The slow cooker gets another run

This time it was lamb shanks in the slow cooker...

I did them in a tomato, onion and mushroom sauce, with a few other veggies thrown in. Whatever's in the fridge is OK with me...

You can use just about any cut of meat with this recipe, even a leg of lamb would be good!

Delicious

The full recipe's here

Hope you like it

Making the bed

If you're like me, you love the way the bedroom looks when you've just made the bed with fresh sheets and plumped up the doona.

But the one job that's not on top of my favourite's list is actually changing the doona cover....in fact a friend of mine hates that particular job so much, she gets her husband to do it...

So I thought about this little trick that helps make the job easier...I learned about this years ago but have only just put it into action.

...and it's simply done by sewing some ribbon or tape onto the corners of your doona and the inside corners of the doona cover.

I used grosgrain ribbon, because it doesn't slip , and cut it into lengths of about 6 inches or 150 cm. Sew it onto the inside corners of the doona cover...

...and the corners of the doona...

Then when you change the cover, you just tie the ribbon ends together and slip the doona inside the cover. It also helps keep the doona in place.

Spring is in the air...and a milestone

I love this time of year....just before Spring hits us with a massive burst of new life.

There's still a lot happening in the garden though.


The magnolia's out, or at least one tree is...

The beautifully perfumed pom-pom bush is also budding. CORRECTION: This is not a pom-pom bush, although that's what I usually call it. It's a Viburnum, a Viburnum x burkwoodii and it's perfume is delicious.

...and the lilacs are starting to show new life.

This dark magnolia, right outside our bedroom window always takes a little longer to get the message that it's time to start breaking out.

You have to walk past this to get to the front door. Lovely.

More life in the lilac

...and the violets have gone crazy with all the water they've been getting. In fact they look like they're going to take over some parts of the garden...such a rich green colour

On another note, this is my 200th post....who would've thought I'd get this far in just over a year!?

And they said it wouldn't last...ha

Thanks April

I've been very remiss in my blogging duties of late... but it's been a busy time what with the federal election and what have you.

But a little while ago, April, over at City Girl in the Country..... gave me this award and I was really chuffed to receive it.

Thanks April!

Part of the condition of the award is to tell you a few things about me that you don't already know.....so here goes.

1. I love wandering through fabric shops to get inspiration.
2. I never post personal photos of friends or family on the web
3. I save recipes from newspapers.
4. I lived and worked in Brisbane for over a year and I spent 2 years in Sydney
5. I can't be bothered with Facebook or Twitter.
6. I once took singing and dancing lessons.
7. I still sing at the top of my lungs when I'm home, much to MONT's amusement.

I'm also required to name 15 newly discovered blogs to share this award....well, I haven't discovered 15 new ones lately, as I've been busy enjoying the ones I follow, so I might leave that to another day...

Thanks again April...love your blog!

Filtered Candlelight

I've had a thing about candles for a long time. I love their soft glow and the way they make a room feel cosy, even when it's freezing cold. Needless to say, I used a lot of them prior to our new heater being installed a couple of weeks back.

I usually just place a little tea light in a jar with some sand in the bottom, so the heat doesn't damage the surface it's sitting on, or I use an oil burner with some sweet essential oil added ...But then I saw the latest Donna Hay Magazine....

...and it has some jars covered in Muslin and tied with string...

I've covered jars in pretty paper before, but hadn't thought about muslin...

You learn something every day...

I just bought a metre of white muslin ($2.50) and left it double thickness, cut it to the height of the jar and wrapped it around, securing it with kitchen twine...I really like how soft it looks.

Baking at Number 10 again

MONT"s heading off to the country for work this week, so I've been busy baking him a cake to take.

This is an upside down apple cake...a variation on the Raspberry and cherry cake I made recently.

You can find the full recipe here

It looks good and I have to admit it tastes pretty good too...oh and did I mention it's super easy?