Family football match

Views around the house

What a luxury to slip away from the desk and take in such beautiful views…



10 things to do before Christmas

Christmas Tree Day in my house is aways 1 December. I love it. To me it signifies the start of the joyous Christmas season, and also the start of the seemingly endless to-do lists that dominate the countdown to Christmas day. Here is my top 10 things to tick off this year:

1. Be kind
2. Go nuts buying toys for nieces and nephews
3. Watch nothing but Christmas themed movies
4. Eat fruitcake
5. Compile a Christmas carol mega-mix playlist
6. Send Christmas cards
7. Catch up with friends
8. Wrap presents while watching the carols on the television
9. Make trifle
10. Wake up thankful Christmas morning and enjoy a day of laughter and joy.

Morning espresso

Garden hideaway

I'm with the band

Cakes of Origin

Red Velvet cupcakes

Foodie

Nothing beats a night out with good company and amazing food. 

Berber spices

It doesn't look like much. But this is the secret 'Berber' spice recipe my friend Michelle made for me not long before she tragically passed away, only three years ago.

It's delicious and I save using it for special dinners of chicken in the tajine, each time thinking of her and remembering a time we shared – and missing her terribly.

I'm sad that we won't share anymore stories; her view of the world was colourful and special.

See also, Michelle.

A birthday shawl

A birthday shawl for Grandma Lily's 99th birthday.

Pattern source: The Lonely Tree Shawl – Soft Sweater Knits & Fibres
http://softsweaterfibres.blogspot.com.au

Tea time

Cabled tea cosy

Pattern source: Tea Cozies (book)  

La Chaîne Simpson

Mum and I finally made it to the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia this weekend.

He was such an interesting man and artist­. Of course famous for his colourful posters of the Moulin Rouge, his work had me captivated as it told the story of a theatrical, elegant and bohemian life for people in Paris in the late 1890s.

One of my favourite pieces is the advertising poster, La Chaîne Simpson (1896). Looks great on my wall too! (Well, a copy of it)

Being authentic

“Why is free will wasted on a creature who has infinite choices but pretends there are only one or two?”

Novel—A Fraction of the Whole, Steve Toltz

A new year

Isn't it great facing the first day of new year; being washed clean of everything that didn't come to fruition exactly how you thought it might and looking at nothing but 365 days of new promises and hope.

I try not to make 'new year resolutions', but I'm always tempted. This year feels like not only the start of a new year, but the start of a new era... Meaning that the past few years have been a fabulous and glamourous blur of weddings, engagements, new babies, parties and holidays. I now own more cocktail dresses than workwear, more party shoes than office heals and more clutches then I really know what to do with! Need an emergency outfit to attend a last minute party? Come on over, I'm your girl!

So I plan to start the new year quietly, tending the garden, taking long scenic nature walks, sitting by the lake with Mr Couture and a good book, feeling the sunshine, smelling the flowers, noticing the little things that glide by and loving the simple things in life.

Happy new year!