doggy wog

She's starting to turn into a real dog.

leek and chickpea soup

I've been charging along with my New Years resolution to eat more veg meals (I'm being so good and only have fish - no red meat or chicken). Here is a great one I pulled out of a library book. It's oh so tasty! This mighty Italian dish is a meal in one that will warm your cockles and give you some good ol nourishment of body and soul. Be patient with your sweating, its worth it. It doesn't look like much but serve this baby with some sourdough and you'll be blushing in shame at how judgemental you were.
This amount makes two servings.

You'll need:

1 cup of dried or canned chickpeas
1 tblspn olive oil
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
1-2 leeks, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tblspn of rosemary, finely chopped
1 litre of stock or water. I used vege stock but you could use chicken if you're that way inclined.
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch of spinach leaves (remove the stems), chop up coarsely

If you're using dried chickpeas, soak these overnight.

Heat the oil in a medium size saucepan. Saute the onion, celery, leeks, garlic and rosemary VERY slowly, until soft but not coloured. We're talking half an hour of sweating, keep your temp low and the veges moving. Don't add salt yet.

Add the chickpeas and the stock/water and bring to a simmer. If you're using dried chick peas cook these for around 60mins, canned only needs 10mins.

Place a cup and half of the soup in a processor and make it smooth. Add it back to the soup, add your salt and pepper now and then just before it goes in a bowl pop the spinach in until its wilted.

Hot Dang, that's some good soup - is what you'll be saying. C gave this one a 10/10.



We had a lovely weekend up in Riwaka. That area is gorgeous, did some sea swimming at Kaiteriteri (no crowds!), wine tasting in Mahana, lunching in Mapua and kayaking in Riwaka.

stretched and scattered

it's been busy.

I've been flat out at work. Excuses excuses right?

It's been a weird time to be honest, when I'm not draining my energy reserves at work I'm at home reading my library books, playing with Lucy and getting as much sleep as possible. I guess it's one of those times in your life where you feel scattered, where you feel stretched and where you look for peace in your spare moments.

The good news is that we're off for a long weekend to Riwaka again. I'm hoping to get some top notch R&R and come back ready to face the world again.

I should really be grateful for the opportunities that I'm getting in my job, the support that I get from C, my lovely family and ace friends. I am grateful. For sure. It's not too bad.

In the meantime, here are some awesome sites that I've found for you all to spend some time on...

The most comprehensive craft blog directory. I could easily waste hours on craftgawker.

Get your own fabric! I'm soooo excited about this site and designing some prints for my own (yes that's right!), my own, fabric.

Funny girl. This chicky is, and she's pretty cluey too. Watch her vids, she's a diamond.

till next time xo

wellington

Our beautiful accomodation

Gypsy deathcore. Doesn't get more energetic than that!

Legendary kids playing ghostbusters

A cable car tunnel

shopping

parliament house. incredible architecture

view from the botanic gardens

street art

As I mentioned in my last post we went to Wellington over the weekend. It was the first time for C in Wellywood and I hadn't been there in years. Welly is known as the 'cool' city in NZ and certainly lives up to its name with a great selection of cafe's and restaurants (Duke Carvells, Memphis Belle, Fidels), good op shopping (Emporium ex Christchurch is now on Cuba St) and lots of street art. Our visit deliberately coincided with the International Arts Festival. We saw some "interesting" street performers and the high-energy gypsy punk sounds of Barons of Tang. Our accomodation was the stunning Museum Hotel that has the most incredible reception filled with art from around the world.

C was delighted to get a tour through parliament house and we spent the evening pounding the pavement and bar hopping (love cocktails at The Library) on Courtenay Place. We had a great one night break away and luckily managed to get some decent weather while we were there. Oh and for all you crafters, if you're ever there - check out Minerva, the best textile bookshop!

Lastly here is a bit of a shaky video I took of projections on Te Papa on saturday night.

breaking a silence

A serious lack of blogging hey?! Well I don't really have an excuse. But here's what I have been doing when I haven't been tip tapping away on my keyboard.

Watching this documentary. It appropriately screened one year on from our most devasting earthquake. If you're not from Christchurch I sincerely recommend you watch this to understand what the city went through.

Working. Yep, I'm a working girl/lady. I've been busy trying to organise film shoots around the rain, doing presentations to the CEO and managing my largest campaign to date. Quite energy sapping! I don't have a cool eighties suit like Melanie Griffiths but I have been dedicated to working lately to try and achieve one of my New Year's Resolutions to appreciate my job more.

Playing words with friends. Why is it so addictive?!

Listening to this. How good is it?! (Thanks for the link Jeanie). Who said country tunes have to be lame?

Also I've been:

attending beer festivals
rescuing my shoes from Lucy's jaws
renovating parts of the garden
trying to find a good novel to read - recommendations please!
and getting excited for our quick trip to Wellington this weekend. I will post a summary on Sunday when we get back!

the river

spot the nose

C and I had a picnic lunch at Selwyn River today. We managed to escape the easterly wind and find a secluded spot. Lucy retrieved sticks and chased butterflies while we waded in the impossibly clear water. The wildflowers down there were so pretty! I love exploring days, do you?

DIY upcycle wool blanket cushion

This DIY cushion is a really basic way of upcycling the quality old wool blankets that you can find at nearly any secondhand store. I got an enormous one from the Sallies store for $4. For the applique you can use an iron-on adhesive to hold it in place however I chose to just pin mine which meant the elephant is a bit puffy.

What you need:
Wool blanket
Felt
Coloured thread to match the felt, needle
Sewing machine & thread to match wool blanket
Paper scissors
Fabric scissors

Step 1

Find an image that you like that has very few fiddly bits. Search for silhouettes to find nice simple images. I picked this elephant. Print out the image and cut it out. Note: You can always skip the first two steps if you want to free-hand a design onto the felt with chalk.

Step 2

Pin your cut out to a piece of felt in your chosen colour then cut out the shape.

Step 3

Cut out your cushion pieces. I used a strip around 60cm wide and 120cm long. This will make a rather large cushion. I suggest you get your cut out shape and place it on the blanket then measure an appropriate size cushion relative to the size of your cut out. Pin your cut out in place on the right side of the cushion. If you are going to use an adhesive here, this is where you would do it.

Step 4

Get your matching thread and your needle and blanket stitch all the way around your shape. This is why you don't want too many fiddly bits on your shape as it could prove tricky!

Step 5

Turn your cushion wrong side out and fold over so you have a square. Pin your sides together ready for sewing. Make sure you mark a gap on one side where you will leave it open for stuffing.

Step 6

Sew your sides together and then turn the cushion right side out so you have your (almost finished) square. Now for the fun bit! Grab handfuls of hobby fill and stuff through the gap you have left. There is no rule here on how much you stuff in but do make sure it is pushed right into the corners. Fold in the rough seams of your little gap and sew together. Depending on the capability of your sewing machine you may need to hand sew this part as it's pretty chunky. You're done!