Japan

I really hope all of the lovely Japanese people I have met over the years are safe and their homes and businesses have escaped destruction. 

{ * washi tape downloaded from pugley pixel }

What to do with a giant bag of nectarines from the market.

Slowly simmer in a splash of water with a little sugar, Grand Marnier and slices of fresh ginger.
Chill in fridge or if you can't wait you can serve it warm.

Place in icy cold glasses with frozen vanilla yoghurt and toasted almond slivers.
There should be plenty of syrup to pour over. It tastes sensational!

Happy International Women's Day!

Ladies Day!

Hope every girl is feeling the love today and passing it on to another of the skirted variety.

If you haven't already perhaps you'd like to take a peek at some of the wonderful blogs I read, all written by women from all corners of the earth who all are very different people leading different lives yet all as equally inspiring, creative and beautiful in their own way.

A thought on women from my six year old son,

"Girls are more awesomer than boys because 

they get to wear fun stuff like dresses, 

AND shorts and boys just get to wear shorts, it's so boring"

*The vintage frame used in my picture comes from The Graphics Fairy. 

A fabulous resource for vintage ephemera and graphics for you to download for free!

H is for Homework

Been putting the Jan/Feb calendar from Frankie to good use, now that March/April, {I know, already!} is up on the fridge. There is a cute alphabet poster on the back so it's up on the wall at the 

"Homework Nook" which is a fabulous little corner of our lounge room which is so fabulous because when the homework is finished, {which is never}, you can just sweep away all the stuff and it's a dinning table! or.. a craft table, which is why we often eat on the couch.

Homework time can be a teeny bit stressful. Tears and tantrums from myself and a lot of bossiness and rock star behaviour from my 6 year old. He must have exactly the right pencil before he will perform any work and needs to be kept motivated and on task with small rewards every 5 seconds. There is also frequent suspicious trips to the bathroom and between his flashes of brilliance in which he is able to write a single word on the page, he alternately lies on the floor with his arm dramatically flung across his face or jumps on the couch.  Well, maybe I exaggerate, it's not all bad, sometimes we have fun and play games and he tells me hilarious stories about his day. 

He is trying so hard and I have found some things which are really helpful such as these alphabet 

blocks, the dominoes and some of those plastic magnet letters we all had on the fridge when 

we were little. 

They are great, he likes spelling out words with them. I hope it will all come together for him soon. Reading was such a fundamental part of my childhood, it was what I loved to do, it makes me sad that it hasn't come naturally to either of my boys. He does however, love stories being read to him and that is something we both look forward to. 

He is so, so proud of himself now that he is able to "read" some stories to me.

My Front Garden ~ More Green, Less Mean

An old pot which originally belonged to my Nan, I love the yellow/green lichen or whatever is is.
A new plant I found called Artic Snow which grows into a little bush. It looks like one of my favourite plants Star Jasmine which I love but have to avoid as it makes me sneeze. This one has no scent so should be safe!

I was feeling very AB Positive after donating blood on Friday afternoon, however I was awoken during the very early hours of Saturday morning with a very nasty tummy bug and yesterday was completely horrible! I spent most of it lying in bed and feeling pretty miserable. The worst part was that I had to ring Red Cross and tell them that I had become sick since donating and the guy said he would have to bin my blood! Apparently some of it could be used but I think he was just trying to be nice. What a waste! 

And I feel like today is getting wasted too - it's so beautiful and sunny and breezy and cool outside but I've got a whole day's worth of dishes, laundry and MESS etc to catch up on and I feel too weak to do much anyway.  Oh well, I did have a huge sleep in and am feeling heaps better than yesterday.

I took some photos finally of the front garden {although they didn't turn out so great in the midday sun/shadows}. I think it looks so much better and I can't wait for the new plants to grow and fill up the beds a bit more. The little white bits are a collection of shells and pebbles, mostly bought which I have had for years and years and usually use scattered about my pots. 

The Agave were replanted from the large white pots which are now home to a pair of Yuccas. Both of these originally came from my sister's garden. Her and her hubby have been propagating plants like these for quite a while and have helped me stock a large part of my garden for FREE! Plants such as bromeliads and moses in a basket, which are all doing very well in their new homes. I have transplanted some baby succulents into a pot which you can see below.

~ this little tin pot, one of my kerbside finds ~

Ok, back to cleaning and I will do something fun to try and salvage the lost weekend!

A Skulk of Sulky Foxgloves

Here are some befores from my gardening escapade on Thursday.
Apart from dirty fingernails and a much less depressing looking garden I came away with a 1cm strip of sunburn across my back where my shirt meets my pants {or doesn't quite} ~ ouch!

 Before ~ my front steps - depressing. The only survivors being some thyme which did quite well.

 A skulk of sulky foxgloves ~ these had to go. Not only because they weren't doing too well despite allegedly being drought tolerant but they were making me nervous being planted so close to my herbs in the bed across the steps ~ I've read enough Agatha Christie's to know what happens next {considering how often I ask my children in the dim light of dusk to go out and pick me some herbs for dinner}... so they will be banished to a far corner of the garden.

The beds either side of the steps. My Dahlias were going good until the grasshoppers got to them so I will replant them at the back of the house in some large pots and hope the little mites won't be clever enough to find them. A good dig, a weed, some new compost, et voila ready for some new plants.

Pretty Purslane

An unexpected morning off lead me to take the opportunity to plant some of the plants I bought at
the markets on the weekend. My little rental house doesn't give much scope for gardening which is probably a good thing because I don't really have the time or the money... but I LOVE gardening
and I love beautiful gardens.

 Something really did need to be done with the two front garden beds which are each side of my front steps. I first rescued them from weeds and grass when I moved in a year ago but the plants I put in
then didn't really work out too well {partly my fault, partly nature}. So ... new plants, new improved soil. I took a leaf  from my friend Michelle's school of thought : "I only do succulents these days"
and I dare say I will have better success with these. I found these pretty pink succulents at the markets which will be hardy and work like a ground cover. They have little flowers that look like mini carnations. From my limited internet research I believe they are called Purslane or Portulaca or Moss Rose and are edible?!
more info here and here.
Won't be trying this one out though!

Here they are in their pots ready for planting. 

I will bring you the rest of my gardening adventures later. I skipped gym to do this one but I feel 

like I have run a marathon after spending three hours in the garden, digging etc on a day which at 

9 am I was already dripping with sweat and that was even before I commenced any work!

To market, to market

Went back to the Brisbane Markets at Rocklea this weekend. 

So glad to see it back up and really busy after being closed down due to being under water!! The boys and I went out for some beautiful fresh fruit and veges, breakfast and coffee. 

My friends Kell And Matt have a regular gig here. I love seeing them play. Kelly has being writing songs since our primary school days. I was just as much in awe of her talents then as I am now. We used to perch up in a tree in her front yard with cushions, notebooks and bags of lollies or homemade biscuits, for hours and talk and imagine and create. Kell used to make up songs and poems and I think I just used to talk a lot of nonsense. So not much has changed.