A Collection of Thoughts

Father's Day Plans - SHHHH

via alphamom.com

 

Have you seen this ? Totally doing this for Richard  for Fathers Day  - After colloboratign with my helpers  ours will have Powerade,  M and M's, Mintes , Grainwaves,  Roasted cashews and a Bar of cadbury chocolate and some Darryl Lea Rocky Road. We have the labels printed I just have to do the shopping and find a suitable box. The girls are so excited. Can you read the label ?

Our Real Life Hero - 555 Masterbed Room.

I hope he doesn't read my blog - actually I'll just put him on a ban and tell him not to - but I wanted to share  just in case you hadn't seen it and were still scrummaging for a clever idea for Fathers day .

For my local readers  there is a  Kids in the Kitchen Picnic happening at Chevron Island Park.  Thats we'll be doing - taking a picnic and heading there . It sounds like lots of  fun and the weather has been lovley not too hot not too cold.

 

 

Thank yous

This week just gone as part of the Senior Education Training process I had to organise just under 300 interviews for  Year 10 parents and students. This meant using a team of heads of department, deputies and senior teachers to help parents and students go through the subject selection process and also their SETP- Great process great results but my gosh agggh the organisation. We interviewed through to almost 8.00pm every night last week - so tired.

When I sat down yesterday to plan the thank yous to the helpers I realised I had 25 people to thank for their involvement in the process.  I wanted to do something nice but I didn't want to have to spend a lot of time or money on it  too.

I flicked back through my starred items on google lines and found these two gems

Firstly this sweet  hello card from  Kirsty Neal of Ginger and George

It didn't quite fit what I was after so I edited it a bit to make it a  "Thanks" flat card and printed 4 to a  page

and then trimmed and rounded the corners

I could then write a personal note on the back for each person

Next I found these fabulous envelopes.made by Cathe Holden over at  Just Something I Made- all gorgeous  colours

but I knew I didn't want to print 25 full sheets of  colour on my  inkjet cartridge so I chose a couple of patterns that worked well in back and white and  printed them on my laser printer using normal copy paper. I increased thor size - one per A4 sheet

trimmed them up

and glued them together following Cathe's instructions

I pounched out some little serrated circles using my martha punch ( thanks for the thousandth time Gigi! ) to create a litle seal for the back and to add a pop of colour .

Then tonight I filled them with the thank you note, a kit kat and a coffee sachet which I figure will be a nice treat for morning tea tomorrow. I wrote each persons name under the thank you on the label so I can easily distribute

I love that people share such great projects on their blogs which allow little things like this to come together so easily for others . I'm going to make a concerted effort to try to do this more myself as well. Thank you Kirsty and Cathe!

Paris Umbrella Sticky Tape

via www.etsy.com

sigh I adore this !!! The colour the gumboots the puddles just too sweet.
Tamar

Awesome Find

Loving these free  psd files and series of actions available over at the Coffee Shop blog

this one in particular because its takes all the guess work and mucking around out of editing

I love smaller prints for projects but I don't like paying 80c for a print that costs me 15c usually. That's how much it cost me to get a wallet size print done and I can only have 4 of the same image unless i edit them myself

so with this freebie download I can quickly thow 4 pictures on a page with or without borders and get my 6 x 4 print done :)

Rita even has a whole series fo tutorials to help you pull something like this together if you don't already know how :)

I like this one too

there are heaps well worth a look

Ali Edwards

via aliedwards.com

Yay a gorgeous revamp over at Ali Edwards - coudl totally get lost here .

 

Just Like Martha

via www.leemills.typepad.com

It was lovely to login today to see that Lee had nominated me for this beautiful blogger award :) Thank you so much.

I am supposed to share it on to 10 others but instead I will share a little later in the week some of my favourite blogs to follow and why  :) I haven't done one of those posts for a while.

 

I'm also supposed to share 10- things you may not know about me so here goes

1.

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My first name was Melissa Theresa and we had it changed when I was around 4 I think -   to Tamar Diarne

 

2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I equally love tea and coffee. Tea in the morning and last thing at night and coffee all through the day

3.

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I am really really supposed to wear glasses and I rarely do I'm so naughty I get headaches and watery eyes because I don't

4.

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I am so fortunate in that I have two sets of grandparents very much alive and regularly see and speak to them ( had lunch with my ma yesterday )

5.

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I always read a whole book  even if I don't like it  the only exception to that rule was eat pray love - just couldn't get on through it I will probably try again

6.

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This morning I didn't get up till 9.15  when my girls woke me up and told me they had made me eggy toast for breakfast - and they had and it was good - this is a true milestone

7.

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8.

I really want to go to disneyland on a family holiday but sadly have no plan in place to make that happen. I need to make a plan

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I love twinsets and sweet necklaces I could live my whole life wearing twin sets with jeans pants skirts - daggy I'm sure.

9.

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I collect dinner sets - I get the obsession from my Ma -(she has 6)   I have 8 ( to be fair though I only bought 4 of them)  Ma gave me two   Richard's Mum gave me one and we had one on our briday registry which we were fortunate enough to receive )  Richard has banned me from buying any more.

10.

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I adore esty and am sad when I don't have any parcels due to arrive  - like now I have nothing on my to receive list.

Happy Saturday  - my day is going to be spent renewing my batteries,  baking, creating, emailing, blogging and hopefully buying some fresh flowers. Tonight I would like to watch a DVD or two any suggestions ??

Much appreciated,

 

Sylvanian Families

We went to a very sweet toy store down at Ferry Rd markets - it has all the old fashioned toys and just lots of really cool things and Sofia found Sylvanian families. We have seen them before but I think I have always managed to steer her away - this time no such luck and she got me suckered into really looking too

 My gosh soo so cute -almost like rement for Blythe really . Oh my gosh but not cheap.

 She left with just the catalogue and has spent the whole weekend  writing lists of families and bits she wants.

 

Look at those little bunk beds

  and the cute car to go with it 

 

and the tent!!

  and we both loved this one so much

I'm not sure if we are going to go there so I'm looking into it a bit more. The nice thing about them liking something  is its easy to get gifts and bribes LOL.

Tals isn't interested in the slightest her latest thing is Go Girl books which she gobbles up a couple a week - Luckily our library has a good supply.

Does anyone else collect Sylvanian Families ? How old are your children and how long do they stay loving it? and where do you get them from ?

Any input much appreciated!! 

Our Sunday :)

Crazy days with our Australian election huh ??

I have to admit I have been much more in tune with what's happening thanks to twitter and blogs like Mamamia

Last night we had friends over for dinner and we watched the results roll on in and the TV has been going for a large chunk of today too.

We started the day with pancakes because we went to late mass tonight so no rush out the door this morning

I played with paint and paper

 

 a peek at another page in my art journal for our style studio

 

Sof is obsessed with Poppy at the moment and set up a fashion show with 7 changes of outfits and commentary and a photo shoot with help from her sister

 
 In between that Talia built a a tow? truck??  Its a truck with a crane thingy on the back 

 Richard headed out and got groceries and coffee for us  and then the girls and I spent a couple of hours cooking up some meals for Helping Hands which is an organization supported by the girls school that provides meals to families who are in need of a little extra help. We made meatballs, chicken casseroles and some dishes of apple and pear crumble -I'll have to share that recipe soon' Its my favourite with melted butter so none of that rubbing in the butter to make the crumble

Then this evening we went to late mass and said our  final farewells to Father Adrian - we had his farewell party last week but tonight was his last mass so we really wanted to be there for that . Really so sad to see him go he was so instrumental in Richard's journey to catholicism.

Tonight we finished watching a movie we started this afternoon Stardust with Michelle Pfieffer, Claire Daines, Charlie Cox and Robert De Niro  ( 2007 )

My gosh it was so good - just hidden in the weekly rentals I grabbed it without really reading. I try to get a Dvd a week for the girls and I to watch together that is not hannah montana or cartoon ish.

We all loved this so much kept us right on the edge of our seats wondering what was going to happen and chatting  the whole way through about why people did what they did

A word of warning though  people die but its kind of done well not too gory. There is also a witch and ghost theme running throughout.There is also some love ;)  There re very cool pirates too( though I did have to explain at one point why the  Captain liked to wear dresses - because he does LOL )  I really think both boys and girls would enjoy it clever special effects. I suggest you watch the trailer and maybe check out kids in mind to see if its suitable for your family.

Gearing up for an all out mad week at work next week - Year 10 - to 11 interviews around subject selection for senior 292 families over 4 evenings 2.00pm - 7.30 pm -  so Im in for an early night I think.

Hope you had a lovely weekend back to my usual blogging next week -with my first check in on simple goals -

 

Lucky Winner is ...

Congratulations Vanessa!!! and thank you to all who entered tweeted and blogged.

This was very fun. I'll have to think of a new one to do again soon :)

Recipe Share - White

My final recipe share on my giveaway

Chapter Eight - White

Lemon Rice Pudding with Caramelized Peaches

 

This is so good and so easy. I did caramelized bananas as peaches aren't in season at he moment  - Some of the caramel is sprinkled on top here which was my bowl the girls and Richard wanted the bananas so I missed out - LOL

Im going to share the recipe ( adapted in my words from Apples For Jam )

2 tablespoons olive oil

200gms short grain rice

5 cups of milk

 1 tablespoon zest of lemon

1 cup pouring cream

50 gms superfine white sugar

vanilla bean nutmeg

Heat the oil and rice for a few minutes in a pot then add the milk and cream. Bring to the boil stirring regularly drop the heat to a simmer and allow the milk and cream to be absorbed into the rice. Stir frequently.  Add the sugar nutmeg and lemon zest and then simmer for another 10 minutes - make sure you stir so it doesn't catch on the bottom. I have made this three times now and its not a heap of stirring and it's never gone close to catching.

This ends up still quite soupy and so good.

If you want to caramelize bananas or peaches to go with it  cut them up and place them on a baking tray with brown sugar sprinkled on top bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Total comfort food

There are about 200 recipes in the book and its filled with anecdotes too.  Beautifully illustrated and we have made at least half a dozen more recipes. They always turn out and are simple, delicious and use lovely fresh ingredients. The girls love it when I pull this recipe book out

Do yourself a favor and grab your own copy :)

Oh and the story on why I have two?

I had bought the hardcover book and  had flicked through but hadn't really made anything from it. I was on a new use your cookbooks mission. I searched everywhere for it and I had just done a cull of books so I had it in my head that I must have thrown it out by accident. i was so cross with myself as I hadn't even really read it but it looked lovely and I had heard such good things about it. Then I was down at Borders and saw a copy and was sad all over again I really couldn't justify buying another one . I forgot about it again

 Then I saw that it had come out in paperback - much more reasonable and on a whim I bought a second copy.

I kid you not the very next day when I was tidying up Sofia's book case I found my original along with another 3 recipe books I had been hunting for!!!

So I have had the paperback version sat here for ages and decided a little giveaway was in order.

Winner to be announced very shortly!