks, possibly Robe?
All one does is take a non descript towel, in my case, a child's beach towel, and cut a piece of complementing fabric which is the same size.
You then stitch the two together, with the fabric's right side facing out. Then take some bias binding and sew it around the edges - I'm not sure how that stuff is meant to go, but I managed to sew it in a crude fashion. Then to finish off, sew some pom poms or other trim onto the ends. It becomes a beach towel slash picnic rug, and it looks like this.

I think even if you're a faux-sewer like me, it's pretty self explanatory.

Hey presto! A monkey could do it.

Thinking about the design of your new house? Have you heard of Twigitecture, probably should be a small 't''. Twigitecture is the art of building nests for humans. This one is for rent at Big Sur in the US for US$110 per night. We may now call that AUD$121 per night. Spectacular, but very uncomfortable looking. You can read more about them here if you really want to.

  I got these cane stools recently. They're the same style as our lounge setting. It's all getting a bit matchy, matchy, but don't fear, I'm onto it. The stools are a bit high and bulky to fit under the bench, but they'll be ok. For now. The stool cushions are getting a Hawaiian style makeover. Stay tuned.

Did someone mention pineapple? I thought so. Have a look at this gorgeous lamp. I think it's at Pad in Sydney.

Now I'm off to make the most of having the television all to myself. This is a rarity, we're a one-tv-household. I'm going to watch Karen Blixen and Dennis Finch Hatton running around Kenya together. That move gets sadder and sadder every time I see it.

'I had a farm in Africa, at za foot of za Ngong Hills.....'

Pineapples in Winter

What do you think? I thought I'd redecorate and spruce the place up. It's a bit out of season, tres summery and all, considering the icy conditions outside, but I do love a good pineapple.
Pineapples, as a decorating motif, are uniquely kitsch and classic all in one. I was looking through a 2003 Vogue Living recently and found this spread. Look at those lovely pineapples and palm trees, delightful, and timeless.

This is a little timber pineapple bowl I picked up recently. I decided to paint it white because it's specifically for lemons and limes, and I like the contrast. Shame about the less than spectacular fruit in it.

Speaking of timber bowls, I have a new found appreciation for them after seeing a segment on the Martha Stewart show, where some men turned beautiful wood into spectular bowls. I've indulged this new whimsy a couple of times recently.

Our 'guard dog', and I use that term loosely, is not coping well with the Wintery chill. Old Fox Face is spending almost all her days clocking up serious couch time under the doona.....

.....or draped in woollies. I don't think she's much suited to the security business, being so emotionally needy and all. The chilly nights are putting us all on edge, with both canine and feline choosing to spend the night in - at the same time. While the needy dog would just love to play with the cat, Teddy looks at the dog with utter repugnance on his haughty little face. I swear you could cut the air with a knife when those two are around each other.

This crisp Winter weather is turning out some spectacular sunsets. This is one from during the week. Old timber houses on hills, such as ours for example, are notoriously 'un-warm' in Winter, in fact, we actually go outside for some relief from the frigid conditions inside. Every whisp of icy wind works its way under doors and through the thousand cracks in our walls.

The girls have got themselves a daily habit of hot chocolate, usually spiced up with some vanilla and cinnamon. We make it with real chocolate on the bottom, topped with hot milk, the vanilla, a couple of marshmallows tossed in and a sprinkle of cinnamon. No complaints.
If you're around Paddington at all while it's cold, try a hot chocolate at Monty's, which is near the Paddington Antiques Centre, you'll either love it or hate it. I was frightened, and I don't scare easily when it comes to calories.

I have been eating vegan style lately - please, no snoring during this paragraph. That means no animal products, so no meat obviously, no dairy, eggs, seafood, etc. Hardcore vegans don't even eat honey (because of the involvement with bees) or marshmallows (gelatine is made from cows' bones) - but I don't think I'll take things that far. Anyway, I'm not going to rabbit on about my eating regime because that's very boring, but safe to say, surprisingly veganism is conducive to cold weather.
Armed with my Charmaine Solomon, I've been whipping up vegetable curries and dahl like a woman possessed.

Dahl is almost the perfect food. It's delicious, quick to make, healthy, cheap, low fat, high fibre, filling and freeze-able. You can add loads of sides like chutney, yogurt, flat bread, fresh herbs and pickled vegetables.
To make dahl, just heat a few tablespoons of oil (vegetable, olive or ghee) in a pot and sautee two diced onions, toss in some spices (turmeric, garam masala, ground cumin or coriander) and crushed garlic and stir some more. Put 375g red lentils (one bag) into the pot with about four cups of vegetable stock, you can add more if required later. Stir, turn down the heat, put the lid on and cook for about 20-25 minutes until the lentils are mushy. That's it.

It should look something along the lines of this.. tonight I served mine with fried eggplant and fresh spinach sandwiched between two pieces of toasted lebanese bread.

Have a look at these darlings. I spotted them in an op shop during the week. All I could see from a distance was a splodge of pretty blue on a shelf, and I flew over vampire style and snatched them up. I don't think I needed to pounce so, they weren't really on anyone else's radar, but aren't they lovely. Absolute gorgeousness for only two and a half clams!

Stay warm people!
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