five favourite things friday

This week moved so quickly, we have been hosting some guests, I have been starting to work on the sly during my holidays - curse the day they invented emails on phones! and we have been walking Lucy a lot now she has had her final puppy vaccination and can't catch nasty dog diseases. Here are my five favourite things from the week....

 

Hurrah! The trailer for Moonrise Kingdom, a new Wes Anderson film. I'm such a fan of his kooky work. Especially The Life Aquatic - who doesn't like Bill Murray!? You should get the soundtrack, its David Bowie songs sung in Portugese!

Flower arranging. I was making our spare room pretty for guests. 

This great Portlandia clip my sister sent me. I love the tongue in cheek crafting and I love her red hat.

Zucchini fritters. These are in season at the mo and this is one of the most delicious ways to eat them. I'll put the recipe up soon. 

And lastly... HOLIDAYS. Pics to come after our small trip up north. Have a good weekend!

crochet slippers

Slippers are a strange thing to be making in the middle of summer as the mercury rises. I know this. But what about those of you in the northern hemisphere with chill blains? This, my friends, is for you. I love these slippers, not only are they cosy and cute they are for anyone! - C saw me making them and requested a pair too (His are the teal and mustard ones). I got the pattern from the darling Pip at Meet me at Mikes - she has GREAT crochet tutorials and many links to others online.

My cankles look a bit strange as I took off my sandals prior to taking the pic and they left little crevasses. Just so you know.

We are heading up to Nelson tomorrow for a quick trip with some of our friends visiting from Australia. One short holiday burst before I go back to the grind.

five favourite things friday

Woah, a feature!
So this is something that I'm going to try and do each week, it's essentially just a wee list of my favourite things from the past week. What are your five favourite things from the week?

Source: dontcallmebetty.tumblr.com via Christa on Pinterest

Pear and gorgonzola salad from the Mediterranean Food Company. (I didn't take a picture of it, was too busy eating it!!). Some of the noises I made while devouring this salad could be deemed inappropriate for young audiences.

The latest edition of Good magazine.
One of the best publications. Ever. This edition also came with a Good Shopping Handbook for 100+ ideas for eco, natural, healthy and ethical products. Good, you are good.

It is exactly as the bottle says 'The perfect thirst quencher'. Barkers Lemon & Lime has been wonderful for the hot afternoons we have been experiencing of late. We got a recipe from Nana for lemon cordial also. Once this bottle runs dry we may have to give her recipe a go.

MMMMM pomegranate. The weirdest fruit but so tasty! I squeezed and munched and slurped my way through this one. Warning - do not wear white while eating pomegranates. Here is a handy link on how to de-seed them - it also has some interesting facts about Poms too!

Annd lastly, the goose. Lucy Goose. She's being sneaky on the couch with her cheeky smile. I love her.

a shoulder bag

 I have been pondering on the best way to show off this fabric for a while now (I love the birds!). It is now a bag. A relaxing way to spend 30 mins on a Thursday between grocery shopping and taking Miss Lucy to the vet. Was going to pop it up on Our Creative Spaces but the posts haven't started yet for 2012. Better get a new project underway!

a day at nana's

I'm still working diligently towards achieving my resolutions and managed to work on another today.

It was lovely as always listening to Nana's stories, eating her wonderful food (Spanish Cream!!) and marvelling at her garden. C and I even managed to leave with some goodies in tow. Here are some pics to summarise.

 

Gorgeous Akaroa Harbour

Picked up Nana's fruit order in Little River

sweet peas

yum yum yum

  

 

treat to take home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

peg bag

Here's a quick 15 min project to keep your hands busy. It's also practical too.
Lucy destroyed (oh yes, destroyed - she ripped it to shreds) our old peg bag so I have used the hanger from that and a corner from a retro tablecloth to make a new one.

This is a really simple project from The Crafty Minx that you can make with items lying around your house. You only need an old wire coat hanger (like the one's from drycleaners) and an old tea towel. You can applique words and pictures onto them too! Here are some snazzy ones I found on Pinterest.

Source: flickr.com via Alina on Pinterest

Source: henandhammock.co.uk via Claire on Pinterest

Source: shop.leahhalliday.co.uk via Hazel on Pinterest

Source: flickr.com via obeseparrot on Pinterest

Way to make something so dull so pretty!

resolutions

New Year, new look - whaddya think? I'm really stoked with the update - it was a few hours of frustration and geekery but I think it's turned out very fresh!

I thought before I put up my resolutions I would do a quick review of 2011.

Highlights:

• buying our house
• the snowstorm
• finding my yoga teacher
• crafty activities
• friend's engagements
• adopting Lucy
• spending time with mum and dad
• C going back to uni
• trip to sydney
• catching up with old friends
• starting the blog, finding the blogging/crafting world

Lowlights:

• earthquakes, shakes, rumbles and cracks
• flooding
• breaking my tooth
• not seeing my sister
• work stress

So I've decided to post my resolutions so that I can track them and provide updates throughout the year to see how I'm going. So. Here we go.

• eat breakfast every day
• practice yoga daily
• learn the ukulele or banjo
• sew at least once a week
• make a quilt
• appreciate my job
• hug more
• eat at least two vegetarian meals per week
• get up early
• take care of my teeth - flossy floss
• get to know the neighbours
• draw more
• paint more
• wear red lipstick
• plant a vege garden
• spend less
• take more pictures
• get a better camera
• eat fish once a week
• get a caravan
• buy more books
• kick the habit
• bake
• see more live music
• get more involved in community projects
• don't procrastinate - there's never a right time!
• talk to my sister more
• go to a warm place for a holiday
• talk to C more
• meet new people
• go on a yoga retreat
• visit nana more often
• write more
• go to an upskill course

Well, that's it, I think. It's not a very original list but it's mine. I know I will have more to add to it throughout the year - as I did last year - but I know I am already off to a great start with some of these.

The last few days have been a super start to 2012 as I have been spending some time with the gorgeous Gaby from this little port who helped me start to tick off a few of the above ('vegetarian meals' - if you're in Chch make sure you visit The Lotus Heart and 'meeting new people').

I now have around 2 and a half weeks before I go back to work so let's get started. Woo motivation.