Winter in the air

 {Photo Source}

I haven't blogged for almost a mo.... far too long.

Everywhere I've ever read has said not to apologise for big gaps like these... but I feel like I really should. So I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I haven't blogged, that I've baked and never posted so many things, that I've let myself forget the simple joy of blogging and that this little place has been so damn quiet lately.

Sometimes it just all starts too feel like too much, and it's easier to give up than to keep struggling through. And sometimes, those breaks, those times that you gave up are good for you, because they help you realise why you were doing all those things in the first place. And I think that this break has been good in it's own way, because I've felt myself miss blogging. Yearn to bake, to photograph, to write. And that's given me all the more motivation to get back into it.

There's still a {busy} week of school to go before the winter holidays, so I'm going to start slowly, but I'm ever so excited to think about all the things I'll have time to do in the holidays. So bare with me!

I feel like I left this blog in Autumn and am coming back in Winter {which I did, so it isn't really all that surprising!} The days are so short now, and the mornings so cold. I'm watching all my favourite American bloggers loving Summer, wearing shorts and eating ice cream, and yearning to be able to myself.

But don't let me fool you, I do like winter. I love the soup and the open fires and the porridge and the hot chocolates and the fact it's suddenly acceptable to go out in public wearing slippers and tracksuit pants. So I'm going to focus on these things for a while.

I've started a pinterest board for soups and another for breakfasts to keep me feeling inspired, and I can't wait to share!

What is your favourite season? Why?

Mia :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day everyone! I hope that everyone had a great day, whether or not they're a mother!

We had a fairly low key mother's day, as always, but it was lots of fun and nice spending time with family.

Eva and I made a Mother's Day lunch which turned out beautifully. A bit rushed and behind schedule, but delicious all the same!'

We each made a sweet and a savoury- I made smoked salmon, dill and cream cheese finger sandwiches and these Sticky Lemon Rolls (with the addition of cardamon), and Eva made mini sweet potato and facon (fake-bacon) quiches and a 'chocolate roll' of her own invention (pastry with melted chocolate rolled into it. All the food was lovely!



I (being the clever, clever person I am), dropped a bowl of milk as I poured it into another bowl, and it spashed ALL OVER my beautiful laptop!!! It won't turn on, so I'm really, really hoping that the helpdesk can fix it when I take it in tomorrow. The one time I leave my laptop on the bench....

Oh well! It's insured and backed up and under warranty and everything, which helps, so hopefully it won't be too big a deal. In fact, I'm really, really hoping that these won't even come into play- that they'll just do some sort of magic and it'll all be OK.

Now that we've got that slightly less wonderful part of the day out of the way, shall we get back to all the wonderful bits?

After lunch, we went to te netball. Some friends are members of the NSW swifts, but couldn't make today's game, so we got to go instead.

It was at Allphones Arena (Sydney's biggest arena),and it was lots of fun. The two teams were the NSW Swifts and the Melbourne Vixens. It was a close, fast match, but our team won in the end!

I'll share the recipes from the lunch at some point in the (near) future.

It's been a really lovely day and I just really wanted to share it with you :)

Happy Mother's Day Mum!

Mia xo

A surprise!

Okay, so I know my birthday was a million years ago (well not quite that long maybe....) and I've probably gone on to death about it, but this is the last I'll talk about it. I promise!

You see, Mum and Dad planned me a birthday surprise. On Sunday we got in the car, and although I'd tried to piece it together, I honestly had absolutely NO IDEA where we were going!

In the end, I figured it out just before we got there, but even so, it was pretty impressive secret keeping skills.

The surprise was...

A trip to Eveleigh Markets!!

(photo of eveleigh markets)

If you haven't heard of Eveleigh Markets (which I'm guessing you haven't), it's a beautiful market in Redfern, Sydney. There's a farmers market there every Saturday, and a craft one on the first Sunday of every month.

Well. we'd been to and enjoyed the food one before, but the craft one was quite a treat!

There were heaps of stalls, and they left me very inspired!

My favourite stalls were:
-Boab Designs- Organic Cotton T-shirts in the most gorgeous designs
-Herbert and Friends- The most beautiful soft toys (there was even a hand sewn sewing machine model-wow!)
-Niix Apparel- Cardigans and scarfs
-Grrl+Dog- Bunting and Cute teacup pincushions
-Smart Alex Textiles- Gorgeous hand-printed teatowels +pencil cases

I got three beautiful things with my birthday money too, which are all really exciting:

1. This pretty pencil case

(yes, I know it's meant to be a make-up bag, but that is really besides the point)

2. A beautiful scarf/ cowl

It's all one continuous loop, but it's really long. Does that make it a scowl?

3. The most gorgeous owl t-shirt

The colours are perfect, it fits well, it's really comfy and it's an OWL. Heck, what's not to like?

Well, thats the last you'll be hearing of my birthday. At least until the next one comes around, which isn't actually that long- 11 months to go! But it's been so, so much fun and quite possibly the best birthday I've ever had. Thanks Everyone!!!

Mia xo

Rain, Rain go away (Roadtrippin' part 2)

I left you last update with plans for lazy days by the pool and in the sun, as well as plenty of good books and boardgames.

Well, we definitely fulfilled part two, but as for the first.... ah... well... not so much.

We tried and did spend some time at the pool, but I don't know there were any days in the sun. There were, however, lovely moments of sunshine, few and far between, that were enjoyed much more than if there had been a constant sun beating down on us!

The weather sounds pretty miserable, but it wasn't really.

Well, actually, it sort of was. But that's no reason for a miserable holiday!

The little pockets of sunshine were spent at the beach, by the pool and going for walks, where the less sunny moments were spent playing board games, baking, reading and writing blog posts (but not posting due to a lack of Internet).

And when the weather was good (and even when it wasn't so great) we drove... places.

Places like Brisbane. Brisbane's really nice, and the river's beautiful. I was surprised how similar it looked to Sydney, in terms of architecture and business and the sort of.... feeling to it? I was particularly excited by these beautiful rental bikes all throughout the city.

We visited Sea world, which was really good. A couple of the rides were out of order, which was a shame, and it seemed a bit slack they didn't mention it til you walked in the gate, but the rest was fabulous, especially the polar bears and penguins! I even touched a sting ray. Uurgh! Slimy!

On our last day, Dad and I competed (well not really competitively, but you know what I mean) in the Cooly classic (An ocean swim held at Kirra beach). It was literally a walk from where we were staying, and so we did the 300m event just for fun. The weather was atrocious, with no break in the rain all morning (or day for that matter), and we felt a bit stupid standing around in our swimmers. But it was really fun once we were in the water, and I'm glad we did it!

But possibly the best outing we made was a trip to Surfers Paradise. Though the Ferris wheel on the bus depot was good, and the waterfront area is lovely, my favourite was where we ate: Govinda's Gourmet. It was a beautiful little vegetarian restaurant, with lots of colour and this cute little booth/couch thing where we sat. The food was very cross-cultural- Eva had lasagna, Dad had burritos with pasta salad, Mum had curry and I had koftas (amongst other small things)! But all of it was good quality, inexpensive and most importantly, delicious!

On the way back, we stayed with some friends in Hawks Nest. It rained solidly the whole time we were there too, but it was really good to catch up. We even saw a koala in their back yard! Though it was a long way up, and the koala was very still and it was raining very hard, so the photos aren't great.

We're back home now, unpacking and uploading photos and reading the mail (including a Frankie magazine!!). It was a really great trip, and one I'll remember for a long, long time!

Mia :)

Kate Miller-Heidke

One thing I haven't previously mentioned here I think is my taste in music.

This is most likely because… well… it's pretty boring!

It's not like I don't like music, but my taste is pretty boring and mainstream. Some of it's more interesting and alternative but mostly not.

Well now I've sold you my taste in music so well (NOT!) I'm going to tell you why today is such a special day.

Kate Miller-Heidke's third album (not including 2 EPs and a side project) came out today!!!!!!! Yay!! 

It's called Nightflight and apart from the aforementioned side project, it's her first release since 2008! It's absolutely fantastic too! A lot sadder than her previous album, but beautiful and emotionally moving. We had goosebumps!

We already new quite a few of the songs, having been to her concert last month. It was at the opera house and we all loved it!

We've been following her since about 2008, when I distinctly remember getting her first album (little eve) from the library and seeing the song called 'Ducks don't need Satellites'. From that moment onwards I was in love!

Mum and Dad went to a concert in 2008 or 2009, but it was at an 18+ venue so Eva and I were heartbroken. Since then we've been waiting and waiting for our chance to go see her live and then out of the blue Mum gave us all tickets for christmas!

She was even better live- her voice is just incredible- and her back-up singer and husband Keir Nuttal (guitarist and back-up singer as well) were also fantastic, which you don't usually realise!

I, being the geek I am, wore my concert t-shirt with the album cover on it to get the album.

Sadly, I don't think anyone noticed!

It was #2 in the CD stores top 40 and I think it's #1 on itunes today!

As you can see, I'm very, very excited! Thanks for letting me share his little bit of my life with you!

Mia :)

Roadtrippin'

These past two days we've been having a great time road tripping up into Queensland. We've driven over 10 hours, stopped 7 or 8 times, listened to almost 5 hours of audiobook and munched tons of leftover easter eggs. It's really been so much fun!

As is required when travelling north, we stopped at Uluru. Not 'the' Uluru, but a plastic model shoved on top of a petrol station. It's a bit lame, but always fun to look at.

One of our most exciting stops was at Byron Bay, where we went hang-gliding!

How exciting! It was a tandem hang glide with an experienced instructor, but the feeling of flying was amazing and the view was spectacular.

They said it was the best wind they'd had in months, although they might just tell everyone that.

We like to think that we're more special than that, though.

Anyway, if you're considering hang-gliding, know that it's not AT ALL scary once you're in the air. It feels like you're a flying bird!

Today we visited a beautiful second hand bookshop. It was really big, and the books were incredibly organised! We got a couple of things- good holiday reading and one of our childhood favourites for our cousin. I wished I'd taken a photo…

The night before last we stayed over at coffs harbour which was nice. We took beautiful walk along the beach at sunset, and it was so, so beautiful.

I took PLENTY of photos there! But you never can have too many photos :)

Dad taught us to skip pebbles, and the water was perfect for it!

We also went for a walk along the pier, which was beautiful! We even saw someone catch a sting ray!

Well, I'll be sure to let you know how the rest of the trip goes. We're not road tripping anymore, instead staying with our grandparents, and it's wonderfully relaxing!

It's lazy days by the pool and in the sun, plenty of good books and board games for us now!

You never realise quite how much you need a holiday until you get one!

Mia xo

Exciting Things and Time Passing

I've been so busy lately.

And you know when it's all done and you just need to relax.

And sleep.

And Breathe.

You know?

But you can't, because the world never seems to feel like stopping with you.

And more things keep popping up and you wonder whether it'll ever end?

Well, it's been a bit like that lately.

But with Easter coming, I think finally I will be able to relax and sleep and breathe! (touch wood)

I thought it'd e nice to tell you all these things that have been keeping me busy of late.

Because.... you might be interested? Maybe?

1. A Play...

I don't think I've mentioned this here before, but recently I've been in the school play. It was pretty exciting really! I played the ugly duckling, a show pony, a magazine cover and a midget bride. Stop laughing! (Actually, keep laughing. You might as well, and I must admit when I hear like that I can't help but having a little giggle myself!) The roles aren't as minor as they sound though.... well maybe they are, but still! I was in 7 scenes of 20-25ish, so that must count for something! 

But this school play business is VERY time consuming. I was at school 15 hours a day for the performances, and had lots and lots of rehearsal beforehand. Very tiring, but totally worth it, because I've made tons of friends and it's just, well.... fun!

2. School

I guess this doesn't really count, because it hasn't been much busier than normal, but it's just so hard to keep up to date with homework and assessments and assignments when everything else is going on! And being at school for 7 hours 5 days a week doesn't help either :) But I guess I'm lucky to be getting an education, so I'm going to stop complaining now.

3. MY BIRTHDAY!

I'm a teenager! Finally! It's been heaps of fun celebrating, even if it's been a bit squeezed with everything else! I'll go into more detail about it later in it's own post, but I'll tell you this: it's been pretty amazing!

So now I've got all the ranting and complaining and unloading out of the way, I think I'll end on a more positive note: There's lots of fun planned in the next few weeks. Food, Craft and all sorts of other stuff are all on the schedule, so stay tuned!

Mia xo

Life Recently... (I'm Ba-aack!)

Hey! Long time no see!


Okay, well I never really see you, but you know what I mean. Don't you?


So yes, I may have posted once in the last ummmm.... week and a half, but I'm ba-aack now!


No more assesments... (well not until Thursday anyway :) ) and no more weekends away either!


So I thought I'd share some of the stuff I've been getting up to in my break this week- why not?


First up: (drum roll) Writing a picture Book


Yep! Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Well yes...


and no!


The whole 2 week English assignment being done at 1 in the morning sort of took away from the experience....


The theme was 'Cultural Perspective' so I wrote about a little girl discovering what it means to be Australian.

She's a little cutie, isn't she! Hear are a few of my favourite pages:

(Yes, I'm well aware of the error. Many an hour was spent banging my head over that one. It was an ENGLISH assessment! Oh, well!

The people and backgrounds were done on paper with water colour, and then scanned in and converted to PNGs on photoshop. Then the text was done (also on photoshop) and it was all put together in pages.


So all in all, a pretty fun assessment, but possibly giving us about 4 times as long may have been more appropriate...


just saying!


What have you gotten up to this past week?


Mia xx


PS. This blog turned 1 month old yesterday. How exciting! I'll do a February round-up sometime soon!

Bare with me.....

I'm just entering my first assessment period of the year and so I'm going to be REALLY, REALLY busy with schoolwork for a while. Don't worry, I'm not leaving you, just expect (slightly) less posting for a while. Believe me, I'd choose this over the schoolwork if I could!


Mia :)

Bunnies

We got to mind two beautiful bunnies (belonging to a neighbour) last week.

How lucky were we!

Their names are Fidget....

And Billy.


Fidget doesn't like having her photo taken, so I didn't get so many of her :)

They got lots of snuggles and hugs, especially in the dreary weather!

Fidget is a shy, quiet girl. She doesn't actually fidget much, instead choosing to sit still most of the time. She is very nervous with humans at first, and shakes constantly, but she gets comfortable after a while!

Billy is an adventurous, fidgety girl (quite the opposite!!). She comes to play if you go near her cage, and constantly tries to wriggle out of your arms.


We'll miss them both, but hopefully they'll come visit again soon!

Mia :)