blurring the lines of niche blogs & other crossovers

Greetings all,

I love blogging & post on all manner of things as i'm a housewife, mother, crafter (woman, daughter, sister, friend, exerciser, magazine reader, art lover, traveller, animal raiser, future home builder, air breather . . . over sharer) i never realised there were particular niches to stick to.  Why??  I keep finding blogs who normally post about children, books or craft . . . put up a baking post with a byline of 'for fear of sounding like a food blogger' . . . why, everyone cooks & eats right, i don't follow you exclusively to just read about your children, books or craft.  Show off your food, ideas & triumphs, surely there are no blog limits less those we impose on ourselves.

First up, winner of The Best Ever Birthday story cook book was Nat from Muddy FarmWife, yay!!  I'm a giveaway blogger??  How cute are these mixed flavour lolly milk bottles we found at the supermarket & the recipe title page of the book??   

 So without fear of sounding like a food blogger, i don't care what you call me or my blog, call me a Mummy Blogger if you want, check out what we've been chowing down with handsome soldier this week.  Way more flavour than the keep-the-children-alive cooking i perform while he's away.  Pork belly anyone??

 Yesterday we cruised Pialligo (near the airport) for the Bison ceramics sale & Kerrison's Apple Orchard.  The lady who weighs the apples offered up some complimentary bay leaves - coincidentally the lady who served us at Bison was telling us that she put bay leaves in her homemade pumpkin soup.  Snap!!  Sharing . . . i told the apple lady too.  Now there will be 2 more families in Canberra eating bay leaves in their pumpkin soup & how many bloggers?? 

 Meanwhile the high schooler had her year 8 Medieval feast & she contributed mead.  Our house smelt like a castle!!  Possibly my first & last post about medieval food.

 Making fresh pasta with eggs from our hens, bless them laying in sub zero temperatures!!  Actually few lay at night, we tend to find 'afternoon' eggs.

 So easy, one large free range egg to every 100gm of 00 flour, mix, knead, roll & cut.  We sometimes cut with a pretty roller by hand, mostly use the KitchenAid attachments for perfect tagliatelle.

 A mid week easy dinner before volleyball matches, caramelised onions, gourmet sausages, avocado, snag jam & my new favourite condiment: beetroot & horseradish relish.

 For genuine food bloggers, i salute your ability to photograph food glamourously.  Just focus on the deliciousness at my blog!!  My husband always BBQ sausages, pretty sure it was sleeting snow when he was outside, i should know, i had to be by his side cheering him on & keeping him company.

My French brother-in-law puts pears in his pumpkin soup, so we did too, mmmm. This was made before the bay leaf apparition.  

 Then the decadent - Brownies, looking silky smooth even before we added the eggs.

 Just in case you think we're showing off - trust me, this tasty cooking is ALL my  husband, i'm a very bland & unadventurous cook - here's an image to keep a real . . . our 3rd daughter making toast - she turned the knob but forgot to lower the bread.  She's so totally my child!!

Do you believe blogs need to stick to niches or we can just post about anything??  Viva la all-round-blogger i say, especially a personal blog with so many interests!!  Love Posie

social commentary Sunday . . . 'what does your husband get up to when you go away??'

Greetings all,

I just spent a great weekend with the Sew It Together girls, who came from all over Australia to my current home town of Canberra (last year Sydney, year before Melbourne, next year??)  There was a lot of talk on what our husbands were getting up to while we were crafting ourselves silly.  Many men were taking the children to the grandparents or McDonalds.  Granted i was coming home to my husband late at night, he does a great job in my absence - especially cooking for the family.  

 On my way home from dropping a bunch of ladies at the airport, after the final craft session of Sew It Together, i rang my husband & said i had a headache, felt tired & hungry . . . a little pathetic, exhausted from too much shopping, classes, chatter & craft, woe is me.  I came home to 4 happy children, washing done & put away + my husband putting a batch of Women's Weekly 1960's scones in the oven.  While i laid on the lounge with an icepack pressed into my head, i rested to the sound of the mixmaster whipping cream.  Life is tough.

 My husband finds cooking relaxing & thought a strong Thai green chicken curry might help my headache . . . presented with perfect mounds of rice.  This photo doesn't do it justice although he was very happy for me to photograph & blog about his heroic rice moulding efforts.  We don't dull the spicy flavour for the children either, they just drink more milk & water while they chow down. 

 Just as i thought the cooking & baking was finished, handsome soldier fancied 'a snack with flavour' which included icecream . . . so grabbed My Grandma's Kitchen for a Margaret Fulton Saucy Chocolate Pudding recipe . . . as i type, it's bubbling away in the oven.   

Special mention to our Hamburg hen who laid that whopping egg this afternoon.

This isn't novelty helping out around the house because he's lived interstate/ overseas for 2.5 years or the children are older/ more capable, he just does these things to help & it would have been the same 5 years ago with younger children too.  I know i got lucky - he was raised by very dominant women.  No take away for our children, not when they have this amazing cook of a father.  Funnily enough, drill-sergeant-dad gets the children to complete more chores than i do too.  I half expected to find them standing by their beds for inspection when i got home.  I have to stop thinking it-would-be-quicker-to-just-do-this-myself when children drag their feet, it is so fantastic to share the responsibilities of parenting - with someone so capable.  Oh & have a fabulous weekend off too - i truly feel spoilt!!  

When was the last time your husband was home alone to make all the parenting decisions, meals & housework??  For so many of us mothers, this is not a-weekend-away-on-a-whim, it takes months of planning, penny pinching, preparing, convincing & instructions.  Last time i did anything like this was Sew It Together last year, before that . . . um . . . cannot even remember.  Shall post more about my purchases, classes, creativity & lucky door prize shortly, love Posie

silly season antics & Christmas market messages

Greetings all,

Living on the edge here with my computer flashing the blue-screen-of-death on Sunday night, constantly freezing, shutting down & s.u.p.e.r.s.l.o.w.  My long distance IT lover (husband) talked me through backing up vital data, then deleting gigs of data.  I hold my breath, fingers cross, knock on wood - this laptop is barely 14 months old.  I'm frequently interviewed about small business & i always add in my 'top tips' that "unless you are highly computer literate, you should sleep with an IT guy" . . . never makes it to print!!  Can't imagine how much it would cost to pay my husband for his knowledge.

NOW, I'm selling off all of my vintage toys, party goodies & decorations on my website & at these little markets:
Brindabella Market (BBP Town Square near Canberra Airport) on Thursday &
 Christmas Party Market (private residence in Watson ACT) on Friday morning & night. 
Ask me for details if you live in Canberra & would like to come.

Now my shopping for family is all sorted, i treated myself to some goodies from Bison.

If i could swing a hammer, i'd be making a wooden tree from pallets too.

Cutest nativity display EVER, nothing says 3 wise men like ceramic jugs!!

Now my milk bottle trio collection is complete!!

See the vase holding the magnolia branches, got me one of those too.

Spent a slow Sunday making wreaths & decorations with the children.  Holy cow, those polystyrene cones & circular forms were like $5-9 each, someone is getting rich this Christmas, Spotlight??!! 

 Picked up the very last gift for a nephew.  LOVE globes, but geesh, the service was horrid, i told the boys behind the counter off & will complain formally.  I left with a parting "i regret having made a purchase in this store today" & their faces went pale.  Just really wanted that globe - i'm seeing this nephew on the weekend in Bowral, gift size doesn't matter!!   

Thanks folks, also have an extra surprise in my on line Shop right now - with any order over $200 you'll receive a complimentary autographed copy of Handmade Living + a fabric bonus, value over $50.  Get shopping people, thanks for your support, love Posie
EDIT: Just updated my website with more discounts & new products at great prices too!!

a spooky weekend . . .

Greetings all,

Many thanks for the heart warming comments yesterday, i finally heard from my husband last night, he couldn't say much other than he's Ok (physically).  I can not imagine the horror of being machine gunned by a soldier you are training to help protect his country, on your own base.  It has happened before to British & American troops, it's my greatest fear for my husband who doesn't patrol outside the wire as often as he used to.  War is war.  I went to the doctor this morning to start my carpal tunnel surgery journey - the lady ahead of me, hysterical, her nephew was one of the soldiers killed.  I felt like crying through my whole appointment, being painfully poked & prodded aside.
Halloween is not widely celebrated here in Australia but we enjoy a pagan festival.  My late mother-in-law was born on Halloween, but i can't say she was a witch, far from it, never heard her say an ill word about anyone. 

 The owl image above is borrowed from The Polka Dot Petticoat blog in Alaska, thanks Heidi.  I blew a few dollars on some treats, including these 3 new ceramic bowls from the 'imperfect' table at Bison.

 Mwahahahaha.

 Saturday night, these two maniacs went to a Halloween disco, as a witch & a rag doll.

 This patient boy ran around the car park before the party started, for an hour!!

 We were early as we had to buy new Nike waffles (like spikes) before the store closed at 5p.m.  She's trying to drown out the singing from the hyped up twin sisters. 

 A basic pre-party snack . . . everything looks better served with flowers. 

 Saturday was wet, athletics cancelled, but it ended with a rainbow.

Enjoy Halloween if it's your thing.  Tomorrow i'm going to stock up on spooky goodies in the sales as my eldest would like a Friday the 13th Party next year, love Posie

picking a colour theme for our kitchen

Greetings all,

I'm a dreamer, realistic, black & white, stubborn . . . but i can picture a product or design before i've even sketeched or hatched a plan.  My husband . . . let's just say he is the compliment to my personality . . . military precision & all that 'research' stuff.  However, when he said recently "damn it, let's start sketching this homestead you want" yes I WANT, it's like when the children are naughty they are MY CHILDREN . . . anyway, as i can see myself waltzing around this home, i may have, kind of, gone & bought a gift of mixing bowls for the future kitchen, just to base the colour scheme on of course, it's 'research'.

 You like the colour combination??  I've had this scheme (evil plotting kind of colour scheme) for decades but handsome soldier has shockingly said no to black & white floor tiles??!!

Very convenient that the beautiful Bison shop is on the way to the airport & an eye candy experience when planes are delayed - which has been a lot lately.

All the bases are covered - we're blue people, who love red appliances (KitchenAid) with gunmetal grey accents, we're on our way.  Now where to put the kitchen sink, island, what kind of oven & do we dare go back to stools at the counter (the white leather ones which go up & down, up & down weren't such a success with 4 younger children) live & learn people . . . love Posie