Christmas manicure

I can't quite remember where the inspiration for this came along. It was probably a combination of wanting something more simple than a candy stripe (stripes...! I can never get them all "just right.") and making christmas tags over the years using coloured pens and pencils.

So I started with a lovely simple French manicure.
Paint on your french white. No need for perfect lines this time, the dots will hide any imperfections. :) Put your usual coat on over the french white as normal.
Before the top coat goes on, use a dotting tool (mine is a pin pushed into the top of a pencil) to dot on 3 red dots in a cluster around the line of the white near one edge of your nail. Then use a festive green (I used China Glaze Watermelon Rind) to dot a line of green along the edge of the white and then drag two lines either side near the cluster of red berries to make leaves.

If you are one of those people who like every single nail to look exactly the same, this probably isn't for you.

But the way I see it, I'M the only one who actually looks that closely and it's a bit like scrutinising your own handwriting. It's never exact or perfect no matter how many calligraphy classes you do...

Have fun! ;)

White Chocolate and Macadamia Rocky Road

I post recipes all over the place and forget where I've put them. So I've decided to post some of my favourites in here where I can find them and tag them. Then hopefully I'll be able to re-find them when I go looking..

Prep 15 mins maybe
Makes 24 pieces or a few more if you cut them smaller.
250g packet of marshmallows, halved
100g packet dried cranberries
110g packet macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
60g pistachios (they say optional but really, they're not, they're the green bits!!)
2 x 180g blocks of white chocolate, chopped.
Line a 20cm square cake pan with baking paper allowing an overhang on each side.
Chop the marshmallows in half with a pair of kitchen scissors.
Put them into a bowl with the cranberries and nuts.
Break the white chocolate into pieces and put into a bowl big enough to sit in the top of one of your saucepans. I have glass Pyrex bowls for this purpose but whatever will deal with the heat will be fine. I also buy Nestle white cooking chocolate, it melts easily, sets nicely and breaks up with no fuss.
Put between 5 - 10 cms boiling water into the bottom of the saucepan and rest the bowl in the top of the saucepan and melt the chocolate. Once the chocolate has melted,  carefully remove from heat. To save on dishes and chocolate wastage (sinful) pour the nuts, cranberries and marshmallows into the bowl of melted chocolate. Fold it all in together as much as possible.
Spoon/tip the chocolate/nut mixture into the prepared cake pan. Press it down into the pan and smooth the top if you want to.
Refrigerate for 2 hours or until set. You'd be surprised how fast that can be in our house!
Using a warm knife, cut into squares.
The recipe says "will store for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container." I can't tell you if it will or not. It's never been tested in our house. There's no way Rocky Road will last 2 weeks..
And for those of us who have to constantly watch what they eat...I can tell you that one little itsy bitsy piece of this is the equivalent to 5 Weight Watchers Pro points. UGH! (Worth every point at Christmas time I reckon.)
No fuss but fancy enough to take to someone's place, present to visiting family or make with the children as presents for teachers!
Enjoy!

Impatient waiting is over...!

Love Nelly Kelly passionfruit. Every little spherical parcel is filled with sweetness and sun. FRUIT AT LAST!!
In time for Christmas!
:D

The "after" photo of the vege garden.

The "before" photo contains a venomous snake. Didn't want to scare you all away..it's gone now! :)

Yellow panama passionfruit

Nelly Kelly passionfruit

(they are the windbreak for the hot north wind in summer)

Capsicum

Watermelons

Rockmelons

Apple Cucumbers

Carrots

Beans

Beetroot

Butternut pumpkins

Strawberries

Lettuce

Cherry tomatoes

Yes, I'm more than a little optimistic considering the time of year here and the heat that will be coming. But I'm using rain water when I can and loads of mulch so crossing my fingers for some end of summer produce from the garden this year. I don't normally bother with a summer crop but I put a drip hose in, on an automatic system so anything is possible. As long as we don't get flooding summer rain, it should all be ok. Touching wood... :/

Last night I...

well I was experimenting with a home made dotting tool.
Wish I'd used christmas colours now....
Simple dotting tool...take a pin from your sewing kit. Stick it in the top of a pencil and there you go. One dotting tool. Cheap.
Perfect for those of us who live far from what we like to call "real shops."
I like my tiny simple "canvases..."
Took a photo BEFORE I went gardening..

Where to begin???

Starting a new blog feels a bit like the time you began scrapbooking....you have photos from your whole life you'd like to make into special memories, photos of your children, wedding photos, special birthdays and celebrations...
You end up procrastinating, trying to decide.
And eventually you stop buying things to put on pages and grab some photos that are lying around and stick them on a page.
Random but effective. Eventually.

So this is where I start.

I write. I create. I photograph. I paint. I sew. I garden. I teach. I like to get creative with my manicures. Sometimes I cook - which I can do when I'm in the mood. I'm a mother and all the jobs that comes with. I work with children and love it...but being "mum" has always come first. I like to think it makes me a better teacher. I tell myself that anyway.
There's more but I don't have all day and it seems today is the "eventually" day when I'm going to post something in writing...

The name of my blog...
I moved to this house and the neighbours had a beautiful honeysuckle flowering in their backyard. I didn't think you could even grow honeysuckle in our outback climate, in fact I'd never seen or smelt one before.
One night, in that first week in our new house, I dreamt of smelling honeysuckle. A memory that stayed with me and something you can't scrapbook. 
So I grew one. It died. I grew another one. It died. There's a pattern forming I know..
It took 10 years of determined effort off and on...