Waiting to paint this...

In anticipation of my cast being removed this Friday, I could not resist browsing eBay recently for something to paint.  Yesterday I scored this little cabinet below. I can't pick it up till next week (as I haven't been able to drive with my broken arm).  I'm looking forward to trying out a homemade version of chalk paint on it.  I'll let you know how I get on next week.



please excuse the bad eBay photo

I'm sure my husband will wonder why I needed to buy something when I still have our bedside tables, a couple of doors and some chairs to paint, but I know you bloggers will understand....

Hope you are all having a good week.

cheers
Fiona

An Unexpected Find in the Country

For the long weekend we went to Dubbo in Central NSW, my husband's home town, to stay with his mother (his father was actually in Sydney for the weekend for the football grand final). Thanks Beth, we had a lovely time with you!

We had a great weekend. It poured rain in Sydney but the skies were bright blue in Dubbo - the photo below is untouched! Amazing.

We went to the Western Plains Zoo which was fun. Phil and the kids cycled around but I was too scared to ride with my broken arm - the last thing I need is 2 broken arms! Phil and the kids went to Dubbo Gaol also while I took Charlie, our dog, for a long walk along the river. We also stumbled across a cute cafe, Short Street Store.  Not really what we expected to see in rural NSW but a great find and will definitely be our "local" when we next visit.  It used to a corner shop (since the 1930's) and my husband used to play pinball there after school as a kid.  It's recently been renovated and is now open for breakfast and lunch.

Great coffee and food all served in a very cute setting - lots of little rooms and spaces to enjoy your food!

 

 

In regards to my painted furniture, I've still got another week or so in my cast and then I'll have to see how my arm is. I am keen to still do some as I've got lots of ideas.  In the meantime I've got some business consulting work to do which will keep me busy.

Have a great week,

cheers Fiona

Springtime in my Garden

The weather has been so weird today - clouds, wind and a thunderstorm (in which the kids and I got drenched walking back from the park) and now bright sunshine. I grabbed the chance to snap some photos of my garden.  I love the transition seasons and I'm so glad it's spring and the garden is coming alive again - now we just need the weather to make up it's mind!

I'd love to hear which is your favourite season.

cheers

Fiona

Jungle Party Birthday Cake - Lion

When my boy turned 5 (last March), he wanted a jungle themed dinner party.  I wanted to do a fairly easy cake so thought a round cake as a lion's head would do the trick.

Here is the cake I made:

I used lots of yellow and orange icing - I made it quite firm with lots of butter and iced the cake and then piped on the mane. The eyes are black fondant I had on hand and the nose and mouth is black gel icing I bought in a tube. The whiskers are spaghetti broken in half and the ears are mini ice cream cones just with their ends cut off.  The cake is actually a triple mixture of the chocolate cake I gave the recipe for here.

I'm posting this as when I was looking on Google images for inspiration for lion cakes there was hardly anything that looked good but was simple to make.

I hope you're all having a good week. It's school holidays here and we are enjoying some lazy days.

cheers Fiona

Bar Harbor, Maine - Gorgeous Architecture

I thought I'd share some of the photos I took of Bar Harbor, Maine. I was there for my friend's wedding which was spectacular and hugely fun. So much fun I broke my arm, so most of these photos are taken with my arm in a cast/sling and me on codeine. I'm surprised they aren't all crooked and blurry!

Fiona xx

Pasadena Arboretum

My friend's 14 year old son, Joel, took me to the Arboretum while I was in Pasadena. It was a lovely hot sunny day and we had a great time walking around and exploring. Below are a couple of my photos from the afternoon there.

Great coffee, a cute cafe and a gorgeous boutique in Sierra Madre

I stand corrected. Before I left for my trip, I was joking about having to consume vast amounts of caffeine because it's pretty hard to find good Espresso coffee in the US.

However my friend Linda took me to a very cute little coffee shop in Sierra Madre called Bean Town. Ben (pictured below) sure knows how to make a great latte. They roast their own beans and also have a great array of cakes, slices and other temptations.

 

Linda, Joel and me (it's Linda's iced drink, not mine, I was sticking to the coffee!)

 

...even good coffee art

The cafe has a lovely ambiance - little tables or more relaxed seating on couches as well as the tables outside. One morning I went and there was a group of people sitting around knitting, drinking coffee and chatting. So friendly.

 

I loved this sign in the window.

Sierra Madre has such a nice little village atmosphere (no big chain stores)

Across the road from Bean Town is a gorgeous clothes boutique, Angels Everywear, owned by a lovely woman, Angel. This shop is a MUST if you are in the area. Angel has divine stuff and it's reasonably priced. I was able to buy some lovely end of season stuff as we are heading into summer in Australia.

 

Angel also has a facebook page so go and "like" her.