Change

Sometimes after I've got a nook of the house looking how I like it, it stays for a while, but then I seem to thrive on change, I move things around and try another way to display them. Here is a little area next to our dining area, where we sometimes gather around the piano to sing while we take turns to muck around on the piano. The piano (in French polished wood finish) was a gift for hubby when he left home to go to University in the city, so that's why we've got it now. It is probably the reason why I haven't painted all the other wood coloured furniture (e.g. the buffet, the hutch on the other side of the room, the tables and chairs etc.) in this room white, apart from the fact that they will be rather huge projects. This area of the house is not as soft and pastel as the lounge room, I guess I just feel that because I don't live on my own, I can't make the whole house look too much like a girly abode, even though in many aspects my feminine style still spills out here and there, lol. This first photo was taken at Christmas time, that's why the hanging string between the lamps and the gold baubles on the buffet.This change I made is quite "fundamental", the whole feel changed. I pulled out the old floral arrangement in that cherub stand thingy, painted it white and draped it with a self-made gum leaf wreath. Normally I'd go for ivy or something like that cascading down, but the gum-leaves stayed this time as they look fine. The good thing with the gum leaves is that they won't look dead or fake even if they are dried. I painted the lamp bases, changed the shades, moved some other white things from other parts of the house there, and voila!, a different style compared to the old. I'm still working on it, I haven't been able to tackle the three white blank canvases on the wall yet, but in time I will. I've had the change for quite a while now, but haven't been able to post about it until now. Of course I've got many photos of roses to post, but I thought I'd give you a break from roses, how's that for a change?

Work-in-progress

Today I'd like to show you my not-quite-finished lounge room. Now what is a lounge room? You might ask. Well, here in Australia, it is common to have a lounge room in a home, it is a formal sitting area which is normally situated in the front of the house, just after you've stepped in through the front door. This room is usually decorated with more formal furniture, often has a fireplace and mantelpiece. It's different to the living/family room which is another area of the house. So you could say there are two sitting areas, that's why the formal lounge room often doesn't get used as much as it should be, friends and family who visit often just head down and gather in the living/family area, situated near the dining and kitchen area.As you can see I didn't decorate my formal lounge in a strictly formal style, but I think some Louis XV white painted chairs and a coffee table in that style would finish the look very well. My love for metal garden benches also shows here as I've got a bench in first sooner than anything else. Dark wood furniture is usually associated with more formal rooms, but I didn't want this area to be dark with dark wood furniture as that look simply wouldn't work well there. I like the glow of natural wood, but I love painted furniture and that airy light romantic atmosphere they create even more. (Okay, maybe I am biased, I do tend to like the softer romantic look) I would love a fireplace and mantelpiece(in white of course), but they have not been the pressing need and we spend most of our time in the living area where the heating is in winter, the fireplace and mantelpiece are just something I'd love for the sake of the traditional look, so they haven't been made the priority. So all in all, this room is a pretty room which doesn't get used very much, although I do get lots of compliments from friends about the decor, which means people do notice its existence. I'm sure as we get more chairs in there, we'll be likely to use it more in the future. We do use it for opening presents under the Tree at Christmas time and I do go and sit in there for my cuppas sometimes though. LOL. Hubby prays in there every morning too, so there you go, we do use it a little bit. My darling hubby uses one corner behind the partition for his study area now, as our kids have grown and they need one bedroom each and the study has become a bedroom. The good thing with darling hubby is he is not fussed about the pale pink on the walls (even though by the time he moved his study in there the walls were already done) and he just leaves the decorating of the house entirely up to me. Our house is a very basic house with no activity room, home theatre, computer room or anything extra like that as so many houses do these days, but we love it because it is our home sweet home.
Hope you enjoyed this tour of our lounge room which is a work-in-progress and I'll update you with more as I keep working on it.

Cute Thing

It's been nearly a year since our cat Leo went missing. These photos when he was a kitty make me miss him.........
Wasn't he cute? He was always "caught" sleeping, always in postures that made us chuckle, he was a baby afterall..........This time he was awake.............But only to tuck himself in again...........shhhhhh, the baby needs lots of sleep!Thanks for letting me share these fond memories of Leo, hope you enjoyed the precious photos. Have a fantastic weekend filled with small things that make you happy, dear bloggers and sweet friends.

Winter "Comfort" Dessert and Roses

June is here and it is the official start of winter for us. It's been quite chilly, so I've been more than inspired to bake, I make the old favourites for the kids' sake, but if you don't know me already, I love trying new things. That's why I buy food magazines. In this month's (June 2008) Delicious magazine, I found this super delicious winter "comfort" dessert which is sooooo easy to make. So I thought I'd share it with you. It's called "Apple and Berry Tray Bake", it's not new, but it's somehow better , maybe due to the ingredients used and the order and the way things are added that the end result is so scrumptious. No matter what it is, you'll have to try it to know what I mean . Apple and Berry Tray Bake
Ingredients:
300ml thickened cream, plus extra to serve
175g unsalted butter, chopped
3 eggs
2 cups (300g) plain flour
1 cup (220g) caster sugar (I used 3/4 cup)
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, thinly sliced, tossed with 2 tbsp lemon juice
150g frozen mixed berries, thawed
Icing sugar, to dust
Blackberry or strawberry jam, to serve (optional)(1) Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease a 32x22cm baking dish. Bring cream and butter to just below boiling point in a pan over medium heat. Cool slightly.

(2) Using electric beaters, beat eggs with sugar until thick and pale. Slowly beat in cream mixture. Sift in flour, then fold to combine with metal spoon. Stir in vanilla, apples and berries, then pour into pan.

(3) Bake for 40 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Serve with icing sugar, jam and whipped cream. (Refer to Note)

Note: I like it served hot with a dollop of cream. I find it better without jam, icing sugar is alright for making it look appealing, but I forgot to use that anyway. For leftovers, you can heat it up again in the microwave (to speed up heating) then in the oven to crisp up the edges, I wouldn't like eating it straight out of the fridge, it's most delicious warm or hot with cream.I've been playing with my beautiful harvest of roses, no doubt it's one of my favourite pastimes. This time I had them all in single colours, feeling a bit clique-ish today?!

Floribunda Seduction
Seduction with English Rose Tamora in the background Floribunda Perfumed Perfection
All together now...........David Austin's Rose Heritage Roses adorn my kitchen bench and I can smell them while I prepare food and cook. They make very nice companions. I wish I could stick a strip here and label "Rub and Smell" for you ladies to smell my roses!

Seduction in full bloom(pink and white), Tamora (apricot) and Anne Boelyn (pink)
The miniature teaset is a gift from hubby some years ago.
Fragrance in the passage-way

End of Autumn

Autumn is approaching its end, which means Winter is nigh. As you know Autumn is my all-time favourite season and I don't want it to end. But what's one to do when one cannot stop Winter from coming. Sigh! It has to come one way or another. So I'll just enjoy Autumn while it's here, even if I'm barely holding on to the tail-end of it.

Gold Bunny and Candy Cane Weeping Tree Rose (the pink in the background) Radio Times (pink one in the foreground) Ah! I love the yellow rose showing in the background, that's the reason why I have yellow roses, they zest things up in the garden, even though my primary favourites are pink, apricot and mauve ones. Gold Bunny
Perfumed Perfection(Mauve) Ambridge Rose and Golden Years with Pink Simplicity in the background
Gold Bunny and Perfumed Perfection

Here I'm showing you some photos of my rose garden which I took yesterday and today. You might think it doesn't look like Winter is coming, it looks more like Spring is here. Well, here in my garden, Autumn is actually the best time for plump, (I was going to write juicy, LOL), well-formed, extra-large and extra-vivid- coloured roses because of the good rain and just the right amount of sunshine during this time. The cool of Autumn really brings out the best in roses, and the blooms keep looking great much longer. So as you can see, as a gardener, I'd want to stretch Autumn out as long as and as much as I can manage to do so.

Abraham Darby (this one is unusually loose-petalled) Pierre de Ronsard (Eden Rose)
Golden Years TamoraSome foliage on some bushes might start to look a bit unsightly towards the end of Autumn, but generally here if you look after your roses, they can hold out till the beginning of Winter and can even keep on flowering (even though less vigorously) till mid Winter.
Gold Bunnys look cool sideways, ay?! Have a great day filled with lovely moments, everyone! Bye for now!

Nutty Rice Salad

There have been many overcast, cloudy and rainy days here, which suit me fine, as I love photographing outdoors when it doesn't have the glare of the sun cast on everything I try to shoot, but every now and again, a momentary slither of sunshine will crack through the clouds to say "Hi, I'm still here!"

Pink Simplicity
Golden Years
St. Cecilia Golden Years
Gold Bunny Ambridge Rose Jubilee Celebration
Ambridge Rose Gold Bunny Golden Years, Tamora buds
I was at my kitchen bench making "Nutty Rice Salad" and I noticed how beautiful things were partly shaded and partly washed in sunshine. So my inspiration juices started flowing and I quickly grabbed my camera, knowing this moment would pass all too soon if I didn't capture it.
The sun was simply playing Hide and Seek, one moment it was there, the next it was gone. So I could only comply and just used this to my advantage. I also got my new "French Chairs" mug (Salon Rouge by Christopher Vine) which my sister gave me and some gift spice jars involved, then one thing led to another, I got the roses in the pitchers to join in the fun as well. I even pulled them out of their comfort zone and made them stack on each other. They didn't mind one bit, they were awashed in the golden glow and showed off their glory (under the changing lighting circumstances) ever so beautifully and bravely.

These roses below consist of Golden Years (Yellow), Ambridge Rose (Apricot) and Jubilee Celebration (Medium Pink)Can't you tell I got a bit carried away? Now back to the Nutty Rice Salad, here's the recipe if you are interested in making it. It's a very tasty and nutritious salad, I love brown rice, and this is a more interesting way of eating brown rice. Hope you'll enjoy making and eating it. It's a great salad especially when you want a break from the normal tossed garden salad.

Ingredients:

200gm raw (1-2 cups cooked) brown rice
3-4 spring onion, or shallots
1 medium red capsicum/ bell pepper, diced, small pieces
3/4 cup dried currants (from dried fruit section)
4 tablespoons unsalted cashews
2 tablespoons Sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons Pine nuts
Medium can of corn kernals, drained
Chopped Parsley - a few sprigs (I used Continental or flat-leafed parsley, but you can use any parsley)
Cracked black pepper

For dressing:

1 1/2 tablespoons Sunflower Seed or Grapeseed Oil
4 tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cloves crushed garlic

Roast cashews in oven till golden. (180C for around 10 minutes) Set aside. Cook brown rice according to instructions. When rice is cool, mix everything together (including dressing). If you are not serving it immediately, just delay adding the nuts in till you serve or the nuts will be soggy. Enjoy!!!