Another Anti-AFL weekend...

Apparently Collingwood won... 

What a gorgeous weekend for a BBQ! And friends, beers, and hanging out in the backyard playing Kubb...

Jackal's action shot

2kg of chicken wings

Timmy getting some cuddle action from Julie

Sleepy Bruce enjoying the sunshine

Bryan & Julie

I think Duncan and Jackal were dancing at this point...

Bruce in the field of play

Marshmallow & a fire calls for...

S'mores & Champagne

Friday night we were able to check out Erin's new Women's Circus venture! It was one of the best one's yet! It's called Ladies Prefer Brunettes (so true) ! It was cheeky funny, very well choreographed and just plain fantastic! I'm not sure when they will be performing it again, but if anyone if interested - below are the details...

So back into another week! Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend and has a happy Monday!!

xo

Gardening!!

It is OFFICIALLY Spring!

J and I spent a bit of time in the garden this weekend. We were able to overhaul the veggie patch and a couple of beds where we sadly ripped out a heap of capsicum plants. We have so much wonderful compost that we were able to mix in tons with the existing dirt.

(me getting potentially eaten by the boys)

I am really looking forward to getting in the garden this year!! 

We have a lot of wild herbs going in the garden as well! Lots of nettle, mint, and of course, dandelion. I made a tea this weekend that was just great! Nettle, calendula with a slice of lemon and teaspoon of manuka honey... So good, so refreshing! 

 And even though, most of garden is getting slightly over-run by clovers, I love the yellow!

And yes, our Aqauponics system is going really well! J has been taking good care of our little goldfish, which are growing rapidly! We had one death in the family, Dead Goldfish Number One was sick for a couple days, but he is in a better place now... 

We have some cos lettuce, broccoli and spinach slowly growing at the moment. I hope these really taken off when the weather warms up a bit!

I hope everyone enjoys the beginning of Spring! 

Or the start of Autumn back home!! 

Happy Ostara!

xo

*it's been a long time coming ....

It's Official!

I will be exhibiting work at the Brunswick Street Gallery along with Aida Sabic this September!

I've been working on a bunch of portraits lately, mostly colour pencil work. They are based on the female protagonists in some of my favourite books. Catherine from Wuthering Heights, Mina Harker from Bram Stokers Dracula and on and on...

I will admit something though. I have not had any work on display since I was about 18 years old. My senior exhibit at NFA was my last one... back in 1994!!!!

So needless to say, I'm a little stressed out and a lot nervous!! I'm trying to cover all the bases of what I have to do, and thanks to Jacob and Aida, I think we'll be ok!

Anyway – more details coming up as it happens!!

Also, on a silly note – I am so excited for Saturday!! We have tickets to the All Blacks vs Wallabies game!! I will probably end up without a voice, but that's part of the fun!!

*autumn loveliness

The nice cool air, the changing of the leaves, it's all to perfect...

Walks down the laneways on Sunday afternoons...

Sleepy, sunny boys...

Yummy Fish and Chips in the Park...

Handsome Bruce waiting for a chip. Or a fish. Or anything that may fall on the ground.

Hoover boy aka Garbage Guts. That's our Bruce.

And one more good thing about autumn...
Harvesting things from the garden.
This is only part of the peppers and capsicum that decided to randomly grow.. Love it!

*lovey lovey lovey - Valentine's Day Recap

I like to believe that J and I are like any other married couple out there. We can get under each other's skin very easily, but we also have many days where we are all cuddly - you know - that couple you see on the street holding hands and trying to be all secret about their PDAs.

I've also never been one to celebrate Valentine's Day. Bah Humbug! But this past Sunday was different. J got up and made me a fabulous soy flat white, handed me that and a little gift... !!!! Awwwwww!!! I know!!!!

Yes. Those are EXACTLY what you think they are... Barrel of Monkey earrings! Made by UbuLala.
And some very nice handmade non-soap soap (as I've found out recently, that I'm pretty allergic to regular soaps) made with olive oil, rice bran oil, coconut oil, water, lye, and essential oils. Made by Starashan...

He got everything at Olive Grove over on Sydney Rd... (I don't think they have a website!!) But yeah... he's a lovely boy!

After a trip to the Vic Markets for our usual veggie and seafood shop, I came home and made some prawn alfredo pasta. I have to admit, I've never made a white sauce from scratch before. But holy cow! Easy as! Granted, I will probably need to watch my cholesterol and my fat intake after that meal, but it was worth it!! So much cheese. So much butter. So much yum!

Hope everyone had a lovely day!!!
xoxo

*finally. on holiday...

I hope everyone had a beautiful Christmas! I've chatted with the family back home, and yes, I am jealous they had a white Christmas - Jacob and I had our first Christmas alone... with Timmy of course! It was lovely!

My stay-cation started with a new van Hulst Christmas eve tradition... Tandoori Chicken that Jacob marinated for 2 days and popped on the BBQ. Very nice! We decorated our mini-tree and watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (one of the 2 best Christmas movies ever, only tied with A Christmas Story). We were also visited by the Christmas Huntsman... Bahhh!!!(Apologizes for the iPhone pics on this one... )

And sweet little Timmy fell asleep waiting for Santa....

Christmas morning is for sleeping in. But saw my xmas pressie from Jacob. Yay!!! New big canvases! And some adorable artwork he mastered on the plastic covering. I almost don't want to use them and ruin his artwork!! I crocheted him a neck warmer with some nice merino wool and some sweet old vintage US Navy sailor buttons I had. I'm going to make myself one. I love it!

We had a few soy flat whites, a few mimosas with super freshly squeezed orange juice (thanks to Jenny's xmas gift from about 10 years ago, yes, my fancy 1950's orange juice maker..), a couple crossiants with my homemade cherry plum jam.. and then Jacob went nuts in the kitchen... Eggs with Gravalax and onions and chili. Oh goodness - Yum!!!

They rest of the day we lounged, went for a walk around the park with Timmy. Then came back to make dinner, Bugs!!!! I made some potato salad and peach salsa. Yes, we basically just pigged out all day!
 

Yum!!!

I spent some time later in the day with my camera around the house. The light was perfect and I couldn't resist.

 

Jacob scored heaps of fruit from a friend... Fruit salad, stewed applesauce, and the cherry plums from the tree in the front yard...

 We played Rummy on Xmas Eve - proof I won!

Timmy's new hobby. Chewing books. Ugh.

 

And my catching up on the crochet projects. Including Jacob's xmas gift.

Anyway. Back to doing some domesticness that is catching up on laundry and grey-watering the garden.
xo

*upcoming exhibition - aida sabic

Aida has some new lovely work...
I'm photographing the opening night, so hopefully I'll see you there!!

xo